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Chapter 1210: Chapter 1074: Headquarter
Because every tiger devil sustained injuries, coupled with the cultivators’ numerical and strength superiority, the cultivators managed to subdue eighteen tiger devils in total. Several tiger devils managed to escape by sheer luck.
With the tiger devils dealt with, the next matter was to discuss the division of the spoils.
"The Li family will take half; the rest is up to your distribution." Jiang Fengwu did not wish to waste time on this matter, nor did she want to haggle with them.
Furthermore, their strength would be required for the subsequent purge of devil beasts in the secret realm, so there was no need to sour relations at this juncture.
Upon hearing this, the cultivators offered no objection. After all, they had already gained an advantage. Even if they hadn’t intervened, the Li family wouldn’t have faced too much danger; at most, they might not have achieved such a dazzling victory.
Seeing no protests, Jiang Fengwu collected nine tiger devil corpses of middling quality and, before departing, reminded everyone: "There are only three days left before leaving the secret realm. Do not miss the timing."
The sudden appearance of these cultivators was due to the imminent closure of the secret realm; unexpectedly, they stumbled upon the battle between the tiger devils and the Li family.
"Understood."
Jiang Fengwu nodded slightly and turned back to her encampment.
The secret realm was not always in random teleportation mode; it could be fixed through certain arrangements.
During this time, Jiang Fengwu had not joined her family to purge devil beasts. Instead, she focused on resolving this matter.
She used a magical treasure for opening the secret realm as the array eye, constructing a formation to fix the teleportation position. The setup was in its final stages; had the tiger devils not suddenly attacked, it would have already been completed.
After resting for several hours, Jiang Fengwu led the family’s array masters to finish the final touches.
The Li family’s chosen encampment was on a mountain near the secret realm’s portal.
Overlooking everything below, the location was easier to defend, and if faced with an overwhelming beast tide, they could escape via the portal—a safe retreat route.
The Li family members did not concern themselves with how the other groups divided the tiger devil corpses. Instead, they used the remaining time as efficiently as possible to slay more devil beasts, alleviating some pressure for the next secret realm expedition.
Three days quickly passed.
Those cultivators still alive mostly arrived early; some waited quietly while others roamed nearby.
On the morning of the final day, Jiang Fengwu activated the magical treasure.
This time, as before, the Li family members left first. However, not all left at once; a significant number remained to maintain order and protect their encampment in the secret realm from being destroyed by the devil beasts.
Among those who stayed behind were Li Chengshuo, Da Qing, Mu, and other cultivators in the Integration realm.
The advance party of family members was tasked with collecting the harvest from other cultivators in the secret realm.
The Spirit Beasts trained by the Li family played their key role at this moment!
These beasts possessed treasure-seeking divine powers, some even capable of detecting hidden items stored within storage magical treasures.
With their presence, they had no worry that cultivators were stealthily hiding precious spiritual objects—unless the cultivators also had a personal space like Li Zhirui.
Of course, the Li family did not go overboard; they did not select every precious spiritual object for themselves. Only particularly rare or unknown items were explicitly requested.
It took a busy half-day to settle the matter.
"Six months from now, the secret realm will open again. If anyone still wishes to participate, simply show up on time. The rules will remain the same as this time." With that, Jiang Fengwu led the Li family members aboard the Spirit Boat and departed.
The decision to set the next opening six months later was for several reasons: First, everyone had experienced numerous battles and reaped substantial rewards, requiring time to absorb them. Second, time was needed to prepare various spiritual objects; after all, opening up a secret realm consumed a great amount of these materials.
And most importantly, the aim was to let the devil race factions within the secret realm descend into chaos—to make them fight one another!
The secret realm had previously maintained a three-way balance among the tiger clan, eagle clan, and python flood dragon faction. However, the massive influx of cultivators who recklessly killed devil beasts had shattered the equilibrium.
Especially the tiger clan!
The loss of eighteen Seventh-Rank tiger devils was an unimaginable blow!
Additionally, most of the devil beasts previously cleared by the Li family were subordinates of the tiger clan, further weakening its overall strength.
In this situation, how could the eagle clan and python flood dragon faction spare the tiger clan?
A six-month period would allow the devil beasts to slaughter each other and weaken their forces, making the subsequent purge of the secret realm even more favorable.
Though the other cultivators understood Jiang Fengwu’s intentions, none were willing to give up.
Even if the Li family claimed fifty percent of their spiritual objects, the remaining harvest was still substantial!
This was especially true for the loose cultivators. For a long time, they no longer had to worry about a lack of cultivation resources.
As for casualties?
When they decided to enter the Seventh-Order Secret Realm, they had already prepared themselves mentally for potential demise.
...
As the greatest victors of this secret realm expedition, the Li family members returned to Wanxian Island, where they promptly filled their storerooms to the brim. The brilliance of various spiritual objects intertwined, dazzling the eye.
"Everyone has worked hard!"
Li Taichang’s face showed uncontrollable joy, but when he recalled how many family members had perished in the secret realm, his expression dimmed significantly.
The family’s ancestral hall housed the life tokens of all Golden Core Realm and higher cultivators, so they didn’t need a report to know the exact numbers.
"Ancestor, may I ask how successful the exploration and development of the secret realm were?"
Li Taichang asked, "Shall we continue with the next operation?"
