Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

Chapter 325 - 331: Abandoned Piece

The terrain of Ancient Forest State was flat, with tall and straight gigantic trees as far as the eye could see, and the spiritual energy was fairly dense.

In this territory, aside from the Beast Taming Sect, there was another Golden Core Sect known as the Featherfall Sect. They stood against each other, each occupying half of Ancient Forest State.

Although the Beast Taming Sect had suddenly relocated here, wiping out several Foundation Establishment powers before establishing their current foundation, their cultivators could contract spirit beasts, which gave them a sizable advantage over the Featherfall Sect.

Fortunately, the two Golden Core cultivators of the Beast Taming Sect only had one third-tier spirit beast, which meant their strength didnʼt greatly surpass that of the Featherfall Sect. Otherwise, the Ancient Forest State would have been dominated solely by the Beast Taming Sect.

After Li Zhirui learned of this information, he felt completely at ease, realizing that the Beast Taming Sect, including its contracted spirit beasts, only had three Golden Core cultivators. Should a conflict arise, even if he wasnʼt a match for them, he could still leave with ease.

Besides, he wasnʼt without additional support. A glint flashed in Li Zhiruiʼs eyes as he pondered how to approach the Beast Taming Sect.

Should he knock directly on their door, or should he first pay a visit and announce his arrival? he wondered.

After some thought, Li Zhirui decided that it was best to avoid conflict if possible, given that he was on someone elseʼs turf, and decided to see if a deal could be made.

As he solidified this plan, he flew towards the Beast Taming Sect. Upon his arrival, two patrolling disciples cautiously flew over and asked respectfully, ”May I know the purpose of the honored elderʼs visit to our Beast Taming Sect?”

”Go tell your elders that an old acquaintance from Wanling Province has come to visit.”

Wanling Province was the original territory of the Beast Taming Sect and also where the Li family first established their clan.

However, these two patrolling disciples, who were recruited in Ancient Forest State, were not aware of the Beast Taming Sectʼs previous history. They hesitated, considering the possibility of offending a Golden Core cultivator, and promptly sent someone back to inform the elders.

”What did you say?!” Upon hearing the report, the Sect Leader stood up in shock.

Others might not know, but how could they, the higher-ups of the sect, be ignorant of the origin of the Beast Taming Sect?

Many years had passed, and whether it was their enemy, the White Jade Sect, or their former vassals, none seemed to have come to them. But now, out of the blue, here was a Golden Core cultivator at their doorstep.

”Is this person sent by the White Jade Sect?” asked one of the Foundation Establishment Elders with trepidation.

”It shouldnʼt be.”

They knew that to truly eliminate a threat, itʼs best to remove the root, but they had fled just in time. With the White Jade Sectʼs hasty actions, many of their fellow sect members had escaped the encirclement. The White Jade Sect had no way to completely eradicate the Beast Taming Sect disciples.

Besides, after so many years, the White Jade Sect wouldnʼt suddenly send a Golden Core cultivator.

The visitor, aware of the two Golden Cores in the Beast Taming Sect, dared to come alone. This meant he either had immense confidence in himself or he had come with good intentions.

However, they were still uncertain which it was with Li Zhirui.

”Since he has come all this way, regardless of his intentions, we should at least meet him,” they reasoned, still unsure whether he was friend or foe.

”Quickly fetch Master Gu and Huang,” instructed the Sect Leader, nodding as he commanded, while leading several Elders towards the mountain gate.

Li Zhirui waited outside for a short while, his face betraying no impatience, since he had come to make a deal and thus needed to maintain a positive demeanor.

”We apologize for not greeting the honored elder sooner,” said the Sect Leader as he arrived with several Elders to welcome the visitor, and made up a reason to explain their belated arrival.

Li Zhirui was noncommittal about this, and when he faced their probing, he simply revealed his identity.

As for the significant matter of trading the ”Wanling Sutra,” it wasnʼt something that these few Elders were authorized to decide on, so he couldnʼt be bothered to waste more words.

”Li…” An accompanying Elder muttered several times as if he remembered something, then asked incredulously, ”Are you from the Bailang Li family?!”

When he heard the name Bailang Li family, Li Zhirui couldnʼt help but startle; it had been many years since he last heard it.

”I didnʼt expect anyone to still remember the Li family,” Li Zhirui chuckled lightly. Although he was young at the time, he had the heart of an adult and was very aware that the Beast Taming Sect hardly regarded them as humans; the Sect only thought about exploiting them, squeezing out every last drop of sweat and blood.

Once he said this, aside from Li Zhirui, a hint of embarrassment appeared on the faces of the others; they were, of course, aware of the Beast Taming Sectʼs true nature.

Add to that the complicated emotions upon realizing that a family once ʼenslavedʼ as a vassal had now birthed a Golden Core cultivator who far exceeded their status and identity; they were unsure what to say.

Fortunately, the awkward atmosphere didnʼt last too long, as the group soon entered the sectʼs grand hall, where two Golden Core cultivators of the Beast Taming Sect were already waiting.

”Gu An, Huang Xiao pay their respects to the Daoist friend,” they both stood up and took the initiative to greet Li Zhirui the moment they saw him.

Both of them were also at the Middle Golden Core Stage, but the gap between them and Li Zhirui was not small, because they were older!

Golden Core cultivators have a lifespan of five hundred years, and they had less than a hundred years remaining unless they encountered some fortuitous event, there was almost no chance of breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage.

Although a cultivatorʼs age is difficult to discern from appearance, from factors such as physical decline, decay of vital essence, and an aged mindset, one could generally guess a cultivatorʼs age.

In their eyes, Li Zhirui was seen as one of those geniuses who couldnʼt possibly be old.

Such a character, once offended, needed to be dealt with completely before he grew too powerful, otherwise it would only bring harm upon oneself.

”Li Zhirui of the Bailang Li Clan, pays his respects to the two Daoist friends,” Li Zhirui returned their greeting amiably.

In fact, the two had not heard of the Bailang Li Clan before, but with Li Zhirui present, they still hypocritically put on an expression as if they had long admired his name.

Li Zhirui had no desire for superficial pleasantries, and cut straight to the point, ”The main purpose of my visit is to trade for the ʼWanling Sutraʼ.”

Gu An and Huang Xiao frowned slightly, exchanging glances as if choosing their words carefully, and after a while, they asked, ”What is your relation to our Beast Taming Sect?”

”The Li family was once a vassal of the Beast Taming Sect.”

Hearing this, they instantly understood. It looked like he had come to visit because there was no follow-up cultivation technique; after all, the Beast Taming Sect had spread their cultivation techniques to harvest more wealth—

——Such as spreading their methods, but then controlling the source of high-grade Spirit Beasts on one hand, and prohibiting high-grade Spirit Beasts from appearing on the market on the other, to achieve a monopoly——

They had generously propagated their techniques, which led to all of the vassal forces eventually cultivating the ”Wanling Sutra.”

Of course, this was limited to the Qi Cultivation and Foundation Establishment Methods. The Li family had only been able to obtain the Golden Core Realm cultivation technique because they made a significant contribution in the battle over the Spirit Stone vein.

Unfortunately, the techniques they had were incomplete.