The establishment of the Celestial Dynasty began with the bestowal of the title upon the River God.

Li Yi stared at Zhang Lingbao, his gaze somewhat complicated.

These past few days, thanks to Zhang Junyi's careful instruction, he has gained a basic understanding of the twelve primary meridians.

When the green snake cut off Zhang Lingbao's arms, it meant it had severed his entire lung meridian.

What spiritual cave, what golden energy, all destroyed in an instant.

This alone strengthened Li Yi's resolve to achieve physical sainthood.

Zhang Junyi, seeing through Li Yi's thoughts and wanting to salvage some face for the Qi cultivators of the world, said:

"Once a Qi cultivator refines their internal organs and becomes a Foundation Establishment cultivator, they can comprehend supernatural powers. Even if someone severs their entire meridian and acupoint, it will only damage their cultivation, not cause them to be completely defeated."

Besides, there are countless rare and exotic fruits and supernatural powers in the world; it's not impossible for them to bring the dead back to life and heal the wounded.

When cultivation reaches a profound level, it becomes incredibly mysterious, far beyond the reach of a mere brute like a body cultivator.

"Yes, yes." Li Yi nodded repeatedly, glanced at the sky, and said jokingly:

"The sun is almost setting, can they still hold on?"

Before he could finish speaking, blood gushed out from the severed wounds on both of Zhang Lingbao's shoulders!

Li Yi, however, was in no hurry to step forward and instead observed the situation with a cold eye.

Until the bloodstains soaked the surrounding land, golden energy surged from the severed wounds on Zhang Lingbao's shoulders, and his face, hidden beneath his disheveled hair, was filled with resentment and venom.

Knowing he could no longer fool them, he put on a smiling face and pleaded:

"Sister Junyi, we used to have such a good relationship, how did things come to this?"

Zhang Junyi was reluctant to say much, but seeing Li Yi's curious expression, he whispered:

"My half-brother and I used to be of the same bloodline, until we were tested for our cultivation aptitude and he became a disciple of Qishan—I think our relationship changed from that time on."

"In the path of spiritual practice, resources, companions, methods, and environment are paramount."

My father held the high-ranking position of Registrar of the seventh rank in the Wu Dynasty, in charge of household registration, land, taxes, and marriage, but he never entered the Daoist path. He relied entirely on his early years of passing the imperial examinations to enter officialdom, and our family's wealth was far inferior to that of the Daoist monks in the court.

Upon hearing this, Li Yi understood.

"Wealth is a powerful motivator, especially for cultivators like us, who are all money-devouring beasts."

Zhang Junyi nodded slightly, his face filled with resentment:

"Zhang Lingbao and I are both cultivators, and I am slightly more talented. Moreover, as the legitimate son of the Zhang family, I should be the one with the best resources. But my father has always been fair, yet Zhang Lingbao is still not satisfied. He deserves to die."

"Sister!" Zhang Lingbao cried, tears streaming down his face. "I deserve to die! I repent! Spare my life, and I will serve you faithfully from now on!"

Zhang Junyi gave a bitter smile, looked up at Li Yi, and said softly:

"Yi-ge'er, if you join the army in the future and have to kill armored soldiers to earn military merits, are you willing to set a precedent now?"

Li Yi chuckled, "What's there to be afraid of?"

"Then pull out his tongue."

"No rush, let's bleed a little more."

Zhang Lingbao had no more chances of survival, and while his tongue was still intact, he unleashed a torrent of curses.

Li Yi's ears twitched. With the enhancement of the Tinghui and Shangguan acupoints, he heard a rustling sound a hundred meters away, and then he heard voices coming from a distance:

"We're almost there. Who is that screaming so pitifully?"

"It might have been bitten or scratched by bears or wolves. Be careful."

Li Yi frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and decided not to bother hiding.

Before long, a group of people emerged from the bushes and arrived above the waterfall.

"Li Yi?"

There were five people in the group. The one who was speaking was standing behind Li Quan, and he was lean and strong. His name seemed to be... Li Xue?

Li Yi nodded to the group, then looked at the leader and said, "Brother Quan, I have some things to attend to, so I'm afraid we'll have to reschedule."

Li Quan's gaze passed over Li Yi and fell upon Zhang Lingbao, whose arms had been severed. He then looked at the weakened Zhang Junyi, his brows furrowing.

"What happened?"

Li Yi had no intention of explaining, and advised, "Now is not the time. I will definitely talk to Brother Quan about it tomorrow."

The young men looked indignant and still wanted to find out what was going on, but Li Quan stopped them by raising his hand and turning around to say:

"Brother Yi, I have no intention of meddling in other people's business, but if Li Family Village is no longer peaceful in the future, I, Li Quan, will be the first to object."

