Chapter 1165: Chapter 1051: Abandonment_2
He didn’t actually feel much pressure; those cultivators weren’t worthy enough to pressure him.
To become the captain of the Senluo Squad, his family background was part of it, but more importantly, strength spoke volumes—without immense power, he wouldn’t have been able to hold his position steadily all along.
The reason he convened this meeting was mainly because of some issues caused by Li Zhirui within the squad.
The Senluo Squad originally had a good atmosphere and environment, but now it was polluted and messy, something the captain couldn’t stand to see, especially as he worried these bad habits might take root in the squad.
The culprit behind this mess was none other than Li Zhirui!
Thus, he held a strong dislike toward Li Zhirui and planned to use this as an excuse to expel him from the squad. After all, Li Zhirui had only recently joined and hadn’t shown any impressive performance or results.
The incident where Li Zhirui single-handedly faced more than a dozen cultivators from Bai Ding Mountain hadn’t spread—Bai Ding Mountain and the others still had their pride to consider. Even though there were many reasons that led to the situation, the fact that they couldn’t put up a fight against Li Zhirui alone was simply too humiliating.
Such disgraceful matters were naturally something they didn’t want to reveal, and since Li Zhirui hadn’t shown up, outsiders couldn’t know.
"Impossible! Fellow Daoist Li didn’t violate any rules; can it be that just because a few greedy cultivators demand it loudly, we need to expel him from the squad?"
Feng Santree stood up first to argue for Li Zhirui: "If we do this, what will the other cultivators in the squad think?"
"That man is simply a curse; keeping him around will harm the squad without bringing any benefits. We all know you’ve taken favors from him and are speaking on his behalf, but you can’t disregard the interests of everyone else, can you?" said a deputy captain who had long ignored Feng Santree.
"Everything I’m saying is for the sake of the squad! But you—spending every day scheming with your petty calculations!" Feng Santree countered mercilessly.
"Enough! Since there’s disagreement, we’ll put it to a vote. The minority shall submit to the majority," the captain said impatiently.
"Captain..."
Feng Santree had just opened his mouth when the captain interrupted him.
"Raise your hands if you agree to expel Li Rufeng!"
*Swish, swish, swish—*
In an instant, more than half of the group raised their hands to agree.
They weren’t foolish; seeing the captain’s attitude made it clear he didn’t favor Li Rufeng. There was no need to offend the captain over someone insignificant like him.
After all, their captain not only came from an excellent background but was also about to break through to the Mahayana realm. At that point, whether tribulation transcendence or delivering insights, leaving him with a good impression now might lead to unexpected blessings in the future.
"Sigh!" Seeing that the situation was beyond salvation, Feng Santree could only say an inner apology to Li Zhirui before accepting the reality.
What he had done was already the limit—there was no way he would leave the Senluo Squad just for Li Zhirui.
"Since that’s settled, let him know of this decision when he returns to the base."
Having said that, the captain rose and departed, looking thoroughly impatient.
...
Several days later, Li Zhirui emerged from his spatial retreat and returned to the Primal Spirit Realm.
Looking around, he still saw the same crimson sky and scorched black earth, completely devoid of vitality—a sharp contrast to the vibrant energy within the spatial pocket.
Li Zhirui quickly shifted his gaze, refusing to spend time observing this dull and lifeless world, which unknown years had eroded and which future ages would continue to perpetuate.
After confirming his direction, he began flying toward Taisui Immortal City.
The journey was uneventful, and he smoothly arrived at the Immortal City.
Yet Li Zhirui keenly sensed something wrong upon his arrival. As soon as he entered the city, he drew the attention of countless cultivators. Their gaze remained as greedy as ever, but now carried additional emotions—pity, ridicule, and anger. n𝚘𝚟𝚙𝚞𝚋.𝚌o𝚖
’I’ve been away from the city these past few days; how has everyone’s attitude toward me changed so drastically?’ Li Zhirui wondered in his heart.
The reasons behind the pity and ridicule were unknown to him.
But the anger—Li Zhirui could guess its source without difficulty. It was nothing more than those cultivators who had died at the hands of the Demon Cultivators.
