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Chapter 746: Chapter 752: Vigilance
Li Zhirui frowned upon hearing these words, knowing that if this matter was not handled well, it might well plant a seed of disaster for the family. After giving it some serious thought, he said, "Distribute a third-grade Spirit Beast to each family member, but let’s prioritize the children for now."
"Moreover, most of the family members who have made their breakthroughs have already contracted with Spirit Beasts early on to hasten their cultivation speed, and these contracts cannot be undone. Let them collect their Spirit Beasts after they break through."
To put it bluntly, there are very few among the family members who can break through to the Golden Core stage. If one can make that breakthrough, what does a mere third-grade Spirit Beast Egg amount to? It would, after all, add a Golden Core warrior to the family’s strength.
If there are not enough Spirit Beast Eggs, they can wait. The advantage of breeding Spirit Beasts is like rolling a snowball; it gets bigger and bigger.
"Thank you for your guidance, Ancestor." Li Wenli, satisfied, withdrew.
Could he not have come up with such a simple solution himself? Impossible! But given the magnitude of the issue, affecting thousands of family members, he, the Clan Leader, did not have the authority to get everyone to accept it.
But Li Zhirui was different. As the Elder with the highest standing and the strongest power in the family, even though he had lived away from the limelight in recent years, seemingly forgotten by the family, his word was law, and no one dared to object once he spoke!
"Wenli really likes to shirk responsibility onto you," Jiang Fengwu complained quite dissatisfied after he left.
Li Zhirui shook his head indifferently and said, "He is doing it for the stability and face of the family."
If there was trouble, would he not deal with it? If his response was too light, it would lack deterrence, but if too severe, it would be devoid of humanity, and moreover, it would give outsiders a laugh.
For him, it was merely a matter of speaking out.
"Alright, this matter won’t take much time."
The next day, Li Zhirui attended the family meeting and announced the plan for distributing the third-grade Spirit Beasts. In the end, he asked, "What are the Elders’ opinions on this?"
What could they say? What dared they say? If the plan were unfavorable to the family’s development, they would need to consider carefully even if they stood on principle before speaking out. Furthermore, this plan was truly the most suitable and appropriate.
Thus, amid a chorus of agreement and praise, Li Zhirui drifted away.
The news spread quickly. The family members had various thoughts: some were dissatisfied and wanted to make trouble, since even if they could not contract with them, training a Spirit Beast via a master-servant pact or selling it could be extremely beneficial.
But once they heard that this plan was issued by Ancestor Rui, everyone backed down and dared not entertain any other notions.
In the Li family’s treasury, most of the third-grade Spirit Beast Eggs were from Dragon Beasts, with only a small number of Chaoyang Crows, Qingxuan Turtles, and other Spirit Beasts.
To acquire more Dragon Beast Eggs, they had really pushed the breeding stock hard; they had nearly exhausted them!
Even the naturally lascivious Dragon Beasts were resisting so much now that drugs were needed to subdue their nature.
"I will continue my seclusion. If Cang comes looking for me, tell him to find a place to cultivate in the cave dwelling or to develop his own cave dwelling on Spirit Beast Mountain. Also, please give him these cultivation resources," Li Zhirui continued.
Now that Li Zhirui’s cultivation level could hardly progress, these cultivation resources were a waste in his hands, so he readily distributed them to Jiang Fengwu and others.
"Don’t worry, you just focus on your seclusion; I’ll handle things outside," Jiang Fengwu reassured him.
"Then I am off," he said.
Jiang Fengwu acknowledged with a word, watching him close the door to his meditation chamber.
She had complex feelings about this matter, both anticipating and dreading Li Zhirui’s breakthrough.
The former was because his breakthrough would smooth her own path considerably; the latter was due to his rapid cultivation pace, which she could not keep up with!
One day, if Li Zhirui broke through Void Refinement and ascended to the Upper Realm while she remained in Divine Transformation or was still at the Nascent Soul stage, the two of them separated by two realms, it was likely they would never meet again in their lifetimes.
"Alas!" Jiang Fengwu sighed deeply.
Despite her diligent cultivation and having dual spiritual roots herself, why was she falling so far behind? She truly could not understand.
But fortunately, she didn’t give in to despair. Instead, she became even more determined! She would put in more effort into her cultivation!
She refused to believe that she was inferior to Li Zhirui in any way. With her redoubled efforts, she was convinced that she could catch up to him!
Meanwhile, Li Zhirui, who had just entered his quiet room, was oblivious to Jiang Fengwu’s worries and thoughts. The moment he stepped in, he began to clear his Sea of Consciousness of distracting thoughts. By the time he sat down on the meditation cushion, he was completely calm.
He circulated his Cultivation Technique, beginning the purification of his Spiritual Soul. The aim of this process was to strengthen the Spiritual Soul for eventual Sunification.
Over the years of his cultivation, Li Zhirui’s Soul Sunification had reached a level of ninety-five percent!
But it was this last five percent, lying at the very core of his Spiritual Soul, that he had to be extremely careful with. He had to ensure there was not the slightest oversight or hidden danger!
Therefore, he continuously tempered his Spiritual Soul, striving to make it even stronger so that Sunification would be safer.
This was entirely a matter of perseverance, requiring time and patience.
Yet, even completing this step wouldn’t guarantee Li Zhirui a breakthrough. He would still need to trigger the Thunder Tribulation and survive that perilous tribulation.
And there was the potential obstruction from external forces! All the Nascent Soul powers around him, one and all, certainly didn’t wish for Li Zhirui to achieve Divine Transformation.
——
Inside the main hall of the Profound Ice Sect.
"How is the cultivation level of that member of the Li family? Have we managed to find out?" the Sect Leader asked the empty palace.
From a dark corner, a ripple suddenly appeared, as if it was a human figure. "He is probably at the mid-Nascent Soul stage right now."
"He has started his seclusion recently, attempting to reach the late Nascent Soul stage."
"Already attempting to reach the late Nascent Soul stage?"
The Sect Leader muttered to himself, "That’s too fast!"
He had deliberately reviewed Li Zhirui’s file and knew that his cultivation progress was extremely rapid, not at all like someone who could be nurtured by a small clan.
The shadow listened silently.
"Increase our surveillance efforts! We must keep a close eye on Li Zhirui!" the Sect Leader ordered with a solemn expression.
"Does the Sect Leader believe he can achieve Divine Transformation?" the voice revealed a hint of astonishment.
In its opinion, Li Zhirui and the Li family were hardly a concern.
It was only because the Profound Ice Sect couldn’t spare the effort, otherwise, they might as well just exterminate them!
"Can we afford to underestimate someone who could lead a Foundation Establishment clan to its current state of development?"
The Sect Leader shook his head and said, "It’s impossible for the Great Snow Mountain to produce a Fifth-order Great Devil."
It’s not that the Devil Race didn’t have Devils capable of breaking through to the Fifth order, but this was the territory of the human race. How could the birth of a Fifth-order Great Devil be allowed here?
The Devil Race of the Great Snow Mountain knew this, so any Devil Beast wishing to break through to the Fifth order would leave, either going to the Hundred Thousand Mountains or heading to the Northern Wasteland.
Therefore, although the Devil Race was the greatest enemy of the Profound Ice Sect, their strengths were comparable, and there was no need to worry about them threatening their lineage.
But the Li family was different. Not only was their development rapid, but they also weren’t constrained by the same prohibition that prevented the Devil Race from producing a Fifth-order entity!
