Chapter 1032: Chapter 1026: They Are On Guard Against Us
With Highsun City successfully defended, the military and civilians, led by Feng Tu, were celebrating in the city.
Seeing the Golden Toad Divine Palace outside the city, the heart that Zhou Chengli had kept suspended during his hurried return from the Shadowfell Prefecture finally settled.
The existence of the Golden Toad Divine Palace, representing the presence of the Azure Cloud Li Clan, had undoubtedly become the guardian deity of the rear of Deston Prefecture.
Originally, Venerable Elder Yuanliang’s three hundred thousand-strong grand army had charged into Highsun City, and the scattered Wu tribesmen in the Central Plains were continuously flocking over.
Now that these Wu tribesmen heard the news, they slammed on the brakes and turned back, preventing the three hundred thousand-strong force from swelling into a million-strong grand army.
He had wanted to ask what the rest of the Azure Cloud Li Clan members were going to do, but in just a few short days, the people of the Azure Cloud Li Clan and the Azure Cloud Army had hidden themselves back inside the Golden Toad Divine Palace.
“Mr. Zhou, the Azure Cloud Li Clan won a massive victory in this battle, and Highsun City is celebrating. Why have they hidden themselves away instead?”
Amidst the ruins, the military and civilians of Highsun City were celebrating.
Feng Tu had given quite an impassioned speech; it was exactly the time to rebuild Highsun City from the ruins.
Now, standing with Zhou Chengli on the city wall erected by cultivators using Spiritual power, he gazed at the Golden Toad Divine Palace outside the city, his eyes filled with gratitude.
“I knew long ago that the Azure Cloud Li Clan was more reliable than that son of a bitch Bi Shihu and his ilk. If it weren’t for them, I’d be dead for sure.”
“They are on guard against us,” Zhou Chengli smiled bitterly.
Feng Tu was stunned. “After such a great merit, they’re on guard?”
“Over these years, Lord Ba joined hands with Bi Shihu and the Yun Clan to suppress the Azure Cloud Li Clan.
The Li Clan didn’t say a word, but their hearts were as clear as a mirror.
Regarding the Spear Saint’s surprise attack on the Shadowfell Prefecture, Lord Ba led his men away without saying a word, not informing the Li Clan in the slightest.
What were Lord Ba’s intentions?” The more Zhou Chengli spoke, the deeper his brows furrowed.
“Lord Ba tacitly allowed Bi Shihu and the Yun Clan to murder the Li Clan?” Feng Tu’s eyes widened.
“Is that something a fucking human would do?”
“The Li Clan defended Highsun City because they deeply understand the principle that ‘if the lips perish, the teeth will freeze,'” Zhou Chengli said.
“But they also know that once the news of this battle reaches Lord Ba’s ears, he will realize the Li Clan’s strength and will inevitably harbor thoughts of using them.
Therefore, the Li Clan has shut their doors and refuses to come out.”
Hearing this, Feng Tu nodded slightly.
That bastard Ba Siyu wanted to harm the Li Clan. For the Li Clan not to scheme to kill him, or not to just coldly watch Highsun City fall, was already the utmost of benevolence and righteousness. And you still want to use them?
“The Azure Cloud Li Clan… wouldn’t happen to have their eyes set on Lord Ba, would they?” Seeing the solemn expression on Zhou Chengli’s face, Feng Tu blinked.
“They probably… probably wouldn’t.” Zhou Chengli said, lacking confidence.
“Lord Ba is at the Dao Comprehension stage, not your ordinary Body Integration expert.
Furthermore, without Lord Ba, who will resist the Wu tribe’s Body Integration mighty figures?
They probably… probably aren’t bold enough to reach that extent.”
…….
Meanwhile, inside the Golden Toad Divine Palace.
The two hundred thousand-strong grand army spent several days to finally finish gathering their spoils of war in the massive Highsun City.
They returned to their small rooms within the dwellings for two hundred thousand inside the Golden Toad Divine Palace to digest their gains from this great battle.
Li Wei appeared within the Divine Palace.
Looking at the Azure Cloud Army in the dwellings for two hundred thousand, his eyes were filled with gratification.
Hundreds of years had passed, and this troop—cultivated by the clan and the entire Azure Cloud Prefecture—had displayed formidable combat power in this battle.
For a powerful army to hunt down top-tier experts was clearly impossible.
But by using array formations, they were enough to guard a territory, and even slay some experts who dared to bombard the army head-on.
After hundreds of years of cultivation, when the Azure Cloud Army formed array formations, defending against Void Refinement experts was not a problem.
