Chapter 488 1/2 for alliance leader Solo Kill 6 times)

Li Yuanjiao returned from the East Sea after nearly half a year, riding on a pitch-black hook snake and carrying a white silver carp demon fish the size of a house, coming back from the north.

The weather was scorching hot, and the fishy smell was pervasive. Li Yuanjiao tossed the white silver carp demon fish into the lake and told Wushao to keep a close watch on it before he headed up the mountain.

Dressed in white, Li Xijun rode the wind to greet him. Before him, Li Yuanjiao still wore his usual serious and unsmiling expression. He had pursued the fish with the hook snake Wushao across the boundless East Sea for nearly half a year and, at long last, they finally captured the demon and brought it back.

"The East Sea is truly vast, once you dive into it, even Zifu would be hard to find," Li Yuanjiao exclaimed. If it weren't for the hook snake Wushao, who was very familiar with the sea, and their own advantage of calculated planning over unpreparedness, capped with their Great Formation sealing the area, it wouldn't have been possible to capture the demon in just one or two years! If Li Yuanjiao went by himself, he probably would have been worn to death by countless demons in the sea.

"Even I, Taoist Foundation Jing Dragon King, had such a hard time; no wonder so few cultivators venture to the East Sea," he added.

After listening to him, Li Xijun reminded in a low voice,

"Now that Uncle has captured the demon, you should ask whether the matter regarding the Water Virtue is the same as what Senior Wushao mentioned, just to be safe."

Li Yuanjiao clearly understood what he meant and replied,

"I've already inquired, and it's not much different from what Wushao said. These messages are indeed widely known in the sea."

He continued,

"On this trip, I encountered a member of the Wanyu Sword Sect, named Cheng Gao, a dashing sword cultivator who helped me quite a bit on the way. He pointed out several harmful demon caves to me. Remember to show extra courtesy to members of the Sword Sect when you meet them in the future."

"Understood," Li Xijun responded promptly. Seeing him comply, Li Yuanjiao asked,

"How many people know that our family sought the secret technique for capturing spirit natures from the Yuan Family?"

Li Xijun replied,

"Everyone who passes by on the path has to ask Senior Wushao about it. It should become common knowledge soon."

"That's good!" Li Yuanjiao nodded and then Li Xijun reminded him,

"Senior Fei Luoya came looking for you twice, saying that we should eliminate the Fudai Wood as soon as possible, claiming that he will come to visit again in a month or so."

Li Yuanjiao waved his hand slightly to indicate that he was aware, thinking to himself,

'In these few months, I must resolve this matter and get it off my mind, to avoid nurturing a threat.'

Li Xijun then chuckled and said,

"Everything inside and outside the family, on and off the peaks, all the arrangements for the two rituals are in place, just awaiting the sacrifice."

"Very good," Li Yuanjiao nodded with a light chuckle,

"It's really good that you younger generations at home can hold up the fort."

"It is all thanks to the hard work of my eldest brother; I dare not take the credit,"

Li Xijun replied, then he took out a letter from his sleeve:

"The letter from Green Pond Sect must be regarding elder brother Xizhi's maneuvering in the sect for the Fu Dai Wood matter."

...

"Here we have the Li Clan from Lijing, devout with pure libations and abundant banquets, solemn sacrifices cold as ice, incense burning ceaselessly year after year... During the Three Epochs and on the six festival days, there's never a lack of reverence, on days of sacrifice, the offerings never end... With smoke incense for worship, with the blood for sacrifice pay..."

Both blood and incense surged into the mirror, transforming into flows of Talisman Qi. It was the first time the Li Family could offer so many sacrifices; Lu Jiangxian twisted the Talisman Qi, gathering it in his hands, intending to infuse a few cultivation techniques into it.

Previously, Talisman Qi was not coupled with cultivation techniques, but now Lu Jiangxian had a mountain of techniques at his disposal, enough for gifting over five hundred years, and he feared it would only increase in the future.

