Spoiled for Choice Among Bright Yang Law Artifacts

According to the clan elders present, preparations would take another day to complete, so Li Zhengjun spoke up:

"True Person, if there's nothing else you need me for, I'll return to the Great Scarlet Realm to cultivate."

But Yuhong called him back and swept a sleeve. Dawnlight enveloped them both, and the next moment they were in the rear hall.

The rear hall was less a study than an armory.

Rosewood bookshelves rose to the ceiling beams on all four sides, but displayed across their shelves were rows upon rows of ancient-looking weapons.

Li Zhengjun looked them over. Their precious radiance was restrained, with dawnlight faintly pulsing in and out of them, casting a pale golden sheen over the room's scholarly air.

"These are all Bright Yang Law Artifacts I've collected over the years, ranging from Fetal Breath to Immortal Foundation. Take a look and see if any catch your eye."

He had been in too much of a rush earlier to let his grandson choose, and he had also feared that giving him a Law Artifact now would disturb his cultivation of the Double Radiance Bright Yang Wheel-Nurturing Scripture.

But whenever he thought of his grandson facing a devil at the ninth layer of Qi Refinement with only seventh-layer cultivation, his heart would not rest.

Li Zhengjun gazed around the room. Precious light glittered everywhere, and swords, sabers, and armor of every kind were present, each with its own bearing. For a moment, he hardly knew where to look.

He did not pretend to know better. He cupped his hands and said honestly:

"My eye is still untrained. I don't know which of these Law Artifacts would suit me best. Please advise me, True Person."

Yuhong had already given the matter thought. He reached out and took a suit of precious armor from an armor stand.

The armor was gilded all over, its plates as fine and close-set as scales. Together, they formed a complete Bright Yang defensive formation. A piece of warm jade, smooth and lustrous as the sun, was set at the center of the breastplate, quietly drawing in and releasing the surrounding dawnlight to supply the formation on the armor.

"This armor is called the Bright Radiance Evil-Suppressing Mystic Light Armor. It's a spiritual armor of the quasi-Immortal Foundation grade. Though it doesn't match your current realm, its advantage is that it can protect its master on its own, without your deliberately activating it. It has also been thoroughly tempered by the righteous Qi of Bright Yang, making it especially effective against the evil arts of the yin and wicked, such as Devil Cultivators. Wear it as you travel through Ning Kingdom, and ordinary villains won't be able to get near you."

He took down the precious armor and waved it onto Li Zhengjun. In an instant, the armor fell upon his shoulders like morning light, then slipped beneath his skin.

The golden light faded, and the armor vanished with it, as though it had never existed.

Li Zhengjun felt as if his whole body were wrapped in an extraordinarily thin, light layer of warmth, neither heavy nor restrictive.

Yuhong patted Li Zhengjun on the shoulder and looked him up and down, his eyes full of tenderness.

"Now I can rest easy. Actually, I have another suit of precious armor of the finest Immortal Foundation grade, but its presence is too overwhelming. Once activated, it's like a blazing sun falling to earth, visible from a hundred li away. We still don't know whether any powerful cultivators are watching from the shadows in the Great Scarlet Realm. For now, it's better not to reveal such a formidable treasure."

Li Zhengjun understood the care his grandfather had taken and smiled.

"Why use an ox cleaver to kill a chicken?"

Yuhong laughed too, then took down a Law Sword.

Unlike the other weapons amid the room's precious light, the sword did not display its sharpness for all to see. Its scabbard was dark ebony, plain-grained and without ornament. It lay quietly in Yuhong's palm, as restrained as a gentle and refined gentleman who spoke not a word, yet possessed a character all his own.

"This sword is called Luminous Brightness. It was originally forged for your youngest uncle. Later, the spiritual conditions changed, and things of the three yangs gradually receded. Seeing that the path of Bright Yang was growing ever harder to follow, I had your youngest uncle switch to cultivating Frozen Water. This sword has been set aside ever since."

Li Zhengjun knew that his youngest uncle was currently the most gifted person in the clan and the one with the greatest hope of attaining the Purple Mansion. He had not expected his uncle to have switched to Frozen Water partway through his cultivation, and he could not help remarking:

"If the spiritual conditions hadn't changed and youngest uncle had continued cultivating Bright Yang, perhaps our Li Household would have produced another True Person long ago."

Yuhong's expression gave nothing away as he said slowly:

"Fate is hard to predict. Who can foresee it completely?"

