Chapter 162: Mountain Crossing Turmoil

The Dongshan Yue.

Mu Jiaoman lay on his bed, a burning sensation surging in his mouth. His heart twitched with agonizing spasms, leaving him parched and unable to speak.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!” His wives and concubines wailed around him, their ceaseless clamor fraying his nerves. He gritted his teeth and, with all his might, roared, “Silence!”

Yet, his voice was as faint as a whimper. No one noticed him; they all continued wailing, lost in their own sorrow. A profound despair settled in his heart.

Under his rule, the Dongshan Yue, though not prosperous and strong, was much better off than in previous chaotic eras. Their territory was constantly expanding, with Yue villages surrendering periodically.

Mu Jiaoman knew Li Tongya was cautious. He feigned support from Wushan Mountain to prevent Li Tongya from invading. On the other hand, he humbled himself and opened up trade routes, allowing the Li family to exchange novel luxuries for the immense amounts of grain and materials held by the Yue nobility. This was tantamount to using hundreds of thousands of Yue people as laborers to support the little over ten thousand “outsiders.” Only then did he secure a glimmer of survival.

Just as life was flourishing and everything was progressing positively, a demon wolf intruded into the town. This demon, at the sixth layer of Qi Condensation, had strangely and silently traversed hundreds of miles of mountains and rivers to appear at the foot of his city.

Mu Jiaoman had no choice but to go to battle. Over the years, his Dongshan Yue had developed two or three Qi Condensation cultivators. Although they only absorbed impure qi and were no match for true immortal cultivators, they could still be considered a fighting force. However, they were deployed on the western front, and their return for support would be too slow.

He thought he could hold on for a moment, waiting for support, but he hadn't anticipated that the demon possessed several innate magical abilities, which caused him to retreat steadily. He had no choice but to grit his teeth, sacrifice his vital essence, and, according to ancient shamanic arts, call upon Wushan Mountain.

“How could there be no word…?” Mu Jiaoman’s mind went blank, his heart sinking into a dead silence. The keen intuition he had honed over many years made him realize something significant. “Wushan Mountain has a problem,” he thought. “This demon is definitely a test sent by some immortal cultivator…”

Mu Jiaoman used shamanic arts to completely deplete his life force and finally managed to repel the demon. Returning, he collapsed onto his magnificent jade bed, knowing his end was near.

“Everyone, get out of the way!” His many wives and concubines were weeping, but they were interrupted by an angry roar. A large Yue man, covered in runes and with a look of extreme urgency, burst into the palace. The beast bones and jade adorning his body clattered. Rallying his fading spirit, Mu Jiaoman murmured, “You…”

“This old servant is late!” the large man wailed. But Mu Jiaoman suddenly became lucid. He gripped the man's hand tightly and murmured, “Pass my clan to Young Master Qimu, and all other children… slaughter them all! Do not, under any circumstances, leave a single one alive.”

“Yes…” “Do you understand? Remember this!” Tears streamed down Mu Jiaoman’s face as he gritted his teeth and stressed, “The other children must be completely purged… lest they fall under the control of the Li family. My Yue clan endures in silent defiance, not in submission to them. Do you understand? Do you understand?!”

The large man raised his head, but before the tears in his eyes could fall, Mu Jiaoman’s grip loosened, and he slumped onto the jade bed with a thud. His breath had already ceased. The large Yue man wiped away his tears and mournfully cried, “Your Majesty! …You are gone!”

The city bells began to toll loudly. Yue soldiers moved ceaselessly through the streets. Shouts of killing and screams of agony rose everywhere as the princes, who had once held high status, were dragged out one by one, and their heads were swiftly severed.

A dark gray ox-cart, however, had already left the city and traveled for a while on the rugged Ancient Li Road. Several figures hastily leaped from the ox-cart and vanished into the woods to the east.

“That old man truly doted on Qimu,” one said. “Thankfully, we had eyes in the palace. Otherwise, we would have been slaughtered like pigs and dogs!”

“My Lord, what do we do now?!” asked one of the figures behind him, who were clearly either guards or advisors, following closely. The man in front replied, “I heard that our aunt is also a concubine among the Easterners. Our only course of action now is to flee east and seek refuge with her!”

They looked to the stars to determine their direction, then plunged into the dense, seemingly endless jungle, disappearing from sight.

In his cave dwelling, Li Tongya was reading the *Moon Gate Sword Canon* and silently rehearsing the movements with his hands. Periodically, he would praise it, muttering, “Marvelous! Truly the pinnacle of brilliance!”

