Chapter 1194: Chapter 1066: Sneak Attack
"Sheng’s Thunder Tribulation seems to have weakened."
Li Zhirui gazed at the imposing Thunder Tribulation, unlike Jiang Fengwu’s deeply worried expression, he felt something was amiss.
This made him think of the tribulation situations faced by Li Chengshuo, Yue, and Howling Moon back then.
"What exactly is the reason?"
Li Zhirui was baffled, unable to comprehend why the Heavenly Dao favored them, even going easy on the Thunder Tribulation.
"Perhaps it’s because the Primal Spirit Realm has improved? Haven’t we absorbed several Taixu Illusionary Realms in recent years?" Jiang Fengwu casually suggested.
Li Zhirui shook his head. If the world truly was progressing to nourish more high-level cultivators, why didn’t this happen during Jiang Fengwu’s tribulation, who was positioned between Chengshuo and Chengsheng?
There must be reasons beyond their understanding! 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝓬ℴ𝓶
However, Li Zhirui didn’t delve deeper. Without clues or leads, pondering endlessly was useless, especially since Chengsheng’s tribulation was the priority today.
Though he trusted that with Chengsheng’s cultivation level, paired with the reduced Thunder Tribulation power, he would surely pass safely, worry still lingered.
Tribulation Thunder roared, its formidable might crashing down onto the seated Li Chengsheng. Yet, his years of diligent cultivation, coupled with his mastery of the Sun Law, made the Thunder Tribulation’s power not too threatening.
Each blast of Tribulation Thunder was diffused by Li Chengsheng with relative ease. Though he appeared somewhat drained, the top-grade Precious Pills prepared long ago by Li Zhirui rapidly restored his mana.
By the end, Chengsheng didn’t appear the least bit disheveled.
"It seems that today, another Integration Realm cultivator will be born into the Li family!" Li Taiyao proclaimed, her face full of joy.
The final blast of Tribulation Thunder had dissipated, leaving only the Heart Demon Tribulation to be conquered.
However, no one seemed particularly concerned, as the Li family’s outstanding members, while perhaps not paragons of virtue, at least possessed Dao Hearts deemed acceptable!
And for many, this was sufficient to handle the Heart Demon Tribulation.
The only question was how long it would take for the individual to overcome their hearts’ darkness.
In this respect, Li Chengsheng was undoubtedly exceptional. Within half an hour, he opened his eyes.
The ominous dark clouds overhead instantly transformed into pure white spiritual energy, flooding into Li Chengsheng’s body.
Soon after, an oppressive aura of the Integration Realm burst forth from him, marking his successful breakthrough as the Li family’s fourth Integration cultivator.
"Hooray!"
A tidal wave of cheers erupted across Mount Wanxian, as all the clan members displayed pure exhilaration and excitement.
As members of the Li family, their pride naturally swelled; the stronger their clan, the more confidence they carried into the world.
Yet beneath the jubilant celebration, a fraction of the clan harbored different thoughts.
The question loomed: why were all four of the clan’s Integration cultivators so closely tied to Li Zhirui?
Could Li Zhirui be leveraging his status and cultivation to hoard the best resources for them, enabling Jiang Fengwu, Chengsheng, and Chengshuo to break through?
If not, why hadn’t any of the talented Heavenly Spiritual Root clan members breached the Integration Realm thus far?
Such suspicions weren’t new; they had lingered for years, circulating the clan at times.
Li Zhirui was aware but had never intervened, refusing to give such rumors any weight.
Those who entertained such thoughts were either fools or deceitful troublemakers, unworthy of his anger.
Besides, Li Zhirui’s path to his current realm undeniably relied on the clan, but it could hardly be said the clan carried him.
The same went for Jiang Fengwu, Chengsheng, and Chengshuo.
Their family always retained a clear conscience.
Moreover, if contributions were counted, their aid to the clan vastly outweighed the clan’s aid to them. The high-ranking Spirit Beasts within the clan—most were found by the four of them. The vast majority, nearly 80%, of cultivation methods in the Scripture Pavilion originated from their outside opportunities.
Not to mention the countless crises the clan faced over the years, each avoided thanks to their efforts.
Thankfully, over the years, the Clan Leader and elders managing the family remained rational, preventing such foolishness from disturbing Li Zhirui’s family.
This time was no different; at the first hint of trouble, Li Taiyao led a group of elders to firmly reprimand the troublemakers. She also publicized the contributions of Li Zhirui’s family to silence dissent.
She ensured everyone in the clan understood that without Li Zhirui, Jiang Fengwu, Chengsheng, and Chengshuo, the family could never have achieved its current prosperity.
Li Taiyao even devised a method to record the contributions of every clan member over the years and incorporate them into the curriculum for the newly tested children.
While the method couldn’t guarantee the prevention of ungrateful heirs entirely, it significantly reduced the chances.
Additionally, it strengthened their sense of belonging to the clan and enhanced unity.
The four of them heard of this later and merely chuckled casually.
Although, in private, they offered some spiritual objects as a token of thanks.
Time passed; seasons came and went.
Years flew by, over a decade gone in the blink of an eye.
The wandering Cang, who had been tempering himself outside, returned one day to Mount Wanxian.
Li Zhirui met him a few days later, and with one glance at Cang, he sensed something was off, asking: "Have you encountered anything unusual during your years away?"