Spirit Companion Divine Ability

The next day.

Li Family Ancestral Hall.

Inside the ancestral hall, solemnity and reverence filled the air, thick with the scent of incense.

At the center of the hall stood the ancestral tablets and portraits of the clan's forebears. Li Haimo, clad in plain white robes and holding a string of prayer beads, entered the hall to preside over the ceremony.

Over twenty clan disciples, all fourteen years old, gathered around the center of the hall, bowing and paying their respects with utmost deference.

Patriarch Li Haimo began reciting the prayer:

"Ancestors and forefathers, revered father Mo Ran, this presiding lord Li Haimo leads the descendants of the Li Clan. Now we wish to pay homage, seek fortune and avoid calamity, and beg for your mercy and blessing. May the ancestors protect the clan, guide the household with virtue, and ensure its continuation through generations, unending and everlasting."

The prayer lingered in the air, and the mysterious ritual slowly unfolded amidst the thick haze of incense. Following the patriarch's lead, the clan descendants, awakened by the prayer's invocation, repeatedly chanted the names of their ancestors, entrusting them with their respect and longing.

At that moment, the surface of the pond shimmered with rippling light, as if heralding the ancestors' response. From within the ancestral hall came the mournful strains of elegiac music, stirring the heart.

Such was the way of a cultivation family—whenever a major event occurred, a sacrifice at the ancestral hall was a must. The hall was the spiritual core of the clan, born of bloodline yet transcending it.

After the ceremony concluded, Li Shuidao and the other children kowtowed to their ancestors in farewell, then boarded carriages bound for the Black Mountain Five Poisons Sect.

A convoy of ten carriages rumbled out of the Li Clan estate in a grand procession.

Over twenty children were packed into three of the carriages, while the rest carried goods the Li Clan was offering to the Five Poisons Sect.

Li Shuidao lifted the curtain and looked outside.

He saw the Li Clan's gatekeeper, along with his two sons, standing at the entrance with bowed backs, seeing off their masters.

Why were they so obedient, never taking so much as a needle or thread from the master's household?

Why were they willing to be servants and slaves, content never to rise from their station?

If they dared betray the Li Clan, the clan's cultivators would go to their hometown and carry out a bloody massacre.

The Li Clan, dependent on the Five Poisons Sect, was no different.

Once you joined the Five Poisons Sect and became a disciple of some Spirit Refining Realm cultivator, you were effectively their servant—bowing and scraping, flattering and fawning, all for the sake of winning your master's favor. Otherwise, you'd work like a beast of burden, and your master might not even give you your Moon Coin, yet you wouldn't dare flee, couldn't flee, and could only endure without complaint.

Unless you were willing to abandon your parents, your siblings, your children, and even the entire Li Clan.

Li Tianjue!

A name taboo within the Li Clan, one no one dared utter.

Li Shuidao knew of this man because he had matured early in mind. Two clan elders had once discussed the matter privately, without any thought of shielding the infant Li Shuidao from their words.

Fifty years ago, this very man had killed the young master of the Azure Sea Sect, snatched some unknown heavy treasure, and fled far away, living incognito as a carefree rogue cultivator.

Li Tianjue might have had his fun, but he brought calamity upon the Li Clan. Fortunately, Li Tianjue was meticulous—before making his move, he had his wife take their child and slip away, and even gave the clan a hint. The clan knew Li Tianjue had courted disaster. They couldn't hand over his direct relatives to appease the Azure Sea Sect's wrath, and even if they did, it wouldn't satisfy the fury of the Azure Sea Sect's old ancestor. So they abandoned everything along the coast and fled to the Five Poisons Sect, seeking shelter under a demonic sect.

The Li Clan did not escape unscathed; at least half of their people were purged by the Azure Sea Sect.

Though the Azure Sea Sect was a righteous and orthodox sect, they showed no mercy when dealing with clans that dared to rebel.

At least twenty thousand Li Clan members died in that catastrophe.

The clan's Vital Energy was shattered, and even now, it had yet to recover.

Resource monopolization, rigid hierarchies—love and familial bonds were the chains that reinforced it all.

