Before Li Yuanjiao could respond to Li Xizhi, Li Yuanping smiled cordially and said, "Come, come... have a seat first. We'll wait for those two brothers from the second lineage. They're still on the mountain and will arrive shortly."
"Yes," Li Xizhi nodded, releasing Li Ximing's hand to sit beside Li Yuanjiao, who nodded at his greeting and then took a sip of tea.
The two brothers Li Yuanping referred to were naturally those from the generation of Xi and Yue from Li Tongya's lineage—Li Xicheng and Li Xijun.
Of Li Yuanyun's many heirs, only these two sons born with his primary wife had spiritual orifices and were cultivating in the mountains.
As soon as Li Yuanping had finished speaking, two people entered the hall. The first to enter was a normal-looking young man who was about sixteen or seventeen. Clad in a gray robe and carrying a spear on his back, he cupped his fist respectfully and said, "Xicheng greets the two elders."
After Li Yuanping and Li Yuanjiao responded, Li Xizhi lit up with a smile and said, "Brother Cheng!"
Li Xicheng's eyes lit up at the sight of Li Xizhi too, but in front of the elders, he hesitated to say more and merely nodded silently.
Beside him, a boy of six or seven with a handsome face raised an eyebrow and spoke softly, "Jun'er greets the elders and Brother Xiji."
Li Xijun was the youngest son of Li Yuanyun, recently confirmed to possess a spiritual orifice. He had spent only a little time with Li Yuanyun before he was sent to the marketplace at the age of one. Growing up in the mountains, he had a much cheerier disposition.
His elder brother, Li Xicheng, who had grown up by Li Yuanyun's side, was more reserved. He stood silently in the courtyard.
Li Yuanjiao observed them attentively, his eyes lingering a little longer on Li Xijun before saying, "Jun'er, you're really good-looking!"
Li Xijun appeared to be accustomed to such compliments. He merely smiled courteously and replied in a childish voice, "Thank you for the compliment, Second Uncle!"
Li Yuanping, who had also been staring at the boy, agreed with a chuckle.
"You're right... This child has the looks of an immortal cultivator. They said he was destined for cultivation even before his spiritual orifice was even confirmed, and now that he has been assessed, it's revealed that he indeed has a spiritual orifice."
Li Yuanjiao nodded with a smile as he observed the child's demeanor, his spirits noticeably lifted.
"I've gathered you juniors here this time to discuss some important matters," he began.
Setting down his tea bowl, Li Yuanjiao continued solemnly, "For many years, rumors have circulated about the demise of the Qingsui Sword Immortal. All the families on the lake have known about it by now. As direct descendants of the Li Family, you must know about this."
At the mention of Qingsui Sword Immortal, the juniors looked up, their expressions grave. Clearly, they had heard similar rumors from their parents.
Li Yuanjiao nodded and confirmed, "The Sword Immortal has indeed passed away..."
The atmosphere grew somber as heads bowed in acknowledgment. Li Yuanjiao said softly, "News of the Sword Immortal's passing has circulated throughout the sect. With our loss of support within the sect and lack of access to information, we only fear vulnerability to exploitation. Hence, I've requested the Qingsui Peak Master to come... Li Xizhi!"
"I'm here," Li Xizhi responded respectfully, stepping forward.
Li Yuanjiao continued, "The clan wishes for you to join the sect and train under Qingsui Peak. Become the pillar of protection for our family, and establish your immortal foundation... Do you understand?"
Li Xizhi kneeled and pressed his forehead on the ground, replying, "Xizhi will not disappoint the trust placed in him."
Meanwhile, Li Xijun and Li Ximing, still too young to grasp the gravity of the situation, felt a tinge of sadness at the prospect of being separated from Li Xizhi for many years.
Li Xicheng, who had no access to the Internal History of their clan, only knew that Azure Pond was the upper sect. He smiled reassuringly at his younger brother.
"Good," Li Yuanjiao said with a glint in his eyes as he helped Li Xizhi to his feet before addressing the group softly, "There is another matter... With the growing number of juniors in the clan, we must establish clearer distinctions among our descendants. In addition to using generation names, we need additional methods to differentiate everyone and avoid misunderstandings."
He continued explaining, "Starting from your generation, those from Changhu's lineage will bear names with either the roof (宀) or the sun (日) radicals, while those of Tongya's branch will use the mountain (山) or the walk (辶) radicals. Xiangping's branch will adopt the work (工) or metal (钅) radicals, while Chejing's branch will use the water (氵) or grain (禾) radicals.[Ref]Translator's Note: I was debating whether I should omit this part from the translation or keep it. Ultimately, I kept it for additional information and tried my best to explain it in a way that made sense in English. Radicals are what we could think of as the base component of each Chinese character, and they are usually the leftmost part of the character. Sometimes, they could be at the top too.[/ref]
Li Yuanjiao stood, folding his arms, and added, "This was what our eldest brother had mentioned. We have all kept his word in mind and named all of you accordingly."
