Building a Martial Dao Celestial Family by Laying Low

Bai San’s face was uncharacteristically grim as he spoke up. "Master, those two are incredibly skilled in lightness techniques, as slippery as eels. I used my Body Technique at full power but still couldn’t catch up. They managed to shake me off."

Bai San had already broken through to the Spirit Realm. He cultivated the Golden Swan Skill, so his Body Technique was already extremely fast. The fact that even he couldn’t catch them was quite surprising to Chen Li.

Shu Qi added, "They’re no ordinary thieves. They’re exceptionally vigilant. When we clashed, I secretly planted some Rat Fragrance on them, hoping to track them with it."

"But halfway through the pursuit, the scent disappeared. They must have found a source of water along the way, changed out of their scented clothes, and discarded them. Their thinking is meticulous, and their methods are extremely seasoned."

Chen Li frowned upon hearing this.

’Someone’s targeting the Chen Family?’

’Who could it be?’

’It’s probably not the Jiang Family.’

’Then it’s most likely the Liu Family.’

Just as he was lost in thought, a fragrant breeze wafted over.

Linglong, dressed in a simple and elegant dress, glided in and said softly, "Master."

She held a wax-sealed secret letter in her hands and presented it to Chen Li. "I went to the Commandery City two days ago as usual and received this message."

Chen Li took the secret letter. With a slight exertion of his Finger Force, he crushed the wax seal and pulled out the paper.

It contained only a dozen or so lines of code.

It was from Li Yuniang’s network.

The contents of the letter were concise, but they were enough to startle even Chen Li.

Liu Yunfeng had already approached He Zhangqiu, the son of Governor He Mingyun. The Liu Family was willing to give up the bulk of their liquid assets and the profits from their Official Tribute Contract. The two families had reached a tacit understanding.

He Zhangqiu had promised to report to his father and put all his effort into investigating the true culprit behind the annihilation of the Liu Family, vowing to unmask the mastermind.

"Liu Yunfeng, He Zhangqiu..."

A cold glint flashed in Chen Li’s eyes. He released a wisp of Inner Qi from his fingertip, and the secret letter instantly ignited without a flame, turning into a small pile of ashes that drifted to the ground.

’It seems the Liu Family has its sights set on my family after all.’

His mind raced.

’The biggest problem must stem from Liu Zongying.’

’After all, Liu Zongying has been watched by his enemies for decades. Those three families would never let their guard down.’

’It’s highly likely they followed that trail to get here.’

He immediately stood up, instructing Chen Shouye, Bai San, and Shu Qi to be careful in the days to come.

Then he went straight to the side courtyard to find Liu Zongying and Liu Ruoyi.

Chen Li didn’t beat around the bush. He directly told them that his home was being spied on and that the Liu Family might have discovered their whereabouts.

Upon hearing this, Liu Ruoyi’s face instantly turned deathly pale, her eyes filled with panic. "They found us after all... Is it because of us?"

Liu Zongying’s expression also darkened. He sighed deeply and gave Chen Li a deep bow. "Patriarch Chen, this is all because of the trouble left behind by my Eldest Branch, which has now disturbed the peace of your esteemed residence. This old man... is truly overcome with guilt."

Chen Li waved his hand dismissively and offered a few words of comfort.

He then informed them that from now on, they must follow his instructions in all matters.

Liu Zongying and Liu Ruoyi naturally agreed without hesitation.

After giving them a few more instructions, Chen Li turned and left the side courtyard.

As he walked out of the courtyard gate, Chen Li sneered inwardly. ’The Liu Family... their timing is perfect!’

He had been willing to take the risk of sheltering Liu Zongying and the others, partly in exchange for the Silent Extinction Finger and the Transformation Technique.

But his deeper intention was to use Liu Zongying and Liu Ruoyi as bait to lure all the scattered forces of the Liu Family out of their nests.

This endless stream of trouble could only be ended by making the Liu Family vanish completely.

But the three branches of the Liu Family were scattered across different regions and were deeply entrenched.

If he were to attack rashly, he would be in unfamiliar territory and could easily fall into an encirclement or a trap, and might even be killed.

