With Descendants Like These... My Li Household... Is Safe...

True Person Yuhong nodded, examined the backgrounds of all ten once more, and slowly began to speak.

"Among you, some have braved life and death at Subduing Tiger Pass, licking blood from the edge of a blade; others have labored day and night over paperwork, attending to matters great and small. When Chenfeng and Zhengchen gave this old man your names, what they spoke of most was not your talent, but your character. Those who could stand guard at Subduing Tiger Pass for five full years without their resolve wavering are heroes; those who could bring order to a mountain of routine affairs without a single mistake are fine talents. You are all the backbone of the Li Household, and I have seen it all."

His voice was not loud, but the whole of Chongming Hall was so quiet that only the sound of breathing remained.

"On this journey to the Great Scarlet Realm, the road ahead is uncertain, and life and death are impossible to foresee. The Lineage will make every provision for you. Your foremost duty is to protect Zhengjun; after that, you must rebuild the Li Household's foundation in the Great Scarlet Realm. Every Li Household descendant understands that one must hold a high position to cultivate the Bright Yang Dao Lineage. From this moment on, Li Zhengjun is your household head in the other realm. You must address him as 'my lord,' and in all your actions in the Great Scarlet Realm, you must obey his orders."

Li Yuankai was the first to assent, and together with the other nine, he bowed to Li Zhengjun.

"My lord!"

Yuhong then distributed the spiritual resources Li Zhengchen had prepared, assigning them according to each person's strengths.

"The Lineage prepared these spiritual resources to suit each of you. The Law Artifacts, pills, talismans, and puppets are all the best the Lineage can provide. Take a look and familiarize yourselves with them beforehand."

The group accepted their supplies. A single glance was enough to tell them how valuable the items were.

The Chu Kingdom, where the Lineage was based, primarily produced spirit rice. Its other spiritual resources were relatively scarce, so the Chu Kingdom's hundred arts of cultivation were not especially advanced.

Yet every one of these items was exquisite. The Law Artifacts were all upper-grade Fetal Breath Law Artifacts, to say nothing of the talismans and pills. Even when they had contribution points, they could not necessarily have exchanged them for such things under normal circumstances.

The descendants from Subduing Tiger Pass had a particularly keen eye for Law Artifacts. Among them was Li Dongping, the most gifted of the six.

The instant he opened his Storage Bag, he froze where he stood.

A pagoda with bright light flowing over it stood quietly inside the bag. It had seven stories and eight sides, and looked as though it had been cast entirely from gilded metal. Dawn light faintly pulsed from its body. It was the Seven Luminaries Bright-Subduing Profound Light Pagoda, which Li Chenfeng had nurtured for many years.

The conditions for nurturing this pagoda were exceptionally demanding. Its wielder had to draw upon Subduing Tiger Pass's strategic location and authority, and in each generation, it had to be entrusted to the strongest Embryonic Breathing Realm cultivator. Bearing the duty of guarding the pass and the authority to command its troops, that wielder had to draw Bright Yang slaughter Qi from campaigns on the battlefield before the majesty of a commanding general could be nurtured within the pagoda, inch by inch.

Because Bright Yang spiritual objects were scarce, this Law Artifact was one of the few in the Lineage that could be nurtured from the beginning.

Each successive wielder had left a strand of his own Bright Yang essence within the pagoda to nourish it. After more than thirty years of uninterrupted inheritance, the pagoda was only a hair's breadth from advancing into a Qi Ingestion Law Artifact.

Li Dongping looked up at Li Chenfeng. The latter merely nodded gently without speaking.

He tightened his grip on the Storage Bag. This inheritance had been entrusted to him—his revered master had placed his trust in him!

Li Dongping silently swore to himself:

On this journey, your disciple will live and die with the pagoda. With the Bright Yang light within it, I will surely illuminate the first stretch of territory for the Li Household in the other realm.

Even though these spiritual resources were already so abundant, Yuhong still felt they were not enough.

"As you all know, spiritual resources are scarce in the Yuyu Realm. The Lineage has directed most of its resources toward its Immortal Foundation cultivators to keep itself running. It is not just our Li Household; the entire Yuyu Realm is the same. High-level cultivators hold the power to speak, and the finest products of the hundred arts of cultivation are concentrated at the Immortal Foundation level and above. Pills, artifacts, talismans, and formations suited to Fetal Breath cultivators are few and far between, and we have nothing earth-shattering to offer. But it does not matter. I have already ordered Zhengchen to gather the Lineage's cultivators skilled in the relevant arts and have them develop equipment specifically suited to the Fetal Breath Realm. Once you reach the Great Scarlet Realm, do not be reluctant to use your supplies. If they run low too quickly, you can have Zhengjun return to replenish them. Spiritual resources are not the issue. Your lives are."

