Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

Chapter 1225: Chapter 1081: Eradicate - Part 2

Otherwise, once the army enters the capital, they’ll be fish on the chopping board, ready to be slaughtered!

”Rest assured, you’ll hear good news tomorrow!” The patriarch’s face revealed a trace of sinister determination.

The elders of the family were struck with profound fear, especially those who had spoken out earlier to persuade him. At this moment, cold sweat was streaming down their backs as they hurriedly pledged their allegiance. Only after promising to relinquish power and part of their wealth did the patriarch nod and drop the matter.

That night.

Liu Bairui, who was always diligent in governance, sat at his desk reviewing memorials. A faint fragrance wafting through the hall cleared his groggy mind considerably. He asked, ”What is this scent? It even has an invigorating effect.”

”Reporting to Your Majesty, this is a new fragrance made by the Imperial Household Department.”

”Hmm, not bad. Reward them!”

With that, he continued reading the memorials, working late into the night before finally retiring to bed.

That very night, a group of attendants and palace maids discreetly gathered in a corner and left this treacherous place through an underground passage.

Before their departure, they left behind some inconspicuous sparks and a few dried branches in the magnificently opulent palace of red bricks and green tiles.

Dong dong dong——

The next morning, the palace was filled with the resonating chimes of the reporting clock.

Yet Liu Bairui, who always woke promptly at the sound of the chime, did not open his eyes.

”Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”

The palace staff outside called out several times in succession, but received no response. A dreadful intuition struck their hearts as they nervously approached to check on him, only to find his skin pale blue, his body cold, and his breath long gone!

”Ah! It’s terrible! His Majesty has passed away!”

A group of panicked, bewildered palace staff tore through the palace corridors, rushing to the rear chambers where the only remaining true mistress of the palace—the Queen—resided.

”Passed away?!”

”Who’s responsible?!”

The spies embedded in the palace by various factions were alarmed and quickly turned to report this shocking news to their respective masters.

...

”Dead.”

Residing in an inn ten miles outside the capital, Li Zhirui sensed the change and looked toward the direction of the palace. Through the gaze of his Dharma Eye, he saw a resplendent golden four-clawed dragon roaring furiously at the sky, its attempts to retaliate rendered futile before being wholly consumed by a black void brimming with Yin Qi.

”What a pity.”

Li Zhirui sighed faintly and instructed Cao Da and the others to leave this troublesome place.

The emperor was dead, and his heirs were merely twelve or thirteen-year-old children. With internal conflict within the Liu family, the ambitions of various schemers, and the approach of two massive armies, the entire dynasty was poised on the brink of fragmentation. As for the capital, now teeming with all manner of nefarious individuals—it was the most dangerous of places!

The Human Dao Law Net had already dissipated in many areas, with remote counties likely collapsing outright. Its suppressive effects on Li Zhirui were weakened significantly, meaning his personal safety was no longer a concern, though there was no reason to remain.

Moreover, Li Zhirui had to prepare the Li family to seize the Dafeng Dynasty’s territories; they needed a place where Mana could be used without restriction.

After traveling westward for several days, Li Zhirui completely freed himself from the Human Dao Law Net and silently vanished into the night.

The Human Dao Law Net, the mechanism through which the dynasty maintained its control and administered local governance, had crumbled across vast stretches within mere days. The only remnants now barely existed in the Capital Region.

With Dafeng Dynasty’s downfall imminent, Li Zhirui’s task was completed, and he no longer had reason to mingle with mortals.

As for Cao Da and the others who had worked under him for years, the family would naturally settle their affairs—they were not his concern.

The following day, upon realizing Li Zhirui’s disappearance, Cao Da and his group remained silent for a brief moment before proceeding as he had previously instructed.

...

”Ancestor Rui!”

The members of the Li family, who had been keeping close watch on the crumbling Dafeng Dynasty, eagerly anticipating their opportunity to occupy its territories, promptly paid their respects to Li Zhirui upon his arrival.

”Begin the operation.”

After pausing briefly, Li Zhirui advised, ”Do not be overly greedy—absorb only the eastern region spanning three to four thousand miles into the family’s governance. Anything farther is beyond our control.”

