The Mirror Legacy

Chapter 549: Escorting and Slaying Demons (II)

chapter 549: escorting and slaying demons (ii)

accepting the assignment promptly, yuan su explained, "first, i have a group of my disciples needing escorts to splitreed island. that sea region has been turbulent recently, and ning wan cannot act freely, so you should take this trip."

he added a cautionary note, "do not stir up trouble; just deliver them safely. if you do encounter resistance, feel free to kill anyone who is not of the dragon clan."

seeing li xuanfeng nodding in understanding, yuan su continued, "once you reach splitreed island, continue northward until you reach unison sea. there, a market run by my ning family has been harassed by a demon. deal with it on your way back."

"do we know what it is...?" li xuanfeng asked.

yuan su promptly replied, "no need for concern. it is only a water-dwelling monkey... a threat to ordinary folks but not to you."

securing the jade seal at his waist, yuan su added softly, "i noticed it has been years since you returned home. make the most of it and reconnect with your family."

"thank you, daoist master!" li xuanfeng expressed his gratitude, and as he saw yuan su wave him off, he quietly departed.

after a brief pause, ning wan said softly, "daoist master... li xuanfeng's cultivation has advanced rapidly in recent years. it seems it was merely the lack of resources and techniques in the li family that slowed him down. he had achieved nothing remarkable before his breakthrough to the late foundation establishment realm."

"well, he is a descendant of the wei-li lineage," yuan su replied, "if he practiced a bright yang-aligned path, he would progress even faster... a thousand years ago, the wei-li lineage's affinity with metallic essence was impressive—that was akin to the sun descending into the world."

they continued conversing as li xuanfeng exited the cave dwelling. riding the wind, he flew a while before descending at his own cave dwelling.

li xuanfeng's dwelling was among the finest in yi mountain city. as he pushed open the door, his wife, ning hemian, met him with their child in her arms, smiling as she greeted him softly.

"what did the daoist master say?" she asked with a smile.

ning hemian, being from the ning family, often knew things even before he did, so he was not surprised at all by her question. he took the child in his arms and replied, "i will be heading to the eastern sea soon, escorting people and slaying demons."

the boy in his arms pursed his lips, his eyes a deep gray, though his brows were softer than his father's. still young, he appeared rather gentle.

"qin'er..." li xuanfeng called.

"father!" the young boy called out in a cheery response.

"is it really this useless..?"

she waited a while longer, but not only was there no thunder, there was not even a single dark cloud in the sky. with a sigh, she abandoned the secret technique and switched to using thunder to communicate with each statue in turn.

this was another function of the altar, allowing her to calculate where thunder would strike across the land, how many tribulation strikes had fallen recently, and who among wrongdoers was due for retribution by thunder.

"this is probably pointless too... there are not any tribulation strikes these days. have not even heard of one... this technique is truly ancient."

after testing each statue in turn with no result, li qinghong's unwillingness drove her to repeat the process twice. finally, when she connected with the last dragon-shaped statue, she received a response.

shiiing...

the eyes of the dragon-shaped bronze statue glowed faintly, and suddenly li qinghong had a clear vision.

"yincheng prefecture, wei state... at midnight on the 24th day. twisting thunder tail strikes the ancient cypress tree west of the prefecture."

the statue emitted a flash of thunder before dimming once more, offering no further response.

"huh..?"

li qinghong blinked, feeling an odd mix of surprise and resignation. "it really is an ancient technique! but... what use is this?" she wondered aloud in confusion.

if it truly provided an exact location, li qinghong could ride her thunderbolt there and capture this falling lightning with her spells. judging by the name of it, this was likely some form of spirit thunder of heaven and earth, a rare sight in this age.

in recent ages, thunder strikes had become rarer between heaven and earth, and as a result, thunder cultivators were increasingly uncommon. furthermore, thunder was unlike spirit fire or water; it dispersed instantly upon impact. unless one was extremely lucky or encountered it in the clouds by chance, capturing it was nearly impossible.

however, the information provided by this spell turned out to be the name of a now ancient place, and even if she knew the location of it, finding it would be nearly impossible. li qinghong could only sigh in dejection.

"moreover, this place is likely far to the north in hostile territory under the wrathful dao lineage, where deep-seated enmity remains... entangled with threads of fate. it is strictly forbidden to go there."

li qinghong calculated that the next thunder invocation ritual was three months away. she planned thoughtfully, "the altar has already been built, and casting the spell consumes only a bit of mana. i will try every three months; who knows? one day, i might hit upon a yue state city with a familiar name and be able to collect some thunder!"