"Qingsui Peak of the Qingchi Sect?"
Li Tongya and Li Xiangping exchanged startled glances. After a moment's hesitation, Li Tongya said:
"An emissary from the sect — it must have something to do with Jing'er."
Li Xiangping rose at once and led the others down the mountain. They had barely passed the courtyard gate when they saw a cultivator in a moon-white robe, a string of embroidered pouches at his waist.
The cultivator was handsome of feature and lofty in bearing. He stood quietly before the courtyard, gazing at them with an easy smile.
"Xiao Yuansi of Qingsui Peak greets you, fellow daoists."
Xiao Yuansi folded his hands lightly and said with a smile.
"Li Xiangping of the Li family pays respects to the emissary of the Qingchi Sect."
Not daring to be presumptuous, Li Xiangping bowed at once, his followers doing the same. Xiao Yuansi stepped slightly aside to avoid the full bow, saying with a smile:
"You are all family of my junior brother. There is no need for such grave ceremony. I have come this time only on my own account, not as any emissary of the sect."
The several men hurriedly murmured assent. Li Xiangping said respectfully:
"Please, immortal teacher, come in."
Before this lofty cultivator of the Qingchi Sect, Li Tongya and the rest were no more than mortals, and this title of "immortal teacher" rose from the heart in all sincerity.
Xiao Yuansi stepped into the courtyard and found a seat, speaking softly:
"I had originally undertaken a matter for my master, journeying to this Lixia Prefecture to subdue a demon. But my junior brother missed his family dearly, so I had him write a letter and brought it with me into the Greater Li Mountain."
"Of late I have been chasing that demon back and forth, losing much time. Only yesterday did I slay it, and so I have come unbidden. I hope you will not take offense."
"Far from it, far from it! That my teacher has come ten thousand li to deliver a family letter moves the Li family beyond measure!"
Li Xiangping answered with reverence. He saw Xiao Yuansi hand over a green bamboo tube as thick as a thumb, and took it hurriedly.
"Read it, then."
Xiao Yuansi took the tea a servant offered, sipped it lightly, and smiled.
Li Xiangping and the others hastened to nod. Li Tongya gently wiped the wax seal from the bamboo tube with his thumb, tipped it into his palm, and out slid a tight-rolled letter of pale white, which he unfolded at once.
"Jing kowtows. More than a year has passed since I left home. I know not whether my brothers' and father's bodies remain hale. Jing'er is well in the sect. I have already formed the Azure Origin Wheel, with the Jade Capital within reach. I have also practiced the sword, and my cultivation grows by leaps…
"Senior Brother Xiao Yuansi, whose cultivation has reached the seventh layer of Qi Refining, is most skilled in alchemy — steady, gentle, and warm. Should the family have any matter you cannot decide, you may turn to him; and if you need anything, do not hesitate to ask, for when I return I will repay him on the family's behalf…
"The letter brings with it a jade slip. The sword art it records is called the Profound Water Sword Art. The child has practiced certain spells, but all of them are taught by the sect and may not be passed abroad. Only this Qi Refining sword technique was a gift from Senior Brother, and he has permitted me to send it home. The sword art is not difficult, and the family may practice it to defend itself.
"I hear the Tang Gold Gate stirs up border troubles. The family had best forbear and yield for now. I have already had Senior Brother speak to the frontier cultivator of Lixia Prefecture. Should the family fall into trouble, call for aid with the jade seal and all will be well…
"I am carefree in the sect, so worry not. Cultivation here is twice as swift and twice as easy as at the Greater Li Mountain. Is all well at home? Is Xuanxuan obedient? Has anything out of the ordinary happened at home? Please send me your reply."
Li Xiangping finished the letter, and a pang of sorrow rose unbidden in his heart. His eyes grew slightly red, and he folded his hands to Xiao Yuansi:
"Forgive my discourtesy in making my teacher wait so long."
Xiao Yuansi smiled and waved a hand, then set a jade slip on the redwood table and said:
"No ceremony is needed — it is only human. This is what my junior brother asked me to bring."
Seeing Li Tongya step forward to take up the jade slip, Xiao Yuansi said softly:
"If there is any difficulty or doubt at home, do feel free to bring it up."
Li Tongya and Li Xiangping exchanged a look and said in unison:
"There is indeed some doubt. My teacher, please come with us."
The several men dismissed their attendants and followed the flagstone path up through the compounds of the mountain, until before long they came to a great, verdant banyan tree. They circled around it, and behind it stood a small tree bearing five fruits.
"Oh?"
Xiao Yuansi lowered his gaze. He pinched a spell with his fingers, and his hands turned glossy white with light, then reached out to touch the fruit. He studied the leaves intently for a few breaths, then explained:
"This spirit root is called the Serpent-Dragon Fruit. A single plant should bear six fruits. Tracing along the root from base to crown, the higher the fruit, the earlier it ripens. When the first fruit ripens, only if that fruit is plucked will the one below it continue to mature."
"Such is the nature of this spirit root. The gap between the first fruit and the next is about five years, which may be seen as bearing one fruit every five years. Judging by the look of this first fruit, the previous one was plucked more than four years ago, and this one will soon ripen."
Xiao Yuansi parted the lowest leaves of the Serpent-Dragon Fruit and, sure enough, spotted a small seedling-green fruit beneath them — the newly grown sixth one.
"And what is this fruit used for?" Li Tongya asked respectfully, having listened carefully.
"There are a dozen or so of these plants within the Qingchi Sect. Every few hundred years one bears a golden fruit, from which a new plant may be nurtured. These red Serpent-Dragon Fruits are mostly refined into Serpent Origin Pills, granted to Embryonic Breathing and Qi Refining disciples who have rendered service to the sect, to speed their wheel-nurturing and qi-refining cultivation."
Li Tongya and Li Xiangping exchanged another startled glance. The Li family was destitute — where would they find an alchemist! The two had cultivated for a long time yet had never once tasted a pill.
Seeing the difficulty writ large on their faces, Xiao Yuansi said with a light laugh:
"If this fruit is eaten raw, it would perhaps suffice only to shorten the wheel-nurturing and qi-refining time of a single person."
Then, seeing the two men look as though they wished to speak but dared not, a realization dawned on Xiao Yuansi, and he said:
"As for this fruit before us, I can first open a furnace of pills for you. With my current skill in alchemy, this Serpent-Dragon Fruit should yield some seven or eight pills. By the rules, however, I give you six, and the rest are mine."
Li Tongya and Li Xiangping naturally agreed with eager thanks. Xiao Yuansi nodded, clapped a hand to the pouch at his waist, and a jade box appeared in his right hand.
Xiao Yuansi gathered a thread of magic power in his hand, touched the point where the fruit joined its stem, and carried it on his magic power as the Serpent-Dragon Fruit settled gently into the jade box.
"Aside from certain special herbs and spirit fruits, most must be stored in jade vessels, lest their spiritual nature be harmed; and they must be plucked with magic power, so the fruit itself is not damaged."
Xiao Yuansi explained softly as he plucked the fruit.
"Tomorrow I shall open the furnace to refine the pills!"
He clapped the pouch lightly, and the jade box vanished from his hand — a sight that filled both Li Tongya and Li Xiangping with envy.
"Is there anything else?"
Xiao Yuansi tucked away the jade box and asked with a smile.
"We thank you, immortal teacher!"
Li Xiangping and Li Tongya first offered their thanks, then drew a beast-hide scroll from their sleeves and presented it to Xiao Yuansi with both hands.
Xiao Yuansi took the scroll, undid the white cord binding it, and spread it out with a flick of his right hand.
"The Mist-Dream Array?"