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Chapter 698: 704
"There’s actually such a matter?"
Xiaoqing’s face darkened. Had he not arrived in time, let alone Li Daming, even the group of clan members behind him probably would not have survived!
The loose cultivator’s heart raced with panic, and he hurriedly spoke out. "No... I... I ran away to lead them off, so as not to implicate everyone else."
After saying this, afraid they wouldn’t believe him, he repeated it several times.
"Hmph!"
Even though Xiaoqing knew he was lying, since Li Daming and the others were unharmed, he could not really take action against him. He could only snort coldly and take the man back to Wanxian Island for Zhirui to interrogate.
"Now that the matter has been resolved, it would trouble you all to make a trip and inform the clan members stationed everywhere, so they can stop worrying."
Xiaoqing instructed the people around him. He was bringing the man back for questioning, indicating the crisis was over; otherwise, he would not have entrusted the task to them.
"Ancestor, rest assured—we guarantee to complete the task!"
"Then I’ll head back first."
After speaking, he grabbed four cultivators and flew toward Wanxian Island.
As for Li Daming, who was still unconscious, he was temporarily left in their care until they reached the next Immortal City to settle him down.
This time, not in a rush to travel, Xiaoqing took nearly half an hour to return home.
"You’ve worked hard. Why don’t you go back and rest first?" Zhirui said, somewhat embarrassedly.
Xiaoqing shook his head and declined. "It’s fine. I also want to know who was so bold as to make a move against the Li family!"
He had been running around because of it and definitely planned to ’repay’ them thoroughly!
Seeing his determination, Zhirui did not persuade him further and wondered, "Were there not only three cultivators? Why is there an extra person now?"
Xiaoqing explained the reason for capturing the loose cultivator, which made the surrounding clan members glare at him with anger. If it weren’t for the presence of several elders, they might have already taken action.
Zhirui gave the loose cultivator a thoughtful glance, feeling a similarity between him, Li Chenghuo, and Li Chenghua. Otherwise, with so many Golden Core cultivators around, why would they specifically target them?
"Where were you attacked? Why did they target you?..."
Zhirui asked several questions like these. Some the man could answer, others left him with a look of confusion.
"Alright, you can go."
After the questioning, Zhirui released the man. He was just an unlucky fellow unwittingly involved, and there was no use in keeping him.
He also dispersed the crowd of onlookers, leaving only Li Wenli and a few elders.
With too many people, too many voices—it was not convenient for interrogation, and most importantly, news would spread quickly.
To speak bluntly, before seeking revenge, the Li family had to consider the opponent’s strength. If the opponent was too strong or would cause significant losses to the Li family, they would have to suppress the thought of retaliation.
But some young and hot-blooded clan members, proud of their lineage, might not be able to swallow their pride, and that could lead to trouble.
To act would cost the Li family dearly, yet inaction would shake the clan members’ confidence and disappoint them in the family.
Thus, it was better to first let a small part of the clan know and wait to see what unfolded before discussing further.
Suddenly, Zhirui remembered the group of cultivators who had committed suicide, leaving no trace of their identities. Lurking in the shadows, there was no telling when they might strike and catch the Li family off guard.
Put this matter aside for the time being and focus on resolving the issue at hand first.
To learn more, they had to start with these three loose cultivators.
Li Zhirui instructed Xiaoqing to slightly release their control over the cultivators’ bodies, but only allowed one of them to speak, while the other two were deprived of their senses to prevent any collusion.
"Speak, from which family or sect do you come?"
Seeing that he was keeping his mouth tightly shut, Li Zhirui was unperturbed and continued to ask, "Your goal in capturing cultivators alive is to cultivate demonic arts for a senior, isn’t it? Specifically venturing into the territory of the Li family, it seems to be one of the three sects nearby."
"Is it the Water Spirit Sect? Wuya Mountain? Or Qing Xuan Sect?" With each question, he paused briefly to observe the person’s reactions.
Despite the man’s best efforts to control his expressions and reactions, Li Zhirui still caught on.
"Is it Wuya Mountain?"
Noticing that the man’s tense body suddenly relaxed, he chuckled, "It seems not."
He applied the same technique to the remaining two, questioning them one by one.
Li Zhirui’s actions left Xiaoqing and the others confused.
Growing impatient, Xiaoqing muttered under her breath, "If you ask me, why waste time like this? Just use the soul-searching technique, since we’re not planning to spare their lives anyway."
Li Zhirui pretended not to hear and proceeded to restore the three men’s senses, saying with a smile, "Is it the Qing Xuan Sect? The three cultivators you captured all cultivated fire-attribute skills."
During the questioning, he had suddenly discovered a common thread among the three captured by Li Chenghuo.
"Adjacent to the Qing Xuan Sect is the Fire Demon Sect, and with the long-standing competition between the two, obtaining a demonic cultivation technique should be quite easy."
The three men’s faces changed drastically, but before they could speak, Li Zhirui spoke on his own, "I am curious, is this act of capturing fire-attribute Golden Core cultivators the doing of the entire Qing Xuan Sect’s high-level leaders, enchanted by the Demonic Tao, or is it a personal endeavor of a particular Nascent Soul True Lord?"
Whichever it was, as long as the matter was reported to the Wanxiang Sect, Heaven Deviation Sect, or Sword Sect, the Li family was bound to receive a reward.
If it were the former, the reward would be even more substantial.
It was widely known that the Immortal and Demonic paths are incompatible, at least outwardly so, as demonic forces are still quite useful to major powers.
However, high-level cultivators succumbing to the demonic path and entire Immortal Tao forces doing so are both absolutely impermissible occurrences!
Once discovered, there would be no leniency whatsoever.
"You must be aware of how severe the punishment stipulated by the ’Immortal Sect Code’ is for such an offense. If you speak up, I can put in a good word for you, to redeem your wrongdoing," Li Zhirui said lightly.
The so-called "Immortal Sect Code" is the baseline that all Immortal Tao forces have to adhere to.
Of course, that’s the official stance. As long as you’re not discovered and reported, what happens behind closed doors doesn’t matter.
As he spoke, he stealthily cast a spell that amplified emotions.
The three men, already on the verge of mental collapse, no longer kept up their resistance and hurriedly said, "As long as the senior is willing to speak favorably on our behalf, we’ll reveal everything we know."
Seeing Li Zhirui nod, the three, anxious not to speak too slowly, blurted out the entire account of what had happened.
It is widely known that apart from the Western Domain, which is the last bastion of the Demonic Tao, the other major domains are overwhelmingly dominated by the Immortal Tao.
Although some demonic forces exist, their purpose is mostly to suppress the growth of mid-tier powers, slowing their development, such as was the case with Yin Wind Cave in the past.
This leads to a frequent occurrence: the extinguishing of demonic forces.
