"I'll go reply to some messages first. I'll help you sort out these items and give them to your mother to keep for you. Hurry up and take a bath to get some rest. Our Pingyi really deserves all the credit and has worked hard today."
Li Youdao said with a look of gratified satisfaction.
"Also, don't forget class at the academy tomorrow. Instructor Wang mentioned recently that you've been slacking off a bit, so you need to step it up."
With that, he picked up the sound-transmission jade talisman and started fiddling with it.
Seeming to remember something else abruptly, he put down the sound-transmission jade talisman, took two Jade Slips out of the desk drawer, and said to Li Pingyi:
"Oh, right, I originally planned to give these to you when you broke through to the Qi Condensation Late Stage. Weren't you always exceptionally interested in spirit plants and things like that since you were a child? One is a detailed introduction to various Spirit Objects across the Canglan Continent, and the other is a meticulous explanation of Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands. Since you've already come into contact with these today, I'll hand them over to you ahead of schedule."
After finishing, Li Youdao handed the two Jade Slips to Li Pingyi.
Li Pingyi looked at the Jade Slips in his hand and said with a solemn expression:
"Dad."
"What is it?"
Seeing Li Pingyi look so unusually serious and earnest, Li Youdao sat up straight and focused his attention.
"I don't want any of these things. I'm only at the Qi Condensation 4th Layer right now, and I don't need Spirit Stones at all. I can enter the Outer Sect just by following the proper steps. But if our family produces someone at the Golden Core realm, I also understand what that means. In this Canglan Continent, going from nothing to something is far more difficult than going from one to two."
Li Pingyi stared fixedly into Li Youdao's eyes, speaking deliberately and solemnly word by word:
"I hope—and I'm sure this is Mom's wish as well—that you will make thorough preparations and never make any blind attempts. Because you are the pillar of our family."
With that, Li Pingyi turned and left the study, leaving Li Youdao and Liu Yaqin looking at each other in speechless dismay.
After a moment of silence, Li Youdao slowly walked over to Liu Yaqin, gently took her hand, and sighed with emotion:
"The boy has grown sensible. This is all thanks to your proper guidance, Yaqin."
Liu Yaqin smiled and shook her head, responding tenderly and affectionately: "No, Youdao, like father, like son. This is all to your credit."
The two looked deeply into each other's eyes, filled with gratitude and affection for one another, as if time itself had grown gentle in this moment.
Right at that instant, a loud shout suddenly came from outside the door: "Dad! Mom!"
"Dad, Mom, I just forgot to tell you—my Qiankun Pouch is too small, I need a new one! Also, my life-saving treasures and Fireball Technique Spirit Talismans are all used up!"
With a loud *bang*, the door was pushed open violently, and Li Pingyi rushed in with a flurry of momentum.
Seeing the two of them standing back-to-back, he was filled with puzzlement.
He saw Li Youdao nodding frantically in agreement, his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes darting about evasively, not daring to meet his gaze. Liu Yaqin, meanwhile, kept fidgeting with the folds of her sleeves, her gaze lowered as she continuously rubbed the toe of her shoe against the floor.
"You two are really weird."
Seeing that Li Youdao had agreed, Li Pingyi left the study again.
Walking in the courtyard, Li Pingyi seemed to suddenly think of something. He stopped dead in his tracks, turned his head, and looked back toward the study with a look of utter shock:
"I literally just left less than two minutes ago? You two?????"
After taking a comfortably refreshing hot bath, Li Pingyi walked back to his room with brisk steps.
His room was not large, but it was arranged with exquisite care. In the small space, a soft bed was set in one corner, and the bedding exuded the faint scent of sunlight, bringing warmth to anyone who came close. A wooden desk stood against the wall, neatly piled with various books. Although the room was small, it had every basic necessity, making it feel incomparably cozy and comfortable.
"This is the taste of home."
Li Pingyi lay down on the bed, stretched lazily with a sense of contentment, and thought to himself.
He kept feeling as though he had forgotten something, but after experiencing such an eventful and exciting day, his mind was a complete mess, and try as he might, he couldn't remember what it was.
"Whatever, I'm not going to think about it. Anything I can't remember probably isn't important anyway."
Unconsciously, his thoughts drifted back to his old man's experiences. His previously casual gaze turned grave, and a heavy sense of contemplation and worry crept into his eyes.
Li Pingyi knew very well what a blocked path of cultivation meant for a cultivator. He possessed the memories of an adult and deeply felt the love his parents in this world had shown him since childhood. This warmth was something he had never experienced in his past life, and it was infinitely precious.
He was determined to protect all of this.
"I have to do something."
Li Pingyi gazed resolutely out the window, his brows slightly furrowed, his lips pressed into a tight line as he pondered inwardly:
"I can't just keep slacking off like a salted fish, young man. Let's start by helping Dad solve the Golden Core issue."
In a blur, the Li Pingyi of his past life—the one who started from scratch and worked hard to build himself up—seemed to have returned.
Having made up his mind, he immediately opened the Jade Slip on Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands to study it.
Both Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands belonged to the location where they opened. To maintain internal spatial stability, Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands themselves restricted the number of people who could enter. The internal space of a Grotto-Heaven or Blessed Land would also expand significantly as the occupant's realm improved.
Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands had strict grading divisions, which could be clearly distinguished by the appearance of their portals. After entering, cultivators would be randomly scattered, and all kinds of sound-transmission positioning Dharma Artifacts and spells would fail. Inside a Grotto-Heaven or Blessed Land, Spirit Talismans and array formations exceeding the limits of the Grotto-Heaven or Blessed Land could not be activated, while puppets, spirit pets, and companion spirit beasts were suppressed to the same realm as the cultivator's cultivation level, and only one was permitted to be brought along.
"Hiss... Aren't sects specializing in puppets and spirit pets getting completely ripped off? I actually wanted to bring an army of a million puppets to steamroll through."
Reading further, a line of bolded text caught his attention:
"Unless necessary, cultivators in the early and middle stages of any realm must not casually employ escape arts or flight techniques, as this will easily attract the covetous eyes of high-tier Monster Beasts. Those with powerful divine sense who can provide early warning are exempt."
"To put it bluntly: if you aren't strong enough, don't show off. Why write it so politely?"
Li Pingyi curled his lip and was about to skim past it when his divine sense violently shook. Below the Jade Slip, a line of text written in blood-red cinnabar, seemingly reeking of malevolent aura, leaped into his view:
"Warning:
Do not attempt to make a major realm breakthrough inside a Grotto-Heaven or Blessed Land! Once your cultivation surpasses the upper limit of the Grotto-Heaven or Blessed Land's grade, you will inevitably be obliterated by the power of the rules! If you break through without surpassing the upper limit, it will still trigger spatial rejection, causing a frenzy of Monster Beasts to surround and attack you! The former results in soul scattering, and the latter offers zero chance of survival!
Countless predecessors have paid in blood to prove this. Remember this! Remember this! Remember this!!"
Li Pingyi drew in a sharp breath, a chill running down his back.
"Good grief, this aligns with what I was just thinking: first build my foundation in the Qi Condensation realm Grotto-Heaven, and then go on a wild killing spree. Turns out people really have tried this. The wild spree happened, but the killing part didn't work out. Heroes, may you rest in peace on your journey; accept my bow."