Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

Chapter 53: Crisis

”Everyone attack together, using your most powerful spells!” Li Zhirui steadied his spirit and bellowed loudly, casting the Needle Rain Spell without hesitation.

Among the countless needles raining down, thirty-six pine needles, deadly enough to take lives, were hidden. Although the loose cultivators were on guard, some of their fragile Defensive Spiritual Light could not stop the pine needles imbued with formation-breaking power.

In an instant, several cultivators died mysteriously, their bodies showing no wounds, no blood spilled, and even their facial expressions unchanged as if they were not dead but asleep.

The eerie tactics of Li Zhirui briefly deterred the loose cultivators present from rushing forward recklessly.

The attacks of the other Li family cultivators followed suit, hurling all sorts of spells at the loose cultivators.

Many loose cultivators didnʼt even have time to react before they were struck dead by these spells, meeting grisly ends, with some even being reduced to a pulp.

Now, even more loose cultivators dared not step forward, and quite a few silently retreated, ready to target other shops.

”With so many of us attacking together, this formation canʼt possibly stop us, and as soon as we break the formation, all the Spirit Stones the Li family has earned, and the Spirit Pills and Magic Artifacts theyʼve stored here will be ours!”

”Follow my lead!”

As soon as these words were spoken, they immediately caught Li Zhiruiʼs attention. His gaze was sharp as lightning, quickly locating the source, an inconspicuous-looking cultivator.

Li Zhirui promptly directed a few pine needles to block his escape routes, and the other deadly needles fiercely plunged down.

Hum!

Unexpectedly, the man was prepared. The moment the pine needles dropped, a glow suddenly protected him, with a smirk on his face as he looked at Li Zhirui within the array.

”You think you can kill me?” the cultivator under the shining Treasure Bead revealed his true cultivation level at that moment, showing himself to be a ninth-layer Qi Cultivation practitioner.

”Heʼs just using some kind of concealed Magic Artifact. As long as we defend properly, he canʼt do anything to us, but there are abundant resources within the array that can let us further our cultivation!”

The cultivator yelled, ”Attack!”

”Youʼre courting death!” Li Zhiruiʼs expression turned ominously dark. However, until Li Shiren returned, he had to protect the Formation at all costs, along with the family members within it.

By then, Li Zhirui also realized that the other party had revealed himself at the start because he had seen through his tactics and wanted to lure him into using the pine needles, which would then be blocked, dispelling the fear in the hearts of the other cultivators.

”Call out all the Spirit Beasts. We must hold out until Ren returns, no matter what!”

The Giant Stone Array had great defensive strength that not every Foundation Establishment cultivator could break through. However, as the arrayʼs operator, Li Zhirui, was merely a Qi Cultivation practitioner, and one unfamiliar with formations at that, he couldnʼt unleash the full power of the array, and there were simply too many loose cultivators.

If Li Zhirui did nothing but defend, the Giant Stone Array probably wouldnʼt last long before being shattered.

”Da Qing, cast the control spell.” Having said that, Li Zhirui began to focus on manipulating the array, hoping to maximize the power of the Giant Stone Array.

Seeing Li Zhirui remain calm and collected, the other family members also felt less panicked. One after another, the Spirit Beasts appeared in the narrow backyard.

The Jade Beak Eagle, Green Pupil Tiger, White Crane, Fire Crow, and Stone Ape—all Second-grade Spirit Beasts that the Li family had always maintained and commonly contracted with—made their entrance.

Although they only had the cultivation level of Qi Cultivation, their spell power was not weak. Coupled with the attacks of the other family members, they managed to hold their own against the hundreds of loose cultivators.

Of course, this was possible because the Li family had the protection of a Defensive Array. While the loose cultivators also used defensive spells, theirs were inherently inferior. Seeking to preserve their own lives, they spent more time on the defensive rather than initiating attacks.