[Your clan led the Azure Cloud Army to annihilate the ambushed three hundred thousand-strong Wu tribe grand army and Bi Shihu’s three armies.
Their practical combat experience has increased, and they have obtained a massive amount of Wu tribe spoils of war. After this battle, their combat power will increase.]
[Your clan defeated all members of Bi Shihu’s three armies, as well as Venerable Elder Yuanliang and two other Void Refinement experts.]
Under normal circumstances on the battlefield, how could it be so easy to kill Void Refinement experts?
They all possessed trump cards and would vanish without a trace to who knows where.
However, with the existence of Li Wei’s spatial laws, and his strength having reached such a level, if the opponent wanted to escape, they truly needed no small amount of capability.
Void Refinement cultivators were often brimming with confidence. No matter where they hid their treasures, it was never as safe as hiding them on their own bodies.
At this moment, in the gathering place of the clan members, corpses stood in neat rows, sealed using special methods to prevent the Spiritual power within these corpses from returning to heaven and earth.
The corpses of Void Refinement realm cultivators would be searched thoroughly.
The clan members would probe them from head to toe, digging out anything beneficial, before sending them to the Netherworld for Li Dalong, or using them as fertilizer for the ancient tree.
A rigorous process had already been formed.
[Obtained Venerable Elder Yuanliang’s Venerable Elder Totem, “Source of Fear.”
Cannot be used without Wu tribe’s spiritual power. The totem constantly emits Spiritual power. Within a range of a thousand meters, cultivators will fall into illusions.]
“Yundou and the others could find a use for this item, but they aren’t familiar with the laws of fear.
We might as well send it back to the Immortal Martial Grotto-Heaven to form an experiential training ground.
Using the totem as a foundation, its Spiritual power can mutate demonic beasts and plant, helping to cultivate outstanding descendants for our Li Clan.”
Having learned the general attributes of the totem from the Old Ancestor, Li Yunbing instantly thought of a use for it.
He immediately looked at Venerable Elder Yuanliang’s twin swords, a shattered necklace, and a crutch.
Besides using natural treasures for cultivation, Wu tribe cultivators naturally also forged their own Wu tribe artifacts.
[Wu Artifact: Human Slaughterer Twin Swords]
[Forged using precious natural treasures. Over hundreds of years of great battles in Shadowfell Prefecture, Venerable Elder Yuanliang nourished them with the blood of millions of humans obtained sequentially.
Lethality against human cultivators is increased by 100%. Causes human cultivators pierced by them to fall into the laws of fear, gradually losing their combat power.]
Li Yunbing silently picked up the Human Slaughterer Twin Swords.
With the Human Slaughterer in one hand and the Wu Slaughterer in the other, he looked exceptionally awe-inspiring.
But the moment he touched them, Li Yunbing’s entire body trembled, and goosebumps rose all over his skin.
Seeing the clan descendants present, Li Yunbing gripped the swords with a calm expression and said in a deep voice, “I am going to refine these swords. You all see what items here are useful to bolster your combat power. Do not slack off.”
“Yes.”
The juniors watched Li Yunbing daring to touch this Wu artifact that exuded such a powerful aura without being affected in the slightest.
They all secretly sighed in admiration, truly worthy of being a Clan Elder; his Dao Heart was indestructible.
But how could they know that the moment Li Yunbing arrived in the room of his own small courtyard, he was already drenched in sweat.
He threw the longswords onto the ground, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, his legs feeling weak.
“This thing is too evil. I’d better send it back for Third Uncle to wash away the Wu Qi using artifact refinement methods. I almost lost all my face in front of the juniors.”
Seeing Li Yunbing show off, Li Wei rolled his eyes and continued inspecting the spoils of war.
The other two Wu artifacts belonging to Venerable Elder Yuanliang on the ground were similar items.
They required Wu’s spiritual power to be utilized and also needed to be sent back to be melted down and reforged.
Among the items present, Bi Shihu’s treasures were quite good.
Setting aside the miscellaneous items, the heavy hammer was clearly a Top-Grade Dharma Treasure named “Heavenly Dipper Technique-Breaking Hammer.”
The hammer was incredibly heavy, and few among the clan members could even swing it.
“Yaotie has his own hammer. We’d better leave this for Kuanghua. I wonder how Kuanghua is doing.”
Li Wei pondered for a moment. Apart from the Buddha-Demon Disc, Kuanghua had never possessed any other Dharma Treasures.
Ordinary Dharma Treasures were no longer as strong as Kuanghua’s physical body, and very few could provide him with any assistance.
