Chapter 34: Establishing the Heart Through the Sword
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When Li Dalong emerged from the Heavenly Coffin of Certain Death, the seemingly ordinary coffin transformed into dazzling silver, mysterious patterns surfacing across its surface.
Without Li Dalong saying a word, Li Xiang could see the information on the Heavenly Coffin of Certain Death as well!
[Heavenly Coffin of Certain Death]
[Rank: Supreme-Grade Spirit Treasure]
[Unsealed: First Layer!]
[The owner of the First Layer may open the Heavenly Coffin’s authority and battle the endless Qi-Refining zombies within. Trial participants cannot die and possess an inexhaustible supply of true energy.]
[Corpse Herder of the Heavenly Coffin: Using the Heavenly Coffin’s corpse-herding art, place the dead within the Heavenly Coffin and refine them into zombies!]
“Holy crap!”
This was merely the first layer of the Heavenly Coffin of Certain Death, yet its astonishing functions still left Li Xiang deeply shaken.
It could be said that the moment the family obtained this opportunity, they had begun to soar!
“If I ever need it, I can take the Heavenly Coffin out and use it myself.”
One day in the real world was equivalent to a year in the game world. He could take it out and return it to the Li family on the very same day!
“Phew.”
Li Xiang could even feel his heart pounding. This was a supreme-grade spirit treasure! If it appeared in the real world, it would instantly unleash a bloody storm.
“Calm down. Calm down.”
After suppressing his excitement, Li Xiang gradually composed himself.
He watched as Li Dalong entered the Heavenly Coffin of Certain Death once more, this time to challenge the second layer.
It was the same lightless, boundless space.
But this time, Li Dalong faced countless hopping zombies!
Compared to the zombies from before, these creatures possessed far stronger bodies. They could even release black true energy, leap several meters into the air, and each one possessed the strength of the Foundation Establishment stage.
He had not been inside for long when Li Dalong was already overwhelmed by the hopping zombies. In the span of a mere minute, he died several times and was forced to withdraw from the Heavenly Coffin of Certain Death.
“It’s terrifying. Even someone at the Pseudo-Core stage might not be able to unlock the second layer!”
After emerging from the Heavenly Coffin, Li Dalong was still shaken.
...
After obtaining the Heavenly Coffin of Certain Death, the members of the Li family enjoyed lying inside it for a couple of days whenever they had nothing else to do. Their combat experience continued to accumulate as well.
[Year 39 of the Li family.]
[Your family has taken the lead in establishing the Ancestral Spirit Formation at the family residence!]
“Is this the power of the Ancestral Spirit Formation Diagram?”
“Thank you for your blessing, Ancestor. With the Ancestral Spirit Formation, our family has gained another trump card against our enemies!”
“Even if a Pseudo-Core expert breaks into our home, as long as the entire clan joins forces, we can kill him with a single strike!”
Inside the Li family ancestral hall, all the clansmen had gathered together.
The ground began to glow. Mysterious ancient characters appeared across its surface, forming a Nine-Palace Eight-Trigram diagram.
At the same time, spiritual energy emerged from everyone’s bodies and converged toward Li Dalong, who had raised his right hand high into the air, forming a long sword as dazzling as the blazing sun!
This sword contained the combined strength of every member of the Li clan.
“It’s finally complete.”
Li Xiang was delighted by the completion of the Ancestral Spirit Formation Diagram. And this was only Li Dalong gathering the strength of the clan.
Once the formation diagram gradually covered the entirety of Village of Gratitude, everyone in the village would be able to pour their strength into the sword. Without a doubt, it would become the most powerful means of protecting the clan.
But the year’s surprises were not over yet.
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[After ten months of pregnancy, Bai Rourou gave birth to a son and named him Li Yunzhen.]
[Received ten incense offerings.]
The members of the Li family had already knelt in worship inside the ancestral hall. Li Yaotie, in particular, was holding the plump baby boy while kowtowing repeatedly.
“May the Ancestor bless us! I’ve had four children already, ha-ha! I’m going to have even more!”
