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Chapter 1115: Chapter 1026: Quirky_2
To know, Li Zhirui’s qualifications, strength, accumulation, and opportunities can all be said to be top-notch, and furthermore, he faced the immensely powerful Thunder Tribulation, yet in the end, he was no match for Li Chengshuo.
"It went too smoothly!" Li Zhirui’s sigh carried a trace of inexplicable unease.
Da Qing did not quite understand his reaction; wasn’t Li Chengshuo’s successful Tribulation Transcendence and breakthrough to Integration a great thing?
In the face of Da Qing’s inquiring gaze, Li Zhirui shook his head and said nothing more. He planned to ask Li Chengshuo personally after he emerged from seclusion.
They could also wait until Yue and Howling Moon have their breakthroughs and face their Tribulation Transcendence, to see if their situations are similar. If so, it might be a problem with the opportunities they had encountered during their previous travels.
"Shuo has outpaced us again with his breakthrough," Jiang Fengwu only came out of the Cave Mansion after the Thunder Tribulation had dissipated.
Thus, she did not witness the earlier Tribulation, only saw Li Chengshuo absorbing Spiritual Energy before returning to the Cave Mansion to consolidate his cultivation.
"It’s not necessarily a good thing," Li Zhirui muttered a strange phrase and then vanished in a flash.
At the same time, a Spirit Light flew from his hand - it was a Communication Talisman affixed to the entrance of Li Chengshuo’s Cave Mansion.
"What’s the matter with Zhirui?" Jiang Fengwu asked Da Qing, puzzled.
Da Qing described some of Li Zhirui’s strange behavior just now, equally perplexed, "Even if the power of Shuo’s Thunder Tribulation was a bit weaker, there’s no need to make such a fuss, right?"
Jiang Fengwu nodded in agreement.
After all, they had not personally experienced the Integration Thunder Tribulation and could not fully appreciate the difference between the two just by observing from a distance.
Henceforth, Li Zhirui didn’t waste any more breath trying to explain.
----
"The Li family has once again produced an Integration Realm cultivator!"
This news spread like wildfire, quickly reaching various areas around.
"The Li family’s power has grown too quickly. How many years has it been, and they have already cultivated another Integration Realm cultivator? It looks like a certain rumor may not be entirely unfounded," said one.
"What rumor?" another cultivator asked curiously.
"The Li family is actually a clan that has fled here. Most people previously thought the Li family was only a Nascent Soul Power, but now it seems they are at least an Integration Power; otherwise, a power without a solid foundation could not rise so rapidly."
"No wonder!" The surrounding cultivators suddenly realized.
Loose Cultivators were not very interested in the news of the Li family’s second Integration Cultivator, as it had little relevance to them -- they were still struggling as always.
However, for the surrounding powers, it was as shocking as thunder.
Ever since the great war, the Zhang Family had been harboring thoughts that the Li family was the main culprit and planned to settle scores with the Li family once they had recovered. However, they did not expect another Integration Cultivator to emerge from the Li family.
Now, it had become even more difficult for them to seek their revenge and clear their shame.
"How many cultivators can the clan mobilize now who can exert fighting power?" the newly appointed Zhang Family Clan Leader asked immediately.
He wanted to take advantage of the fact that the Li family’s new Integration Realm cultivator’s power had not yet been consolidated and was willing to pay a price to eliminate the Li family, nipping this unstable factor in the bud.
"We can mobilize four Integrations; the rest need further tallying," came the reply.
"Four!? How come there are only four?" questioned the Clan Leader, incredulously.
"The Li family needs Integrations to sit in on the Spirit Islands in the Golden Sand Sea Domain. Similarly, the border area with the Qingzhu Sect requires them, plus those injured and undergoing treatment, and those stationed at the main family. Naturally, not many are left," they explained.
The plan to eliminate the Li family ahead of time was declared a failure before it could even be put into action!
The strength of five Integration Cultivators was insufficient. Taking down the Li family territory would lead to many deaths or severe wounds among them.
To the current Zhang Family, every Integration member was an extremely precious entity.
"Alas!" Someone sighed, but it wasn’t clear if it was due to the inability to avenge the family or worries over other matters.
