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Chapter 59 Family Legacy
In the main hall of the mansion, Liu Zhiyuan dismissed everyone, leaving only himself and Liu Shuyue sitting face to face.

“I know you’re unfamiliar with us, because you were too young to remember anything when you left here.” He looked Liu Shuyue up and down, his face full of kindness. “Now that you’ve finally come back, I should have welcomed you with lanterns and decorations, but instead you’ve witnessed the family’s wretched state. I heard you had a conflict with the Prince of Qi in Qingzhou? Could you tell me more about it?”

There was no hint of blame in his words, as if he never felt that the besieging of the Liu family by the government was Liu Shuyue's fault.

Even Liu Shuyue couldn't help but be moved.

For five years after leaving the mountain, she traveled thousands of miles alone. The only place where she could stay in peace was that magical shop.

She never imagined that she would be cared for by a group of complete strangers.

However, the facts are the facts and will not change because of the other party's attitude. She was born into the Lotus Cloud Sect, as were all the disciples of the Lotus Cloud Sect.

"We can discuss the matter of the King of Qi later. What I want to ask is, where did your daughter and that young man learn their magic? As far as I know, in any country, it is strictly forbidden to privately master magic and sect techniques."

Just like prohibiting the private forging of swords and armor.

As for whether there are any violators, of course there are. Occasionally, one or two rogue cultivators will appear in some places. If they do not do evil, the government will turn a blind eye. If they do evil, they are considered evil cultivators, and the local authorities will try every means to find Liu Shuyue and ask her to cleanse the path of evil.

Liu Shuyue has killed at least twenty or thirty evil cultivators.

In terms of harm, these wicked cultivators are on the same level as demons.

As for the fact that rulers of various countries also secretly cultivate cultivators to enhance their royal power, this is no longer a secret. Since the Lotus Cloud Sect does not intend to interfere, the sect's disciples will naturally not meddle.

“Of course, this is a direct transmission from the Liu family.” Liu Zhiyuan’s answer greatly surprised her. “I know that learning these things is forbidden, and could easily lead to the destruction of one’s family, but no one can stop the Liu family from inheriting the ancestral teachings. It is a huge secret to outsiders, but not to you. We have dug many cultivation rooms underground and are training potential successors according to the methods used to train disciples of a sect. You should be very familiar with all of this… because it should be very similar to the cultivation methods of the Lotus Cloud Sect.”

How can it be!

Liu Shuyue immediately wanted to refute his statement. The Lotus Cloud Sect stands atop the Kunlun Cloud Sea, which is why its spiritual energy is so abundant. Furthermore, cultivation methods must be matched to the activity level of spiritual energy; they cannot be easily imitated. Otherwise, the Liu family wouldn't have needed to do this; rulers of various countries would have already been cultivating large numbers of cultivators themselves.

In the area around the Liu family residence, she couldn't sense much sign of abundant spiritual energy; it wasn't even comparable to the Spicy Village in the vast wilderness.

However, she ultimately did not say it aloud.

Because she was the only one who had seen what the inside of the Lotus Cloud Sect looked like, the other party couldn't tell whether she was telling the truth or a lie.

Since that's the case, there's no point in refuting it.

"A direct descendant of the Liu family? Who passed it down?"

“Of course, he is also a disciple of the Lotus Cloud Sect.” Liu Zhiyuan said respectfully, “The ancestor is named Liu Zhidong. In terms of cultivation seniority, he should be your senior uncle.”

Liu Shuyue was shocked when she heard this.

No, of course she had never heard of that name. There were no records of past disciples in the entire Lotus Cloud Sect. Who they were, what they did after leaving the mountain, and what their final fate was were all unknown.

After she left the mountain, she tried to find the whereabouts of these disciples, but they were the same group that had been sent out a hundred years ago. The rulers of the secular world could change two or three generations, so she obtained virtually no reliable information.

What shocked Liu Shuyue was that she never expected to hear news of a former disciple of the sect at the Liu family in Yunzhou!

What's even more unbelievable is that the other person also has the surname Liu!

"you sure?"

“These are all things recorded in the family genealogy, I have no reason to lie to you.” Liu Zhiyuan smiled weakly. “He not only taught us the techniques, but also left behind offspring, which is how the Liu family grew strong. Our ancestor also predicted your birth. He said that a hundred years later, a child of the Liu family would become a new disciple. That person is you… Shuyue, you were just a month old when you were sent away. Although I was very reluctant, I knew that was the path you should take.”

Liu Shuyue couldn't help but shake her head, "No... this doesn't make sense. If I was sent away by the Liu family as an infant, how would you know that person was me? Moreover, in the front courtyard, Liu Qing complained that I didn't remember her. Does that mean that an infant could remember things from birth? I spent most of my time cultivating in the sect and never saw you!"

Liu Zhiyuan looked puzzled. "Shuyue, why are you so resistant to accepting that you are a member of the Liu family? You and Qing'er have never actually met, but you should have seen each other's portraits."

"Portrait? What portrait?"

She couldn't help but recall the words the other person had said when they first met her...

"You look exactly like the portrait..."

