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Chapter 1105: Chapter 1021: Turning Hostile _2
And obviously, the Zhang Family only asked the Li Family to support the other two battlefields, not to send them to certain death. According to the oath, the Li Family should not refuse.
"Of course, I haven’t forgotten, but perhaps Fellow Daoist might have overlooked some minor details."
Li Zhirui slightly smiled, seeing him deep in thought, and softly said: "That is, the Li Family will only serve on one battlefield, the Zhang Family cannot command the Li Family’s cultivators to go to another battlefield."
After saying that, Zhang Feixia’s face changed drastically; this was a very minor additional condition that he didn’t even remember.
From this point, it is not difficult to see that the Li Family had been playing tricks from the beginning, scheming against the Zhang Family.
And on the battlefield, Li Zhirui’s performance was indeed very outstanding at first, but later it was nothing but a waste of time, a classic example of going through the motions without any real effort!
"As long as Fellow Daoist is willing to agree, afterwards the Zhang Family will definitely not be stingy with various Spiritual Object rewards." With a problem existing in the contract, solving it was impossible; Zhang Feixia could only resort to bribery.
As for threats, he was not a fool; how could he possibly offend Li Zhirui at this critical moment?
"I’m sorry, I really can’t help." Li Zhirui was completely unmoved, immediately opening his mouth to refuse.
Zhang Feixia looked deeply at Li Zhirui for a moment and said: "I hope Fellow Li does not come to regret today’s decision in the future."
"I probably won’t." Li Zhirui smiled slightly, moving towards the defense line, quickly finding Da Qing and others.
He understood the threat implied in those words, but Li Zhirui did not care at all.
Because since the time the Zhang Family demanded a thousand li of realm territory from the Li Family, the relationship between the Zhang Family and the Li Family was doomed to not be good, not to mention that Li Zhirui still remembered that the Zhang Family had the lives of many of his clansmen in their hands!
All under heaven are bustling for profit; all hustle and bustle is from the pursuit of profit.
The Li Family aiding the Zhang Family this time was for their own benefit, and to play tricks within the contract, was likewise for the benefit of the family.
"Hmph!"
Zhang Feixia watched Li Zhirui’s departing figure, snorted coldly, and muttered under his breath: "The Li Family really shouldn’t exist!"
——
"How has the great war gone this time?" Li Zhirui asked curiously.
All the clansmen were here, none had met with accidents, and there hadn’t even been a situation where someone depleted all their mana.
"The strength of the Qingzhu Sect’s disciples is not very strong; they only have the advantage in numbers. But the Seventh Rank Great Array that the Zhang Family set up is extraordinary. They dashed against it until they were battered and eventually they retreated in complete disarray," Da Qing explained succinctly.
Li Zhirui nodded, this result matched his previous expectations, a Seventh Rank Mountain Protection Array has a huge impact on a war!
"Next, everyone rest well. We need to stay here to stand guard against a possible rediscovery and attack by the Qingzhu Sect cultivators."
Da Qing and others who were privy to the information exchanged glances, but the rest of the clansmen were very excited, because it was clear to see that the Qingzhu Sect was unlikely to make a move again, they just had to quietly wait here until the end of the war.
Li Zhirui walked towards his small courtyard, followed closely by Da Qing and others. The courtyard, originally not very large, was now filled with people.
"Jiu, with this, the Zhang Family is probably going to be very angry, right?"
Da Qing could not help but worry, saying: "Will they move against our family?"
Handing over such a large tract of territory and not receiving an equivalent benefit, not to mention being schemed against, anyone would be unhappy.
"They certainly will! That’s why you all need to seize the time to cultivate right now!" Li Zhirui said with firm determination.
"Okay, got it."
Understanding the danger their family would face, all the clansmen were filled with tremendous motivation to improve their own strength as much as possible.
—— 𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙥𝒖𝒃.𝙘𝙤𝒎
Meanwhile, on the other two battlefields, the originally disadvantaged Zhang Family cultivators, after receiving support, began to slowly turn the tides.
"Damn it! That bunch of good-for-nothings from the Qingzhu Sect actually let the reinforcements slip through!" a Lianxu Cultivator cursed furiously upon seeing the large troop of reinforcements.
