By the time Li Tongya emerged from the cave dwelling, Mount Huaqian was eerily silent. The members of the Lu Family had sealed off many courtyards and had captured all members of the Ji Family on the mountain.
The stone path beneath Li Tongya’s feet was stained with droplets of blood.
Circling the mountain, Li Tongya spotted Lu Sisi descending from the sky with the bald man, carrying Ji Dengqi’s severed head. Both had expressions of satisfaction as if they had made significant gains.
Lu Sisi grinned at Li Tongya.
“Fortune seems to favor us… amidst the chaos on Mount Huazhong, there was only one cultivator of the peak Embryonic Breathing Realm. Despite being a mere youth in his twenties, the young master of the Ji Family tried to destroy the jade slips of their family’s legacies. We then bashed his head in and managed to save half of the total six jade slips!” he explained triumphantly.
Li Tongya nodded as he heard this, his thoughts drifting to the bottle of spiritual qi of heaven and earth in the cave dwelling. Ji Dengqi must have saved that for the young family head.
“We’ll talk about the jade slips later,” he spoke in a grave tone, before gesturing toward the small mountain courtyard and the cave dwelling that was behind him.
“The Wan Family’s opulence is evident. Scouring this mountain, I’ve found numerous spirit fields on Mount Huaqian, probably yielding around a hundred jin of Spirit Paddies annually. Not only that, there’s also an exceptional spirit spring. Together, they amount to more than two hundred Spirit Stones. Will you be able to pay, Brother Lu?”
Lu Sisi chuckled, then produced twelve small black flags adorned with white patterns from his storage pouch.
Li Tongya retreated a few steps before soaring into the air.
“Formation flags?” he asked, eyeing the flags warily.
Catching sight of Li Tongya’s guarded stance, Lu Sisi realized his gesture might have been misconstrued.
He hastened to explain, “These are the Wan Family’s prized possession—the White Feather Purple Flags. They used to be Wan Huaqian’s dharma artifacts before they were left on Mount Huaqian as part of the Earth Locking Huaqian Formation. The Ji Family acquired it years ago. They’re definitely worth about two hundred Spirit Stones!”
Having visited Mount Lijing, Lu Sisi was well aware of the Li Family’s inadequate defensive mountain formation, leaving them vulnerable to surprise attacks like the one that was orchestrated by Jianixi.
His offer definitely struck Li Tongya where it hurt, as he indeed needed a reliable defensive formation on Mount Lijing to safeguard against future threats.
“Senior, you’re exaggerating! The White Feather Purple Flags are merely formation flags of the Qi Cultivation Realm, it’s worth no more than a hundred Spirit Stones!” Li Tongya shook his head, declining the offer.
Though tempting, spending two hundred Spirit Stones on a set of formation flags was simply impractical and unreasonable.
“In that case, I’ll add another fifty Spirit Stones!” Lu Sisi added defiantly, taking out fifty more Spirit Stones from his storage pouch before handing them along with the flags to Li Tongya.
“I’ve been generous, my friend. Combined with the valuables you found in the cave dwelling… these should make your journey here worthwhile,” Lu Sisi said with a serious expression.
Li Tongya paused for a moment before finally obliging and accepting the items, carefully stowing them away.
“Indeed… with our families set to be neighbors, there’s no need to be overly calculative with each other,” he replied thoughtfully after a short pause.
“I agree,” Lu Sisi remarked, his smile widening as he handed over the three jade slips to Li Tongya.
“We’ve transcribed these already, these are the original slips. You can have them.”
Li Tongya understood that Lu Sisi was assuring him, letting him know that they were not giving him copies with tampered contents in order to deceive him. He accepted the jade slips, checking its contents with his spiritual sense before nodding appreciatively.
“Thank you for your generosity, Senior Lu. I’ll take my leave now.”
With that, he gave a curt but respectful nod to the bald man before departing swiftly.
The bald man cupped his fist in response as he watched Li Tongya depart.