Bai Rourou rolled her eyes at her husband. “Did you give birth to them? It was all thanks to my wide hips!”
“Ha-ha-ha!”
In an instant, the ancestral hall was filled with laughter and merriment.
Li Xiang was amused as well.
Speaking of which, Bai Rourou, the Li family’s daughter-in-law, was far better than Qu Xiaoxiao had been.
Her personality was as bold and rugged as her physique, and she spoke with blunt directness. Since the members of the Li family had all come from the mountains, they took an even greater liking to her. Moreover, Bai Rourou was extremely diligent. After marrying into the family, she gradually began helping with the clan’s affairs.
People said that women were the weaker sex, but Bai Rourou was different. When she heard that the people of Village of Gratitude had been robbed by mounted bandits while traveling outside, she had only just begun showing signs of pregnancy, yet she still picked up her twin axes, hunted down the bandits, and captured an entire bandit camp to be dealt with by the authorities in Tai Lin Town.
Li Xiang continued accelerating time.
He was already preparing to welcome the arrival of the ten-year grand sacrifice.
Yet even this year, the Li family continued to bring him new surprises.
[Your descendant, Li Yaoqing, has successfully refined the Black Jade Regrowth Salve!]
“Ancestor, Yaoqing has finally succeeded!”
A salve capable of restoring severed limbs!
The stuff was pitch-black and stored in a specially made little gourd.
“A genius!”
Li Xiang praised him sincerely, then sent Li Yaoqing a gift of Love from the Ancestor.
Perhaps Li Yaoqing’s cultivation aptitude was poor.
But when it came to talent in alchemy, he was unquestionably a genius among geniuses. Alchemists were rare in the real world, but they did exist, and they likewise possessed medicinal formulas. Even with a formula, however, refining medicine was far from easy.
It required one to use their own spiritual energy to wash and temper the medicine, purify its impurities, and complete layer upon layer of intricate processes.
“Thank you for the reward, Ancestor. Yaoqing is going into seclusion. Once I reach the Foundation Establishment stage and possess a pill flame, I’ll be able to attempt refining eighth-grade medicines!”
With that, Li Yaoqing left the ancestral hall and went into seclusion in the training chamber.
As soon as Li Yaoqing entered seclusion, that fellow Li Yaotie also came to the ancestral hall.
“Ancestor, I’m going into seclusion as well. Once I possess a pill flame, I’ll be able to try refining this arm of mine!”
Li Yaotie bared his teeth in a grin.
This fellow had always wanted to create war puppets, but he had never been able to grasp the essentials. After all, the biological technology inside war puppets was something Li Yaotie could not understand. But after losing his arm and using a prosthetic limb, he had begun to develop other ideas.
“You’re planning to pursue mechanical ascension...”
Li Xiang raised his brows. He knew he was only joking. To transform oneself into a machine, the most important components would still be things like chips. Nevertheless, Li Yaotie always came up with ideas that were astonishingly unexpected.
For example, the equipment Li Yaotie forged had... extremely random attributes.
Using the same forging process, two sets of Black-Iron Beastblood Armor could possess entirely different attributes.
The two siblings had only just entered seclusion when a surge of true energy shot into the sky from the Li family residence, causing a powerful aura to manifest.
[Your descendant, Li Yaozu, has successfully broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage and emerged from seclusion!]
[After many years of secluded cultivation, his spiritual roots have undergone a transformation, and he has discarded his weakest earth and fire spiritual roots.]
[His basic swordsmanship has reached the level of perfection. Drawing upon years of insight, he fused it with the sword art Sword Aura and comprehended the ordinary peak-grade sword technique, Hundred-Shadow Sword Aura!]
[Obtained profession: Swordsman!]
“Holy crap!”
Li Xiang slammed his hand on the table. Only then did he understand why Li Yaozu had remained in seclusion for so many years.
That fellow had been saving up for a devastating move!
