Family Cultivation: I Become a Mirror

Fei Luoya stood with his hands behind his back as he rode the wind away, leaving behind a brisk silhouette. Li Qinghong managed to brush him off, and several Foundation Establishment cultivators, including Li Ximing, came to make a brief appearance of support before scattering, each rubbing his own head.

When Li Qinghong came back to her senses, only the hooked snake remained. She glanced at Li Wushao, whose complexion seemed even worse than a few days prior, the wounds on his hooked tail still far from healing. She inquired:

"Taoist Fellow, is your injury serious?"

The tail hook of Li Wushao had been grazed by that ashen-red flame and still throbbed with pain to this day. The pain was strange; it was felt not just physically but also flared up intermittently within his Spiritual Sense, torturing Li Wushao enough to make his complexion look dreadful.

Seeing this, Li Qinghong expressed her concern. Li Wushao waved his hand dismissively and replied:

"Thank you for your concern... This fire seems to fuse with the body, spirit, and soul, burning the flesh and damaging the spirit, consuming life and eradicating consciousness, rest is the only option."

He was pale and declined the Elixir Li Qinghong offered, politely saying:

"For this kind of Divine Fire, common Elixirs are useless. Many of the Dragon Kind from the East Sea have wanted to eat me, and they cultivate Heshui, a path similar to this fusing fire. Any contact gradually worsens the condition... I'm used to it and have some experience in dealing with it, so there's no need to worry."

With a ghastly complexion, Li Wushao had no choice but to go down and heal, leaving Li Qinghong alone to ride the thunder downwards.

"Heshui... fusion fire... Taiyin... Taiyang... indeed they correspond one-to-one."

Li Qinghong nodded thoughtfully, many fruit positions within Metal Nature correspond one-to-one and are traceable. She didn't know which type of thunder nature her "Mysterious Thunder Berth" belonged to, which aroused a bit of curiosity in her:

"Mysterious Thunder? Or perhaps the Sky Thunder that one seeks..."

She cast these thoughts from her mind and continued to seclude herself for cultivation.

After about half a month, the underling of Fei Luoya named Zhu had not yet arrived, but finally, several people could be seen flying from afar, their attire varied and they seemed travel-worn. Leading them was none other than Li Xuanxuan, stroking his beard and riding the wind from afar.

"Grandfather!"

Li Xijun flew to welcome him. Li Xuanxuan nodded slightly, Chen Donghe, An Jingming, and the others behind him bowed. Li Xuanxuan appeared to be in a good mood, his voice deep as he said:

"I have just visited the Great Owl Sunflower View, and indeed my horizons have broadened. Beneath the observatory are seventy-two Taoist Lineages, all sorts of ancient Spells and witchcraft, starkly different from the arts of today."

He fished several Talismans out of his Storage Bag, which looked dull grey, with Talisman Scripts drawn in white ink. Pleased, Li Xuanxuan said:

"These are ancient Spells that condense Talisman Water, provide pain relief, and cure diseases... They can be passed down to Fetal Breathing Cultivators. They're very good for treating the common people's illnesses."

He waved his hand to dismiss the others as he spoke, and the crowd dispersed. Li Xijun pulled him to descend, and only then did the old man settle down, still discussing the uses of the Talismans in his hand, beaming with joy.

Li Xijun watched as the pair of elderly eyes scanned the area, glimpsing the clean white hemp blanketing the mountain, his joy suddenly turning to shock. The smile on his face disappeared, and he silently closed his mouth.

Without saying a word, he followed Li Xijun to the tombstone; he sat down on the ground, muttering to himself:

"Indeed, it's about time... to have held on for so many years..."

His aged eyes scanned side to side, on the right was the memorial tablet of his eldest son, Li Yuanxiu, and on the left that of his youngest son, Li Yuanping, one new and one old, both quite tall. Li Xuanxuan sat down, the tombstones towering over him by a head.

Li Xijun quietly retreated to the end of the mountain path, looking back just once.

The hunched old man sat between the two stones, his legs sprawled in the weeds, unknowingly holding the Talisman in his hands, his gaze blankly fixed on the sky, appearing very small.

Unable to bear the sight any longer, Li Xijun lowered his head and left. Chen Donghe brought up a man dressed in earthy yellow Taoist Robe with a Vine Whip tied around his waist, Chen Donghe whispered:

"This is Elder Zhu."

Li Xijun immediately perked up; although the scene from earlier still haunted his memory, there was no time to indulge in sorrow. He mustered a smile and said softly:

"I am honored to meet you, Elder."

Elder Zhu was a subordinate of Fei Luoya, at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

His Taoist Lineage wasn't strong, and even though he had formed an Immortal Foundation, not even Li Wushao without his tail hook would want to follow it. He was cultivating the unremarkable Qingyuan Wind formed from a minor and clear Spiritual Energy.

Although his Cultivation Level was much higher than Li Xijun's, he didn't dare to put on airs in Li Xijun's presence and could only say softly:

"My elder brother has sent me to take over this Boundary."

The territories controlled by Fei Luoya's two subordinates weren't small, with some desolate areas removed, the actual area was much larger than Eastern Shanyue. Li Xijun saw him take out the map and Elder Zhu said:

"Over the past ten or so years, this territory has struggled to accumulate a population of over 50,000..."

Li Xijun was at once stupefied; the same territory, their own Eastern Shanyue had several hundred thousand people. With such a sparse population, it was natural that there wasn't much harvest.

Having looked over the map, Li Xijun softly said after a brief estimation:

"Elder, for this territory, I intend to establish thirty towns. Taking into account the local Spirit Veins and Earth Veins, I plan to construct one or two Immortal Mountains and set up a government office to oversee a population of three hundred thousand."

"There are two large plains where we can build major towns... We will start by establishing villages along the two rivers, and relocate people there."

Li Xijun spoke at length about his plans, to which Elder Zhu could only nod in agreement, unclear of the merits or demerits, barely understanding much, and with no choice but to nod along stiffly.

When Li Xijun finished outlining the arrangements, it was hardly a discussion, Elder Zhu only had one question:

"How much profit can be expected?"

Li Xijun estimated:

"As long as we wait seven or eight years, we can have a profit of twenty to thirty Spirit Stones annually, and my family will take forty percent."