Li Tianyue's proposed plan still showed the bearing of a true strategist. His idea was simple: spread the news that Li Yunlin was trapped. If the Tian Xing Tear ended up being lost because of it, so be it — the Nascent Soul experts wouldn't dare kill Li Yunlin anyway. Moreover, once the Tian Xing Tear appeared publicly, it would almost certainly spark infighting among the various factions vying for it. The Li family could then take advantage of the resulting chaos to hunt down the rival factions' younger generation operating in the outer zones, before quietly retreating into the shadows to await bigger opportunities.
By contrast, Li Tianyi's plan was much more aggressive and reckless. His idea was to capture all the rival factions' younger cultivators and, in front of everyone, force the Nangong family to guarantee Li Yunlin's safe return. After rescuing Li Yunlin, they would extort as many benefits as they could... and then, without warning, break their promise and slaughter all the captured juniors.
Their logic was that although they might not be able to defeat the Nascent Soul elders outright, handling the juniors should be easy enough.
However, plans rarely kept pace with changing circumstances.
In fact, the Li family members stationed in the Abode had already begun capturing young geniuses left and right.
Meanwhile, inside the Skyveil Hall, Li Wei shifted his focus back to Li Yunlin. He had already formulated a rough strategy of his own, but no matter what he tried, he couldn't wake Li Yunlin. Before him, Li Yunlin sat motionless, with the Tian Xing Tear hovering beside him, continuing its slow, steady refinement process.
Suddenly, a system notification appeared before Li Wei:
[Your descendant Li Yunlin is currently receiving the inheritance of Venerable Tian Xing, comprehending the entirety of the Venerable's early life.]
[He senses that, once the process is complete, he may face the Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation!]
[Expend 1 Family Will to jointly experience Venerable Tian Xing's two thousand years of memories alongside your descendant? Y/N]
"He's really about to face the Nine-Nine Tribulation?" A spark of joy lit up Li Wei's face. If Yunlin truly triggered and transcended the Nine-Nine Tribulation right now, it could change everything! Once he fully absorbed the Tian Xing Tear and survived the Tribulation before everyone's eyes, how could Nangong Yazhi possibly dare to touch him afterward?
Without hesitation, Li Wei selected "Yes."
In the next instant, scenes from Venerable Tian Xing's life began flashing rapidly before his eyes, unfolding moment by moment like an endless river of time.
Tian Xing had been born in a small village. Both his parents were alive, and his family was genuinely warm and caring. With a Three Spirit Root aptitude, Tian Xing became only the second person in his village's history to set foot on the path of cultivation, eventually gaining admission into a sect.
Although he devoted his entire life to the pursuit of the Dao, his beginnings were modest. In his first sect, the only cultivation technique available to him was of Yellow-rank quality — basic and limited. However, by a stroke of luck, Tian Xing stumbled upon a formation array left behind by a deceased Golden Core expert. With the aid of this discovery, his cultivation advanced rapidly. At the age of fifty, he successfully broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage and soon after transferred to another, presumably stronger, sect.
By the time he reached one hundred years old, Tian Xing had earned the admiration of his new Golden Core-level sect. His diligent cultivation and unwavering dedication to the Dao, similar to how Li Yunlin had once been guided by Daoist Zhenyang, won him the opportunity to enter the sect's hidden sacred grounds and receive their inheritance.
However, that same year, Tian Xing made a grave mistake.
Within the ancient inheritance, he came across a dark technique. Tempted by its promises, he began using living beings — ordinary commoners — as human cauldrons. Over several decades, relying on the formation he had previously obtained, he refined the life essence of countless victims to forcefully advance his cultivation. It was through this sinister method that he pushed past the Golden Core realm and forged a Heavenly Core.
By the age of three hundred, he had become widely known as "Daoist Tian Xing." He later joined yet another sect, where he steadily rose in power and status until eventually becoming one of its Elders.
Later, after becoming the most powerful Elder in his third sect, Tian Xing received an invitation to join yet another sect — one that promised to assist him in breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm. This new sect turned out to be one of the supreme powers within the Eternal Sun Prefecture, a true sacred ground. It was also the place of origin for the Rank 7 spirit object Li Yunlin had once discovered: the Azure Mist Branch. This place was known as Azure Mist Mountain — now often revered as Azure Mist Sacred Mountain — and legends claimed that peerless experts resided there, hidden from the world.
By witnessing the memories of Venerable Tian Xing's life, Li Wei came to understand just how worthy of its reputation Azure Mist Mountain truly was. Its core inner disciples were incredibly few — probably fewer than a hundred — and all lived in seclusion, detached from mundane affairs. Yet even so, Azure Mist Mountain's influence extended far and wide, even reaching into the Imperial Dynasty itself.
Tian Xing's own master at Azure Mist Mountain, despite merely holding the title of Elder, was in fact a legendary figure at the Void Refining realm!
In the end, after over four centuries of cultivation, Tian Xing finally earned the favor of his master, Venerable Elder Baimei. Through his master's support and guidance, Tian Xing was given the opportunity to shatter his Golden Core and successfully form his Nascent Soul, marking a true transformation in his path of cultivation.
By the time he reached fifteen hundred years of age, Venerable Tian Xing had long since stabilized his Nascent Soul cultivation, standing just one step away from the Divinity Transformation realm.
However, seeing that Tian Xing's remaining lifespan was no more than five hundred years, Venerable Elder Baimei uncovered the root of his disciple's bottleneck: in his early years, Tian Xing had committed a grave taboo — the massacre of an entire Region's worth of people, slaughtering a million living souls. Elder Baimei feared that this sin had birthed a deep-seated heart demon, a flaw that Tian Xing would never be able to overcome. Thus, he concluded, Tian Xing would likely be unable to reach the Divinity Transformation stage in this lifetime.
Venerable Elder Baimei advised Tian Xing to focus on cultivating his heart and nurturing inner peace, reminding him that sometimes, even the greatest cultivators must learn to accept fate.
Yet Tian Xing merely laughed coldly and declared:
"Cultivators struggle against others, and they struggle against Heaven itself. I traverse the vast heavens — why should I ever fear defying Heaven's decree?"
With that, Li Wei watched as Venerable Tian Xing cast one last glance back at Azure Mist Sacred Mountain before turning away and leaving the mountain range behind, never to return.
Li Wei snapped back to himself inside the Skyveil Hall, his eyes flying open in disbelief.
"Huh? That's it?"
Something felt wrong. From what Li Wei knew of history, Venerable Tian Xing should have gone on to break through the Nascent Soul stage, achieve Soul Projection, and eventually step into the Divinity Transformation realm. That was how the records described it!
But now, he realized: the memories sealed within the Tian Xing Tear only spanned Tian Xing's first eighteen hundred years — everything beyond that point had been deliberately erased.
"Still, it's acceptable," Li Wei said, smiling with satisfaction. "We still reaped considerable benefits."
At that moment, Li Yunlin also emerged from his deep immersion with the Tian Xing Tear, beginning the slow process of internally digesting the inheritance he had received. Although he had lived through millennia of experiences inside the Tian Xing Tear, in the outside world, only about half a month had passed.
Reviewing the knowledge and rewards gained from sharing in the Tian Xing Tear's inheritance, Li Wei nodded to himself with satisfaction.
"That one point of Family Will was definitely worth it!"
---
Donate on Ko-fi ➡️ [https://ko-fi.com/darktea] ⬅️
Get Early Access to 40 Chapters: Search for "Dark Tea" on Ko-fi (Explore tab) and join my membership to read ahead!