Family Cultivation: I Become a Mirror-Chapter 239 - 221 Chuting
"Xiao Guiluan."
Clad in black robes, Li Yuanjiao strolled down the moonlit stone path, his heart indescribable with mixed emotions. His marriage was fast approaching, yet he had not even seen the face of his betrothed, filling him with a blend of anticipation and unease. He pursed his lips and remained silent.
After walking for a while, the small courtyard came into view. He gently removed his jade crown, allowing his jet-black hair to spread out with the wind, dancing in the air. Li Yuanjiao's black hair, sharing the soft luster of his mother's, Mu Yalu, flowed freely down his back. He stepped forward, tapping lightly at the wooden door in front of him.
"Mother."
The sound of footsteps approached quickly, and the wooden gate of the courtyard creaked open. The maid ushered him in, and Mu Yalu stood smiling in the courtyard, her voice gentle.
"Jiao, my child."
Li Yuanjiao entered the courtyard, sat down gently, and accepted the teacup offered by the maid. With a wave, he dismissed everyone around and said in a low voice,
"Mother... has she been making things difficult for you?"
'Mother' obviously referred to his stepmother, the matriarch of the Dou Clan. Although Li Yuanjiao had a deep bond with Li Yuanxiu, he still worried that Dou Clan's mistress, bereft of her own child, might harbor resentment and make things hard for Mu Yalu.
"Not at all."
Mu Yalu shook her head, a flicker of pity in her eyes as she spoke softly,
"She is aware of your adoption. Though she lost Yuanxiu, she has Yuanping to care for. She treats me fairly well... Being astute, she knows that one day Yuanping may rely on you, so naturally, she is kind to me."
"That's a relief then."
Li Yuanjiao nodded slightly and continued, 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
"The family has found me a bride, named Xiao Guiluan… She is a legitimate, though secondary branch daughter of a noble immortal clan, possessing a Spirit Aperture and, I hear, a Cultivation Level of Fetal Breathing fourth layer."
"What? A noble immortal clan?"
These four words circulated in Mu Yalu's mind, causing her hands and feet to go cold, and after a long while, she mutteringly said,
"This... this immortal clan girl, might she be domineering... How am I, as her future mother-in-law, to meet with her..."
"I do not know."
Seeing her expression, Li Yuanjiao couldn't help but chuckle lightly and teased her a bit more. However, Mu Yalu collected herself after a few moments and, suddenly speaking earnestly, said with urgency,
"Jiao, my child... are you truly not going to take the position of family head?! The current situation is no longer as it was; you must consider carefully... You were always the foremost of Yuanqing's generation, Yuanping has innate deficiencies and simply can't compare to you. You're marrying an immortal clan girl, too. If you don't take the seat of the family head, what will others think?"
Li Yuanjiao shook his head and replied in a low voice,
"I have no desire for that, let Yuanping handle it."
"As for what others think..."
Li Yuanjiao laughed heartily, slapped his sword onto the table, and continued in a low voice,
"Once I've made a breakthrough in Qi Cultivation, I will seek a place for further training. If I seldom come down from the mountain, I will have fewer worries."
"As for Yuanping managing family affairs..."
Li Yuanjiao smiled and shook his head, signaling Mu Yalu to come closer to listen, then whispered:
"Mother must not forget my several half-brothers, who are now each holding a town, the most afraid of my taking over the household, and equally dreading the role of family head falling into other branches. It's Yuanping's taking over the household that pleases them the most, with their support, who can cause trouble?"
Mu Yalu nodded, sighing softly in her heart, with many words on her lips yet not knowing where to start. It wasn't that she worried about Li Yuanping's inability to manage the household; with Li Xuanxuan and Li Yuanjiao there, even if Li Yuanping were a fool who could only say yes, he could still secure his position. She thought to herself:
"The greatest menace is actually this child of mine. If the brothers are harmonious now, naturally there is no issue, but who can assure that descendants in every generation will be filial and fraternal... With one branch overbearingly strong and three branches secretly weak, coupled with a formidable maternal family, it truly is dangerous."