Being from Li Tongya's lineage, the final character of Li Xicheng and Li Xijun's names bore the mountain radical, while Li Ximing, as the eldest of the first lineage, used the sun radical.
Li Yuanjiao, having been adopted to Li Chejing's lineage, picked a character with the water radical for Li Xizhi.
Now that the juniors finally understood the significance of the last characters in their names, they acknowledged the new naming rule.
Li Yuanjiao nodded in satisfaction then said, "One more thing, follow me up the mountain."
————
"The four brothers have perished..." Lu Jiangxian sighed deeply.
The white light in his hand gradually dissipated as he finished assimilating the power of the Profound Pearl Talisman Seed.
Perhaps due to Li Tongya's scattered cultivation, the feedback from the Profound Pearl Talisman Seed he received was not as potent as Li Chejing's.
While it had satisfied Lu Jiangxian, he desired more.
"The power of the Supreme Yin Profound Light has grown, now capable of obliterating a peak Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator... After being struck by this Profound Light, survival is impossible unless they possess a special immortal foundation."
He grabbed into the void and retrieved five white pills out of thin air.
"With Li Xuanling dead, the remaining four Profound Pearl Talisman Seeds currently outside the mirror now are in Li Xuanxuan, Li Xuanfeng, Li Yuanjiao, and Li Qinghong..."
The number of Profound Pearl Talisman Seeds did not increase. According to Lu Jiangxian's estimation, he could probably only generate three more when the mirror had recovered its strength to the Purple Mansion Realm.
"On the contrary, my perception has expanded significantly..."
Lu Jiangxian's visual senses now encompassed half of the Yue and Xu States. Apart from a few Purple Mansion Realm cultivator's mountain gates that he dared not probe, the secular world and small clans were within his view.
It was regrettable that his visual sense could not penetrate large formations like his divine sense. Otherwise, he would thoroughly examine the ancestral secrets of various clans.
The coverage of his divine sense now extended across the entire Moongaze Lake, including the Yu and Fei families, among others...
"Well, it's not stealing if it's presented right before my eyes!" he mumbled to himself.
He closed the Long Brocade Heart Sutra in his hand and looked at the other glowing points on the jade table— Jade True Dao Unification Technique Manual, Aged Courtly Path Scripture, Refining Basic Dharma Artifacts On Lake, Talisman Essence Decree , and Introduction to Alchemy...
"That's a lot of legacies!"
The Yu Family had once seized the Jiang Family's legacies years ago, inheriting numerous books, records, as well as alchemy and dharma artifact recipes.
Unfortunately, there were not many high-grade cultivation techniques. The Li Family already had the Grade Four Aged Courtly Path Scripture, which could serve even a Purple Mansion Realm cultivator well if in their possession.
As outer disciples of the immortal mansion, the Jiang Family only possessed a few high-grade cultivation techniques. Aside from the Grade Three technique manual known as Gazing Sea Chasing Mountains , which could build an immortal foundation known as Fool's Mountain Chase , the rest were mostly Grade Three cultivation techniques of similar metallic essence.
It was clear that the Moonlight Origin Mansion had left the cultivation paths of the Purple Mansion Realm for its outer disciples, and the families around the lake had five or six cultivation techniques that could be useful up to the Foundational Establishment Realm.
Compared to the Embryonic Breathing Realm cultivators in the Mushroom Forest Plain who were forced to use common Grade One cultivation techniques, these families were indeed lucky.
"Seems like I, Lu Jiangxian, was a nice man in my previous life..." He chuckled self-deprecatingly as he organized the Dao lineages.
" Jade Court General, Azure Jade Cliff, True Dao Unification, Patterned Brocade ...
Just missing one more..." he mumbled.
Lu Jiangxian pondered for a moment, contemplating the deaths of both Yu Yufeng and Fei Wangbai.
Daoist Master Shangyuan is probably the next person to break through to the Golden Core Realm... The metallic essence he sought after is likely this one.
With these thoughts, Lu Jiangxian set aside all these cultivation techniques which he had deemed as dangerous, then picked out three artifact forging, one alchemy, and six talisman secret techniques.
He also picked out two from the remaining Grade Three cultivation techniques—the Fei Family's Cold Pine Dew Snow Technique Manual and the Yu Family's Gazing Sea Chasing Mountains Technique Manual.
"I'll find an excuse to give out these items," he continued mumbling to himself.
After pondering for a while, he mused to himself, "Since the Li Family no longer has a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, the talisman seeds from the mirror should also be decreased from nine to six to match the Li Family's speculations."
Lu Jiangxian struggled briefly. After all, the talisman seeds had gradually increased in number over time, deliberately timed by Lu Jiangxian to coincide with Li Tongya's increased strength.
At that time, Li Tongya had assumed that the talisman seeds increased with the holder's strength. Now that Li Yuanjiao wielded the mirror, the number of talisman seeds should logically also change accordingly.
Lu Jiangxian mulled over this briefly before releasing five talisman seeds in the end, inwardly coming to his own conclusion.
"Never mind. Li Yuanjiao is a smart man, he'll likely find an explanation for this himself."