[Year 855]
[Your descendant Li Jianning breaks through to the Nascent Soul realm!]
[Your descendant Li Yunlin, through the Old Tree's 'Eye of Delusion Breaking', peered into twenty-three Dao Gates, yet not a single one was passable!]
Western Frontier, Golden Toad Divine Palace.
Li Yunlin and the clansmen sat in the central great hall.
Even with twenty-three Dao paths proving impassable, Li Yunlin's face showed not the slightest hint of panic.
Moreover, reaching the absolute peak of a Dao path still required a karmic opportunity to break through the shackles of the Dao Gate, which was the truly troublesome part.
The most miraculous aspect of the Old Tree's current Eye of Delusion Breaking was its ability to peer into whether a Dao path was viable.
This prevented them from ending up like Sword Venerable Xiyu of the Sword Pavilion, who had spent massive amounts of time accumulating opportunities four times, only to fail fruitlessly all four times.
Amidst their thoughts, the clansmen had already begun discussing the matter of Third Uncle breaking through to the Body Integration realm.
"The most important thing right now is acquiring enough Fire-attribute rules to help the third brother force open his Dao Gate at the moment of the Nirvana Sage Elder's death."
Li Yaozu glanced around at the seated clansmen; Yunlin, Yunbing, Tianqi, the siblings Changsheng and Changyao, and Xinnian were all present.
After a moment of thought from the crowd, Li Yunbing said,
"Back then, when Dharma Master Hongzhen attempted to break through to Body Integration, the number of believers' souls and vital essence she consumed easily exceeded a million.
Therefore, we need sufficiently majestic flames to help Third Uncle break through his Dao.
Nine Void Refining cultivators of the Fire Dao, utilized through a Spirit Devouring Array and refined via alchemy methods, should be viable."
"..."
The clansmen were momentarily speechless.
The family was currently treading on thin ice. The Imperial Dynasty was eager for the Li Clan to commit some grave mistake warranting clan extermination.
If the murder of nine Void Refining cultivators were exposed, who knew how thrilled the Empress would be.
Even if they had a way to escape cleanly, where were they supposed to find nine Void Refining cultivators of the Fire Dao?
"Investigate this meticulously in secret. There is also Wenren Jiuyue; although his Daoist method focuses on the Heart Fire, he possesses extensive knowledge of Fire methods. We can extract information from him."
With Li Yaozu's declaration, the others raised no objections.
Li Yaozu looked at Li Yunlin and said gently, "Yunlin, don't be discouraged just because your twenty-three Dao paths are impassable."
"Rest assured, Father. Having cultivated to this point, I wouldn't let such minor setbacks affect me."
After finishing their discussion, everyone went about their respective tasks.
Li Yunlin floated into the air and instantly looked inward with his Spirit Soul.
The ancient, unadorned Dao Gate surfaced, and he stared at it, lost in thought for a long time.
Suddenly, the old cat appeared on his shoulder, its feline face unable to hide a sense of disbelief.
The old cat had also witnessed what happened that day after the Old Tree peered into the Dao Gates using the Eye of Delusion Breaking.
Even today, compared to Li Yunlin's disappointment over his twenty-three Dao paths being blocked, it felt much more shock.
Twenty-three Dao paths; they were all incredibly common Daos, so it was only natural that they were already occupied.
But...
At the end of the twenty-three Great Daos, there was the exact same aura.
That domineering aura had severed eighteen different Great Daos!
The immense difficulty the people of the world faced when breaking through to the Body Integration realm was largely the fault of this monstrous person.
"Damned beast."
The old cat let out a long sigh.
If not for this person, the old cat could have long gathered the power of the Skyveil Hall, and with just a single karmic opportunity, chosen any one of the eighteen Daoist methods at will to break through.
However, besides cursing, it felt mostly admiration.
If the people of the world knew who this person was, they would undoubtedly unite to kill him.
This person truly had the audacity to pull off such a feat.
But an act this heaven-defying... even if spoken aloud, no one would believe it.
"Little Lin, it seems the ordinary Great Daos are cut off. We must find another way."