Mu Yalu pondered and still felt uneasy, speaking softly:
"Jiao'er... There's no concern with Yuanping, but Xiao Guiluan comes from a profound background, and you are the leading figure among the Yuanqing generation. With three branches weak and only our line powerful, and to further assume the position of family head, what if future generations harbor ambitions..."
"Mother!"
Li Yuanjiao suddenly interrupted her, seemingly knowing what she was about to say, and with a laugh:
"Our family does not breed such cowards."
————
Xiao Chuting stood silently in the high winds of the frontier sky, gazing silently in the direction of the Green Pond Sect. The divine powers of Zifu Immortal Cultivators collided in the air, releasing bursts of colored light. He exhaled gently, the divine powers within his body restless and eager to move.
"Over three hundred years..."
He looked into the distance, Green Pond Peak barely visible amidst the Cloud Peak, a desolate autumn scene. In the sky, mana occasionally flowed back and forth, and mortals below hawked their wares as they walked. The noble families of the Five Prefectures, countless commoners and disciples; three hundred years of accumulation of wealth and flesh had been sent yearly to the Green Pond Sect, contributing to the cultivation levels of others.
Xiao Chuchou stood at the age of twelve beside his uncle Xiao Xianyou, on the very spot he occupies today, as Xiao Xianyou carefully explained how the Qing Chi Demon Sect, through various bloody means, lay over everyone, from commoners to loose cultivators to noble families, drinking their blood, laughing:
"I heard that Shanyue has an Immortal Foundation called 'Drinking the Blood of the People,' which is truly apt. If that divine power turned into Metal Nature, escaped from those two subordinates, and witnessed this scenery of heaven and earth, it would surely die of laughter, finding itself inferior!"
Xiao Chuchou listened with a muddled understanding, asking:
"I once heard that between heaven and earth there was a war between immortals and demons, a great battle at Pingming Crossing where many Upper Immortals perished, but this battle disrupted the order of the world..."
Xiao Xianyou remained silent, took a sip of wine from his gourd, and said dejectedly:
"That's exactly how things are."
Xiao Chuting had a taste of indignation in his voice, murmuring:
"Why should it be so? If it were I managing the household, outwardly supporting loose cultivators and inwardly uniting the clan, I would surely have disciples personally cultivate and cultivators love the people, overturning Qing Chi, and bringing forth a new heaven."
Xiao Xianyou smiled without a response. Xiao Chuting, sensing his bold proclamation, felt somewhat embarrassed. After Xiao Xianyou later died, Xiao Chuchou left home in a rage. As the Xiao Family's fortune declined sharply and it came to Xiao Chuting to manage the household, he finally discovered that the Xiao Family too lived on the blood of the people, only not so fiercely, not so openly.
If Xiao Chuting wanted to change all this, he would have to kill all his uncles and brothers, do away with his aunts and sisters, and then watch the Xiao Family fall before him, only for new noble families to grow from this soil, even more fiercely and openly drinking blood.
The mountains of Lixia County rose and fell before his eyes, the bloody disaster seemed to have passed, and the commoners walked through the empty alleys, while outside the city, wolves of various hues prowled, their eyes green and waiting, the disaster having fed them, so they still crave human flesh to this day.
The colored light of divine powers gradually rose from Xiao Chuchou's body, circulating continuously in the sky, like a stone cast into a lake, creating ripples that spread out. The voice that came from his mouth echoed in the air, carried by divine powers to all directions.
"Lijing's Xiao Family, Xiao Chuting, today bears witness to Zifu! Following tradition, the Xiao Family will break away from the Green Pond Sect, declaring the formation of the Zifu Immortal Clan. In three months, a ceremonial tribute will be held, to which all Taoist fellows are welcome to attend the ceremony!"
