Chapter 1116: Chapter 1110: The Current Way Of Survival For The Li Clan
A monster, devoid of distinguishable gender and possessing only a vaguely humanoid shape, floated in the spiritual pool; its limbs resembled unpolished jade.
This entity gathered the culmination of techniques passed down through generations of the family.
Having spent over decades to reach the peak of the Divinity Transformation realm, it was now on the verge of breaking through to the Void Refining realm.
This creation was also the reason Li Yaoqing and Li Yaotie rarely left the family estate throughout the year.
Whenever they finished refining pills or forging artifacts, researching and developing “Dabao” became an essential task.
Aside from the name “Dabao”—given to it by Li Changyao—the clan members also jokingly referred to it as the “Abomination.”
[Dabao (12th Generation)]
[Physical Body: Constructed utilizing the flesh and blood of the six Ancestors of the Zhao Clan.
Its arms combine the limbs and Dantian of Zhao Tingyu, possessing extreme destructive power capable of shattering myriad techniques.
Its legs merge the Dantians and five internal organs of Zhao Jingmiao and Zhao Buqun, granting boundless Spiritual power when standing upon the earth.
Its head contains the Soul Sea of Zhao Wan…]
[Fuses the characteristics of two of the Four Great Leaders of the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems:
Zhen Wu’s meridians, capable of commanding nine types of rule-based Spiritual arts.
Ling Xu’s skeleton, possessing spatial rules that allow for short-distance void breaking.]
[Refined through the Corpse-Driving Art and infused with ghost energy to become a Half-Zombie, existing outside the Five Elements.
Further refined through Spirit Puppet arts, array formations, and alchemy…]
“Once we refine a new ‘Void-Soul Exchanging Dao Technique’ space, Dabao will be able to reach the Void Refining realm.”
Li Yaoqing looked at Dabao floating in the pool with a complex expression.
“Think of how much manpower and resources the family expended in the past just to achieve a breakthrough to the Void Refining realm. To think its breakthrough will be so simple.”
“And it won’t be a simple Void Refining realm either,” Li Yaotie let out a loud laugh.
“The corpse dragon’s bones are massive, its main body a thousand meters long.
By incorporating the corpse dragon’s torso into its body, combined with the fact that every single part of Dabao’s body comes from the most exceptional parts of cultivators at the absolute limit of the Void Refining realm…
Its combat power might even surpass yours and mine!”
“The only thing remaining is a soul.”
Li Yaoqing cast aside the sentimentality in her mind and gave a slight nod.
“You and I should also make preparations early. As for you, Third Brother, you need to break through to the peak realm soon and comprehend the laws of Fire.
Now that the Nirvana Sage Elder is dead, don’t let someone else snatch your Dao path first.”
“Alright.” Li Yaotie scratched his head, looking slightly embarrassed.
This time, the clan members had all gone to the Western Border and obtained numerous treasures.
Despite being a blacksmith with the [Fate Bound to Iron] trait, deep down, he was someone who loved a good fight.
But as it turned out, all the treasures were plundered by the other clan members while he simply reaped the rewards without lifting a finger.
He couldn’t help but feel he owed them a debt of gratitude; otherwise, he would definitely be bickering with his Second Sister right now.
He hurriedly returned to the Spirit Gathering Cauldron.
Standing beneath the Heavenly Fire Divine Tree, Li Yaotie immediately began his cultivation, allowing the Heavenly Fire Divine Tree to irrigate him with the Dao of Fire.
“It’s not enough.”
Observing Li Yaotie’s cultivation, Li Wei murmured.
With a thought, he saw that Li Yaotie’s Void Refining space was only at the mid-stage; there was still a long way to go before reaching the peak of the Void Refining realm, even though Li Yaoqing had already refined all of her pills specifically for him.
According to the family’s estimates, the resources required to push Li Yaotie to the peak of the Void Refining realm would rival the entire foundation of the Zhao Clan.
“The key is opening the Dao Gate. Comprehending the rules of Fire laws… but Yaotie lacks the profound foundation in his Dao principles.
It will be fundamentally impossible for him to open the Dao Gate.”
Li Wei’s ears twitched. Hearing the sound of a wooden fish in the distance, he quietly headed over.
He saw an earthen temple.
Inside the temple, Li Kuanghua was striking a wooden fish.
Her Bodhisattva Prowess statue, sacred and inviolable, chanted Buddhist scriptures.