"Mhm."
Li Yunlin nodded slightly.
"Old cat, truth be told, I don't want a single one of these twenty-three Daos.
When the Old Tree's root stems pierced my body and peered into my twenty-three Dao paths, I suddenly came to a realization.
You and I are anomalies; there are very few in this world like us."
The old cat loved hearing these words.
Within his Soul Sea, inside the Skyveil Hall, various comprehended rules transformed into techniques.
In the Golden Toad Divine Palace, the rhythmic aura of rules spread in all directions, profound and wondrous.
.......
[Year 857]
[Your unorthodox descendant, Li Chuyuan, has deepened his mastery of the Corpse Stitching Technique.
Heavily nurtured by the Peerless Hall, he has broken through to the peak of the Nascent Soul realm, acquiring the Trait: Peerless Disciple.
Under the banner of the Peerless Hall, his cultivation speed increases by 100%.]
[Han Ju and others covet the Li Clan more than ever, gathering numerous cultivators.
Through Li Chuyuan, you have discovered over a hundred enemies, including six Void Refining realm experts: Han Ju, Zishu Ling, Perfected Qiuyue, Gongyang Ju...]
[Zishu Ling'er once brought two Body Integration experts, but upon being detected, one of them chose to ignore the matter.
The Holy Master Hao Qiong from the Eastern Sea Daoist Sanctuary has come seeking the Li Clan descendants' formidable secret treasures, intending to forge his own Dao lineage.]
[At Han Ju's request, Li Chuyuan met with one of the three Great Elders of the Peerless Hall, Uncle Rain.
Hearing of the Li Clan's peculiarities, and having long known of them from Min Tiange, Uncle Rain took great interest.
He has come to breach the Azure Cloud Prefecture so that the Wu Tribe can enter the Imperial Dynasty from the Southern Frontier.]
[...]
With family affairs growing complex, Li Wei informed his descendants of everything one by one.
Meanwhile, he focused all his attention—not only on pursuing that wisp of time rule but also on gathering half-strands of various other rules into the Yin-Yang Fish diagram.
Only by condensing the Yin-Yang Fish diagram until it completely covered the Dao Gate would he have a chance to break it open.
As for these covetous enemies, what must come will come.
His only task during this period was to spare no effort in elevating his own strength.
This year, the Old Tree's Eye of Delusion Breaking refreshed once again.
Reflecting on how all twenty-three of Li Yunlin's Dao paths were occupied years ago, Li Wei raised an eyebrow.
He suddenly understood why Sword Venerable Xiyu had failed four times in the past, and why breaking through for the people of the world was so incredibly complicated—it was all the doing of that damned mysterious person.
Occupying one Dao path was bad enough, and occupying two—like Nun Dairou, who was currently suppressed by the family, unable to truly die or live peacefully—was exceptional.
But if someone had occupied more than three Dao paths, they would be a massive treasure to the entire world.
If such a person could be captured alive, a faction would only need to nurture three Void Refining cultivators to their absolute limits and prepare the necessary karmic opportunities, guaranteeing three Body Integration experts in the future.
Very few in the world dared to do something like this; no one wanted to become a highly coveted prize in the eyes of others.
"Don't let me find out who you are."
Li Wei cursed inwardly, yet couldn't help but feel covetous.
If this person could be captured, the family would gain at least eighteen Body Integration experts... But that was just wishful thinking.
A person like this might even be a Mahayana expert.
Amidst his thoughts, in Merit City—which experienced time nine times slower than outside the Myriad Dao Divine Bell Pagoda—those who returned this year weren't family descendants.
Instead... it was the Martial Emperor and Zhuo Linlin!
Most of the family's descendants were still in the early and middle stages of the Void Refining realm.
Even Li Yaozu lacked sufficient Spiritual power and couldn't fully refine Yaoqing's pills in a short time.
Without even reaching the Half-Step Body Integration realm, how could they possibly peer into Dao paths?
"This is fine too."
Li Wei murmured softly, then resumed his pursuit of the time rule.