A monster, devoid of distinguishable gender and possessing only a vaguely humanoid shape, floated in the spiritual pool; its limbs resembled unpolished jade.
This entity gathered the culmination of techniques passed down through generations of the family.
Having spent over decades to reach the peak of the Divinity Transformation realm, it was now on the verge of breaking through to the Void Refining realm.
This creation was also the reason Li Yaoqing and Li Yaotie rarely left the family estate throughout the year.
Whenever they finished refining pills or forging artifacts, researching and developing "Dabao" became an essential task.
Aside from the name "Dabao"—given to it by Li Changyao—the clan members also jokingly referred to it as the "Abomination."
[Dabao (12th Generation)]
[Physical Body: Constructed utilizing the flesh and blood of the six Ancestors of the Zhao Clan.
Its arms combine the limbs and Dantian of Zhao Tingyu, possessing extreme destructive power capable of shattering myriad techniques.
Its legs merge the Dantians and five internal organs of Zhao Jingmiao and Zhao Buqun, granting boundless Spiritual power when standing upon the earth.
Its head contains the Soul Sea of Zhao Wan...]
[Fuses the characteristics of two of the Four Great Leaders of the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems:
Zhen Wu's meridians, capable of commanding nine types of rule-based Spiritual arts.
Ling Xu's skeleton, possessing spatial rules that allow for short-distance void breaking.]
[Refined through the Corpse-Driving Art and infused with ghost energy to become a Half-Zombie, existing outside the Five Elements.
Further refined through Spirit Puppet arts, array formations, and alchemy...]
"Once we refine a new 'Void-Soul Exchanging Dao Technique' space, Dabao will be able to reach the Void Refining realm."
Li Yaoqing looked at Dabao floating in the pool with a complex expression.
"Think of how much manpower and resources the family expended in the past just to achieve a breakthrough to the Void Refining realm. To think its breakthrough will be so simple."
"And it won't be a simple Void Refining realm either," Li Yaotie let out a loud laugh.
"The corpse dragon's bones are massive, its main body a thousand meters long.
By incorporating the corpse dragon's torso into its body, combined with the fact that every single part of Dabao's body comes from the most exceptional parts of cultivators at the absolute limit of the Void Refining realm...
Its combat power might even surpass yours and mine!"
"The only thing remaining is a soul."
Li Yaoqing cast aside the sentimentality in her mind and gave a slight nod.
"You and I should also make preparations early. As for you, Third Brother, you need to break through to the peak realm soon and comprehend the laws of Fire.
Now that the Nirvana Sage Elder is dead, don't let someone else snatch your Dao path first."
"Alright." Li Yaotie scratched his head, looking slightly embarrassed.
This time, the clan members had all gone to the Western Border and obtained numerous treasures.
Despite being a blacksmith with the [Fate Bound to Iron] trait, deep down, he was someone who loved a good fight.
But as it turned out, all the treasures were plundered by the other clan members while he simply reaped the rewards without lifting a finger.
He couldn't help but feel he owed them a debt of gratitude; otherwise, he would definitely be bickering with his Second Sister right now.
He hurriedly returned to the Spirit Gathering Cauldron.
Standing beneath the Heavenly Fire Divine Tree, Li Yaotie immediately began his cultivation, allowing the Heavenly Fire Divine Tree to irrigate him with the Dao of Fire.
"It's not enough."
Observing Li Yaotie's cultivation, Li Wei murmured.
With a thought, he saw that Li Yaotie's Void Refining space was only at the mid-stage; there was still a long way to go before reaching the peak of the Void Refining realm, even though Li Yaoqing had already refined all of her pills specifically for him.
According to the family's estimates, the resources required to push Li Yaotie to the peak of the Void Refining realm would rival the entire foundation of the Zhao Clan.
"The key is opening the Dao Gate. Comprehending the rules of Fire laws... but Yaotie lacks the profound foundation in his Dao principles.
It will be fundamentally impossible for him to open the Dao Gate."
Li Wei's ears twitched. Hearing the sound of a wooden fish in the distance, he quietly headed over.
He saw an earthen temple.
Inside the temple, Li Kuanghua was striking a wooden fish.
Her Bodhisattva Prowess statue, sacred and inviolable, chanted Buddhist scriptures.
Far away from Li Kuanghua's cultivation site, a group of black-clad men were waiting.
Li Wei had arrived at just the right time; as the Buddhist chants echoed, the earth and rocks on the ground squirmed, and Bodhisattva statues surfaced.
These cultivators from the Hall of Heavenly Principles took the Bodhisattva statues, headed outside Merit City, and handed them over to the monks of the "Great Ming King Temple," a Buddhist faction within the Azure Cloud Prefecture.
Shortly after, another type of Buddha statue emerged—this one with three heads and six arms, possessing a demonic body.
Demon cultivators from the Thunder Fire Demon Cave arrived, taking the demonic statues away with them.
Both the Buddha and Demon statues would be distributed to various parts of the secular world across the Azure Dynasty through the Great Ming King Temple.
"The Dao path of Rebirth."
A smile surfaced on Li Wei's face as he watched Li Kuanghua, who was peacefully chanting scriptures, face-to-face with Nun Dairou.
Nun Dairou struggled occasionally; she had lost her usual tranquil demeanor, now filled entirely with anger and unwillingness.
Li Kuanghua was imitating her Dao path, or rather, imitating the breakthrough path of the Dusheng Nunnery.
Having cultivated in the Dusheng Nunnery for decades, Li Kuanghua had essentially learned all of the nunnery's methods inside and out.
She knew exactly how Nun Dairou had broken through, and how she had helped Dharma Master Hongzhen attempt her breakthrough.
The resources given to Li Yaotie were equally being provided to Li Kuanghua.
As for her fortuitous encounter, it lay in these Buddha statues sent to various parts of the world, gathering enough faith and leaving everything else to time.
Furthermore, the family possessed an even greater advantage than the Dusheng Nunnery: the family had Holy Monk Yidian, meaning they didn't fear retribution from other Buddhist factions, and they possessed the power and authority to protect the Buddha statues.
All that was needed was to leave it to time.
The descendants abroad helped the clan members seek opportunities for breakthroughs, the descendants in the Azure Cloud Prefecture provided logistical support, and together, they waited for a breakthrough to the Body Integration realm.
This was the current way of survival for the Li Clan—many hands make light work, gathering wood to build a raging fire.