https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-164-A-New-Function-of-the-True-One-Altar/12586904/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-165-Prelude-to-a-New-Battle-Outside-Li-Part-2-/12586906/
Chapter 165: Prelude to a New Battle Outside Li (Part 1)
Chapter 165: Prelude to a New Battle Outside Li (Part 1)
The intense battle between the Celestial Master's Mansion and the Lin Clan of Jiangzhou finally came to a temporary close.
The atmosphere at Dragon Tiger Mountain was difficult to describe in words.
However, outside the mountain gate ancestral hall, the disciples of other branches and subsidiary divisions of the Taoist Talisman Sect felt a collective sense of relief.
This was also true for Lei Jun and his peers at the Xianliu Palace on Xianliu Mountain.
The disciples' faces were filled with smiles, and their vigilance shifted from human cultivators to the possible sudden appearance of demons and spirits.
Lei Jun, aside from reminding everyone not to let their guard down completely, focused on allocating resources to restore the production of various commodities at Xianliu Palace.
Due to the previous battle, although they had persevered and maintained supply, the output and scale had fluctuated.
Now, everything could gradually return to normal and stability.
The various levels of executives within the Palace would handle the specifics, and Lei Jun and the others only needed to supervise and inspect, without worrying too much.
What caught Lei Jun's attention was a message from the mountain gate ancestral hall.
Elder Li Hongyu, a high-achieving elder, had temporarily stepped down from all her duties, including her position in the High Achievement Pavilion, to focus on seclusion and cultivation.
Upon hearing this news, many people's first reaction was that Elder Hongyu was determined to overcome the heavenly tribulation between the Seventh and Eighth Heavens.
Elder Hongyu had achieved the Seventh Heaven realm long ago, and her progress had been almost on par with that of the former Celestial Master, Li Qingfeng.
However, she had been stagnant at the Seventh Heaven realm ever since.
After accumulating power over the years, it wouldn't be surprising if she could break through the heavenly tribulation in one fell swoop.
However, the timing of this decision made the situation seem a little delicate.
It was unclear what had inspired Elder Hongyu, who had been stagnant at her current realm for a long time, to finally gain the confidence to take that final step.
It was worth mentioning that Elder Hongyu did not choose to seclude herself at Dragon Tiger Mountain, the ancestral home of the Celestial Master's Mansion.
Rumor had it that she had left the mountain to cultivate in a secret cave she had discovered.
Before her departure, she even left her Celestial Master's robe on the mountain, entrusting it to Li Song and Li Ziyang for safekeeping.
This piece of news made Lei Jun even more intrigued.
It was hard to say that the Li family was completely united.
Only when faced with significant external pressure would they present a united front.
The one who could exert such pressure on them was most likely Xu Yuanzhen.
To put it bluntly, the Lin Clan of Jiangzhou had pulled out all the stops, even going as far as to ease their tensions with the Lin Clan of Youzhou.
In the end, they lost their Clan Leader Lin Che and Elder Lin Feng, two powerful experts, yet they still failed to defeat Xu Yuanzhen.
This outcome not only left the Lin Clan of Jiangzhou feeling extremely frustrated, but it was likely that the Li Clan of Jinzhou also lost sleep over it...
Elder Hongyu's decision to seclude herself at this time seemed like a do-or-die attempt to break through.
Li Song and Li Ziyang probably wouldn't hinder her at such a critical moment.
However, from another perspective, it seemed that Elder Hongyu was also quite confident in her chances of success...
Lei Jun thought of his second uncle and shook his head slightly.
His uncle's decisiveness was probably not solely due to Xu Yuanzhen's stimulus.
In the Battle of Poyang Marsh, the Lin Clan of Jiangzhou had suffered heavy casualties, losing numerous experts. Their losses were so severe that they couldn't simply be described as "greatly damaged." Compared to the Xiao Clan outside Long Province during the Western Regions Demon Chaos, their situation was only marginally better.
On the other hand, the Celestial Master's Mansion at Dragon Tiger Mountain had fared relatively well, but they had also lost some of their core strength.
The good news was that among the high-achieving elders, aside from Xu Yuanzhen, who was temporarily missing, and Elder Shangguan Ning, who had been injured, none had perished.
The bad news was that the Middle Three Heavens had suffered significant losses.
Among them was a familiar figure to Lei Jun—Elder Xia Bo, husband of Elder Hongyu.
He had fallen in the Battle of Poyang Marsh.
Upon receiving this news, Lei Jun couldn't help but sigh with emotion, even in the midst of Xianliu Palace.
Although he disliked most of the Li clan members, the Xia clan was related to the Li clan by marriage, and Lei Jun held no grudge against Elder Xia Bo.
