The Mirror Legacy - Chapter 1406: Tianhuo (I)

Chapter 1406: Tianhuo (I)

Li Ximing did not believe in talk of achieving True Monarch or forging a Golden Core. If anyone had hope of such accomplishments, it would be Li Zhouwei or Li Quewan. As for himself, he would already be burning incense in gratitude if he could reach the Purple Mansion Threshold.

He simply bowed and said, “I dare not hope to reach the Golden Core Realm. I only wish that this junior may amount to something and not disgrace the inheritance.”

When Zhen’gao heard this, he was slightly taken aback, a trace of emotion flickering in his eyes. He turned away and did not speak for a moment. After a brief silence, a palace maid came hurrying from afar, holding a jade box in her arms.

He sighed and said, “There are still many fine things within the Upper Firmament Pavilion. He also entrusted a few items to the heavens. Take them back with you for use. Consider it as accepting this destined connection.”

After the items were presented, Li Ximing bowed again and again in gratitude. Yet he did not rise, instead continuing to bow as he asked, “I have merely received the blessings left by those before me. May I ask, is this Immortal Official none other than Daoist Master Donghua[1]?”

The Li Family had obtained the Immortal Mirror long ago and had harbored this suspicion. Now that he finally voiced it, his heart trembled. Out of the corner of his eye, he observed that, when the matter was mentioned, Dangjiang, who was kneeling beside him, was already in tears and sobbing uncontrollably. A chill ran through him.

It must be so… This Immortal Official Dangjiang labored day and night for Daoist Master Donghua. Daoist Master Donghua even inscribed his pavilion name upon the incense burner. Now that his name is spoken, Dangjiang cannot contain himself and weeps openly. Their bond in the heavens must be deep. That must be why this immortal general of evident high rank personally came to receive us.

Dangjiang wept so pitifully that even Zhen’gao let out a sigh, thinking to himself, How could I say it is not him… I cannot point to anyone else who would have given it to you. Should I claim it was your ancestor Mutian instead…

Thus Zhen’gao assumed a solemn expression and let out a deep sigh. “Treasure it well!”

With a gentle wave of his sleeve, Li Ximing turned into a streak of light and vanished. Only then did he turn back with some vexation. A kneeling Dangjiang had cried himself into a tearful mess as he stretched out his hands and called out, “It has been so long since I have seen you, my lord. I have missed you dearly. I have kept your teachings firmly in mind. These hands of mine have not ceased writing cultivation techniques day after day.”

He spoke thus aloud, yet inwardly he kept muttering, Daoist Master Donghua Li Jiangqun… Daoist Master Donghua Li Jiangqun… It truly is you… Still no news, and I must continue to toil like a beast of burden. What hardship for me!

Zhen’gao heard his inner voice buzzing incessantly and felt somewhat helpless. Yet his expression remained imposing as he offered reassurance, saying, “I know you have worked hard. You have always handled the affairs of Immortal Official Li. Now that someone from the lower realm has arrived, it is a good sign. It shows that the restrictions of the Immortal Mansion are gradually opening…

“The position of Immortal Official Li has long stood vacant. Zhaojing will not be able to ascend for many days, and he may not have the chance in the future. He holds certain posts in the lower realm for eliminating demons and regulating heterodox paths. That could be of great benefit to you!”

Dangjiang lifted his head, joy surging in his heart, though tears still streaked his face as he said, “This humble one harbors no greed and offers no complaint. I am only grateful that you remember me at all times. I dare not forget it. I will certainly remain diligent and fulfill my duties…”

To be fair, he truly was diligent in his work. Though he could not compose Purple Mansion Realm volumes like Lu Jiangxian, he had not neglected the Foundation Establishment Realm or the Qi Cultivation Realm volumes at all. His scope was far broader than Shaohui, who specialized solely in Lesser Yin.

Thus Zhen’gao comforted, “This place is cold and harsh as well. If you need anything… you may speak to Shaohui.”

No sooner had Lu Jiangxian finished speaking than he heard Dangjiang’s inner voice burst forth in irrepressible joy, In the heavens… are there immortal cows… I crave milk so badly…

That single thought left Zhen’gao speechless. He immediately dissolved into wind and vanished, feeling utterly helpless, I should have known this was his nature… He has even brought Jinlian’s bad habits up to the heavens. And he is still thinking about boiling that milk to drink.

————

Upper Firmament Pavilion.

At the higher level, four lamp pillars shone with Bright Light as the Daoist Master in a white golden Daoist robe slowly opened his eyes.