Far away from Li Kuanghua’s cultivation site, a group of black-clad men were waiting.
Li Wei had arrived at just the right time; as the Buddhist chants echoed, the earth and rocks on the ground squirmed, and Bodhisattva statues surfaced.
These cultivators from the Hall of Heavenly Principles took the Bodhisattva statues, headed outside Merit City, and handed them over to the monks of the “Great Ming King Temple,” a Buddhist faction within the Azure Cloud Prefecture.
Shortly after, another type of Buddha statue emerged—this one with three heads and six arms, possessing a demonic body.
Demon cultivators from the Thunder Fire Demon Cave arrived, taking the demonic statues away with them.
Both the Buddha and Demon statues would be distributed to various parts of the secular world across the Azure Dynasty through the Great Ming King Temple.
“The Dao path of Rebirth.”
A smile surfaced on Li Wei’s face as he watched Li Kuanghua, who was peacefully chanting scriptures, face-to-face with Nun Dairou.
Nun Dairou struggled occasionally; she had lost her usual tranquil demeanor, now filled entirely with anger and unwillingness.
Li Kuanghua was imitating her Dao path, or rather, imitating the breakthrough path of the Dusheng Nunnery.
Having cultivated in the Dusheng Nunnery for decades, Li Kuanghua had essentially learned all of the nunnery’s methods inside and out.
She knew exactly how Nun Dairou had broken through, and how she had helped Dharma Master Hongzhen attempt her breakthrough.
The resources given to Li Yaotie were equally being provided to Li Kuanghua.
As for her fortuitous encounter, it lay in these Buddha statues sent to various parts of the world, gathering enough faith and leaving everything else to time.
Furthermore, the family possessed an even greater advantage than the Dusheng Nunnery: the family had Holy Monk Yidian, meaning they didn’t fear retribution from other Buddhist factions, and they possessed the power and authority to protect the Buddha statues.
All that was needed was to leave it to time.
The descendants abroad helped the clan members seek opportunities for breakthroughs, the descendants in the Azure Cloud Prefecture provided logistical support, and together, they waited for a breakthrough to the Body Integration realm.
This was the current way of survival for the Li Clan—many hands make light work, gathering wood to build a raging fire.
[Your descendants heading to the Northern Border encountered an enemy ambush on the way.
Their spirit boat was destroyed, and they have headed to the Imperial Capital to rest and reorganize.]
Not long after the secret discussion at home, Li Zhiheng and the other descendants had been heading to the Northern Border for barely a dozen days before encountering an enemy attack.
Li Wei frowned.
Arriving beside Li Zhiheng via his perception, he saw the thousand descendants of the family having no choice but to use various means to rush to the Imperial Capital.
Looking again at the [Rumors] in the special events, and recalling Qiu Xundao’s soliloquy in the Grand Preceptor’s study that day, as well as Min Tiange’s warning, Li Wei murmured,
“The events in the Western Border happened only recently; we truly revealed too much of our sharp edge.”
However, Li Wei also shrugged.
Since the family’s founding until now, he had experienced far too many things; what was bound to come would come sooner or later.
He had many descendants, and each had their own ideas.
For instance, Li Jianshu was dead set on leading the family’s descendants to the Northern Border for revenge.
As the Old Ancestor, he simply needed to offer his protection.
Over the next few days, the clansmen arrived at the bustling areas of the Imperial Capital, awestruck by the extraordinary splendor of the glorious city.
The descendants raised their heads to gaze toward the Heavenly Palace.
That kind of majestic Spiritual Qi was something they had never experienced, even in Merit City.
The four massive divine statues at the four corners of the Imperial Capital similarly exuded an overwhelming pressure, making it seem as though if any enemy dared to approach, these statues would transform into divine generals to slay them.
The Merchant Lineage had long since come to welcome them, bringing over a hundred powerful bodyguards and rushing to meet the main family halfway.
The descendants from the Azure Cloud Prefecture cultivated year-round in the Immortal Martial Grotto-Heaven.
The moment they arrived at the Merchant Grotto-Heaven, they were completely dumbfounded.
It was tacky… tacky to the extreme.
The artificial rockeries in the Grotto-Heaven were carved from spirit stones, and even a single tree inside was a Dharma Treasure.
Other families used their Dharma Treasures for combat; the Dharma Treasures in the Merchant Grotto-Heaven were auxiliary tools used purely for decoration.