"Your first task is to ascertain the situation in the Ning Kingdom. Find the cultivators hidden there and determine the cultivation realms of the natives and the distribution of their forces. That is why most of the Law Artifacts I distributed are intended for defense and concealment."

Yuhong's gaze swept over each young face, his tone as deep as an abyss.

"Remember, you are setting out for another realm as representatives of the Li Household. You are the hope of the entire Lineage. Nothing is worth more than your lives!"

The blood of the ten Li Household descendants surged. Before coming here, they had already known that they would not return from this journey.

Once they left, they would be parting from their parents, siblings, relatives, and friends for the rest of their lives.

But what of it?

The Lineage needed them. This was the trust the Lineage had placed in them.

Everything they had was given to them by the Lineage. Now that the time had come to repay it, how could they refuse?

On this day, they had met the Lineage's True Person and learned just how heavy a mission they bore on this journey.

As long as they could gain a firm foothold in the Great Scarlet Realm, the Lineage would have a chance to turn things around.

The young man before them, named Li Zhengjun, was the Lineage's entire hope.

As long as the Lineage could produce another Purple Mansion True Person, their relatives and friends would be safe, their descendants would forever enjoy the protection of a Purple Mansion immortal clan, and their sacrifice today would have meaning!

"We will not fail the great trust the Lineage has placed in us!"

The voices of the ten rang through Chongming Hall and lingered for a long time.

Yuhong nodded, signaling that Li Zhengjun could lead them away.

Just before Li Zhengjun began the traversal, he suddenly turned back and asked softly:

"True Person, can Uncle... still be saved?"

He had spent the past few days busy with all the preparations for the expedition and had never had the chance to ask.

Yuhong was taken aback by the sudden question and answered softly:

"Chenwei is gravely injured. Only spiritual objects can keep him alive. To bring him back from the brink of death, we would need a Bright Yang spiritual object, but even then, there would be little hope..."

Li Zhengjun knew this meant that his uncle, Li Chenwei, was unlikely to survive. Even if there were a chance, it would require an enormous amount of spiritual resources.

The Lineage was in peril at this very moment. If it spent a vast quantity of spiritual resources to save someone with so little hope, it might well be drawing water with a bamboo basket, all for nothing.

So even Yuhong no longer dared speak lightly of trying to save him.

But Li Zhengjun was unwilling to give up. He bent in a deep bow, all the way to the ground.

"True Person, on the day Uncle left, he told your grandson, 'Chenwei is dull and has failed to live up to the True Person's trust. Should I die, I beg the True Person to put the greater good first. You must not wage a great conflict on account of my grudge.' Uncle's heart was utterly sincere. Even at the brink of life and death, he thought only of the Lineage. Now Uncle still has a breath left in him. Your grandson wishes to be bold and willful this once, and begs the True Person to preserve Uncle's true spirit."

He raised his head, tears already glistening in his eyes.

His uncle Li Chenwei was the first person to show him warmth after he came to this world.

"Without Uncle, the Thawing Ice Bright Jade would have fallen into the hands of a Devil Cultivator. Without Uncle, your grandson would have died in the borderlands long ago. Without Uncle, we would not have today's way out of this predicament. On our journey to the Great Scarlet Realm, we will surely find Bright Yang spiritual objects. If there is even a sliver of hope, your grandson wishes to save Uncle's life. I beg the True Person..."

"Grandfather, please grant my wish!"

That single word, "Grandfather," left Yuhong in a daze.

From the day he attained the Purple Mansion and ascended to the honored position of True Person, no one had addressed him by a term of kinship again.

For over two hundred years, everyone had called him "True Person," respectful yet distant, as though separated from him by heaven and the abyss.

He fell silent for a long time before finally letting out a deep sigh.

"Go with peace of mind. I will take good care of your uncle's flesh and blood and his true spirit, until the day you bring a Bright Yang spiritual object to save him."

"Thank you, Grandfather!"

Li Zhengjun waved a hand, and ten figures vanished from the great hall in an instant, as though they had never been there.

True Person Yuhong sat alone on his jade chair, silent for a long time.

The hall was empty. Just moments ago, it had been filled with the fervor and vows of young people, but now only an old man's silence remained.

Li Zhengchen and Li Chenfeng tactfully bowed and withdrew, leaving him to the silence.

No one knew how long it was before the old True Person, who had little life left, gazed at the empty hall and suddenly murmured:

"His heart is with the clan... he remembers kindness and seeks to repay it..."

A smile appeared at the corners of his mouth, and the pool of stagnant water in his heart, still for so many years, now stirred with faint ripples.

"With descendants like these... my Li Household... is safe..."