Chapter 105

"In the 216th year of the Mount Dali era, the Man-Yue leader Jia Jia Nixi moved east, plundering the two towns of Lichuan and Mount Lijing, and broke through the mountain gate before leaving."

"The Duke was besieged by the East Shanyue, moved west to the Great Que Court, emerged from desperate situations several times, and stirred up fifteen villages. The Man commander was very afraid and cursed him to death. When the Duke vomited blood, locusts emerged from his mouth, and he passed away at the age of thirty-nine. The eldest son of the elder branch, Li Xuansuan, took charge of family affairs."

After writing this passage, Li Li Jingtian sighed with grief. Her plain white clothes fluttered gently in the breeze. Li Li Tongya, who was beside her, raised his head and saw her continue writing on the silk scroll:

"In the seventeenth year, the fourth month of summer, there was a great drought. Fifteen East Shanyue villages were struck by locusts, coming from the south and obscuring the sky."

"Not bad."

Li Li Tongya nodded slightly. He had wanted to start writing the family history a few years ago, but family matters were busy, and disciples of various branches had their own duties. Now that Li Li Jingtian happened to be free and was a direct descendant of the main branch, he had handed it over to her.

Li Li Jingtian picked up her brush, dipped it in ink, placed the written sheet aside, and pulled out another silk scroll. Just as she was about to write, she heard an announcement from outside the courtyard.

"Chen Donghe requests an audience!"

"Come in."

Li Li Tongya watched as Chen Donghe stepped into the courtyard, also wearing plain white clothes.

Chen Donghe glanced low at Li Li Jingtian behind the curtain and bowed:

"Subordinate has an important matter to report."

Pausing, Chen Donghe hesitated. He had returned to the village for several months, but Li Li Tongya was always coming and going, and it was rare to meet him. He gritted his teeth and said:

"The Family Head once said... this matter must be reported to Senior Li Tongya alone."

Li Li Jingtian behind the curtain suddenly raised her head, gently set down her brush, and bowed out. Li Li Tongya's expression became solemn, and he waved away those around him. Then he saw Chen Donghe take out a crystal-clear precious orb from his bosom, kneel down, and say in a deep voice:

"The Family Head once said this orb must be delivered personally into your hands, Senior. Donghe did not dare to be negligent along the way and did not tell anyone else."

Li Li Tongya took the precious orb and picked it up gently. He saw a pure white diamond-shaped fragment the size of a thumb sealed inside the crystal-clear crystal, shining brilliantly in the sunlight, quite beautiful.

Just as Li Li Tongya was about to speak, the Mysterious Pearl Talisman Seed in his body jumped violently, which shocked him greatly. He shut his mouth for a moment and replied with a calm expression:

"I know. I have already noted this merit."

Waving away Chen Donghe, Li Li Tongya patted his storage bag but found that this treasure could not fit inside, so he had to hide it in his bosom. He nodded to Li Li Jingtian, who was stepping into the courtyard, and strode out of the side courtyard.

————

Lu Lu Jiangxian's spiritual sense had long been lingering on the precious orb. Seeing Li Li Tongya hurrying toward the backyard and feeling the connection with the fragment, he was even more shocked in his heart.

"So the Dharma Mirror only had a blue-gray base left, and the so-called mirror surface was just the surface itself being reflective... The entire mirror surface of the main body had long since shattered and been lost!"

And the fragment in the precious orb in Li Li Tongya's hand was exactly one of the lost mirror surfaces!

The Dharma Mirror itself was only the size of a palm, and that fragment was the size of two fingernails, already occupying one-tenth of the entire mirror surface. Lu Lu Jiangxian was extremely envious, suppressing the urge to snatch it over, and waited silently behind the courtyard.

Li Li Tongya bowed slowly and placed the precious orb on the altar. Lu Lu Jiangxian immediately channeled his magic power, and intense white light erupted from the Dharma Mirror, causing the blue-gray mirror body to float up.

The twelve seal characters on the edge of the mirror body lit up one by one, and the scorching white light surged like water waves on the mirror surface. A heavy pressure permeated the courtyard, shaking Li Li Tongya until he couldn't catch his breath.

Lu Lu Jiangxian took the precious orb, and Great Yin Mysterious Light surged. The crystal-clear shell melted like ice and snow meeting a fierce fire, turning into a white ribbon of light, which was actually a Foundation Establishment level talisman energy.

As that mirror fragment slowly adhered to the mirror body, a strong sense of drowsiness and satisfaction welled up in his heart. Lu Lu Jiangxian was busy hibernating to fuse the mirror fragment, so he grabbed the talisman energy and threw it into Li Li Tongya's Rising Sun Mansion.

Lu Lu Jiangxian's vision blurred, and a few lines of large characters appeared.

At the very top were strokes outlined in pale gold, heavy and steady, each character rich in ink and color.

"Heavy Sea Long Whale."

Below were strokes in deep gray, each stroke sharp and cold, as if struck from iron and stone.

"Exhausting Life to Achieve Success."

