Fei Luoya departed, hands clasped behind his back as he rode the wind, leaving the others with a relaxed view of his retreating figure. Li Qinghong had managed to appease him, and with Li Ximing and the other Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators filling the ranks, everyone dispersed, scratching their heads in bewilderment.
Li Qinghong returned to her senses and saw that only Li Wushao remained, his expression more troubled than ever. The wound on his tail stinger had yet to heal, prompting her to ask, "Is your injury serious?"
Li Wushao's hooked tail had been singed by a gray-red flame, leaving a pain that lingered, both in his body and in his spiritual sense. Occasionally, it would flare up, and the discomfort left him looking visibly pained.
Li Qinghong noticed this and inquired out of concern. Li Wushao waved his hand and replied, "Thank you for your concern, my lady... This flame appears to be Merging Fire , which merges body and spirit, harms one's essence, and even burns away lifespan— affecting the mind. All I can do is rest and recuperate."
His face was pale as he declined the medicinal pill Li Qinghong offered him, explaining politely, "Ordinary pills are ineffective against this sacred fire. During my time in the Eastern Sea, several dragons tried to devour me. They cultivate in the Converging Water method, which, like Merging Fire, worsens injuries over time with even the slightest contact. I am used to it by now and have some experience in dealing with it, so there is no need to worry."
With a grim expression, Li Wushao withdrew to heal, leaving Li Qinghong alone to descend on thunder.
"Converging Water... Merging Fire... Supreme Yin and Yang... they really do correspond one-to-one."
Li Qinghong nodded thoughtfully. Many manifestations of Metallic Essence had corresponding fruition attainments with identifiable traits. She wondered about the nature of her own Profound Thunderpool cultivation.
"Profound Thunder...? Or perhaps some kind of Celestial Thunder..."
Shaking these thoughts from her mind, Li Qinghong retreated into seclusion to train.
Half a month passed, and though Fei Luoya's subordinate, Zhu Xian, had yet to arrive, finally a group of travelers appeared in the distant sky. They were dressed in various robes and looked worn from their journey. Leading them was Li Xuanxuan, who was tugging at his beard as he rode the wind from afar.
"Granduncle!"
Li Xijun soared up to greet him, and Li Xuanxuan nodded slightly. Behind him, Chen Donghe and An Zheyan bowed in greeting.
Li Xuanxuan seemed to be in good spirits and said, "This old man went to Great Xiukui Temple and broadened his horizons significantly! That temple oversees seventy-two Dao lineages, preserving all kinds of ancient and shamanic spells, vastly different from modern techniques."
He reached into his storage pouch and drew out a few talismans. They appeared grayish with white inked symbols scrawled across them, and Li Xuanxuan beamed as he explained, "These are ancient spell talismans, infused with water essence to relieve pain and heal ailments... They will be quite useful to pass down to cultivators in the Embryonic Breathing Realm and to treat common folk."
As he spoke, he waved his hand, and the crowd dispersed. Li Xijun guided him down, while Li Xuanxuan continued speaking cheerfully about the talismans in his hand.
Li Xuanxuan's old eyes swept across the mountain, and he glimpsed the white mourning clothes draped everywhere. A momentary joy vanished from his face, which was replaced by shock. His smile disappeared, and he fell silent.
Without a word, he allowed Li Xijun to lead him to the grave, where he sat heavily on the ground, murmuring to himself, "So, it is time... he managed to hold on all these years..."
His aged eyes took in the surrounding area. To his right stood the headstone of his eldest son, Li Yuanxiu, and to his left, his youngest, Li Yuanping. One was new, the other old, and both towered above him. Sitting between them, the gravestones loomed taller than he was.
Li Xijun withdrew quietly, retreating to the edge of the mountain path before glancing back.
The elderly man was slumped between the two graves, his legs spread in the wild grass, clutching one of the talismans in his hand without realizing it, and he was staring blankly at the sky with an expression of utter smallness... and unmistakable grief.
Li Xijun could not bear to look on any longer and lowered his head as he left. Chen Donghe led a person up the path, a man in a brown Daoist robe with a vine whip tied at his waist. Chen Donghe spoke softly, "This is Senior Zhu Xian."
Li Xijun quickly composed himself. The earlier scene still lingered vividly in his memory, but he had no time to dwell on it. Forcing a smile, he greeted Zhu Xian in a soft tone, "Greetings, Senior."
Zhu Xian, one of Fei Luoya's men, had just reached the early Foundation Establishment Realm.
His cultivation lineage was weak, and although he had established an Immortal Foundation, he was still inferior to even Li Wushao before he had gained his hooked tail. The skill he cultivated, Pure Essence Wind , was an ordinary technique formed of Minor Pure Spiritual Qi.
Despite having a higher cultivation level than Li Xijun, Zhu Xian dared not act superior in his presence and spoke softly, "My senior brother has sent me here to coordinate the handover of the territory."
Fei Luoya's subordinates controlled a substantial amount of land. Although some barren areas at the edges were disregarded, the actual area was significantly larger than Eastern Mount Yue. As Li Xijun watched him spread out the map, Zhu Xian remarked, "Over these past ten or so years, my territory here has developed a population of just over fifty thousand..."
Li Xijun immediately felt a pang of surprise. On similar territory, their own Eastern Mount Yue had a population numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Such a small population in Zhu Xian's territory explained the lack of productivity.
Glancing over the map and estimating briefly, he said softly, "For this region, Senior, I propose establishing thirty towns, strategically placed along the land's spirit and earth veins. We can set up one or two immortal mountains and establish a governing system to oversee a population of three hundred thousand."
"There are two large plains here where we can establish major towns... Then, we can begin by setting up villages along the two rivers and gradually move people there."
As Li Xijun explained his plan in detail, Zhu Xian could only nod in agreement, not entirely grasping the pros and cons or understanding much of what was being discussed.
Once Li Xijun had arranged everything from start to finish, there was not much left to negotiate.
Zhu Xian had only one question.
"How much profit can this yield?" he asked.
Li Xijun calculated and answered, "After seven or eight years, annual profits could reach around twenty to thirty spirit stones, with our family taking a forty percent share."
After doing the math, Zhu Xian realized that this would meet Fei Luoya's expectations. He relaxed immediately, waving his hand in agreement, "Then let us proceed with that!"
Li Xijun then called Li Xicheng over for a thorough discussion. Zhu Xian, unable to sit still any longer, rode the wind back to report to Fei Luoya. Once Zhu Xian had left, Li Xijun asked, "Elder Brother, how much does our family have in reserves now?"
Li Xicheng replied, "Currently, we generate an annual income of over sixty spirit stones. After deducting the tribute payments, we can save less than a hundred stones every five years. Adding in the forty stones from the sale of Wanling Blossoms by Han Shizhen of the Han Family, our savings come to about one hundred and thirty spirit stones every five years."
After calculating for a bit, Li Xicheng continued, "For the past decade, we have avoided major expenses, so we have about two hundred stones in reserve after accounting for minor expenditures."
"Two hundred spirit stones—that is more than enough to set up two Qi Cultivation Realm formations... And since we are establishing these for Fei Luoya, we may even be able to extract some resources from his side."
With confidence in his plan, Li Xijun nodded and spoke softly, "Elder Brother, the expansion effort will need your coordination. We could consider moving Eastern Mount Yue westward, transferring the original dozen towns on the eastern side to be under Lijing Office. You have the insight to handle it as you see fit."
"Rest assured."
Li Xicheng's reply was steady and composed, carrying an air of authority. However, as his gaze passed over the white mourning garments, a lingering sorrow remained in his eyes.