Chapter 704 - Storm over Jade Capital, the Unfilial Descendant, Let the Enemy Come in His Own Time - Part 3

Two days passed.

Tang Aizu returned.

And with her came three hundred elite cavalry, flying the banner of the Li Clan.

The riders knew proper etiquette. They halted at the foot of the mountain, leaving only one man to accompany Tang Aizhu up the path, a spirited, broad-shouldered young man who walked like a dragon stalking its prey.

The man wore silver soft armor, a massive horse-slaying blade strapped across his back. At his waist hung a unique piece of ancient jade, carved in the shape of a blooming peach blossom. His attire clearly marked him as a general, but he was no mere officer.

This was Li Tianshi, the second son of the current patriarch of the Li Clan.

Li Tianshi was a formidable commander of the Great Zhou and a martial expert in his own right. This visit was a formal one, to pay respects to his supposed

reincarnated ancestor

, Li Yuan.

Upon arriving at the sect’s mountain gate, he bowed respectfully and said, “Many thanks for the escort.”

Tang Aizhu replied coolly, “The Sect Master may be out of seclusion, but that doesn’t mean he’ll agree to see you.”

Li Tianshi lowered his eyes in humility, bowed again, and said politely, “If the elder refuses, then so be it. But if his descendants know he’s here and fail to pay respects,

that

would be our shame.”

Tang Aizhu regarded him for a moment, then said, “Please wait here, General Li.”

“You have my gratitude,” Li Tianshi replied with another bow.

Tang Aizhu entered the tower and approached Li Yuan, who was still flipping through archival scrolls. She leaned close and whispered the situation into his ear, giving both the facts and her own assessment.

“This second young master of the Li Clan seems sincere,” she said quietly. “He believes in reincarnation. And given your power, status, and brilliance, there's no reason for someone like you to pose as another. That’s why he dares to come in person.”

Li Yuan closed the scroll he was reading.

It was a handwritten account titled

Travels Westward

, written by some mountain-wandering scholar.

It described a strange journey in which the writer supposedly sought the Divine Mother, wandered into a hidden realm, encountered immortal beings, and barely escaped alive.

Fascinating, yes, but unverifiable. Without witnesses, it was impossible to tell whether the tale was a genuine encounter or simply a fantasy dressed up as truth.

He asked, “If he’s sincere, why didn’t the eldest son come?”

Tang Aizhu had already considered that and explained, “Though the imperial court of the Great Zhou is still nominally under the Ying Clan, the Li Clan holds real power now. The Li patriarch hasn’t seized the throne outright, but anyone with eyes can see it. It’s only a matter of time.

“Whoever becomes the next head of the Li Clan...will also be Emperor of the Great Zhou. And with that, of course, comes infighting. The two brothers are at odds. That’s why it’s the second son, Li Tianshi, who came to see you, not the heir apparent.”

Li Yuan asked, “So, do you think he’s here to win my support for his claim? Or is he truly here because he believes I’m Li Yuan, his ancestor?”

Tang Aizhu answered simply, “You’ll know soon enough.”

Li Yuan nodded. “Bring him in.”

Moments later, Li Tianshi stepped through the doors.

Li Yuan sat upright, watching the young man approach. His gaze narrowed slightly, not because of the man’s bearing, but because of the 300~800 floating beside him.

For comparison, Sovereign Ye’s range was only 180~460.

This young man, who looked to be in his early twenties at most, was already brushing against the upper limits of transcendence. His talent wasn’t just exceptional, it was monstrous.

Perhaps he was even more monstrous than Lady Yu herself.

Li Tianshi stepped into the hall. He kept his eyes respectfully lowered, not daring to meet the gaze of the man seated high above.

Bowing deeply, he said in a clear voice, “I, Li Tianshi, descendant of the Li Clan’s fifth generation, pay my respects to Ancestor Li.”

Li Yuan said nothing at first. His eyes, instead, shifted from the young man’s face to the object hanging at his waist, a peach-blossom-shaped piece of ancient jade.

And then, he chuckled.

He remembered the origins of the Li Clan very well. It was a clan created by Empress Dowager Xie Wei, back when she still held power. She had gifted him the family, so to speak.

The world knew only the great houses, Ying, Xie, and Ji. No one knew the name

Li Yuan

.

So Xie Wei, ever skilled in the art of politics, had fabricated the Li Clan from thin air and established a legend around an ancient patriarch, Li Yuan himself.

