Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

Chapter 115 - 113: Loss (Requesting first subscription!)_2

Especially those juvenile Spirit Beasts, they are still delicate and cannot be kept in a Spirit Beast Bag for extended periods.

With everyone working together, the Spirit Lake was quickly cleansed, and Li Shiren restored the formation using Spiritual Objects from the storeroom, allowing several types of Spirit Beasts to return to the Spirit Lake to live.

”The scale of this yearʼs beast tide is truly bizarre, itʼs several times larger than in previous years!” Li Shilian said with a furrowed brow, his face looking terribly grim, ”It caused such a huge loss for our family.”

Five members of our family fell, and more than twenty were injured, several of whom have sustained serious injuries that led to disabilities.

Besides that, the critically important Spirit Lake of the Li family was destroyed, a large number of Spirit Beasts were devoured, and they only managed to save a very small portion.

The exact losses have yet to be calculated, but if tallied according to Cloudtop Pavilionʼs prices, itʼs estimated that at least nearly ten thousand Spirit Stones were lost!

”It definitely has something to do with the Zheng family!” Li Shiren said indignantly.

Li Zhirui shook his head and sighed, ”That is only our speculation, which canʼt be taken as fact.”

Furthermore, the Zheng family could argue that they lacked the strength to hold back so many Water Devils, allowing them to break through the defenses, leading to Da Rong Islandʼs unfortunate targeting by the Water Devils.

”I will go to Red Pine Island to see if I can find any clues!” Unable to swallow his anger, Li Shiren immediately had the Jade Beak Eagle take him towards the east.

Seeing that Li Zhirui wanted to follow, Li Shilian spoke up to stop him, ”Now that the situation on the island has stabilized, let Shiren go. I also want to know whatʼs really going on behind all this.”

Li Zhirui nodded and, like the other family members, sat cross-legged to recover his Mana.

The damage the Water Devils brought to Da Rong Island was not limited to the Spirit Lake, but other places were not as critical as the Spirit Lake, mostly being fields tilled by mortals or their dwellings, which werenʼt as crucial.

Meanwhile, Li Shiren, who had followed the beast tide out of Da Rong Island, soon noticed something amiss.

He discovered that numerous Water Devils, once a little distance away, seemed to be attracted by something, all heading towards a small island.

Li Shiren quickly had the Jade Beak Eagle fly over, but upon approaching, he smelled a strong scent. As if realizing something, he immediately turned the Jade Beak Eagle around to fly away.

”Devil-Attracting Liquid!” Li Shirenʼs face grew dark and sinister, it was this thing! It led to the Li family suffering heavy losses in this yearʼs beast tide.

Li Shiren took a deep look at the island, continued flying east, and then discovered that every certain distance, there was a small island with a large amount of Devil-Attracting Liquid, with the last batch on a small island between the Zheng family and the Jiang family.

Seeing this, Li Shiren instantly understood why there were so many Water Devils in Da Rong Islandʼs beast tide this time.

The large number of Water Devils that had crossed the island chain were attracted here by the Devil-Attracting Liquid and then followed the scattered traces of it in the seawater westward, ultimately reaching the vicinity of Da Rong Island.

Fortunately, Da Rong Island was far enough from the eruption site of the beast tide that it wasnʼt constantly under the control of high-level Water Devils.

Over time, they recovered their senses, and with the Devil-Attracting Liquid in the seawater losing its effect, otherwise, the Li family would still be resisting the invasion of the Water Devils.

”Zheng family! Jiang family!” Li Shiren clenched his teeth, wishing he could rush over and deal with these two families right now.

But what Li Shiren didnʼt know was that such small islands also existed between the Zheng family and the He family.

Fortunately, he still had some rationality, suppressed the rage in his heart, and turned back to Da Rong Island.

Meanwhile, on Da Rong Island, Li Zhirui and others, having recovered some Mana, were cleaning up the areas damaged by the Water Devils, and notifying the hiding mortals that it was safe outside.

”The most severely damaged this time is the Spirit Lake, but those Spirit Beasts can be slowly cultivated. However, the biggest loss for our family is the five fallen clan members and those few who have become disabled,” Li Zhirui said in a somber tone, sadness evident on his face.

