Li Xuanxuan glanced at Li Ximing, then at Li Xizhi, his gaze registering the expressions of both brothers. He touched his sleeve and pulled out two jade boxes.
"This is the broken Tongzang sword and the [Six Thunder Mysterious Punishment Order]."
The [Tongzang] was Yu Mujian's magical weapon, and its quality was not low. Unfortunately, the Buddhist cultivators' weapon-refining skills couldn't compare to those of the immortals and demons. While the weapon's quality was excellent, its ritual techniques weren't particularly sophisticated.
Now that the sword had been severed by the Qingchi Sword, Li Xuanxuan took it out and placed it in his palm. He saw the smooth, yellow surface of the sword, and wondered if there was any mercy behind it.
As for the [Six Thunder Mysterious Punishment Order], it was completely different. While this magical weapon was vastly inferior to the [Six Thunder Mysterious Punishment Order], it was also of the highest quality, and certainly not an ordinary item.
Li Qinghong opened the jade box and saw six palm-sized silver-white tokens gleaming within. Their respective seal characters illuminated, emitting a series of subtle, rumbling sounds.
Li Qinghong took one out and weighed it in her hand. Silver-white lightning was falling towards her palm, and she couldn't help but exclaim:
"What a treasure!"
She carefully examined it, gently rubbing the seal characters. The other five suddenly leaped up, circling her wrist like flowing light. Li Qinghong closed her eyes and whispered:
"What a pity...it's 'Xuan Lei'."
Li Qinghong's foundation of cultivation is 'Xuan Lei Bo', which is a modification of 'Winter Thunder Sound'. Although it is called 'Xuan Lei Bo', it belongs to the 'Xiao Lei' of thunder, which is not a perfect match.
But it was a thunder weapon after all, so the incompatibility was merely a slight lack of mana during its operation. Li Qinghong toyed with it for a moment, then put it away, saying softly:
"This weapon is a top-tier one, but I've never used this kind of immortal artifact before. I need to study it further."
She collected the token and untied the [Mysterious Patterned Bottle] from her waist. The vessel was a vibrant purple, covered in purple lightning patterns. A radiant treasure bottle stood on the table. Li Qinghong said softly: "This magical weapon was originally acquired by Brother Jiao. It's from the East Fire Cave Heaven. Depending on the immortal base, it has different effects."
"But in Brother Jiao's hands, this magical weapon has a special effect. In my hands, it simply absorbs and releases thunder, storing spiritual lightning."
She held the vase, placed one hand flat, and poured out tiny drops of bright lightning. The lightning, controlled by her, fell into her palm one by one, shimmering and shining, sometimes violent, sometimes agile, each with its own unique characteristics.
Li Qinghong pulled several small golden bottles from her storage bag and stored them away one by one. After collecting seven, she handed the precious bottle to Li Xizhi.
"It should have been yours."
"Auntie, what are you talking about!"
Li Xizhi examined it carefully. The mysteriously patterned bottle fit within the width of his palm, a mere three fingers wide. It was small and adorable, with delicate patterns and a shimmering purple light. He raised his hand and placed the object in Li Ximing's hands.
"Since it's from the East Fire Cave Heaven, I'll hand it over to you..."
Li Xizhi was distracted and hurriedly closed his hand. He glanced at Li Qinghong, feeling a little uneasy. An Di said,
"Aunt, Xiang'er is still in the north!"
Li Xuanxuan had been sitting on the edge of his seat, wanting to speak for a long time. Seeing his grandson speak for him, the old man stood up and whispered,
"Qinghong...about this..."
Li Qinghong was the only one in the Li family who could cross the river and escape unscathed. She nodded gently and said gently,
"I understand. I'll go back north right away."
"Thank you, Aunt!"
Li Xizhi responded gratefully. Li Ximing, who was listening closely, opened his mouth to say something, but his hand felt warm.
Li Xizhi's hand remained over his, pressing the mysterious-patterned bottle into his grasp. His words of dissuasion were forced back into his throat, leaving him with only a few words:
"Aunt, be careful..."
Li Qinghong nodded and replied:
"There's no time to lose. Ximing, come with me north first. Xizhi and Li Quantao, recover for a while and return in a few days."
"I'll go back to Qingdu to pack up!"
Li Ximing stood up, and the aunt and nephew took off together. Li Xizhi escorted them out of the courtyard, then, somewhat nervously, clasped his hands behind his back. After walking around the old house twice, he returned to his seat.
Li Xuanxuan was selecting various spiritual objects, his face drooping, his expression unreadable. He glanced up and saw Li Xizhi's gloomy expression. He said in a hoarse voice,
"Ximing has been in seclusion for years, and he's only seen Yuexiang a handful of times. How could he possibly show any love for her... Don't be suspicious. He may be a bit heartless... but not to this extent..."
