Chapter 374: Qingdu Peak

“It truly is Biyuan Copper Essence. It should be nearby. This material is rare, so it’s good fortune for your esteemed family to acquire such a spiritual item.”

Kong Yu cupped a handful of spring water, used a spell to examine it for a while, and nodded.

“If this mountain is moved, the flow will be interrupted for about seven years due to changes in the ley lines. After that, the spring water will reappear, and there will be no more chilling energy.”

“Excellent! Excellent!”

Seven years was a wait the Li family could afford. Li Xuanxuan nodded repeatedly before speaking.

“Fellow Daoist, you may not know, but this mineral vein belongs to the Immortal Clan Xiao. Its output and reserves are all recorded at Xianyong Peak, and it has no connection whatsoever with my Li family…”

“That’s a pity then.”

Kong Yu smiled apologetically and replied,

“Yes, Cuiyuan Copper Essence can neutralize intense heat and improve quality. A figure like Master Chuting likely foresaw this many years ago and claimed it first.”

Li Xijun, who had just entered, raised an eyebrow upon hearing Kong Yu’s words. Li Xuanxuan was also slightly surprised and quickly responded,

“Fellow Daoist, you jest. The various families on the East Bank were originally enlightened by the Xiao family. There’s no such thing as claiming it first. Our family’s collection of offerings is even reported to the Master…”

While outwardly agreeing, Li Xuanxuan pondered inwardly,

‘What does he mean by this? Is he testing my family’s relationship with the Xiao family?’

Kong Yu feigned sudden understanding and laughed,

“My mistake! Please don’t take offense.”

With the mountain selected, the Li family cultivators had all arrived by wind. Kong Yu took out twelve formation flags and handed them one by one to An Zheyang and others. He designated each person’s position on the lake, provided them with incantations, and instructed,

“Soon, when you see golden light approaching, activate the formation.”

Returning to shore, the Yuting Guards had already moved the Rui family down from the mountain. Kong Yu first took out a long, wide white talisman from his pocket, nearly half a person tall. On it, written in cinnabar ink, were the words:

“This is a pile of gravel, not a mountain.”

At the bottom, a small, striking red seal was stamped. Kong Yu said,

“This is Master Changxi’s divine ability, personally written. It’s specifically for moving mountains, capable of deceiving ley lines, allowing for easy relocation.”

Kong Yu pasted the talisman onto the mountaintop, then took a handful of damp, soft earth from his sleeve and handed it to Li Xuanxuan, instructing,

“When the ley lines erupt later, Fellow Daoist, infuse this Wuxi Sand with your magic power and fill the void.”

He then added with a smile,

“Should a little ley line malevolent energy leak out during the mountain relocation, my Xuanyue Sect will resolve it for your esteemed family.”

“Please proceed, Fellow Daoist.”

Li Xuanxuan held the spiritual earth and acknowledged.

Kong Yu nodded, untied the long golden rope from his waist, folded it repeatedly in his hands, meticulously coiling it around his fingers. He flew around the mountain, casting it as he chanted incantations, until the entire mountain was covered in gold.

The Li family’s Fetal Breath cultivators ascended the mountain one after another. Over a hundred of them found their positions, held the golden threads, sat cross-legged, and channeled their magic power.

After completing these preparations, Kong Yu exhaled and shouted,

“Go!”

Instantly, sand and stones flew, black energy permeated the air, and two mournful cries were heard. The sky suddenly darkened, and a heavy gloom enveloped the surroundings. Rui Family Peak, covered in trees, swayed twice and vanished amidst the gushing telluric malevolent energy.

“This is ‘a little’?!”

Li Xuanxuan staggered, buffeted by the telluric malevolent energy.

Dense telluric malevolent energy surged forth, a vast black mass rushing upwards. Li Xuanxuan, ignoring the situation, quickly activated his magic power and threw out the Wuxi Sand.

“Go!”

Upon contact with the malevolent energy, the spiritual earth expanded with the wind. A black rain instantly fell from the sky, turning into mud and stones upon landing. It churned and rolled on the ground for a while, filling the damaged ley lines.

