He Jianlan watched her with icy eyes.
“I, of the Li Family, share the same blood, live and die together, and it has nothing to do with cultivation.” Xiao Yu Jing glanced at Wang Xiangru and said indifferently.
“Even Xianer, of Imperial lineage, is willing to stand with my family, the Lis, to the very last moment. It’s not a matter of cultivation,” Gao Qingqing added, though her tone was more subtle.
Jiang Xian’er, the fiancée of Li Junye, had only an engagement but was willing to remain a widow for Li Junye all her life. Now that Qingzhou faced an existential crisis, Li Muxiu had earlier suggested that Jiang Xian’er should leave. After all, she bore the Imperial bloodline. Moreover, she had not even shared a room with Li Junye, bound only by that sheet of marriage vow; however, Jiang Xian’er shook her head in refusal.
Hearing what Gao Qingqing said, Wang Xiangru’s face twisted with discomfort, realizing that she had spoken out of turn.
“It’s not what I mean. It’s just that from sister-in-law’s tone, I could not help but feel that she would relish in the misfortunes of my children. Marrying into the Li Family, I am a member of the Li Family. Even if the city falls, I will join everyone in death; why must you all make things difficult for me?” Wang Xiangru said through gritted teeth.
The crowd gave her a glance and then ignored her. Words are mere lip service; anyone can say anything, but whether one truly regards themselves as a member of the Li Family is something that is shown through actions. At the very least, from the way she doted on her children, it appeared she did not.
Her children were not close to their husband’s family but were instead more attached to their mother’s family, the Wangs, and this was related to Wang Xiangru.
“Marrying the wrong wife can bring calamity for three generations.”
Li Xiaoran snorted coldly, glancing at the silent Li Fenghua, understanding that her situation was also difficult.
All the ladies present were his sisters-in-law, making it improper for him to retort no matter how unpleasant their words were, especially since what they said was reasonable. And he could not control his own wife; to defend her would be unreasonable, and to not do so would seem unmanly; failing to defend his children would be an abdication of his fatherly duties. Caught in a bind, he could only maintain a frustrated silence.
Hearing Li Xiaoran’s words, Wang Xiangru’s face changed, growing extremely unsightly. He was an elder whom she dared not contradict.
Li Xiaoran was someone who did not have his spirit tablet erected in the ancestral shrine; he was highly renowned in his youth and now commanded even greater authority.
“It’s a pity, that child will never return… But perhaps it’s for the best. Based on what you all are saying, given how the Li Family has treated him, even if he were alive, he has no reason to return—moreover, he should not.”
Li Xiaoran stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes looking towards the ancestral shrine on the back mountain, but his gaze was filled with sorrow.
At Li Xiaoran’s words, everyone else fell into silence.
Indeed, even if he were alive, he should not return, especially since battling outside are two Grand Tao of Peace Realm demons. Anyone who arrives must face one of the Grand Tao of Peace Realm individually.
Now, they were using the ancestral blood to summon all members of the Li Family in hopes of utilizing everyone’s strength to form an Army Formation, further aided by the Saint Heart Heavenly Treasure and many other precious resources from the family’s secret vault, to fight a desperate battle.
After all, if these treasures were not used in battle, they would simply end up falling into the hands of the demons.
Thus, in this battle, the Li Family would fight until they spilled their last drop of blood and exhausted every bit of their heritage.
And when added together, these heritages might hope to rival a Grand Tao of Peace Realm.
This was the power of an inheritance that had lasted for three thousand years!
Before long, in the ancestral shrine on the back mountain, a sky-high Blood Array rose, covering half of the Divine General Mansion.
Within the mansion, many with the Li family bloodline felt their blood seethe within them, their bodies experiencing a boiling sensation.
At the same time, they sensed a guiding and summoning presence in that blood, the offering of an ancestor’s Divine Soul, which dissipated as a price to call upon all of Li blood. Find more to read at empire
The Blood Summoning Array, with the sacrifice of the ancestor’s soul, was a measure only employed in desperate times.
He Jianlan and the other ladies who married into the family could not feel it, but they saw on Li Xiaoran’s body what seemed to be Divine Flame alighting as Li Xiaoran’s strong cultivation caused his aura to fluctuate with the calling of his bloodline.
Inside the hall, the previously angry crowd now felt a forlornness surging in their hearts.
They felt the aura emanating from the Li family’s blood outside in the courtyard, both legitimate and illegitimate, lighting up like fireflies throughout the Divine General Mansion.
This was their final radiance.
“The ancestors are calling…”
In the courtyard, Li Yuanzhao, Li Zhining, and others looked up and saw the sky-high Blood Array coming from the direction of the ancestral shrine.
