Li Xuanjian began by correcting him:
"In the East, we don't call it the 'mystic side.'
We call it the Cultivation World.
If you ever speak with Eastern cultivators, don't use Western terminology.
Remember that."
He leaned back, arms crossed.
"Eastern cultivators are… very wary of outsiders.
Frankly speaking, if you weren't a fellow countryman, I wouldn't even be talking to you — wizard or not."
Arthur nodded.
He had heard similar things from Dumbledore.
When foreign mystic factions once tried to invade China, Eastern cultivators fought them off.
Given that history, their hostility toward other supernatural systems was only natural.
Li Xuanjian continued:
"As for factions in the Eastern cultivation world, even I don't know them all.
Our homeland is vast.
Every region has its own traditions."
"But the famous ones?
Kunlun, Shushan, Maoshan, and the Northeastern Qingqiu traditions."
He tapped the yellow talismans on his desk.
"I myself come from Shushan."
Arthur blinked.
"…Don't tell me it's really Kunlun for immortals, Shushan for sword cultivation, Maoshan for talismans, and Northeastern mediums for spirit-riding?"
Li Xuanjian grinned.
"Hoho! You're surprisingly well-informed.
Those are the iconic paths of the four major factions.
Of course, each sect has more than one lineage."
Arthur silently cursed.
He only knew this because he'd read webnovels in his previous life.
He didn't expect reality to be exactly the same.
He asked:
"What about Buddhism?"
"Buddhism doesn't thrive in the cultivation world," Li Xuanjian said bluntly.
"But there are so many temples back home," Arthur pointed out.
"Appearances," Li Xuanjian scoffed. "Most monks just collect incense money.
They have no real abilities.
Only a few genuine enlightened monks exist, and they're wandering hermits, healing and helping people."
Arthur understood.
Buddhist culture spread widely — the cultivators couldn't stop it —
but real Buddhist practitioners didn't spread with it.
Only native-born monks walked the cultivation path.
Arthur asked:
"Then, Uncle Li, could you tell me about Shushan?"
Li Xuanjian nodded.
"It's been a long time since I talked about home."
"We Shushan don't recruit like your Hogwarts.
Daoist sects choose disciples based on fate.
Every few years, we open the mountain and accept new initiates."
"You wizards test children for magical ability.
We judge by talent and foundation.
If a child meets the standard, they enter the sect."
"We follow the Neidan Path — the Path of Internal Alchemy."
Without thinking, Arthur blurted:
"Refining Essence into Qi, Qi into Spirit, Spirit into Void, and Void into the Dao?"
Li Xuanjian stared.
"…How do you know that?"
"Books at school mention it," Arthur lied smoothly.
In truth, it was novel knowledge from his past life — but it turned out to be real.
Eastern romance indeed.
Li Xuanjian accepted the explanation and continued:
"Correct. Neidan cultivation has four great realms.
Most disciples reach the first realm after years of training."
"Once a disciple reaches the second realm — Refining Qi into Spirit — we send them out to temper themselves.
That's how I came abroad."
Arthur frowned.
"Aren't training journeys usually within the country? How did you end up so far away?"
Li Xuanjian sighed.
"My master's doing.
The government was worried about overseas Chinese communities and asked our sects to send cultivators abroad to look after them."
"My master had seven disciples.
I was the unlucky one chosen."
"But luckily, most people here are Chinese.
Everyone treats me like family — not much different from home."
Arthur asked:
"So how long are you stationed here?"
"Ten years," Li Xuanjian said. "Master's orders.
After ten years, another junior brother will come replace me."
"And how long has it been?"
"Nine years now.
If nothing goes wrong, I'll go home next summer."
He sighed dramatically.
"Hard to believe it's been that long.
Back then, I was just like you — young, handsome…
Look at me now.
Time is a butcher's knife."
Arthur stared at his rugged face and suppressed a twitch.
What kind of butcher's knife could cut a pretty boy down into a Yan Chixia look-alike?
He quickly steered the topic away.
"And the last two realms?"
"The last two?"
Li Xuanjian raised two fingers.
"Refining Spirit into Void — reach that, and you become an Elder.
You can take disciples, or retreat to cultivate, or travel the world.
This is the stage required to open your own temple."
"And the final realm — Refining Void into the Dao.
Rumor says our sect master reached it.
But he's elusive; I've never seen him."
"It's said that achieving this realm adds three hundred years to your lifespan.
One gesture can split mountains.
Half an immortal, really."
Arthur asked:
"If compared to Western wizards… how strong are these realms?"
Li Xuanjian thought back.
"When I went to report at the Ministry of Magic, most wizards there felt about the same level as me — some stronger, some weaker."
