Chapter 44: New Spring

It had snowed for three days, and silvery-gray snowflakes whipped through the air. With every household keeping their doors shut tight, the weather had turned bitterly cold. Li Tongya tidied up the small courtyard in Lijing Village, entrusting its care to Li Qiuyang, and then led Liu Rouxuan up Mount Lijing.

Trudging through the deep snow, Liu Rouxuan, wrapped in a light gray fur coat, giggled as she held Li Tongya's hand and chattered, "Brother Tongya, we'll get married in the spring."

"Alright," he replied. Li Tongya brushed the snow from her shoulders. With a soft smile, he tilted the umbrella he was holding slightly, shaking off the snowflakes clinging to its surface, and moved it closer to shield Liu Rouxuan.

Mount Lijing was not very high. Li Tongya led Liu Rouxuan through the thick fog accumulated at the foot of the mountain. They walked along the snow-covered flagstone path and soon reached the courtyard entrance.

As soon as they entered the house, they saw Tian Yun sitting by the stove, wrapped in a fur cloak, her cheeks slightly flushed, and a smile on her face. Seeing Li Tongya and Liu Rouxuan, she called out, "Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law."

Li Tongya responded with a smile. Liu Rouxuan, though five or six years older than her sister-in-law, was quite natural and open. She leaned close to the stove, secretly laughing, and started a low discussion with Tian Yun.

Li Xiangping had gone down early that morning to apply spiritual rain to the rice paddies and was currently in the backyard practicing his breathing and cultivation. Li Tongya unbuttoned his overcoat, hung it on the wall, and turned to look at Mrs. Ren, who was quietly sewing nearby. He asked softly, "Where's Father?"

"Elders tend to sleep more in winter; he's still in his room," Mrs. Ren replied, looking up with a smile. Seeing Tian Yun waving from by the stove, she put down her sewing and went to sit with them, smiling as she quietly began to ask Liu Rouxuan questions.

Li Mutian had personally widened the skylight yesterday, working late into the night, and was still asleep in his room. Li Tongya stared blankly at the snow covering the entire mountain outside the window, thinking to himself, "If only Big Brother were still here... how good that would be."

****

Winter gave way to spring. The previous year had been prosperous: gentle rain in spring prevented drought, autumn was dry and flood-free, and there was no hail or locusts. Only a tenth of the field tax was levied, which was much more lenient than in previous years. Every household had surplus grain, and consequently, no one froze to death during the winter.

The second batch of spiritual rice, planted two years ago in Lijing Village, had also matured. After harvesting the spiritual rice and husking it to remove the bran, they obtained 170 catties of spiritual rice and 50 catties of spiritual rice bran. Adding the previously harvested spiritual rice, they now had a total of 290 catties of spiritual rice and 90 catties of unhusked spiritual rice. This was enough to deliver the 200 catties of spiritual rice required for tribute.

With the addition of Li Qiuyang and Liu Rouxuan, Li Tongya and Li Xiangping felt much more relieved. They entrusted the care of numerous spiritual fields to the two, allowing them to focus more energy on cultivation.

The White Essence Fruit plants had also blossomed, with white and pink flowers blooming at the branch tips. Li Tongya estimated that the White Essence Fruits would ripen in a few months, which would be in time for the arrival of the Azure Pond Sect's envoy to collect the tribute.

Li Tongya had just finished applying spiritual rain when he saw Wan Tiancang enter the courtyard with a distressed expression. Wan Tiancang began to lament to Li Tongya, "Last night, Ji Dengqi crossed our border, masked, and attacked many of my Wan family's spiritual fields. Eighty to ninety percent of the spiritual rice at the foot of the mountain was burned, and many mortals died. He even nearly breached Mount Huaqian."

"Fortunately, my clan leader was vigilant, staying alert throughout the spiritual rice ripening period, and quickly took charge of the formation. Ji Dengqi and his men besieged us all night, only reluctantly retreating at dawn."

Li Tongya set down his teacup and said with some surprise, "Your clan's formation is truly powerful, to withstand an entire night's siege from Qi Cultivation realm cultivators."