Streams of black malevolent energy still hovered in the sky. Li Xuanxuan looked back to see that Rui Family Peak, along with Kong Yu and others, had long since vanished. The ground was bare, exposing grayish-white bedrock and soil.

“How truly wondrous.”

Flying over the lake by wind, a peak now stood conspicuously on the water. Numerous trees on its summit were broken, and all the small houses and pavilions had collapsed, leaving a scene of utter devastation.

An Zheyang and the other Qi Cultivation realm cultivators were pale-faced, sitting cross-legged by the shore. Over a hundred Fetal Breath cultivators had also had their magic power completely drained. The ground was covered with sitting cultivators.

Kong Yu was also as pale as gold paper, but he dared not stop. He conjured a white jade bottle from his hand, sent it flying into the sky, and activated the magical artifact, collecting all the malevolent energy. Only then did he descend with relief.

After resting for a while, Kong Yu exhaled deeply, opened his eyes, and said to Li Xuanxuan,

“This telluric malevolent energy belongs to my Xuanyue Sect. The rest, including the mountain-moving talisman, Wuxi Sand, and labor costs, comes to sixty spirit stones… What do you think, Fellow Daoist?”

‘This old fellow has an ulterior motive!’

Only then did Li Xuanxuan understand. The Xuanyue Sect’s enthusiasm for moving mountains was ultimately for collecting the malevolent energy leaked from the ley lines during the process. It was likely that most of the elixirs and cultivation techniques within the Xuanyue Sect could make use of it.

Considering the vast amount of malevolent energy just now, he wondered how many spirit stones it was worth.

“Alas, Fellow Daoist Kong, that’s not very fair!”

Li Xuanxuan sighed, while Kong Yu chuckled apologetically, shamelessly saying,

“It’s just that the plain left by the Rui family won’t have much spiritual energy or ley lines for the next hundred years… With the ley lines leaking and spiritual energy depleted, only mortals can be sustained there.”

Moving a mountain was an activity that damaged ley lines and consumed an immense amount of magic power. Fortunately, the lake wasn’t far from the East Bank, otherwise, it wouldn’t have been possible for a few Qi Cultivation realm cultivators to move it.

Given how the ley lines had just erupted, Li Xuanxuan couldn’t fail to notice. However, since it wasn’t his family’s territory after all, he wasn’t overly pained. He feigned annoyance and said,

“Why didn’t you say so earlier, Fellow Daoist? Fifty spirit stones!”

Kong Yu froze for a moment, muttering inwardly,

‘It’s not your family’s territory, what’s there to feel bad about!’

The two bickered hotly for a while. Li Xuanxuan counted out fifty-four spirit stones and handed them over. Kong Yu happily accepted them, and instantly, the two became chummy again like good brothers. Kong Yu laughed,

“Brother, don’t mind my humble cultivation. I’ve been moving mountains for fifty years; my mountain-moving technique is truly perfected.”

“According to my experience, brother, just wait a few years, and the lakebed will naturally rise, lifting this mountain. To its sides, two or three small peaks will also emerge due to the ley lines.”

“Good, good.”

Li Xuanxuan arranged a courtyard for him to stay and recuperate. As for the Rui family, they were left homeless and pitiably lodged in Yuting Town. Rui Qiongcuo remained silent, spending each day squatting and guarding at the foot of Yuting Mountain.

Li Yuanping had no choice but to send a letter to the Xiao family, requesting that the Rui family be integrated, and that the Rui family’s mining work be taken over by their own family, with the output still submitted to the Xiao family.

As for Kong Yu, he stayed there for a few months, ensuring the mountain’s position remained stable. Finally, he departed by wind, shouting before he left,

“Brother Xuanxuan, if you have any business in the future, please come to Xuanyue Sect and call upon your younger brother!”

Li Xuanxuan saw him out of their territory. Returning to the immortal mountain, the Li family had already pruned trees and constructed pavilions and courtyards, making it quite lively.

Li Xijun and others were summoned by Li Qinghong into the mountain. Although Li Yuanjiao had not yet emerged from seclusion, Li Qinghong insisted, so they had to first decide on the names for this immortal mountain and its cave dwelling.