Li Yi nodded, "Don't worry, Brother Quan."

Li Quan said nothing more, turned around and walked towards the village with his underlings. Finally, Li Yi borrowed a tinderbox from him.

As darkness fell, and Zhang Lingbao bled and fainted again, Li Yi used the prepared firewood to stop the bleeding, removed his tongue, and used wood qi to keep him alive. Only then did he turn around and say:

"Let's go home."

……

Li Dashan and his wife waited in the courtyard. When they finally heard the door open, they quickly got up to greet them.

Before they even got close, they were startled by the wounded man that Li Yi was carrying.

"Yi-ge'er, what?!"

Li Yi put Zhang Lingbao down, watched Zhang Junyi enter the courtyard, and then had his family sit together. He then gave a general account of what had happened.

Li's mother cried out and knelt down, "So it was a fairy in distress! This old woman truly deserves to die, truly deserves to die!"

Li Yi looked helpless as his adoptive mother slapped him repeatedly with both hands.

"Alright, alright, it's all in the past." Li Yi pulled his adoptive mother aside, then said to Li Dashan, "Father, Lord Hebo has ordered me to erect a shrine and altar. I'm thinking of starting to mobilize people tomorrow morning. Could you talk to the village head about it?"

Li Dashan hesitated for a moment, then stammered, "Yi-ge'er, you're not lying to your father?"

Li Yi pointed to the tiger's leg on the ground, then glanced at Zhang Lingbao's expensive silk robe. "Dad, this tiger is a spirit. Look at this tiger's leg, does it look like an ordinary tiger?"

Upon closer inspection, Li Dashan noticed that the clods of earth around the tiger's legs, which had long been frozen solid, were loosening, and he was mostly convinced.

Not to mention the wealthy young men who can attest to that.

The thought that his adopted son had become someone favored by the river god filled Li Dashan with excitement, and he immediately agreed: "I'll go after the rooster crows tomorrow morning!"

Before Li Yi could finish speaking, he added:

"The River God has decreed that the way Li Family Village has survived is contrary to human ethics and the way of Heaven, and has displeased the River God. From this day forward, the bride must be sent back, and provisions must be provided to her. This offense must not be repeated in the future."

"This..." Li Dashan hesitated, but still agreed, "I will inform the village head. Don't worry, Yi-ge'er, you are a man trusted by the River God, and your father will definitely give you his full support."

Li Yi responded, then turned to his adoptive mother and teased her:

"Why aren't the villagers chasing after the daughter-in-law today?"

Li's mother looked embarrassed and stammered:

"Although Yi-ge'er is not well-known, he will definitely be a first-rate figure in the village in the future. How can such a shameful thing be allowed to happen..."

Li Yi smiled and noticed that his adoptive parents held Zhang Junyi in some reverence, so he comforted them:

"There's no need for that. Junyi is a celestial being from heaven, and your sons are no less remarkable. Just treat them as ordinary juniors."

As she spoke, she exchanged a glance with Zhang Junyi, washed up as usual, and then went back to the west room and fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke up the next day, I saw that Li Dashan seemed to have already left, while Zhang Lingbao was left in the pickle jar, with a grain of rice still stuck to the corner of his mouth.

Hearing the commotion, Li's mother promptly brought over the food, her posture humble, like a waiter in a tavern.

"Yi-ge'er, Jun-yi-jie, eat well. You've had a long day, so take a rest."

After saying that, he glanced at the wooden bed without leaving a trace.

Now, she's starting to look a bit like a low-class brothel madam.

After Li Yi persuaded his adoptive mother to leave and had eaten his fill, he glanced at Zhang Lingbao in the vegetable vat outside the window.

"I used wood qi to examine him last night, and there was indeed no metal qi remaining in his body. Otherwise... should I open your mouth passage first, Junyi?"

Zhang Junyi was wiping her mouth with the back of her hand when she noticed Xiao Lang's probing gaze. She quickly hid her face in front of her chest and started pecking at rice like a chick.

After trying for a long time, Li Yi barely managed to loosen the opening slightly, and sighed:

"No wonder you've never tried to stimulate your mouth orifices; there are quite a few acupoints involved."

I reckon even a day wouldn't be enough.

Fortunately, no other cultivators posed a threat to the two of them, and they had plenty of time.

Li Yi was still thinking about enjoying tiger gall, so he changed his mind and went to stimulate Zhang Junyi's kidney meridian acupoints, wanting to ask her opinion.

Before we knew it, half a day had passed, and the sun was high in the sky.

A rustling sound of footsteps came from outside the courtyard, so Li Yi stopped what he was doing and went out into the yard.

An elderly man with a cane strode in, followed by Li Dashan.

Upon seeing Li Yi, the old man immediately bowed down.