Li Xuan.

The eldest son of Li Ziyang, High Merit Elder of Dragon Tiger Mountain, and a representative of the younger generation of the Li Clan.

Aside from Senior Brother Li Zhengxuan, among the outstanding heirs of this generation of the Li Clan, it had to be Li Xuan and Li Kong.

Though a junior in the mansion, Li Xuan had already taken on many responsibilities and held considerable authority among the young disciples.

In the Tao Boy Court, the Tao Boys addressed Lei Jun and others of their generation of the Celestial Master Mansion's True Inheritors mostly as "Master Lei" out of respect.

Yet in the case of Li Xuan and a few others, they had already begun calling them "Elder Li."

Ordinarily, with such important direct-line True Inheritors, neither the Celestial Master Mansion nor the Li Family would send them out.

Even if they needed close ties with the Tang Court, Li Xuan should have joined the Suppressing Demon Guards in the Light Court.

Not the Dark Court, which was obviously meant for dirty work.

There was risk, likely to offend people.

Acting as the Tang Court's night-time executioner, whoever they targeted, it sure sparked imaginations.

To some degree, the Li Family was going all in this time, staking a major bet to strengthen their relationship with the Tang Court.

Noble clans, viewed with suspicion by the Tang Emperor.

Yet nothing was absolute, and the emperor's mind was always hard to fathom.

The Five Clans and Seven Families kept trying to mix themselves into every sacred land, but conversely, the Tang Emperor also sought to pit one noble family against another.

Just how fine the balance was, *like water drunk by different people, only the emperor himself knew if it was hot or cold.*

"Master Ziyang and Senior Brother Li, aside from wagering in the Tang Imperial Court, maybe had other plans too," Lei Jun said,

Wang Guiyuan said, "Using the Suppressing Demon Guards' intelligence network to gather more information, searching for the Celestial Master's Sword?"

Lei Jun nodded, "Not impossible."

Of course, in Li Ziyang and Li Xuan's view, it also included seeking the Celestial Master Seal.

If they managed to recover those two great treasures, the situation of the Celestial Master Mansion and the Li Family would change drastically overnight.

"That's leaving room, I suppose," Lei Jun said, "At least they didn't send Senior Brother."

"Chongyun..."

Yuan Mobai shook his head slightly at Lei Jun, "Watch your mouth."

Lei Jun replied, "I was being flippant, Master, please don't hold it against me."

Senior Brother Li Zhengxuan had been guarding the forbidden Rear Mountain Ancestral Tomb for over a year in reflection.

The loss of the Celestial Master's Sword was a grave matter, and to avoid stirring things up, even if Li Zhengxuan wanted out, he would still need to stay put for several more years.

And honestly, even if he did join the Suppressing Demon Guards, he certainly wouldn't fit in the Dark Court.

Even without the Young Celestial Master title, he was still a High Merit Elder of the Celestial Master Mansion with Upper Three Heavens cultivation.

If Li Zhengxuan fully pledged loyalty to the Tang Court, the impact would be far greater than Li Xuan's.

How would the Five Clans and Seven Families, including Jingxiang Fang Clan and Suzhou Chu Clan, view this move? The outcome was unpredictable.

Li Family had laid down a big bet, but not so much that they risked everything in one shot.

As for whether this was the right call, that was a matter of opinion.

Lei Jun was not much concerned about it.

He had no interest in meddling.

*Although having a government post was nice, he was just fine staying on Dragon Tiger Mountain for now; there was no need yet to jump into the capital's whirlpool for another chance.*

Don't even mention the Dark Court, even the Light Court didn't appeal to him.

*Wasn't it better to spend time cultivating and practicing spells in the Celestial Master Mansion?*

*Why bother playing office politics…*

The Tang Court surely wasn't about to draft him, a mere little Taoist.

If they really did, Master Lei would instantly "fall into demon" out of sheer joy, *his heart overwhelmed with patriotism, yet his body far too frail, eager to serve but unable to be loyal.*

"May the ancestral masters above forgive this disciple's dark-mindedness."

