How Far Can We Go

For low-grade talismans such as Communication Talismans, although they were still not yet at the point where they could be used extravagantly and casually, at least they no longer had to hoard every talisman as if it were a priceless treasure.

Moreover, the Lingxian Sect had revealed that after some time, they would teach the Li clan how to draw Communication Talismans!

That meant they would be able to produce Communication Talismans themselves in the future.

The Lingxian Sect had also said that Communication Talismans were a commonly used type of talisman, and that there was no shortage of buyers for them in the cultivation world. They sold extremely well. Compared with the more unusual talismans they had previously taught the various sects to make, Communication Talismans would be in far greater demand—in fact, they could sell as many as they were able to produce.

With this channel established, the Li clan would finally be able to build up its wealth!

In time, perhaps the Li clan would even be able to nurture more cultivators, instead of having its entire standing depend on Li Zhanying alone.

This placed a great deal of invisible pressure on Li Zhanying.

The Li clan’s sole Core Formation cultivator, Li Zeyuan, was not in the imperial capital. He had lived for many years at an imperial estate outside the capital.

He disliked the imperial capital, finding it somewhat stifling.

Besides, the Li clan did not need him to remain there and hold down the fort or take charge of affairs, so he had considerable freedom in choosing where to cultivate.

After receiving a message from his clan’s old ancestor, Li Zeyuan took his storage bag and set off.

Ever since he had participated in the campaign against the Huanyou Kingdom, he had realized how precarious the mortal world’s situation was. Upon returning, he had devoted himself to cultivation—or rather, the cultivator strategists of the Li clan had discussed the matter among themselves, and Li Zeyuan happened to overhear them. Only then did he suddenly understand the situation. After that, he holed up at his estate to cultivate.

To say that he had devoted himself to cultivation was somewhat of an exaggeration. In truth, he had merely reduced the amount of time he spent wandering through the fields and countryside to use for cultivation. His greatest pleasures—eating huge mouthfuls of meat and drinking large bowls of wine—remained unchanged.

Although Li Yuanze had reached the Core Formation stage at the age of one hundred and thirty, making him, aside from Li Zhanying, the most talented person in the entire Li clan, he himself did not have particularly great ambitions or aspirations.

When he was young, he had once accompanied an elder on a secret inspection of an imperial estate. There, he saw the farmers rise with the sun and retire with its setting. During the day, they worked beneath the sunlight, sweat streaming down their faces. In the evening, they sat in the courtyards of their homes, enjoying the cool air and chatting about everyday matters. The men took sips of muddy wine, while the women cooked and set the table beneath the rosy afterglow of sunset.

Chimney smoke, carrying the unique fragrance of home-cooked food, curled slowly upward from the rooftops of every household.

At that moment, he fell in love with the leisurely peace of the countryside.

Thus, the greatest pursuit of his entire life was to continue enjoying this tranquil, unhurried way of living.

To most people, such a pursuit could be described as utterly lacking in ambition. To make matters worse, he was a member of the Li imperial clan. Many believed that his attitude was wrong. The people around him tried their utmost to persuade him and help him “return to the right path” by establishing lofty ambitions.

But Li Zhanying stopped them all.

In Li Zhanying’s view, Li Zeyuan’s rapid cultivation progress might very well be connected to this state of mind.

The longer Li Zhanying cultivated, the more he felt that cultivation level and state of mind were closely related.

Of course, there were very few high-level cultivators with whom he could form deep friendships, so he could not be certain that his judgment was correct. Still, considering his own circumstances, he thought it might be true.

Perhaps hard work was crucial during the early stages, but the higher one’s cultivation, the more difficult it became to break through bottlenecks.

He himself had borne heavy pressure since childhood. Every step he took required careful consideration, and the path of cultivation was no different. He was always afraid of making a mistake.

He had not felt this so deeply when he was at the Core Formation stage, but now that he had reached the Nascent Soul stage, every step forward was exceedingly difficult.

And whenever he found himself unable to progress, he was always trapped by the tangled thoughts that arose when attempting a breakthrough.

He found it difficult to calm his mind, and even more difficult to achieve true purity of thought.

That was why, when he had first seen Li Zeyuan’s clear gaze and simple aspirations, he had not wanted the young man to become like him.

Li Zhanying wanted to see how far Li Zeyuan could go.

As a result, although Li Zeyuan had reached the Core Formation stage and was now already one hundred and sixty years old, he remained forthright and sincere, with little aptitude for scheming.

Usually, if the old ancestor assigned him a task, he would go and carry it out. If he had no task, he simply stayed at the imperial estate and lived out his ordinary cultivation routine.

Had it not been for the matter of the Jishi, he would never have reduced his pleasures and worked so hard at cultivation over the past two or three years.

This time, the old ancestor’s order gave Li Zeyuan a perfectly legitimate reason to leave home and stretch his legs.

While the imperial family was sending people out to search for He Yizhi, the person they were looking for was currently in Liaju Prefecture of Hufang Province, drinking tea and listening to music.

He Yi had booked a private room at the teahouse all by himself. He had opened the inward-facing window, which offered an excellent view. Outside the window, an elegant female performer on the first floor was singing and playing an instrument.

In fact, He Yi had not originally come here to listen to music.

A few days earlier, he had wandered into this area and happened to hear the storyteller in the teahouse recounting a tale about an organization called the Lingxian Sect.

After that, he came at the same time every day, and each day he heard a different story.

He had originally assumed that all teahouses in the mortal world were like this.

But today, when he arrived at the usual time and ordered a cup of tea, he discovered that the person walking onto the stage on the first floor was not the storyteller at all, but a young woman wearing a veil.

She was also carrying a pipa.

She sat down and began to sing.

At first, He Yi assumed the performance was merely a brief entertainment before the storytelling began, so he sat patiently and waited.

Unexpectedly, half an hour passed.

Should he leave, or continue waiting?

He Yi raised his hand and knocked on the doorframe of the private room. The waiter assigned to attend to the room immediately answered from outside in a respectful voice:

“This little one is here, sir. What can I do for you?”

He Yi simply asked, “No storytelling today?”

Upon hearing that this was what he wanted to know, the waiter immediately answered in a bright tone:

“To answer your question, sir, the storyteller heard yesterday afternoon that some new and interesting news had emerged from the Lingxian Sect. He immediately asked the manager for leave and rushed to Xiushui Village to gather material. Since there was no storyteller available today, the manager invited the well-known performer Zhang Jin’er—Master Zhang—to keep the audience entertained.”

“If you don’t care for Master Zhang’s style, Master Liu will be performing a dance later. Even Minister Gu has praised—”

Having learned what he wanted to know, He Yi had no patience to listen to the waiter introduce these irrelevant matters. He interrupted him and asked, “When will he be back?”

The waiter did not stumble or pause after being interrupted. He immediately cut off the words he had been about to say and answered:

“To answer your question, sir, storytellers’ research trips generally have no fixed duration. But our storyteller is exceptionally quick and efficient. If he remains within Hufang Province, he can usually make the round trip in two days and one night. And when he returns the next day, you can be sure his stories will be vivid and entertaining!”

Two days and one night.

If the storyteller had set out yesterday, then he should have returned today.

Yet there was still no storytelling scheduled at the teahouse.