Those receiving the Talisman Qi would naturally be Li Ximing and Li Xijun, but with so many cultivation techniques and secret arts in hand, Lu Jiangxian found himself in a quandary, unsure of what to put into it.

'The various spells are not really lacking in the Li Family now... Although I have many Foundation Establishment Techniques, it feels wasteful to bestow them.'

With Li Yuanjiao's breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, along with that hook snake and Li Qinghong, all three—Li Ximing, Li Xizhi, and Li Xijun—had a chance for Foundation Establishment. Given twenty to thirty years, the structure of a great noble family could truly be upheld.

'The next step, the Zifu, is likely to be very difficult.'

He originally thought about perfecting the "Golden Hall Bright Yuan Art," to cultivate a Zifu with it—as there is no Taoist Lineage in the South River area to fret over being usurped.

Yet, with the situation unstable, Lu Jiangxian may now be aware of many Zifu Level secrets, yet he could only vaguely make out the strokes and was uncertain about the nature of South River's Zifu which probably requires multiple approaches.

'If an additional Zifu Clan appears, families like Chen Xiao who are Zifu Immortal Clans would likely welcome it... They would love to have more Zifu to share their burden; as for the Three Sects and Seven Doors, they are each playing their own games, impossible to fully discern...'

His gaze traveled over the map of Yue Country before him, pausing on the Northern Xiuyue Sect.

"At least, both the Two Sects and the Seven Doors are reluctant to see Shangyuan achieve a Golden Core. Despite Xiuyue always being low-profile, Shangyuan has the nature of righteousness. Which of the Two Sects and Seven Doors doesn't have some dirty interests and dealings? An additional Golden Core who detests evil would not be a welcome development for them."

"And Buddhism is even less willing..."

Lu Jiangxian looked around and couldn't help but sigh:

"Shangyuan truly faces enemies on all sides; no wonder there's been no movement. They're probably still engaged in strategies, covertly exchanging interests... "

Among the many cultivation techniques, the Yuan Family's was of no use even if gifted, as it remains an ally to the Li Family. The best of the rest was the "Pheasant Fire Long March Technique," a Fourth Grade cultivation technique missing that essential "Long-Range Pheasant Fire."

"Long-Range Pheasant Fire" is also a type of nature's spiritual energy. The original technique required finding a kind of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Fire called "Long-Range Prime Fire" to each Yang Qi, necessary for obtaining this Pheasant Fire. This fire is rare in South River, hence it was impossible to gather its energy.

"This shouldn't be too difficult."

In Li Yuanjiao's possession was a strand of "Xuanyang Separation Fire" which could be converted into "Long-Range Prime Fire" with the "Runyang Method." Although costly, the Li Family was different from before, and with some scraping together, it wouldn't be an issue.

"Just not sure if this technique has any accompanying practices."

Lu Jiangxian reviewed numerous records from ancestors of Loose Cultivators, accumulating small parts into a whole, with many diverse Taoist Foundations paths among the Three Sects—Green Pond mostly from Water Virtue, Jin Yu largely from metal and smoky quartz, Xiuyue from Jade True and cloud incense types.

In the Seven Doors, there are few who follow the Fire Virtue path, only to the south exists a "Hengzhu Taoism" adept at using both fire and blessing techniques, their strength noteworthy among the seven.

"While Hengzhu Taoism has a good reputation, it is indeed possible for Green Pond Sect to send a Cultivator under its domain to Hengzhu Taoism to achieve Foundation Establishment..."

He had a headache at the moment; he first earmarked the "Pheasant Fire Long March Technique," letting the Li Family explore on their own, then sifted through the pile of techniques to find a secret art:

"Cold Snow Collection"

This secret technique was discovered by Lu Jiangxian in a Demon Cave while Li Yuanjiao was submerged in the Great River. It documented three methods to gather cold Qi and one method to search for spiritual water. Although one method was repetitive with what the Li Family possessed, it provided an opportunity to cultivate "Tujun Kuiguang" to a beginner's level.

Having carefully chosen the Talisman Qi, he once again submerged into the compilation of the "Golden Hall Bright Yuan Art" Zifu Chapter.