The old Daoist priest's Qi Refining spiritual sense and reaction speed saved his life. With only a reflexive twist of his body, the Profound Lunar Radiance managed to vaporize only his left shoulder and the whole of his left hand, leaving him with his frost-caked upper body and a face that had bruised purple from the cold.
"Cough, cough."
The old Daoist spat out a mouthful of dark-red blood that froze into frost midair before falling with a pat onto the soft earth.
"Good... good, indeed."
A stiff smile crept across his wizened old face. With the one remaining right hand he propped up a pale-white shield, blocking in succession every attack Li Xiangping hurled at him.
This small gesture cost him another mouthful of blood that trailed frost as it came up. Feeling one cold and biting breath after another wander through his body, the old Daoist hurriedly formed a seal to shield his heart's channels and preserve his own life.
Beside him, Li Xiangping saw that even a flurry of attacks could not shake the old Daoist's shield, and that the talismans Li Chijing had given him were chiefly suited for preserving life and fleeing. Gritting his teeth, he could only abandon the old Daoist, slapping a talisman onto his leg, and, riding the wind, continued his escape northward.
To the west lay his own Li family, where he could not go. To the east still gathered the ten Qi Refining cultivators besieging the Wan family — a walk into his own snare. To the south rose the rough, uneven terrain of Greater Li Mountain, and climbing would surely be far slower than flying. Only the north remained.
—
Ji Dengqi stared coldly at Wan Xiaohua, who lay on the ground, severed at the waist yet still propped on his upper half, his long blade pinning the lower half to the far side. He said, tone flat:
"Your Wan family should have been prepared for exactly this the day you marched on Huazhong Mountain."
The tenacious life force of Embryonic Breathing's peak kept Wan Xiaohua from dying in a hurry. The excruciating pain made his eyes bulge wide, his throat giving off hoarse shrieks as, through mouthfuls of blood, he forced out a few words:
"For... ah... why..."
Ji Dengqi slowly saw, in the space before his eyes, a proud young man in princely robes from years gone by. He bowed quietly and said in a low voice:
"Did you think we were anything more? We are nothing but the dogs and pigs two noble houses raise — tiny weights thrown onto one side of their scales in a trade. They do not even care which side you stand on. The tribute you paid year after year — all that time they were only waiting for us to fatten flesh and blood. We are the pigs and cattle raised to be exchanged, fattened, and then slaughtered."
Ji Dengqi watched Wan Xiaohua struggle, then close his eyes, and a tear slipped down his own cheek. He closed his eyes as well, raised his head, and said heavily:
"Now I must drive your entire Wan bloodline, along with the eight thousand mortals under your rule, before the great one as a sacrificial blade. Following that, the great one will descend and sweep south toward the Xunlin Plain, where not a single Qingchi disciple has been left to defend it, and slaughter five-tenths to seven-tenths of the mortals and cultivators there to gather resentful qi and blood qi."
Ji Dengqi lifted the corner of his mouth in a mocking smile. Gazing at the corpse of Wan Xiaohua, which was gradually growing cold, he went on, his voice still low:
"And the Qingchi Sect you yearned for to come to your rescue is even now moving its troops to cut into Tang Gold Gate's border, doing the same filth."
"The pigs and cattle have grown clever, so they slaughter one another in trade."
Gently closing Wan Xiaohua's eyes, Ji Dengqi gave vent to a series of hoarse laughs from deep in his throat. He raised his head coldly, gazing aloft at the self-satisfied figure of the man in the golden robe among the clouds.
—
"Senior Xiao!"
Li Tongya bowed respectfully with cupped hands. Seeing the Ancestor Xiao in front of him — a Foundation Establishment cultivator — squinting idly as he sipped his tea, the latter said softly:
"Young friend Tongya, why not stay a few more days here at my Xiao family's estate?"
Li Tongya froze for a moment, a cloud of doubt rising in his heart. Bowing his brow, he paused a breath and said respectfully:
"I would not presume to..."
