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Chapter 695: Chapter 701: Stirring Up Trouble
"It’s not impossible, after all, the Li family’s foundation is not particularly stable, and they probably fear their status being challenged."
They don’t know that the Li family, including the Spirit Beasts, already has nearly ten combat forces equivalent to Nascent Souls.
Now, external forces perceive the Li family as having four Nascent Soul-level combatants, namely Li Zhirui, Jiang Fengwu, Da Qing, and Xiaoqing.
The first two had conducted a grand ceremony after their breakthroughs, which naturally couldn’t be hidden; the reasons for Xiaoqing and Da Qing were similar. At that time, the Li family was not as secluded as it is now, and the commotion of their Tribulation Transcendence was the focus of public attention.
By the time Feng Peng underwent his Tribulation, the Marketplaces to the east and west activated the Illusion Arrays, and the mainland two hundred miles away could not see the situation on the island, so naturally, they couldn’t know.
"But there hasn’t been any news about any clan or sect having a new emergence of Nascent Soul True Lords, right?"
"Isn’t that exactly the case with the Water Spirit Sect and Wuya Mountain to the south?"
The group discussed fervently, their speculations growing increasingly wild.
"Enough! These are just our guesses. Don’t talk about it with outsiders. If the Li family investigates and finds out, none of us will be in a good position," the cultivator who initially brought up the topic, seeing his purpose was achieved, seemingly kindly cut off the discussion.
"Hmph! The Li family is just a Nascent Soul family. Even if I do tell others, what can they do to me?" Sure enough, there was a cultivator whose impulsive nature took the bait.
Within a few days, the rumor spread far and wide, known to everyone.
Some cultivators became afraid that things were as the rumors suggested, that the Li family was getting rid of dissenters and immediately arranged for their younger generations to leave, preserving a seed of hope and inheritance for their families.
Loose Cultivators valued their lives even more, and for a time, a large number of them fled the Li Clan’s territory, causing an acute decrease in the Li family’s income.
When Li Zhirui heard the news, he instantly understood. It was either pushed by the forces that had acted against Li Chenghuo and the others, or other forces were stirring the waters for their own benefit.
After all, due to the cheap Spiritual Objects, a siphon effect had been created on the surrounding Loose Cultivators, leading to a decrease on their turfs, and they had long harbored resentment.
"Old Ancestor, what should we do now?" Li Wenli asked anxiously.
However, Li Zhirui remained calm, not taking the matter too seriously. As long as sufficient time passed and none of the Li family’s vassals made a move, the Loose Cultivators would naturally return, as they did not earn Spirit Stones easily.
Nevertheless, they had to guard against the possibility that a certain family or several families lying in wait might strike at their vassal forces; otherwise, the Li family really couldn’t explain themselves.
"Proceed with the plans we had before," he said.
Seeing his composed demeanor, Li Wenli’s anxiety settled, and he bowed and said, "Understood."
"Who made the move?"
Li Zhirui’s gaze became profound. Considering who benefited the most and thus was the most suspicious, it should be the Water Spirit Sect and Wuya Mountain. Most of the Loose Cultivators had moved towards them, and they were closer to the Li family’s heartland, able to quickly learn of events in the Li family and respond accordingly.
After some thought, he summoned Xiaoqing and Feng Peng, the couple, because they occasionally ventured to the Boundless Sea to hunt Sea Devils for food. Not only had their cultivation levels increased rapidly, but their bodies had also grown much larger compared to other predators of the same rank.
The Boundless Sea was vast and infinite, and their ability to appear and disappear without a trace had kept them safe until that moment.
However, they had been injured before, having been ambushed two or three times. Fortunately, their reactions were quick, and they did not venture too deep. Even so, they had narrowly escaped with their lives.
Yet, this did not diminish the couple’s intent on hunting Sea Devils; on the contrary, it intensified their hatred. Initially targeting only fourth-order Sea Devils, they had started to prey on third-order ones as well.
Eventually, Li Zhirui, thinking that the couple had gone too far and that provoking a fifth-order Great Devil could lead to their deaths without understanding why, intervened and confined them to Wanxian Island, forbidding them from hunting Sea Devils outside.
After all, having consumed the flesh and blood of Great Devils for so many years, their cultivation had increased rapidly, with Xiaoqing on the verge of a breakthrough. It was an excellent opportunity for them to stay with the family, to cultivate properly, and to polish off the murderous aura from their beings.
Bring back the words!
"Jiu, you called us here, is there something you wish to command?"
In the face of Xiaoqing’s inquiry, Li Zhirui spoke directly, "I hope you can lead a team to thoroughly search the Li family’s territory, to prevent our clan from being schemed against."
"Rest assured, Jiu!"
Xiaoqing, who had been confined to the island, had longed for the outside world for quite some time, and now that he finally had the chance, how could he not be thrilled?
"This matter is of utmost importance, do not deal with it perfunctorily," Li Zhirui emphasized repeatedly, fearing that once Xiaoqing went out, he would let himself go and forget all about the mission.
Fortunately, there was the somewhat more steady Feng Peng by his side to watch over things, otherwise he would not have felt at ease entrusting the task to Xiaoqing.
"By the way, if you encounter any sneaky Golden Core cultivators, you can also take them down directly and let the family interrogate them later," he added.
If wrongfully accused, the Li family would offer a generous compensation of Spiritual Objects, but if they were indeed guilty, their end was nigh!
——
In the depths of a desolate mountain located to the south, a group of cultivators dressed in black suddenly appeared in this place unnaturally.
"The man from the Li family is always astute and meticulous in his actions. If we really make a move, we might expose ourselves." One of the cultivators expressed his concern.
"But now is the best time to act. If we miss it, who knows how long we’ll have to wait."
"Yes, the Li family is already more powerful than our Sect, and if they continue to gather all these Loose Cultivators to profit from them through Spirit Stones, our Sect will likely find it hard to avoid destruction."
In truth, even without the presence of so many Loose Cultivators, given the development speed of the Li family, their chances of being destroyed were high; it was simply a question of when.
Them muddying the waters now was merely a way to slightly delay the inevitable arrival of death!
"We just need to be careful and it’s not necessary to eliminate too many subordinate forces. Completing the task with one or two families should ensure we’re not discovered by the Li family."
If they were still discovered by the Li family after such caution, then it was their fate, beyond the power of mortals to change.
"Let’s take action! Be careful not to leave any traces, and don’t fly directly back to the Sect when retreating; take a few detours," the leader of the cultivators finally decided to make a move.
And wasn’t there another group of cultivators as well?
Meanwhile, at the place of those three cultivators.
"Big brother, the current chaos here presents us with an excellent opportunity to act."
"If we can capture a few more cultivators who specialize in the fire element, we’re sure to receive a reward from the old ancestor!" the person said, filled with expectation.
"Yes, big brother, we’ve been waiting for several days now. If we don’t act soon, we might not have enough time," the normally disagreeable man surprisingly concurred.
It was known that, because they let Li Chenghuo and Li Chenghua escape, these two men, who used to be quite close among their kin, had turned into sworn enemies, always bickering endlessly.
"Then let’s make our move. With that other group of cultivators, perhaps they can even help us attract some attention."