Every generation of the Li Clan since then had been taught to revere this so-called founding ancestor. And as the family gradually rose to power, even overtaking the Great Zhou, that reverence only grew deeper.

Of course, Xie Wei had left behind more than just a myth. She’d made sure there were tokens, artifacts that could confirm identity if this

ancestor

ever appeared again. One of those tokens was now dangling from Li Tianshi’s waist.

Xie Wei had been a master of making pastries, especially peach blossom cakes. She used to offer them to Li Yuan with great care. In return, he had once carved a series of peach-blossom jades for her, something to pass the time.

His skill had been exquisite, almost divine. Those carvings weren’t just art; they carried power. They couldn’t be replicated, not due to skill but because the strength behind them was inimitable.

The peach blossom jade at Li Tianshi’s waist was unmistakably one of his own creations.

So now it was a game of mutual probing.

Li Yuan wanted to know why Li Tianshi had really come.

And Li Tianshi, for his part, was testing whether this man was truly the legendary ancestor of his clan.

If he was, then Li Tianshi would acknowledge him sincerely.

If he wasn’t...well, the courtesy would still be given, but the heart would remain guarded.

Understanding this, Li Yuan decided to cut straight through the dance. He let out a soft sigh.

“This peach-blossom jade...it’s nearly 200 years old now. When I first carved it, it was just a plain square of jade. I used my finger as a blade and etched a single peach blossom into it. Back then, the Empress Dowager smiled and told me that the blossom remains and so does the man. It feels like yesterday...and yet everything’s changed.”

Li Tianshi froze, stunned. He slowly raised his head, looking at the young-looking man seated on high, who was now smiling calmly at him.

And then he bowed again, more deeply than before.

“Ancestor Li.” His voice trembled.

Li Yuan flicked his sleeve and rose, appearing at the doorway in an instant.

“Come,” he said. “Let’s take a walk. The air in here is too stifling.”

“Yes, Ancestor,” Li Tianshi replied, quickly following behind.

A short while later, Li Yuan had pieced together the purpose of this visit.

Li Tianshi had come to invite him to Jade Capital, the imperial capital.

And the one who had sent him was none other than the current head of the Li Clan, his supposed descendant, Li Xuan.

The Li Clan had now reached its fifth generation. The line of succession went, Li Hu, Li Mingze, Li Yuanrui, and then Li Xuan.

Li Tianshi and his elder brother, Li Chengxian, were both part of that fifth generation.

To invite the Sect Master of Tang Sect to Jade Capital was, on paper, an impossible task. Both were leaders of powerful factions. Why would one walk straight into the stronghold of a potential rival?

But once Li Tianshi was sure that Li Yuan truly was the ancestral founder of his clan, he dropped all pretense and spoke plainly.

“My father sent me here knowing full well I wouldn’t succeed. This mission was never meant to be accomplished. It was a political maneuver to undermine me and raise my brother’s standing. But now that you’ve recognized the peach blossom jade, Ancestor, I must return and set the record straight. Our family has prospered because of your legacy. If we forget that...we’d be no better than beasts.”

He hesitated, just for a moment, before continuing with firm resolve.

“I won’t hide it. My father, my brother, and I, we’ve all stepped into transcendence. This means...war between the great factions is inevitable. It won’t stop until one power unites the land. And if you'll allow it...I, Tianshi, would serve at your side.”

Li Yuan, seeing his honesty, asked, “How did your family step into transcendence?”

“About 20 years ago,” Li Tianshi replied, “a man named Mister Mu came to our household. He spoke with my father late into the night, and by morning, Father had grasped the method of initiation. Later, using some fabricated excuse, he took me and my brother to ascend the imperial altar with the Son of Heaven and perform a ritual of bestowal upon the land. That was how our cultivation path began.”

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes in thought.

So someone had already reverse-engineered the method of transcendence from Lady Yu’s awakening, two decades ago, no less. And they'd kept it deeply buried until now.

“And this Mister Mu...who was he?” Li Yuan asked.

Li Tianshi shook his head, but then added, “Right—my father also mentioned that in Jade Capital, a powerful warrior wants to challenge you. I suspect it’s a ploy to provoke you.”

Li Yuan gave a wry smile.

Ever since he’d become the Sect Master of the Tang Sect, he had projected the image of a man who

loved

a good spectacle. Whether it was challenging the Thousand Leagues Iron Wall during his succession, or the grand parade through the southern territories, everything he did was theatrical.

So, naturally, some people thought he was easy to bait.

