Family Cultivation: I Become a Mirror-Chapter 114 - 105: The Death of Ganixi

Ganixi, draped in beast skins and bird feathers and holding a beast bone spear, quietly stepped onto the high platform. His presence already signaled Foundation Establishment. The brilliant morning sun draped over his body, casting specks of gold that made him seem like a deity descended to earth.

Below the high platform, an endless expanse of Shanyue worshippers knelt devoutly and peacefully; hope and light filled their eyes. The hundred years of chaos and disorder plaguing Shanyue were about to end, as this king would usher them into a new era.

Unlike the fervent excitement of those below, Ganixi's eyes were filled with irony and disdain. He stood stiffly on the high platform, coldly surveying the kneeling Shanyue below.

"Ganixi, it's time,"

spoke an old witch doctor holding a beast head scepter, clad in a black robe, his voice hoarse. His aura was that of someone at the peak of Foundation Establishment. His gravelly voice drifted into Ganixi's ears.

"Do not delay... As long as you go to your death peacefully, we will not harm your people."

The old witch doctor looked helpless, having cursed his brothers who had pushed him down the mountain in his heart long ago.

"So Ganixi had already sensed something amiss, no wonder they were all shirking responsibility... I've been in seclusion for so many years, thinking this was a favorable task!"

"To force him to be a willing sacrifice is truly not easy. This man has neither descendants nor a wife; his only concern is these hundreds of thousands of Shanyue. We can only blackmail him with this. If it weren't for the need for him to go up to the altar himself, we wouldn't have to waste words, just binding and throwing him up there would do."

Ganixi glanced at him contemptuously, his grip on the spear tightening. He slowly stepped forward as faint red light began to flow from the patterns on the high platform. Suddenly he spoke,

"Old fellow, let me ask you, have you ever raised a people, governed an army?"

The old witch doctor saw Ganixi's disdain and felt the absence of the helplessness and reluctance he had when using the hundreds of thousands of Shanyue to pressure him just days before. His heart skipped a beat, and he felt a chill run down his spine, his voice raspy as he spoke,

"Ganixi! Do not act rashly and disregard the lives of hundreds of thousands of Shanyue!"

Ganixi let out a harsh laugh, anger coursing through him, his voice cold,

"The army is my spear and the people my carriage; never have I heard of someone dying for objects!"

No sooner had these words been spoken than the old witch doctor sensed something amiss, feeling a surge of mana within Ganixi that gave off the sensation of self-disintegrating Xuanjing. He called out frantically,

"Master!"

At that moment, the sky changed as winds and clouds shifted. A gaunt hand emerged out of nowhere, attempting to suppress the abnormality within Ganixi's body. However, a streak of Xuan Guang came from the east and struck the hand, delaying it.

"Crack."

The Six Wheels within Ganixi's body shattered in response. The foundation of the great path he had built within him erupted violently, spraying out a crimson light, shocking the old witch doctor into a drastic change of expression.

"What do you want, woman?"

Ganixi removed his armor and asked her indifferently.

"For the great king to live,"

she said.

The recollection ended abruptly as the king of Shanyue exploded into a shower of flesh and blood before the tens of thousands of Shanyue, his crimson blood staining the entire high platform red.

Ganixi's brown eyeball flew tens of feet away, bouncing before it came to rest in front of a kneeling Shanyue woman, just as if it had jumped.

The Shanyue woman, still with a child on her back, leaped up as if bitten by a snake, trembling as she reverently picked up the profound brown eyeball, her face a ghastly pale as she coughed several times before spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Silence fell over the world at that dreadful moment, the enormous terror pinning the army and populace below in place, unable to utter a word, while the sky quickly gathered dark clouds and lightning, a fierce wind sweeping through each corner.

"Who..."

A murmur surfaced at the ear of the old witch doctor, who knelt and trembled uncontrollably. Not even his peak Foundation Establishment cultivation could grant him a sliver of security, leaving his heart desolate.

"Not an old friend… but a newly advanced Zifu... who?!"

The thunderous roar shook the old witch doctor to his core. The Qi Cultivation Shanyue on the high platform instantly burst into mush, and the high platform made of earth and brick crumbled, the thick smell of soil permeating the entire Great Jue Court.

"Who taught him the Wheel Disintegration Technique?! Who!"

A middle-aged man in a black robe stood in midair, the old witch doctor, covered in mud, kneeling in a wretched state, as the middle-aged man slightly raised his hand, his expression full of brutality.

"For how many years... no one has caused me such a great loss!"

The vast aura swept through the surroundings, causing all the Shanyue of the Great Jue Court to shiver.

"Master! It's the Xuan Guang Technique... it must be the work of the Demon Sect!"

The old witch doctor felt a chill up his spine, stuttering in response, only to hear the Zifu middle-aged man's icy voice,

"Qing Chi Demon Sect... When I was at my most powerful, they were nothing but a minor sect guarding their broken Mountain Gate. Now they even dare to provoke me!"

No sooner had his words fallen than he vanished above the ruins. The old witch doctor knelt for a while before he dared to quietly lift his head and see the middle-aged man had left, taking flight on a Flying Shuttle.

The tens of thousands of Shanyue lay prostrate on the ground, crying softly as thousands upon thousands of ephemeral incense transformed into pale grey resentful spirits, drifting above the Great Jue Court.

"Great king..."

