Stealing Heavenly Secrets

Old Man Xu saw this and said, "Eldest, second, you two be careful. Don't speak of this to anyone. Even if Miaomiao and the others ask, you must keep your lips sealed."

Xu Jian replied, "Got it, Dad. My brother and I know what's at stake."

Xu Jisheng also nodded and said, "Dad, then my brother and I will get to work."

Old Man Xu stopped them, however, and said, "I know you two want to know the contents of the 'Longevity Sutra.' There's no rush to go find the third. Stay here and take a look first. See how much you can grasp—it'll depend on your own fortune."

Then, Xu Jian and Xu Jisheng, the two brothers, flipped through the "Longevity Sutra" in the Xu Family Ancestral Hall.

Its contents were profound and extensive, covering the Wheel of Life, the Bitter Sea, the Life Spring, the Divine Bridge, and the Other Shore. Yet they couldn't grasp the specific meaning of the scriptures.

It was like reading a book from heaven.

The "Longevity Sutra" in Old Man Xu's hands turned out to be a complete cultivation method for the Sea of Wheels Realm.

Only the opening chapter was missing, leaving them with the scriptures but no way to truly begin.

If one of them had already opened their Bitter Sea, they might roughly understand the content and cultivate at the Bitter Sea level according to the method described.

Unfortunately, their fortune wasn't enough—none of them could open their Bitter Sea on their own.

With the first autumn wind blowing in from the northwest, it swept away the summer's heat and brought the coolness of fall.

On the West Mountain path, beneath the Phoenix Tree, Li Zhi accompanied Zhou Mei, whose belly was now showing, as they strolled through the woods.

As the fetus in her womb grew larger, Zhou Mei became increasingly dependent on Li Zhi.

She wished she could see Li Zhi by her side the moment she opened her eyes every day.

Perhaps knowing that the time he could spend with them, mother and child, was limited, Li Zhi was especially accommodating to Zhou Mei.

Every day, like an alarm clock, after finishing his morning exercises, he would appear punctually by her bedside.

He personally attended to Zhou Mei as she got up and washed, accompanied her on walks, exercised with her, read with her, and went shopping with her.

He was almost inseparable from Zhou Mei's side.

Zhou Mei basked in happiness like a little woman, enjoying Li Zhi's meticulous care.

The aura of a strong woman had long since vanished without a trace.

The reason for this was that Li Zhi knew that once he embarked on the path of cultivation, all mortal emotions would completely leave him behind.

Love, hate, passion, vengeance—none of them would ever be as pure and beautiful as they were in mortal life.

Walking hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, the leisurely stroll through the woods was a romance that belonged only to mortals.

Because mortals were weak enough, they could immerse themselves in nature and enjoy its beauty.

During this time, Ye Fan invited him several times to go treasure hunting outside, but Li Zhi firmly refused every time.

For this, Ye Fan even teased Li Zhi a few times, saying he was trapped in a warm embrace and couldn't pull himself out.

Only Li Zhi himself knew what he wanted.

He didn't want to end up like the future Ye Fan, returning from the Big Dipper after countless hardships, only to find that his loved ones had already passed away from missing him.

Perhaps the two weren't comparable, but Li Zhi cherished every single day of his mortal life.

Over the past few months, he had gradually dealt with all the property under his name, planning to transfer most of it to Zhou Mei and the child once the baby was born.

Once he set foot on the path of cultivation, worldly money would hold no value for him.

But for Zhou Mei and the child, it would guarantee a lifetime of wealth and luxury.

After achieving a small goal, Ye Fan had become Li Zhi's neighbor.

He said many times that once he got married and had children, he would bring his parents over to live together as a family, enjoying the bliss of kinship.

Li Zhi had told Ye Fan back then to work hard and try to make his parents hold a grandchild within three years.

Unfortunately, Ye Fan didn't take it seriously.

When the two sat together chatting idly, they mostly talked about the past and present, imagining the Ancient Era.

The cultivation methods they had obtained earlier could be practiced, but like the breathing technique, they were merely usable.

As for the effects, it wasn't that there were none, but they weren't as miraculous as described in the methods.

So, Ye Fan was even more eager to find more and more direct introductions to ancient civilization.