He did not wish to say more on the subject and continued:

"I can prepare defensive Law Artifacts for you myself. But weapons used to attack must ultimately be nurtured by your own hand before they can act in accord with your will. That is especially true of Luminous Brightness. It has yet to recognize a master, and its wielder must advance and retreat alongside it and grow together with it. Only when man and sword become one can its power be brought to the utmost. When you attain the Purple Mansion in the future, it can then become your lifebound Law Treasure, settling the matter once and for all."

Yuhong took out a manual of Swordsmanship called the One Qi Luminous Radiance World-Suppressing Instruction and gave it to Li Zhengjun along with Luminous Brightness.

"The sword is the kingly way of the gentleman, commanding all other weapons. Since you intend to cultivate Bright Yang, there's no need to consider sabers, axes, and the like. Though those weapons are easier to learn and make it easier to display a killing edge early on, you must remember, Zhengjun: truly reigning over all under heaven has never depended on brute force and slaughter. This sword instruction is the gathered lifeblood of generations of sword cultivators in our Li Household. Some passages are quite obscure and difficult to comprehend. If you encounter anything you don't understand in the future, come back and ask at any time. Even if I'm not in the hall, a sword cultivator Attendant resides in Chongming Hall. You can seek him out."

Li Zhengjun accepted them solemnly. An indescribable stirring welled up in his heart, and he said gravely:

"I will certainly apply myself diligently to cultivation."

Yuhong nodded and added:

"This sword is specially suited to overcoming evil beings and Devil Cultivators. When it slays an evil being, it can burn its soul; when it exterminates a devil, it can sever its roots. If used to destroy the unrighteous ruler of a region, it can even seize that ruler's fortune to nourish your sword intent. This reaches the same end by a different path from the Double Radiance Bright Yang Wheel-Nurturing Scripture you cultivate. The two can hone each other and advance together."

"In the coming battle to exterminate the devil, you had best kill Daoist Lu with your own hands. He has occupied Ning Kingdom for more than ten years, trampling the state and toying with its people. He is already its uncrowned ruler in all but name. A person like that naturally has the fortune of a region upon him in the Unseen. Killing him yourself will greatly benefit both your cultivation and the nurturing of your Law Sword."

Li Zhengjun had carefully studied the Double Radiance Bright Yang Wheel-Nurturing Scripture and knew how exacting it was.

Though it was only a breathing instruction for the Fetal Breath realm, it did more than draw in and release Spiritual Qi. It also demanded the cultivator pursue power, authority, and accomplishments with an almost obsessive rigor.

As long as one made achievements in these respects, not only could one cultivate faster, but one could also solidify one's foundation, benefiting both future Qi Ingestion and the forging of an Immortal Foundation.

Personally slaying the ruler of a region was among the finest kinds of "accomplishment" the Cultivation Method sought.

Li Zhengjun committed everything Yuhong had said to memory, then said:

"I understand. By the way, True Person, once we've swept away the Devil Cultivator, the next step will be to establish a Lineage in Ning Kingdom. This matter has far-reaching implications, so we must make plans early."

Because of the difference in the flow of time, Li Zhengjun would need more than twenty days, perhaps even over a month, to eliminate the Devil Cultivator in the Great Scarlet Realm, but only two or three days would pass in the Yuyu Realm.

It would be no easy task for the Lineage to produce a detailed and thorough plan in those two or three days.

Yuhong's lifespan was already nearing its end, making him more sensitive to the passage of time than anyone. Now, with the tenfold difference in its flow as a further point of comparison, he felt all the more that not a moment could be squandered.

"I've already instructed the clan elders to prepare in advance. When you return to the Great Scarlet Realm, use the ten-odd days before the battle to exterminate the devil to get a general understanding of Ning Kingdom's mountains and terrain, its population and resources, and whether any other forces nearby are watching it. Bring that information back with you next time and give it to them, so they can tailor their approach to the situation and draw up a more precise plan."

Li Zhengjun had been thinking the same thing, so he said:

"Then I won't waste any time."

He bowed, and his figure vanished. He had gone to the Great Scarlet Realm.

Yuhong, however, remained standing where he was, not leaving for a long time.

In the light and shadow between the bookshelves and weapons racks, the old True Person's silhouette stretched long and still, as though he were contemplating something of great importance.

The words his grandson had just spoken, "establish a Lineage," lingered in his mind, turning over and over for a long time.

To establish a Lineage, there had to be people, and the family line had to be carried on.

He suddenly seemed to recall something. His brow relaxed slightly, and his contemplation gave way to a solemn seriousness.

"Since we're to establish a Lineage, continuing the family line is the most important matter. I must pay True Person Dayu a visit and find some Cultivation Methods and spiritual items to help Zhengjun carry on the family line."