[Year 650]
[Special Event: The Zhao Clan's Unusual Movements]
[Your family has received intelligence: The Immortal Zhao Clan, with the backing of the current Crown Prince, has begun opening Zhao Clan shops throughout the world.
The Zhao clansmen are imitating the Li family's path of development, serving Crown Prince Sheng.
They gradually stopped holding the Azure Cloud Li Clan in any regard, and friction has begun to arise between the two sides.
In the Perennis Li Branch Family, Li Qiukong of the 'Qiu' generation clashed with members of the Zhao Clan in the trial grounds of the Ethereal Immortal Sect.]
[Li Qiukong unleashed all of his myriad techniques and perished together with numerous disciples of the Zhao Clan within the secret realm.]
[Your descendants are refining the 'Void-Soul Exchanging Dao Mystic Spirit Method'.]
On this day, the members of the Perennis Li Clan gathered within Perennis Immortal City.
Li Zhiheng, who had cultivated the Dao for many years without concerning himself with worldly affairs, was now nearly a hundred years old, as was his wife, Sun Sixiu.
The couple, both dressed in Daoist robes, sat cross-legged within an Eight Trigrams formation, their eyes filled with sorrow.
Li Zhiheng's lineage in Perennis Immortal City mostly formed marriage alliances with the aristocratic Immortal Clans of the Duravia Trade Prefecture.
Li Yuanshang went to the Imperial Capital to start his family and career, and Li Yuanling married into the Feng family.
In their line, only Li Yuanwu remained to serve his parents in between his martial arts practice, continuing the family bloodline.
Li Yuanwu proved his worth, marrying a woman from a Nascent Soul family, and together they had a total of sixteen descendants.
Perhaps because Li Zhiheng devoted himself entirely to cultivation, both Li Yuanwu and his descendants followed the principle that strength reigns supreme, excelling particularly in personal martial valor.
When the annual family stipends were distributed, they only asked for techniques and cultivation methods.
The major aristocratic families of the Duravia Trade Prefecture even came to call them the "Immortal-Martial Li Branch Family."
The "Immortal" referred to Li Zhiheng, whose heart was set solely on the Dao, while the "Martial" referred to Li Yuanwu.
"Father, Qiukong practiced the Buddhist Dharma; he was a disciple of the Great Ming King Temple.
He never provoked trouble and certainly never took a life. The Zhao family claims Qiukong actively provoked their descendants, but I don't believe it!"
Li Yuanwu, with his rugged appearance and sharp features, looked every bit the martial artist. He clenched his fists tightly.
"Kong'er was only fifty this year, at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, with a boundless future.
Even if he were domineering or naive about the world, he couldn't be stupid enough to actively provoke someone from the Zhao family at the Golden Core stage."
Inside the Daoist field.
Li Zhiheng's descendants knelt and bowed before him, every one of them weeping.
Li Zhiheng looked past the children and saw a white cloth stained with blood.
The sight caused red veins to gradually appear in his eyes, and he remained silent for a long time. That was his great-grandson, Li Qiukong.
A short while later, the sound of Buddhist chanting drifted in from outside the Daoist field, and monks from the Great Ming King Temple were seen approaching.
"Amitabha."
The old monk lifted the blood-stained shroud, took a single glance, and silently pulled it back over.
At this moment, the clansmen of the Immortal-Martial Li family all rose to their feet. The eyes of the Li family members were filled with monstrous hatred, drawing a long, drawn-out sigh from Master Yuming.
"The Immortal Zhao Clan bullies my Buddhist sect too far; they bully my Great Ming King Temple too far. This poor monk... finds it difficult to purify his six senses (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind)."
"Master Yuming." Li Zhiheng clenched his teeth.
He had cultivated for many years, and his Dao Heart had never been shaken. But now that his great-grandson had lost his life at the hands of another, he was at a loss, his thoughts in utter chaos.
He had never felt so burdened by worry.
The family had avoided conflict with the Immortal Zhao Clan all these years. Would his great-grandson's death enrage the clan elders, thereby bringing disaster upon the family?
The Immortal Zhao Clan was mysterious and powerful; should he conceal this matter, or go and inform his father?
What about the child's funeral? How should he comfort the other children?
The only thing he knew was that a fire of rage seemed to burn within his heart, urging him to charge out of this Daoist field and bring an end to his decades of cultivation.
To slaughter his way to the Immortal Zhao Clan.
To slaughter them until not a single shard of armor remained.
His thoughts were in chaos. For a moment, words rose to Li Zhiheng's throat, yet he found himself unsure of what to say to Master Yuming.
It was not until both his Divine Soul and body began to tremble that he found himself unknowingly standing before Master Yuming, gripping the Master's shoulders.
"Master, this child of mine... he hasn't even met his ancestors yet. He told me he wanted to go see the ancestors from the stories."
"Master, you are well-versed in the Buddhist Dharma. When he reaches the Underworld and sees the King of Hell, will he be able to see the departed ancestors of my Li clan?"
"No, wait... Master, Qiukong, should have gone to the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha. The Buddha... can He let him come back?"
Master Yuming remained silent.
After a long while, with his heart still in turmoil, Master Yuming stepped onto an auspicious cloud and departed Perennis Immortal City.
He still remembered the beating he received from Li Dalong many years ago when Tian Xing was still present; he had lost all face that day.
Later, when their interests aligned, he leveraged the Li family's influence to lure Prince Qian into a trap. Eventually, the grudge between the Great Ming King Temple and the Li family was resolved.
In the current grand scheme of things, the Great Ming King Temple continued to propagate the Buddhist Dharma under the Li family's protection.
Yet, what truly allowed him to gradually understand the Li family was when Li Qiukong of this Immortal-Martial Li branch became a disciple.
The members of the Immortal-Martial Li family excelled in martial arts.
Li Qiukong was born with ordinary aptitude, yet he never slacked off.
When the Li family asked Master Yuming to take Qiukong as a disciple, he had been wholly unwilling. But over time, he came to appreciate the boy, and eventually, began to discuss the Dharma with Li Qiukong.
From an ill-fated connection to a benevolent one, the affairs of the world are always full of surprises—so surprising that now, hatred and rage filled every one of Master Yuming's six senses.
"What does your master know of the Buddha? If I truly possessed a Buddha's heart, I would not have accepted you as a disciple."
Master Yuming closed his eyes, his breath long and drawn out. Li Zhiheng's question echoed ceaselessly in his mind.
"Regarding the Underworld and the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha, this poor monk knows nothing. This poor monk only knows..."
Master Yuming suddenly opened his eyes.
The Abbot's staff materialized in his hand. As he ascended to the skies above the Great Ming King Temple, the metal rings on the staff clashed and rang out.
The bells of the Great Ming King Temple tolled—melodious, yet carrying a manic fury like surging, turbulent waves!
The tens of thousands of monks within the temple were thrown into chaotic panic.
The last time the bells had rung like this was back when Azure Cloud Prefecture was still known as Eternal Sun Prefecture, acting under the Human Emperor's decree and the Prefecture Lord's order to bring order out of chaos.
The Abbot's voice echoed through the air.
"Transmit the Abbot's decree: The monks of Azure Cloud Prefecture are to march to the border of Duravia and chant the Buddhist sutras!"
"Transmit to the monks and disciples within the Duravia Trade Prefecture: Chant the Buddhist sutras in the Immortal Domain!"
"This poor monk wants the world to know the wrath of the Buddha!"