"Oh?"
At this exclamation, Li Tongya glanced up at Lu Sisi and noticed how his face was filled with greed.
Li Sisi continued, "The treasures of this island in the lake should rightfully belong to us, the families that surround the lake! This is a venture without any initial investment, how can we allow these rogue cultivators to just take it away? I plan to call upon the An Family and others nearby to unite and take down this fleet of rogue cultivators. We should take over this business! Whichever family's mortals enter the formation would claim the retrieved items. Brother Tongya... what do you think?"
Sitting in the main seat, Li Tongya recalled the scene of piled-up bodies that had once blocked the Guli Road on his journey home, causing him to pause with his tea bowl in hand.
He shot a glance at Lu Sisi and chuckled.
"Is the Yu Family interested in this business with no capital? What about the families across the lake? Senior Lu, if you can't manage all the families around the lake and secure this business for ourselves, it will just end up benefiting others."
Lu Sisi suddenly paused, realizing his oversight. Caught up in the excitement upon seeing the fleet on the lake, he had not considered all its implications.
He chuckled awkwardly and said, "Brother Tongya indeed speaks wisely! This old man was too impulsive and did not think things through..."
Disheartened, he set down his tea bowl. After an unsuccessful attempt to engage Li Tongya in further conversation, he left in a somewhat dejected state.
"Old man's nearing his end and no longer as sharp as he used to be... The island in the lake has been scavenged by all sorts of Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators countless times; doubt there are many items of the Embryonic Breathing Realm left to retrieve. Pointless effort really..."
After sending Lu Sisi off, Li Tongya was left feeling gloomy. He picked up his tea bowl and then put it down again, sighing with a bitter smile.
"You regard those cultivators of the Purple Mansion Realm with fear and reverence... their whims dictating life and death. Yet, to these mortals, your families and sects also instill terror, having complete control over their fate. The ugliness of the world is indeed top-down, completely devoid of any intrigue."
With a shake of his head, Li Tongya paused, questioning himself, If our family didn't possess this treasure that consolidates talisman qi through the mortals' worship, could we have stood our ground against Jianixi's formidable force back in the day?
Shaken by this sudden realization, Li Tongya quickly cast aside his myriad reflections. He understood that the Li Family was but an ant in the presence of the many Purple Mansion Realm cultivators.
Now was not the time for such thoughts.
He calculated the days according to the Sacrificial Ritual Method , realizing it was nearly time to conduct the ritual with the mirror to consolidate talisman qi for the benefit of the younger generation of the family.
"Perhaps it's time to visit that fox again to inquire about some demonic creatures of the Qi Cultivation Realm that we could use for the sacrifice..."
Li Tongya left the courtyard and soared on the wind following the mountain ridge. With just a recollection from memory, he found a large white-leaved banyan tree standing proudly on a slope beneath a cliff.
The White Banyan Fox, lounging lazily under the tree, perked up upon seeing Li Tongya approach.
"What brings you to my neck of the woods, Brother Tongya?"
His voice was as lazy as usual.
Having met numerous times over three years, they had grown a lot closer to each other.
Accepting the Spirit Paddies from Li Tongya, the fox snacked contentedly, squinting in comfort while sharing the recent mountain gossip as usual.
"Rumors say a Sword Immortal has emerged on Qingsui Peak... scaring that old pig into hiding for months. He was quite the tyrant when Si Yuanbai was in seclusion! Now he's turned timid, fearing of becoming a mere sharpening stone for Si Yuanbai's disciple."
Li Tongya was taken aback, marveling at this revelation.
"You're quite well-informed!"
"Haha, of course!" the fox boasted, its tail flicking cunningly.
"My nineteenth cousin's twenty-second uncle serves a Three-Eared White Fox in a den at the southern foot of Mount Dali. It's from their casual conversations that I learned of this. That Three-Eared White Fox is quite formidable! Just by lying slightly in the prefecture, he hears everything from the cultivators in the Embryonic Breathing and Qi Cultivation Realms..."
"Is that demon fox a creature of the Foundation Establishment Realm?" Li Tongya asked.
"Purple Mansion Realm!" the fox corrected with a snort.
"Why do you think they're called great cultivators and great demons? It's because they've condensed a divine ability in their Purple Mansion, which not just any spell can compare to. Depending on one's Dao foundation, it manifests in all sorts of miraculous ways... it is truly terrifying!"
Li Tongya took this information to heart, thinking today's bag of Spirit Paddies was well worth it. He patted the fox's head, causing it to curl slightly in pleasure.