Li Yuanping and his son, Li Xuanxuan, brainstormed for a while, coming up with names like ‘Four Vein Peak’ and ‘Lihu Peak,’ which left Li Qinghong bewildered, unsure how to respond.

As the father and son pondered, Li Xuanxuan finally decided on ‘Moon Gate Peak’ and ‘Moon Gate Cave Dwelling.’ He even sighed,

“It’s a pity that Qingchi already has a Moon Lake Peak, otherwise, this name would have been perfect.”

However, Li Xijun spoke up,

“Junior believes… it’s best if our family doesn’t get involved with anything related to ‘moon.’”

The others exchanged glances and nodded slightly. Li Yuanping said,

“How about we take one character from each of our family’s two Foundation Establishment magical artifacts, ‘Green Ruler’ and ‘Elegant Stonecrop,’ and name it ‘Qingdu Peak’? The water of Moon-Gazing Lake is always shallow blue, and if we plant some Elegant Stonecrop on this mountain, the name will be truly fitting.”

The Elegant Stonecrop in Li Qinghong’s arms glowed faintly. She smiled,

“Finally, a proper name.”

“Qingdu Peak, Qingdu Cave Dwelling.”

Li Xuanxuan nodded, greatly relieved and content, sighing,

“From now on, this will be our family’s main peak.”

With this settled, a letter from the Xiao family arrived. Xiao Guitu’s reply was quick. Li Xuanxuan read it carefully and nodded,

“Xiao Guitu handles matters clearly, indeed.”

The letter from Xiao Guitu conveyed that the Rui family was originally enlightened by their ancestors and had no real connection. As for their integration, the Xiao family would send people to mine the Cuiyuan themselves, so the Li family needn’t bother.

“This is because they’re afraid our family might secretly keep the copper essence, leading to unpleasant incidents.”

Li Yuanping looked at the letter his father handed him. The Xiao family clearly valued the Cuiyuan Copper Essence highly, and their own family was reluctant to get involved, lest they incur trouble.

One didn’t want to give it up, and the other didn’t want to touch it, so this somewhat unconventional matter was settled. As they were discussing, a Yuting Guard came to report,

“Reporting, sirs, that monk has settled on a small islet nearby and built a thatched hut for cultivation.”

“Kongheng? This person is still wandering on the lake!”

Li Qinghong frowned slightly. This Monk Kongheng had arrived without apparent reason and had even offered help during the demonic disaster, blocking two demonic cultivators from Zhao. Without his intervention, there would likely have been heavy casualties.

Now the Li family owed him a favor, so they couldn’t well drive him away. They could only let him remain on the lake.

“Indeed.”

Li Yuanping nodded, saying quietly,

“Over the past few years, I’ve also received quite a bit of information. Kongheng first lingered around Huaqian, collecting herbs for a few months and rescuing people. Later, he moved to Yuting, and now he’s followed us to the lake.”

“He doesn’t spread his doctrines, and he hasn’t made any outrageous moves. We can’t possibly kill him, so we can only assign a few people to keep an eye on him.”

The lake remained calm for half a month. The Cloud Boat of Radiant Hues arrived on schedule. As Li Yuanjiao was in secluded cultivation, Li Qinghong had to go to pay the tribute.

The Qingchi cultivator who arrived this time was Yu Su, the senior disciple of Yuanwu Peak, known as ‘Brocade Black Rat’ and famed for his greed. Li Qinghong, not wanting to give anyone cause for gossip, flew towards Milin County early with her spear.

The internal strife within the Yu family, interfered with by various parties in secret, ultimately failed to settle. On the surface, it was one Yu family, but in reality, it had fractured into four factions, and having overthrown Yu Mugao’s reforms, it was rotten to the core.

Li Qinghong, a cultivator at the eighth level of Qi Cultivation, traveled straight through. She had flown past more than half of the Yu family’s territory, yet not a single person moved to stop her. It was only when she was nearing the Yu family’s mountain, where the tribute was to be paid, that a middle-aged man came to greet her.

This man’s face was weathered, his demeanor mature, and his build tall. However, his cheeks were tightly drawn, making him appear somewhat nervous and uneasy. A spear was strapped to his back. He hurried over by wind, staring at Li Qinghong for a moment, and found himself unable to speak.