While other powers like the Qingzhu Sect felt surprised, they did not take it seriously, and some even congratulated the birth of a Fellow Daoist.
The same old saying goes: with the Zhang Family being a buffer between them without direct conflict, their relationship remains fairly good.
Regarding the current situation, the Li family had long ago formed a judgment and thus remained very calm.
Besides cultivation and fulfilling various tasks, the numerous members of the Li family had one more important thing to do: continue reclaiming land from the sea!
In fact, the Li family mainly wanted to transform the currently vacant territory into plains more suitable for development, and the land reclamation was just an incidental task.
Since it was near the sea, the task was easily completed.
——
After scheduling for quite some time, today both parties finally had the time.
"Shuo, tell me the truth, did you experience any strange changes inside your body when you were breaking through?" Li Zhirui asked with a frown.
"No! Not at all!" Thinking his father was concerned about his unstable foundation or something similar, Li Chengshuo hurriedly shook his head and said, "Father, don’t worry, I’m fine, it won’t affect my future cultivation."
"That’s not what I mean."
After a pause, Li Zhirui voiced the question that was in his heart.
"Was the power of the Thunder Tribulation too weak?"
Li Chengshuo had never witnessed other Integration Thunder Tribulations and had thought they were all like hers, assuming that the providence in the Great Thousand World had become much more lenient, but now it seemed that was not the reason.
"Yes! The Thunder Tribulation is essentially a test by the Heavenly Dao, the more exceptional the person, the more difficult the test should be, but yours was the exact opposite!"
Li Chengshuo suddenly realized and murmured, "That’s true, so why was my Thunder Tribulation so easy then?"
There is a way to alleviate the Thunder Tribulation, which is to use a large amount of merit.
"An abnormality indicates a monster lurking!"
Li Zhirui looked at her with a solemn expression and said, "According to what you’ve said, you and the Moon Flood Dragon, Howling Moon, were trapped in a place similar to the Taiyin Star for hundreds of years. When you opened your eyes again, you had absorbed all the Taiyin Moonlight that filled the lake, and then your talents greatly improved."
"That’s correct, but is there a problem with that?"
Li Zhirui sighed; he also had no clue.
"Father, there’s no need to worry too much. When the ship arrives at the bridge, it will straighten itself. No matter what lies ahead, I will certainly be able to step through it!" Li Chengshuo said with a smile, her tone very resolute.
"If anything goes wrong, you must come to me immediately!" Li Zhirui didn’t have any other choice, and could only let Li Chengshuo face it herself. At most, he could just help a bit from the side.
After speaking, he shook his head helplessly and shooed Li Chengshuo out.
"By the way, remember to pay a visit to Fengwu. She hasn’t seen you for many years and was very worried before."
Li Chengshuo stood still at the doorway for a while before finally stepping towards Jiang Fengwu’s location.
...
Spring goes and autumn comes, flowers bloom and wither.
The mighty force of time cannot be controlled and keeps rushing forward relentlessly.
"Jiu, I plan to modify the ’Earth Spirit Tao Record’, please help me refine some Precious Pills."
One day, Xiaoqing suddenly came to visit, and fortunately, Li Zhirui was free and let him in immediately.
"It looks like, after so many years of research, you have finally got satisfactory results."
Initially, after some persuasion by Li Zhirui, Xiaoqing had given up on directly modifying the ’Earth Spirit Tao Record’ and instead transformed it into a Cultivation Technique suited for himself.
He spent a great deal of time and finally completed it recently.
Fortunately, Lianxu Cultivators have longer lifespans and, as a Spirit Beast, Xiaoqing is even more so, not minding the time he ’wasted.’
"Thanks to your advice back then, Jiu, it set me on the right path."
Although he hasn’t started cultivating it yet, Xiaoqing’s realm has already considerably improved during the process.
"That was merely your own path."
Li Zhirui shook his head, then took out a set of Precious Pills, which he had specially prepared for clan members who were modifying their cultivation techniques, to significantly increase the success rate of the modifications.
"Thank you, Jiu! Then, I’ll take my leave first!"
Having said that, Xiaoqing left with quick strides.
