Li Yuexiang kneeled at the front, overcome with sobs. Li Xijun stood silently in the courtyard, the Hanlin Sword at his waist emitting a faint glow. His eyes were rimmed with red, and his gaze lingered on the fragments of shattered jade scattered across the ground.
A flood of thoughts coursed through Li Xijun's mind, one after another, each slipping away before he could grasp them. Amidst the turmoil, the image of Li Xuanxuan's aged face surfaced vividly before his eyes.
The lamps within the ancestral hall flickered dimly. Li Yuexiang's quiet sobs echoed faintly in the still air as a gentle breeze drifted through the hall. Li Xijun's expression grew increasingly complex. He took a step back, then turned and exited the ancestral hall. Outside, the rain continued to fall, its steady rhythm pooling into streams at his feet.
Li Xijun rose into the air, carried by the wind, and landed before the Alchemy Pavilion. With his hands tucked into his sleeves, he stepped onto the stone stairs.
The courtyard was deserted and shrouded in shadows. The only light came from the furnace fire inside the grand hall, casting flickering shadows that danced across the floor. Inside, Li Ximing sat upright before the alchemy furnace, his hands forming seals as he focused intently. He lifted his gaze as Li Xijun entered.
Li Xijun waved a hand, saying nothing. He waited in silence until Li Ximing completed his pill refinement, extinguished the furnace, and tidied up his tools. Only then did he take a step forward.
"The life jade of Second Uncle has shattered," Li Xijun said softly.
Li Ximing, still immersed in his study of the alchemy formula, froze in an instant. He raised his head with disbelief etched across his face, his voice trembling as he cried out, "This… how… what happened?!"
Li Xijun covered his face with one hand and stepped back. As he departed, he heard Li Ximing's distraught voice behind him. Looking up slightly, he saw the lights on Talisman Peak flickering faintly in the distance.
Night had deepened, and Li Xuanxuan had not yet retired for rest. Li Xijun found himself almost unable to face the old man, unable to tell him that his last surviving son had also perished in service to the clan.
"Delay it for now… just delay it… perhaps there is still hope," Li Xijun murmured to himself.
————
Green Pine Island.
Compared to the controlled skirmishes in most areas of the grotto heaven, the fighting on Green Pine Island was chaotic and disorganized. Rogue cultivators clashed in a frenzied melee, killing and plundering one another.
Li Qinghong flew along the island's edge, wielding her spear. Her jade armor shimmered, deflecting the splattering blood, while violet lightning crackled around her, causing the seawater below to surge and rise as white mist.
The sea ahead churned violently. From the void, an object fell—a small, glossy black stone, no larger than a fingernail. It floated silently in the air, immediately drawing the attention of several cultivators.
Li Qinghong's spear erupted with lightning as she stepped forward decisively. With a sweeping motion, she forced back the surrounding cultivators, snatched the newly emerged spirit item, and swiftly stored it in her pouch before retreating.
Having recently advanced to mid-Foundation Establishment Realm, Li Qinghong's strength ranked among the top of the cultivators present. Her repeated successes had already attracted envious gazes. Sensing several individuals considering an alliance against her, she assessed her surroundings carefully.
Though unafraid, Li Qinghong understood the wisdom of withdrawing at the right moment. Guiding her lightning, she retreated steadily until she reached the edge of Green Pine Island's waters. Only then did the figures in the sky begin to thin out.
She had initially partnered with the Han Family of Dongliu Island, planning her moves carefully. Yet the winds of fate were ever-changing. As spiritual energy grew unstable and various spirit items emerged, the group was scattered in an instant, each person scrambling to seize treasures. Before long, she lost sight of the Han Family members.
This area, where the grotto heaven overlapped with the mundane world, was filled with peculiar gray clouds that hindered spiritual senses. Unable to locate the Han Family, Li Qinghong managed to rescue a few junior Han Family disciples within her reach, but after collecting a substantial haul of treasures, she quickly left.
The inability to coordinate with the Han Family was no great loss for Li Qinghong. Being stronger, she was confident in her ability to harvest rewards on her own with the help of her immortal mirror. Without needing to share the spoils, she even found herself enjoying the independence.
Adjusting her hair, she landed on a reef and immersed her spiritual sense into her mirror to assess her surroundings.
Before she could make sense of her environment, a flickering green light emerged from the void. It wavered erratically within her mirror's view before shedding its radiance to reveal an unassuming talisman seed that lingered faintly.
Li Qinghong's grip on her spear tightened, her knuckles turning white. She stood frozen in place for a long time before abruptly taking flight, heading toward the small island where Li Xuanfeng had entered the grotto heaven.
The island was barren, with no signs of life or traces of battle. Li Qinghong stood there briefly, wiping at the corners of her eyes as she thought to herself, If Brother is in trouble, Second Uncle likely isn't faring well either. I don't know what's happening in this grotto heaven, but it's best to wait here for him. If he's injured, I can at least provide some support...
————
As Li Yuanjiao died, his Immortal Foundation dissipated, and the power of the Purple Mansion Realm spirit artifact swept forth. Li Yuanjiao's body gradually faded in Li Xuanfeng's hands, dissolving into rain that fell softly to the ground.
Li Xuanfeng found his hands empty, save for a longsword, a jade bottle, and a simple black-patterned storage pouch.
He attached these three items to his waist. Retrieving a jade box from the storage pouch, he murmured under his breath. The green rain in the sky immediately began to gather, pouring into the box and forming a pool of green-gray spirit water that swirled gently within.
The anomalies of the grotto heaven faded like a fleeting breath. The pale green rain lingered briefly before dissipating, leaving only the dispersing gray clouds.
It was common for a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator's body to return to the heavens and earth upon death. In Jiangnan, it was customary to use the remaining spirit items to represent the deceased in burial rites. Xiao Yongling stood silently nearby, hands clasped behind his back, watching as Li Xuanfeng carefully stowed the jade box.
The blood on Li Xuanfeng's hands had finally stopped flowing. He attached the Qingche Sword to his waist and stood still for a moment, lost in thought. Then, taking flight, he descended to a mountain ridge where Yu Muxian's corpse lay.
Yu Muxian, having perished from the slash, had his body shattered into two halves from the fall. Fine, sharp golden needles, like pine needles, seeped from his shattered meridians, scattering glittering fragments across the ground.
The once otherworldly face of Yu Muxian now resembled a fish carved apart by a thousand blades, exposing raw flesh beneath. His mutilated eyes, still slightly open, reflected lingering confusion. His bloodstained lips hung ajar.
Beside his wrist lay a small white jade buckle, smooth and pristine, untouched by the blood that stained everything else.
Yu Muxian's feathered robe, pierced twice during the battle, had been shredded to tatters. Within the remains of its sleeve lay a pale purple circular object—a hidden trump card that, even in death, he had never managed to use.
Li Xuanfeng waved his sleeve, gathering the shredded feathered robe along with the jade buckle. He then used his mana to retrieve Yu Muxian's storage pouch and probed it with his spiritual sense, finding it tightly sealed.
Removing the robe, Li Xuanfeng saw Yu Muxian's abdomen faintly rising and falling, streaked with blood.
Pop…
A muffled sound echoed from Yu Muxian's abdomen. As the Molten Metal Cave dissipated, several dharma artifacts flew out from his body one after another, bouncing into the pool of blood and wobbling slightly.
The artifacts ranged from the peak of Qi Cultivation Realm to Foundation Establishment Realm, none particularly outstanding. However, the six shields and eight golden shuttles stood out as a matched set of artifacts, making them exceptionally valuable.