Li Qinghong had broken through to Qi Cultivation early and now looked to be in her early twenties. With delicately arched eyebrows, she softly asked,

“Fellow Daoist, are you…”

The middle-aged man froze, his face turning pale. After two breaths, he cupped his hands and said,

“Fei Tongxiao of the Fei family, greetings, Fellow Daoist!”

“Oh… so it’s you!”

Li Qinghong also recognized him. It had been many years since they last met, and youthful memories inevitably brought a touch of awkwardness. Li Qinghong had no choice but to change the subject. She looked at the true essence around him and frowned,

“How…”

Fei Tongxiao understood that she was referring to his cultivation and the vastly different changes in his true essence now. He merely responded with a silent nod.

The Fei family suffered greatly back then. Fei Wangbai was decapitated by a single sword, and from then on, he could not cultivate the ‘Changjin Heart-Seeking Art’ to reach Foundation Establishment. Unwilling to accept this, Fei Tongxiao dispersed his cultivation and started anew.

His elder brother, Fei Tongyu, fully supported him. Now, over ten years later, Fei Tongxiao had skillfully re-cultivated to the Qi Cultivation realm, having just broken through a few days ago…

But no matter how fast he was, undergoing Fetal Breath twice still took thirty years… Fei Tongxiao was originally a genius in his family, but now he faced the outcome of breaking through to Qi Cultivation close to forty years old. Beyond the regret in his heart, his face also showed signs of aging.

Upon seeing the beautiful woman from his youth, who was still vibrant and radiant, donned in jade armor and wielding a long spear, and already at the eighth level of Qi Cultivation, how could he possibly articulate the complex emotions in his heart?

He had been so decisive back then, abandoning his cultivation just as he said, and he had prepared himself. Yet, as the consequences arrived on schedule, Fei Tongxiao’s face still alternated between green and white. He simply said,

“Heh! Fellow Daoist, are you also here to pay tribute?”

Li Qinghong only needed a brief moment of thought to understand everything. She glanced at him with a touch of guilt and softly said,

“Indeed.”

Silence fell again. There were no Yu family members on the peak, only the two of them standing in the cold wind at the summit. Fei Tongxiao’s expression slowly calmed. After several failed attempts to speak, he finally offered a bitter smile and said,

“The world is unpredictable. The situation changed so rapidly back then, no one could have imagined…”

Li Qinghong softly acknowledged. The radiant glow of the Cloud Boat of Radiant Hues slowly rose on the horizon, and more figures appeared around them. The cultivators from these families respectfully stopped, addressed Li Qinghong as ‘senior,’ and then slowly retreated.

Fei Tongxiao remained pale-faced, head bowed, not uttering a word. Given the current disparity in their cultivation, Fei Tongxiao should have addressed her as ‘senior,’ but he simply couldn’t bring himself to say it, choosing instead to remain silent.

After a short wait, the Cloud Boat of Radiant Hues landed on the peak. A group of cultivators in green robes disembarked. The leader, however, wore a brocade robe instead of green, had a short beard, dark yellow skin, a long, thin face, and eyes that gleamed with sharp light.

It was precisely Yu Su, the senior disciple of Yuanwu Peak, the ‘Brocade Black Rat!’

Yu Su disembarked from the cloud boat, first glancing at everyone, then softly asked,

“Where are the Yu family members?”

The crowd pushed forward one person, who was none other than Yu Chengyi, Yu Mugao’s seventh son. He knelt with a thud and cried out,

“This junior greets the Immortal Envoy from the Upper Sect!”

Yu Su looked at him for a moment and shook his head.

“My junior brother also entrusted me with a task. I’ll take care of that first, and then we can discuss things in detail with all of you.”

Yu Su was at the peak of Foundation Establishment cultivation, the highest-cultivated cultivator anyone on the lake had ever seen. His brocade robe moved without wind, majestic and awe-inspiring. Upon his words, everyone felt a chill.

Having never witnessed such a display of power, everyone could only nod repeatedly. Yu Su chuckled, took out a small golden cage from his sleeve. It was bright and exquisite, yet completely empty inside, with nothing to be seen.