The Mirror Legacy

Li Yuanping returned to the town, his heart still aching with anger and sorrow. His eyes were bloodshot as he entered the main hall which was dimly lit, with two small flickering lamps barely illuminating the space.

Dragging his exhausted body along, he sat on the highest seat and picked up a document, only to find himself unable to focus. Frustrated, he coughed twice, swallowing the blood that rose in his throat.

Dou Yi hurried in, climbing the steps quickly. Li Yuanping spoke in a low voice, "Prepare the ink."

Dou Yi obediently ground the ink, and after finishing, Li Yuanping waved him away. Taking up the brush, Li Yuanping gradually calmed down, taking some time to think through his thoughts carefully.

The position of family head required balancing the external branches of the clan, managing the spirit fields, and distributing the clan's stipends. It involved managing the benefits of nearly the entire clan, from those in the Embryonic Breathing Realm to those in the Qi Cultivation Realm. Ever since Li Xuanxuan became the family head and established the four lineages, the rule of single succession had been set.

Now, with the Li Family firmly under the control of the main family endowed with the talisman seed, the family head could be appointed arbitrarily, with the wise ruling and the foolish obeying.

But once this precedent was set, future descendants of the main family, whose bloodlines would become more distant and whose backgrounds would differ, might begin to support different lineages, leading to internal strife.

"If it comes to that, the position of family head will become a tool for power struggles among the talisman seed-bearing cultivators, used to exploit the family… Moreover..."

As Li Yuanping's emotions settled, his thoughts became sharper, and he mused, "Seeing how things are with Ming'er, he is ultimately not fit for great responsibility. If the Li Family were handed over to him, how could he suppress the external branches? How could he control someone like Li Jiman?"