Li Xiangping walked slowly into the courtyard, gently lifting the magic mirror from its stone platform with both hands. Within the mirror, Lu Jiangxian stirred abruptly, his spiritual consciousness sweeping down from Lijing Mountain in an instant. The changes of the past five years flowed into his mind in a single glance.
"The Li family's younger generation has grown up."
Li Changhu's posthumous son, Li Xuanxuan, sat in the courtyard reading, turning wooden slips over and over as if something weighed on his mind. Li Xiangping's eldest son, Li Xuanfeng, sat with his hair loose, staring blankly beside a tombstone halfway up the mountain.
Tian Yun was in the courtyard with a gentle smile, keeping company with Li Jingtian as she read. Li Tongya was nowhere to be seen — by his calculations, he should be at Crown Cloud Peak delivering the tribute. Liu Rouxuan held their child, Li Xuanling, in her arms, speaking softly to him with affection.
Lu Jiangxian slowly withdrew his spiritual consciousness and turned his gaze to Li Xiangping before him.
Li Xiangping's mind was tangled with chaos, countless thoughts flashing through his head. He walked slowly into the side courtyard and stood silently watching Li Xuanxuan.
Li Xuanxuan was restlessly sorting through his bamboo slips. Seeing Li Xiangping enter the courtyard, he froze for a moment and spoke:
"Patriarch..."
Li Xiangping cut him off with a wave of his hand and said in a low voice:
"Let me ask you this. If Uncle never returns, what will you do?"
Li Xuanxuan was stunned. He dared not dwell on Li Xiangping's words. His voice caught:
"Uncle... how could it come to that..."
Seeing Li Xiangping's tightly furrowed brows, Li Xuanxuan forced himself to compose his expression, striving to stay calm, and answered:
"Retrieve the magic mirror."
Li Xiangping nodded and replied:
"And if you can't find it?"
"Conceal the truth. Announce that Uncle has gone into seclusion for a breakthrough. Immediately send men to take control of the family troops and secure the eastern side of Lidaokou bordering the Wan family. Be ready to send word to the prefecture for aid at any time."
Li Xuanxuan's expression grew grave, his words tumbling out faster and faster. Li Xiangping raised a hand to stop him and said, his voice low with dejection:
"That's enough."
He patted Li Xuanxuan on the shoulder and said heavily:
"Before your uncle left the clan, he gave me three talismans. With those and this magic mirror in hand, even if I come across a Qi Refining cultivator, I can still fight. Don't worry too much about me."
"Our Li family has someone in the sect seeking immortality. No matter how dire the situation, the sect will still act to preserve our bloodline. As long as the magic mirror remains in our hands, our family will have the foundation to rise again."
"Go and fetch Feng'er."
Li Xiangping had always forbidden the children of concubines or outsiders from approaching the direct-line descendants, precisely to keep secret whether the main branch possessed spiritual apertures. Now, as he set out for the deadly ambush against Ji Dengqi, he had to plant the Fu Seed in Li Xuanfeng first and prepare for the worst.
Li Xuanxuan soon returned with the sullen Li Xuanfeng in tow. Li Xiangping wasted no time on words. He channeled his dharma power through Li Xuanfeng's body, probing the Qi Sea acupoint — it was empty, as expected.
Li Xiangping sighed inwardly and continued circulating his dharma power through Li Xuanfeng's entire body. Then he froze.
In Li Xuanfeng's right hand, at the Shaofu acupoint, a swirling vortex of qi abruptly manifested. Li Xiangping's heart lurched. His mind went blank. He murmured:
"This... how can this be?!"
"Feng'er's spiritual aperture is at the Shaofu acupoint on his right hand?! Spiritual apertures aren't only in the Qi Sea?! Could they also be in the Shengyang point, or the Mud Pill Palace?!"
Before he could think further, a second question surfaced in his mind.
"From now on, if a direct-line descendant of our Li family possesses a spiritual aperture, should we still grant them the Fu Seed?"
The Profound Pearl Talisman Seed was the only way to cultivate the Lunar Nourishing Wheel Scripture. If those with spiritual apertures could not receive the Fu Seed, would they be forced to practice the Azure Origin Wheel-Nurturing Art, the same loose cultivator method as the bastards? What kind of logic was that?