But if he could lure them to Liyang County, to Mirror Mountain, to his own familiar turf... then things would be much safer.

Who was the hunter and who was the prey was not yet decided!

...

「The Study.」

Chen Li closed the door behind him and entered the secret room, where he began to search through the various Secret Manuals his family possessed.

The four words his eldest son Shouheng had brought back—Refining Intent with Divinity—he was sure he had seen them somewhere before, but he couldn’t quite recall where.

Now, he calmed his mind and began to search carefully.

He went through them one by one, his expression focused.

As he unrolled the sheepskin scroll of the Immovable Vajra Bright King Technique, his gaze suddenly froze amidst a long, profound, and obscure passage of scripture.

Four words leaped into his view.

Refining Intent with Divinity!

"So it was here."

A sharp glint flashed in Chen Li’s eyes as he murmured in sudden realization.

He finally understood why it had felt both familiar and foreign.

The Immovable Vajra Bright King Technique was his second son Shouye’s Cultivation Technique, and he had read it carefully before.

But since he had sought this technique for his second son and did not practice it himself, his impression of it was naturally not very deep.

In fact, ever since he had begun cultivating his Divine Sense at the Divine Hall Pass, the sections on Divine Sense cultivation in both his own Five Grains Qi Storage Technique and the Immovable Vajra Bright King Technique were few and far between, and always vague.

Most were just a dozen or so sentences, many of which were obscure and difficult to understand. Sometimes, you could ponder them for a long time, and if your cultivation was insufficient, you wouldn’t even know what they were talking about.

And the four words "Refining Intent with Divinity" were not recorded in the Chapter for the Divine Intent Pass, but rather in the Chapter on the eighth pass, the "Dharma Aspect Pass."

Here, the Immovable Vajra Bright King Technique detailed how to forge a Golden Body Dharma Aspect.

Because of this, the content suddenly became much more detailed, beginning to specifically elaborate on how to cultivate it.

Chen Li had originally thought he would only begin to touch upon this after reaching the Spirit Realm’s Seventh Level, the Guiyuan Pass.

He never expected that it would actually be related to the cultivation of the Divine Intent Pass.

He suppressed his excitement and began to carefully read the detailed discourse on Refining Intent with Divinity.

This technique of Refining Intent with Divinity sounded complex, but was actually quite simple to practice.

It involved using Divine Sense to swallow the True Intent, wrapping it with Divine Sense, and then using Inner Qi to ignite an invisible flame to slowly temper it, causing it to merge completely with the Divine Soul until they were indistinguishable.

After pondering for a moment, Chen Li’s mind cleared with understanding.

Thinking of this, he no longer hesitated.

He sat cross-legged in the quiet room of his study, held his breath to focus his spirit, and concentrated his mind on his Dantian.

With a thought, a torrential Power of Divine Sense surged out like a tide, quickly perceiving the Clear and Muddy Qi hidden within his limbs and bones.

He carefully used his Divine Sense as a guide to slowly peel off and gather these scattered strands of qi, finally guiding them slowly into his Divine Hall Acupoint.

The virtual image of his Divine Soul opened its mouth and swallowed them, strand by strand.

This process was extremely taxing on his Heart Spirit.

It took him several hours to gather the vast majority of the Clear and Muddy Qi within the Divine Hall.

Next was to light the fire and begin tempering.

This was a step he was already very familiar with from when he reached the Divine Hall Pass.

BZZZ...

The Inner Qi ignited, and a strange buzzing sound rang out from the depths of his sea of consciousness.

An indescribable sensation of soreness, numbness, bloating, and pain came from his Divine Sense, as if something had been forcibly stuffed into his Divine Soul.

Chen Li carefully maintained the clarity of his Spirit Platform, steadily controlled the intensity of the Inner Qi Flame, and slowly tempered it without rush or impatience.

Two days passed in a flash.

When Chen Li opened his eyes again, a trace of fatigue flashed in them, but it was overshadowed by joy.

Performing Introspection on his Divine Hall, he saw that the mass of Clear and Muddy Qi was still enormous and seemed untouched.

