Chapter 215: Jiang Family's Mirror

"Senior!"

An Zheyan walked out of the house. The soldiers on both sides greeted him with smiles. The smiles on everyone's faces were kind, and even those outside the courtyard waved at him.

An Zheyan nodded in response, smiling and answering, suddenly feeling like a lifetime away. He was greedy and domineering in his actions, holding the power in the An family, and the servants were fearful when they saw him, killing people if they were dissatisfied.

Later, his family was broken and his people died, and he defected to the Li family. Until he wanted to please the Li family during a monster attack and saved a young soldier, the youth knocked on his courtyard door smiling that night, squeezed into his house with a large basin of dumplings, saying his mother made them and wanted to send them to express his gratitude. The two chatted all night. An Zheyan ate and grimaced, asking:

"Are you not afraid of me?"

The youth was stunned and laughed loudly, answering:

"What is there to be afraid of?"

An Zheyan chewed the dumplings that tasted like dog shit to him, forced them down, and smiled:

"There is nothing to be afraid of!"

So An Zheyan drank and gambled with a group of soldiers, laughed loudly and wailed loudly, sat around the wall watching the girls, and took turns taking them to fly in the sky, scaring these young men until their legs went soft. An Zheyan laughed loudly, often laughing until tears flowed.

Coming back to his senses, a group of soldiers looked at him smilingly. An Zheyan pulled a long bench and smiled:

A group of soldiers brightened their eyes, arguing and fighting. An Zheyan watched with a smile. Unexpectedly, a sound of horse hooves came, and dust rose at the entrance of the alley. A white-robed youth reined in his horse and stopped in front of the courtyard. The man turned over and dismounted, clasped his fists and said respectfully:

"Senior! The family head invites you."

"Hundred Households Tian!"

Someone among the soldiers exclaimed, and they hurriedly knelt down, shouting in unison:

"Met Hundred Households!"

Tian Zhongqing nodded lightly, only to see An Zheyan on the wooden bench shaking his robe, answering:

"I know."

Having finished speaking, he had already soared into the air and headed toward the mountain. Tian Zhongqing watched him with envy, and a group of clan soldiers crowded around excitedly, speaking one after another:

"Battalion Commander! What level has your cultivation reached now?"

"Brother Zhongqing! Are there more Qi Refining monsters eating people?"

Tian Zhongqing waved his hand and replied:

"It is merely the third layer of Embryonic Breath, not worth mentioning. As for the Clan Master's affairs, it is not for me to know."

The clan soldiers below asked questions one after another for a while, and someone said in a low voice:

"Brother Zhongqing! I heard that Uncle Xuanling has broken through to Qi Refining. Is it true or false?"

Tian Zhongqing nodded slightly upon hearing this and smiled:

"It is indeed true."

The group of clan soldiers immediately began to discuss it as if a pot had exploded. Tian Zhongqing shook his head with a smile, mounted his horse, and headed out of the alley.

————

The stone-paved road along the way was wiped spotlessly clean. An Jiyan went up the mountain, full of doubts, and thought to himself:

"What is this about? Even if a Qi Refining monster had sneaked into the town, there is no need to personally summon me up the mountain."

There was no one on Lijing Mountain, only the slightly cold wind blowing against his face. An Jiyan muttered:

"Could it be that the Li family has grown suspicious because I haven't touched the women they've been stuffing into my room these past few years..."

He shook his sleeves. A courtyard built of bluestone appeared before his eyes, the gate half-ajar. An Jiyan pushed open the heavy gate; the room was wide open, and two clan soldiers stood silently outside.

An Jiyan smacked his lips, thinking of his own magnificent palace, then looking at the small hut before him, he felt quite unsettled and muttered to himself:

"An Jiyan, you really deserve to die."

Stepping forward into the simply furnished room, An Jiyan habitually lowered his head and lifted his robe, about to bow, but then his eyes suddenly widened.

The person in the seat of honor was not Li Xuanxuan at all, but a middle-aged man with graying temples at both sides, long, gentle eyebrows, and a calm expression. He sat upright in the seat of honor, holding a white jade slip in his hand. An Jiyan, with his sixth-layer Qi Refining cultivation, could see at a glance the small characters carved on the jade slip.

