Family Cultivation: I Become a Mirror-Chapter 115 - 106: The Great Fox

Li Qiuyang returned to the town for a few months when his father, Li Chengfu, died. The funeral was quite grand, with people from the main family coming to pay their respects. Li Qiuyang thanked each guest one by one and sat alone in the mortuary hall, staring blankly at his father's coffin, feeling uncomfortably reverent towards his older brothers.

Li Chengfu died rather peacefully, holding on until Li Qiuyang returned before he passed away in bed, his hand in Li Qiuyang's, departing quietly.

Looking at the mortuary hall draped with white cloth, Li Qiuyang vaguely remembered being seven years old when Li Chengfu heard that the main family was conducting Spirit Testing. He picked him up and walked out the door, and after following the stone-paved road for a while, Li Qiuyang asked his father:

"Dad, where are we going?"

"Seek Immortality!"

Laughing 'hehe,' Li Chengfu replied.

Later, when they returned to the clan and took back the Li surname, villagers and members of the Ye Clan flocked to curry favor. Li Chengfu, with his sharp eyes and competence, not only kept his older brothers under control without causing any trouble for Li Qiuyang, but he also found many tasks within the clan, which made their branch prosper day by day.

One day, after Li Chengfu had drunk too much, he said with a low laugh:

"When I was young, catching fat rats in the fields, I could see that there were three smart people in the village: one was Li Mutian, and one was Chen Erniu! One was fierce and calm, the other was clever and competent."

"And the third?"

Li Qiuyang asked with a smile. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"It's Ye Chengfu."

With a hearty laugh, Li Chengfu's eyes glazed over with drunkenness, his bowl of wine wobbling in his hand.

Li Qiuyang was suddenly startled back to reality, glancing at Li Chengfu, who lay cold in the coffin. A bouncing child with a white cloth tied around his forehead entered, tearfully looking at him.

"Daddy!"

As he held his youngest son in his arms, Li Qiuyang murmured to himself:

"All eight of you lack a Spirit Aperture; where then lies the hope for our lineage?"

"As a father, I can only ensure you a life of wealth, but with no Spirit Aperture, you might have to join your forefather sooner rather than later."

Looking at his bewildered child, he had just started to speak when a clan soldier walked in from outside, bowing and saying:

"Uncle, the Family Head summons you."

Li Qiuyang quickly stood up, tidied his clothes, and hurriedly ascended to Lijing Mountain. As he walked along the stone-paved path, he came upon a massive patterned snake's corpse sprawled on the ground.

"What a long creature!"

Li Qiuyang marveled before Li Xuanxuan could speak, and very consciously bent down, casting the Spirit Sealing Technique into the demonic creature. Li Xuanxuan, smiling radiantly, asked:

"Uncle, how is your cultivation progressing?"

"The Fourth Layer of Green Yuan Wheel."

Li Qiuyang chuckled, while Li Xuanfeng, wiping his bow and dressed in plain clothing, was silent, clearly in a mood.

The clan soldiers rushed up, sweating profusely, and whispered into Li Xuanxuan's ear:

"Family Head! News from Shanyue, Ganixi is dead! Assassinated during the great Shanyue sacrifice."

Li Xuanxuan stiffened, her eyes brightening with joy. She quickly stood up and announced to the two:

"Ganixi is dead, assassinated during the sacrifice. Now, we can sleep peacefully! What luck!"

Both men were stunned for a moment; Li Xuanfeng stopped in his tracks and coldly said:

"That's too good for him."

Li Qiuyang's expression was quite complex as he quietly said:

"When I was in Shanyue territory, I saw many Shanyue commoners who adored him; how could he be assassinated..."

Li Xuanxuan nodded and took over the conversation, expressing her doubt:

"Furthermore, his cultivation level was at least at the Qi Cultivating Peak. Who else but someone at Foundation Establishment could have killed him? There are so many dubious points, I'm afraid the waters are very deep."

"What about Uncle Zhong? I'm afraid only he knows the intricacies!"

