On the border of Azure Cloud Prefecture, monks gathered, sitting cross-legged on the ground to chant sutras and recite the Buddha's name; the Sanskrit sounds ceaseless.
This strange spectacle left the common folk in the border cities of Azure Cloud Prefecture bewildered, wondering just what scripture these monks were chanting.
Nangong Qingya was on her way to Perennis Immortal City.
Seeing Master Yuming sitting cross-legged and chanting sutras up ahead, she knit her brows and landed before him.
"Master, you aren't fasting and worshipping the Buddha in your Great Ming King Temple; what is this for today?"
"Amitabha." The old monk opened his eyes.
"My disciple died a tragic death. This poor monk's frail body cannot seek trouble with the Zhao Clan directly, so I can only use the True Sound of Buddhism to inform the Buddha and invoke the Buddha's wrath."
"Hmph!"
Nangong Qingya laughed in exasperation. "Suit yourself, Master."
With that, she continued on her way to Perennis Immortal City.
The moment she arrived at the Li Residence in Perennis Immortal City, a cold wind blew through the city.
White silk banners hung from the residence.
"I wonder how Heng'er is doing right now." Nangong Qingya sighed.
What parent in this world does not wish for their child to be free of worry? Even though Heng'er was a hundred years old, married, and with a house full of children and grandchildren, in her eyes, he was still a young boy. And so it had been for nearly a century.
Heng'er had cultivated the Dao since childhood, his heart as pure as crystal, and his descendants had been safe and sound.
But now, this calamity had struck. Given the bonds of blood, no grief could be greater than that felt by Li Zhiheng's lineage.
Lost in thought, she arrived at Li Zhiheng's Daoist field. Nangong Qingya paused outside for a long time, choking back tears as she gazed at the scene within.
The sixteen clansmen of the Immortal-Martial lineage were gathered in the Daoist field, dressed in mourning robes.
Before them stood a lotus platform, where a green lotus wrapped the corpse of the child Qiukong.
Beside every single one of them, the clan's spirit tablets floated in the air, shimmering with golden light.
Beside the lotus platform stood a purification vase, from which the immortal qi of spiritual liquid curled upward.
If she was not mistaken, this was the Heaven and Earth Spirit Spring obtained from Spirit Mountain.
"Qingya." A deep, resonant voice sounded in her ear.
Nangong Qingya raised her head, her vision blurred with tears.
High in the clouds, Li Yunlin and Fairy Hongxiu, who cultivated year-round in the Perennis Immortal Palace, had emerged from seclusion.
They cast a single glance at the clansmen of the Immortal-Martial lineage within the Daoist field, then made a hushing gesture toward Nangong Qingya.
Nangong Qingya nodded slightly and floated up into the air without a sound.
Li Yunlin's gaze was complex as he sighed.
"Each generation has its own path to walk, and each generation has its own duties to fulfill.
Zhiheng is no longer a child, and his descendants are not ignorant children either.
You and Xinnian ought to let the wounded lion lick its own wounds."
Nangong Qingya lowered her head, gazing at Li Zhiheng standing before the children.
It seemed to be the first time she had noticed her son standing so straight; he was no longer the dull-witted fool he used to be in front of Xinnian.
"Correct."
Fairy Hongxiu said, "For us elders, our greatest responsibility is to protect."
...
The lotus platform floated into the air.
Li Zhiheng held the Purification Vase brought back by Li Qiukong.
The vase was icy cold, yet he felt a scorching heat radiating from within it.
His thoughts were no longer as chaotic as they had been two days ago when he first saw his child's corpse.
He even found it somewhat laughable that when his child died, he was reduced to a state of helpless panic, completely unsure of what to do.
Turning back to look at the children, he held the Purification Vase in his hand.
"This Heaven and Earth Spirit Spring came from Qiukong's storage ring. In his final moments, Qiukong stored the spiritual power of this spring. The ring was hidden in his hair."
"Yuanwu."
Hearing his father call his name, Li Yuanwu, who had spent years battling beasts in the Broadlake Region Mountain, had veins bulging on his rugged forehead.
His eyes were bloodshot as he tightly gripped the Purification Vase his father handed him, then looked toward the fair-faced young man beside him.
This man was Li Qiukong's father, Li Jianshu.
"Jianshu, the Old Ancestor, said that Qiukong left him a final message on the brink of death. In the end, Qiukong did not disappoint us, nor did he lose any face for our Li family."
"Father"
Li Jianshu's face was streaming with tears—grieving the tragedy of a white-haired parent burying a black-haired child, and weeping for his own powerlessness.
Li Yuanwu's rough palm grabbed Li Jianshu's face, his fingers digging hard into the back of his son's head.
His palm was wet with his eldest son's tears, and his expression was savage.
"Don't you fucking act like a woman in front of me! Qiukong didn't lose any face for our Li family, so you, as his father, had better damn well make us proud too!"
"You are at the peak of Foundation Establishment with a Double Spirit Root aptitude—you have a promising future.
Make good use of the Heaven and Earth Spirit Spring Qiukong left behind, and come with me to take revenge!"
Li Jianshu wiped the tears from his eyes and took the Purification Vase. The vase felt warm to the touch, yet it seemed to weigh heavily.
"Yes, Father!"
As Li Jianshu straightened his back and let out a furious roar, the sixteen members of the Immortal-Martial lineage stared savagely as the lotus platform closed over Li Qiukong's corpse.
Li Zhiheng trembled all over.
His great-grandson was dead, yet those three from the Zhao Clan's Xianhe lineage remained free and carefree.
That shameless Zhao Jingmiao had sent compensation—a single supreme-grade spirit artifact.
In the eyes of the Zhao clansmen, his great-grandson was worth nothing more than a supreme-grade spirit artifact!
[Immortal-Martial Lineage: Due to the great hatred born from the death of a clansman, they pursue the Martial Dao even more fervently.
Deeply understanding that without strength, they cannot kill their enemies with their own hands to avenge their kin.
Acquired Lineage Trait: Immortal-Martial Dao Heart.]
[Cultivation speed for techniques and Cultivation methods increased by 20%.]
[Your descendant, Li Jianshu, has inherited his son Li Qiukong's "Heaven and Earth Spirit Spring."
Due to the grief of a white-haired parent burying a black-haired child and the encouragement of his father, he has acquired the trait: Raging Ambition.]
[Cultivation speed increased by 10%.]
Inside the Ancestor Space.
Li Wei was gazing at everything happening with the Immortal-Martial lineage.
The clansmen descended into the Ancestor Space like specks of starlight.
Li Wei was expressionless, his voice hoarse like wrath emanating from the netherworld.
"The Immortal Zhao Clan wants war? Then give them what they want."
"Crush them!"
---
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