New Spring

New Spring snow fell for three days, silver-gray flakes raging through the air. Every household kept its doors tightly shut as the weather turned thoroughly cold. Li Tongya cleaned up the small courtyard in Li Jing Village and left it in Li Qiuyang's care, then took Liu Rouxuan by the hand and headed up Li Jing Mountain.

Trudging through the snow, one foot deep and one foot shallow, Liu Rouxuan wore a pale gray fur cloak. Grinning, she held Li Tongya's hand and chirped away:

"Tongya Ge, we'll get married when spring comes."

"Alright."

Li Tongya brushed the snow from her shoulders and smiled softly. He tilted the umbrella in his hand slightly, shaking the snowflakes from its surface, then moved it closer over Liu Rouxuan.

Li Jing Mountain was not tall. Li Tongya led Liu Rouxuan through the mist gathered at its foot, following the Stone Slab Road buried beneath the snow until they reached the courtyard.

The moment they entered, they saw Tian Yun wrapped in fur, sitting before the brazier with a beaming smile and slightly flushed cheeks. Upon seeing the two of them, she called out, "Second Brother, Sister-in-law."

Li Tongya answered with a smile. Liu Rouxuan was generous and at ease before this younger sister-in-law who was five or six years her senior. She leaned close to the brazier, giggling as she and Tian Yun began discussing something in low voices.

Early that morning, Li Xiangping had gone down to cast Spiritual Rain over the rice paddies. He was now in the backyard, meditating and cultivating. Li Tongya removed his outer coat and hung it on the wall, then turned to Ren Shi, who was quietly sewing clothes nearby, and asked softly:

"Where is Father?"

"The old man gets sleepy in winter. He's still in his room."

Ren Shi looked up and smiled. Seeing Tian Yun by the brazier waving her over, she set down her sewing and went to sit with them, smiling as she quietly began asking Liu Rouxuan questions.

Yesterday, Li Mutian had personally widened the skylight, working until deep into the night. He was still asleep in his room. Li Tongya stared blankly at the snow outside, blanketing the entire mountain, and silently thought, If Eldest Brother were still here... how wonderful that would be.

Winter passed and spring returned. The previous year had been prosperous: spring rains were fine but not droughty, autumn was dry but not flooded, and there was neither hail nor locusts. The field tax was uniformly set at one-tenth, leaving everyone far better off than in years past. Every household had grain left over, so no one froze to death that winter.

The second batch of spirit rice planted by Li Jing Village the year before last had also ripened. After harvesting the spirit rice and husking it, they obtained one hundred and seventy jin of spirit rice and fifty jin of spirit-rice bran. Added to the spirit rice harvested earlier, they now had a total of two hundred and ninety jin of spirit rice and ninety jin of unhusked spirit rice. The two hundred jin of spirit rice required for tribute was now sufficient.

With Li Qiuyang and Liu Rouxuan joining them, Li Tongya and Li Xiangping had it much easier. They entrusted the many Spirit Fields to the two of them, allowing themselves to devote more energy to cultivation.

The White Essence Fruit plant had blossomed as well, white and pink flowers blooming across its branches. Li Tongya estimated that the White Essence Fruit would ripen in a few months, so it would not miss the day when the envoy of the Qingchi Sect came to collect tribute.

Li Tongya had just cast Spiritual Rain when he saw Wan Tiancang enter the courtyard with a face full of worry. Wan Tiancang began pouring out his grievances to Li Tongya:

"That Ji Dengqi crossed the border in disguise late last night and attacked many of our Wan Family's Spirit Fields. Nearly eighty or ninety percent of the spirit rice at the foot of the mountain was burned, many mortals died, and he almost fought his way up Huaqian Mountain."

"Fortunately, our family head was alert. During the spirit rice's ripening period, he remained on guard at all times and took command of the array in time. Ji Dengqi led men in besieging us for an entire night, only retreating resentfully at dawn."

Li Tongya set down his teacup, somewhat surprised as he said, "Your clan's array is truly formidable, to withstand a whole night of siege by Qi Refining cultivators."