Lei Jun said, "All I care about with this business is whether Senior Brother Li Xuan might bump into Chen Yi in the Suppressing Demon Guards."

At that, Wang Guiyuan's expression grew somewhat odd.

Yuan Mobai looked at Lei Jun and sighed, "You really..."

He dropped the subject, turning instead to Lei Jun's cultivation, "Chongyun, now that you've reached Original Talisman Realm, congratulations, but the road ahead is still very long; don't slack off, and don't get impatient."

Lei Jun replied, "Disciple will obey Master's teaching."

Yuan Mobai said, "To advance from Fourth Layered Heaven Original Talisman to Fifth Layered Heaven Tao Palace, besides forging four Original Talismans, you must also refine evil spirits."

Lei Jun nodded.

Taoist cultivation, whether Talisman Sect, Alchemy Cauldron Sect, or Refinement Sect, upon reaching Middle Three Heavens, all required merging Gang and refining evil spirits.

For Refinement Sect, they forged spiritual soul and lifebound artifacts with Gang Evil, weaving in the seventy-two Earth Sha Dao Patterns and thirty-six Heavenly Gang Dao Patterns.

Alchemy Cauldron Sect used evil spirit and Gang Qi as fuel, continuing to refine their Human Great Elixir and Inner Yang God.

The Taoist Talisman Sect was more like builders in this regard.

In Fourth Layer of Heaven, while forging four Original Talismans, one also refined evil spirits so that the Original Talismans became one, preparing to build the Tao Palace of Fifth Layer of Heaven.

Once the Fifth Heaven Tao Palace was complete, and Gang Qi merged through, all laid smoothly in line, paving the way for forging the Sixth Layer Heaven Dao Seal.

Generally speaking, at Fourth Layered Heaven Original Talisman Realm, refining evil spirits proceeded in sync with forging the upcoming talismans, allowing full fusion—instead of waiting till after reaching Perfection with all four Original Talismans.

So, disciples of the Celestial Master Mansion should start preparing to refine evil spirits around the time they forged just one Original Talisman, at the entry stage.

"All of the top-tier Gang Evils in the world are actually known and claimed by the major powers."

Wang Guiyuan chimed in with a grin, "Of course, our sect's no exception, so we don't need to worry about the quality of the evil spirit."

Being the ancestral court of the Taoist sect and a famed blessed land cave heaven, Dragon Tiger Mountain always had top-grade Gang Evils in abundance.

Lei Jun and other true inheritors didn't need to scrape around for evil spirits like those from small sects or loose cultivators.

They just stayed on their own mountain and could refine the finest Gang Evils.

"There are three kinds of top evil spirits here—White Tiger Divine Wind Sha, Qingxiao Divine Thunder Evil, and Earth Core Yin Fire Sha,"

Wang Guiyuan explained, "Generally, most people choose White Tiger Divine Wind Sha."

Qingxiao Divine Thunder Evil and Earth Core Yin Fire Sha were more unconventional picks.

Not that they were bad—on the contrary, being distinctly yang and distinctly yin respectively, each had its own wonders.

Qingxiao Divine Thunder Evil would boost the thunder spells of Middle Three Heavens cultivators.

Earth Core Yin Fire Sha would raise one's alchemy and artifact refinement skills."

At this, Wang Guiyuan pivoted, "But both evils deviate from our sect's principle of Yin-Yang harmony, so cultivators' realm progress will never be as fast as with White Tiger Divine Wind Sha."

On top of that, our sect has another supreme Gang Qi vein, Azure Dragon Thunder Command Gang, which naturally complements White Tiger Divine Wind Sha, so when you reach Fifth Heaven, Lei, you can choose Azure Dragon Thunder Command Gang as your Gang Qi."

That will be a true Dragon-tiger convergence, Gang Evil and Gang Qi merged."