Over the years, the two families had maintained some level of interaction.
Unfortunately, Elder Xia Bo had perished in the Battle of Poyang Marsh.
Lei Jun could only silently offer a stick of incense for the deceased elder.
Elder Hongyu and Elder Xia Bo had no offspring.
With Elder Xia Bo's death, Elder Hongyu had become a lonely widow in a sense.
Perhaps this was also part of the reason why she had made up her mind to take that final step.
"I wonder if there are any other factors involved," Lei Jun murmured to himself as he shook his head.
He continued his process of refining the Five Great Elemental Primordial Qi, steadily advancing toward the construction of his third Daoist palace.
Until...
"Your progress has been quite remarkable these past few years."
A tall woman suddenly appeared at Xianliu Palace, smiling as she looked at Lei Jun.
It was none other than Tang Xiaotang, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.
Lei Jun was surprised, "What brings you here, Junior Sister Tang? Have you returned to Dragon Tiger Mountain?"
Tang Xiaotang sat down in front of him and said, "I did go back, but I've just left there and thought I'd pay you a visit along the way."
She sighed, "I lost contact with the mountain for a while, and by the time I received news, your battle with the Lin Clan of Jiangzhou was already over.
It's a shame I didn't make it back in time, or I could have shared the limelight with Senior Sister."
Hearing her last sentence, Lei Jun sized her up, "You're not planning on going to the ancestral land of the Lin Clan of Jiangzhou by yourself, are you?"
Tang Xiaotang smiled mischievously, "I did think about it, but not right now. I'll wait until later."
Lei Jun asked, "Have you found the Celestial Master's Sword?"
Tang Xiaotang's eyebrows danced with excitement, "I've seen the things Senior Sister left behind. Although it's not as good as mine, the combination of the two greatly increases my chances. I can now confidently say that I have a better chance than Li Zhengxuan."
However, her mood changed quickly, and she puffed out her cheeks, "But the Celestial Master's Sword is as slippery as an eel. It's still very difficult to catch it in a short period of time."
Lei Jun said, "...Junior Sister Tang, just based on how you address the Celestial Master's Sword, its sentient nature will probably make it avoid you."
"Uh..." Tang Xiaotang said, "That does make sense."
Fortunately, her spirits lifted again, "Junior Brother is right. If I can improve my cultivation to the next level and break through to the Eighth Heaven Celestial Court realm, then I'll have a much better chance of capturing...no, finding the Celestial Master's Sword!"
At this point, Tang Xiaotang smiled and patted Lei Jun's shoulder, taking out an object the size of an infant's fist—the Sun-Shining Golden Crystal. "I really have to thank you this time!"
Lei Jun said, "Junior Sister Tang, don't be so polite. I just hope that it won't bring you harm. After all, the heavenly tribulation between great realms is always dangerous.
"
Tang Xiaotang burst out laughing, "You really underestimate me. Of course, I'm confident!"
Lei Jun sincerely said, "I wish you success in advance, Junior Sister Tang."
However, he soon remembered something else. "Are you planning to seclude yourself here at Xianliu Mountain and attempt to break through to the Eighth Heaven realm?"
That wouldn't be a good choice.
It wasn't very safe.
Especially since Tang Xiaotang was so carefree and casual, her trip to see Lei Jun at Xianliu Mountain hadn't gone unnoticed.
Many fellow disciples at Xianliu Palace had seen Tang Xiaotang visiting Lei Jun.
For other disciples of the Celestial Master's Mansion, the gathering of the two most renowned young geniuses of the Mansion in recent years at Xianliu Mountain was indeed a rare sight.
"Not here. If I did that, I might as well have stayed at Dragon Tiger Mountain," Tang Xiaotang waved her hand. "Little Shishu introduced me to a cave filled with pure yang qi, outside of Dragon Tiger Mountain. I didn't want to reject his kind intentions, so I decided to seclude myself there. Since I was already out, I thought I'd pay you a visit along the way."
She spoke casually, but Lei Jun's eyes glinted.
Was this Yuan Mobai's idea? As Tang Xiaotang said, given her personality, if she wanted to seclude herself, she could simply do so at the ancestral court of Dragon Tiger Mountain.
Yet, Yuan Mobai had managed to convince her to leave.
It was indeed rare to find a private estate filled with pure yang qi.
The Yang Mountain Manor of the Xuan Yang Cave Heaven at Dragon Tiger Mountain wasn't very suitable either, as the underground yang qi was too scorching and intense, lacking purity.
By recommending a private estate with pure yang qi for Tang Xiaotang's cultivation, Yuan Mobai was naturally considering her progress.
However, Lei Jun couldn't help but think of another aspect.
