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Chapter 999: Chapter 968: First Battle_2
"Clan Leader and all Elders, I entrust the family affairs to you. Strengthen patrols around our territory and notify us immediately if there are issues you cannot resolve!"
Li Chengshuo had undertaken this responsibility multiple times before, so he wasn’t overly panicked; instead, he methodically issued various commands.
"During this period, if anyone endangers the family’s interests or disrupts our unity, do not blame me for being ruthless and disregarding our kinship ties!"
In his concluding words, Li Chengshuo even took the opportunity to caution everyone, the slight hint of murderous intent in his tone causing many clan members to shiver, feeling a chill all over.
Especially those oppressed and dissatisfied direct lineages, who might suddenly lose their rationality thinking of seizing power and profit, even believing it is easier to act with so many high-rank cultivators away from the family.
If such a situation truly arises, Li Chengshuo would indeed kill!
Unlike Li Zhirui and several former Clan Leaders who, in an effort to minimize impact, had chosen to handle things discreetly.
"Rest assured Shuo Ancestor, such concerns will not arise," Li Hongshi quickly spoke out. His interactions with this venerable ancestor were few, but it was not hard to see that this was a man who meant what he said!
On the other hand, Li Zhirui led thousands of clan members to the battlefield.
The additional few hundred cultivators were those who would not go to the front lines, instead staying behind to manage various logistical tasks, such as concocting Precious Pills and taking care of the injured.
After all, nobody knew if the Cave Abyss Sect would arrange for such cultivators, and even if they did, they wouldn’t be as dedicated as their own kin.
Galloping all the way, and about half a month later, the Li family members successfully arrived at the Wanxia Sea Domain and, following directions, came to a hidden place enveloped by a Formation.
"Shanyuan State Li family responding to the call!" The moment Li Zhirui arrived, he felt eyes on him. Suppressing the surging urge to fight within his heart, he immediately declared his presence and also presented the Cave Abyss Sect’s Jade Slip to verify his identity.
The scrutinizing Divine Sense dispersed, and moments later, the Formation slowly opened. Li Zhirui, without hesitation, led the clan members inside. 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
Then, they were greeted by a Lianxu Cultivator clad in a Cave Abyss Taoist Robe, who led them to their assigned quarters and explained the rules they needed to follow, such as prohibiting fights, not entering seclusion to avoid missing the grand battle, and so forth.
"This is the quarters assigned to the Li family, the arrangement was made in haste and it’s somewhat rudimentary, I hope Fellow Daoist understands."
Li Zhirui smiled slightly and responded, "No trouble at all, you have indeed had a hard journey as well, Fellow Daoist."
The cultivator maintained a courteous yet distant demeanor, saying, "In eighteen days, the entire eastern forces will launch an attack on the Sea Clan, Fellow Daoist, please remember the time."
"Then I shall not disturb Fellow Daoist’s rest any longer."
Saying this, he directly departed.
"First, set up concealment and a Defensive Formation; as for the interiors of the quarters, simply construct some rudimentary Cave Mansions," Li Zhirui instructed the others.
It was impractical to have these thousands of cultivators all sitting on the ground!
Because it was wholly unsuitable for cultivation! If even one person made a bigger commotion, it would affect the surrounding cultivators, possibly everyone.
"Yes!"
Everyone immediately got to work, and even Li Zhirui helped in constructing the Cave Mansions. With everyone working together, the task was completed in just half a day.
"In the next ten or so days, gather more Spiritual Objects. Starting three days before the grand battle, cease all activities that drain vital energy, gather strength, and prepare fully for the battle!"
Having said that, Li Zhirui then disappeared, leaving the clan members to their own devices. They were also not young anymore; he had said what needed to be said, and whether they could achieve it depended on their individual decisions.
Meanwhile, he took the time to concoct more healing pills primarily for treating serious injuries, including Life-saving Precious Pills that could hold onto the last breath of life.
"Buzz—"
Time flew, and the already prepared Li family cultivators, accompanied by the sound of a horn, charged towards the sea domain several miles away.