Murderers shall face vengeance!
Hence, Li Zhirui paid no mind to these angry stares.
Calmly, he walked to the entrance of the Senluo base but was stopped at the gates.
The two Void Refinement cultivators guarding the gate said sternly, "Senior Li Rufeng, due to your actions, you’ve been expelled from the squad."
"From now on, you may no longer use the name of the Senluo Squad, nor may you enter the premises. In short, all your future actions will have no ties to the squad."
Li Zhirui’s face briefly showed a hint of shock—getting expelled from the Senluo Squad was something he had never anticipated!
But soon, he regained his composure, nodded silently without saying a word, then immediately turned to leave.
Who would have thought that this was merely the beginning? Every inn and restaurant in the Immortal City refused him entry.
"Interesting. So this is your way of forcing me out of the city?"
Li Zhirui chuckled softly, no longer wasting time, and headed straight for the city gates.
The petty behavior of the masses only fueled his defiance, and now he was curious to see how far they were willing to go against him!
With the spatial dimension in his possession, Li Zhirui had no concerns about his safety.
"Ladies and gentlemen, since you’re so eager to obtain those three treasures, I might as well tell you directly—they include an Immortal-grade Spirit Seed, insights from the Mahayana realm, and reflections on tribulation transcendence and ascension!"
Li Zhirui watched the crowd’s frozen expressions quickly twist into frenzy. Grinning broadly, he shouted with mockery, "Do you want them? Well, let’s see if you have what it takes."
With these words, he swiftly escaped through flight.
A single ripple stirred up a thousand waves!
Li Zhirui’s final taunt enraged many cultivators.
"Who does he think he is, daring to boast so shamelessly!"
"We must teach him a lesson to remember—that there are always people stronger than him!"
...
Cultivators vented their anger vocally.
However, they wasted no further time and quickly set off in pursuit of Li Zhirui.
Li Zhirui’s flying speed was considerable, but among the cultivators, several were faster. Soon, one of them overtook him and blocked his path.
"Hand over the treasures, and we’ll let you leave," said a burly cultivator resembling a black bear in both appearance and build.
Even his normal speaking voice had an intimidating, roaring quality.
The area was still a distance away from the Immortal Demon Battlefield, and Li Zhirui couldn’t linger here; if he did, he’d have no room to resist and would be forced to hide in his spatial shelter, an outcome he didn’t wish for.
"Move aside!"
Li Zhirui tossed several Thunder Pills at them—the explosive and terrifying energy forced the cultivators to scatter and immediately deploy their divine powers in defense.
After momentarily resolving the roadblock, Li Zhirui accelerated toward the battlefield.
Alone, regardless of how much Cave Heaven Power he had, it was impossible to contend with dozens, even hundreds, of Integration cultivators.
The only solution to deal with so many cultivators was to rely on external forces.
In the Immortal Demon Battlefield, what could be a better choice than Demon Cultivators?
After shaking off the pursuers who had caught up earlier, the remaining cultivators’ speed fell slightly short—they could only manage to trail behind Li Zhirui.
In a flash, Li Zhirui reached the depths of the battlefield!
Among the trailing cultivators, some dropped out from exhaustion, while others regained their composure and chose to retreat.
"Ladies and gentlemen, be cautious now. Just ahead lies a Demon Cultivator’s base." Li Zhirui appeared to be kindly warning everyone, but in truth, he was alerting the Demon Cultivators of the approaching presence of cultivators.
"Hmph! You claim no involvement with the Demonic Tao, yet you must be a spy sent by it."
Faced with such ludicrous accusations, Li Zhirui couldn’t even be bothered to refute them.
Did they think those Great Ability cultivators were idle spectators? These fools still continued spreading ridiculous rumors despite the lack of intervention from higher powers.
"They’re here! Fellow Daoists, do enjoy the sharpening effect of battling Demon Cultivators—it might help you break through bottlenecks. Who knows, you may end up thanking me afterward."
With these words, followed by bursts of laughter, Li Zhirui vanished into thin air.
In the next moment, several Demon Cultivators appeared, their eyes gleaming with bloodlust, treating the cultivators like their prey.