Family Cultivation: I Become a Mirror-Chapter 231 - 214: The Mirror of the Jiang Family

"Senior!"

An Zhiyan emerged from the house, met with smiles and greetings from the clan soldiers on both sides, each smile warm and friendly, even those outside the courtyard were waving at him.

An Zhiyan nodded and replied to each one with a beaming smile, suddenly feeling as if he were worlds apart from his past. He had always been greedy and tyrannical in the An Family, where he held absolute power, and the servants would cower at his sight, with people being killed over the slightest displeasure.

After his family's downfall and his ensuing refuge in the Li Family, it was during an attack by magical beasts that he tried to gain favor with the Li Family by saving a young clan soldier. That same night, the youth knocked on his door with a beaming smile, carrying in a big bowl of dumplings his mother had made as a way to express gratitude. They talked all night, and An Zhiyan, with a grimace, asked:

"Aren't you afraid of me?"

The youth paused, then burst out laughing, replying:

"What's there to be afraid of?"

An Zhiyan chewed on the dumplings that tasted to him like dog shit, forcing them down as he laughed:

"Indeed, there's nothing to be afraid of!"

Thus, An Zhiyan joined the clan soldiers for games of finger-guessing and drinking, all of them laughing uproariously, weeping loudly, sitting by the wall watching girls, and taking turns flying high in the sky with him, which left the young men with wobbly legs. An Zhiyan laughed so hard he often cried.

Coming back to his senses, he saw the clan soldiers all looking at him with smiles. An Zhiyan pulled out a long bench and asked with a laugh:

"Lads, what kind of ghost stories do you want to hear today?"

The clan soldiers' eyes gleamed as they clamored and argued over it. An Zhiyan watched them with amusement when suddenly the sound of horse hooves approached, dust rising at the entrance of the alley. A youth in a white robe brought his horse to a halt in front of the courtyard. Dismounting, he bowed with his fist to his palm and respectfully said:

"Senior! The Family Head summons you."

"Officer Tian!"

Someone among the clan soldiers exclaimed, and they quickly dipped their heads low, half-kneeling on the ground, collectively saying:

"We pay respects to Officer Tian!"

Tian Zhongqing nodded slightly, then saw An Zhiyan on the wooden bench shake his robe and reply:

"I understand."

No sooner had he spoken than he was already soaring into the sky, heading up the mountain. Tian Zhongqing watched enviously as a group of clan soldiers gathered around excitedly, chattering away:

"Officer! To what extent has your cultivation level reached now?"

"Brother Zhongqing! Are there yet more Qi-training beasts that eat people?"

Tian Zhongqing waved them off, replying:

"Just the Third Layer of Fetal Breathing, nothing to mention. As for the Family Head's affairs, they are not for me to know."

The clan soldiers at the bottom barraged him with questions for a while, and someone whispered:

"Brother Zhongqing! It is said that Uncle Xuanling has broken through in Qi Cultivation. Do you know if it's true?"

Tian Zhongqing nodded slightly and smiled:

"Indeed, that is true."

At this, the clan soldiers immediately burst into an uproar of discussion, while Tian Zhongqing shook his head with a smile, mounted his horse, and rode out of the alley.

----

Walking along the spotlessly clean stone-paved road, An Zhiyan climbed up the mountain, filled with doubts and thinking to himself:

"What's this about? Even if it were about a Qi-training beast infiltrating us, there would be no need to summon me personally up the mountain."

There were not many people on Lijing Mountain, just the slightly cold wind blowing against him. An Zhiyan muttered:

"Could it be because I haven't touched the women they've been sending to my room these past years, the Li Family has become suspicious..."

He shook his sleeves, and the courtyard with its blue stone gate appeared before him. The courtyard door was ajar. An Zhiyan pushed open the heavy door, and the house was wide open, with two clan soldiers standing silently outside.

An Zhiyan smacked his lips, remembering the glittering and magnificent hall of his own and then looking at the modest dwelling before him, he felt a bitter taste in his mouth and said to himself:

"An Zhiyan, you really deserve to die."

He took a step forward into the sparsely furnished room, An Zhiyan instinctively lowered his head and lifted the hem of his robe, about to bow down, when he suddenly widened his eyes in shock.

At the seat of honor was not Li Xuanxuan, but a middle-aged man with greying temples and long, relaxed eyebrows, who sat upright with a calm expression, holding a white jade slip in his hand. An Zhiyan, with his Sixth Layer of Qi Cultivating, could instantly make out the tiny characters engraved on the jade slip.

