Chapter 44: Spring Festival

Snow fell for three days, silver-gray snowflakes raging through the air. Every household kept their doors tightly shut as the weather turned thoroughly cold. Li Tongya tidied up the small courtyard of Lijing Village and handed it over to Li Qiuyang for safekeeping before leading Liu Ruoxuan up Lijing Mountain.

Treading through the snow with uneven steps, Liu Ruoxuan, wrapped in a light gray long fur coat, held Li Tongya's hand with a beaming smile and chirped

"Brother Tongya, let's marry when spring comes."

"Alright."

Li Tongya brushed the snow from her shoulder, smiled softly, and slightly tilted his umbrella to shake off the clinging snowflakes, leaning the umbrella closer toward Liu Ruoxuan.

Lijing Mountain was not high. Li Tongya led Liu Ruoxuan through the mist accumulating at the foot of the mountain, stepping along the snow-covered stone path until they reached the front of the courtyard.

As soon as they entered the house, they saw Tian Yun sitting smilingly before the hearth, wrapped in fur. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and upon seeing Li Tongya and the other, she called out

"Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law."

Li Tongya responded with a smile. Facing this sister-in-law who was five or six years older than herself, Liu Ruoxuan was quite poised; she huddled by the hearth, giggling as she began a low-voiced discussion with Tian Yun.

Li Xiangping had gone down early in the morning to施 apply spiritual rain to the rice fields and was currently practicing breathing exercises in the backyard. Li Tongya unfastened his heavy coat, hung it on the wall, and turned to look at Lady Ren, who was silently sewing nearby, asking softly

"Where is Father?"

"The elderly tend to sleep a lot in winter; he is still in his room."

Lady Ren looked up with a smile. Seeing Tian Yun waving at her from beside the stove, she set down her fabric and sat down beside her, smiling as she began to inquire about Liu Ruoxuan.

Li Mutian had personally widened the skylight yesterday and worked until late into the night; he was still sleeping in his room. Li Tongya stared blankly at the snow covering the entire mountain outside the window, thinking silently to himself

"If only Eldest Brother were still here... how wonderful that would be."

————

Winter passed and spring arrived. Last year had been prosperous; the spring rains were fine without drought, and the autumn was dry without flooding. There were no hailstorms or locusts, and everyone paid a flat tax of one-tenth of their harvest, making things much more comfortable than in previous years. Every household had surplus grain, so no one froze to death during the winter.

The second batch of spiritual rice planted by Lijing Village the year before had also matured. After harvesting the spiritual rice, removing the husks, and extracting the bran, they obtained one hundred and seventy catties of spiritual rice and fifty catties of bran. Combined with the previous harvest, they had a total of two hundred and ninety catties of spiritual rice and ninety catties of spiritual rice stalks, which was more than enough to meet the two-hundred-catty tribute requirement.

With the addition of Li Qiuyang and Liu Ruoxuan, Li Tongya and Li Xiangping's workload lightened significantly. By entrusting the various spiritual fields to the two of them, they could focus more energy on their cultivation.

The Baiyuan fruit plants had also bloomed, producing a branch of white and pink flowers. Li Tongya estimated that the Baiyuan fruit would ripen in a few months, ensuring they wouldn't miss the date when the envoys from the Qingchi Sect arrived to collect the tribute.

Just as Li Tongya had finished applying spiritual rain, he saw Wan Tiancang enter the courtyard with a distressed expression, coming to Li Tongya to complain

"That Ji Dengqi came across the border under the cover of darkness last night and attacked many of my Wan family's spiritual fields. Nearly eighty to ninety percent of the spiritual rice at the foot of the mountain was burned, many mortals died, and he even nearly attacked Huaqian Mountain."

"Fortunately, my family was vigilant, staying alert during the ripening period and maintaining the formation. That Ji Dengqi led men to besiege us all night, only retreating dejectedly at dawn."

Li Tongya set down his teacup and spoke with some surprise

"Your family's formation is truly impressive, to be able to withstand a siege by Qi Refinement stage cultivators for an entire night."