Li Shilianʼs eyes showed a hint of moisture. In fact, this incident had little to do with him, as it was the sheer number of Water Devils, unexpectedly breaking through the Formation at a surprising speed.

Even if it werenʼt for him, more family members would have perished at the hands of the Water Devils, but he still couldnʼt help but feel guilty, believing it was his inadequacy that led to their deaths and disabilities.

”Elder Shilian, youʼve done well enough; thereʼs no need for self-reproach,” Li Zhirui said hurriedly, offering words of comfort.

To change the subject, Li Zhirui called over a clansman who had come from the south to help, ”How is the situation down south? No casualties, I hope?”

”The number of Water Devils down there isnʼt high. Everybody has blocked all the Water Devils, and weʼve even launched a few counterattacks,” he then elaborated in detail.

Li Zhirui was surprised by this outcome; he could guess that the situation in the south was good, especially since Li Shiren had brought so many clansmen to help, but he hadnʼt expected it to be this good.

All the clansmen were safe and sound, and they had obtained a good deal of Spirit Materials from the killed Water Devils.

Hearing this news, Li Shiliangʼs face finally showed a bit of relief, at least the situation hadnʼt gotten worse.

Just then, Li Shiren, who had gone out to investigate the cause, returned with a look of fury on his face, prompting Li Zhirui to tentatively ask, ”Uncle Ren, did you not find the cause?”

”I found it!” Li Shiren said angrily, ”This matter involves the Zheng and Jiang families!”

He then recounted everything he had seen on his journey.

Upon hearing this, everyone was furious, some hot-headed clansmen shouting to exterminate these two families, to avenge their fallen and disabled kinsfolk!

On the contrary, Li Shiliang calmed down, bellowing, ”Donʼt bring this up again! The Elders will decide how to deal with this.”

”But rest assured, I will certainly not let them get away with it!”

Li Zhirui voiced his agreement, ”Right now, the beast tide isnʼt over yet. Letʼs go back to resist the Water Devils so they donʼt cause any more damage.”

Reluctantly dispersed by their persuasion and promises, the surrounding clansmen finally left. Li Zhirui whispered, ”This matter is indeed difficult to handle.”

”We should just attack Red Pine Island and Nine Springs Island directly. The Zheng and Jiang families only have two or three at Foundation Establishment; they are no match for us,” Li Shiren said with a disgruntled glance at Li Zhirui, his words tinged with killing intent.

Li Zhirui looked at him helplessly before ignoring him, as the decision maker was Li Shiliang anyway.

In fact, Li Shiren wasnʼt wrong; those two families were indeed no match for the Li family, but they had to consider the response from the Yuanming Sect!

After all, they were vassal forces of the Yuanming Sect, would the Sect simply watch them get annihilated by the Li family without any reaction afterward?

And havenʼt these two families survived hundreds of years without having some trump cards?

If the Li family did annihilate them, what kind of losses would the Li family suffer? And afterward, could they claim Red Pine Island and Nine Springs Island as their own?

For many years, the Li family had not acted against these three families because of these issues; they had never found a good solution and thus tolerated their existence.

”We still canʼt move against them for the time being,” Li Shiliang let out a murky breath, frustrated but resigned to reality.

Seeing that Li Shiliang hadnʼt lost his reason due to hatred, Li Zhirui quietly breathed a sigh of relief, saying, ”Once Uncle reaches Golden Core, we can wipe out these families.”

Even if by then Li Shiqing was just a new Golden Core cultivator, the Yuanming Sect would likely not choose to become enemies with the Li family over the Zheng family.

Thatʼs because around the Yuanming Sect lurked the covetous Green Sword Sect. If the Li family were to join hands with the Green Sword Sect, then the Yuanming Sect would be in danger.

But in the current situation, the Li family could not act; if they did, even if they had the justification, the Yuanming Sect would favor the other side.

They would not allow a single vassal force to become overly dominant in their waters.

”Without strong power, even revenge must be carefully calculated,” Li Shiliang lamented with a bitter smile.

After listening to their conversation, Li Shiren was silent for a moment, eventually turning away in frustration.

”Uncle has been in seclusion for several years; success or failure will be determined in these next few years. Letʼs continue to be patient for a while,” Li Zhirui said, watching Li Shirenʼs retreating figure, as if he was speaking to him, yet also to himself.