"Grandfather..."
Li Xizhi sighed softly, his lips trembling slightly, his pain only now visible. He replied,
"I don't want Aunt to take any risks... I understand Ximing's feelings, and I know Yuexiang is likely in grave danger. But what if there's a glimmer of hope?"
He hesitated for the rest of his words, but ultimately left them unspoken. He hadn't known Li Yuexiang was heading north, but later learned that the clan had made arrangements.
"He's not the only one who's heartless."
...
Yanshan Pass
Demonic smoke billowed from the ground, sparks of light rising. The dark ruins were littered with fallen white stone fragments. The blood had long since dried, leaving only a few broken bones scattered across the rubble.
The ruins were deserted. From the cracks in the rocks, tiny specks of black light emerged, transforming into a black snake, wandering through the desolate ruins.
Li Wushao's black snake eyes fixed on the demonic smoke as his body shifted. He had been slowly escaping from Chengshuiling for months, but this was his first appearance at Yanshan Pass.
The battle between the north and the south was raging. Li Wushao's gaze shone as he gazed upon the lush waters of Chengshuiling. His immortal light faded, and he decisively transformed into his original form, shrinking his body and diving into the water below. He fled southward without looking back.
He was a hook snake from the East China Sea. To survive for so long in the East China Sea, apart from anything else, he must have been skilled at escaping. And in his familiar waters, he quickly lost his enemies and headed south.
But Li Wushao had never imagined that Yanshan Pass would be breached. The entire journey would be filled with demonic smoke. He fled with his head covered, was attacked three times, and nearly lost his life there.
"It's only because I was born in the East China Sea, brimming with demonic energy. I'm not from a sect that practices the righteous cultivation method. Mixed in with the demonic smoke, I'm hard to spot. If I were like those other sect mounts, pure and clear, I would have been killed long ago!"
Li Wushao was wandering over the ruins when a black light suddenly descended from the sky. It landed right in front of him, transforming into a man in black who stared at him with some confusion.
Caught red-handed, Li Wushao remained unfazed. He raised his snake head and looked openly. Suddenly, he heard the other party's cold voice:
"Which sect are you from... Why are you lingering here?"
Li Wushao was shrouded in demonic energy and wandering through the ruins. The man couldn't immediately determine his reason. How could he have guessed that the defeated soldiers of Cheng Shuiling were still wandering the demonic land today?
Li Wushao, seeing the demonic aura emanating from him, knew he was a wandering demonic cultivator from the north. He spat out his tongue and replied, "I am the guardian of the Yan State mage Kong Heng! Daoist friend, which faction are you from? How can you be so nosy!"
The snake demon spoke with conviction, yet felt a little unhappy inwardly, cursing silently, "Damn it... He's borrowing the monk's name again. For the past few months, I've been his mount! How shameful..."
The other party hesitated. Although the main force of Buddhist cultivators today is primarily [Empty Form], [Compassion Form], and [Good Joy Form], representatives from the Seven Paths of the North have all arrived. Who knows which of them this Kong Heng is? Seeing the demonic snake's assertion, he coldly said, "I haven't heard of any Master Kongheng!"
"You're blind!"
Li Wushao cursed, slapped the ground with his tail, pointed his finger, and swore, "My master is such a figure that even Master Yuxin, the Great Desire, couldn't even plead with him to discuss the Dharma! How dare a mere demon cultivator bark in the face of a great master!"
Yuxin was the Great Desire Master who had come during the first attack on Yanshan Pass. He was repelled by Li Qinghong and his men. It was indeed true. The black snake raised its head, its expression truly intimidating.
"This demonic snake's mouth is truly foul." '
The demon cultivator listened to his words of foolishness and genuinely believed them. However, he felt a little annoyed at being scolded for no reason, and a lingering doubt lingered in his heart. He said coldly:
"Since fellow Daoist is able to protect the master, you must have read many scriptures!"
"Ha! You asked for this!"
Li Wushao sneered in response, then took out the "Zun Xiu Fu Zhe Yan" that Kong Heng had taught him and began to recite them. The mysterious incantation echoed in the air, and combined with his previous words, it immediately made the demon cultivator in front of him jump up and down.
"You stupid snake!"
The Buddhist cultivator's scriptures were all sorts of strange and bizarre, and he didn't want to be converted midway. With a quick scolding to save face, he hurriedly took off on the wind and plunged into the black fog.
"Pah!"
Li Wushao spat at his back and burrowed back into the ruins. This man was most likely the Foundation Establishment cultivator guarding this area. After all this trouble, there seemed to be no obstacle.
