Old Man Xu saw this and said, "Big Brother, Second Brother, be careful. Don't tell anyone about this. Even if Miao Miao and the others ask, keep your mouths shut."
Xu Jian said, "Got it, Dad. Second Brother and I know what's important."
Xu Jisheng also nodded. "Dad, then Second Brother and I will get to work with Big Brother."
Old Man Xu, however, told them to wait. "I know you two want to know what's in the 'Longevity Sutra.' There's no need to hurry to find Third Brother. Take a look here first and see how much you can understand. The rest will depend on your fortune."
Afterward, the two brothers, Xu Jian and Xu Jisheng, began flipping through the "Longevity Sutra" in the Xu Family Ancestral Hall.
Its contents were profound and extensive. It introduced the Wheel of Life, the Bitter Sea, the Life Spring, the Divine Bridge, and the Other Shore, but they could not understand the specific meaning of the scriptures.
It was like reading a Heavenly Book.
The "Longevity Sutra" in Old Man Xu's hands was actually a complete cultivation method for the Sea of Wheels Realm.
Unfortunately, it was missing the opening section, leaving them with scriptures they could not truly use to begin cultivating.
If one of them had already opened the Bitter Sea, they would have been able to understand the contents of the scriptures to some extent and cultivate at the Bitter Sea level according to the method described within.
Unfortunately, their fortune was insufficient. Not one of them could open the Bitter Sea on their own.
As the first breath of autumn wind blew in from the northwest,
it scattered the heat of midsummer and brought the coolness of autumn.
On a small path on West Mountain, beneath a Phoenix Tree, Li Zhi accompanied the visibly pregnant Zhou Mei on a stroll through the woods.
As the baby in her belly grew larger, Zhou Mei became increasingly attached to Li Zhi.
She wished she could open her eyes every day and see Li Zhi by her side.
Perhaps because he knew he would not have much time left to accompany mother and child in the future, Li Zhi was especially indulgent toward Zhou Mei.
Every day, like a living alarm clock, he appeared beside her bed right after finishing his morning exercises.
He personally helped Zhou Mei get up and wash, accompanied her on walks, exercised with her, read with her, and went shopping with her.
He was almost inseparable from Zhou Mei.
Zhou Mei happily enjoyed Li Zhi's meticulous care like a little woman.
The aura of a strong businesswoman had long since vanished without a trace.
The reason was that Li Zhi knew that once he embarked on the path of cultivation, all the emotions of mortals would leave him forever.
Love, hatred, affection, and vengeance would never again be as pure and beautiful as they were in his mortal days.
Walking through the woods at leisure, hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder, was a romance belonging only to mortals.
Because mortals were weak enough, they could immerse themselves in nature and enjoy its beauty.
During this period, Ye Fan invited him out several times to hunt for treasures, but Li Zhi decisively refused every time.
Ye Fan even teased Li Zhi several times for being unable to tear himself away from his gentle haven.
Only Li Zhi himself knew what he wanted.
He did not want to end up like Ye Fan in the future, returning from Beidou after untold hardship only to find that his family had already died of longing for him.
Perhaps the two situations could not be compared, but Li Zhi cherished every day of his mortal life.
Over the past few months, he had gradually dealt with the assets under his name. Once the child was born, he would transfer most of his property to the child and Zhou Mei.
Once he embarked on the path of cultivation, worldly money would have no value to him.
But for Zhou Mei and the child, it could guarantee them a life of wealth and prosperity.
After making a small fortune, Ye Fan had become Li Zhi's neighbor.
He had said several times that once he married and had children, he would bring his parents over so the whole family could live together and enjoy the happiness of family life.
Li Zhi had even told Ye Fan to work hard and try to let his parents hold a grandchild within three years.
Unfortunately, Ye Fan had not taken it seriously.
When the two sat together chatting, they mostly discussed ancient and modern matters and imagined the Ancient Era.
Although the cultivation methods they had previously obtained could be practiced, they were just like the Breathing Method: they merely allowed one to cultivate.
As for their effects, it could not be said that they had none, but they were nowhere near as miraculous as described in the cultivation methods.
Therefore, Ye Fan looked forward even more to finding more direct information about the Ancient Era civilization.
Li Zhi understood some things as well, but he truly did not know much.
After all, he was merely a mortal. Even if he had read the original work, he would not dare claim to know the Shrouding the Sky World like the back of his hand.