Back then, Li Li Xiangping had three types of talisman energy to choose from, while Li Li Tongya only had two. It seemed that the type of talisman energy was related to the recipient's own talent, and the level of the talisman energy only determined the power after the investiture.

As his spiritual sense merged into the words, Lu Lu Jiangxian could roughly feel the difference between these two talisman energies.

The Heavy Sea Long Whale Talisman could make the recipient's magic power long-lasting, their true essence as heavy as the sea, and they could recover magic power at several times the speed of ordinary people in a single breath.

The Exhausting Life to Achieve Success Talisman allowed the recipient to expend their lifespan in exchange for magic power, enabling them to unleash several times their strength in a short period.

Just after reading these two talisman energies, Lu Lu Jiangxian chose the Heavy Sea Long Whale Talisman without hesitation.

He hoped that Li Li Tongya could go further, and that the Mysterious Pearl Talisman Seed in his body could be nurtured for a few more decades before being retrieved. Moreover, with Li Li Tongya's temperament, he would never be one to fight others with his lifespan; the Heavy Sea Long Whale Talisman was more practical.

"I've opened a cheat for you, guard the family well, I'm going to sleep for a while..."

Lu Lu Jiangxian muttered to himself and slowly fell into a deep sleep. Below, Li Li Tongya only felt a white mist enter his brow, and a pale white talisman energy appeared in his Rising Sun Mansion, with four golden, brilliant characters written on it:

"Heavy Sea Long Whale."

"White Talisman?!"

Before Li Li Tongya could react, the spiritual wheel in his Qi sea vibrated, and his cultivation base erupted like a volcano.

"Qi Refining Level 3... Qi Refining Level 4... Qi Refining Level 5..."

The deep pool in his Qi sea acupoint expanded suddenly, five or six times larger than before. The momentum of the true essence that had originally been full fell away, giving Li Li Tongya the feeling that his cultivation base was only two or three tenths of what it had been.

Li Li Tongya was shocked beyond control, opened his mouth, and muttered to himself:

"What an exaggerated talisman energy... So there was a talisman energy in this precious orb... Heavy Sea Long Whale Talisman, how formidable!"

Seeing the blue-gray mirror in front of him slowly descend, Li Li Tongya bowed respectfully three times, left the courtyard, sat cross-legged, and began to condense his true essence.

Who would have thought that just as he sat down, it almost startled Li Li Tongya out of his meditative state again.

"The Qi sea is five or six times larger, but this true essence recovery speed is ten times faster! I thought it would take four or five hours to recover, but now it seems it won't even take an hour!"

Sitting in meditation, Li Li Tongya only spent half an hour to finish regulating his breath. Feeling the true essence like an abyss or the sea within him, he muttered to himself:

"I'm afraid that three of myself before receiving the talisman, tied together, would find it hard to surround and kill the current me; instead, they would be worn out by me alive..."

Driving the wind to rise, Li Li Tongya felt much more relaxed and mused to himself:

"The large karst cave in the lake has abundant spiritual energy. When we have enough manpower, we can renovate it. It's over a dozen mu in size; I don't know how many Mount Meichi Mountain cave dwellings it's worth. I won't have to worry about a place for cultivation in the future."

Touching his storage bag, he had shared fifty spirit stones when annihilating the Ji family. Added to the proceeds from selling items and the surplus from these years, the total was around seventy spirit stones.

"Clang..."

Li Li Tongya took out a long spear with a cold, piercing light from his storage bag. It was the Foundation Establishment level magic treasure obtained in the snake cave. Threads of electric light flickered on the snow-white, shining spear body, making Li Li Tongya's palms tingle.

"Sigh..."

Li Li Tongya gave a bitter smile. Not to mention that he didn't know spear techniques, he couldn't control this Foundation Establishment magic treasure without the corresponding cultivation base, so it could only stay in the storage bag gathering dust.

"The family's grand formation hasn't been set up yet, so I'll keep it with me for now."

Putting the spear away, Li Li Tongya took out a jade slip.

This jade slip was different from ordinary ones; it was purple all over, felt ice-cold to the touch, and its hardness was far beyond imagination. Li Li Tongya estimated that even if he used all his strength, he couldn't damage it in the slightest.

"According to Zhang Yun, it's the 'River and Great Mausoleum Scripture' lost after the Lingyu Gate was destroyed. I don't know what kind of technique it is."

Walking to the front courtyard, Li Li Xuansuan was burying his head in reading a wooden slip. Li Li Tongya sat down gently beside him and said in a low voice:

"How is the family?"

"Still good."

Li Li Xuansuan nodded and explained:

"The East Shanyue refugees have reached a number of 1,200. Added to the original East Shanyue in the village, the number has already exceeded 5,000."

"The villagers under our rule have reached 30,000. Mount Lijing Village already has a population of 10,000, and the Li clan has over 800 people. The Ye clan disciples have over 3,000."

Li Li Tongya looked at the wooden slip in his hand and pondered:

"With such numbers, I'm afraid there will be many with spiritual apertures next year. Keep a close watch; don't let these East Shanyue stir up any trouble in private."

