Family Cultivation: I Become a Mirror-Chapter 130 - 121: A World of My Own

The Dragon blinked its eyes and chuckled, estimating the heat as it added various spirit fruits one by one, murmuring,

"It's been three days and three nights. The temperature for concocting this Human Pill is particularly important. Fortunately, I've been doing it for so many years that I'm quite familiar with the process."

"However, the Human Race truly is ruthless and vicious, even willing to use such younger generations for Pill Concoction. No wonder we can never overcome them. If it weren't for their internal conflicts and mutual hostilities, where would there be a place for us to survive?"

Touching the sword scar beneath his scales that had been aching for three hundred years, a profound and intense fear appeared in the Dragon's eyes. His hand clenched slightly, emitting a few pale green glimmers of light.

"Over three hundred years have passed. I have cultivated from the early stages of Zifu to the peak of Zifu, yet this wound has never healed... Li Jiangqun..."

Suddenly, the face with a crescent moon pattern on its forehead appeared before the Dragon's eyes. Its emerald vertical pupil shrank sharply, and it gritted its teeth, saying,

"Good thing this person is dead."

After pausing briefly, the Dragon hurriedly added the spirit fruits into the Alchemy Furnace, calculated the hour, and a hint of anticipation appeared in its eyes. Alchemy was one of its few hobbies, and this Elixir would be one of its most outstanding works.

Gently opening the Alchemy Furnace, the expected scene of rosy clouds filling the room and Pill Fragrance rising from all corners did not appear. The Dragon frowned and gestured with its hand, and a sullen yellow pill flew out of the Alchemy Furnace.

The Dragon's face was one of disbelief, and it muttered to itself,

"This can't be! It should be snow-white! How could it turn out like this... Could it be that the medicinal power was too strong and it returned to purity?!"

Filled with confusion, the Dragon shook its head awkwardly and took a Silver Needle in hand, gently scraping the surface of the pill. A faint glow immediately emitted from the Silver Needle.

"Oh no!"

The Dragon wore an annoyed expression, full of regret and puzzlement, saying,

"How could this happen? The potency is far too weak! If this pill is given out, that old ghost Chi Wei will certainly come fighting for his life!"

"Hundreds of years have passed, how could I make such a mistake!"

The Dragon's vertical pupil shifted slightly as it took out a box of lustrous white liquid from its Storage Bag. With a flick of its finger, it started to apply it on the pill, occasionally taking out more than a dozen herbs to mix together, then put them back into the furnace to refine for another hour.

Upon opening the Alchemy Furnace again, the rosy clouds shone brightly, and the pleasant fragrance filled the room. The Dragon looked displeased and thought to itself,

"Let it be, let it be—a disguise is all that's needed! After all, if the old ghost fails his breakthrough, he's doomed anyway. No one will be able to seek trouble with me once the item is in my possession. Let him deal with it!"

Thus, it packed the pill properly, leaped out of the water puddle, and delivered it to the Green-robed Cultivator.

————

In the backyard of Lijing Mountain.

The ashen Dharma Mirror quietly floated above the Stone Platform, encircled by the misty Taiyin Moonlight as tranquil and serene as it had been for the past three years. The mirror's surface glowed faintly, the twelve engraved Incantation Scripts flickering like breathing.

Incense burned on the desk below, with wisps of green smoke drifting away. It was evident that the Li Family had been diligent over the years, regularly replacing the offerings and keeping the incense burner spotlessly clean.

"I've finally succeeded."

Lu Jiangxian finished fusing with the Mirror Shard. His Divine Sense swept around, and the mirror shone with divine light, triggering a rush of realizations within him.

His Divine Sense delved into the Mirror, and a desolate world emerged before him. Layers of gloomy mist floated in the sky, while the ground below was riddled and the remains of countless grey-white buildings lay in ruins, scattered with bits of crescent moon-white rubble.

"Within the Mirror... a world unto itself," he thought.

This Mirror Shard astonishingly hosted its own expanse of a thousand li, with a majestic mountain at its center. Numerous moon-white architectural remains formed speckles across the mountain, becoming denser toward its base.

Lu Jiangxian's Divine Sense stirred, and the rich Taiyin Moonlight spontaneously emerged, swiftly amassing at the mountain's base to forge a long-robed, white-haired man whose cuffs and collar bore crescent moon patterns. He moved his body and felt an intense sense of unfamiliarity.

Instantly, a mirror with flowing water reflections condensed before Lu Jiangxian. As he faced this visage he had not seen for decades, a strong sense of disorientation surfaced. His face was still the same, but the eye sockets were deeper, and a light scar adorned the left cheek.

"Who am I?"

A sense of weightlessness suddenly invaded his mind, as his Divine Sense stormed throughout the world.

Picking his way through the ruins, treading on jadelike bricks leading up the mountain, he walked for an unknown length of time and finally arrived at the highest platform.