Although Li Zhi understood some of it, what he knew really wasn't that much.

After all, he was just a mortal. Even if he had read the original work, he wouldn't dare boast of knowing the world of Zhetian inside and out.

Take Earth, for example—who sealed it off?

And who once proved the Dao and became Emperor here?

Who left behind those complete Emperor formations on Earth?

Besides Kunlun, what were the other sealed regions like?

None of these things did he understand at all.

For things he didn't understand, Li Zhi always maintained a cautious and careful attitude.

Take the cultivation method they harvested last time—it never appeared in the original text.

Does the so-called opening chapter of the Longevity Sutra have anything to do with the Longevity Heavenly Venerate?

That's not something Li Zhi can understand right now.

He's always believed one thing: stand as high as you can, and see the view from that height.

You can look down and survey the land from above, but never crane your neck upward, trying to part the clouds to glimpse a higher-level scene.

Chances are, you won't see the view—you'll just break your neck.

As a mortal, you need a mortal's awareness.

Throughout history, nearly all who fell did so because their strength couldn't keep pace with their swelling ambition.

Li Zhi believes the path of cultivation works the same way.

What a sage should know, don't go poking into without sage-level strength; what a quasi-emperor should see clearly, don't touch without reaching that realm.

The world of cultivation has never rewarded the idea that the bolder you are, the more you reap.

If your virtue doesn't match your position, you invite disaster.

The power of cause and effect may seem intangible, but its force is immense—even an Immortal Emperor can't escape it, let alone a mortal like him.

Walking along the forest path, Zhou Mei cradled her belly with one hand and looped the other through Li Zhi's arm, her mood especially bright. "Li Lang, have you named the child yet?"

Li Zhi chuckled. "If it's a boy, Li Kui. If it's a girl, Li Feng."

Zhou Mei shot him a glare. "Half-hearted. Pick another one, quick."

"Mei'er, the child's still in your belly. Why don't you discuss it with him? Whatever name he wants, we'll give it to him." Li Zhi rubbed her swollen stomach as he spoke.

Zhou Mei thought for a moment, then said, "If it's a girl, Li Zihan. If it's a boy, Li Jiaming."

"Zihan? Jiaming? Aren't those a bit too ordinary?" Li Zhi ventured a cautious rebuttal.

"Ordinary? I think Zihan and Jiaming sound great. They sound like protagonists straight out of a romance novel." Zhou Mei's voice carried a hint of excitement.

Li Zhi gave a light laugh. "Whatever makes you happy."

Just then, his phone rang.

He pulled it out, saw an unfamiliar number, and hung up immediately. Then he said to Zhou Mei, "Spam call. Let's keep walking."

But Zhou Mei shook her head. "You've stayed by my side these past few months—I'm truly touched. Now that my condition's stable, if you have things to do, go handle them. Don't let me hold you up from your real business."

Li Zhi replied, "Nothing urgent. I'm not leaving you two until the child is born."

A radiant smile instantly spread across Zhou Mei's face.

After another half hour of walking, they returned home.

Back inside, Zhou Mei went to rest in the bedroom, while Li Zhi headed to the study.

He redialed the number.

"Brother Peng, what's the situation?" Li Zhi asked bluntly.

"Xiao Zhi, just like you guessed. Those families you told me to watch—they've all run into trouble over the past few months. Two of them have gone missing outright." On the other end, Li Dapeng laid out everything he'd investigated.

After listening, Li Zhi said, "Brother Dapeng, can you find out who did it?"

Li Dapeng replied, "I haven't pinned down the exact person yet. But I heard someone's put a hefty bounty on the black market for a relic dealer named Xu Jiping. Word is, Xu Jiping was tight with those families and they teamed up to swindle a big boss from Xi'an. That boss flew into a rage and put out the bounty on the street."

Li Dapeng was Uncle Zhong's son from Da Li Village.

Since last year, he'd been working for Li Zhi, handling matters Li Zhi couldn't deal with personally.

To make sure no fish slipped 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 grave robbers Ye Fan had investigated.

And sure enough, just as he'd predicted, the man who'd clearly died from supernatural forces wasn't after the tomb's treasures at all.

He'd been specifically hunting for cultivation methods inside that great tomb.