"What should we do now? It looks like the Qingzhu Sect has lost, but we don’t know the extent of casualties. Should we retreat?" Another Elder asked quietly.
None of the three families could bear excessive casualties!
Because in Wanzhu State, the competition is extremely fierce; even if they occupy the territory of Shanyuan State, if the main family encounters problems, it would result in a loss greater than the gain.
Therefore, seeing the Zhang Family’s strength increase, both families developed the idea of retreat. After all, they had already occupied a lot of territory in the previous clash, and it was a good time to assimilate it.
They couldn’t possibly surrender directly, as that would deal a huge blow to their reputation, and they also wanted to test the Zhang Family’s strength one last time.
Thus, after discussions between the two sides, they set up their positions and engaged the Zhang Family in a large-scale battle that was not insignificant.
But as the attackers, and with the Zhang Family receiving quite a bit of support, not to mention breaking the defense, they even found approaching to be very difficult.
"Retreat!"
Watching the corpses of disciples and clan members scattered across the ground, several Integration Cultivators in the sky had no choice but to halt the operation.
With that, the second battle initiated by the three powers ended in an anticlimactic way!
But this victory didn’t bring any benefits to the Zhang Family.
Firstly, they didn’t reclaim any of the territories occupied by the three families.
Secondly, setting up the three seventh-rank Mountain Protection Arrays consumed a massive amount of Spiritual Objects. Even though they could retrieve the Array Plates and Array Flags afterward, the investment was too significant.
Lastly, even though they had won this time, they still lost a thousand miles of territory!
Those who didn’t know the details might think the Zhang Family had lost.
If there had to be a silver lining, it would likely be that the three Integration powers would not make a move again for a while.
"Finally, we can return." Li Zhirui, upon receiving the news, said excitedly.
He had been researching Dharma during these days, and once back at Mount Wanxian, he could start the attempt.
Dharma not only possesses tremendous combat power, but it is also the path of cultivation for Integration Cultivators. To break through to the Great Vehicle Realm, one must expand their Dharma to a hundred meters.
Therefore, from any aspect, forming Dharma must be accelerated on the agenda.
"Let’s go!"
Li Zhirui waited for half an hour, and after all the clan members had packed up, he activated the Cloud Boat and flew towards Mount Wanxian in the southeast.
As they were leaving, they encountered a group of Zhang Family Cultivators, whose attitudes towards the Li family had shifted from cold and indifferent to hostile and angry.
"The thousand miles of land that you took advantage of to steal, we will take it back sooner or later!" a Lianxu Cultivator said angrily.
Li Zhirui raised his eyebrows slightly; this person was quite audacious to explicitly reveal the Zhang Family’s intention to move against the Li family.
It seemed that the Zhang Family’s dissatisfaction with the Li family was no longer concealed, as so many Cultivators were aware of it.
If it weren’t for the fact that the great battle had just ended and the Zhang Family still had many affairs to deal with, they might have already planned to take action against the Li family!
"Is that so? Then I’ll just wait for you all to come," Li Zhirui calmly finished speaking and then had the Cloud Boat controlled to leave.
"Brother Jiu..."
Da Qing, or rather most of the clan members, still felt some panic and unease because, after jointly battling with the Zhang Family this time, they had a clearer understanding of their strength.
"Don’t worry, nothing will happen," Li Zhirui confidently asserted, dispelling much of the clan members’ internal unease and fears.
But in truth, Li Zhirui himself was not very reassured about the battle that could break out at any moment, but he couldn’t show it.
"Practice well. When the Zhang Family makes its move, as long as you have strong power, are you afraid you won’t be able to withstand them?"
After returning to Mount Wanxian, Li Zhirui spoke on a clichéd topic then swiftly left.
In front of others, you can be brimming with confidence, but in the unobserved corners, Li Zhirui must make thorough preparations!
Although the Zhang Family had experienced a lot of misfortune over the years, resulting in a significant weakening of their strength compared to before, they were not someone the Li family, who had just ascended to Integration power status, could afford to offend and challenge.
Hence, to get through this ordeal, the Li family must use all means and strengths at their disposal!
Only like this does the Li family have a glimmer of opportunity!