“Although this matter has been settled and Mount Huazhong has been returned to my family, the Yu Family in the north is still very influential. Let’s continue to keep an eye out for each other, Brother Lu.”
“Yes… take care, Brother An.” Lu Sisi nodded and watched the man leave before entering the cave dwelling.
Watching the running spirit spring, a sigh of relief escaped him before a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
“At last, the spirit spring is in our possession and the Cave Spring Clear Qi is as good as secured. My descendants won’t need to practice those common Grade One techniques!”
As soon as Li Tongya landed on Mount Lijing, he immediately spotted Li Xuanxuan pacing around anxiously.
Upon seeing Li Tongya, Li Xuanxuan breathed a sigh of relief.
“Second Uncle!” he greeted cheerfully.
Li Tongya smiled and nodded in acknowledgment before taking out a long pole and handing it to Li Xuanxuan.
“Try swinging it!” he suggested with a small smile.
Li Xuanxuan did not possess a dharma artifact, so his eyes sparkled in eagerness as he examined the weapon.
Although it was only a dharma artifact of the Embryonic Breathing Realm, it was a significant upgrade for the Li Family — especially considering the fact that Li Tongya still wielded a longsword of the Embryonic Breathing Realm himself.
Examining the Ji Family’s storage pouch of the Qi Cultivation Realm, Li Tongya found it to be rather modest, containing only miscellaneous items — two Spirit Stones, talismans, and pills — all of the Embryonic Breathing Realm.
“I guess I’ll leave these for Xuanfeng,” Li Tongya decided.
Li Xuanfeng had attained the fifth stage of the Embryonic Breathing Realm and, therefore was able to use a storage pouch. Since Li Tongya had taken his pouch back, he figured he would give this one to Li Xuanfeng.
“Formation flags of superior quality among those of the Qi Cultivation Realm, huh?”
Inspecting the twelve White Feather Purple Flags, Li Tongya admired them briefly before stowing them back into his pouch and taking out three jade slips.
He picked up the first jade slip and assessed it with his spiritual sense — the Golden Light Edge Technique manual.
Li Tongya reckoned that it was one of the Ji family’s legacy techniques, likely brought back home by their daughter. It was a Grade Three authentic technique, akin to the Li Family’s River One Qi Technique, drawing upon the Golden Stone Sharp Qi found in golden jade mines.
“There’s only one golden jade mine in the Yue State… and it’s located near the mountain gate of the Golden Tang Gate.”
Li Tongya retrieved the jade bottle he had taken from the cave dwelling, confirming its contents with his spiritual sense.
“Shimmering like gold and sharp like a blade… there’s no doubt about it — this is the Golden Stone Sharp Qi!”
He stowed away the two items before shifting his attention to the other two jade slips.
One contained the Pure Spiritual Qi Transformation Technique, a Grade One cultivation method that harnessed the Minor Pure Spiritual Qi.
Li Tongya shook his head and stored it away without much interest.
The other jade slip was titled Records of Talisman Crafting This Autumn, detailing various basic talisman crafting techniques.
It was a collection of notes written by a cultivator at the peak of the Qi Cultivation Realm named Si Boxiu. At this discovery, Li Tongya could not help but wonder how it came into the possession of the Ji Family.
“Si Boxiu… I wonder if he is related to Si Yuanbai in any way…?” Li Tongya muttered to himself as he skimmed through the contents.
His eyes fell on a passage at the end—Talisman crafting is a wondrous art first disseminated by the Moonlight Origin Mansion. Numerous talismans can be arranged into formations, and the process of converting talismans into qi is particularly exquisite. If one could master this art…
“Moonlight Origin Mansion… Talisman qi…” Li Tongya let out a long sigh, his thoughts wandering once more to the possible connection between the mirror and the Moonlight Origin Mansion.
Though increasingly convinced of their association, he found little solace in this realization.
“I wonder if getting involved in this is a blessing… or a curse.”