He carefully recalled the Attraction Method, and the astonishment on his face only deepened.
"The Profound Pearl True Elixir. At the first turn, the elixir descends into the heart network, hence the elixir cavern lies in the central palace. The descent of the elixir is the first turn... After the elixir descends, one closes the breath for nine intervals as one count, until eighty-one intervals become nine counts. Hence the name: the Ninefold Number..."
"It seems... it was always possible to grant it to those with spiritual apertures..."
Above, Lu Jiangxian smiled as he watched the stunned Li Xiangping below. He had already guessed what was going through the man's mind and murmured to himself:
"This Profound Pearl Talisman Seed of mine can be planted in anyone. In a mortal, it grants ascension. In an immortal aperture, cultivation becomes twice as effective. The question for you, Li Xiangping, is this: do you want two mediocrities, or one genius?"
"As for this Li Xuanfeng — having a spiritual aperture at the Shaofu acupoint on his right hand... there is a great secret behind the matter of spiritual apertures."
Li Xiangping had no time to dwell on it. The minutes were slipping away, and the hour agreed upon with the Wan family was drawing near. He forced himself to speak calmly:
"Feng'er, do you still remember the incantation I told you to memorize last year?"
Li Xuanfeng saw the grave expressions on both Li Xuanxuan and Li Xiangping and instinctively tensed up. He answered softly:
"I've memorized it all, Father."
"Come."
Li Xiangping took Li Xuanfeng by the hand and led him into the solemn rear ancestral hall. Li Xuanfeng's eyes went wide as he took in the room he had never been allowed to enter.
His gaze swept across the row of memorial tablets at the back. He saw Li Mutian standing in the room, leaning on his walking stick, looking up at the stone platform at the center.
Following Li Mutian's gaze, Li Xuanxuan saw a pale white moonlight spreading down from the platform like mist, and a bluish-gray magic mirror floating in the air.
Li Xiangping whispered a few words into Li Xuanfeng's ear, and the boy nodded and knelt down, speaking in his young voice:
"Li Xuanfeng, disciple of the Li family, humbly invokes the Profound Mystery Wondrous Method. May the spirits command and the soul be at peace. I dedicate myself to the Way and practice the teachings."
"Let my merits be recorded in due time, that I may not fail in my fealty. Let the talisman be offered with incense, and my body returned to the Great Yin."
A white pill leapt from the mirror's surface — round and radiant, shining brilliantly. Its white light flooded the courtyard, bright as day, and plunged straight into Li Xuanfeng's crown.
Li Xiangping watched as Li Xuanfeng sat cross-legged, beginning to guide the Profound Pearl Talisman Seed within his body. He turned to Li Xuanxuan and said in a low voice:
"Watch over Feng'er. Explain everything to him."
Only then did he bow, take the magic mirror down from the altar, and place it gently into his bosom. His expression was complex. He let out a long sigh.
"The arrow is nocked. It must be loosed."
---
Lu Jiangxian watched as Li Xiangping descended Lijing Mountain alone, slapped a Spirit-Walking Art onto his leg, and slipped away from Lijing Village without a sound. He followed the Ancient Li Road for a time until he neared the Wan family's territory. Only then did he stop, pulled out the mirror, and said in a low voice:
"Li Xiangping, disciple of the Li family, bathed in profound grace, humbly invokes the Profound Mystery Wondrous Method. I respectfully call forth the Profound Lunar Radiance, to slay the wicked, break the foul, and capture the vile!"
Lu Jiangxian stirred his spiritual consciousness and shared everything he could see. But Huagan Mountain was still far off — beyond the casting range of the Profound Lunar Radiance.
Li Xiangping quickly realized the same problem. He crept forward cautiously, the talismans clutched in his hand, periodically pulling out the mirror to confirm his bearings.
As Huagan Mountain gradually entered the range of his spiritual consciousness, one after another, auras appeared in his perception. Lu Jiangxian finally sensed something was wrong.
"One, two, three, five... nine, ten."
"Ten Qi Refining cultivators?!"