Li Xizhi called out, but before Li Yuanjiao could react, Li Yuanping at the head of the hall smiled kindly and said:

"Come, come, take a seat first, let’s wait for those two brothers from the Zhong branch. They’re still up on the mountain, they’ll arrive in a moment."

"Yes."

Li Xizhi answered and nodded, released Li Ximing’s hand, and stepped over to stand beside Li Yuanjiao. Li Yuanjiao sipped his tea and nodded slightly.

The two brothers Li Yuanping mentioned naturally referred to the two Xiyue generation brothers of the Li Tongya branch, Li Xihong and Li Xijun. Of Li Yuanyun’s many children, only these two direct sons possessed spirit apertures and cultivated in the mountains.

As soon as Li Yuanping finished speaking, two entered from outside the hall. The one in front looked to be sixteen or seventeen, respectful in demeanor, donned a grey robe, features ordinary, a spear slung across his back, and bowed his fists:

"Xihong greets the elders."

Li Yuanping and the rest replied; it was only then that Li Xizhi spoke out with a smile:

"Hong ge’er!"

Upon seeing Li Xizhi, Li Xihong’s eyes lit up, but with elders present, he refrained from speaking much, nodded rather awkwardly, while the six- or seven-year-old boy by his side, handsome of face, raised his brows and chirped with a light tone:

"Jun’er greets the elders and Brother Xizhi."

Li Xijun, Li Yuanyun’s youngest son, had just revealed his possession of a spirit aperture. He hadn’t spent much time with Li Yuanyun—barely past infancy, Li Yuanyun had gone to the market town, so Jun’er grew up on the mountain, making for a much more cheerful temperament.

Elder brother Li Xihong had been raised beside Li Yuanyun since young, making his manner much more reserved, standing mute in the courtyard.

Li Yuanjiao observed carefully, taking in every detail within the hall, couldn’t help but glance at Li Xijun, marveling somewhat:

"Jun’er has such good looks!"

Li Xijun clearly wasn’t hearing such praise for the first time. His brows curved, and in an innocent, childlike voice, he replied:

"Thank you, Uncle Zhong, for the compliment."

"So reserved!"

Li Yuanping had also been watching the child, couldn’t help but praise aloud with a laugh:

"This child is born with a face fit for immortal cultivation. Even before his spirit aperture was detected, he was already renowned, said to be destined for the path of immortality. Now, after examination, as expected, he truly possesses a spirit aperture!"

Li Yuanjiao grinned, nodding, gazing at the child’s features with all his mood brightened, then gently said:

"This time, I summoned you younger ones to discuss a few important matters."

Li Yuanjiao raised his teacup and, solemnly, said:

"For years, rumors have swirled that Qing Sui Sword Immortal has fallen; the lake clans fare poorly, the news spreading everywhere. As direct lineage of the Li Family, you ought to know this."

Upon hearing the name Qing Sui Sword Immortal, the younger generation all raised their heads, their expressions turning somber; clearly they’d heard of these matters from their parents. Li Yuanjiao nodded and said:

"The Sword Immortal has already departed to immortality..."

At once, all bowed their heads, a heavy mood settling in. Li Yuanjiao lowered his voice:

"The news of the soul lamp extinguished within the sect has been revealed; the matter has spread. Our clan now lacks a patron within the sect, channels of information blocked—we fear being taken advantage of. Thus, we’ve invited the Qing Sui Peak Master... Li Xizhi!"

"Your child is here!"

Li Xizhi swept his robe aside, took a step forward, and respectfully replied. Li Yuanjiao softly said:

"The clan needs you to enter the sect, join beneath Qing Sui Peak, protect the clan, and forge an immortal foundation... Do you understand?"

Li Xizhi knelt in reply:

"Xizhi shall not fail the trust bestowed upon me."

Li Xijun and Li Ximing, being still young, felt no oddity and only worried about being parted for many years, their hearts quietly reluctant. Li Xihong, who had already studied clan histories, looked at Li Xizhi with concern, sighing inwardly.

"Good."

Li Yuanjiao’s eyes shone as he helped him up, looked around at everyone, and softly said:

"Another matter: now the younger generation of the clan grows numerous, the collateral and branch lines more distinct than before. It’s necessary to differentiate name generations more clearly, so as not to mistake one another."

"From your generation on: sons of the elder Longhu Lord branch take names from ’宀’ or ’日’; the Tongya Lord Zhong branch from ’山’ or ’辶’; the Xiangping Lord Shu branch from ’工’ and ’钅’; the Chijin Lord Ji branch from ’氵’ and ’禾’."

He stood with hands behind his back and said quietly:

"This is something Elder Brother brought up in years past, and we’ve kept it in mind. Your names all derive from this convention."

Li Xihong and Li Xijun belong to the Li Tongya branch, so their names are taken from ’山’; Li Ximing, as the eldest of the main branch, from ’日’. Li Yuanjiao was adopted into the Li Chijin branch, so he named Li Xizhi with the ’治’ character.

