Withering and Flourishing

Duanmu Ren was both fierce and vicious, with murderous intent hidden in his heart. He was quite compatible with the High Shaman inheritance.

No wonder he could condense a manifestation!

Liu Zhijian's character and disposition also matched Kan Water.

On closer thought, it was truly a wonder beyond words.

Could fate and inheritances be ordained by heaven?

The many obscure and difficult discourses on the Dao he had read before welled up in his mind like flowing water, each borne out by what lay before him. It was as though the dust had been brushed away, and his cultivation of the Dao had advanced considerably.

Li Chengxuan watched Duanmu Ren walk away, faintly sensing the changes in his thoughts.

What a fine Dao seed cultivating the High Shaman inheritance. He still had to nurture him with care.

If his nature were ruined and his manifestation damaged, the loss would be enormous.

As for Duanmu Ren's ill intent...

Li Chengxuan paid it no mind.

At the end of the day, it was nothing more than a mortal's selfish thoughts and distractions.

It did not even count as the thinking of a lesser cultivator, and was truly not worth mentioning.

Still, he would have to temper Duanmu Ren thoroughly from now on.

He could not leave him to his own devices as he did Liu Zhijian.

Since he intended to build an immortal foundation oriented toward teaching and transformation, he could hardly do without teaching according to each student's aptitude.

Li Jiabao and Liu Lidan did not have many thoughts on the matter; their hearts were simply full of joy.

Getting the payment for the goods back was only secondary.

What really mattered was that they had latched onto the county magistrate Duanmu Ren's thigh.

For eighteen generations, the Li Household's ancestors had all come from poverty.

If they seized this opportunity, they really might soar into the heavens in a single leap.

Especially once their two sons grew up, perhaps the Li Household could become Brahmins of the county seat too!

Liu Lidan was shrewder. She knew that the starting point of it all was her husband's younger brother, who had returned after vanishing for years and was acting so mysterious.

She immediately ingratiated herself by pouring him tea, then cautiously used her shallow conversational tricks to probe Li Chengxuan's background.

"It's getting late."

Li Chengxuan stood up and said, "Big brother, take me to pay my respects to our parents."

With his worldly affairs settled,

Li Chengxuan returned to Li Household Hollow.

Though the place could hardly be called a land of beautiful mountains and clear waters, it was secluded and peaceful.

More importantly, Li Household Hollow was the Two Worlds Pearl's anchor on Earth.

Once Duanmu Ren entered his tutelage, he could have him make arrangements to seal the place off and turn it into Supreme Mystery Mountain's foothold on Earth.

That would make travel back and forth easier in the future.

First, I'll go back to Supreme Mystery Mountain and have a look.

With a turn of his thoughts, Li Chengxuan connected to the Two Worlds Pearl.

In the blink of an eye, he was back in Supreme Mystery Mountain's Ancestral Masters Hall.

Through the mountain-protecting grand formation, he sensed Liu Zhijian scratching his head in the side hall. He had most likely run into another difficulty in his cultivation.

In the General Affairs Hall halfway down the mountain, Hua Chunning was comforting her grandfather, Hua Mingcheng.

That old man, why is he here again?!

Li Chengxuan rose, left the Ancestral Masters Hall, and headed down the mountain.

A short while later, in the General Affairs Hall.

Hua Mingcheng knelt and bowed, saying sorrowfully, "Greetings, sect master. The Hua clan of Rejuvenation Valley has come to beg forgiveness!"

Li Chengxuan was somewhat surprised. "Beg forgiveness?! What crime have you committed?"

"I failed to govern properly and have betrayed the immortal sect's kindness!"

Hua Mingcheng remained prostrate on the floor and said sorrowfully, "The Azure Cloud Sect came from the Central Continent and seized the foundation built by my ancestors. This hatred cannot be reconciled under the same sky."

"Yet many among the clan's collateral branches were blind of heart and eye. They actually acknowledged the thieves as their fathers and entered their ranks."

"A great upheaval broke out in the clan, leaving countless dead and wounded."

"I escaped with only the clan's direct line and came to seek the immortal sect's protection!"

Li Chengxuan gave a quiet laugh inwardly as he listened, but said nothing.

Clan infighting and divisions between direct and collateral lines.

At the end of the day, they were simply placing bets on both sides.

But Hua Mingcheng had grown old and cunning, and had handled the matter so that not a drop could leak through.

Even though everyone knew the twists and turns involved, there was no way to fault him.

After all, the Hua Household's patriarch, the Hua Household's most gifted younger descendant, Hua Chunning, and even its direct line had fled to Supreme Mystery Mountain. To punish them still would seem far too heartless.