He glanced at Lei Jun, reminding,

"Of course, you don't have to pick White Tiger Divine Wind Sha; if you'd rather refine another evil spirit, that's fine."

If you'd prefer to leave the mountain and find a more suitable Earth's Evil Spirits vein, that's also an option.

Just one thing—don't try to double-dip and refine two evil spirits at once."

Wang Guiyuan already knew that back when Lei Jun got the Huo Sui Yang Yu he went searching for Water Marrow Yin Fish, so now he spoke solemnly,

"It's best not to combine something like Qingxiao Divine Thunder Evil and Earth Core Yin Fire Sha for dual Yin-Yang refinement either."

Refining two evil spirits provided some benefits, like boosting spell power, but it wasn't worth the cost.

First, controlling them was harder and took more time, slowing down cultivation.

Second, it made one prone to falling into demon."

Many brilliant predecessors in our sect tried pushing this, only to wind up disappointed in the end.

These were lessons shared by countless ancestors."

Lei Jun listened closely to Wang Guiyuan's words, never feeling he was exaggerating the risks.

*Just as it went back in Supreme Pure Thunder Mansion Cave Heaven, what was forbidden should not tempt one to mess with it out of sheer boredom.*

Unless…

[Original Talisman evil refinement, where the forked road is unclear—don't rush, wait for the turn.]

[Moderately good lot, don't hurry, wait till after the New Year to refine evil spirit; gain a Fifth Grade Opportunity, extra rewards follow, no risk, all good.]

[Perfectly neutral lot, start refining White Tiger Divine Wind Sha before New Year; orthodox, no extra rewards, no losses, average.]

[Perfectly neutral lot, start refining Qingxiao Divine Thunder Evil before New Year; unorthodox, future development up to you, average.]

[Moderately unlucky lot, start refining Earth Core Yin Fire Sha before New Year; unorthodox, hidden obstacles, more trouble, ill-omened.]

Lei Jun watched as four lots flashed in the glowing orb in his mind, all appearing at once—a rare moment of speechlessness.

*…was it just human nature to be doomed by the 'smells good in hindsight' law?*

He examined the four lots carefully, sensing a deeper meaning, as if there really was a way to refine two kinds of evil spirits together.

He didn't know exactly what that Fifth Grade Opportunity referred to in the moderately good lot, but he had a hunch it wasn't just about the most optimal single evil—White Tiger Divine Wind Sha.

Another focus in the lots was timing.

New Year, that was the key point in the process.

And then, the moderately unlucky lot referencing Earth Core Yin Fire Sha… maybe there was trouble there…

Anyway, New Year was close, so Lei Jun decided not to rush and would wait to see where the road turned ahead.

"Master, Senior Brother, disciple's not sure what to choose at this moment, so I plan to check out all three Earth's Evil Spirits veins before deciding."

Lei Jun added, "And I'd like to finish cultivating my lifebound First Law first."

Yuan Mobai and Wang Guiyuan, both familiar with his passion for innovative spells, were not surprised at all.

"No harm," Yuan Mobai said with a smile, nodding.

After leaving his master's residence, Lei Jun went to survey the three Earth's Evil Spirits veins in the mountain.

His main focus was on Earth Core Yin Fire Sha.

He studied it closely for a few days but found nothing unusual.

Lei Jun suppressed his curiosity and concentrated on his own practice.

For his lifebound First Law, he finally picked the Star-stepping Spell.

As always, he preferred movement and versatile state techniques, especially for laying a solid foundation at the outset.

Mastering Star-stepping Spell made it easier to develop and cast other spells later.

In the days that followed, Lei Jun nurtured his spirit through breathing skills and quiet cultivation while also delving into various new high-grade Spirit Talismans he'd just learned.

The turn of the year was soon upon him.

For Dragon Tiger Mountain's Celestial Master Mansion, another major event of New Year's was approaching—the once-every-three-years Transmission Ceremony was about to commence.

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