Li Ximing felt heaven and earth spin. In the blink of an eye, he had appeared within the Upper Firmament Pavilion. All the heavenly scenery vanished like a dream as his soul returned to his Shengyang Mansion, leaving only the sun and moon radiance of the Upper Firmament Pavilion before his eyes.

The three sticks of incense on the burner had just finished burning. Several strands of ash drooped within the censer, and a jade box sat squarely before him.

It feels like waking from a dream… It truly was Daoist Master Donghua, Li Jiangqun.

But even if he was a sword immortal, even if he alone could suppress any Purple Mansion Realm cultivator in Jiangnan and befriend every young cultivator of the Supreme Yang Dao lineage, he was still besieged and slain at Moongaze Lake. My family is still nowhere close to his level. We must be even more cautious.

He rose and examined the jade box in his hands. It bore no patterns and as pure white as snow, as though it might melt away at any moment. When he gently opened it, a surge of cold air rushed out, and the pavilion abruptly turned frigid. He steadied his mind and looked inside, seeing a scroll and a bead no larger than a fingernail inside the jade box.

On the scroll was an image of a white sparrow, wings spread as if about to soar, vivid and lifelike. Beside it were six large words, Majestic Gui Yin-Seizing Divine Scroll.

Li Ximing studied it closely. Dense lines of cultivation techniques and arts filled the page beneath the illustration. When he sent his spiritual sense into it, he found that the Majestic Gui Yin-Seizing Divine Scroll was a Lesser Yin aligned Purple Mansion Realm cultivation technique. It condensed the divine ability Sunken Fragrance and included spell arts, footwork techniques, and escape spells in full.

Although the Majestic Gui Yin-Seizing Divine Scroll had been written by Shaohui, Shaohui had once been an outer-sea demon king, and certain habits in her arts could not help but stand out. Once Lu Jiangxian received it, he revised it at once. Now it brimmed with an ancient charm, carrying the flavor of the Purple Mansion and Golden Core Dao when it had only just begun to take shape.

Li Ximing nodded in delight. He put the painted scroll back into the box, then looked at the command token in his hand. As expected, it shone with a bright silvery gleam, and he silently made up his mind, From now on, this place will be my family’s treasured land. Talisman pills, family history, dharma artifacts, and extraordinary cultivation techniques, I will store them all inside.

He put the scroll back, then took out the fingernail-sized bead. With a slight probing, a scene gradually surfaced within his spiritual sense. He saw familiar vermilion-green seawater in rolling waves. The strait was narrow, with undulating mountain ranges. Li Ximing looked closely and found it oddly familiar.

It seems to be somewhere in the Qunyi Strait… near Qunyi’s Lulai Island[2]…

As his spiritual sense sank deeper, a deep blue radiance emerged, vaguely revealing a cave dwelling hidden within the earth veins. The residence gate was tightly shut, with not the slightest trace of life.

A Purple Mansion Realm grand formation… it seems to be someone’s cave dwelling.

Li Ximing memorized it in silence, stored the item back into the jade box, and only then headed to the secondary floor.

There are still Purple Mansion Realm cultivation techniques and spell arts here!

He took the wooden slip again, set it into the stone dais, and began to examine it. He did not browse at random. Instead, he searched carefully and soon found the Purple Mansion Realm cultivation techniques of Radiance Under Heaven[3] among a sea of Purple Mansion techniques. The lowest of them was the Scripture of Thorough Attainment and Everlasting Celebration, its name dim and ashen.

According to the description of this command token, as long as the family’s descendants perform sacrifices, new cultivation techniques will certainly be bestowed. If one wishes to request a specific method, one must first pray beside the incense burner in the Upper Firmament Pavilion, send up a talisman register to the heavens, and wait for a response. Yet the heavens are sealed off. Who knows how long it will take for a reply, or who will answer…

Besides, this is far too costly. Purple Smoke Gate already possesses the Dao lineage of Radiance Under Heaven. It would be more reasonable to obtain it directly, without all this trouble. It’s better to eliminate demons and subdue fiends, accumulate immortal merits, and exchange them for something else.

After his encounter in the heavens, Li Ximing understood that most of the illuminated arts here had been exchanged by that Immortal Official Li. Among the fifth-grade arts, aside from the Pit Water technique Water-Regulating and Mound-Transforming, which he was not adept at, the remaining three were the Profound Vast Art of Pure Essence, the True Unity Sundering Barbaric Radiance of True Essence, and the Nine Dams of Azure Ram Mountain of Azure Manifestation.