But his Divine Sense was incredibly sharp, and he could clearly perceive that after two days of continuous tempering, a considerable amount of the muddy qi had been refined, dissipating and merging into his Divine Soul.

"But... this refining speed is far too slow."

Chen Li then frowned slightly.

Estimating based on his current progress, it would be impossible to completely refine all the Clear and Muddy Qi in his body without one or two years of patient, grinding work.

What’s more, such time-consuming cultivation would demand an enormous amount of resources.

After he had reached the Void Transformation Pass, he still had some Sweet Wind Jade Dew Heaven-Repairing Creation Pills left over, but not many. He needed to purchase a large quantity more.

After taking two elixirs to neutralize the Fire Poison in his meridians, Chen Li got up and walked out of the secret room.

He immediately found Bai San and told him to set off at once and return to Jiangkou County.

Ostensibly, he was to reopen his tea shop as a cover.

Secretly, he was to continue making regular trips to the Black Market to purchase medicinal ingredients.

He then ordered Shu Qi to find his brother-in-law and have him escort Bai Shixuan to Jiangkou to transport goods, under the pretext of purchasing medicinal ingredients.

...

「A few days later.」

Chen Li was at home discussing the family’s businesses with his wife, Song Ying.

They had now produced over 130 silk-reeling machines, which was barely enough to meet demand.

However, the weaving looms were far more intricate and complex in construction.

Although ten master craftsmen from the Zhou Family were helping, the artisans were still repeatedly trying to create the core jacquard components. So far, there was no finished prototype.

As they were talking, a servant hurried in to report, "Master, County Captain Feng from the County Magistrate’s Office is here! And... and he brought a lot of people."

Chen Li’s brow furrowed slightly, a little surprised.

He had his wife leave first, then waited in the inner hall and told the servant to show them in.

Before long, a commotion was heard at the hall’s entrance.

Leading the group was none other than the Jingshan County Captain, Feng Zhan.

At that moment, his face held a hint of awkwardness and unease.

Half a step behind him was Hundred Households Chief Zhou Chengkai of the Jingwu Bureau, followed by several Standard Bearers and Small Banners in Jingwu Bureau uniforms.

Standing beside Zhou Chengkai was a young man in brocade robes.

It was Liu Yunfeng.

Behind Liu Yunfeng was an old man with a withered face, dressed in a long, gray cloth robe.

The old man’s aura was calm, as if he had merged with his surroundings.

But with a slight stir of his Divine Sense, Chen Li perceived that he was definitely a Grandmaster-level expert.

Before the group even drew near, Liu Yunfeng’s sharp, cold voice rang out, filled with provocation and mockery.

"Hah! This country bumpkin has some nerve. The masters from the County Magistrate’s Office and the Jingwu Bureau have graced you with their presence, yet you dare to remain seated in your hall instead of coming out to greet them?"

"What, you really think that just because your family produced two sons who reached the Spirit Realm, you can lord it over everyone in Mirror Mountain and disregard the Court?"

Feng Zhan’s expression grew even more awkward. He stepped forward, cupped his hands at Chen Li, and said, "Brother Chen, forgive my sudden intrusion. It’s just... it’s official business. I had no choice."

Chen Li ignored Liu Yunfeng and asked calmly, "County Captain Feng, Hundred Households Chief Zhou, to what do I owe the pleasure of this grand visit to my humble abode?"

Feng Zhan gave a dry laugh and explained, "Brother Chen, it’s like this. This Young Master Liu Yunfeng has filed a report with the County Magistrate’s Office and the Jingwu Bureau, accusing you of harboring a fugitive."

"Young Master Liu was quite insistent, and Hundred Households Chief Zhou was ordered to assist in the investigation, so I... I had no choice but to come to your residence to make some inquiries. I hope you won’t take offense, Brother Chen."

He spoke euphemistically, absolving himself of all responsibility in the process.

"Harboring a fugitive?"

Chen Li looked stunned. "I was unaware that I was hiding such a person in my home. May I ask who this alleged fugitive is?"