Family Cultivation: I Become a Mirror-Chapter 38: Transmission of the Dharma

"A few months ago, I secretly tested your root bone,"

Li Xiangping paused for a few breaths, then turned to look down at Li Xuanxuan, who was full of excitement and expectation, and spoke again:

"There is no spirit aperture in your qi sea."

Li Xuanxuan felt like thunder had struck on a sunny day, his mind went blank, a surge of bitterness flooded his heart, his eyes turned red, his lips tightly pursed, a look of utter disbelief on his face.

He did not understand much about the scarcity of spirit apertures in the world, only feeling that although the number of cultivators in the entire village was less than a handful, both of his elders were cultivators, and even a branch of his family had produced a Li Qiuyang. He thought that no matter how poor his talent was, he should have a spirit aperture.

Now, hearing that he was devoid of a spirit aperture and would remain a mortal all his life, his heart sunk into darkness, and his eyes gradually moistened.

"This Mirror is a treasure I found when I was catching fish in the river as a child,"

Li Xiangping pointed at the cyan-gray Mirror on the stone platform and, seeing Li Xuanxuan’s expression, gently touched his head and chuckled softly:

"Do you know its wonderful use?"

Li Xuanxuan, holding back tears, answered earnestly:

"Xuanxuan does not know."

"Its wonderful use is that it allows those without spirit apertures to cultivate."

Hearing this, Li Xuanxuan was momentarily stunned, staring blankly at Li Xiangping’s face, suddenly feeling a hope as warm as the sun rise in his heart, and he couldn’t help but break into a tearful smile, sobbing:

"Uncle, you must be teasing me."

After saying that and looking at Li Xiangping’s face, which was almost but not quite smiling, Li Xuanxuan thought carefully, shivered, and couldn’t help but blurt out:

"Could it be..."

"Exactly."

Li Xiangping nodded and said with a serious tone:

"Your father has no spirit aperture, your second uncle and I have no spirit aperture, and even your fourth uncle Li Chijin, who cultivates at the Immortal Sect, also has no spirit aperture."

"The rise of our Li Family is all thanks to this Mirror. Without it, you and I would be nothing more than farmers working in the fields!"

Li Xuanxuan was struck dumb by this news and couldn’t speak. He felt the world spinning, and dryly said:

"Just by picking up a Mirror from the river, our family ascended from mortals to immortals?"

"Indeed! This Mirror can refine moonlight and bestow the Mysterious Pearl Talisman Seed upon someone, it’s incredibly magical, and if word got out, our Li Family would surely be wiped from existence!"

Li Xiangping gave a warning and, seeing Li Xuanxuan’s shocked expression, paused.

Li Xuanxuan, however, muttered to himself, quickly and suddenly replying:

"So that’s how it is! That’s how it is! No wonder Grandfather always kept silent when I asked him about Foundation Establishment. Our family doesn’t have three spirit apertures because Grandfather had achieved Foundation Establishment, but because of this treasure!"

"Just now, uncle didn’t want Li Qiuyang to touch me in order to conceal the secret that I have no spirit aperture; the Liu Family member who came to the mountain uninvited was immediately killed by our family, not because uncle is brutal, but because he is afraid..."

As Li Xuanxuan pondered, he felt a chill down his spine and broke out in a cold sweat. He bowed to Li Xiangping and said:

"Everyone thinks Uncle is brutal and suspicious, but they have misunderstood you! How could our Li Family not be cautious, guarding such a treasure."

Li Xiangping was stunned as well, staring blankly at Li Xuanxuan in front of him, feeling that this child was completely different from the one in his memory, and took a few more glances at him, then asked gently:

"Then why did I tell Li Qiuyang that you would form the Xuanjing Wheel?"

Li Xuanxuan stroked his chin, pondered for a few moments, and replied:

"It must be that Mirror has a special effect that doubles the efficiency of cultivating Xuanjing! Afraid that Li Qiuyang would become suspicious, the third uncle lied, claiming that I had started cultivating a few months ago."

