After decades of cultivation in the Demon Tribe's forbidden ground, Li Yaozu emerged from the forbidden ground, panting heavily, looking like a survivor of a catastrophe.
He now felt the entire world was so clear before his eyes; he could even feel that drawing his sword could pierce the heavens with a single strike.
In the Demon Tribe's forbidden ground, he faced pressure at every moment, his mind and soul constantly taut.
"Sister Fang?"
After catching his breath, Li Yaozu looked around but couldn't see Sister Fang anywhere, not even knowing how many years he had spent in the forbidden ground.
Until...
"I'm down here." A sound came from beneath his feet. Looking down, beneath the ice layer was an ice sculpture of Sister Fang.
Li Yaozu frowned, instantly realizing that decades had passed.
With a loud boom, Fang Linglong broke out of the ice.
"Sister Fang, I feel like I've glimpsed a kind of Dao, but I don't know what Dao it is. Everything in creation has a flaw; your flaw is..."
Before he could say more, he just felt he missed Sister Fang dearly, missed the children at home, and wondered how Yunlin and Yunbing were doing now, and whether his father was doing well in the Underworld.
Before these thoughts could fully surface, Li Yaozu's expression changed.
Fang Linglong struck out with a palm, and in the blink of an eye, he was back in his original spot.
Li Yaozu swallowed hard. Footsteps sounded behind him; it was the Demon Tribe members who had chased him for decades.
And before his eyes... the massive doors were gradually closing amidst a grating sound, and through the gap, he caught a glimpse of Fang Linglong's darkened, beautiful face. Truly beautiful.
But Fang Linglong didn't have a shred of a good expression, her teeth grinding. "Who told you to escape? I told you to kill them! Killing them all is the ultimate goal!"
"Bang!"
The doors shut, leaving Li Yaozu looking as if he had been petrified.
Fang Linglong sat back in her original spot, lowering her head in silence. Inside were all her tribesmen.
Her father had once said that this was the final legacy the Demon Tribe left for her. By killing all the deceased tribesmen inside, she would obtain their Spiritual power.
She had gone in before, but facing her former tribesmen, she absolutely could not bring herself to do it, cultivating step by step to reach her current state instead.
She originally thought everything would be sealed away in the dust.
With the emergence of immortals, she had passed her family's legacy to Li Yaozu, while simultaneously wanting Li Yaozu to fulfill the task her father had entrusted: returning a sense of peace to her deceased tribesmen.
"Once everything is complete, I have nothing left to hold onto..."
Before her murmurs finished, a shadow appeared before her eyes.
Fang Linglong froze, looking up to see a battered and exhausted Li Yaozu emerge. She blinked. "You... how did you get out again?"
Li Yaozu said gravely, "I've already memorized the complete escape route. Naturally, getting out is easy."
"Sister Fang, I have a very important question to ask you."
Fang Linglong jolted, terrified that Li Yaozu had heard her talking to herself. "Speak."
Li Yaozu asked in a deep voice, "If I kill them all, will there be some other place?"
"No."
Having gotten his answer, Li Yaozu still didn't lower his guard. "Promise me."
As soon as he finished speaking, before his eyes were the familiar black mist and Sister Fang's forehead full of black lines. Sure enough, he was back in his original spot again.
Outside the secret ground, Fang Linglong was fuming with anger, but then burst into laughter, blossoming like a peach blossom.
...
"What on earth did I come here for?"
In the world of ice and snow, Li Wei left, resting his hand against his forehead. He needed some time to calm down.
[Year 1052]
[Your descendant Li Zhijing has broken through to the Void Refinement realm via the 'Void-Soul Exchanging Dao Technique'.]
Within the snowy mountains of Azure Cloud Prefecture, in a space of ice and snow, Li Zhijing, who had been in secluded cultivation for many years, joyfully studied her Void Refinement space.
Li Wei grinned.
Very few children in the family had truly broken through to Void Refinement on their own; they all relied on array formations to first enjoy the fruits of the Void Refinement realm before fully comprehending its state.
[Your descendant's Black Dragon bloodline has grown increasingly powerful; the Black Dragon physique is like a body cultivator.]
[During the years of secluded cultivation, the family also used various means to acquire powerful Demon Emperors from the Demon Tribe in the Northern Frontier.
Cultivating the beast-taming method "Heavenly Demon Talisman Seed", she has contracted a Void Refinement Demon Venerable and twelve Divinity Transformation Demon Emperors.
Through the Heavenly Demon Talisman Seed, she possesses a portion of the contracted demonic beasts' Spiritual power.]
[The Ancient Ice Demon Nest, after over a century of nourishment, possesses a massive number of Ice Demons.
It contains numerous cultivator corpses, which over time transform into Nascent Soul Ice Demons, continuously growing stronger.]
Having successfully broken through, Li Zhijing searched the whole world for her father, eventually finding Li Xinjue.
"Your father is doing very well in the Central Plains; elders are looking after him, so rest assured."
Li Xinjue had been training the family's disciples these past years and usually wore a cold expression. Seeing his niece emerge, he revealed a rare smile.
Li Zhijing felt a bit more at ease. The last time she saw her father in danger within the Ancestral Space, her heart had leaped into her throat.
Later, seeing her father safely playing drinking games with the Red Dust Immortal and that powerful elder she had never seen before, she peacefully focused on her cultivation.
However, her father's mountain was full of heroic spirits, which always left her somewhat unsettled.
Just as she was about to ask more, her gaze suddenly fell on Li Xinjue's outstretched hand.
His fingers were delicately curled together, with his index finger and thumb forming an oddly graceful, feminine gesture.
"Uncle Jue???"
Li Zhijing stared blankly at Li Xinjue's... slender, delicate hand. "During the years I've been in seclusion, what... what happened to you?"
Hearing this.
Li Xinjue also glanced at his hand, realizing that his fingers had somehow curled into that oddly graceful, feminine gesture. His expression changed, and he quickly pulled his hand back.
Taking a deep breath, he said faintly to Li Zhijing, "It's nothing. Since you've ended your seclusion, go pay your respects to the elders."
"..."
Li Zhijing stood there in a daze, watching Uncle Jue walk away with an inexplicably graceful, swaying gait that was completely unlike him.
She faintly heard Uncle Jue let out a low growl, seemingly rebuking someone angrily,
"Behave yourself! Otherwise, I'll torture you so thoroughly you'll never see the light of day again!"
Following this sharp rebuke, Uncle Jue's walking posture finally returned to normal.
Li Zhijing stood blankly in place, scratching her head.
"How terrifying."
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