Written on the twenty-eighth day in the twelfth lunar month: It's snowing heavily at the lake. Enclosed with this letter are a hundred and twenty-two Spirit Stones. Everything is well at home. Your Great Granduncle Tian has fallen, slain by a devil cultivator.
In light of this, you are required to dress in mourning garb and abstain from alcohol for three months. Study hard in the sect. Focus intently on mastering immortal recipes, engaging in profound discussions, and perfecting the art of cinnabar creation. Should you find yourself in need of additional resources, do not hesitate to write home.
From Father Jiao.
Li Xizhi looked at the small pile of Spirit Stones stacked on the desk before him. He remained silent, reading the letter in his hands over and over again. After poring over it more than ten times, he held the paper tightly, lost in his thoughts.
Li Yuanjiao was never good with words—even his writing was stiff and concise, devoid of emotion. It was almost as if he was unwilling to spare an extra word for his son. Li Xizhi pursed his lips tightly as he read the letter repeatedly, blinking back his tears.
If the delivery of this letter had not been delayed by the Yuan Family, his family actually took less than a month to collect a hundred and twenty Spirit Stones. Li Xizhi dared not wonder how they managed to even achieve this feat. He carefully hid the letter in his pocket and then stepped out of the courtyard to find Yuan Tuan.
"Master, Xizhi is ready to buy the Dawn Colored Qi ," he informed.
"How much more do you need?" Yuan Tuan asked softly, cradling a tabby cat in her arms.
"I have all one hundred and twenty Spirit Stones," he replied.
Upon hearing this, Yuan Tuan raised an eyebrow and remarked, "Li Yuanjiao is really a problem solver... I didn't expect him to be able to scrape together all one hundred and twenty Spirit Stones! Your family has only risen to prominence not long ago... This must have been quite a challenge for them."
Her calm voice took on a somewhat mournful tone as she murmured, "If only my family had remained as united and harmonious sixty years ago... Perhaps I wouldn’t feel so aggrieved."
Taking the Spirit Stones from Li Xizhi, Yuan Tuan rode the wind away without further delay. An hour later, she returned to the peak with a frosty demeanor, holding a small jade vial in her hand.
"Here's the Dawn-Colored Qi . I spent a long time searching in Xieqi Peak's vault; this bottle is the purest, extracted over eighteen years ago through the proper qi gathering method. You can tell by its red and gold hues."
Her aura undulated and she had a faint green light flowing around her, probably from a recent conflict with another cultivator on Xieqi Peak. Her expression remained frosty as she continued, "The people on Xieqi Peak are becoming more presumptuous! I have already tolerated their steep demand of a hundred and twenty Spirit Stones, yet they dared to try and deceive me... They mistake my kindness within the sect for weakness, thinking I can be easily bullied!"
Li Xizhi noted her distinctly icy demeanor, and with a respectful bow, he first expressed his gratitude before responding.
"Xieqi Peak is among the direct lineages... it was only natural for them to make things hard for us. To think that they dare to treat Master this way when you hail from a prestigious clan from the Mushroom Forest Plain! If I were to handle this alone, I doubt I'd even make it up the Xieqi Peak."
Yuan Tuan nodded thoughtfully, then, as if struck by a sudden thought, she smiled gently and asked, "Xizhi, you're seventeen this year, aren’t you? Yet, you haven't found yourself a wife and started your family... It's unwise to delay such matters for too long. Have you taken a liking to any girl from the peaks? If so, I'll approach her on your behalf."
The abrupt change in topic took Li Xizhi by surprise, momentarily freezing him to the spot. Before he could articulate his objections however, realization dawned upon him.
I am my father’s only son, and Azure Pond is a perilous place. Should anything befall me, would it not leave my father without an heir? It seems selfish of me to reject this suggestion...
With this thought in mind, he could only reply somewhat glumly, "I'll leave it to you, Master."
Yuan Tuan nodded as if she had already anticipated this response, then said warmly, "Matching you with a member of the Qi Cultivation Realm family could indeed be tricky, especially given your family’s recent mourning. Engaging with an unknown clan brings uncertainty about their intentions... Perhaps I should approach the Yang Family at Imperial Cloud Peak on your behalf."
This suggestion was unexpected, as Li Xizhi was expecting her to suggest someone from the Yuan Family. Nevertheless, he bowed his head in silent agreement.
Yuan Tuan continued, "In the past, the King of Yue formed marriage ties with many clans, and although the old system has dissolved, transforming Azure Pond into its current form, political marriages still occur occasionally, following old precedents."
"Thank you for your consideration, Master," Li Xizhi said respectfully while Yuan Tuan chuckled.
"Back in the day, Yang Tianya used that jade seal to muster his forces through Lixia Road and quell uprisings on my Mushroom Forest Plain. The Yuan Family has maintained ties with the Yang Family since then, so arranging this should be easy."[1]
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The families on the eastern shore were diverse, comprising dozens of small families. Some were bound to the sect through deep-seated alliances or marital bonds, while others were vassals of the Xiao Family in their ore mining ventures.
These families regularly paid tributes to the neighboring clans. However, the situation shifted when the marketplace on Cloud Crowned Peak was destroyed, leading to a decline in the Xiao Family’s influence in the west. Following the downfall of the Yu Family, these eastern shore families finally found themselves able to lead somewhat easier lives.
However, the arrival of the devil plague shattered their newfound tranquility abruptly, thrusting all the families on the eastern shore back into a nightmarish reality. Clouds of malevolent qi billowed across the land as blood flowed freely in the streets, as well as being accompanied by cries and howls of despair.
In the Rui Residence...
Li Qinghong's jade armor glinted and glowed warmly. Her spear discharged dazzling purple electricity, striking down a fleeing devil cultivator at the second stage of the Embryonic Breathing Realm. Her weapon moved like a dragon, piercing through her foe effortlessly.
The purple lightning obliterated the devil cultivator swiftly, and with a smooth movement of her spear, Li Qinghong plucked a storage pouch from the gory remnants.
With a graceful flick, the pouch fell into her waiting hand. Turning, Li Qinghong saw her elder brother, Li Yuanjiao, grinning widely.
However, Li Xuanxuan stared at the corpse with a pained look on his face as he lamented, "That devil cultivator wore robes made of Purple Cloud Brocade... Qinghong's electricity has ruined it completely and we can't use it anymore..."
Li Qinghong lowered her weapon and suppressed a giggle as she said, "All right, all right... It's my fault."
Li Yuanjiao waved off Rui Qiongcuo, the head of the Rui Family, who was bursting with gratitude and urged his group onward.
The external cultivators were not only weak but also required Li Yuanjiao to share any spoils with them and provide compensation for casualties. Hence, Li Yuanjiao chose to bring only his own family members into battle—himself, at the eighth heavenly layer of Qi Cultivation Realm; Li Qinghong and Li Xuanxuan, both at the seventh heavenly layer; and the old monkey wielding a jade mortar and pestle, at the fifth heavenly layer. Together, they swept through the region, clearing it of the devil cultivators.
The devil cultivators they faced were not particularly strong, yet Li Yuanjiao remained cautious and maintained tight control over his group to prevent ambushes, opting for thoroughness over efficiency.
However, as they ventured deeper, they encountered increasingly formidable devil cultivators. Among these foes were local cultivators who had turned, now practicing the Blood Dharma Manual . While these enemies were not overwhelmingly strong, their expertise in evasion proved troublesome, significantly slowing the Li Family's progress through the area.
1. Yang Tianya was mentioned briefly in Chapter 44. Nothing much is known about him, except that he was a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Realm who led a brutal campaign to the east against Mount Yue. ☜