Back when Li Chijing returned home and wrote the Moon Gate Sword Arc, Li Tongya was merely a novice in the Way of the Sword. He had never truly appreciated the profundity of Li Chijing’s sword technique. However, as he progressed year by year, with the Moon Gate Sword Arc, personally explained by Li Chijing, serving as his foundation, combined with his own notable talent for the sword, his sword cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds. He quickly comprehended sword qi and finally grasped the profound understanding his younger brother possessed regarding the Way of the Sword.

The explanations in the *Moon Gate Sword Canon* were profound yet easy to understand, exquisitely insightful. Li Tongya's previously slow-progressing sword cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds in recent months. Many previously puzzling questions suddenly became clear. Estimating the time, he realized it might not even take ten years before he had the chance to comprehend Sword Essence, the next realm of the Way of the Sword.

The Moon Gate Sword Arc was just the opening stance of this set of sword canon. Within it were dozens of exquisite combinations and variations, which dazzled Li Tongya and filled him with admiration. He was still practicing the movements with his hands when he heard a “thump-thump” at his stone door.

“Who is it?” Li Tongya looked up and asked, hearing the respectful voice of his son, Li Xuanling. “Father,” Li Xuanling said, “someone from the Xiao family has arrived. He’s a Qi Condensation cultivator, so we should probably receive him.”

“I understand.” Li Tongya pondered for a few breaths, then got up and left the cave dwelling. Li Xuanling was waiting at the door and let out a quiet sigh of relief when he saw him.

Li Xuanling was in a difficult position. The status gap between the Qi Condensation and Fetal Breath realms was vast, and the Xiao family had previously extended kindness to the Li family. Not sending a Qi Condensation cultivator to receive them would inevitably seem disrespectful and improper.

Li Xuanfeng had long been in secluded cultivation. Li Xuanxuan was at a critical juncture breaking through to the Qi Condensation realm and could not be disturbed. Although Chen Donghe was a Qi Condensation cultivator, he lacked the authority to make decisions. Upon reviewing the situation, only Li Tongya was not in secluded cultivation, which was why Li Xuanling had come up the mountain to invite him.

Li Tongya put away the *Moon Gate Sword Canon* in his hand, left the cave dwelling, and went with Li Xuanling to the main courtyard on Lijing Mountain. There, he saw a young man, appearing to be twenty-five or twenty-six, looking up at him. His long robes flowed elegantly, giving him an ethereal quality, and he had a striking appearance. The young man was visibly startled upon seeing him, and hastily stood up, cupped his hands, and said respectfully, “I am Xiao Ruyu of the Xiao family! Greetings, Senior!”

Xiao Ruyu had expected Li Xuanfeng to be the one to meet him. He hadn't anticipated such high regard from the Li family, with Li Tongya himself coming to greet him. He was immediately both pleasantly surprised and somewhat nervous.

“Li Tongya is a senior of the same generation as my clan uncle Xiao Yongling,” he thought, “and one of the most outstanding cultivators of this generation on the Ancient Li Path…”

Pondering for a moment, Xiao Ruyu smiled and said, “Ruyu has heard of Senior more than once from my clan uncle, who always speaks of you with great admiration. Ruyu has long admired you, and now I finally have the honor of meeting you.”

Li Tongya smiled gently. Observing his composed manner and extraordinary bearing, he felt a certain fondness for him and said softly, “I’ve also heard Xuanfeng mention you. That you could accompany him deep into dangerous territory shows considerable courage!”

After the two exchanged a few polite words, Xiao Ruyu, not daring to be negligent, spoke respectfully: “Ruyu has come for two important matters. Firstly, nine out of ten households in the county are empty, and populations need to be relocated from various regions. The Li family has the largest population among all the clans, and the Xiao family is willing to pay a certain price…”

“That’s hardly an issue,” Li Tongya said with a gentle smile. “My Li family can provide your esteemed family with about a thousand male and female laborers each year. The Xiao family need not mention any compensation. Given the relationship between our two families, why stand on ceremony?”

The Li family currently lacked everything except for people. Each year, the influx of refugees from the Yue mountains put the Li family in a difficult spot. If settled locally, there was a concern that an excessive Yue population might cause trouble and that their customs might influence the Li family. Yet sending them back would be a great waste, as they represented a significant labor force.

It had been over seven years since the Li family took control of Huaqian Mountain. The population had swelled from five thousand to twenty thousand. Combined with the nearly one hundred thousand local Li clan members, the Li family's population was almost half that of a county capital. Had it not been for the hundreds of thousands of Yue people to the west providing for them, it would indeed have been difficult to manage.