Li Xuanxuan looked up and posed the question, only to see Li Xuanfeng reply:

"Gone to kill demons."

————

Following the mountain's veins, Li Tongya walked for a while and, according to memory, found under a cliff a large banyan tree with pale leaves, standing on the hillside with its numerous white leaves scattered about, painting the ground speckled white.

Having found the place in his memory, he indeed saw a large crimson fox sleeping soundly by the tree. He stopped in his tracks, and the fox's ears sharply pricked up as it squinted and glared at him.

Li Tongya watched quietly for a while. This demon's cultivation level was around the Fifth Layer of Qi Training. He had seen it before when he was seeking a Prayer Talisman sacrifice, and had been frightened off by its imposing aura from a distance. Now that his own cultivation level had increased, it was a good opportunity to test his sword on it.

The big fox's eyes were quite agile, licking its paw as it eyed the sword in his hand and then opening its mouth to stammer:

"I... haven't eaten... humans."

Li Tongya was momentarily stunned, and used his Spiritual Sense to sweep over the big fox, confirming that it was at the Fifth Layer of Qi Training and not at Foundation Establishment. It was the first time he had encountered a demon with an opened spiritual intellect and a Refining Horizontal Bone. For a moment, he didn't know how to respond and softly said:

"Taoist Fellow... I merely wish to exchange pointers with you, with no intention of causing harm."

Seeing the big fox stuttering, Li Tongya couldn't help but laugh. He raised his hand and slashed toward the fox, which leapt on the spot and reached out its claws to block, causing a cacophony of clashing metals. After exchanging dozens of moves, Li Tongya felt confident and drew a distance to unleash his Sword Qi.

The demon fox was at a disadvantage for a time, blocking several waves of Sword Qi and then spewed out a string of Fox Fire.

The Fox Fire was a blazing red, a series of flames rushing toward Li Tongya's face, prompting him to retreat several steps. To his surprise, the Fox Fire followed like a shadow, crackling as it clung to Li Tongya's Protective True Essence.

Li Tongya spent several strands of True Yuan to extinguish the Fox Fire, but by then the big fox had already pounced forward, ready for close combat with Li Tongya.

However, Li Tongya had already sheathed his sword and was gathering strength. A white light shone from his hand as the Moon Que Sword Arc surged forth. The white sword arc was exceptionally sharp, causing the big fox's hair to bristle as it rapidly retreated, spitting out several orbs of Fox Fire before the Sword Qi was neutralized.

Having withstood the Moon Que Sword Arc, the big fox faced several strands of Sword Qi and started wailing. Its speech became much more fluent as it repeatedly said:

"I yield! I yield... There's a Demon General above me, you... shouldn't kill me!"

Li Tongya paused the sword in his hand and sought to seize the moment to gather information, so he sheathed his sword and smiled:

"Your Fox Fire is impressively fierce, Taoist Fellow!"

"Not as fierce as your sword."

The fox let out a low sigh, showing a hint of humanized defeat as it plopped down under the banyan tree, responding:

"Are you the Immortal of that family at the foot of the mountain? There's someone who uses a bow and has slain many demons, do you know him?"

As soon as Li Tongya heard it speak of the archer, he knew, and with a polite gesture, he said:

"Thank you for your leniency, Taoist Fellow. He is indeed a junior in my family."

The big fox smacked its lips and started grooming its fur, calling out lazily:

"How many die has nothing to do with me. Just don't disturb the big mountain Pig Demon, and you are free to hunt the peripheral demons."

"May I know about this Demon General?"

Li Tongya asked politely, and saw the big fox rise to its feet, grinding its teeth as it said:

"It's a Foundation Establishment Pig Demon, all the demons in this area are under its control, so domineering... it eats this and that, forcing me to offer up Spirit Bamboo shoots to it every year..."

Li Tongya nodded, thinking to himself:

"There indeed exists a Foundation Establishment demon in these mountains, it's fortunate I didn't rashly charge into the mountains! Just circling around the outskirts instead."