Take Earth, for example. Who had sealed Earth away?
And who had once Proved the Dao and become Emperor here?
Who had left behind all those complete Imperial Arrays on Earth?
Aside from Kunlun, what were the sealed regions elsewhere like?
He knew nothing about these things.
Toward matters he did not understand, Li Zhi had always maintained a cautious attitude.
Take the cultivation method they had obtained last time. It had never appeared in the original work.
Was the opening section of the so-called Longevity Sutra related to Longevity Heavenly Venerate?
That was not something Li Zhi could understand at present.
He had always believed in one principle: how high one could stand determined how high a view one could see.
One could stand above the ground and look down upon it, but one should never raise one's head and try to part the clouds to admire scenery at a higher level.
It was entirely possible that one would see no scenery at all and instead break one's own neck.
As a mortal, one needed the awareness of a mortal.
Throughout history, the reason behind the downfall of most defeated figures could be summed up as their strength failing to keep pace with the expansion of their ambitions.
Li Zhi believed the path of cultivation followed the same principle.
What only Saints should know was not something one should reach for without Saint-level strength. What only Quasi-Emperors could see clearly was not something one should touch before reaching the Quasi-Emperor Realm.
The cultivation world had never subscribed to the idea that the bolder the people, the greater the harvest.
When virtue did not match one's position, disaster followed.
Karma Force seemed ethereal and intangible, but its power was boundless. Even Immortal Emperors could not avoid it, let alone a mortal like him.
Walking along the forest path, Zhou Mei supported her belly with one hand and held Li Zhi's arm with the other. In an especially cheerful mood, she asked, "Dear, have you chosen a name for the child?"
Li Zhi said with a grin, "If it's a boy, we'll call him Li Kui. If it's a girl, we'll call her Li Feng."
Zhou Mei rolled her eyes at him. "You're just brushing me off. Pick another one."
"Mei'er, the child is still in your belly. Why don't you discuss it with the child and see what name they want? We'll use whatever name they choose." Li Zhi also placed a hand on Zhou Mei's large belly as he spoke.
After thinking for a while, Zhou Mei said, "If it's a girl, we'll call her Li Zihan. If it's a boy, we'll call him Li Jiaming."
"Zihan, Jiaming? Aren't those names a little too ordinary?" Li Zhi cautiously objected.
"How are they ordinary? I think Zihan and Jiaming both sound lovely. The moment you hear them, they sound like the protagonists of a romance novel." Zhou Mei sounded faintly excited.
Li Zhi chuckled as well. "As long as you're happy."
Just then, Li Zhi's phone rang.
He took out his phone and saw an unfamiliar number. He immediately hung up, then said to Zhou Mei, "It's a spam call. Let's keep walking."
Zhou Mei shook her head. "You've stayed by my side these past few months, and I'm very touched. My condition is stable now. If you have something to do, go take care of it. Don't let me interfere with anything important."
Li Zhi said, "It's nothing important. Before the child is born, I absolutely won't leave you two."
A brilliant smile instantly appeared on Zhou Mei's face.
Only after walking for half an hour did they return home.
After they got home, Zhou Mei went back to her room to rest, while Li Zhi went to the study.
He dialed that number again.
Li Zhi asked directly, "Brother Peng, what's going on?"
"Xiao Zhi, just as you guessed. Every one of those families you asked me to watch has suffered disasters over the past few months. Two of them even disappeared entirely." On the other end of the phone, Li Dapeng told Li Zhi everything he had found out.
After listening, Li Zhi asked, "Brother Dapeng, can you find out who did it?"
Li Dapeng said, "I haven't found out exactly who yet. But I heard that someone offered a huge reward on the black market for information on the whereabouts of an antique dealer named Xu Jiping. Apparently, Xu Jiping was quite close to those families and worked with them to swindle a wealthy businessman from Xi'an. The businessman was furious, so he put out a bounty in the underworld."
Li Dapeng was Uncle Zhong's son from Da Li Village.
Since last year, he had worked for Li Zhi, specifically handling matters that were inconvenient for Li Zhi to deal with personally.
To prevent any fish from slipping through the net, Li Zhi had sent Li Dapeng to Anyi to keep an eye on the Vegetable Greenhouse base and the homes of the tomb raiders Ye Fan had investigated.
Just as he had expected, the person who had clearly died beneath supernatural power had not been after the treasures in the tomb.
He had specifically been searching for cultivation methods inside the ancient tomb.
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