"Good!"

Li Xiangping nodded in satisfaction and patted his shoulder.

"You truly are a child of the Li Family, following your grandfather every day, you have indeed learned a lot!"

Having said that, he bent over, tapped gently at the bottom of the stone platform, took out a wooden slip from the side, and placed it into Li Xuanxuan’s hands. Watching Li Xuanxuan receive it respectfully, he then explained in a low voice:

"This secret technique is called the ’Guidance Technique,’ a marvelous method to guide the Mysterious Pearl Talisman Seed. You shall carefully read it this month, and on the day of the winter solstice, you will be granted the Talisman Seed. You will sleep in the adjoining room in the meantime, and I will have someone bring your meals."

"Yes."

Li Xuanxuan nodded deeply, watched as Li Xiangping closed the door, and as the sound of footsteps gradually faded away, he lowered his head and carefully began to read.

————

"...Father is in good health, and my second brother has mastered Zhouxing, sending along three Serpent Origin Pills with this letter, hoping that Jing’er will diligently cultivate and soon achieve Qi Cultivation. All is well at home, do not worry!"

Li Chijin carefully stored the letter, wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, and placed the three bottles of Serpent Origin Pills on the shelf meticulously. He then turned to Xiao Yuansi and expressed his gratitude:

"Thank you so much, senior brother! Our family owes you a great debt, and Jing’er is immensely grateful."

"Not at all!"

Xiao Yuansi shook his head and said:

"Brothers of the same sect should be as close as one family, no need for such formalities."

Li Chijin nodded slightly and said quietly:

"With these Serpent Origin Pills, together with the Bright Divine Powder bestowed by master, I am ninety percent confident I can condense the Yujing Wheel."

After pondering for a few moments, Li Chijin asked softly:

"Master once said that one must swallow a breath of nature’s spiritual energy to transition from Fetal Breathing to Qi Cultivation, may I ask if there are any secrets to this?"

Xiao Yuansi took a sip from his tea cup, moistening his throat before explaining:

"For Qi Refinement, one must first absorb a breath of nature’s spiritual energy. This Spiritual Energy could be refined from the spirit energy in the mountains, or transformed from the Evil Qi of Earth Veins, or derived from the Morning Glow Qi condensed from the clouds and fog..."

"In essence, this breath should best be compatible with your cultivation technique, to be most pure and potent, laying the foundation for cultivating mana. Those Loose Cultivators outside the sect mostly use refined spirit energy from the mountains, which is compatible with various techniques but excels at neither and has no particular weaknesses."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Li Chijin became quite curious and quickly inquired:

"Which Qi Cultivation technique would be better to transition to from our family’s technique? And what kind of nature’s spiritual energy do we need?"

"Though I do not know the specifics of your family’s technique, observing your clear and bright mana, there are indeed many Qi Cultivation Stage techniques within our sect that are suitable for you to transition to."

Xiao Yuansi smiled, set down his tea cup, and continued under Li Chijin’s curious gaze:

"One of them is called Primordial Clearing Rain Controlling Technique, the most renowned ultimate skill of our Green Pond Sect, using spirit energy refined from the rain mists of the Spirit Mountains. It excels at cloud manipulation and rain control, and works best when confronting opponents with flexibility."

"The second is the Mount Yin Forest Mist Technique, which uses Yin Energy from the mountains, and is rarely mastered by members of our sect."

"The third is a technique that is quite difficult, called the Moon Lake Autumn Reflection Technique. Since the third Peak Master of the Moon Lake Peak mastered it, no one else has been able to do so. Perhaps there are some secrets to it, but that person has perished over three hundred years ago, so there is no way to inquire..."

Knowing that his own mana was closely related to the moonlight, Li Chijin felt a surge of excitement upon hearing the name, but his spirits fell when Xiao Yuansi mentioned that no one else could master it. He hurriedly asked:

"Why is that?"