"It's said something happened at Shuiling, and most of the demonic cultivators stationed there have left, and that mage has also returned north... Otherwise, this guy wouldn't be so easily deceived..."
Li Wushao also saw the crystalline light falling from the north, but he wasn't surprised. He cursed silently in his heart:
"Humans only care about their reputation. They kill people if they want, but they have to stir up disputes, fighting and strife before finally falling. They're just messing around, and then they're just covering it up."
Li Wushao had seen this kind of thing many times in the East China Sea. If a dragon son from the Water Palace wanted to obtain the immortal foundation for refining elixirs and weapons, the monsters of the East China Sea would line up to die. There was no need for such a fuss, wars, or disputes...
That being said, Li Wushao still envied the respectability of the cultivators in the sea. Even those in the Purple Mansion had to pretend to kill those who had established their foundation, and they rarely killed people for no reason. Life was much more comfortable.
He lowered his head and wandered through the ruins for a moment, soon arriving at his former station. After rummaging around, he unearthed a long halberd.
The halberd was simple and lightweight, still inscribed with the following words:
"Qingdu Li Family, Lijing Chen Family, Chen Mufeng."
"The little brat died here."
Li Wushao had seen this middle-aged man before, when he was captured and taken back to the Li family. Chen Mufeng was still a teenager, and Li Wushao had dealt with him.
"Damn it..."
The demonic snake, with a sullen face, lifted several large rocks and, as expected, found half of his head. Li Wushao scrounged the other half from the dirt, finding it rotten. He cleaned it up and pieced it together, putting it in his storage bag.
"It's a tradition to bury the dead. Go back and give them to Chen Donghe for burial."
He blinked, searched twice, and pulled out several more bodies from the Li family. Luckily, he didn't recognize any of them. He put them in his bag one by one, cursing:
"Damn it, they died right where they are!"
He had transformed into his human form, his eyelids twitching. He looked around twice again, but didn't find An Queyan's body. He breathed a sigh of relief.
This man had been digging with him for the mineral vein beneath Wangyue Lake. He had a bald head and was cheerful. He loved to eat, but he could be lazy at times, but he was a fast runner.
He looked around and saw another large man holding a golden hammer. He must have been called Li Wen. He had also disappeared, or perhaps he had been reduced to ashes, and the hammer had been picked up by someone else.
He walked back, finding several more corpses along the way and secretly collecting them. He thought to himself,
"Those guys from the Demon Sect's Moon Lake Peak... they must have run away when they saw this, perhaps even before they had time to flee."
He walked barefoot, occasionally seeing familiar faces, though they were incomplete. Sometimes a familiar nose or a familiar ear, half-rotted, lay on the ground.
Li Wushao cursed everyone he saw, his voice fading as he reached the pass. Eventually, the old snake fell silent.
For all his years in the East China Sea, Li Wushao had never had many friends. His own people, seeing his lowly bloodline, often disdained to speak to him, and other demons were even more afraid to even meet him.
Only after arriving at the Li family did Li Wushao begin to understand the concept of acquaintances and friends. Despite his usual foul-mouthed demeanor, An Queyan, Chen Donghe, and others, perhaps motivated by other interests, didn't take it personally and became friendly with him.
Li Yuexiang was a little girl, well-behaved and adorable from a young age. Xiao Guiluan raised each of her children to be more intelligent than the last, and Li Wushao was responsible for Li Yuanjiao's care.
Ever since she was a little girl, Li Yuexiang had loved wearing white dresses. She even told Li Wushao,
"I'm usually in the mountains. Uncle Wushao doesn't have to wait all the time. He'll come from the lake and won't keep Xiang'er waiting too long."
Over twenty years had passed in a trance.
When Li Yuanjiao died, Li Xuanfeng asked him if he wanted to stay with the Li family. Li Wushao couldn't say a word in front of him. But honestly, he had grown accustomed to a life free from fear, where he could express his feelings freely...
Now, the familiar had become dead, scattered here and there on the ground, rotten despite the cold. For the first time, Li Wushao frowned over the few Qi-cultivating humanoids.
The old snake walked all the way to the center of the collapsed formation, its spiritual consciousness searching the ruins. After a few shifts, it suddenly came upon a broken sword.
The broken sword was only a foot long. The wooden talisman at its tail swayed gently. It was about the length of a palm and two fingers wide, stained with black blood. Inscribed on it were a few small, beautiful characters:
"Waiting for you for a long time."
A demonic wind rolled in. The old snake glanced at the wooden talisman, then at the charred marks and dark bloodstains on the stone. After a few breaths, it returned to the wooden talisman, hissing with a choking sound, a characteristic snake-like sound.