Among these three, Azure Manifestation favored Earth Virtue and had always held an ambiguous place among the various methods. Pure Essence and True Essence were the least restrictive and could be used by most cultivators.

Li Ximing then examined the Profound Vast Art of Pure Essence. It was a spell art that ordinarily elevated Pure Essence with the dharma body and stored it within the great void to nurture transformations. It required the dharma body to be without leakage or injury. Without leakage meant at least at the Purple Mansion Realm. Without injury meant no wounds at all.

Thus, when cultivating the Profound Vast Art, if the dharma body suffered damage, the Pure Essence stored in the great void would sense the deficiency and pour forth. The art made use of this principle to repair the dharma body and respond to enemies in emergencies.

Yet the more important purpose of this art went beyond that. Most of its contents seemed to lay the foundation for storing Pure Essence. Once the art reached great accomplishment, if the body were suddenly destroyed and Pure Essence remained in surplus, the Shenyang Mansion would fall into that Pure Essence and flee within the great void.

The arts of Pure Essence are truly profound and wondrous…

One might not act as recklessly as a Merciful One or Maha at the Purple Mansion Realm, yet the destruction of the dharma body was not the end. Only when the Shenyang Mansion shattered did true death occur.

However, a Purple Mansion Realm cultivator had no Pure Land to rely on for refuge. Even if one fled thousands of miles in an instant, others could easily seize one’s Shenyang Mansion once the dharma body shattered. Unless one possessed some extraordinary spirit artifact or spell art, very few could escape using the Shenyang Mansion alone.

Still, the Profound Vast Art looked difficult at a glance. Li Ximing shifted his attention to True Unity Sundering Barbaric Radiance. This True Essence spell art was rare in that it nurtured the Dao within a weapon. Naturally, it was not easy to cultivate. For now, Li Ximing committed them all to memory.

Recently, he had been cultivating the Flame-Stepping Movement. Nearly two years had passed, and he had only just mastered the basics. He would not aim too high. He went down from the upper floor, opened the stone platform on the lowest level, and selected fourth-grade Bright Yang spell arts.

This time, there were far more usable arts, and the difficulty was greatly reduced. Li Ximing was not lacking in offensive methods. After careful inspection, he selected two volumes.

The fourth-grade Bright Yang escape spell Arrayed Palaces Heavenly Yang Escape, and the fourth-grade binding art Bright Light Heavenly Surge…

As a cultivator of the immortal path, his immortal arts were already richer than the arts of Buddhist cultivators or demon cultivators. Now he was free to choose at will. Footwork techniques, spell arts, escape spells all had their strengths. More was better, yet one could not digest too much at once. Li Ximing therefore chose those two first.

First, these two are not overly difficult. Second, they are among the few closely connected to the Heaven-Venerating Gate, so cultivation will proceed faster.

Though this has its drawbacks. When I cultivate the Everbright Platform and other divine abilities later, they may not complement each other and will likely be replaced. But who knows whether I will even reach that stage? Speed alone is enough. Rapidly increasing strength is what matters.

Satisfied, he put them away. Only upon returning to his quarters in the pavilion did he store the jade box in a chest.

When Li Ximing had fought against Nuxiao and the others, he had suffered a minor injury to his shoulder. It was no longer visible, yet it would still require several months to heal. But he had no mind to wait. Taking advantage of the abundant spiritual energy here, he drew out a True Profound Heart-Cleansing Pill from his sleeve. He lifted the flesh of his shoulder with two fingers and inserted the pill beneath it, letting it dissolve and heal him on its own.

He had just finished tending to the wound and had no time to cultivate further when a crisp sound rang out.

Pa-ta!

Li Ximing quickly lowered his head and saw the jade talisman at his waist trembling slightly, fine cracks appearing upon its surface.

“There is news from the lake!”

He hastily closed the jade box, took a jade bottle of pale azure qi from the cabinet, then turned to the window. Without sparing a glance at the wondrous scenery outside, he silently communicated with the command token.

Hua-la…

His figure instantly dissolved into heavenly light and drifted away. The silver-white command token remained suspended in place before quietly settling down by the edge of the table.

1. This is referring to Li Jiangqun. ☜

2. This island appeared once in Chapter 584. ☜

3. This name was first mentioned in Chapter 1079, and it is the ancient name of Bright and Clear Heart. ☜