To comprehend a sword technique on one’s own was practically the establishment of a new school. Although the sword technique he had comprehended was merely ordinary peak-grade, martial arts and spells created through one’s own enlightenment could often unleash twice their usual power when wielded by their creator. In Li Yaozu’s hands, this ordinary peak-grade sword technique could probably reach the Yellow tier!
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Looking again at Li Yaozu’s spiritual roots, his strongest, the wood spiritual root, had directly risen to eighty-three points.
“I have established my heart through the sword. Ancestor, I understand now. From this day forth, I, Yaozu, shall be the sword of the Li family!”
Li Yaozu stood straight and firm.
Li Xiang was gratified by the Li family’s eldest son. This boy had never possessed the strongest aptitude in the family.
But because of his age, Li Yaozu had experienced more than anyone else and worked harder than anyone else. That was why, despite possessing all five elemental spiritual roots, he could always remain at the forefront.
Even Li Yunbing, who was only nine years old, feared Li Yaozu greatly, yet still regarded him as an example and trained day and night.
As for Li Yunlin...
“What is that boy doing?”
Li Xiang suddenly remembered that Li Yunlin had gone to the Heaven-Severing Sect to cultivate. He could not help clicking on Li Yunlin’s portrait.
Time had passed. The stubborn child of the past had grown into a handsome young man.
But at this moment...
He was meditating alone inside a mountain cave. At the cave entrance stood a stone tablet bearing the words: Cliff of Reflection?
“Hmm?”
Li Xiang scratched his head. Hadn’t this child caught the eye of an elder from the Heaven-Severing Sect?
Why was he facing the wall in repentance now?
Li Xiang even wondered whether Li Yunlin had gone to the wrong place. But at a glance, the map clearly showed the Heaven-Severing Sect. The sect was immense, occupying an entire mountain that towered into the clouds. With its jade towers and celestial pavilions, it truly seemed like an otherworldly paradise.
[Li Yunlin, third-generation member]
[Realm: Peak of the sixth layer of Qi Refining]
[Arts and Martial Techniques: Heaven-Severing Canon, restricted; Basic Swordsmanship; Wang Family Body-Tempering Formula; Gale Step...]
[Trait: Humiliated Self-Proof]
Several years had passed, yet Li Yunlin, who had hoped to further his studies at the Heaven-Severing Sect, had advanced by only a single minor realm.
Confused, Li Xiang opened Li Yunlin’s character history.
[Year 35 of the Li family: Joined the Heaven-Severing Sect.]
[September of the same year: During the Heaven-Severing Sect’s battle with the Black Tortoise Sect, his master died tragically.]
[Year 36 of the Li family: Reduced to an outer disciple.]
[Year 37: After risking his life to recover his master’s corpse, he killed a disciple of the Black Tortoise Sect and nearly triggered another war between the two sects. He was punished by being sent to the Cliff of Reflection to face the wall for five years.]
“...”
Li Xiang suddenly regretted letting Li Yunlin join the Heaven-Severing Sect. In this situation, he might as well have stayed and cultivated with the Li family!
But now...
Li Yunlin had already joined the Heaven-Severing Sect, and there was truly nothing he could do. After all, the Heaven-Severing Sect had a Nascent Soul Ancestor guarding it!
“Forget it. Everyone has their own path to walk, and every fate is different. Li Yunlin, take care of yourself.”
Li Xiang shook his head, but still sent Li Yunlin a gift of Love from the Ancestor.
At the Cliff of Reflection, Li Yunlin felt warmth spread through his body. He was more familiar with this sensation than anyone. In an instant, his eyes turned red.
“Ancestor, are you watching over me from the heavens?”
“I have no regrets, Ancestor. I have never forgotten that I am a member of the Li family.”
“Please rest assured, Ancestor. I will make a name for myself in the Heaven-Severing Sect. I will not be inferior to Father!”
Li Xiang could only sigh and shake his head.
Soon, however, his gaze fell upon Li Yunlin’s arts and martial techniques.
“The Heaven-Severing Canon? With restrictions? I wonder if I can...”