Lu Sisi...
Of course Li Xizhi had heard that name, the internal and external family histories both have records of this man. After the elder finished speaking, Li Xizhi silently pondered, Ancient matters from long ago... Why bring them up again? Things with no meaning now... What exactly is Yu Yuwei trying to say...
Yu Yuwei paused for a moment, then steered the conversation back with a smile, saying, “Just idle chatter... Back then, our families were closely allied, and my family was united. Times have changed, we’ve lost contact with the Ning Family. I merely asked when I heard that Moon Lake Peak had fallen into their hands.”
He cupped his hands respectfully, then slowly withdrew, finding a small courtyard to cultivate in.
Li Xizhi listened with a thoughtful expression. He also found a quiet courtyard and sat down peacefully, thinking, Could he be warning me that the Ning Family is untrustworthy... Matters between the two families hinge on uncle. I have a decent grasp of the situation. This kind of reminder, it’s his way of extending a subtle courtesy.
Thinking it through, with the deaths of Li Tongya and Li Yuanjiao, ties between the Li and Xiao Families had grown distant. As long as the Li Family faithfully guarded the west for them, there was little interaction. The Xiao Family had since sealed their mountain and grown ever more reclusive.
They were once close with the Yuan Family, but that too grew distant and eventually broke off. The Li Family then gravitated toward the Ning and Yang Families, their political alignment had shifted over the course of a century, no more.
Such is the way of the world... closeness and distance eventually turn to separation. If I hadn’t personally handled the Qingsui Peak affair, we might have broken with the Yuan Family outright.
Love and enmity fade in an instant. Human sentiment is hollow, like standing atop a needle’s point.
A faint gloom rose in his heart as he reflected, The Ning Family has long been loyal to the Chi Family. For hundreds of years, they likely had relations with families like mine and the Yu Family. Yet now, all that has vanished? Would the Chi Family simply sit by? Their deep resentment toward the Li Family... it probably ties back to this.
With Yuan Su's death, the Ning Family has grown weaker, and now they’re being pushed into conflict with my family... It’s not a good look. Things are still manageable for now, but if the situation becomes urgent... something is bound to happen.
The stars and moon had risen in the sky. Li Xizhi sat upright in the courtyard, dust thick on the windowsill. His eyes shone like stars, and one hand rested on the stone table as he murmured inwardly, “It all hinges on uncle. Ning Heyuan is two-faced, and Ning Hejing is a trusted agent of the Chi Family. When there’s no harmony in interests and no depth in sentiment, how can anything last?”
———
Xu State, Mount Yan Pass.
Traveling north from Moongaze Lake into Xu State and crossing the Great River, one would reach Mount Yan Pass. This place was already close to the Golden Tang Gate. Looking up, one could faintly glimpse golden light atop the distant peaks.
Of course, the Golden Tang Gate was now tightly sealed, nothing remained but Mount Golden Tang itself. Li Qinghong flew out of the pass on a bolt of thunder-light, seeing only endless golden light, while roiling devil smoke surged from the distant horizon.
Directly across from Mount Yan Pass were the forces of the Dao of Great Desire and various devil cultivators. The land before the pass was vast, with a long defensive line. For months now, the devil cultivators had been growing restless, this was one of the most fiercely contested fronts in all of Azure Pond Sect’s defenses.
She had been stationed here for several months, and the probing skirmishes were growing increasingly frequent. Kongheng and Li Wushao had been reassigned elsewhere and were no longer at her side.
Among the cultivators under Li Qinghong’s command, only Li Minggong and Chen Mufeng were from her own household. An old acquaintance was also present, Fei Tongyu of the Fei Family, who, despite being the family head, had been dispatched here and now stood quietly in a corner. The rest were a mix of cultivators from various families.
This arrangement had only one purpose, to prevent cowardice or inaction in the face of danger. The great families had been deliberately mixed across the defensive lines, forcing every segment to support one another without bias.
Li Qinghong closely observed the devil smoke to the north, it was far more massive than previous scouting waves. She took out the jade ring issued to her and saw it glowing entirely red, with only a few dim white spots.
“Take your positions in the formation. Prepare to engage!” She gave a command and pulled a spear from her storage pouch. The other cultivators hurried into formation. As she focused her gaze, a dozen figures emerged from the black smoke.
The Qi Cultivation Realm devil cultivators were of no concern. Her attention was fixed on the pair leading them. The pair was husband and wife, both at Foundation Establishment Realm. The woman was gentle and charming, her aura clearly at the early stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm. She held a delicate brocade fan. The man appeared cold and aloof, wielding a blade and possessing slightly stronger cultivation. He was likely at the mid-stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
The couple led their devils to the formation’s edge. The woman flicked her snow-white robe and said with a smile, “Daoist ahead... may I ask which branch of Azure Pond Sect you hail from?”
Li Qinghong stared at them coldly without replying. The couple’s subordinates weren’t idle, they cast spell arts at the formation. Soon, black-clad figures emerged at their feet, devil cultivators of the Embryonic Breathing Realm, who took quite some time to reach the frontline.
Though outnumbered, the defenders within the formation counterattacked under its protection. Thunderous blasts erupted. The devil cultivator couple noticed no response from Foundation Establishment Realm defenders and thought to themselves, Could it be that no Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators are currently inside the formation...
They immediately launched their dharma artifacts. Li Qinghong couldn’t allow them to attack unchecked, so she rose into the air and flew out from the formation.
When the devil woman saw her appearance, her eyes lit up, and she withdrew her artifact, calling out, “Daoist! Daoist, please wait!”
Li Qinghong flew using only mana, not revealing her foundation or true cultivation. She replied coldly, “Who’s your fellow Daoist!”
The man simply stared at her coldly, while the gentle devil woman laughed lightly and spoke, “In the end, we’re all comrades of the devil Dao... Though our Dao lineages differ, the Purple Mansion and Golden Core Daos once belonged to devil cultivators as well... Why can’t we address each other as Daoists?”
Li Qinghong angled her spear, thunder gathering silently within its shaft. She gave no reply. The woman quickly spoke, “Daoist... you and I are both merely pawns. Why escalate things? Just send out half the cultivators in your formation, and I’ll allow you to kill half my little devils. We’ll report accordingly, and call it even...”
Li Qinghong didn’t believe a word. She merely laughed coldly, “Send them out? You wish!”
The gentle woman wasn’t surprised. She exchanged a glance with her husband and said helplessly, “Daoist, how heartless! Why must things always come to violence...”
Li Qinghong smiled brightly and replied, “The ones in my formation are my kin and comrades. I can’t trade them like that. But how about I offer a spirit item in exchange for one of your devil heads?”
“Oh?” The gentle woman and her husband exchanged a glance, thinking to themselves, Even if we can’t lure her into weakening the formation, there’s no harm in at least seeing the treasure...