Wan Tiancang waved his hand and gave a wry smile. "It's merely a clever design," he said. "Two hundred years ago, my Wan clan produced a formation master. He used a spiritual spring on Mount Huaqian to construct this grand formation. As long as the spiritual spring flows, the formation can continuously replenish its spiritual energy."

"What a formidable formation!" Li Tongya exclaimed involuntarily. He thought to himself, "Our own formation on Mount Lijing pales in comparison. However, Xiao Yuansi once said that if we encounter a better formation, we can still use the formation flags to set it up! It's just a pity that my family has no formation inheritance..."

Wan Tiancang glanced subtly at Li Tongya. Seeing his thoughtful expression, he continued, "It's a pity he was too proud and impatient, trying to forge his Dao foundation hastily, and ultimately perished on Mount Huaqian."

"Forge a Dao foundation?" Li Tongya couldn't help but feel a pang of regret. He said in a deep voice, "He must have been a senior at the peak of Qi Cultivation."

"Alas..." Wan Tiancang let out a long sigh and spoke with a hint of longing. "That was the most glorious era for my Wan clan. We had as many as five Qi Cultivation cultivators. After that ancestor died, for over a decade, our clan successively lost three meticulously managed mountain peaks. Four Qi Cultivation cultivators and ten Fetal Breath realm cultivators died in battle. If we hadn't had some connections within the sect, our clan would have been wiped out long ago."

"Later, our elders passed away one by one. The person in the sect merely ensured the continuation of the Wan family's bloodline but no longer managed our affairs. Since then, each generation was weaker than the last, but at least we survived. It wasn't until over ten years ago, when our current clan leader broke through the Jade Capital Wheel realm, that we were finally able to open the storage bags passed down by our ancestors. But we found only some spirit stones and talismans, with no other significant aid."

"I see," Li Tongya said, sighing deeply. He refilled the teacup in front of Wan Tiancang and, seeing him sighing, offered a few quiet words of comfort.

Wan Tiancang took a sip of tea, then slammed his hand on the table and said indignantly, "That Ji family is despicable! Back then, when my Wan clan was constantly at war with the Yu family to the north, the Ji family was just a small clan caught in the middle, without even a single Qi Cultivation cultivator. Now, they've managed to curry favor on all sides and have grown to such an extent that they've almost driven my Wan clan to desperation."

Glancing at Li Tongya, Wan Tiancang then asked in a low voice, "May I ask about that senior in your family?"

Li Tongya understood that Wan Tiancang was referring to Li Mutian and immediately became vigilant. Fortunately, the brothers had long ago agreed on their story. He took a sip of tea and said, "My father ran away from home in his early years and became a soldier on the Ancient Li Road, fighting the Mountain Yue alongside General Yang."

"Tiancang has heard a little about that," Wan Tiancang said. "General Yang Tianya, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, led his troops east to attack those Mountain Yue, and many people died." Wan Tiancang shifted his teacup and asked, puzzled, "But I heard that your esteemed father was a mortal when he returned..."

Li Tongya gave a wry smile and explained, "At home, my father received guidance from an immortal cultivator and achieved Qi Cultivation. Then, during his military campaigns, he found an opportunity and forged an immortal foundation. As for why his cultivation was crippled, it's not convenient to disclose."

"Tiancang was too presumptuous!" Wan Tiancang cupped his hands in apology. He thought to himself, "He likely forged an immortal foundation at a young age, and being impetuous, offended some children of powerful clans. Only those powerful clan children, unafraid of retaliation, would enjoy such a drama of crippling one's cultivation to that of a mortal."

Aloud, he said regretfully, "What a pity, what a pity." Seeing Li Tongya remain silent, Wan Tiancang gritted his teeth and finally spoke, "To be frank, Brother Li, Tiancang has come this time hoping to trade my clan's formation inheritance for a talisman of peak Qi Cultivation or Foundation Establishment realm, to slay Ji Dengqi!"

Only then did Li Tongya realize. He thought to himself, "I wondered why Wan Tiancang would just drop by for a chat. So this was his real plan all along!"