"White-Headed Court-Knocking Scripture"

An Jiyan fell to his knees with a thud, his heart filled with shock and fear. He bent his waist and said tremblingly:

"Jiyan... greets the senior!"

"Foundation Establishment!"

An Jiyan's head buzzed as if a nest had been blown up. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva in disbelief. He was originally a senior who had achieved Qi Refining before Li Tongya. He had watched him grow from a novice in Qi Refining to the fifth layer, from the fifth layer to the eighth, and now he had become a Foundation Establishment cultivator. His attitude had shifted from contempt to surprise, from surprise to respect, from respect to fear, and finally, he was kneeling before him. The complex emotions in his heart can be imagined.

"How did he reach Foundation Establishment..."

Watching Li Tongya reach the realm he had dreamed of, An Jiyan bowed his head and closed his eyes, feeling both admiration and fear, until Li Tongya spoke up with a smile:

"Brother Jiyan, you are too polite. Please rise."

Only then did An Jiyan straighten up. He watched Li Tongya put down the jade slip and say gently:

"I heard that your ancestors were once outer disciples of the Immortal Mansion, and this 'White-Headed Court-Knocking Scripture' was passed down from them. Would you be willing to describe it in detail?"

An Jiyan nodded hurriedly, too busy to collect his thoughts. He recalled for a few breaths, organized his language, and replied:

"My ancestor's surname was Jiang, and he was an outer disciple of the Immortal Mansion. He achieved Qi Refining at eighteen, meeting the Immortal Mansion's minimum requirements, so he was taught this 'White-Headed Court-Knocking Scripture.' He led immortal soldiers to patrol the three eastern domains of Wangyue Lake to the Yuling Lake domain, achieved Foundation Establishment at thirty-nine, became an Immortal General, obtained these two inheritances, and recruited his own subordinates."

"The three eastern domains of Wangyue Lake to the Yuling Lake domain."

Li Tongya raised an eyebrow and asked. An Jiyan replied hurriedly:

"The current southeastern shore to parts of the Mushroom Forest Plain all belonged to Wangyue Lake at that time."

Seeing Li Tongya nod, An Jiyan continued:

"My ancestor failed to break through to the Zifu realm and passed away. The old man had only one son, who was only at the peak of Qi Refining, so he had to support outsiders and recruit rogue cultivators to guard the area. From then on, the seeds of disaster were sown..."

"Ten years later, his son broke through to Foundation Establishment. His children and grandchildren were few, all had spiritual apertures, and the cultivation method was a shortcut to Qi Refining. The higher the cultivation, the more difficult it became to have offspring. Later, his son was killed while contending for a Zifu opportunity. Several outsider cultivators refused to submit to each other, each supporting their own children and grandchildren, and there were already signs of division."

An Jiyan sighed and said in a low voice:

"The outsiders supported them, each taking their daughters as wives, standing in opposition to one another. The various branches became increasingly estranged. In less than a hundred years, there were even cases of the main family marrying into the outsider families. After three more generations, there were not many people with the Jiang surname left..."

Li Tongya rubbed the jade slip in his palm, saying nothing. An Jiyan looked at him and said in a low voice:

"Therefore, there are very few outsider cultivators within the families on the lake. It is truly because they fear the Jiang family's cautionary tale. We families stole the legal lineage to achieve success, and we are even more terrified, so there are almost no outsiders in our families..."

An Jiyan straightened up, hesitated for a moment, and said:

Li Tongya raised his eyebrows upon hearing this. He had not expected An Jiyan to say such things. He gave a low laugh and replied:

"Rest assured, my family is not the Jiang family; we will not end up in such a state."

"Your subordinate spoke too much."

An Jiyan lowered his head. Li Tongya looked at him and asked:

"How old are you?"

"Eighty-five."

An Jiyan replied, feeling somewhat dejected:

"The cultivation method is inherently difficult for Qi Refining. At eighty-five, I am only at the sixth layer of Qi Refining; I am afraid there is no hope for Foundation Establishment."

Li Tongya paused and offered a word of comfort in a low voice. Only then did he watch An Jiyan withdraw. He picked up the jade slip containing the "White-Headed Court-Knocking Scripture" and said in a low voice:

"The red dust in the court... With the River and Great Mausoleum Scripture in the family, there is still a long way to go before the Zifu realm, so there is no need to rush."

(End of Chapter)