Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

Chapter 2014 1476: Forced Compromise

Therefore, out of concern for Li Deboʼs safety, the Elders strongly opposed him personally going to the battlefield to command.

However, under his strong insistence, the Elders ultimately could not overrule him and had to compromise, but they still set some conditions—for instance, he was not allowed to come to the frontlines in person, and could only stay on a specially crafted spirit boat behind the others.

At first, when Li Debo left Mount Wanxian, the Elders behaved as usual and did not make any illicit moves, but as the Clan Leader was away from the clan for a long time and enormous amounts of spiritual objects passed through their hands each day, they gradually became unable to restrain themselves!

When the first Elder began to act, the other Elders were either drawn in actively or dragged into it passively by him.

It didnʼt take long for them to connect into a tightly-knit network.

They treated those vanished spiritual objects as a kind of normal loss and depletion—outsiders would see nothing amiss at all!

Of course, their nerve was not great; they dared not take too much at once, acting more like mice moving house, nibbling away a little at a time, just to avoid arousing suspicion.

Even though they had taken all sorts of precautions, what they didnʼt know was that from the very beginning, someone among them had joined with a different purpose!

And that person was the very Elder Li Dehou, who had previously revealed a bit of news to Li Debo, spurring him to take countermeasures.

Those Elders of course knew that before this, Li Dehou had never participated in their profiteering, and so his trustworthiness was not that high.

However, as fate would have it, he was in charge of one vital link in the transportation of spiritual objects—without drawing him in, this embezzlement could not expand in scale and could only remain small in scope.

But it was agony and torture to watch vast quantities of spiritual items pass before their eyes each day, yet have no way to get a piece for themselves.

Then they learned that Li Dehouʼs Dao companion, Liu Xianglan, had previously encountered an accident during her training outside. She was gravely injured—her very foundation was harmed and she needed massive quantities of spiritual objects to stabilize her vitality.

And if she wished to recover, the price would be even greater; this was precisely the time when a large number of spiritual objects was needed!

So, after a few probes, they succeeded in drawing him into their little group. In a short while, the number of embezzled items grew from dozens to several hundred.

...

Mount Wanxian, inside Li Dehouʼs modest cave mansion.

”If what youʼve done is exposed, youʼll be cutting yourself off from the family!” Liu Xianglan looked at Li Dehou, who was recording how many spiritual objects had been transported this time, how many had been embezzled, and which ones exactly, her face full of worry.

Although she lay in bed, pale as if her life was soon to end, in reality, it was all an act—she had not been injured, let alone gravely hurt and beyond cure.

Li Dehou gave no response, but focused all his attention on recording everything. Once finished, he solemnly sealed the jade slip away in a hidden corner of his cave mansion.

”I know. But there are some things that require someone to bear them.”

A hint of a smile appeared on Li Dehouʼs face. He said, ”Besides, the Clan Leader is not the sort of ruthless man who discards people after using them.”

”Hmph! Iʼve never seen you close to him—how can you be so sure and trust him?!”

”Donʼt worry. Even if the Clan Leader were that type, arenʼt Ancestor Rui and Yao Ancestor still overseeing the clan? For such a major issue, thereʼs no way those two old patriarchs would be unaware.”

At these words, Liu Xianglan finally relaxed quite a bit. Indeed, with those two Ancestors, they would never let her Dao companion suffer for nothing.

Who knows, he might even catch the attention of the two Ancestors because of this matter!

At that thought, Liu Xianglan couldnʼt help but feel a little excited.

...

But on the other side of things—

The Ten Thousand Spirit Sea Area, Wanling Island.

Once Li Debo had arranged all affairs, he took up post here. He had another reason as well: to wait—for those reckless Elders to make their move.

”Hmph! Those fat rats—can they really not hold back any longer?”

In less than half a month, Li Debo discovered that the spiritual items delivered this time were just a little fewer than last time, not much—just a few hundred in total.

If he insisted, it could be written off as losses; nothing would seem out of line. But from the start, he had come with preset suspicion, so the moment he noticed a problem, he subconsciously laid the blame on the Elders.

In fact, Li Deboʼs reasoning wasnʼt wrong, but there was a flaw: he had no real evidence and was acting on guesswork alone.

”I wonder how Dehou is doing with his tasks—did he truly keep accurate records? If even he has fallen to temptation, then…”

As he spoke, a cold light flashed in his eyes.

Though Li Debo still had some trust in Li Dehou, this matter shook the very foundation of the clan—he could not entrust it entirely to faith alone.

Thus, apart from his own actions, Li Debo made use of the Dark Department, known only to successive Clan Leaders, Li Zhirui, and Li Mingyao, instructing them to secretly gather clues and evidence!

”Itʼs not time yet. Even if only a few hundred spiritual objects are lost now, dragging them out would not permit a harsh punishment, nor would it serve as a lasting lesson for the clan.”

”Wait a little longer—just a little longer…”

Li Debo inwardly repeated this to himself, suppressing his impatience and fury. He put away the jade slip, resolving to think no more on this matter for now.

Then, he took out another jade slip. This one contained reports of the clanʼs ongoing battles in the East Sea.

The course of the war was mostly as anticipated. The Sea Clan truly had few truly powerful Water Devils on guard, so their advance was smooth and unobstructed, facing almost no real danger.