Family Cultivation: I Become a Mirror-Chapter 103 - 99 Sorcery_2

"Store these two items well," Li Tongya examined the remaining two jade slips.

One was the "Pure Spirit Transformation Secret," a mere First Grade spell that utilized minor Pure Spiritual Energy. Li Tongya shook his head and put it away for future use.

The other was "Autumn Talisman Refinement Notes," a manuscript left by a Qi Cultivating Peak cultivator, detailing the intricate uses of many basic talisman techniques. The author was called Sibo Xiu, and it was unknown how the Ji Family came to possess it.

"Sibo Xiu... I wonder what his relation is to Si Yuanbai," he mused.

Li Tongya briefly read through it and saw this written at the end:

"The exquisite essence of talismans, foremost lies in the Moonlight Origin Mansion, within which many transformative talismans form arrays, and the techniques to transform talisman Qi are particularly profound. If one could master this art..."

"Moonlight Origin Mansion... Talisman Qi..."

Li Tongya sighed softly. He had known all along that the Dharma Mirror was likely inextricably linked to the Moonlight Origin Mansion, and now he was even more certain. Yet, his heart was void of joy.

"Getting entangled in such fate, I do not know whether it's a blessing or a curse."

————

"Idiotic thing!"

Mu Jiaoman furiously smashed the skull in front of him and angrily snatched up a captive from the Shanyue tribe, cursing between gritted teeth:

"Useless! Where is Li Xiangping?! This is a live person; you brought a Yue's head instead?!"

A punch sent the captive vomiting blood ceaselessly. Mu Jiaoman's eyes were bloodshot, his rage uncontainable.

Unable to catch Li Tongya that day, and letting that human girl escape as well, Mu Jiaoman soon realized that the girl was most likely of the Li Family, filled with regret.

"Had I known, a simple spell could have made her faint – a hassle that allowed her to escape."

Mu Jiaoman slowly sat back down, no longer concerned with her, faced with an even more troublesome and thorny issue – the elusive and omnipresent Li Xiangping.

"This damned thing seems to have eyes on his butt and head, this damned thing is a hungry wolf, a locust without markings..."

This human called Li Xiangping had already made more than a dozen rounds within their territory. When the first message came, he rallied over a thousand men, only to be decisively crushed. By the time the next message arrived, he had already moved to the south, taking his men to slaughter the tribal elders and divide the grain.

The stationed Qi Cultivators were made dizzy with confusion, running east and west, yet Li Xiangping always managed to withdraw before their arrival, and re-enter once they left.

Mu Jiaoman was sleepless for several nights until finally, the head of Li Xiangping was delivered to his tent. Mu Jiaoman heaved a sigh of relief, ordering that Li Xiangping was dead. Yet, he organized refugees in the west again and even dared to continue south.

Mu Jiaoman promptly called up troops without hesitation and crushed him, yet he found no human among the enemy. Instead, there were constant reports of Li Xiangping sightings from all directions. Mu Jiaoman even began to doubt Li Xiangping's cultivation level.

In the following days, matters escalated. Every day Li Xiangping's head would be delivered to his tent, but they were all Shanyue heads. The western defenses were attacked twelve times in a row, nearly forcing him to retreat to the east, and tales of the omnipresent Li Xiangping began to spread throughout the North Foothills.

As of last night, the message came that Li Xiangping had reached the gates of the Great Jue Court, rallying nearly ten thousand refugees, forcing Mu Jiaoman to send reinforcements. The moment his grand army mobilized, Li Xiangping would leisurely return to the east.

"Only the great king can truly kill this ubiquitous locust! General, he is not a cultivator of the Fetal Breathing Realm, he is a keen-eared hungry wolf! He's a devil, that makes the refugees follow him like they're under a spell..."

The tribal shaman said, trembling, and a deep sense of powerlessness rose in Mu Jiaoman's heart. Ganixi from the Tang Jin Sect frontline did not utter a word, which instilled an even greater fear in him.

"I don't care what he is!"

Mu Jiaoman spoke coldly:

"Either he dies, or I die."

He inquired overnight about a Lu Wu in the Great Shaman Mountain, offered many spiritual objects and women, and to his surprise, a Lu Wu was moved and agreed to take action.

Mu Jiaoman's message was carried to the front lines by the Great Eagle, and the Great Eagle brought back the reply. Ganixi sent him only ten words:

"Alright, either he dies, or you die."

With trembling hands and feet, Mu Jiaoman gathered all the tribal shamans in the Great Jue Court, loaded them onto a large carriage with the women and spiritual objects, as well as the Ji Family bloodline children demanded by the Lu Wu, and hurried towards Witch Mountain.