Because once they became negligent, the few additional corpses that appeared beside them would be their fate!

These cultivators all died at the hands of Li Zhirui, and even if they knew how Li Zhirui attacked, it was useless because the pine needles had the effect of breaking spells. If their defenses were not strong enough, the ready-to-strike pine needles would launch an attack and claim their lives.

”Why hasnʼt Uncle Ren returned!” Li Zhirui was extremely anxious in his heart, his mana was running low!

The Giant Stone Array was powered by spirit stones, not consuming much of Li Zhiruiʼs mana, but it was different with the pine needles. Just keeping them activated consumed a lot of mana, not to mention having to attack others from time to time.

Li Zhirui clenched his teeth and swallowed another Spirit-Replenishing Pill. Without taking time to refine it carefully, he used this mana to maintain the pine needles.

This practice would damage the meridians, but with the situation being so critical, Li Zhirui could not care about that. As long as he could hold on, he could just recuperate at home for a few months.

”They canʼt hold on much longer!” the Qi Cultivation ninth layer cultivator leading them suddenly shouted, the morale of the loose cultivators, which had been low, immediately surged as though they were injected with adrenaline and they attacked the Giant Stone Array again.

Dozens upon dozens of spells came head-on, various kinds of spirit light lit up the night, looking incredibly splendid, but beneath this beautiful sight lurked the deadly intent to take lives.

And the array that had held up for so long began to dim in the onslaught of their attacks, the protective shield also started to fluctuate violently.

Li Zhirui stared deathly at that person, but it was futile as the opponent was hidden in the crowd, and the treasure bead above his head somewhat restrained the pine needles, preventing Li Zhirui from dealing with him.

One thing puzzled Li Zhirui greatly. These loose cultivators had already paid such a great price, losing so many people, yet they still refused to retreat. Occasionally, passing loose cultivators even joined their ranks.

Li Zhirui could understand the latter, but for loose cultivators who typically feared death, this stubbornness was beyond his comprehension.

”Zhirui, we have run out of mana,” a clan member suddenly said, breaking into Li Zhiruiʼs thoughts.

Li Zhiruiʼs brow slightly furrowed, thought for a moment, then took several Spirit-Replenishing Pills from his storage bag and said, ”You all hurry to recover your mana. I will maintain the array.”

During this critical moment, everyone took the Spirit-Replenishing Pills without ceremony from Li Zhirui, and quickly began to refine the pills.

Li Zhirui took five hundred spirit stones from the storage bag where the shop stored spirit stones and placed them into the core of the array to enhance the defense of the Giant Stone Array, but now the key problem was that the array flags were beginning to crack.

If this continued, it wouldnʼt be long before the array was breached. By then, Li Zhirui and the others would surely have no way out!

The loose cultivators seemed to see that their lamp was almost out of oil, and they attacked even more vigorously, with many even abandoning their defenses to launch frenzied attacks.

Countless spells hit the defensive spirit light, causing waves of ripples, and the cracks on the array flags grew larger. The Giant Stone Array was teetering on the brink of collapse and wouldnʼt be able to hold on much longer.

”Zhirui, when the array is broken, you escape through the back door. We will do our best to block these loose cultivators for you,” a clan uncle of the ʼShiʼ generation suddenly said.

Hearing this, Li Zhirui was completely stunned. He truly had not expected such a scenario to unfold before him.

”Itʼs our fault as your elders for always having you in front, and now itʼs time for us to do something for our junior,” another clan uncle said with a smile.

”If you can make it back to the family, tell your aunt for me... Iʼm sorry to her...”

”My uncles!” Li Zhiruiʼs voice was choked up. He wanted to say something to encourage everyone, to say they wouldnʼt end up in such a dire state, but when he opened his mouth, he couldnʼt bring himself to say it.

Because everyone knew in their hearts that unless a miracle occurred, being able to leave alive was already very good luck, and they had given this one chance to Li Zhirui.