"I'm just a Qi Cultivator... breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm in this lifetime might be wishful thinking, let alone these mighty feats. Then again, my younger brother has already reached the Foundation Establishment Realm. If he returns from the southern border, breaking through to the Purple Mansion Realm within a hundred years shouldn't be too difficult," he said after a brief moment of contemplation.
A bittersweet smile appeared on his face.
"If I'm lucky enough to live long enough, maybe I'll witness the day he attains the Purple Mansion Realm."
The fox grimaced, squeaking in disdain, "That would be good, just don't end up like Yu Yuxie. He established a splendid Dao foundation with the Supreme Yin Moonlight, only to ultimately become a medicinal ingredient for the flood dragon. What a waste!"
These words struck Li Tongya like a thunderclap, leaving his mind utterly blank with shock.
Springing from the ground immediately, he exclaimed, "What did you say?!"
The fox, having never seen him so agitated, puffed up its fur and took a few steps back, stammering, "Y-...Yu... Yuxie..."
Li Tongya, visibly panicked, took a deep breath to calm himself. He then reached into his storage pouch hurriedly, tossing out a large bag of Spirit Paddies in front of the fox and asked in as steady a voice as he could muster:
"Tell me about this Yu Yuxie."
The fox dared not touch the Spirit Paddies, merely squeaking a few times before answering.
"When I... I was serving the master, I heard about this person who once acquired a Supreme Yin Moonlight on Moongaze Lake and established a Dao foundation known as 'White Jade Disk' and even ventured into these mountains, his dual swords defeating many demons. Later... he died in the southern border."
Taking a moment to catch its breath, the fox continued, "And then I heard that because of the extraordinary nature of the Dao foundation established from the Supreme Yin Moonlight, he was given to a great flood dragon in the southern border by the Azure Pond Sect to be refined into a medicinal pill... It seems Azure Pond Sect has done this more than once..."
Li Tongya swayed and sat down weakly, his face pale as he stared at the scattered Spirit Paddies on the ground.
After hearing this and considering it with Azure Pond Sect's usual conduct, the lack of letters from Li Chejing for over a decade, and the subtle hint from the Xiao Family, his various suspicions solidified into one truth.
He covered his lips, unable to find his voice.
Seeing him so despondent, the fox cautiously gathered the Spirit Paddies into a bag and licked its fur. It lowered its head, not daring to speak.
After regaining his composure, Li Tongya looked at the frightened fox curled up in front of him and hoarsely thanked it.
"Thank you for the information, fellow Daoist. Consider these Spirit Paddies your reward."
Then, he rose to the sky and flew back to Mount Lijing like a shooting star in the sky, ignoring the fox's calls and scrambles, who muttered continuously to itself in disbelief.
"This is too much!"
Upon reaching Mount Lijing, Li Tongya passed through the brilliantly shining Sun Rite Profound Light Formation to the backyard.
Pushing open the stone chamber door, he reverently picked up the mirror. His spiritual sense dived into it right away, and he saw two bright, round talisman seeds.
Lu Jiangxian's divine sense emerged quietly, concealing the three new talisman seeds to avoid arousing Li Tongya's suspicion.
Observing the pale-faced middle-aged man whose lips quivered and hands trembled, Lu Jiangxian remained silent.
After a long while, Li Tongya finally recovered, his complexion suddenly flushing with emotion, tears streaming down his face. Tightening his grip on his sword, he lamented, "Jing'er..."
Tears streamed down the cheeks of the middle-aged man. He let out a cry, his fingers turning white from gripping his sword too tightly. Sobs racked his body and he did not try to control his emotions from being let out freely.
"S-Such a tragedy..."
However, his cautious nature cut him off abruptly. Li Tongya cried for a moment, coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood, and only then did he come back to his senses from the dizzying shock.
He wiped away the blood hastily and returned the mirror to the stone platform.
Bowing deeply, Li Tongya wiped the last of his tears away. He then stepped out of the ancestral hall and took a deep breath, murmuring, "Jing'er... Jing'er... It was our fault! We've misjudged Si Yuanbai and pushed you into the fire pit... I have wronged you, brother."
Clutching his sword tightly, Li Tongya remembered the letters and the cultivation methods Li Chejing sent home every year, along with the five Spirit Stones he had scrimped and saved.
His heart ached even more. He could only console himself softly, "I will remember this vengeance... Jing'er..."