Did his master feel that Dragon Tiger Mountain wasn't safe enough?
Was there someone who might hinder Tang Xiaotang's seclusion? Even with Yuan Mobai guarding the Wanfa Zongtan to protect Tang Xiaotang, he couldn't guarantee absolute safety.
In that case, was it the Li family?
Would they take such a risk? At the very least, Yuan Mobai judged that there was such a possibility.
In order to minimize the risk, he had persuaded Tang Xiaotang to leave the mountain.
Given Tang Xiaotang's temperament, Yuan Mobai naturally couldn't say this directly.
But Lei Jun had a vague understanding.
If Grand Master Xu Yuanzhen and the strong Lin clan members had perished together, then the Li clan might not take such a gamble.
In that case, as long as Li Hongyu could also successfully break through to the Eighth Heaven Celestial Court realm, the Li clan would have at least two Eighth Heaven experts, Li Hongyu and Li Song, giving them a higher level of psychological safety, even if they didn't have a guaranteed victory.
However, Xu Yuanzhen was still alive.
From the Li clan's perspective, pessimistically speaking, she could return to the mountain at any time.
In this situation, if Tang Xiaotang also advanced to the Eighth Heaven realm, then the Li clan's psychological safety line would be broken.
This was still under the premise that Lei Jun and the others kept the Sun-Shining Golden Crystal a secret, and the Li clan was unaware of it. Otherwise, they would be even more anxious.
Among the younger generation of heirs of the Celestial Master's Mansion, the momentum of the non-lineage disciples had been more prominent in recent years, and Li Zhengxuan of the Li clan was struggling to keep up on his own.
Including the Li clan, many people felt that time was on the side of the non-lineage disciples.
As time went on, the non-lineage disciples would likely gain more and more advantage.
Since the Li clan was aware of this, how could they just sit and wait for their downfall?
Now that the threat from the Lin clan of Jiangzhou had been eliminated, the pressure on the Celestial Master's Mansion came more from the non-lineage disciples.
It wasn't surprising that the Li clan might have changed their minds.
If they really wanted to take a risk and make a desperate move before the situation completely tipped out of their favor, it was not impossible... Lei Jun's mind raced with these thoughts.
However, he remained calm on the surface and smiled, "Your master is just concerned about you."
Tang Xiaotang nodded, "I know."
Lei Jun didn't inquire about her specific location for seclusion. The fewer people who knew about it, the better. After chatting with Tang Xiaotang for a while longer, he invited her to stay for a moment while he went out.
He instructed Yun Zhan and the others to gather a batch of the finest Xianliu Ink.
Although Yun Zhan and the others were curious, they immediately followed his instructions.
After Lei Jun collected the Xianliu Ink, he gave it to Tang Xiaotang under the pretext of her taking it with her. However, he secretly kept some for himself using a Shrinking Pouch.
After Tang Xiaotang left, Yun Zhan and the others were curious, but since Lei Jun didn't mention it, they didn't ask further.
Until one day...
"Lei Shizi."
Elder Liang Chen, a disciple of Li Song, the uncle master, also came to Xianliu Mountain's Xianliu Palace.
"Elder Liang?" Lei Jun invited him to sit down.
Liang Chen smiled, "I'm out inspecting the various branch courts and estates."
Lei Jun said, "Please forgive me, Elder Liang, for I will retrieve the records of Xianliu Palace for you to review."
He instructed Yun Zhan and the others to bring over various documents.
After carefully reviewing them, Liang Chen nodded, "Everything is in order and well-organized. You're not only talented in cultivation, but you also handle these matters very systematically, Lei Shizi."
Lei Jun said humbly, "You're too kind, Elder Liang. I'm just trying my best, fearing that I might overlook something. Please feel free to guide me."
Liang Chen smiled, "You're too modest. Your master must be proud to have a disciple like you."
At this point, he changed the subject slightly, "However, there's one account here..."
He pointed to the document, "There's a batch of very high-quality Xianliu Ink that wasn't sent to the mountain gate ancestral hall but was temporarily diverted here?"
"That's correct, Elder Liang. Please allow me to explain," Lei Jun said calmly.
"That was when Tang Xiaotang Shijie came by. She temporarily diverted the ink for her own use.
I also inquired about its purpose, but Shijie Tang only said that it was useful for her cultivation. I was also curious, so I reported it to the mountain gate ancestral hall."
Liang Chen nodded slightly, "I see."
Tang Xiaotang's situation was very special.
To be strict, she hadn't participated in the transmission of degrees or the granting of registers. If one were to adhere strictly to the traditions and rules of the sect, she was still technically a Daoist child.
Earlier, it was because the former Celestial Master, Li Qingfeng, had been in seclusion.
(End of Chapter)
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