The message brought by the Si Family was at least a day old, meaning the Azure Pond Sect had taken action the day after, or even the same day, that Li Xuanfeng had slaughtered the Buddhist cultivators. In a world without transmission spells, that kind of speed was terrifying.
"Chi Zhiyun might have made arrangements." Li Xijun speculated briefly, then shook his head, "No matter what he planned, he couldn't have predicted things would deteriorate to this level... The last Purple Mansion Realm battle was at Moongaze Lake four hundred years ago."
The aunt and nephew returned to the peak, where Li Ximing was reading a letter. His brows had relaxed slightly. He placed the letter on the table and said, "Aunt, the Fei Family has arrived in full and is waiting respectfully at the riverside, requesting an audience."
"Hmm?"
Li Ximing’s words made Li Qinghong slightly raise an eyebrow. Li Ximing straightened his Daoist robe and met Li Xijun’s inquiring gaze, then nodded. "Almost certainly."
The three of them flew out together, and sure enough, they saw a densely packed crowd on the lakeshore. As the three descended from the sky, men and women alike lowered their heads and fell to their knees en masse with a rustle.
Li Qinghong landed at the front and saw an elderly man leading the group. His face was covered in ghastly bruises of a purplish hue, and his left hand was missing three fingers.
Upon seeing the trio, he bowed deeply and said respectfully, "Fei Tongyu of the Fei Family greets the three lords!"
Li Qinghong naturally recognized him from when she had trained in spear techniques at the Fei Family in her youth. Back then, Fei Tongyu had been elegant and refined. When she visited again after she had broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, he had already begun to show signs of age.
Now, however, he looked startlingly horrific. Li Qinghong was taken aback but quickly understood the source of his injuries. Though he was indecisive, he had always been devoted to the family. Naturally, he wouldn’t have hidden behind the younger generation; he must have gone north himself.
Fei Tongyu bowed deeply, lifting his scar-covered hands high. He held up a jade plate that displayed a green seal and a storage pouch.
He said respectfully, "The Fei Family of Northern Shore Glacial Cloud, humbly prays for your grace and earnestly requests to become a subordinate household."
As Fei Tongyu knelt, the crowd behind him echoed his words loudly and in unison, "We humbly request to become a subordinate household!"
The shoreline erupted with thunderous voices, shaking the waters of the lake into turbulent waves. Members of other families looked up as three figures floated in the sky, Lightning flashed around the central figure, radiant brilliance to the left, and drifting frost and snow to the right.
Someone murmured softly, "Truly the bearing of an esteemed family."
"The Li Family's Foundation Establishment Realm strength has already surpassed the Jiang Family of old. This lake ought to bear the Li name now."
————
Within the mirror.
"Three strands of Metallic Essence; Mount Changhuai took one, Zipei took one, and one escaped."
The world remained calm, but a great battle raged on in Anhuai Heaven. Lu Jiangxian stood aside, watching everything clearly.
Mount Changhuai had dispatched four Purple Mansion Realm cultivators. As the strongest faction, they rightfully took one portion. The three Buddhist cultivators and Mahas had tied each other up in battle, giving Zhelu a chance to seize it. But as Zhelu emerged from Anhuai Heaven, he was promptly ambushed by Zipei, who had been lying in wait.
Zhelu clearly could have escaped with the Metallic Essence, but Anhuai Heaven’s formation was designed to target Buddhist cultivators. Getting in was already troublesome, and getting out even worse. Zhelu was then besieged by the other two Mahas and, caught between advance and retreat, had no choice but to surrender the treasure.
The final portion of Metallic Essence became the most fiercely contested among the Purple Mansion Realm cultivators. However, through a twist of fate, it ended up in the hands of Daoist Master Chengyan of Changxiao Gate, who was only in the early Purple Mansion Realm.
Though he had stepped into the Purple Mansion Realm years ago, he had made no progress since, spending his days in seclusion cultivating a single divine ability. How could he dare hold onto this hot potato? There was no joy in his heart, only fear...
