Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

Chapter 529 - 535: Abandonment

Li Zhirui heard these words and his heart sank, fearing that things were truly sliding in the worst possible direction!

”If the Daoist friend insists on this, there is nothing we can do to stop you, but we hope you will not block the exit and prevent innocent people from leaving.”

Li Zhirui turned and said to Water Clear and Yaihai, two True Lords, ”We should also send a few disciples in to watch the portal, what do you two think?”

The two families, despite some discord between them, now exchanged a tacit glance and said, ”That would be fine.”

It was not hard to discern that the two families were using this situation to compete with each other. They also wanted to stay out of it and not get involved, but they still had many disciples inside the Secret Realm. If they truly couldnʼt leave, their losses would be enormous!

”Xiaoqing, Hugan, you two enter the Secret Realm.”

As he spoke, he also transmitted a message secretly: ʼOnce inside, Xiaoqing, immediately activate the Transmission Talisman in your hand and tell them to come out at once, donʼt linger in the Secret Realm!ʼ

This time, Li Zhirui was truly spending a fortune. The value of a Transmission Talisman could reach up to hundreds of thousands of Spirit Stones.

ʼI understand, rest assured. Once we go in, remember to use the Secret Technique to contact Da Qing,ʼ Xiaoqing replied.

Li Zhirui nodded imperceptibly.

The Secret Technique Xiaoqing mentioned was a spell included in the ”Wanling Sutra”, which, regardless of distance, could be used to contact a contracted Spirit Beast through a strand of Spiritual Soul left in the cultivatorʼs Sea of Consciousness.

The limitation was significant; only when one party reached the Nascent Soul stage could the technique be used.

And currently, the only one who met the condition and could perform the technique was Li Zhirui, and it was his first time using it, so no one else knew about it.

Yun Leiʼs eyes flashed with a sharp light when he saw Hugan appear. He had always suspected that Li Zhirui was hiding a Contracted Spirit Beast, and now he had finally seen it.

Li Zhiruiʼs proposal, having received support from True Lords Qingshui and Yaihai, didnʼt need to consider Yun Leiʼs opinion at all.

Therefore, the moment the gateway to the Secret Realm opened, another twenty or thirty Golden Core cultivators entered.

Li Zhirui watched Xiaoqing and Hugan vanish before turning emotionlessly and returning to the Spirit Boat.

ʼThis time, the Li family is doomed to escape!ʼ Various emotions churned in the depths of Yun Leiʼs eyes.

After releasing the dense fog to conceal himself, Li Zhirui began to cast the Secret Technique to send a message to Da Qing, miles away, via Spiritual Soul.

”Has something urgent happened?”

Da Qing was instantly awakened by the activity from the Spiritual Soul. As he deciphered the message from Li Zhirui, he stood up abruptly and ran as fast as he could towards Li Shiqingʼs abode.

Knock, knock, knock—

The frantic knocking alerted Li Shiqing to a sudden surge of panic and unease.

”Da Qing?”

When he saw who was standing outside the door, his anxiety multiplied many times over.

”Did something serious happen on Zhiruiʼs side?”

That was the only possibility.

”Yes…” Da Qing succinctly relayed the situation from Li Zhiruiʼs side.

”Zhirui suspects that Yun Lei wants to use this opportunity to strike at the family, so he asked me to remind you to immediately abandon our clanʼs lands outside and have all the family members return to Wanxian Island to get through this crisis,” Da Qing said.

Upon hearing this, Li Shiqing stood frozen in place.

These were territories that the Li family had only acquired after great effort. Now, because of Li Zhiruiʼs conjecture, they were being asked to give them up just like that, how could Li Shiqing bring himself to make such a decision?

Da Qing said no more; he had delivered the message. Whatever decision Li Shiqing made would be his own.

After some hesitation, Li Shiqing finally decided to listen to Li Zhirui, because the Li family couldnʼt afford to gamble on this matter, nor could they afford to. If they lost, the Li family would sacrifice a large number of its strong young members!

You must know, those clan members who could leave Wanxian Island to be stationed elsewhere, were either at the mid stage of Qi Cultivation, or they were adults, and most of them were young people. If they fell, the future of the Li family would be empty for decades.

”I will notify Xue Feng right now to inform all clan members that within three days, they must all return to Wanxian Island, and all the spiritual objects in the Spirit Land must be collected.”

Li Shiqing looked at Da Qing and asked, ”Did Zhirui have any other messages for you?”

”He only told everyone to be ready for battle, nothing else.”

”Alright, you go back first.”

Li Xuefeng was completely baffled by Li Shiqingʼs orders, and even suspected that he might have been possessed by a soul, since it was so abrupt and involved abandoning a massive territory.

For this reason, he even made a special trip to verify the authenticity of the orders.

After knowing the reason, although he still felt that it was making a mountain out of a molehill, he diligently followed the instructions and notified all clan members that they must return to the family within three days, otherwise they would be expelled from the family.

This bizarre and peculiar command left all the clan members unable to comprehend.

However, the stern wording forced them to take it seriously, and clan members started to dig up the spiritual objects from the Spirit Lands they occupied and plant them in the vacant Spirit Fields on Wanxian Island.

”Now, we just wait for Zhirui and the others to return and see how Shen Leishan will react.”

----

In the secret realm.

As soon as everyone entered, the Golden Core cultivators from Shen Leishan, except for a few left to guard the entrance, scattered to look for their fellow sect members who had entered before them.

Xiaoqing planned to activate the Transmission Talisman, but discovered that Li Zhixuan and the others were nearby!

On the compass, they were less than a thousand miles from the entrance.

”Well, that spares Zhirui from using a precious talisman.”

Xiaoqing muttered softly to himself, ”I hope someone sees the change on the compass and flies towards the entrance at top speed.”

”Hm? Why has an extra ray of spirit light suddenly appeared on the positioning device?” Li Chenglin, who was attentive, suddenly noticed an additional ray of spirit light nearby on the device.

Li Zhixuan immediately frowned and said, ”We have to hurry, there may be trouble in the outside world.”

”Okay!”

Li Chenglin and the others also came to the same conclusion, and the joyous atmosphere that had been present evaporated in an instant, leaving no mood for banter.

Under the full-speed rush of the Spirit Boat, they reached the entrance in about half an hour.

ʼXiaoqing? How did you get in here? Has something happened to the family?ʼ Li Zhixuan hadnʼt even disembarked from the Spirit Boat when she eagerly began to inquire through telepathy.

ʼNot yet, but thereʼs a good chance something will happen, so Zhirui sent me in to take you out immediately and return to Wanxian Island.ʼ

Hearing this, Li Zhixuan and the others did not dare to delay, and hurriedly said, ”Then letʼs hurry.”

When the other cultivators saw Xiaoqing and his party preparing to leave, they quickly spoke up, ”Fellow Daoist, are you planning to leave now?”

”Yes, something has happened in the family, and weʼre in a rush to get there, so weʼll have to excuse ourselves from your company.”

In the end, Xiaoqing also remembered the phrase Li Zhirui had asked him to relay, ”Fellow Daoists, remember the words ʼwhen the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold.ʼ”

Everyone was no fool; how could they not understand the implication of such overt words?