Xiao Chuting waved a hand, cutting off Li Tongya's words, and said in a low voice:
"The Wan family has not come this year — they should have been swept south by Tang Gold Gate, which came as agreed. By my reckoning they have killed all the way to the Xunlin Plain by now. Your Li family now hangs alone in the mountains, and the Xunlin Plain is drenched in bloodshed. Best to tarry a few days, and return once Tang Gold Gate has withdrawn."
Those words revealed a great many things. Li Tongya hesitated, his mind racing through several possibilities in the span of a breath, then bowed and thanked him:
"Many thanks, Senior Xiao!"
Xiao Chuting nodded slightly and sank into silent contemplation. Li Tongya understood at once and took his leave.
Watching Li Tongya leave the courtyard, a richly dressed young man emerged from behind a screen woven of spirit gauze. It was Xiao Yongling — the very young man Wan Yuankai and Li Tongya had chanced upon in the tavern those years ago. He sat respectfully and asked, puzzled:
"Grandfather, is the Li family truly worth such friendship on our part?"
Xiao Chuting silently took a sip of tea, gazing at this most favored of his direct blood descendants, and said in a low voice:
"Li Chijing has broken through his seclusion and cultivated the Moon Lake Mirroring Autumn Art to completion. The sect is thoroughly shaken."
Xiao Yongling was stunned into widening his eyes, and blurted out:
"The Moon Lake Mirroring Autumn Art? Where did he get the Taiyin lunar essence?!"
"Never you mind where he got it."
Xiao Chuting waved a hand and said quietly:
"Build a good relation with this Li family — but do not seem overly eager either, or it will do more harm than good."
Seeing Xiao Yongling lost in thought, Xiao Chuting shifted the topic and asked coldly:
"Do you know why the Three Sects and Seven Gates have never stopped their subordinate families from warring and devouring each other? Why they even encourage the families along their borders to feud and kill one another?"
Xiao Yongling pondered for a breath or two, then answered:
"The Qingchi Sect has never needed a few spirit stones as tribute. What they need is to nurture great houses like our Xiao family — houses that can organize great numbers of mortals and cultivators — to cultivate spirit items that can aid those cultivating toward Foundation Establishment, even toward the Purple Mansion..."
"Then why can't the Qingchi Sect spare those Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators themselves? Why must they do it through our family's hands, giving up a share to us? Look at how many spirit items and magic artifacts our Xiao family has amassed here in Lixia Prefecture over these hundreds of years. Do you think the Qingchi Sect doesn't know?"
Xiao Chuting took a sip of tea and asked slowly, in turn.
Xiao Yongling was struck speechless for a moment, sensing he had grasped something — yet dared not say it aloud.
"Then I will say it for you. Houses like ours are nothing more than medicinal herbs the Qingchi Sect plants in the earth."
Xiao Chuting laughed coldly and said heavily:
"They spend hundreds of years growing a great house, then devour it clean, bones and marrow alike, then ordain and raise a few dozen small families to be set at each other's throats — to war, swallow, and grow the next crop of great houses."
Xiao Yongling lowered his head and shivered, beginning to stammer:
"Surely this is not... the way of an immortal sect..."
"The war between immortals and demons ended thousands of years ago. Who still plays at those stale old games? Which of the Three Sects and Seven Gates does not gild its sect hall, standing as it does upon flesh and white bone?"
Xiao Chuting laughed heartily and pressed on in turn:
"Have you ever wondered how the Moon-Bright Glazed Tree on the Qingchi Peak was planted? It was planted within the very flesh and bone of one Li Jiangqun, watered with his blood. Is there a single corner of your Qingchi Sect that does not reek of blood?"
"The Qingchi Immortal Sect — the Qingchi Immortal Sect. Pretty name!"
Xiao Chuting laughed coldly and rose to his feet, then turned to Xiao Yongling and asked:
"Do you know what the Qingchi Immortal Sect was called five or six hundred years ago, before it climbed into the ranks of the Three Sects?"
"I do not know."
Seeing Xiao Yongling shake his head, Xiao Chuting leaned slowly in close to his ear and said in a cold voice:
"The Green Delay Demon Sect."
"The Green Delay Demon Sect?!"