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Chapter 944: 941
Unfortunately, the Li family was too weak now. Even though Li Zhirui had suspected that the matter was not simple, he could not access much information.
Facing the Zhang Family’s summons, the Li family had no power to resist whatsoever, not even able to voice a rejection or refuse.
Li Zhirui fell silent for a moment and then asked, "Has the Zhang Family specified how many cultivators the clan must send? Any stipulations regarding their strength?"
"They only request your participation in the battle, Ancestor Rui; there are no other conditions," Li Xiansong answered with a wry smile.
"Heh!"
Li Zhirui chuckled coldly and said, "It seems that the situation in Wanzhu State has not yet reached the most perilous moment, or rather, the Zhang Family has other intentions."
Otherwise, why wouldn’t they want low-rank cultivators?
Even if their strength wasn’t formidable, they could be used as cannon fodder to exhaust the mana of demon cultivators. They were the best candidates, and moreover, since they were not Zhang Family descendants, it wouldn’t matter if many died.
Both Li Zhirui and Li Xiansong leaned more towards the latter possibility.
"I will go and respond to the summons. You go and ask the clan if anyone is willing to join me in combat, the rest of the clansmen should stay on Mount Wanxian and not be invaded by outsiders," Li Zhirui instructed after some thought.
The Li family didn’t have a large number of clansmen now, but there were enough secular clansmen, and every year there were not a few children who were tested to have a Spiritual Root.
Even though they had not yet matured, the Li family no longer needed to bring all clansmen under protection. Instead, they should be encouraged to venture out, to undergo trials and travels to boost their cultivation and strengthen their abilities.
And this time, the disaster of demon cultivators in Wanzhu State was a good opportunity.
It could serve to train the clansmen with Li Zhirui offering protection on the side to increase their chances of survival.
However, Li Zhirui did not forcefully require clansmen to sign up. First, he did not want to provoke resentment—after all, even with his protection, casualties would occur. Second, if one does not have the resolve to grow stronger themselves, how long can assistance from others last?
"Ancestor Rui, the Zhang Family demands that you report to Lin Zhu Mountain within half a month, otherwise it will be treated as a crime of collusion," Li Xiansong remembered something urgent and mentioned it before leaving.
This timeline further confirmed Li Zhirui’s determination.
"I understand."
Li Xiansong bowed respectfully and then left.
Li Zhirui didn’t immediately rush to Lin Zhu Mountain at the border between the two states. He hadn’t prepared many Spiritual Objects, and since the Zhang Family had given him half a month, there was no need to hurry.
Speaking of refining Precious Pills, since breaking through to Void Refinement in recent years, Li Zhirui had never stopped deducing Sixth-order Precious Pills. Unfortunately, due to a lack of Sixth-Order Spiritual Objects in his possession, he had yet to find a clear direction.
He could only continue to use the Fifth-order Precious Pills.
Although whether for restoring mana or for increasing mana, the effects of these pills were greatly discounted, at least Li Zhirui had them to use.
After Li Xiansong had left, he publicly informed all clansmen about Wanzhu State’s call for help and the Zhang Family summoning clansmen to resist the demon cultivators.
"Clan Leader, how many people has the Zhang Family summoned this time?" a clansman asked loudly amidst the crowd.
The Li family was rather unfamiliar with summoning; the clansmen who came from the Profound Origin Realm, due to the Li family being the overlords of Wanxian Province for many years, did not need to respond to summoning and rarely summoned vassals.
And those born in the Primal Spirit Realm had never encountered summoning before.
"The Zhang Family has only stipulated that Ancestor Rui participate in the battle, making no other demands,"
Li Xiansong said, "Therefore, this summons is entirely voluntary. If you don’t wish to, just don’t sign up. The family will absolutely not force you, but your cultivation at least has to be in the Nascent Soul Realm!"
The requirement for cultivation was also to ensure the safety of the clansmen. If their strength was too low, how was it different from sending them to their deaths?
Upon hearing this, those clansmen who had initially worried about being drawn to participate immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Some clansmen were still indecisive in their hearts, wanting to participate in the battle but also fearing death at the hands of demon cultivators.
Yet a portion of the clansmen raised their hands to sign up without hesitation, as if unaware of any danger.
Li Xiansong observed the reactions of all clansmen and quickly summarized that the first category mostly consisted of elderly people, who had already lost their ambition and only wished to live peacefully.
The second category was middle-aged people; they still retained a bit of a striving spirit in their hearts, but hesitated for various reasons.
The last category was almost entirely young people, inexperienced and brave, daring to take risks. Thus, knowing full well the dangers, they still signed up without any hesitation.
"We don’t need so many people."
Seeing that over a thousand had raised their hands, Li Xiansong quickly said, "This time, only a hundred will be selected. To ensure fairness, we’ll decide by drawing lots."
As cultivators, they naturally didn’t need to go through the troubles ordinary people did. Li Xiansong waved a large hand, and thousands of dazzling Spirit Lights floated in mid-air.
"Among them, only a hundred Spirit Lights contain a pine needle. Everyone picks the Spirit Light they think contains it, and they are allowed to contend for the Spirit Lights before they dissipate, but once a Spirit Light is taken, it cannot be exchanged, and no secret techniques, Pupil Skills, Divine Sense, or any other methods are allowed to probe the Spirit Lights!"
As Li Xiansong announced the start, thousands of clansmen without hesitation reached for the Spirit Light they thought contained a pine needle.
Naturally, quite a few overlaps occurred, with many secret techniques employed in mid-air for the same Spirit Light.
Others chose not to compete with anybody and just randomly picked one. After all, it was all based on luck; no need to exhaust all tactics and methods.