He chuckled and said, “And do you think that sort of thing would work on me?”

Li Tianshi paused, then said thoughtfully, “The simpler the trick, the more likely it is to succeed. I believe...if I had said nothing, and instead spiced up the tale a bit, exaggerated how they were mocking you, there might’ve been a fifty-fifty chance you’d take the bait. That was before I met you, Ancestor. Now? I think the odds are zero.”

Li Yuan shook his head. “You’re wrong.”

Li Tianshi blinked in confusion. “What...?”

“I accept the invitation,” Li Yuan said, calm and composed.

Li Tianshi’s face changed instantly. Alarmed, he blurted, “You can’t, Ancestor! The Jade Capital is a trap. This journey is too dangerous. You must not come with me!”

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Several days later.

Two identical Li Yuans sat across from a bronze mirror.

One of them turned to the other and said, “Aizhu, I’m sending the Tang Sect’s finest elites with you to the Jade Capital. If I’m right, this trip will be dramatic but not deadly. Still, you’ll need to be careful.”

Tang Aizhu, now wearing a human-skin mask, gave a solemn nod. “I understand.”

“I told Li Tianshi I’d need half a month to prepare. In the meantime, you’ll stay by my side each day,” Li Yuan said.

“What you’re drawn to is similar to my own path. Not dusk, but death. Yet both hold the meaning of finality. I’ll teach you an old set of fist forms. Add in a bit more despair to it, and maybe you’ll be able to break through into transcendence. And once we’re on the road, you can continue cultivating.”

He paused, then added, “Li Tianshi seems trustworthy. I’ll write him a letter. When you reach the borders of the Great Zhou, reveal your identity and show him the letter.”

“Yes, Master,” Tang Aizhu replied respectfully.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Half a month later.

A total of 1,000 Tang Sect elites and 3,000 Ji Clan cavalrymen escorted the Sect Master northward, accompanying Li Tianshi on his return journey to the Jade Capital.

With their departure, the Tang Sect headquarters fell into sudden quiet.

But Li Yuan wasn’t sitting on the throne within the sect. Instead, he’d found a solitary cliff deep in the mountains, from which he could sense the movements of the Tang Sect from afar. He neither trained nor cultivated. He just watched the clouds roll by.

By now, he was certain. Mister Mu was in league with the deceased Sovereign Ye.

Piecing together the death of the Song Clan head and the lewd painting that had involved Lady Yu, he began to form a clearer picture.

His guesses weren’t entirely precise, but he could be sure of one thing: Li Tianshi’s invitation to the Jade Capital had been orchestrated by Mister Mu.

Whatever Mister Mu intended, Li Yuan would let him carry it out. He’d simply follow along.

If

he

were Mister Mu, he’d probably be planning a classic bait-and-switch, luring the tiger from its mountain.

Li Yuan tilted his head back and gazed at the drifting sky. He stretched his neck and began to hope, just a little, that someone would come and help him work out the kinks in his new power, help him stabilize his freshly-broken realm of Greater Insight.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Another month passed.

Spring neared its end, and the mountain was a riot of blooming colors.

Li Yuan sat quietly, surviving on a few strips of dried meat and steamed flatbread he’d brought with him. He hadn’t even lit a fire. He simply waited, with the patience of someone who knew exactly what was coming.

About 50 kilometers from Tang Sect’s peak, a dense forest suddenly stirred, with the appearance of three hundred wolf cavalry.

At their head rode six figures, each one brimming with killing intent and unmistakable command. Every one of them radiated the unmistakable presence of a peak-tier combatant.

Had Li Yuan been present, he’d have instantly seen it. The floating numbers at their sides were all over 100.

These were six masters of the Lesser Insight Realm.

Even when a lion hunted a rabbit, it used all its strength. Clearly, their side understood this truth well.

The 300 wolf riders moved like wind through the woods. When they were 15 kilometers from Tang Sect, they paused to rest.

Then, in the pre-dawn hours of the next morning, they surged forth, riding their wolves, howling through the wind, launching a vicious ambush upon the Tang Sect.

At the head of the formation was a tall, gaunt man with a face like the dead, none other than Mister Mu himself, the one who could sever lifelines.

Back on the cliff, Li Yuan was dozing beneath an old pine.

His clothes were worn and tattered, hair loose across his shoulders.

But the instant the wolf riders struck, his eyes snapped open.

He rose, hands clasped behind his back, and stepped into the pale light of the setting moon, soaring through the air toward the Tang Sect.