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Chapter 826: Chapter 832: Greed
The scene was eerily silent, no one dared to speak, and even the sound of breathing was intentionally softened.
Li Zhirui slowly withdrew his oppressive aura and said, "Those family members stationed outside, if there’s nothing else, you may leave now."
"I reckon during the time you all have left, there will be many bold cultivators. What you need to do is find them, deal with them directly if you can without any hesitation, and bring them all back. The Profound Ice Sect still lacks a great deal of labor in its numerous mines.
If you can’t handle it, then report back to the family!"
After speaking, Li Zhirui vanished from sight.
Some family members, who remained alert, did not dare hesitate for fear of suspicion, and left the square at the fastest speed.
Other family members, once they came to their senses, also hurriedly departed.
In just a moment, the crowded square was left only with those named family members, who were forced to consume a type of Poison Pill. If they did not take the antidote regularly, their Spiritual Souls would be damaged within a day, turning them into imbeciles.
Among the mingling crowd, a part of the family members were indecisive, unsure whether to reveal the grey income they had accumulated over the years.
It wasn’t a small amount!
Moreover, so many years had passed, and they had long since spent it all; now, they simply couldn’t produce it.
At the same time, they also harbored a bit of blind hope, thinking that after so many years, and with many in the family doing the same thing, would they really be investigated?
For those family members still living in fantasy, Li Zhirui naturally wouldn’t warn them again. The consequences they would face would show them just how foolish and naive their fantasies were.
Li Zhirui, who hadn’t actually left but merely concealed his presence, observed with a strong Divine Sense all the changes in expressions of the family members, and could somewhat guess what was on the minds of certain family members.
Despite this, Li Zhirui didn’t show a disappointed expression, since human nature was inevitable, but it wouldn’t change his determination to crack down harshly.
Although Li Zhirui was aware that such deterrence wouldn’t last very long, maybe just over a hundred years, or perhaps even less, once fear faded from their hearts, there would certainly be new members who would steal from the family’s benefits.
It was impossible to stop completely!
Li Zhirui shook his head; future matters would be dealt with in the future. The most important thing was to solve the current issues.
—
In a marketplace within Wanxian Province, the palace where Li family cultivators resided.
A group of masked cultivators was attacking the Formation in silence, no one talked, but their coordination was exceptionally tacit.
After nearly half an hour, they finally broke the Third Order Great Array.
Everyone rushed forward, heading at the highest speed towards the storage rooms, Pill Room, and other places containing Spiritual Objects.
"Gold Core Formation Pill!"
Someone suddenly exclaimed in shock, the sound so loud that it spread throughout the entire palace and reached all the masked cultivators’ ears.
"Damn!"
In front of that person, there was a stronger Foundation Establishment Cultivator. Seeing the secret unveiled, he didn’t care much, directly rushing to seize the Jade Vial.
Unexpectedly, there was still a warning Formation at the spot where the Jade Vial was placed, not difficult to break but it did stall him for a moment, and the loud sound also helped other cultivators pinpoint the location.
"Put down the Gold Core Formation Pill!"
The first batch of cultivators who rushed in just saw him grab the Jade Vial, which then vanished—clearly, he had stored it in his Storage Bag.
"Hmph!"
Faced with the tremendous temptation of Core Formation, how could he possibly give up easily? With a cold snort, he attempted to break through from another window.
But he hadn’t anticipated that nearby he was already surrounded by cultivators from all sides!
"Damn it!
Despite his reluctance, he found no escape from the situation and had to "honestly" throw the Gold Core Formation Pill.
The moment he did so, it caused all the cultivators to scramble for it, momentarily revealing a flaw in their encirclement.
"No, this isn’t a Gold Core Formation Pill!"
The cultivator who quickly grabbed the Jade Vial and examined it with his Divine Sense, realized he had been tricked. He furiously destroyed the vial and wanted to continue chasing the man.
But in those few brief moments, that person had vanished!
Such infighting among masked cultivators wasn’t uncommon; they fiercely fought over various precious Spiritual Objects, blinded by greed, without considering the consequences. Time passed, and before they realized, the Li family’s cultivators had returned; they wondered what they should do.
And by the time they pillaged the marketplace of its Spiritual Objects and remembered the life-threatening issue at hand, it was already too late!
At that time, unable to escape, most marketplaces and the Immortal City were already filled with returning Li family cultivators.
Moreover, they hadn’t anticipated that the Marketplaces and Immortal City constructed by the Li family were also equipped with a Confinement Formation!
Thus, when they tried to flee, they found themselves running headfirst into the Formation, completely unable to leave.
Of course, not everyone was left behind; some more level-headed cultivators had fled before things escalated.
"It’s over!" 𝒏𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝙗.𝙘𝒐𝙢
"Why did they return so quickly?! Wasn’t there a major incident at the Li family?"
"If only we hadn’t been so greedy, then we wouldn’t have ended up in a life-threatening situation."
Sadly, it was too late for regrets now.
The captured cultivators, as per Li Zhirui’s instructions, had their Dantian and Spiritual Souls sealed, and soon they would be transported back to Wanxian Island on the Cloud Whale Spirit Ship.
However, there was one more task to do before this.
That was to thoroughly investigate the identities and backgrounds of these aggressive cultivators. If they were nomadic Loose Cultivators, the Li family could do little.
But if they belonged to a family or Sect, then I’m sorry, but the lost Spiritual Objects would have to be compensated by them!
Refuse? That was an option, but the consequences? They would have to see if they could bear them!
After all, if you’re unwilling to compensate willingly, the Li family had no problem imposing a levy.
Several days later, within a certain Golden Core Sect of Wanxian Province.
A Golden Core from the Li family, accompanied by several Foundation Establishment family members, came knocking and notified them of the portion they needed to compensate the Li family for.
It wasn’t much, after all Wanxian Province had many Vassal Forces, just two hundred thousand Spirit Stones.
But relatively speaking, a Golden Core Force couldn’t earn that many Spirit Stones in a year.
"This..."
The Sect Leader, face bitter, pleaded, "Can we ask the Supreme Ancestor to waive some? We had no knowledge of the misdeeds of those disciples, and we expelled them from the Sect immediately!"
The Li family’s Golden Core, with a cold expression, said, "We have already cut down a part of the Spirit Stone compensation considering your good attitude, otherwise do you think it was just two hundred thousand?"
Hearing this, the Sect Leader dared not say anything more, only cursing the disciples who brought disaster to the Sect in his heart.
