Chapter 68: Preparing the Ambush

Li Xiangping slowly walked into the courtyard and gently picked up the magical mirror from the stone table. Inside the mirror, Lu Jiangxian suddenly awoke. His divine sense swept over Lijing Mountain, and the changes that had occurred over the past five years instantly came to mind.

“The younger generations of the Li family have also grown up.”

Li Xuanxuan, Li Changhu's posthumous son, was in the courtyard, flipping through wooden slips while reading, seemingly preoccupied. Meanwhile, Li Xuanfeng, Li Xiangping's eldest son, sat absentmindedly by a tombstone on the mountainside, his hair dishevelled.

Tian Yun was cheerfully accompanying Li Jingtian as she read in the courtyard. Li Tongya was nowhere to be seen; by his reckoning, it was time for him to go to Guanyun Peak to pay tribute. Liu Rouxuan remained, holding their child, Li Xuanling, and speaking endearingly to him.

Slowly retracting his divine sense, Lu Jiangxian looked at Li Xiangping before him.

Li Xiangping's mind was a chaotic jumble of thoughts. He slowly walked into the side courtyard and quietly watched Li Xuanxuan.

Li Xuanxuan was restlessly arranging the wooden slips. Seeing Li Xiangping enter the courtyard, he paused, surprised, and spoke:

“Patriarch…”

Li Xiangping waved a hand to cut him off and said gravely:

“Let me ask you, if your uncle doesn't return, what will you do?”

Li Xuanxuan was stunned, hesitant to consider Li Xiangping's words, and choked out:

“Uncle… how could it come to that…”

Seeing Li Xiangping's tightly furrowed brow, Li Xuanxuan had to compose himself and maintain his composure, speaking as calmly as possible:

“Retrieve the magical mirror.”

Li Xiangping nodded and replied:

“What if you can't find it?”

“Conceal the information and declare that Uncle is in seclusion undergoing a breakthrough. Immediately dispatch people to take control of the clan's soldiers, secure the area east of Lidaokou which borders the Wan family, and be ready to request aid from the county at any time…”

Li Xuanxuan's expression was grim, and he spoke faster and faster. Li Xiangping waved his hand to interrupt him, saying somewhat dejectedly:

“That's enough.”

He patted Li Xuanxuan's shoulder and said gravely:

“Before your paternal uncle left home to return to the sect, he left me three talismans. With this magical mirror in hand, even if I encounter a Qi Condensation cultivator, I'll have a chance to fight. There's no need to worry too much about me.”

“Someone from my Li family is seeking immortality within the sect. No matter how the situation develops, the sect will provide some assistance to preserve my Li family's bloodline. As long as the magical mirror is in our hands, my Li family will have the foundation to rise again.”

“Go call Feng'er.”

Li Xiangping had always forbidden concubine-born individuals or cultivators from outside the family from interacting with direct descendants, specifically to conceal whether the direct lineage possessed spiritual apertures. Now, as going to ambush Ji Dengqi was extremely perilous, he had to first plant the talisman seed in Li Xuanfeng, preparing for the worst-case scenario.

Li Xuanxuan soon returned with a sullen Li Xuanfeng. Li Xiangping didn't bother speaking; he circulated his magic power through Li Xuanfeng's body, passing the Qi Sea acupoint, which was indeed empty.

Li Xiangping secretly sighed. As his magic power flowed through Li Xuanfeng's entire body, he was suddenly startled.

In Li Xuanfeng's right hand, a swirling vortex of energy clearly emerged in the Shaofu acupoint. Li Xiangping's heart pounded with alarm, his mind went blank, and he muttered:

“How can this be?!”

“How is Feng'er's spiritual aperture in the Shaofu acupoint on his right hand? Spiritual apertures aren't only in the Qi Sea acupoint?! Does this mean they can also be in the Shengyang Mansion or the Mud Pill Palace?!”

Before he could ponder it further, a second thought popped into Li Xiangping's mind.

“From now on, if a direct descendant of my Li family possesses a spiritual aperture, should they still be granted a talisman seed?”

One must know that only by being granted a talisman seed can one cultivate the "Taiyin Breath-Nourishing Wheel Scripture." If those with spiritual apertures are not granted talisman seeds, wouldn't they only be able to cultivate the "Azure Origin Nourishing Wheel Method" like common rogue cultivators? What kind of sense does that make?

