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Chapter 615: Chapter 621: Evolution
With a single order from Li Zhirui, thousands upon thousands of Li family members sprang into action, bustling about in the seas nearby.
This incident also served to inform the outside world of the Li family’s strength, which had grown significantly, with over twenty Golden Core cultivators, several hundred at Foundation Establishment, a few thousand in Qi Cultivation, and two Nascent Soul True Lords, fully deserving of the title "Nascent Soul Family Clan"!
"I really don’t know what the ancestor was thinking, to actually believe that there could be a Spirit Stone Vein under the sea," a Foundation Establishment cultivator muttered impatiently.
They had been searching the area for several days already and had not glimpsed even the shadow of a vein.
It wasn’t just him, many clan members felt this was a waste of their time. But these were orders from Li Zhirui, and no one dared to disobey.
Moreover, Li Zhirui was not only highly skilled, but he was also the elder with the highest seniority!
Not to mention his own generation of the "Zhi" generation, even among the next "Cheng" generation, only a few born after Li Chengsheng and Li Chengshuo survived without having broken through to Golden Core.
So, from any perspective, they had no reason to object.
"Enough! Stop complaining. This is also a family mission, and no one has been treated unfairly. Besides, if we’re lucky and find something spiritual, it belongs to us personally. And if we find a vein, there will be a generous reward," the team leader immediately interrupted them.
The crowd fell silent at once.
"Let’s go, we’ve already searched here."
But the following days still came up empty.
"Uncle, why don’t we try to drill a passage? Maybe there is some kind of vein inside the seabed," a Qi Cultivator suggested boldly.
After all, the strongest among them was only at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, and their Divine Sense lacked the penetration to probe too deeply under the soil.
And indeed, his idea shone a light of hope, but soon they encountered a problem. The rock layer was too thick and hard; even making a small passage was not easy.
This approach also had a significant drawback, being too random. If they were incredibly unlucky, they might drill dozens of passages and still find no veins underneath!
Yet with no alternatives, they had no choice but to grasp at straws.
Perhaps their luck wasn’t too bad, as they soon found a vein!
Unfortunately, it was not a Spirit Stone Vein but still a decent second-order Spirit Material — Aquatic Ghost Ironstone.
"We’ve found a vein!"
"According to the clan’s announcement, this second-order vein can bring each of us five thousand Contribution Value points!"
"Ohh!"
Upon hearing this, everyone became excited; five thousand Contribution Value points might only be exchanged for five thousand spirit stones, but the real value lay in exchanging them for Spirit Pills, spells, and other items that couldn’t be bought with spirit stones.
The incident gave them great confidence. No one complained of fatigue while digging channels anymore; everyone became very proactive.
Regrettably, their streak of luck had come to an end!
No matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t find a second vein.
Soon, the month had ended.
On Wanxian Island, the Elder responsible for inventorying resources such as Spirit Veins and mineral veins spent several days and finally noted down the details of various resources.
"Clan Leader, we have discovered four second-order veins, one third-order vein, five first-order Spirit Veins, two second-order Spirit Veins, two..." The Elder reported in detail and pointed out their locations in the sea.
Unfortunately, among these numerous Spirit Veins and ores, there were no Spirit Stone veins! However, this was still considered a good harvest.
For this reason, Li Zhirui even especially attended the development ceremony to signify the great importance he placed on this matter.
Although he felt it was a pity that they had not found a Spirit Stone vein, he did not show any other emotions on the surface.
With these veins, the family could reduce the purchase of Spirit Materials, save some Spirit Stones, and even produce more Magic Artifacts for sale.
"Father, I have a favor to ask of you." Just when Li Zhirui was about to go back to continue his alchemy, Li Chengsheng suddenly stopped him.
After Li Zhirui’s return to Wanxian Island, this was in fact the first time they had met again; both had been busy with their own affairs and had not seen each other.
"Speak," he said, curious as he looked at Li Chengsheng, wondering what it could be that would make Sheng seek his help.
"Father, for my next expedition... I would like to ask you to trade the Dragon Corpse for a fourth-order Sun Spirit Object." 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝙢
After he finished speaking, Li Zhirui agreed immediately and teased, "You didn’t go to Fengwu because you’re afraid of being lectured once more, aren’t you?"
Li Chengsheng scratched his head awkwardly, although that was what he thought, he couldn’t possibly admit it.
"However, your Dragon Corpse is of a rare attribute, it’s better to keep it in the family. I’ll have someone keep an eye out for the Sun Spirit Object."
The Flood Dragon was of the water element, but Li Chengsheng’s Dragon Corpse was that of a Fire Dragon, which could make up for the family’s deficiency in the five elements.
"That works." As long as he could get the Spiritual Object, the process didn’t matter to him.
Li Zhirui nodded and informed Li Darong about the matter, asking him to take charge of it.
Meanwhile, he went to the Alchemy Room. Li Zhirui did not engage in alchemy every day; some of his time was dedicated to deduction, reflection, identifying problems, as well as cultivation.
He did not return to his room partly because it was inconvenient and partly because Jiang Fengwu had been neglecting sleep and food while deducing some Formation, leaving his room empty, so Li Zhirui decided not to bother going back.
Half a month passed in a blink of an eye.
At this point, Da Qing and Xiaoqing had successively completed their preparations for bloodline evolution.
"Bloodline evolution is not something that can be achieved easily. The process will undoubtedly involve pain and trials. I hope you both can persevere and reach the ultimate success!"
"Jiu, rest assured, we will definitely succeed!" the two promised confidently.
However, when they actually began their evolution, the shrill cries of pain they emitted were so chilling and frightening.
It was Li Zhirui’s first encounter with a Spirit Beast’s evolution. He had no experience in this, and because he had listened to their assurances, he hadn’t prepared any Spirit Pills for healing or pain relief, leaving them to endure the entire process on their own.
"This is too horrifying," commented Jiang Fengwu, who had put aside his work to come out of retreat and observe. He frowned as he spoke.
The complexions of the other clan members were also unpleasant, especially those of Li Chengsheng and Li Chengshuo. Their Spirit Beasts also needed to evolve or their cultivation would be constrained, unable to break through to higher realms.
Luckily, the severe pain only occurred in the early phase, when the internal conflict was most intense. If it had persisted, Li Zhirui couldn’t imagine who would be capable of completing the evolution.