At this moment, a pendant caught his eye. The pendant was purple and eye-shaped.
[Top-Grade Dharma Treasure: Heavenly Domain Dharma Eye]
[Bi Shihu’s Natal Dharma Treasure, nourished and tempered using his own laws over ten thousand years.
Contains Bi Shihu’s power of laws such as “Seeing Through” and “Prying,” allowing it to see through Spiritual techniques and laws attacking from all directions, subsequently breaking techniques with techniques, placing him in an undefeated position.]
This item also had to be sent back to Yaotie and Li Yaoqing to eradicate its Artifact Spirit.
A Natal Dharma Treasure shared the same origin as its master.
If one tried to refine it forcefully, a slight mishap could easily result in backlash from the Dharma Treasure, or even ruin the Dharma Treasure entirely.
Yet the members of the clan coveted this item very much. You could say Bi Shihu was evil, but you couldn’t say he was weak.
The fact that this man could resist Venerable Elder Yuanliang and then fight against multiple opponents while remaining in an undefeated position was a testament to his formidable strength.
Bi Shihu’s three subordinates were also talents, and they also left behind good items.
[Top-Grade Dharma Treasure: Ten-Directional Delusion-Shattering Bow]
[Divine Archer Guan Mingxuan’s Dharma Treasure. The intensity of Spiritual power is increased within the bow, capable of breaking technique, breaking arrays, and annihilating enemies.]
Holding the Ten-Directional Delusion-Shattering Bow, Li Changyao was overjoyed.
Over the years, it wasn’t that the clan hadn’t asked Li Yaotie to forge equipment for Li Changyao, but Li Yaotie… the Dharma Treasures this kid forged were often simple and brutal.
A bow, however, usually required precise craftsmanship.
Back then, Li Changyao thought the appearance of the “Pew-Pew Pink Bow” was just the beginning; who knew it was already the absolute pinnacle of Li Yaotie’s refinement skills.
The stronger Li Yaotie’s Spiritual power grew, the more brutal his refinement became. The bowstrings on his longbows would snap the moment he pulled them…
Besides this, inside Guan Mingxuan’s spatial ring, there were also numerous cultivation methods and insights belonging to an archer. This made Li Changyao overcome with joy.
“Brother, this is wonderful. We don’t have many people who use bows in the Azure Cloud Prefecture; all these years, I haven’t even known who to learn from.”
“There are also Cai Yongzhen’s array formations and array discs.”
Li Tianqi searched through Cai Yongzhen’s relics, and even through everything within his shattered Soul Sea.
He saw that numerous remnants of array formations were hidden within Cai Yongzhen’s Soul Sea, and the array discs were also rare and precious Array Dao treasures.
[Your descendant Li Tianqi obtained three Grade 4 Grand Array Formation blueprints and fourteen Grade 5 Grand Array Formation blueprints.]
[Grade 4 Military Array Formation: Primordial Calamity Drum Array.
A hundred thousand-strong grand army beats drums to form an array, summoning the Spiritual power of heaven and earth.
The array condenses into Spiritual power, summoning the Immortal Soul of the Primordial Calamity, capable of both offense and defense.]
[Stone Guard Array Formation: Using array bases and special talisman materials to engrave a grand array.
Composed of forty-nine small arrays, it forms a regional array formation, using Void Refinement earthen statues to defend a city.]
[Divine Delusion Enemy-Slaughtering Array: Using array bases and special talisman materials to engrave a grand array.
Conceals the enemy’s perception within thick mist, affecting their minds and bewitching enemies within the array to slaughter each other.]
Formation Array Masters burned through Spirit Stones even faster than Artifact Refiners and Pill Refiners.
Military arrays were commonly seen on the battlefield. It was a good thing that Bi Shihu was in a state of fleeing, and that his resources had been bled dry by Li Yunbing over these years, leaving him with only ten thousand soldiers.
Otherwise, Cai Yongzhen would have definitely been able to make the tiger-wolf army incredibly powerful.
Ordinary cultivators could also become Formation Array Masters as long as they followed the array bases and talisman lines on the array blueprints and copied them exactly.
Take the array formation in Highsun City, for example; Li Changsheng spent decades just to complete it.
With the existence of Formation Array Masters, the materials they used would be significantly less, and what’s more, they could form an array in a short amount of time.
As the spoils of war were gathered one by one, the Li Clan members gathered before Bi Shihu’s soul.
There was a lantern in the room. The lantern burned ever bright, its scorching flames roasting Bi Shihu. This person’s soul darted around wildly inside the lantern.
—
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