"Nephew understands."

Li Li Xuansuan nodded heavily and explained:

"I have already ordered a ban on intermarriage among the East Shanyue. Women marry villagers, and men marry into farming households. The East Shanyue have no distinction of surnames, and they have little resentment toward changing surnames. It will only take two or three generations before there is no longer any distinction between East Shanyue and villagers."

"Not bad."

Li Li Tongya laughed low, changed the subject, and teased:

"I heard you have six concubines?"

Li Li Xuansuan paused, nodded somewhat awkwardly, and defended himself repeatedly:

"That was all from the year before last. Uncle assigned them to me..."

"Spreading branches and leaves is a good thing. The number of people in the main branch is still too small."

Li Li Tongya nodded and smiled:

"Just don't indulge in the pleasures of men and women and delay your cultivation."

Li Li Xuansuan nodded hurriedly and began to speak:

Li Li Tongya stood up, looked at the sunset outside the window, and said in a deep voice:

"What did the people sent to the Lu and An families say?"

"Messages have all been sent back. The Lu and An families both have over 20,000 people under their rule. One occupied Mount Huazhong Mountain, and the other took Wan Huaqian Mountain..."

Li Li Tongya listened as Li Li Xuansuan carefully detailed the news of the two families before he spoke:

"Now the villagers under our rule have almost no land left to cultivate, and population growth has reached its limit. Keep an eye on these two families for now and wait for an opportunity."

"Yes."

Li Li Xuansuan responded, raised his head to ponder for a few breaths, and said hoarsely:

"There is just one more thing."

Li Li Tongya frowned and said in a deep voice:

"What else is there?"

"I see Donghe... I'm afraid he has some feelings for Li Jingtian."

"Donghe."

Li Li Tongya pondered intently, a flash of grief in his expression, and replied:

"Donghe has good talent and upright character, but Li Xiangping has just passed away, so it is not appropriate to talk about marriage. You should ask Li Jingtian if she has any feelings, and then discuss the rest."

————

The night was deep, moonlight gently draped over the stone path, and the mountain breeze was exceptionally refreshing.

"Miss, the Family Head calls for you to go to the main courtyard."

Li Li Jingtian was stunned for a moment before she realized that the Family Head referred to by this person was Li Li Xuansuan. She blew out the lamp on the desk and said softly:

"I know."

Packing up her things, she gently opened the door, but Li Li Jingtian was slightly startled. Seeing the young man in front of her, she raised an eyebrow:

"Donghe?"

Chen Donghe nodded somewhat awkwardly and said in a low voice:

"Li Jingtian... the Family Head asked me to find you."

Li Li Jingtian frowned slightly and asked with some doubt:

"Why bother you to make the trip? Did the Family Head say what the matter was?"

Chen Donghe gritted his teeth, clenched his hands tightly, and explained hesitantly:

"I... you... Sigh! The Family Head asked me if I would like to... be a pair with you..."

Li Li Jingtian's eyes slowly widened, her almond eyes staring straight at him. She was clearly taken aback, and a word escaped her slightly parted small mouth:

"Ah?"

The two stared at each other for a few seconds. Li Li Jingtian had already seen the answer in his fiery eyes. Walking silently on the stone path, she felt slightly suffocated, her hands ice-cold, as if she already understood what she was about to face.

Chen Donghe also understood something from Li Li Jingtian's silence. The look of longing and beauty in his pupils was extinguished like a fire pit soaked by rain, fading into a pool of cold, stirred-up ash.

Pouting, he saw Li Li Jingtian into the main courtyard. Chen Donghe sat on the threshold of the courtyard, staring blankly at the bright moon.

Li Li Jingtian entered the main courtyard with trepidation. At the head sat only Li Li Xuansuan, holding a wooden slip and reading it quietly and carefully.

Unlike Li Li Xiangping, who always liked to sit upright in that position, Li Li Xuansuan spent more time standing by the table, as if someone else were still sitting in the big chair, making him check his behavior at all times.

"Li Jingtian..."

Li Li Xuansuan only took a glance and saw the answer in Li Li Jingtian's eyes, but he still said gently from his high position:

"What do you think of Donghe?"

Li Li Jingtian saw the faint expectation in Li Li Xuansuan's eyes and understood that her eldest brother actually hoped to marry into such a capable assistant as Chen Donghe, so that such bloodline could flow into the Li family.

"He has courage and strength, is reliable enough, and has good talent. He is only fifteen and is already at the third level of Fetal Breath, with hope for Qi Refining."

Li Li Jingtian replied calmly. Li Li Xuansuan also nodded, walked down, and comforted her in a low voice:

Li Li Jingtian listened to Li Li Xuansuan's intimate words, her head empty, and walked out blankly.

Chen Donghe was no longer in front of the door. Li Li Jingtian walked along the stone path for a while, suddenly feeling a deep sense of insignificance and unease. She raised her head to look at the bright moon and pondered secretly:

"If only I also possessed spiritual apertures."

(End of chapter)