The Mirror Legacy

After thinking it through, Li Ximing took a sip of his tea. But he did not put away the jade slip, merely sighing as he spoke, "How does Daoist Master view the matter of Profound Peak Gate?"

Tinglan saw that he was in no hurry to accept it and realized he was waiting for her response. A faint smile crossed her lips as she replied, "I have spent many years traveling across the outer seas and do not know the situation well. Daoist Master Changxi had gone far despite hailing from a minor family, which is truly remarkable. My master once mentioned him... he is someone who places great importance on his family."

Li Ximing raised his brows and looked at her as the woman continued, "After all, they are our neighbors... My Purple Smoke Gate has been watching them for a long time. Haiying and Haiting in the early days, then Gusun and Tingyun later on, were all excellent aides. Since he valued his family, he remained still. Even a cunning rabbit keeps three burrows, so how could a Purple Mansion Realm cultivator not do the same? Now that he is dead, Profound Peak Gate may appear beyond saving, but in truth, its burrows are more numerous than its roads forward. The immortal gate might not survive, yet its bloodline and Dao lineage remain as unshakable as Mount Tai. Besides... is there not the Moongaze Immortal Family?"

Li Ximing quickly shook his head. Although he had never interacted with Changxi before, and though the man's name had often been accompanied by mocking jokes when he first heard it, now he understood better and replied, "Senior Changxi was deeply thoughtful. It was only Shanji Prefecture, yet the old master spoke of it again and again, saying its millions of people were the work of his life. They had been protected for centuries. Now that he can no longer safeguard them, he looked around and found that only Purple Smoke Immortal Gate remained a sacred land of orthodox cultivation. He could only rest assured if those people were entrusted to the righteous path."

Whatever Tinglan truly thought, with such praise placed upon her, she could not let the first thing she said be a rejection. She replied, "We can only thank the late senior for his high regard. But as you yourself have said, my Purple Smoke Gate is an orthodox gate of the Dao, a sacred land of cultivation. Matters of the immortal Dao must, of course, be guided by burning talismans in prayer, following the immortal mandate of the Origin Mansion, guarding one's heart and clarity of mind, and devoting oneself wholly to cultivation.

"Back then, the Upper Mansion assigned several prefectures to my Purple Smoke Gate, and we have kept watch over those few ever since. We cannot cross the boundary... I ask for your understanding."

Moonlight Origin Mansion?

When she finished speaking, Li Ximing was truly stunned. On his way here, he had considered hundreds of possible reasons for her refusal, but he had never expected this one. The excuse was so lofty and righteous that it left him speechless for a moment before he finally murmured, "So that's how it is... I've been presumptuous."

The faint blue at the corners of Tinglan's eyes shimmered slightly as she looked at him a moment longer and replied, "Your esteemed family is a rising power... and may not be aware. In truth, first Xiao, then Li; by custom, once one becomes an immortal family, one departs from the Azure Pond Sect and governs a land of one's own. This precedent, this system, was once the rule of the Origin Mansion, and Senior Si is merely following the ancient order."

After she finished speaking, Li Ximing realized that Tinglan's earlier words had not been mere excuses. Many regulations of the Moonlight Origin Mansion were still operating in Jiangnan. Although they did not always take effect, Purple Mansion Realm Daoist Masters would not defy them so long as there was no major conflict of interest.