“Our ancestors left us a magical artifact that allows us to continue seeing you after you were sent to the sect, only in the form of a portrait. Liu Qing and the other younger generation grew up looking at your portraits,” Liu Zhiyuan explained. “After you left the mountain, we also made portraits of your family members and sent them to you. Haven’t you ever received any?”

"Believe it?" Liu Shuyue frowned. In the past five years, she had rarely stayed in one place for long. Only the government could find her whereabouts. Many people had also written to her, but she simply didn't have time to read them. So she could only shake her head.

"Is that so? So in your eyes, the Liu family is nothing but a bunch of fraudsters? Then why haven't you come to Yunzhou to confront us all these years?" Liu Zhiyuan asked, puzzled.

Liu Shuyue didn't know how to answer for a moment. Not to mention that she rarely paid attention to such folk rumors, even if she did know, she would basically not ask about it unless the Liu family did something that would offend heaven and man.

So she changed the subject, "That magical artifact...can I take a look?"

"Of course, it can be placed in the ancestral hall in the backyard."

Leading Liu Shuyue to the ancestral hall, Liu Zhiyuan pointed to a peach wood square pagoda about half a meter high, covered with bells, on the platform and said, "This is it."

Liu Shuyue recognized it at a glance as a Smoke Soul Pillar. While classified as a magical artifact, it fell short of being a true magic treasure, but undeniably, it was far more reliable than the gadgets boasted about by wandering cultivators. The method of transmitting messages with it was simple: write what you wanted to say on a piece of paper and then burn it. The smoke would activate the bell, and the other side would hear it.

Conversely, if smoke comes out of the bell, it means a message has arrived. If special yellow paper is wetted and placed on top of the tower, the smoke will create words or pictures.

It's unlikely that a lone cultivator could create something like this.

The accounts of former disciples of the sect seem to have gained some credibility.

Liu Shuyue took out a talisman and lit it in front of the smoke pillar. Then, she quickly formed a divination seal with both hands, sensing the direction in which the green smoke was drifting.

A moment later, she opened her eyes. "Liu Zhidong... that ancestor, is his story recorded in the family genealogy?"

Liu Zhiyuan nodded. "Yes."

It will be recorded in the family genealogy, which means he has passed away.

When did he leave?

"According to records, he passed away 65 years ago due to injury and illness."

Liu Shuyue thought to herself, "That means he can only fulfill his mission for a maximum of thirty-five years. As for his age, he should be between forty and fifty, which is a typical case of dying halfway through his mission."

She asked this because the smoke was drifting in a direction that was definitely not the Kunlun Mountains, but some place in the northeast. Divination could not give a precise result, but could only roughly determine that it was in a deep mountain forest, and that it would take two or three days to travel there and back.

If the Liu family did indeed receive a message through the Smoke Soul Pillar, then the message should have originated from there.

Is it possible that the disciples of the sect Liu Zhiyuan mentioned are still alive today?

“In ancient times, there was a divine being who passed by his home three times without entering while controlling the floods. So even though you have never returned home, the entire Liu family still thinks you are arrogant. After all, you are the Great Qi Immortal Master, and we all know how heavy your responsibilities are.” Liu Zhiyuan said earnestly, “If you still have doubts, I am willing to use the blood test to verify them.”

The "blood-drop method" involves taking fresh blood into a bowl, adding water, and if the blood mixes, it means the blood comes from the same source. However, Liu Shuyue knew that this method was merely a folk tradition and not very reliable.

Moreover, whether she believes it or not is unimportant; what matters is that the Liu family firmly believes it.

If that's the case, then they can't be considered greedy people who seek benefits by impersonating immortal masters, and being watched and suppressed by the government can't be considered their deserved retribution.

"No need," Liu Shuyue said. "When did the people outside start attacking you?"

“Three days ago,” Liu Zhiyuan said in a heavy tone, “Prefect Yan said that you had angered the Emperor and that he wanted to punish the entire Liu family. He wanted to imprison everyone in the Liu family so that they could be punished by the Emperor. Before we knew about you, the Liu family could not possibly agree to this, so we organized our household guards to prevent the government from taking any forceful action. But we didn’t expect them to send cultivators today. Fortunately, Qing’er and You’er were able to barely hold them off.”

"Is that You'er also your child?"

"No, he was originally born to a servant. The ancestral law requires us to cultivate talents without being bound by convention, so whether it is the master's family or a branch family, or even the child of a servant, as long as he has talent in cultivation, I will treat them all equally."

Liu Shuyue nodded. "A wise move."

Unable to contain himself, Liu Zhiyuan asked again, "Shuyue, what exactly happened in Qingzhou? Tell me, does the Liu family really deserve this hardship?"

"No, neither the Liu family nor the people of Jiufeng City should suffer this calamity," Liu Shuyue replied resolutely.

Hearing her answer, Liu Zhiyuan immediately felt relieved, and his words seemed to gain more strength, "What should we do next? The entire Liu family is willing to listen to you."

She looked at the other person and said, "Arrange a bedroom for me, and no one is allowed to approach me until I come out."

(End of this chapter)