"The White-haired Courtyard Bowing Scripture"

An Zhiyan knelt heavily on the ground, his heart filled with both shock and fear and, bending his waist, he started to speak in a trembling voice,

"Zhiyan...pays respects to the senior!"

"Foundation Establishment!"

An Zhiyan's head buzzed as if it were about to explode, and he swallowed hard in disbelief. He had been a senior who reached Qi Cultivation earlier than Li Tongya, watching as he progressed from the initial stage to the Fifth Layer of Qi Training, from the Fifth Layer to the Eighth Layer, and now he had reached Foundation Establishment, with An Zhiyan's attitude shifting from disdain to surprise, then from respect to fear, and finally ending up kneeling before him, one can imagine the complexity of his feelings.

"How did he manage to establish his foundation...

Seeing Li Tongya reach the realm he had longed for in his dreams, An Zhiyan bowed and closed his eyes, filled with both admiration and fear, until Li Tongya started to laugh and say,

"Brother Zhiyan is too courteous, please rise."

Only then did An Zhiyan stand up straight and watched as Li Tongya put down the jade slip, speaking in a gentle voice,

"I've heard that your ancestor was an Outer Sect disciple of the Immortal Mansion, and that 'The White-haired Courtyard Bowing Scripture' was passed down. Would you be willing to share the details?"

An Zhiyan nodded hastily, not even bothering to compose himself, he took a few moments to organize his thoughts and replied,

"My family ancestor's surname was Jiang, and he was an Outer Sect disciple of the Immortal Mansion, achieving Qi Cultivation at the age of eighteen, which met the mansion's minimum requirements, so he was taught 'The White-haired Courtyard Bowing Scripture' and took charge of Immortal Soldiers patrolling from the eastern part of Wangyue Marsh to the Yu Ridge Lake area. At the age of thirty-nine, he reached Foundation Establishment, became an Immortal General, acquired these two heritages, and took the title of Unit General all by himself."

"From the eastern part of Wangyue Marsh to Yu Ridge Lake area."

Li Tongya raised his eyebrows and asked, to which An Zhiyan hurriedly replied,

"Now the southeastern shore up to Mushroom Forest Plain, that area used to be part of Wangyue Marsh."

Seeing Li Tongya nod, An Zhiyan continued,

"My ancestor failed to break through to Zifu and thus passed away in meditation. He only had one son, who was at the Qi Cultivating Peak, so he had to support non-relatives, recruiting Loose Cultivators to defend the territory, and this sowed the seeds of disaster..."

"Another ten years passed, and his son broke through to Foundation Establishment. His descendants were few, and all had Spiritual Aperture Seeds, with Cultivation Techniques that rapidly brought them to Qi Cultivation, and as their Cultivation Level rose, it became even more difficult for his progeny. Later, a son sought the chance at Zifu and was executed, several non-relatives Cultivators wouldn't submit to each other, each supporting their offspring, showing signs of a split."

An Zhiyan sighed, and spoke in a low tone,

"Non-relatives lent their support, marrying their daughters among themselves, creating antagonism, and the lines within gradually drifted apart. In less than a century, family members even married into non-relative families. Three generations later, even those bearing the Jiang surname were scarce..."

Li Tongya stroked the jade slip in his hand without uttering a word, and An Zhiyan took a glance at him and continued in a low voice,

"Therefore, among the lake's various clans, there are very few non-relative Cultivators, truly because of the cautionary tale of the Jiang family. Our few families have secretly succeeded in the way of learning others' cultivation methods and are deathly afraid. There are almost no non-relatives in our families..."

An Zhiyan stood up straight, hesitated for a while, then started to speak,

"The leading family now governs the Chens, the Lius, the Tians, the Rens and other surnames, all having birthed Spiritual Aperture Seeds. If not suppressed, I fear changes may arise with time..."

Li Tongya raised his eyebrows upon hearing this, not expecting An Zhiyan to utter such words. He chuckled softly and replied,

"Rest assured, my family is not like the Jiang family; no such trouble will arise."

"I have spoken out of turn."

An Zhiyan bowed his head, and Li Tongya looked at him, then asked,

"How old are you now."

"Eighty-five."

An Zhiyan replied, sounding a bit dejected,

"The Cultivation Technique is quite difficult, being only at the Sixth Layer of Qi Cultivation at eighty-five years of age, I fear there's no hope of reaching Foundation Establishment."

Li Tongya paused for a moment, then offered a few comforting words before watching An Zhiyan leave. He picked up the jade slip that recorded 'The White-haired Courtyard Bowing Scripture' and murmured to himself,

"Courtyard dust... With the River Tomb Scripture in the family, the path to Zifu is still long, and there's no rush."