Standing at the forefront of the family, Li Zhirui felt a surge of fighting spirit and instantly realized something was wrong, connecting it to that strange sound of the horn.
It seems good to be eager for battle, but one must know, the more perilous the battle, the more necessary it is to stay calm! Excessive fighting spirit can actually affect one’s own combat power.
Li Zhirui felt a chill in his heart. The Cave Abyss Sect was treating them as cannon fodder! Stirring them to rush into the East Sea first to engage in the most brutal battle with the Sea Clan!
He originally thought it was just the Wanxia Sea Domain, the Cave Abyss Sect wouldn’t considered them as expendable, after all, the strength of the Wanxia Sea Domain wasn’t too formidable, and it might be possible to conquer it.
But now it seemed, Li Zhirui had thought too kindly of the Cave Abyss Sect.
"Everyone slow down a bit, don’t rush to the very front!" Li Zhirui immediately communicated to his clansmen using voice transmission.
He watched indifferently as several cultivators flew past him, these were the fools who hadn’t figured things out yet, while smart cultivators like Li Zhirui had already subtly moved to the back of the vanguard.
"Kill!"
The great battle was on the verge of breaking out!
More precisely, it was the cultivators launching a one-sided slaughter against the Sea Clan who hadn’t even reacted yet.
"Damn it! Didn’t notice any movement earlier, how did they suddenly make a move!" A few seventh-rank Red Pincer Crabs cursed some unreliable Sea Clan great abilities while hastily rallying their kin to meet the battle.
But in the rush, many of the formations they had prepared were useless, a large number of Sea Clan were slain by the cultivators, with most of the bodies floating on the sea surface being from the Sea Clan.
Li Zhirui hid among the crowd, not displaying his true strength, and had a back-and-forth battle with a sixth-order Crab Devil.
He didn’t need to breakthrough in realm by fighting in the war, or to say, this level of warfare was useless to him, unless he was attacked by several sixth-order Crab Devils.
Another thing was that the Cave Abyss Sect was really too stingy!
The rewards, aside from those five orally promised empty islands, which the Li family would need to build from scratch after victory, there were no other rewards!
Why should Li Zhirui then exhaust himself?
In actuality, the Cave Abyss Sect also knew that summoning vassals to join the war without providing tangible rewards would lead to many cultivators not contributing effectively.
But they had no choice!
In order to push forward the great battle between the East Continent Immortal Tao and the Sea Clan, the Cave Abyss Sect had paid a huge price, their treasure stores accumulated over years were being emptied, they could no longer present many significant Spiritual Objects.
Of course, cultivators like Li Zhirui were rare, after all, he was considered free of desires, but other cultivators, whether it was for the promotion of their own realms from the great battle or for various Spirit Materials from the Sea Clan, all thoroughly engaged in fighting the Sea Clan.
Now back to the point!
The sixth-order Crab Devil fighting with Li Zhirui really had a hard time articulating its sufferings; his opponent appeared weak, and several times only barely blocked its attacks.
But it could clearly feel that the opponent had not used full strength!
Whether it was its killer moves or attempts to flee the battlefield, they were all blocked by Li Zhirui.
Sometimes even getting distracted and observing other battles.
This made the Crab Devil suppress a sinister fire, unable to release it, feeling more and more stifled as they fought.
It wasn’t just the Wanxia Sea Domain, the cultivators initiating the war so suddenly and much earlier than the Sea Clan immortal realms had calculated, led many of the Sea Clan unprepared hurrying into the battlefield.
Resulting in the Sea Clan being at a disadvantage at the beginning of the great battle, with many sea regions being pushed by the cultivators towards the east, thoroughly driving the battlefield into the East Sea.
But fortunately, if the Sea Clan lacked anything, it wasn’t numbers!
Once the Sea Clan regrouped, endless members surged from all directions, slowly turning the tides.
However, overall, the Immortal Tao still held more advantages currently as they had already occupied many sea regions, and most places’ battlefields had progressed from coastal lines into the East Sea.