The Shanyue on the ground cried and knelt around the brown eyeball, but off in the distance, an increasingly audible rustling of wings approached.

"Locusts! Locusts!"

The guards on the city walls cried out as swarms of grey-black locusts rushed in like a tidal wave, their rustling sound thunderous, freely flying above the Great Jue Court, feeding on the resentful spirits formed from the great drought and disaster.

"Buzz..."

Locusts crashing mindlessly into people only caused a dull pain, but the Shanyue people cried out for their parents, trampling and shoving each other, turning the entire Great Jue Court into a living hell in an instant.

"My King!"

As the surging crowd quickly converged, a woman carrying a child hurriedly lifted the boy high and threw him onto a low stone with all her might, before she was swallowed by the sea of people, becoming a part of the flesh and bones on the ground.

Above the din of locusts flapping their wings, the golden morning light was obscured by dark clouds, and once more, the North Foothills plunged into the deepest darkness.

————

Moisture spread through the air, as the towns were filled with jubilant laughter. Villagers brought out containers of all kinds, from piss pots to large urns, eagerly awaiting the coming downpour.

"Rain at last!"

The worry finally lifted from Li Xuanxuan's face, replaced by a beaming smile as he looked at the townspeople scurrying along the streets. The severe drought had lasted for a full eight months, but now, at last, there was rain.

Standing beside him, Li Xuanling pressed her lips together without speaking, her expression also brightening with pleasure. The grey Mysterious Water Sword Glow on Green Peak in her hand shimmered vigorously, indicating significant achievements.

Li Jingtian, holding a pen, watched the raindrops fall on the stone pavement with a cheerful smile, while Chen Donghe quietly observed her.

"Donghe."

Li Jingtian suddenly called out, startling Chen Donghe into blushing and looking down, but he quickly replied:

"Ah?"

"Tell me about my father's activities in the west."

Chen Donghe's face lit up with joy as he began to recount the stories of the western expedition to her, and Li Jingtian listened quietly, nodding from time to time.

The torrential rain swept through every corner; villagers celebrated and ran through the downpour, their faces alight with merry smiles. Li Tongya rode the wind amongst the clouds for a while, and a hint of relief appeared on his brow.

"Good rain, such good rain."

Gazing distantly to the west, the suffocating presence had vanished. Li Tongya secretly pondered:

"Ganixi must be finished, but we must wait for the news...before we can finally breathe a sigh of relief."

With an enemy like Ganixi at his side, it was always distressing. Once Ganixi was dead, the Shanyue Fifteen Villages were merely an unorganized crowd. Should the cultivators of Witch Mountain not intervene, and the remaining Qi Cultivation Shanyue be bound together, they wouldn't even be enough to challenge him single-handedly.

"What's more, now that the Blood Sacrifice is complete, who knows how many Qi Cultivation practitioners remain amongst the Shanyue."

It was just regrettable that the boundary line had been drawn by the Zifu of Shanyue and the Green Pond Sect; otherwise, Li Tongya might have crossed the boundary to swallow up a few villages properly.

Landing slowly in the courtyard, Li Tongya saw Liu Rouxuan coming to greet him with a warm smile:

"My lord has returned."

Liu Rouxuan had been practicing for many years, yet her Cultivation Level had barely reached the Third Layer of Fetal Breathing. After all, her talent was not high, and she had been cultivating a First Grade Fetal Breathing Cultivation Technique. Despite many years with no progress, she now had a touch of grey at her temples.

"Mhm."

Li Tongya responded softly. For nearly twenty years, he had shared a familiar and affectionate bond with Liu Rouxuan. He took her hand, and seeing the worry in her expression, he smiled and asked:

"What's the matter?"

"My lord..."

Liu Rouxuan lowered her eyebrows, replying quietly:

"I have selected a few concubines for you; they are all waiting outside."

Li Tongya paused, a strange expression on his face as he dismissed the women who had come forward, then chuckled: 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"What are you thinking about?"

Liu Rouxuan's eyebrows bent slightly as she whispered:

"I know my talent is not high, and I probably will not be able to cultivate Qi in this lifetime, unable to accompany my lord forever. Currently, we only have Xuanling as our child, the lineage is weak..."

Li Tongya opened his mouth, but no words came out. Within the clan, Elixirs and Spirit Rice were always distributed according to talent. Xuanxuan and Xuanling still needed more, and naturally, Liu Rouxuan had been neglected. With her talent, she probably wouldn't break through Qi Cultivation in her lifetime.

"This..."

Li Tongya uttered with some difficulty, as his way was naturally unable to justify using the clan's resources to favor his own wife. Yet, he saw Liu Rouxuan gently shaking her head:

"That's not what I meant."

"I'm not adept at contention, and my talent is inferior; even if I were to cultivate Qi, it would only be a waste. How could I dare to squander the resources of the clan? It is just that I wish for my lord to have more offspring."

Li Tongya shook his head, visibly moved, and murmured softly:

"There's no need to discuss this any further. We come from humble farmer stock, I won't learn the ways of multiple wives and concubines."

"Xuanling is clever and steady, diligently attentive on a regular basis. This is all your doing, and I have yet to properly thank you for it."

Liu Rouxuan wanted to say more, but Li Tongya sealed her lips with his, whispering tenderly as they nuzzled:

"If you want descendants, simply bear me another child."