[Year 195: Li Xinghuo, son of Li Changge, is born.]
[Year 197: As part of the clan's 'Thousand-Year Blood Exchange Plan', Li Xinghuo is raised in Eternal Sun Prefecture under the care of his father, Li Changge.]
[Year 200: Li Xinghuo discovers his true heritage as a member of the Li family and feels immense pride.]
[Li Family Year 205...]
[Year 205 Event: Li Xinghuo's father, Li Changge, was a man of truly peerless talent. Tragically, before such prodigious aptitude could fully blossom and stand proud before the world, a Nascent Soul avatar of Venerable Tian Xing descended. In his final moments, Li Changge, with his Golden Core cultivation, executed a desperate secret art. By obscuring heavenly mechanisms, he managed to conceal Li Xinghuo's trail and send his son away to safety, sacrificing himself in the process.]
[System Update: Li Xinghuo has embarked on a journey to the northern territories of the Azure Dynasty, searching for the Li Clan's last remaining bloodline branch. He has sworn an oath to reunite with any surviving kin and, together, to orchestrate their great revenge. Acquired Trait: Flame Unending.]
[Trait Effect: 'Flame Unending' – He shall never forget his clan's past splendor, nor the bitter enmity they now bear. This quest becomes his sole life's ambition, one he will pursue without ever yielding. Cultivation Speed +50%; Combat Effectiveness +50%.]
"Ancestor." The delicately featured youth reverently positioned the Ancestral Spirit Tablet upon a rough stone plinth. He then prostrated himself before the tablet, which had so recently displayed its divine might. Tears and mucus streamed freely down his face as he poured out years of pent-up grief and hardship.
"When Father sent me away from Eternal Sun Prefecture," he choked out, "I... I was only this high..."
He held out a hand, marking a height of roughly 1.4 meters. Watching this young descendant, Li Wei, he found himself staring, utterly lost in thought.
Li Xinghuo went on, his voice choked with emotion, "Father... he told me to live on, to live a good life. But this child... I don't know how to just... live. Old Ancestor, I've journeyed all this way from Eternal Sun Prefecture. I only have this faint memory of Father mentioning that we... that our family might still have kin living in a little village somewhere in the north. So I just walked, Old Ancestor. I've been walking for five full years."
"Not once have I lingered in any place for more than a day. Father's last words were... he told me I must never, ever stop walking. To stand still, to stop moving forward... that meant death! And so, I've just kept moving. I don't even know for sure where these other family members are, or if they even exist. But I have to believe... I will find them someday."
The young boy poured out his heart, his words recounting the desolate hardships of his long, solitary journey through the years. He had endured his solitude for so very long; the Ancestor's intervention through the Spirit Tablet was like stumbling upon a blazing bonfire in the heart of a vast, frozen wilderness.
Suddenly, Li Wei felt it – as if his own heart, which had seemingly ceased all movement for five long years, had abruptly, powerfully, begun to beat once more.
Back when Li Xinghuo had been forced to flee Eternal Sun Prefecture, he had been a mere child of ten. Li Wei struggled to comprehend how a boy of only ten could have possibly survived such an arduous, long, and difficult journey, making his way on foot all the way from Eternal Sun Prefecture to this remote Brightmere Prefecture.
It was painfully obvious he had lost his way. While Brightmere was generally north, the fishing village where Li Chang'an had settled lay to the northeast. This boy, however, had journeyed far to the northwest.
"Old Ancestor!" Li Xinghuo sobbed, relief washing over him. "You... you finally answered me!"
He spoke for what seemed an age, pouring out his story. A strange smile played on his lips – a painful contortion of exhilaration and profound, lingering bitterness.
"Father always told me," he said, his voice thick with unshed tears, "that no matter what misfortunes befell our clan, as long as the Ancestor endured, the very spirit and faith of our Li lineage would endure as well. Hope... Hope would live on eternally. And so, I will not give up!"
He declared, a new fire in his eyes. "Ancestor, I beg you, show me the way! Lead this child... lead me to our people! Lead me... home!"
"Home..." Li Wei thought, his heart aching. "Do I even have a home left?"
Li Wei looked up, his gaze vacant, staring sightlessly at the sky above.
For these past five years, he had considered himself utterly useless, a complete failure.
That fateful day, he had intercepted legion after legion of Tian Xing's avatars, yet ultimately, he had failed to prevent them from breaching the clan compound and slaughtering his people.
So many of the clan's 'children' had been scattered across Eternal Sun Prefecture, yet he hadn't been able to save even one from Tian Xing's pervasive reach. Through all their previous trials, year after year, the family had always managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, to overcome every adversity. But this... this was a loss so absolute, so complete. And he, their Ancestor, had been rendered utterly powerless to respond effectively.
"Individual avatars of Tian Xing might fall," Li Wei recalled Elder Baimei's grim words, "but those that remain, the Tian Xing's core essence, only grow stronger. Even the great Venerable Elder Baimei of Azure Mist Mountain lives in dread of him.
Elder Baimei himself had said it: "No one can halt Tian Xing. Give him a few more millennia, and he won't just be the sovereign 'Heaven' of Eternal Sun Prefecture; he'll become the 'Heaven' ruling the entire Azure Dynasty, and ultimately, the 'Heaven' above the whole damn cultivation world!"
An entity of such terrifying power... it was enough to drive anyone to despair.
"Can I... can I really lead our people home again?" Li Wei wondered, the weight of Tian Xing's power crushing him.
In that instant, more than anything, Li Wei wished he could be like the young Li Xinghuo standing before him – so full of dauntless, unyielding life force.
Gazing into the unwavering hope shining in Li Xinghuo's eyes, a genuine smile slowly spread across Li Wei's own face.
The Ancestral Spirit Tablet pulsed, rising slightly before him.
[Go! Find our... People!]
"Yes, Old Ancestor!!!"
Wiping the tears from his eyes, Li Xinghuo clutched the Ancestral Spirit Tablet to his chest as if it were the most precious treasure in the world. Then, with renewed purpose, he turned and continued his journey northwards!
And on that very day, in every corner of the world where a Li family descendant still drew breath, the Ancestral Spirit Tablet each carried flared to life, like solitary sparks suddenly blazing in the deepest, darkest night!
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