”Of course, don’t neglect the thousands of miles of territory to the west. Divide it among the subordinate forces, and maintain a nominal claim under the family’s name.”

The Dafeng Dynasty had begun expanding from Slaying Jiao State, growing its territory severalfold over the past hundred years. Its lands now extended in a long, narrow swath across east and west. Had they been allowed to continue, they might have eventually ascended to become a legitimate Human Dao Dynasty!

However, such prospects were slim. The internal strife of the Dafeng Dynasty was overwhelming, and Li Zhirui had capitalized on those issues to resolve the matter in just ten years.

”Understood!”

The family members nodded in acknowledgment and immediately began acting upon his directives.

While absorbing the borderlands, they simultaneously informed the loose cultivator families and sects in Shanhai State, who lacked a foothold on Spirit Veins, to migrate westward over ten thousand miles and establish their clan strongholds and mountain gates.

This included displacing forces blocking the passage connecting the Li family’s Shanhai State to Dafeng’s eastern territories.

After all, the domain spanning several thousand miles was to come under the direct control of the Li family. Even if these forces pledged allegiance to them, they would still be an obstruction.

Of course, the Li family maintained appearances, offering compensation to these factions, such as granting them an additional Spirit Vein or expanding their territories.

The Liu family members embroiled in palace power struggles remained oblivious to the Li family’s actions until their cultivator army arrived outside the capital. Only then did they realize the gravity of the situation—the dynasty painstakingly built by their ancestors was on the brink of collapse.

”It’s over!”

Members of the Liu family lamented with deep remorse, blinded by their lust for power and the desire to rule the realm. They had forgotten that immortal forces surrounding the dynasty were all watching them like predators.

”I have failed our ancestors! I dare not face them after death!”

Several elderly members fell to the ground, weeping inconsolably.

Standing at the forefront of the Li family ranks, Li Zhirui observed their theatrical display with cold detachment and declared, ”Begin. Dispose of these Liu family members and reestablish local governance swiftly.”

With that, Li Zhirui took the lead, summoning a thunderbolt from the heavens. Easily, it shattered the remnants of the Human Dao Law Net that veiled the capital.

By this time, the Dafeng Dynasty had lost the faith of its people, much of its territory, and its influence. Were it not for the Li family’s swift territorial seizures, countless calamities would have erupted.

The grievances of innumerable mortals and their entangled karmic ties had long since strained the dynasty’s fortune to its breaking point. Li Zhirui’s thunderbolt delivered the final blow.

Wu——

With the Vermilion Bird as their symbol, the Liu family’s Dafeng Dynasty saw its luck-condensed bird let out a sorrowful cry. Now frail and flickering, it could barely sustain its form.

”Even if I die, I’ll drag some of you down with me!”

As Li family cultivators barreled in, some Liu family members attempted to retaliate.

Yet their Human Dao cultivation methods were intrinsically linked to their dynasty’s fortune, which was now virtually depleted. Furthermore, with the destruction of the suppression-enabled Law Net, these mortals with merely two to three decades of cultivation stood no match against Void Refinement cultivators!

Hovering in the skies, Li Zhirui refrained from direct involvement, instead activating his Dharma Eye as though searching for something.

”Found it.”

Soon, he appeared in a dilapidated hut outside the city.

A pair of elderly caretakers, who were tending to an infant, trembled in fear and fell to their knees, begging for mercy.

”Rest assured, I’m not here to harm him. But some things should vanish completely.”

Li Zhirui stepped forward, extending his hand toward the infant’s brow. Extracting a golden miniature dragon from the baby, he sealed it within a pre-prepared jade bead.

Just as he was about to leave, he noticed a flash of Spirit Light in his Dantian, causing his brows to knit as he muttered, ”I’ll spare your life, but I cannot leave any risks behind.”

He then extended his hand toward the infant’s Dantian, extracting the bright Spirit Light and sealing it within the jade bead.

”As for you two, act as if you’ve never seen me.”

Two waves of Spirit Light entered the minds of the elderly couple, erasing any memory of this encounter.