Family Cultivation: I Become a Mirror-Chapter 53 Meichi Mountain Formation

Li Chijin woke up to dim, flickering lights; he lay on a soft bed, and his senior sister Yuan Tuan was gently applying ointment to his back. The wound felt cool and comfortable, no longer causing him much pain.

"Ugh..."

He struggled to lift his head, and seeing the room filled with jars of medicine and Pill Scriptures, he knew he was in his senior brother Xiao Yuansi’s loft, so he asked with a hoarse voice,

"Where’s senior brother?"

"He’s gone to Yuanwu Peak."

Yuan Tuan replied softly, her hair cascading down like a waterfall, the black tips brushing lightly against his neck.

"You can’t take those healing pills since you’re only at Fetal Breathing; I’ve treated your wounds with spells and this ointment—you should be better by tomorrow."

Li Chijin, however, was still worried about Xiao Yuansi and asked with some urgency,

"Did senior brother go to Yuanwu Peak alone?"

"The master is with him."

Yuan Tuan smiled and explained,

"Even if that Deng Qiuzhi is from a noble family, he can’t bully Qing Sui Peak like that."

"There’s something off about that person."

Li Chijin lowered his head and murmured.

"The people of the Deng family are all unpredictable and capricious—you needn’t bother with him."

Yuan Tuan cleaned up the ointment and spoke softly,

"The Deng family’s cultivation technique is inherently flawed, missing one qi, known as the Night Moon Chilling Qi. After generations of their ancestors tirelessly modifying and practicing it, it has become manageable in the past hundred years, yet it leaves a side effect on the mind, causing those who master it to become moody and act on whim."

Li Chijin paused for a moment, then inquired,

"What grade is that technique that the Deng family insists on practicing?"

"Fifth Grade."

Yuan Tuan replied indifferently, and seeing the shocked expression on Li Chijin’s face, she laughed and said,

"I was very surprised when I first heard this. Not counting the secret techniques of the Upper Sect, even the most famous Primordial Clearing Rain Controlling Technique of the Green Pond Sect is only Fourth Grade. It’s remarkable that a subordinate family should have a technique of a higher grade."

After putting away the ointment and placing it on the shelf, Yuan Tuan continued,

"I heard that their technique originated from the Moonlight Origin Mansion of the Upper Sect. Hundreds of years ago, the Moonlight Immortal Mansion often bestowed the Night Moon Chilling Qi. Our Green Pond Sect has a similar technique, called the ’Moon Lake Autumn Reflection Technique,’ also Fifth Grade. But because the Immortal Mansion secluded itself from the world, we too lack one qi and no one has been able to master it."

"I know."

Li Chijin nodded and replied,

"Senior brother told me; the missing qi is called Taiyin Moonlight. It’s said that someone on Moon Lake Peak once happened to acquire it by a fortunate coincidence."

"At Wangyue Lake."

Yuan Tuan echoed softly, her face showing envy as she said,

"Over the past few hundred years, the three sects and seven doors have acquired five strands of Taiyin Moonlight from Wangyue Lake, either from the relics of predecessors, the remnants of cave mansions, or through secret legacies..."

Li Chijin was staring blankly at the pillow in front of him, his mind suddenly racing with a guess that nearly leapt to his lips, yet he swallowed it back down.

"Senior sister, I want to go home for a visit."

"Hm?"

"My brothers wrote in their letter that father’s health has been declining over the years, and I... I’d like to see him a few more times."

Yuan Tuan looked down thoughtfully for a few moments before replying,

"In a few months, I have to go to Mushroom Forest Plain to collect the tribute, and Li Mountain is just west of there. Going there and back will indeed be convenient."

"Good, thank you, sister~"

Li Chijin thanked her with a smile, then lay down, silently contemplating something.

————

Li Xuanxuan practiced his cultivation techniques throughout the night, and in the early morning, he cast a gentle rain spell before stepping out of his courtyard. As he walked along the stone-paved road for a stretch, villagers carrying hoes greeted him with smiles, calling him "little Immortal Master."

It had been more than ten years since the Li family found the mirror, and a new generation of workers had grown up in the various villages. People had gradually gotten used to the Li family’s rule. In the village, they feared Li Xiangping, respected Li Tongya, but it was Li Xuanxuan whom they felt close to, having watched him grow up from a child.

Almost no young people remembered Li Mutian hunkered down in the mountains, except for a few stewards who occasionally reported to him on the mountain and revered him deeply, only the elderly gathering under the eaves to discuss old times would occasionally remember this old soldier.

As Li Xuanxuan walked for a while and pushed open the gate into a yard, he saw a half-person-tall lacquered wooden platform, resembling a large bed laid out in the courtyard. It was sparsely covered with straw, withered rice leaves, and a few small nests were burrowed using specially carved wooden shavings and loose soil, looking quite interesting.

"Auntie."

He bowed to Liu Rouxuan, who was standing by the platform, meticulously observing, and inquired,

"Why aren’t the two uncles on the mountain visible?"

"Your second uncle acquired some Bright Divine Powder and took some Serpent Origin Pills from home to break through to the fifth layer of Fetal Breathing – the Yujing Wheel. He’s likely to emerge from his seclusion soon,"

Liu Rouxuan chuckled softly, laid down several Spirit Rice leaves in her hand, patted Li Xuanxuan on the head, and explained,

"The Spiritual Fields in a few villages are now in use, so your uncle thought of going to Meichi Mountain next door to look for more Spiritual Fields to explore."

"I see!"

Li Xuanxuan nodded in understanding. He was about to speak when he heard a light knock on the yard gate. A call came from outside,

"Is my younger clan brother in the yard? The junior clan leader has some instructions."

Li Xuanxuan hurriedly opened the door to find Li Qiuyang and Li Yesheng outside. He promptly asked,

"What happened?"

"Let’s walk and talk."

Li Qiuyang took his hand, apologized to Liu Rouxuan, and along with Li Yesheng, they headed up the mountain in a rush.

"The junior clan leader saw something unusual on Meichi Mountain and summoned Uncle Yesheng to inform us. It’s said that there’s a formation on the mountain."

"A formation?!"

Li Xuanxuan abruptly halted, asking incredulously,

"Meichi Mountain has been deserted all this while; that formation must be several hundred years old, right?"

"Isn’t that the case?"

Li Qiuyang nodded his head and replied softly,

"Best case, it’s some Immortal’s Cave Mansion, and it could bring our family some treasures."

Li Xuanxuan was after all only eight or nine years old. Keeping up with the two young men was proving a bit difficult, so frowning, he pinched a Godspeed Technique, a white light shone in his palm and he slapped it on his legs, allowing himself to easily keep up with their pace, before continuing,

"But we must be careful of any traps! The teacher once said that there’s no such thing as a free lunch."

The three walked for a while, climbing the mountain for about an hour, until they saw Li Xiangping sitting on a large piece of bluestone, resting and regulating his breath. Seeing the three arrive, he smiled and said,

"Have a look."

With those words, he got up, took off the ash-colored longbow from his back, put one foot on the bluestone, drew an arrow, nocked it, drew the shining bowstring, and narrowed his eyes aiming at a small slope not far away.

"Whoosh!"

A white light instantly left his hand and was about to hit the hillside when ripples appeared in the air. The arrow seemed to hit something and fell to the ground with a clinking sound.

"What a fast arrow."

Li Qiuyang first praised, then began to contemplate the hillside.

"This bow is a Magic Artifact, I call it the Green Crow Bow."

Li Xiangping smiled, and said earnestly,

"There seems to be an Illusion Array beneath this slope, and perhaps a specialized defensive Spiritual Formation as well."