Feeling the call in their bloodlines, they touched their chests, their eyes showing a forlorn expression, but soon, their eyes became resolute again.
The same was true for many disciples of the Li Family, in the training grounds and various other courtyards; the call in their bloodlines made them understand that it was a moment of life and death for the Li Family!
…
…
Mount Wuliang, Brahma Pure Land World.
The lingering mountain range, with peaks rising and falling, shrouded in misty clouds, seems like a holy land of the Mortal World.
At this moment, amidst several of the majestic peaks.
“My body…”
“Father said, it’s the Ancestral Blood Call, the ancestors are calling me…”
“Is the family in trouble?”
Within the peaks inhabited by the Inner Sect Disciples of Mount Wuliang, several children of the Li family with collateral bloodlines have also taken masters from Mount Wuliang to cultivate here.
At the moment, they are all feeling a burning heat in their bodies as if a call and guidance are resonating with them, indescribable and wordless, yet making them feel an urgent and desolate sensation.
“I must go home!”
“Master, I must leave the mountain!”
These collateral disciples, although not as exceptional as the direct heirs, are considered geniuses among Mount Wuliang’s Inner Sect Disciples, potential candidates for attaining the grandmaster’s status.
As for the Three Immortal Realms, besides perception, it depends more on the opportunity.
At this moment, they are all rapidly heading towards the mountain gate, explaining the situation to their masters, then packing their bags and hurrying down the mountain.
In the Spirit Realm of Mount Wuliang, where the Buddha Lord resides for meditation.
Sitting cross-legged on the majestic Spirit Mountain is a young figure clad in a snow-white kasaya, looking devout and ethereal.
Suddenly, his eyes open and he looks down, feeling a burning sensation in his chest.
“Is this bloodline guidance?”
The youth is momentarily stunned, his complexion changes, what circumstances could have led the family to summon him with the Ancestral Blood Call?
He can’t afford to continue cultivating, he quickly gets up and heads towards the Buddha Hall at the top of Spirit Mountain.
Upon reaching the Buddha Hall, he hurries to request an audience with the Buddha Lord before the two protectors could relay his wish, the voice of the Buddha Lord is already coming from inside, telling him to enter.
Li Qianfeng immediately runs into the Buddha Hall and sees the Buddha Lord sitting high above. He immediately kneels and bows, saying, “Your disciple Li Qianfeng seeks your blessing, my Li family is in trouble, I wish to descend the mountain.”
The Buddha Lord looks on with a kind and compassionate expression, slowly says, “Guardian of Universe, do not rush. Although you have stepped into the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Human Realm, in this catastrophe, your cultivation is still too low. Even if you were to go back now, you would merely add another soul to the dead of the Li family.”
Li Qianfeng stands rooted to the spot, his body shaking. He’s well aware that if the family had to perform such a serious act as the Ancestral Blood Call, they must be facing a grave crisis, and with his level of cultivation, he could only offer a slim, feeble bit of strength.
“Master, I beg you to help and save my Li family from this difficulty!”
Li Qianfeng pleads with urgency as he prostrates himself.
The Buddha Lord says in a gentle voice, “Your Li family’s fate has not yet ended, there’s still a glimmer of hope, and they will be safe. You staying here and cultivating peacefully is what’s best.”
Li Qianfeng looks up at him and stammers, “But with my family facing such disaster, I, I…”
“How can you attain transcendence if your heart is not at peace?”
The Buddha Lord speaks, “At twenty years old, you’ve already reached the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Human Realm. This achievement is remarkable, a result of your hard work day and night. As long as your bloodline persists, the Li family will not perish. This crisis the Li family is facing is also an opportunity for you. Once the calamity has passed, you can return to the mountain and take up the True Dragon’s position, leading the Li family to rebuild from the ruins.”
Li Qianfeng is stunned, an image flashing through his mind: “But my mother…”
“I will send Puji Bodhisattva to bring your mother here, and alongside, to help the Li family transcend this catastrophe.”
The Buddha Lord says warmly, “You should not be preoccupied with these thoughts. With your six roots unstained, you haven’t fully severed mortal ties. How then can you achieve Three Immortalities? You must come to a clear understanding of your own heart ahead of time, chasing after what you truly desire. There can only be one such thing, and for it, you must renounce all else.”
“Remember, all conditioned phenomena are like a dream, a phantom, a bubble, a shadow, like dew or lightning, and should be viewed as such.”
Li Qianfeng pauses for a moment, feels the boiling heat within him gradually subside, then, after a moment of silence, he speaks softly,
“I understand, master.”