Carefully recalling the "Reception Method," the surprise on Li Xiangping's face deepened.

“It is the Profound Pearl True Elixir. At the beginning of the first circulation, the elixir descends into the heart meridians, hence it is said the elixir cavern is in the central palace, and the elixir's descent marks the first circulation… After the elixir descends, one holds their breath nine times for one round, up to eighty-one times (nine sets of nine) for nine rounds. Thus, it is called 'Repeating Nine Counts'…”

“It seems it was originally possible to bestow it upon those with spiritual apertures…”

Lu Jiangxian, from above, smiled as he watched the stunned Li Xiangping below. Having already guessed what he was thinking, he murmured:

“My Profound Pearl Talisman Seed can naturally be planted in anyone. If planted in a mortal, they ascend to immortality. If planted in a spiritual aperture, cultivation yields double the results with half the effort. The question is, Li Xiangping, do you want two mediocre talents or one genius?”

“As for Li Xuanfeng, to think he actually has a spiritual aperture in the Shaofu acupoint of his right hand. It seems there's a great secret behind this matter of spiritual apertures.”

Li Xiangping had no time to think further. Seeing time tick by, minute by minute, and the hour agreed upon with the Wan family drawing near, he had no choice but to say gravely:

“Feng'er, do you still remember the magical incantation your father told you to memorize before the new year?”

Seeing both Li Xuanxuan and Li Xiangping with solemn expressions, Li Xuanfeng unconsciously grew nervous and whispered:

“Your son has already memorized all of it.”

“Come.”

Li Xiangping took Li Xuanfeng by the hand and led him into the solemn ancestral hall in the back courtyard. Li Xuanfeng's eyes widened as he carefully observed the room he was usually forbidden to enter.

His gaze swept over the several memorial tablets in the back row. Li Xuanfeng saw his grandfather, Li Mutian, standing in the room, leaning on a cane, looking up at the stone platform in the center of the room.

Following Li Mutian's gaze, Li Xuanxuan saw pale white moonlight, like mist, pervading downwards from the stone platform, and a greenish-gray mirror floating in the air.

Li Xiangping whispered something into Li Xuanfeng's ear for a moment. Li Xuanfeng then nodded and bowed, saying in a childish voice:

“Li family disciple, Li Xuanfeng, respectfully requests the Profound Clarity Wondrous Method, the Lord of Fate to calm the spirit, and to follow the Dao in cultivation.”

“I shall achieve merit in due time, not fail in my devotion, and upon the talisman's burning, my body shall return to the Taiyin.”

A white orb instantly sprang forth from the mirror's surface, round and gleaming brightly. White light shimmered, illuminating the courtyard in a vast expanse of white, then directly plunged into the top of Li Xuanfeng's head.

Li Xiangping watched Li Xuanfeng sit cross-legged and begin to guide the Profound Pearl Talisman Seed within his body, then said gravely to Li Xuanxuan:

“Look after Feng'er, and explain everything clearly to him.”

Only then did he bow, take down the mirror, and gently place it in his embrace. His expression was complex as he sighed deeply:

“The arrow is on the string; it must be loosed.”

***

Lu Jiangxian watched as Li Xiangping descended Lijing Mountain alone. Li Xiangping then cast a speed spell on his legs, quietly left Lijing Village, and walked along the ancient Lidao road for a while. Seeing that he was quickly approaching the Wan family's territory, he finally stopped, took out the mirror, and whispered:

“Li family disciple Li Xiangping, humbly acknowledging the Profound Benevolence, respectfully requests the Profound Clarity Wondrous Method, to carefully emit the Taiyin Profound Light, to slay the wicked and rebellious, to dispel filth and subdue demons!”

Lu Jiangxian's divine sense stirred, and he shared everything he saw, only to find that Huatian Mountain was still far away, beyond the casting range of the Taiyin Profound Light.

Li Xiangping clearly also noticed this problem. He walked cautiously, clutching the talisman in his hand, occasionally taking out the mirror to confirm his position.

As Huatian Mountain gradually entered the range of his divine sense, various auras appeared within his perception, and Lu Jiangxian finally sensed that something was wrong.

“One, two, three, five… nine, ten.”

“Ten Qi Condensation cultivators?!”