"Bang!"
On the way to the Northern Border, the spirit boat was shattering into pieces.
The clansmen who had come from the Azure Cloud Prefecture were now floating in the cloudy sky, either riding auspicious clouds or flying on their swords.
Li Zhiheng expressionlessly withdrew his outstretched hand.
The Void Refining space formed in the cloudy sky, the Sacred Heart Domain, emitted over a dozen types of law-based Spiritual power.
It then expanded into a domain to block Daoist techniques originating from an unknown source.
Once he withdrew his hand, the Sacred Heart Domain vanished completely.
"Who goes there? Show yourselves, you cowards hiding your heads and tucking your tails!"
Li Jianshu was not the least bit afraid.
With a gloomy expression, he transformed into a streak of thunder and searched within a radius of a hundred miles.
Just moments ago, while the spirit boat was on its way to the Northern Border, an array compass had suddenly appeared in the cloudy sky, unleashing over a dozen Grade 5 life-and-death grand arrays.
Had their grandfather not intervened in time, they likely would have suffered heavy casualties.
However, his search yielded no results.
He merely found the array foundations on the ground before returning to Li Zhiheng's side.
Li Jianning dispatched clansmen to collect the fragments of the spirit boat.
While tending to his father, Li Yuanwu, he gritted his teeth and said,
"What a pity about our ten spirit boats. That one particular spirit boat was a Supreme-Grade Spirit Artifact; it was the most beautiful one we had when we fought in the Immortal Domain."
"It was a probe."
Li Jianshu said,
"The people hidden in the shadows are probing our strength. Old Ancestor Li Wei warned us the other day: the Qiu Clan of the Northern Border is merely the beginning.
Rumors that the opportunity for the Body Integration realm lies with our Li Clan have already spread across the world.
I fear that Divinity Transformation and Void Refining cultivators all over the world will attempt to take a bite out of our Li Clan."
"Let us continue."
Li Zhiheng said softly, "If they dare to come, I will dare to kill them."
After speaking, he released his Primordial Spirit and took the lead to pave the way forward.
Li Jianshu and Li Jianning exchanged a glance, both noticing the peculiar look in each other's eyes.
The two brothers either managed the family estate or cultivated day in and day out.
They had been in frequent contact with Li Zhiheng recently and suddenly realized something was amiss with their grandfather.
"Grandfather seems... to no longer care about many things," Li Jianning scratched his head.
"Let's head to the Imperial Capital."
A trace of worry flashed in Li Jianshu's eyes, yet he didn't dare to question his grandfather's affairs.
He merely said, "Let's go to Second Uncle's place first.
The Merchant Lineage possesses vast connections and capabilities. We can have them investigate who is secretly moving against us.
Since the Merchant Lineage is relatively weaker in strength, it would also be best for them to travel with us."
"If they want to treat our Li Clan as an opportunity, let's see if they actually have the capability to do so!"
...
At this moment.
In the Azure Cloud Prefecture, Li Qiuming and Li Chuxiu were just leaving Old Ancestor Yaoqing's place.
"Uncle Ming, Old Ancestor Yaoqing said that our Azure Cloud Prefecture is currently hollow on the inside, and that this is the time that will test us the most.
Just who exactly has our Li Clan provoked?"
Li Chuxiu looked entirely bewildered.
Having spent most of his life cultivating, with major family affairs suddenly thrust into his hands, he truly didn't know where to begin.
"It can't really be called provoking."
Having rolled and crawled through the mud of the Imperial Capital, Li Qiuming took a deep breath and said,
"This is simply how the world works. As the saying goes, 'wealth should not be exposed.'
The family sought revenge for our clansmen and pursued opportunities in the Western Border, thereby exposing our strength.
The people of this world act like flies and dogs, constantly bustling about for profit. How is it not normal for them to target us?"
"The Family Head has already made proper arrangements, the family's retainers obey our commands, and we have Old Ancestor Li Wei standing behind us.
Xiu'er, now that the family is entrusted to you, you must cultivate diligently.
The duty of slaying enemies in the future will fall heavily upon your shoulders."
"Yes, Uncle Ming..." Li Chuxiu responded. He then snapped back to his senses, stunned.
"Uncle Ming, you're so shameless! I am the junior. Where is the logic in making a junior slay enemies and bear heavy burdens while the elder hides in the back?"
"Your Uncle Ming has important matters to attend to," Li Qiuming said with a grave expression.
"What matters?"
"Opening a brothel."
"..."
High in the cloudy sky above Merit City.
The siblings, Li Yaoqing and Li Yaotie, were together inside the Spirit Gathering Cauldron, receiving a message transmitted by Old Ancestor Li Wei through the Ancestral Spirit Tablet.
"Li Chuyuan consumed the Dao Seed?"
Li Yaotie blinked his eyes.
"His surname is Li, which makes it sound like he's a descendant of our Li Clan. Since he is already Min Tiange's man, should we kill him?"
"He is a descendant of our Li Clan." Li Yaoqing rolled her eyes.
"Old Ancestor Li Wei said to keep him alive. That boy has a grudge against Ming'er and Xiu'er, which can serve to motivate the two of them to cultivate.
Aside from that, we can wait and see if Li Chuyuan can get close to Min Tiange.
Min Tiange has always been mysterious. This time, he can be considered to have outsmarted himself."
"So that's how it is."
Li Yaotie nodded slightly.
Immediately after, the elders who had stayed behind to guard the family headed together toward the spiritual pool in the family's back mountain.
There, they saw Old Flood Dragon coiled around a decaying corpse dragon.
Were it not for the array formations set up around them, a single breath from it would likely cause the mountains to sway and the earth to tremble.
The blood and vital energy of the corpse dragon were slowly seeping into the body of the family's Divine Beast.
"Eating a true dragon—even if this dragon has been dead for who knows how many years—will make it effortless for Old Flood Dragon to break through to the Void Refining realm."
Li Yaotie grinned.
"Furthermore, the internal organs and blood of this dragon have already been sent to the Northern Border. Zhijing's dragon body is about to be complete."
"What a pity that this dead dragon is filled with corpse energy, which ordinary people cannot withstand.
Otherwise, refining it into a treasure to extract blood would allow our Li Clan's descendants to strengthen their physiques."
Li Yaoqing wore a look of regret. The family had previously obtained the 'Qilin Sacred Crystal' from Qilin Mountain.
That artifact produced blood every year, bringing endless benefits to the family's descendants.
"What's there to pity? Once Old Flood Dragon transforms into a dragon, couldn't we just extract blood from him?" Li Yaotie said casually.
As the two conversed, they gazed toward the center of the spiritual pool.
There, they saw a human body forged by the Corpse-Stitching Art exuding the aura of the peak Divinity Transformation realm—an aura that was boundlessly majestic.
[Dabao: 12th Generation]
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