Wan Tiancang waved a hand and replied with a bitter smile, "It is only a trick. Two hundred years ago, the Wan Family produced an array master who used a Spirit Spring on Huaqian Mountain to construct this great array. So long as the Spirit Spring does not run dry, the array can continually replenish its spiritual energy."

"What a formidable array!"

Li Tongya could not help but praise it. He secretly pondered, Compared to it, the array on our Li Jing Mountain is far inferior. Yet Xiao Yuansi once said that if we encountered a better array, we could still use that Array Flag to set it up! It is only a pity that our family has no array inheritance...

Wan Tiancang glanced at Li Tongya. Seeing his thoughtful expression, he continued, "Unfortunately, he was arrogant and impatient, trying to forge a Dao Foundation too hastily. He perished on Huaqian Mountain."

"Forged a Dao Foundation?"

Li Tongya could not help feeling regret. He said solemnly, "Then he was still a senior at the Qi Refining Peak."

"Ah..."

Wan Tiancang gave a long sigh and spoke with longing in his voice:

"That was the most glorious era of the Wan Family. We had no fewer than five Qi Refining cultivators. Yet within a dozen years after that ancestor died, our family lost three painstakingly managed Mountain Peaks in succession. Four Qi Refining cultivators and ten Embryonic Breath cultivators died in battle. Had we not possessed some connections within the sect, our family would have long since been shattered and exterminated."

"Later, the elders passed away one by one. That person in the sect merely preserved the Wan Family bloodline and stopped involving himself in our affairs. After that, each generation was worse than the last. Still, we managed to endure. It was not until more than ten years ago, when the family head broke through the Jade Capital Wheel, that we could open the Storage Bags passed down by our ancestors. Yet we found only a little spirit stone and talismans within, with nothing else to aid us."

"So that was it."

Li Tongya sighed deeply and refilled Wan Tiancang's teacup. Seeing him sighing again and again, he offered a few quiet words of comfort.

Wan Tiancang took a sip of tea, then slammed the table fiercely and said angrily, "That Ji Family is truly hateful! Back then, the Wan Family was constantly at war with the Yu Family to the north. The Ji Family was merely a small clan caught in the cracks, without even a single Qi Refining cultivator. Yet now they have played both sides and grown to such a degree that they have nearly driven the Wan Family into a dead end."

After looking at Li Tongya, Wan Tiancang asked quietly, "May I ask about that elder in your family?"

Li Tongya understood that Wan Tiancang meant Li Mutian and immediately became wary. Fortunately, the brothers had long since agreed on their story. He took a sip of tea and said, "My father left home in his early years and joined the army on Gu Li Road, following General Yang to attack Mountain Yue."

"Tiancang has heard something of it. Yang Tianya had Foundation Establishment cultivation and led troops east to attack that band of Mountain Yue. Many people died."

Wan Tiancang shifted his teacup and asked doubtfully, "Yet I heard that when your honored father returned, he was already a mortal..."

Li Tongya smiled bitterly and explained, "My father received guidance from an immortal cultivator while still at home and cultivated to Qi Refining. Later, while campaigning in the army, he encountered a fortuitous opportunity and forged an Immortal Foundation. As for why his cultivation was crippled, that is not something convenient to share with outsiders."

"Tiancang was rash!"

Wan Tiancang cupped his hands. He secretly thought, He must have forged an Immortal Foundation at a young age, then in the heat of youth offended the descendants of some great clan. Only those great clan descendants would not fear retaliation and enjoy such games of crippling someone into a mortal.

Aloud, he said regretfully, "What a pity, what a pity."

Wan Tiancang watched Li Tongya remain silent. Gritting his teeth, he finally said, "To be frank, Brother Li, Tiancang came this time hoping to exchange the clan's array inheritance for a talisman of Qi Refining Peak or Foundation Establishment, to kill Ji Dengqi!"

Only then did Li Tongya suddenly understand. He secretly thought, I was wondering why Wan Tiancang had come to my home with nothing better to do than chatter about domestic matters. So this was what he had been plotting!