To tear through all this, one needed either absolute coldness and ruthlessness, completely disregarding the lives of one's kin, or overwhelming power to crush everything and freely rewrite the rules.

Li Shuidao let the curtain fall, his expression grim.

"Brother Shuidao, what's wrong? Something amiss?" Seeing Li Shuidao's serious face, Li Shuilang broke the silence.

Li Shuidao only then realized his expression was too stern, affecting the mood. He forced a smile and shook his head. "Nothing."

"Must be nervous about going into the Five Poisons Cave," Li Shuilan said with a laugh.

"No," Li Shuidao waved a hand.

"Hahaha... nothing to be ashamed of. I'm nervous too," Li Haoze laughed loudly.

Li Shuidao looked speechlessly at Li Haoze and Li Shuilan, thinking, Where exactly are you two nervous?

"We have Doctor Tianliang with us. What's there to fear from little critters like geckos and toads?" Li Shuiting laughed.

"Pfft! Back then, a centipede crawled into your clothes, and you almost dropped your pants in public," Li Shuilang mercilessly mocked his own sister.

"Brother!"

Li Haoze chimed in: "Right, the doctor already said those venomous insects have only just begun to transform into demons. As long as we don't move recklessly and let the demonic insects choose on their own, there's no danger."

Li Yijun nodded in agreement. "Exactly. The doctor has been reminding us about this ever since we set out. We absolutely cannot move; we can only let the Spirit Companion choose you."

"Sigh... what if the one that picks me is a toad?" Li Shuilan said with a worried frown.

"Then you'll just have to accept it! The Five Poisons Cave is different from other places. We're only mortals, and the creatures inside are all first-rank demonic insects. One bite and we'd be poisoned to death, with no chance for an antidote. You think you get a choice?"

"That's right. For us to even have the chance to cultivate is a blessing from heaven. What kind of Spirit Companion suits us can only be left to fate. Besides, each of the five poisons has its own merits; there's no inherent difference in strength," Li Shuilang added.

"That's not the same! The doctor once said that while their venom abilities are largely similar, their secondary abilities are completely different. If you take a centipede as your Spirit Companion, with its hundred legs, wood-attuned and wind-natured, it moves swiftly, making the cultivator more agile—great for both escape and killing enemies."

"A gecko can regrow its tail. If we take a gecko as our Spirit Companion, we gain healing abilities. After a battle, as long as you have a breath left, no matter how severe the injury, you can naturally recover."

"A scorpion's tail stinger. If you take it as your Spirit Companion, you can excel at using poison needles, Flying Knives, and hidden weapons. At low cultivation levels, it's truly the best choice."

"Brother Haoze, what are the advantages of the venomous snake and the toad?" Li Shuiting asked curiously.

"Sister Shuiting, you only know how to play during lessons. If it's a venomous snake, it would be more agile."

"Wouldn't that overlap with the centipede?"

"Not the same. The hundred-legged insect charges straight and fast as the wind, while the venomous snake uses soft techniques, more agile in close quarters. If a woman takes a venomous snake as her Spirit Companion, she'd be slippery and boneless. In close combat, as she twists and turns, the enemy couldn't even touch the hem of her clothes."

"And the toad?"

"It grants the Water Breath Technique, letting you stay underwater as long as you like without issue." Li Haoze replied.

"So the centipede, venomous snake, and scorpion are all pretty formidable." Li Shuiting frowned.

"Isn't the gecko's limb regeneration formidable?"

"It is, but the prerequisite is that you have to escape first. If you can escape, you could just have a physician reattach your flesh—no need to recover on your own."

"What about the toad's Water Breath Technique?"

"Big brother! Black Mountain is inland, surrounded by mountains everywhere. Where's the water?"

"Well... there should be some ponds, right?"

"Give it a rest. Even if there are, they wouldn't reach past the knee."

"Exactly. Among the Five Poisons, the toad is the most useless!"

"They say most of the Five Poisons Sect's experts have Spirit Companions like snakes, scorpions, or centipedes. Geckos usually turn to medicine. I've never heard of anyone in the top ten of the Earth Ranking using a toad." Li Haoze scratched his head and said.