As soon as Li Tongya returned to Lijing Village with the River Crocodile in tow, a few villagers came over to help. The Li Family had been preparing for the sacrificial ritual ceremony for months. Most arrangements were already in place and the ceremony could begin at the order of the Li Family’s direct lineage.
All of the Li Family members had arrived. The ones from the major sect stood on the round platform, while those from the minor sect stood below the platform, and those from the branches kneeled on the ground around the platform.
Li Xiangping, the current head of the Li Family, stood before the altar with Li Tongya right behind him. Along with Li Chejing, who was currently away at the southern border, these three were the second generation of the main family.
Standing on the step of the platform were Li Xuanxuan the clan chief, along with Li Xuanfeng and Li Xuanling behind him.
The ceremony unfolded through its initial, lengthy processes until Li Xiangping offered a stick of incense on the altar. He then invoked the Sacrificial Ritual Method to communicate with the mirror, and Lu Jiangxian slowly stirred awake.
"The Li Family of Lijing offers respect along with fine delicacies and wine with unwavering devotion year upon year. Living at the northern vein of Mount Li, we sow in the spring, nurture the wheat through summer, harvest in autumn, and exterminate demons in winter to safeguard the fields. Observing the three yuan festivals and six regular festivals, we maintain reverence, ensuring to pay timely respects... Through the smoke of our offerings and the blood of our sacrifice, we call upon the gods, seeking their blessings.”
Upon completing the recitation, Li Xiangping advanced to the center of the round platform. With deliberate precision, he plunged the ritual knife into the River Crocodile’s brain.
The demonic creature, already weakened with its limbs and meridians restrained by the River True Essence, met its end instantly.
Guided by Lu Jiangxian’s divine sense, the essence qi of the River Crocodile, along with its dispersing soul, flowed out from the wound made by the ritual knife like a stream of smoke.
Unseen by human eyes, a faint golden mist rose from each person, converging into the smoke like swallows returning to their nests, tinting it a soft golden hue.
The smoke rose briefly before dissipating into countless specks of gray light, invisible to the naked eye, drifting toward Mount Lijing.
Lu Jiangxian amassed all the qi and condensed it into a gray talisman. As he prepared to bestow it, an overpowering pull sought to connect with him across vast distances.
The memory of the old Daoist’s jade pendant momentarily flashed through his mind, instilling a swift surge of fear in Lu Jiangxian. He promptly retracted his aura, cutting off the burgeoning connection, and withdrew his divine sense back into the mirror.
The lingering aura gradually descended. After lingering for a moment, it finally and reluctantly receded.
————
The Golden Feather Sect was one of the three sects in the Yue State, alongside the Azure Pond and Yue Cultivating Sect.
Its disciples were renowned for their weapon mastery, and the main peak of the sect was named the Golden Feather Peak. Here, a talisman, believed to contain the essence of six Supreme Yang Sun Essence, shone brightly, warding off evil spirits.
There was a cave dwelling at the summit of the Golden Feather Peak, where cultivators of the Purple Mansion Realm were often seen secluding themselves in. Since wisps of vivid purple smoke were frequently seen wafting out from it, the disciples of the sect called that place the Purple Smoke Cave.
At this moment, the Purple Smoke Cave was chaotic. Three cultivators of the Purple Mansion Realms were struggling to hold a crystal clear fragment, the size of a quail egg, with dark chains. The ground was littered with glowing fragments of shattered furnaces and dharma artifacts.
“Why is the mirror shard suddenly going berserk?!”
The crystal clear fragment collided against the dharma formation a few times, causing the expression of the cultivator to darken as he grumbled, “It seems we might not be able to gather the Profound Light Qi this time.”
Another cultivator mumbled to himself, “Could it be that the immortal mirror has appeared?! No, that’s highly unlikely. The three sects and seven gates have scoured the Yue State without finding any sign of it. Could it have moved beyond our borders?”
“What did the Azure Pond Sect say?”
As soon as the cultivator asked the question, the first cultivator to speak erupted in anger.
“The entire sect is too occupied with seeking a spirit remedy to extend the lifespan of Chi Wei. They hardly have time for this!”
“Never mind, then.” The cultivator who previously asked the question shook his head, looking rather disappointed.
“Although Chi Wei is a nasty person, no one can deny that he’s a great genius...” he commented.
The bad-tempered cultivator spat on the ground and yelled, “I’d rather he die soon! That nasty man deserves it!”
The third cultivator chuckled and teasingly commented, “Junior Brother, our Golden Feather Sect is no better. There’s no need for such harsh judgment.”
The bad-tempered cultivator fell silent, pondering for a moment before finally letting out a deep sigh.
————
“The ability to enhance one’s cultivation, sharpen the six senses, strengthen bones, improve innate abilities, and remedy various deficiencies... A good talisman qi indeed.”
Lu Jiangxian mused as a gray talisman emerged from the mirror. Guided by Lu Jiangxian’s divine sense, it approached Li Xiangping, making a round around him before flying toward his Shenyang Mansion.
All of a sudden, Lu Jiangxian’s vision was filled with several rows of big characters.
The first row of words appeared in dark crimson, exuding an overwhelming aura— Strength to Move Mountains.
Beneath it was a paler gray script that coiled like a serpent— Prolong Life and Increase Longevity .
The final row of writing appeared neatly in vivid green— Evade Death, Prolong Life .
Lu Jiangxian instantly understood that he was being given a choice to select the ability of the gray talisman.
After a moment of contemplation, considering Li Xiangping’s role as the head of the Li Family, he chose Evade Death, Prolong Life .
This ability of the talisman qi could only be selected for people who had received a Profound Pearl Talisman Seed. For ordinary individuals, it only served to enhance their cultivation and root bone.
Li Xiangping was taken aback, feeling his energy fluctuating wildly. Just a year prior, he had been at the fifth stage of the Embryonic Breathing Realm. Yet now, he found himself at the peak of the Embryonic Breathing Realm.
Suddenly, a row of pale green words that read— Evade Death and Prolong Life— appeared in his mind.
Before he could fully process this, Li Tongya, observing with concern, signaled for the ceremony to conclude. Li Xiangping then closed his eyes and began to contemplate deeply.
As the assembly dispersed, he turned to Li Tongya and said, “Let’s talk once we’re back on the mountain.”
The two quickly ascended the mountain. As Li Tongya extended his spiritual sense, he immediately noticed that Li Xiangping’s cultivation had reached the peak of the Embryonic Breathing Realm.
“Is it due to the talisman qi?” he asked.
Li Xiangping confirmed with a nod and shared his recent experience with Li Tongya, which left both of them pleasantly surprised.
However, their joy was short-lived as they were soon informed by clan soldiers of Mount Yue’s movements to the east.
In recent years, with Jianixi’s relentless push eastward, resulting in the disbandment of many tribes, the influx of Mount Yue refugees to the east had increased. Sometimes they numbered in the dozens, other times in the hundreds.
To safeguard the village from these incursions, Li Xiangping had strategically positioned clan soldiers in the west of Lichuankou.
“What’s the current situation?” Li Xiangping asked.
“Rumors suggest that hundreds are assailing the military formation,” the clan soldier reported.
With the population under the Li Family’s protection swelling to over fifteen thousand, including two thousand Mount Yue refugees, the family’s military force had grown to a formidable thousand soldiers.
“Let’s head to Lichuankou,” Li Xiangping decided, sharing a knowing look with Li Tongya before they both swiftly made their way down the mountain.