"There were also those equivalent to the first realm, Refining Essence into Qi.
I didn't pay much attention."
His pride showed through.
He had reached Refining Qi into Spirit in his early twenties — a prodigy among his sect.
Seeing that an entire Ministry lacked even someone at Elder level made him proud of Shushan's superiority.
Arthur fell silent.
Even elite Aurors were only that strong?
Eastern cultivation was far more powerful than he had imagined.
He guessed that Hogwarts professors — especially Professor Flitwick, a former international dueling champion — should reach the third realm, Refining Spirit into Void.
As for Dumbledore…
likely near the peak of that realm.
He certainly didn't look like someone who could live another three hundred years.
Li Xuanjian clapped his hands.
"Anyway! Didn't you want to see Eastern magic?
What should I demonstrate?"
Arthur thought for a moment.
"You're from Shushan, right?
How about showing us sword flight?"
"That? Easy.
But this room isn't big enough."
"No problem. Don't resist.
We'll move somewhere spacious."
Arthur grabbed Ranni's hand, placed his other hand on Li Xuanjian's shoulder—
Apparition.
In a blink, they appeared in a forest near Arthur's home.
Li Xuanjian froze for a long time.
He knew the wizarding world's rules here.
Underage wizards couldn't use magic outside school.
And this level of long-distance teleportation…
Not even his best escape talisman could move him this far.
And the boy didn't even use a wand.
"You—
you're really still a Hogwarts student?" Li Xuanjian stammered.
"Of course, Uncle Li.
I'll be starting third year soon."
"…You don't look like any third-year wizard I've ever heard of.
And doesn't using magic outside school cause trouble?"
Arthur waved it off.
"Relax.
I can block trace spells easily.
And without a wand, the Ministry can't detect anything useful."
Li Xuanjian's lips twitched violently.
If this level barely counted as "a genius," then what on earth was he?
He also realized something unsettling.
He couldn't sense Arthur's magic at all — he thought Arthur was weak.
Now it was clear:
Arthur simply surpassed him completely.
And the little girl beside Arthur?
He couldn't sense her either.
A dangerous pair.
Arthur interrupted his spiraling thoughts.
"Uncle, if you're ready, please demonstrate."
"O–Oh. Right."
Li Xuanjian inhaled, focused, and summoned his natal sword from his dantian.
He stepped onto the blade, forming hand seals — and shot into the air like a streak of light, cutting through the forest at speeds even faster than Arthur's reforged flying broom.
Arthur had attempted to probe the sword with spiritual sense, but the blade's interior was covered in Li Xuanjian's consciousness.
Intruding would injure him.
Arthur backed off.
He had hoped to learn sword flight secrets, but the sword's protection was too strong.
Eastern cultivation truly had deep foundations.
If Arthur wanted this skill, he would have to pursue legitimate channels.
After all —
flying on a sword was a romance engraved in the bones of every Eastern-born soul.
Arthur quietly added this to his ever-growing list of goals for when he returned East.
He would never force Li Xuanjian to teach him.
Shushan's techniques were sacred — not something to give away to a stranger.
Li Xuanjian eventually landed.
Arthur gave a big thumbs-up.
"Uncle — that was epic."
Li Xuanjian felt conflicted.
Being praised by someone possibly stronger than him was… uncomfortable.
"Well then, anything else you want to see?"
Arthur shook his head.
"That's enough, Uncle.
Thank you.
Let's go back."
Arthur Apparated them back to Li Xuanjian's apartment.
Once seated, Arthur asked:
"Uncle Li, next summer — when you return home — could you take me with you?"
"Hm?
What for?"
"I want to see the beauty of our homeland.
And… maybe visit your sect."
Li Xuanjian considered it.
Bringing one extra person was no trouble.
And Arthur was a prodigy — befriending him would only help Shushan.
He nodded.
"Alright.
Stay in touch.
When my replacement arrives, I'll let you know my departure date."
"Thank you, Uncle.
It's getting late — we should go.
I'll have my owl contact you later.
Oh — a small gift."
Arthur placed a fruit basket on the table — nothing rare, but impossible to buy in Britain.
They all came from his Zen Garden.
Then he grabbed Ranni and Apparated away.
Li Xuanjian stood frozen for a long time.
Then he whispered:
"…What the—
a storage treasure?
A mustard-seed space?"
That was a magic artifact common in the East — crafted only by senior artifact masters.
His master had given him one for his journey.
But Arthur was a foreign wizard.
How did he have one?
Unless…
Unless Arthur was actually a lost child of some powerful Eastern sect?
Li Xuanjian frowned.
He would definitely investigate Arthur's family background later.
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