Though his family's Daoist Master Changxiao was formidable, he had not come to Anhuai Heaven. Chengyan himself was not from some prestigious immortal family. When he saw the Purple Mansion Realm cultivators closing in on him, he gritted his teeth and sent the Metallic Essence beyond Anhuai Heaven. He would rid himself of the hot potato, and hope that Changxiao might be waiting in the Outer Heavens.
The moment he did this, the other Purple Mansion Realm cultivators began cursing aloud, and they were forced to rush to the Outer Heavens to fight for it. Everyone except for the Purple Mansion Realm Daoist Master Hengli of the Hengzhu Dao Gate, who turned back to chase after Chengyan, swarmed outward.
Someone even cursed bitterly, "This is a disaster!"
But Chengyan had calculated correctly, Changxiao was indeed waiting in the Outer Heavens. Overjoyed at the sight, he was about to unleash his divine ability when suddenly a black alms bowl flew across and blocked him.
The Metallic Essence moved with such incredible speed that Changxiao missed it by a hair’s breadth. Once the True Essence, the Metallic Essence left Anhuai Heaven, it began to transform. At first, it was just a treasure being pursued by Purple Mansion Realm cultivators. After a few seconds, it expanded within the great void, turning into a radiant, shining golden stone.
Half of the Purple Mansion Realm cultivators turned and fled immediately. The rest, either confident in their strength or clinging to hope, refused to give up. After another dozen seconds, the Metallic Essence transformed into a stone bird. It turned around and absorbed one early stage Purple Mansion Realm Daoist Master. Already spent and drained of his divine powers, the Daoist Master was caught off guard and devoured in a single gulp.
And so, the Purple Mansion Realm cultivators could only scatter in all directions, curses against Daoist Master Chengyan erupting from all sides. Meanwhile, the stone bird, having developed a taste for flesh, turned around, laughing wildly, to chase and devour more people. Fortunately, the creature was clearly unnatural. After licking its beak in lingering hunger, it soon vanished.
Lu Jiangxian thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle. Once he returned to the mirror world and fell into deep thought, he took out the Bright Radiant Yang Imperial Union Essence and pondered silently, If this thing were to descend into the world, it would surely be something terrifying... That Daoist Master Chengyan of Changxiao Gate probably won’t dare show his face for the next hundred years.
Standing among the clouds, he suddenly raised his head as if sensing something. The layered mists parted in the sky, and a sparkling stream of light flew toward him from afar, coming to rest before him.
The talisman seed glimmered faintly with golden light. He picked it up, finding the mana within it to be extremely thin. It was barely at Qi Cultivation Realm.
"Xuanfeng..."
Li Xuanfeng had expended nearly all his cultivation, leaving little behind. Yet in contrast, the talisman seed was filled with an incredibly dense and alluring store of fate, all tightly bound within it.
When Li Xuanfeng had taken the Human Pill, the talisman seed should have extracted all his cultivation and detached itself. But Lu Jiangxian had forcibly suppressed it. During the battle on the riverbank, when Li Xuanfeng drew on mana, it was Lu Jiangxian again who restrained the talisman seed, allowing him to accomplish his task and then retreat.
Upon Li Xuanfeng’s death, his fate should have dissipated with him. But talisman seeds had never followed reason. They wouldn’t yield what they didn’t want to, yet when taking, they took everything. It had consumed all his fate and brought it back into the mirror.
Lu Jiangxian silently gazed at the talisman seed, sighing inwardly, He had resolved to die long ago!
Li Xuanfeng had already made his resolution to die the moment he took the Human Pill. He had simply been waiting for the right moment. He simply wanted to take down a few more enemies before he fell.
"Taking Eighteen Master Monks with him... that fulfilled a hero’s ambition," muttered Lu Jiangxian.
He held the fate-rich talisman seed but did not absorb it into himself immediately. Instead, he hesitated.
There was no other reason. The mirror was currently stuck at this stage. Without a breakthrough into the Purple Mansion Realm and feedback from his divine ability, it would only slightly enhance the strength of his profound light at most.
"That would be far too wasteful," muttered Lu Jiangxian.