In the center of the platform grew a large tree with huge white leaves, its roots twisted and entwined. Beneath it, there was only a stone table and a stone chair, with a figure kneeling before them.

Clothed in white, with feet donned in silk and jade boots, a jade crown upon the head, and a crescent-shaped mark between the brows, the person lifted their head to glance at Lu Jiangxian and said softly,

"Manor Lord."

Instantly, Lu Jiangxian's mind went blank, his heart filled with an inexplicable complexity, yet he found himself replying involuntarily,

"Jiangqun."

The white-clad youth smiled faintly, and as Lu Jiangxian's thoughts swirled with myriad emotions, just as he opened his mouth to speak, the figure scattered like sand on the wind, leaving only a pale white halo lingering in its place.

Lu Jiangxian stared blankly at it for a moment, tears streaming down his face unawares. He reached out with his hazy, white jade-like arm to receive the halo and suddenly, his vision brightened, submerging him into a shallow dream.

————

"Li Jiangqun!"

As had happened several times before, Lu Jiangxian sank into the memories of Li Jiangqun, standing respectfully in an immeasurably vast hall, with faint white rosy clouds of Taiyin Moonlight wafting around him like smoke and mist. Huge, intricately carved jade pillars stood on either side, supporting the excessively large hall.

His gaze was fixed firmly on the complicated patterns on the jade tiles of the floor, as if to discern a flower from the designs.

"Do you know your crime?"

"This disciple knows his crime!"

Li Jiangqun knelt down gently, slightly lifting his head, and it was then that Lu Jiangxian saw the person seated on the jade throne adorned with carved dragons and phoenixes—it was Lu Jiangxian himself!

The Lu Jiangxian seated in authority looked much more mature. He had died abruptly at just over twenty years old, but the self he saw on the throne appeared to be in his thirties or forties, his expression indifferent, quietly observing Li Jiangqun.

"Then I sentence you to be dispatched to the southern shore. Take your kin, and only return once you have broken through to the Zifu level!"

"This disciple accepts the punishment!"

Li Jiangqun replied respectfully, and Lu Jiangxian on the throne frowned slightly before speaking in a gentle voice,

"You are too trusting and too committed to your promises. This incident of leaked secrets serves as a small lesson. If you do not correct this, you are likely to die at the hands of those so-called friends."

"This disciple understands!"

Li Jiangqun nodded, his gaze clear and bright. He raised his head, smiling as he looked at Lu Jiangxian and said,

"To this disciple, it's all the same. If I cannot be utterly loyal to my friends, how can I expect my master to trust me? If one can deceive friends, then what's to stop them from deceiving their master? If Li Jiangqun were two-faced, then my master would not entrust such matters to me."

The Lu Jiangxian in the throne shook his head slightly, remarking softly,

"Qun'er, this world is never just black and white. The murderer with a loyal heart, the smooth-talking merchant with unchanging affection, the exalted Immortal Cultivator capable of genocide, and the lowly commoner living a wretched life can possess noble friendships. You see things too purely. While this allows you to advance rapidly in your cultivation, it's exceedingly dangerous."

Li Jiangqun froze for a moment, nodding somewhat absentmindedly, while Lu Jiangxian closely observed his other self on the throne, searching for a glimpse of familiarity.

The Lu Jiangxian above had a tinge of melancholy and, set against the backdrop of the huge and boundless hall, appeared exceptionally aloof. He spoke quietly,

"It's been so many years since the founding of Moonlight Origin Mansion, yet look at those below—none show the solidarity expected of a manor's inhabitants. They're busy with their intrigues and power plays. My temperament is indolent; I'm unsuited to being the manor lord, yet I have no choice but to assume this role."

"Manor Lord, with your twin Taoist cultivations and mastery of Dharma Mirror, the whole world admires you. Hardly anyone dares to be your opponent!"

Li Jiangqun hastily replied with a bow, while the world through Lu Jiangxian's eyes became increasingly blurred—the memory was ending.

Everything faded gradually, and Lu Jiangxian was left standing alone in a place where grey dominated the heavens and the earth.

His mind was in turmoil. Were his twenty-plus years of modern life merely a fleeting dream, or was the lord of Moonlight Origin Mansion the previous life he dreamed of?

Lu Jiangxian opened his mouth to speak but found himself utterly alone, with no one to confide in, nowhere to voice his thoughts. He was an optimistic person, but the feeling of loneliness he'd avoided for decades suddenly overwhelmed him.

His fingers lifted slightly, ready to pass through the mirror and into the backyard of Lijing Mountain, but a great terror arose within him. Visions of thunder, fire, bitter winds, and other phantasms passed through his mind. Lu Jiangxian smiled bitterly to himself and murmured,

"At least this prison has grown much larger."