Hua Chunning also knelt and pleaded, "Please show us leniency, sect master."

"Enough."

"Both of you, rise."

How could Li Chengxuan have the mind to play such games with Hua Mingcheng now? He said calmly, "The Immortal Alliance will deal with the Azure Cloud Sect."

"Everyone has their own aspirations."

"The split in the Hua Household is not your fault either."

"Find a place blessed with spiritual beauty at the foot of the mountain and rest there in peace."

Hua Mingcheng breathed a sigh of relief and bowed once more. "Thank you for your compassion, immortal sect."

The Hua Household's grandfather and granddaughter went down the mountain to comfort their clanspeople.

In a secluded valley at the foot of Supreme Mystery Mountain, the many members of the Hua clan were restless and anxious.

Hua Mingcheng was deeply imposing as he rebuked and sent away the clanspeople who gathered around him.

Though this valley had no shortage of spiritual vitality thanks to its proximity to Supreme Mystery Mountain, it was still far inferior to Rejuvenation Valley.

Inside a cave that had been modestly renovated,

Hua Mingcheng wore a solemn expression as he and Hua Chunning offered incense to their ancestors and begged for their protection.

At the same time, he activated the precious treasure passed down through the Lineage to block prying eyes.

"Alas."

Hua Mingcheng sighed. "In the end, the old methods are in decline, and the new methods hold the advantage."

"The Immortal Alliance stands by, and our superior sect watches without acting."

"They have clearly given tacit consent to hand a whole commandery over to the Azure Cloud Sect!"

Hua Chunning's eyes were still full of worry. "I'm afraid your methods won't escape the sect master's notice, grandfather, much less the Immortal Alliance's."

"Heh, of course I understand."

Hua Mingcheng smiled self-mockingly. "Leaving aside the Immortal Alliance's Foundation Establishment cultivators, who can search souls, even the immortal master who leads our superior sect entered the Dao through Mundane World Qi. He too can cloud emotions and confound minds, and discern people's hearts."

"But if we miss this upheaval, the likes of which the Southern Edge Continent hasn't seen in a thousand years, I fear our Hua Household will truly sink into the mortal world forever."

"So even if I die and the clan is wiped out, we must take the risk and stake everything on it."

Hua Chunning gave a desolate smile, knowing her grandfather was not exaggerating the danger.

The struggle between the new and old methods had dragged on for a long time.

For now, Supreme Mystery Mountain and the Azure Cloud Sect were at peace with each other.

But if any conflict arose between them in the future, the Hua Household would most likely become the pretext for war.

Crushed between the forces of the greater tide, the Hua Household's very survival would rest on a single thought from their superior sect.

"There's no need to worry too much."

Having made his decision, Hua Mingcheng would not regret it. He comforted his granddaughter, saying, "Our Hua Household cultivates Yi Wood. Our inheritance has always been one that lies hidden in the shadows, climbing rocks and clinging to trees."

"The last Foundation Establishment High Person among our ancestors cultivated Li on the Plain as his immortal foundation, drawing on the imagery of Yi Wood withering and flourishing in its season, never to be burned away completely by fire."

"That ancestor lamented that the old methods were difficult to cultivate and that the Lineage's decline could hardly be reversed.

"To increase the Lineage's fortune and complete the imagery, he willingly entered a death trap and allowed himself to be burned to death by Li Fire."

"Before he died, he left these words: 'The dormant thunder falls first, and wind and clouds follow. Spring winds turn to rain, and our Dao shall flourish!'"

"I've let those in the clan who wanted to cultivate the new methods go to the Azure Cloud Sect."

"I brought everyone with some measure of manifestation to Supreme Mystery Mountain this time."

"I am old and frail, and have no hope left."

"But you, Ning'er, may yet restore Yi Wood to its former glory!"

In the Ancestral Masters Hall,

Li Chengxuan was reading the classics. Without raising his head, he said, "Come in."

Liu Zhijian, who had been hesitating outside the hall, walked in and apologized. "I'm sorry to disturb your secluded cultivation, master."

Li Chengxuan chuckled and asked, "Is something troubling you?"

Liu Zhijian scratched his head and frowned. "I've achieved minor success in cultivating the Dripping Water Pierces Stone Meridian-Opening Method and have already opened several meridians."

"But I don't know why I've become increasingly agitated and unable to enter a meditative state."

"There's also a faint rotten stench coming from my body."

"So I wanted to ask you, master: is it because my aptitude is ordinary that something has gone wrong with my cultivation?"

Li Chengxuan pondered for a moment. Instead of answering, he looked at him with the Qi Observation Technique and was immediately astonished.

Huh, this is...