Dao Path

The next day, when dawn had yet to fully break and a few strands of morning light barely pierced the heavy clouds.

Ning Yongrui had already appeared before the gates of the Yun Clan estate, his steps hurried, utterly unlike his usual calm and composed bearing as a garrison commander.

His breathing was somewhat ragged, and fine beads of sweat even dotted his brow. He had clearly rushed here at full speed.

The moment he saw the Yun Clan servant who opened the gate, he immediately spoke, his voice carrying a faint, imperceptible rasp from his urgency. "Sorry for the trouble, please inform the Yun Family Head that Ning Yongrui seeks an audience regarding a matter of utmost urgency."

Not long afterward, Yun Long appeared in the main hall.

When Ning Yongrui saw Yun Long, the anxiety on his face mingled with the lingering shock from yesterday, gaining an additional layer of inexplicable solemnity.

He did not waste time on pleasantries, instead directly taking an ancient-looking box from his storage artifact.

The box was entirely dark gold, carved from some unknown exotic wood. It felt heavy in his hands, its surface engraved with intricate, profound cloud patterns and dragon motifs, faintly exuding a majesty that made one's heart tremble.

Around the box, a faint glow too subtle for the naked eye seemed to slowly circulate. It was the manifestation of fortune belonging solely to the Great Xia Dynasty.

"Yun Family Head, this is a tribute box used exclusively by the Dynasty." Ning Yongrui held the box in both hands, his tone solemn.

"Once this box is sealed, the item within will immediately receive the protection of Great Xia Dynasty fortune."

"Any unauthorized private opening will instantly expose the culprit's actions."

"At that time, the opener will not only suffer a fierce backlash from the Dynasty's fortune, but the Great Xia Dynasty will also fly into a thunderous rage, punish them without mercy, and pursue the matter to the bitter end."

His words were filled with profound reverence for that resplendent heavenly might, as though the punishment had already descended.

"The Great Xia Dynasty has stood for more than a hundred thousand long years." Ning Yongrui's voice carried a trace of distant sentiment, and his eyes flashed with yearning and unspeakable fear toward that colossal entity.

Over such a vast river of history, countless dynasties had risen and fallen. Only Great Xia still stood unshaken.

"Throughout such an immense span of time, cultivators and Lineages who shared your thoughts, Yun Family Head, and wished to offer rare techniques or treasures to the court, have never been few in number."

"Thus, the Dynasty long ago formed an exceptionally complete tribute system, one that could even be called watertight."

"It is precisely through such a mechanism that the Dynasty has continuously gathered from among the people countless pearls left behind by the tides of time that nearly vanished from the world, as well as newly created marvelous techniques and wondrous arts."

This was both part of the Dynasty's unfathomable foundation and an important source of its long-lasting national fortune and ever-growing strength.

At the same time, within a quiet chamber in the Yun Clan's inner courtyard, the air was permeated by a faint medicinal fragrance and an unusual sweet scent.

Just last night, Yun He had taken the finest of the three Dragon Whisker Golden Tail Spirit Fish sent by the Ning Family—the one whose whiskers were nearly five inches long—and carefully simmered it with several rare medicinal ingredients into a bowl of golden Spirit Soup for Li Lingyue to drink.

After drinking it, Li Lingyue felt a warm yet boundless surge of pure Spiritual Energy dissolve within her abdomen, thread by thread nourishing the child in her womb.

She could clearly sense that the little life yet to be born was like a fledgling crying out to be fed, joyfully absorbing the pure energy born from the spirit fish within her body.

Her own true qi, energy, and the Spiritual Energy between heaven and earth were also drawn along by that power, merging bit by bit into the fetus and forming a Blood Connection with it.

Perhaps this is why cultivators' children are more likely to be born with Spiritual Roots, and why their Spiritual Roots are often of higher grade. Li Lingyue gently stroked her lower abdomen, her face filled with the tenderness and anticipation of a first-time mother.

As for the remaining two Dragon Whisker Golden Tail Spirit Fish, whose quality was somewhat inferior but which were still equally precious, Yun He had also made proper arrangements.

She intended to find several supplementary medicinal ingredients with gentler, more nourishing properties, simmer them together, and have Li Lingyue consume the soup in portions over the coming days.

This would ensure that the spirit fish's effects were absorbed to the greatest extent possible, while preventing the medicine from being so potent that it harmed either mother or child.

The matter of offering up a technique was temporarily settled. Ning Yongrui had also taken away the tribute box containing the Bodhidharma Muscle-Tendon Classic and submitted it through the special channels of the garrison office.

In the end, Yun Long still chose to offer the Bodhidharma Muscle-Tendon Classic rather than the Wudang Xiantian Gong or the Pure Yang Skill cultivated by Yun Hu.

He wanted to maintain his image as a genius, so the technique he offered had to appear to originate from the same source as his own abilities.

Yun Long imprinted the Bodhidharma Muscle-Tendon Classic into a jade slip. The contents below the Qi Refining Stage were extremely detailed, while the portions after the Qi Refining Stage were comparatively vague, perfectly matching his current strength.

After experiencing the upheaval of that night, all of Wanfang Lake had completely returned to its former tranquility, becoming even more peaceful than ever before.

The various forces that had once been restless and ready to move now all lay low, not daring to make the slightest unusual move.

As a result, Yun Long finally had some rare leisure and more time to deal with internal Lineage affairs he had previously had no time to attend to.

On this day, he summoned his eldest disciple, Shi Chen, to the study.

Ever since Shi Chen had formally become his disciple, Yun Long had given him guidance in martial arts and taught him common knowledge of the Cultivation World, but he had never made any detailed plans or arrangements for his future path of cultivation.

Today, Yun Long's expression was especially solemn. Clearly, he intended to discuss something of great importance with Shi Chen.

Shi Tie also came to the study alongside his son. His burly frame stood to one side, his face bearing unconcealable nervousness and deep anticipation.

He knew clearly that every solemn word from the Family Head could directly determine the course of Shi Chen's entire life.

Yun Long's gaze settled upon Shi Chen.

The youth before him had grown considerably taller since their first meeting. Some of the childishness had faded from between his brows, replaced by a resilience and steadiness rare among those his age.

"Xiao Chen," Yun Long said gently.

"Over these past days, you should have gained a fairly thorough understanding of the foundations of mundane Martial Dao and cultivation through Spiritual Roots."

"Under my guidance, your mundane Martial Dao has also established a solid foundation far surpassing that of others your age."

"More importantly, you possess a mid-grade, five-inch Gold-Water Dual Attribute Spiritual Root."

Such talent could be considered outstanding even throughout all of Sanshui County.

"Now, there are three paths laid before you." Yun Long's tone gradually turned stern.

"This is your own Dao Path. It concerns your future achievements and direction. No one can make the final decision for you, not even your master."

His gaze was calm and profound as he watched Shi Chen.

"The first path is to continue cultivating the Martial Dao under me."

"In the future, you may rely on your own Martial Dao true qi, tempered a thousand times over, and follow your master's example by forcibly condensing your own first thread of Qi Refining energy, thereby truly embarking upon the path of Entering Immortality through Martial Arts."

"However, in its early stages, this path is destined to be far slower and far more arduous than those cultivators who directly rely on Spiritual Roots for Qi Refining. Its dangers and uncertainties also far exceed the ordinary." Yun Long did not conceal the hardships of this path in the slightest.

"Moreover, once you choose this path, when you use true qi to condense Qi Refining energy, what changes will occur with your Spiritual Root—whether the two can complement each other, whether they will restrain each other, or even clash—these are all unknowns that even I cannot accurately judge at present. After all, I do not have a Spiritual Root."