Family Cultivation: I Become a Mirror

"Senior, please follow me."

Bi Chengjuan glanced at Li Xuanxuan, estimating him to be over a hundred years old. Calling him senior, he led the three of them down.

The mountain gate of the Hengzhu Taoism was underground. There was a break in the county that resembled a cliff, where cultivators came and went. The Hengzhu cultivators used an ancient levitation technique, which was different from the current technique of riding the wind, making their ascent and descent very flexible.

The mountain gate of Hengzhu was known as the "Hengzhu Blessed Land," created by ancient cultivators. Bi Chengjuan did not take the three inside, but instead found a small opening in the wall, which led to a tiny secret chamber.

"After all, it involves cutting through skin and flesh; there will inevitably be some pain. Please endure it, senior."

Li Xuanxuan took the jade knife. The old man had suffered much hardship before, and such pain was naturally bearable for him. He removed his clothes and made incisions on his face, chest, and back, sealed the acupoints to stop the bleeding, and inserted the golden elixir.

Li Xuanxuan grunted softly. Bi Chengjuan lightly caressed the spots, and the six baby-mouth-sized cuts all sealed up. Bi Chengjuan led him forward, opened the secret chamber, and spoke softly,

"Senior, please enter and sit cross-legged inside, and wait quietly for the formation to activate."

Li Xuanxuan nodded and entered. As the heavy door closed with a thunderous sound, Bi Chengjuan turned to the other two and spoke softly,

"You two wait here for three days and don't go out. The entire Taoism is holding its breath... If the mage wanders around carelessly, it might lead to trouble."

Shi Kongheng nodded, watching Bi Chengjuan leave and sighed softly,

"The Murong Clan... how could they do such a thing!"

Li Xijun glanced at him and said quietly,

"Hasn't it always been like this? They let you taste the ultimate bliss in their bellies, and after eating, they still demand your thousandfold gratitude."

Shi Kongheng was silent as if he had a lot to say, and after a long while, he spoke,

"When I was eight, the abbot was on good terms with a Yan Buddhist practitioner, who once took me to see inside his belly using divine skills."

"There were treasure ponds shining with radiance, merits flowing like streams, the ground paved with gold sand, steps made of crystals, with lotuses as large as cartwheels in green, red, white, and blue. A hundred thousand birds and beasts were all chanting Buddhist scriptures, seeking the truth, and the people were joyful. There was no suffering, no difficulty, no disaster, no evil, all was peaceful and dignified."

This monk seemed very bewildered as he said,

"Taoism regards this path as devil cultivation... but I really cannot see what's right or wrong. Zhao Shi sought the truth, established the Buddhist Country on earth; Yan Buddhist practitioners resolved disaster, opened their bellies to ultimate bliss. They did it, and we ancient cultivators only rang bells in the temple."

"Yan Buddhist practitioners allowed tens of thousands to ascend to ultimate bliss after death, while Zhao Xiu made the people live without pain in this life. We, the ancient cultivators, recited scriptures in the temple."

"Whenever Yan and Zhao Buddhist cultivators arrived, the people of Liaohe flocked to them, leaving the streets empty, everyone smiling happily, seemingly blessed. Only us, the ancient cultivators, still toiled away in the temples, growing vegetables."

"The abbot said: Using divine skills to bewitch and recruit people is an unorthodox practice, one cannot become a world-honored one this way."

"But I am cultivating for the sake of the people. As long as it makes them happy, I should do it. I can use divine skills to make the people enjoy unpalatable dough as if it were exquisite delicacies and the plainest clothes as if they were rich and luxurious gowns. To ignore the desperate pleas of the people just to consider whether I can become a world-honored one—could that be the act of someone with great virtue?"

He asked,

"Taoist fellow, if a mortal is in unbearable pain, shouldn't one use magic to relieve their suffering?"

Li Xijun frowned and replied,

"Of course, one should..."

Fear crept onto Shi Kongheng's normally gentle face as he murmured,

"If inside the belly is truly ultimate bliss... and above ground is the joyful Buddhist Country... why subject the people of Liaohe to a sea of suffering!"

Li Xijun was startled by his words and saw him break into a sweat, his delicate face filled with shock and fear, and his legs, which were coiled up, began to tremble. The golden light usually swirling around him dissipated, and instead, a series of colorful halos faintly shone from behind his head.

Sensing trouble, Li Xijun immediately feared Shi Kongheng might cry out "I have realized," and instantaneously a world of ultimate bliss would manifest within him, turning him into a Yan Buddhist practitioner. Without hesitation, Li Xijun struck him on the back, shouting,

"Shi Kongheng!"

He used the power of Songxue True Yuan, which caused Shi Kongheng's entire body to feel the chill; he spat out black blood, and the halos behind his head, as if startled, vanished without a trace. His eyes also regained clarity on the spot.

The monk closed his eyes and tremblingly chanted scriptures for a while before saying,

"Thank you, Taoist fellow... thank you..."

After the monk finished speaking and caught his breath for a long while, he narrowed his slender eyes and muttered,

"The Liaohe clearly yields harvest every year, and the people live better than those in Yan and Zhao. Yet now both the rich and poor are unhappy. The abbot said one must see through it..."

His expression was downcast, showing no further inclination to change Taoist lineage, but the disappointment on his face was unmistakable.

"But the cries of Liaohe shake the heavens, and I cannot see through it."

...

Green Pond Sect, Affairs Hall.

Li Xijun stepped on a rainbow of light and arrived, landing on the peak. He was already a Qi Cultivator, required to perform external affairs every ten years... Li Xijun had come seven times in ten years, never finding what fully satisfied his heart.

'If there's nothing this time, I don't have many more years to wait.'

There weren't actually many true disciples of the Green Pond Sect; it was often hard to encounter fellow sect members in the mountains. Only in this Affairs Hall could one see a bustling scene. Li Xizhi stepped inside, where many Green-robed Cultivators were chatting and laughing.

Qing Sui Peak was not very popular, and Li Xizhi rarely left the mountain nor had many friends. After scanning around, he saw at the very top of the notice board several assignments for capturing and killing.

Though these assignments were richly rewarded, Li Xizhi never took them on. His roots were in Wangyue Lake with many clan members; he dared not provoke any trouble.

Skimming past some duties involving demon hunting, traveling the Four Seas, and to the Northern and Southern Borders, Li Xijun searched for a while before finally finding a few tasks within Yue Country that involved searching for Spiritual Objects. The first one that stood out was,

"Taiyin Moonlight... those who find it will receive thirty great merits and three Sui Origin Pills..."