On the way, warriors joyously came forward with Shanyue heads, seeking credit, claiming it was Li Xiangping. This infuriated Mu Jiaoman so much he almost couldn't restrain from beating them to death.

"Damn it, what kind of demon is this."

Mu Jiaoman sat dazedly on the carriage, yet heard someone softly calling outside:

"General! General! We've arrived at Witch Mountain!"

Mu Jiaoman stepped out of the carriage to see steps carved from white jade before him. His knees shaking, he removed his shoes and ascended the mountain barefoot.

All along the way, darkness enveloped him; the mountain winds howled, and owls screeched overhead. Mu Jiaoman dared not raise his head, counting silently in his mind. After ascending one thousand six hundred and twenty-two steps, he came upon a vast platform also made of jade, its surface reflective as a mirror.

Mu Jiaoman fell to his knees with a thud, catching sight of the reflections of more than a dozen figures seated high upon the jade platform, each dressed in regal attire, seemingly more like living cultivator than the departed.

"So this is the general. Now, tell us what happened."

A cold voice emerged from the head of the table, and Mu Jiaoman hurriedly recited the explanation he had rehearsed all night, as whispers like shrill screams echoed around him.

"What is this! Do we really have to deal with matters of mortals?"

"What do you know? If you disrupt the master's grand plan, prepare to be devoured!"

"Hmph, such useless mortals, unable to deal with even a Fetal Breathing Realm!"

Mu Jiaoman pressed his head against the ground, not daring to utter a single word, until finally, someone at the head spoke:

"Since none of my fellow disciples wish to take action, let us solve this with sorcery to save ourselves another trip."

Instantly, a voice from below inquired:

"The master once forbade us from using spells to interfere with the earthly realm's course of events. Elder Brother, your actions... we must be cautious!"

"It's of no concern."

The person at the head shook his head and replied:

"This man is not of the Shanyue tribe. Moreover, of all the spells, the Prayer Curse Technique is the safest, unlikely to have any adverse effects. Besides, that person couldn't possibly have learned the Prayer Curse Technique, nor could he conjure any strange creatures through it."

The one who had asked nodded, then gave an order:

"Bring up those sacrifices!"

Several creatures resembling pigs, covered in black fur and looking half-witted, were brought forward, their vitality suggesting they were at the peak of Qi Cultivation. Through the ground's reflection, Mu Jiaoman saw thick calluses on the creatures' cloven extremities and horizontal stripes indicating their slavery, and he wondered to himself:

"Why mark the beasts with horizontal stripes..."

Before Mu Jiaoman could fathom an answer, the ground began to tremble; the central jade stone shifted suddenly, revealing a vast pit. Looking down, he saw a cauldron of boiling blood, with bones sinking and floating within.

"Curse them to be crippled, or curse them to be fools, or shall we curse them to death?"

Someone on the left side questioned, only to hear the person at the head softly say:

"If we cannot be at ease, let's just curse them to death."

That individual nodded, formed a few spells with his hands, and began speaking in a hoarse voice:

"I invoke the might of the righteous Talisman, to address the chaos of rogue troops, ghouls, and monsters, who coerce and confound, troubling our people below... I humbly request the grand Talisman spell to blind their eyes, to calcify their bones, to strip away their flesh and blood..."

Mu Jiaoman, listening from below, felt his emotions surge in an inexplicable complexity. The tradition among the Shanyue was to avoid cursing during clan conflicts or military confrontations, and he began to despise himself for engaging in such contrived and contemptible tactics, all the while consoling himself at the bottom of his heart.

"He was but a living man."

The head of the boy of humble origin from the Li Family was severed, his blood pouring into the Blood Pool. The pig-like creatures struggled in the pool, splashing droplets of blood, while Mu Jiaoman, overwhelmed by the pungent scent of blood, suddenly recalled the day he and Ganixi had risen in rebellion and killed the king.

They had slaughtered the fat king like a pig, spread the stockpiled grain among the people, and as the common folk cheered wildly, Ganixi laughed heartily. Mu Jiaoman was scared to death and asked Ganixi why he had rebelled.

Seated astride a great horse, Ganixi pointed with his whip at the rejoicing Shanyue folk and roared with laughter:

"For the people."

Now that the North Foothills were tranquil and Ganixi still waged relentless war elsewhere, with ten thousand refugees already outside Great Jue Court, Mu Jiaoman felt at a loss, unable to comprehend how Li Xiangping managed to raise such a formidable army within enemy territory.

"My king, does all of this... still hold meaning?"

His eyes nearly closed, he dared not shed a tear, his legs trembling, for the first time foreseeing the true nature of events before his king had.