The juniors suddenly understood and agreed, and only then did Li Yuanjiao nod and say:

"This last matter—come with me up the mountain."

────

"The four sons have all ended."

Lu Jiangxian finished assimilating the power of the Mysterious Pearl Talisman Seed, the white glow in his hand slowly faded, and he sighed low.

Perhaps because Li Tongya’s cultivation had collapsed, the feedback from the Mysterious Pearl Talisman Seed was inferior to Li Chijin’s. Though Lu Jiangxian had feasted, there was still a lingering sense of incompleteness.

"The power of Taiyin Profound Light has advanced; it’s now able to annihilate an ordinary Foundation Establishment Peak. If struck by this Profound Light—with no extraordinary immortal foundation—there is absolutely no way to survive."

He grasped at the void and produced five White Pills:

"Li Xuanling is also dead; the remaining four Mysterious Pearl Talisman Seeds lie outside the mirror: Li Xuanxuan, Li Xuanfeng, Li Yuanjiao, Li Qinghong..."

The number of Mysterious Pearl Talisman Seeds had not increased. By Lu Jiangxian’s estimation, only when the Dharma Mirror’s power restored to Zifu could another three be produced.

"But the perception has grown expansive..."

Lu Jiangxian’s ’sight and sense’ now covered half of Yue Country and Xu Country. Aside from a few Zifu monks’ mountain gates which he dared not probe, the rest—the secular world and minor clans—were all in his view. A pity that this perception could not, like divine sense, penetrate great formations; otherwise, he would have a good look at the hereditary secrets of every clan.

As for his divine sense, it encompassed all of Wangyue Lake, the Yu Family and Fei Clan and many other families, all laid bare before him...

"How can the endeavors of scholars be called stealing!"

He closed the ’Long Brocade Heart-Questioning Technique’ he held, looking at the various light points now manifesting atop the jade table:

’Jade Path True Art’, ’White-haired Courtyard Bowing Scripture’, ’Lakeside Magic Artifact Refinement’, ’Talisman Secrets’, ’Alchemy Dao Short Commentary’...

"Such deep family heritage!"

The Yu Clan had once usurped the Jiang Family’s Taoist lineage, inheriting a vast trove of manuscripts and artifact-refining/alchemy insights. Only, high-grade cultivation techniques were few; the Li Family already possessed a fourth-grade scripture directing straight to Zifu—’White-haired Courtyard Bowing Scripture.’

After all, the Jiang Family had been founded by an outer sect disciple of the Immortal Mansion, and possessed only a handful of high-grade techniques. Besides a third-grade technique, ’Sea-Gazing Mountain-Chasing Secret’, cultivated to Taoist Foundation and known as ’Foolish Rushing Mountain’, the rest were all the same metal nature third-grade arts.

Evidently, Moonlight Origin Mansion provided all outer sect disciples the path toward Zifu, thus benefiting the lake clans greatly. Five or six techniques for cultivation up to Foundation Establishment were far better than those of the Mushroom Forest Plain, where everyone practiced Fetal Breathing and had no choice but to study those first-grade common street techniques.

"In my past life, I, Lu Jiangxian, did act with some decency..."

He laughed at himself and pieced together several of these lineages:

"They are, respectively, ’Jade Court General’, ’Green Jade Cliff’, ’Path-True’, ’Interwoven Brocade Path’."

"Still missing one..."

Lu Jiangxian calculated for a while, combined the deaths and disappearances of Yu Yufeng and Fei Wangbai, and muttered:

"Likely the next will be Shangyuan Perfected Person breaking through to Golden Core... The metal nature sought must be along this line."

With that in mind, Lu Jiangxian classified these cultivation techniques as all extremely perilous, set them aside, then sorted out three secret techniques for artifact refining, one for alchemy, and six for talisman crafting.

As well as two remaining third-grade arts: the Fei Clan’s ’Cold Pine Dew Snow Technique’ and the Yu Family’s ’Sea-Gazing Mountain-Chasing Secret’.

"Find a reason and bestow these things."

He pondered a moment, then said to himself:

"Only now the Li Family has no one at Foundation Establishment. Reason dictates the Dharma Mirror’s talisman seeds should drop from nine to six, with two remaining, just aligning with the Li Family’s deductions."

Lu Jiangxian found this a bit tricky; after all, back then, the talisman seeds accumulated gradually, and Lu Jiangxian had intentionally timed the increases to match Li Tongya’s rising power.

Thus, Li Tongya’s conjecture was that the talisman seed count increased with the holder’s strength, so now, with Li Yuanjiao wielding the Mirror, the talisman seed count should also change.

"Forget it, forget it."

Lu Jiangxian mulled it over for a breath, and finally released five talisman seeds, secretly thinking:

"No need to stifle for fear of choking; Li Yuanjiao is a clever man—he’ll find the explanation himself."