Wan Tiancang waved his hand and said with a bitter smile

"It is merely a trick. Two hundred years ago, a formation master emerged from my Wan family. Using a spiritual spring on Huaqian Mountain, he constructed this great formation. As long as the spring does not run dry, the formation can continuously replenish its spiritual energy."

"What a powerful formation!"

Li Tongya could not help but praise it, while thinking to himself

"The formation on our Lijing Mountain is quite inferior by comparison. However, Xiao Yuansi once said that if one encounters a better formation, one can still use those formation flags to set it up! It is just a pity my family has no formation inheritance..."

Wan Tiancang cast a low glance at Li Tongya. Seeing his contemplative expression, he continued

"It is a pity he was too arrogant. He tried to establish his Dao Foundation too hastily and perished on Huaqian Mountain."

"Establish a Dao Foundation?"

Li Tongya could not help but feel a sense of regret, saying deeply

"He was still a senior at the peak of Qi Refinement, after all."

"Sigh..."

Wan Tiancang let out a long sigh and spoke with a hint of longing

"That was the most glorious era of my Wan family. We had as many as five Qi Refinement cultivators in the family. After that ancestor died over ten years ago, the family lost three painstakingly managed mountain peaks in succession. Four Qi Refinement cultivators and ten Fetal Breath cultivators died in battle. If it weren't for certain connections within the Sect, our family would have been wiped out long ago."

"Later, the elders passed away one by one. The person in the Sect only managed to preserve the Wan bloodline and no longer interfered in our affairs. Since then, each generation has been weaker than the last, but we have at least survived. It wasn't until over ten years ago, when the Family Head broke through to the Yujing Wheel stage, that we were able to open those storage bags passed down from our ancestors, only to find nothing but a few spiritual stones and talismans, providing no further assistance."

"I see."

Li Tongya sighed deeply and refilled the teacup in front of Wan Tiancang. Seeing him sighing repeatedly, he offered a few low words of comfort.

Wan Tiancang took a sip of tea, slammed the table hard, and said indignantly

"That Ji family is hateful! Back then, while my Wan family was in constant conflict with the Yu family to the north, the Ji family was merely a small clan caught in the middle, without even a single Qi Refinement cultivator. Now, they play both sides and have actually grown to such an extent that they have nearly driven my Wan family into a corner."

Glancing at Li Tongya, Wan Tiancang asked in a low voice

"I wonder, what of the great master in your family?"

Li Tongya knew Wan Tiancang was referring to Li Mutian and immediately became alert. Fortunately, the brothers had already coordinated their stories. He took a sip of tea and said

"My father left home in his early years to serve in the military on the Guli Road, following General Yang to fight the Shanyue."

"Tiancang has heard a little of it. That Yang Tianya has a Foundation Establishment cultivation and led troops east to attack the Shanyue, resulting in many deaths."

Wan Tiancang moved his teacup slightly and asked in confusion

"Yet I heard that when your father returned, he was a mortal..."

Li Tongya gave a bitter smile and explained

"My father received guidance from an immortal cultivator at home and achieved Qi Refinement. Later, he encountered an opportunity during his military campaigns and established an Immortal Foundation. As for why his cultivation was lost, it is not convenient to discuss it publicly."

"Tiancang was too hasty!"

Wan Tiancang cupped his hands, thinking to himself

"He likely achieved an Immortal Foundation at a young age and offended the scions of those great clans due to youthful arrogance. Only those scions, unafraid of retaliation, would enjoy such a drama of turning someone back into a mortal."

He spoke with outward regret

"What a pity, what a pity."

Seeing that Li Tongya would not speak further, Wan Tiancang gritted his teeth and finally spoke

"To be honest with you, Brother Li, I have come this time hoping to exchange my clan's formation inheritance for a talisman of either peak Qi Refinement or Foundation Establishment, to slay that Ji Dengqi!"

Only then did Li Tongya realize the truth, thinking to himself

"So that's why Wan Tiancang came to my house for no apparent reason. This fellow was actually plotting this!"

(End of Chapter)