“Dad, Eldest Brother!”
Li Yuanshang hurried over and quickly walked up to Li Yuanwu.
When he went back to Merit City a few years ago, Li Yuanwu had already grown old, and now he had lost even more vital blood energy.
“Eldest Brother, you are so foolish! We have as many life-extending pills as we need.
If you want to break through, I can find pills for you. Why must you make things so hard for yourself?”
The giant fat man, round as a ball, panted heavily.
This caused Li Zhiheng, standing to the side, to feel a slight ripple of emotion in his heart.
Of these two sons of his, one was old, and the other was fat, but they ultimately brought him gratification.
Li Yuanwu held true to his original heart, having no desires or pursuits other than practicing martial arts.
Although Li Yuanshang’s temperament was vastly different from his own, he was extraordinarily clever, earning much praise even from their father, Li Xinnian.
He also had a daughter, Li Yuanling, who had married into the Feng family and lived a happy life.
Coupled with a house full of descendants, he had no regrets in this life.
Immediately after, he murmured his usual self-reminders to his Heavenly Dao Divine Heart.
After a round of greetings, everyone entered the Merchant Grotto-Heaven.
The Merchant Lineage possessed spirit stones and wealth to rival a nation; otherwise, Li Yuanshang wouldn’t have dared to boast so grandly to Fei Heng back in the day.
Once inside, there were layers upon layers of grand arrays, though they couldn’t exactly be considered exceptionally formidable—they were mainly there to prevent people from stealing their treasures…
In the main hall, Li Chang and the Martial Emperor, who had come to protect the Merchant Lineage in earlier years, were seated.
Li Chang was a graceful gentleman, not looking the least bit like an Old Ancestor; he appeared to be the youngest person in the entire hall.
That little old man, the Martial Emperor, had grown a full size rounder.
The children of the Merchant Lineage came forward one by one to pay their respects to Li Zhiheng and Li Yuanwu, their words holding a few degrees more reverence when speaking with Li Jianshu and the others.
It wasn’t that the Merchant Lineage lacked strong individuals; they had even produced two Divinity Transformation cultivators among them, but one look was enough to tell their cultivation base had been piled up entirely with pills.
According to Li Yuanshang, a merchant should look like a merchant.
Breaking through to Divinity Transformation was already good enough.
If they truly produced a Void Refining expert, in the eyes of the Imperial Capital’s dignitaries, they would no longer be seen as merchants, but rather territorial lords.
As the group conversed, Li Jianshu brought up the matter of the ambush they encountered on the road.
The flesh on Li Yuanshang’s face quivered as he slammed the table heavily.
“First, the Northern Border had an incident, and now they even dare to touch the people of our main family! They are defying the heavens!”
“Second Uncle, it was a probe,” Li Jianshu corrected him.
“I don’t care if it was a probe! Our Li Clan elders in the Western Border secured the southern rear for the Imperial Dynasty, joining forces with the dynasty’s almighty experts to severely injure the Nirvana Sage Elder.
Our Li Clan holds unparalleled merit in the great victory of the Western Border.
If they have the capability to target our Li Clan, why don’t they muster the courage to go deal with the Wu Tribe?”
Even as a merchant, Li Yuanshang was not lacking in hostility.
“I have already hired people to investigate. I want to see exactly who is playing tricks behind the scenes!”
Standing to the side, seeing that his descendants already had plans, Li Chang smiled faintly.
“You all go ahead and investigate; I will make a trip to the Heavenly Palace.”
Noticing the looks in his descendants’ eyes, Li Chang added, “To see the Empress.”
“Huh?”
The clansmen were stunned. They watched Li Chang’an’s dashing and elegant departing figure, then collectively turned their gazes to Li Yuanshang.
Li Yuanshang pursed his lips.
“Don’t ask me, I don’t know. Great-Great-Grandfather only comes back here to rest his feet.
The place he spends the most time on a daily basis is the inner palace, playing the zither and reciting poetry for the Empress and the concubines.”
“Hiss~” Everyone sucked in a breath of cold air, followed by collective sighs.
They had long heard that the peace the Azure Cloud Prefecture and the family enjoyed today was due to the immense contributions made by Old Ancestor Li Chang.
It was only today that they realized just how great of a “sacrifice” Ancestor Chang had actually made for the family.
When night fell, Li Chang still hadn’t returned.
The only things that arrived were letters from the Merchant Lineage, the Hall of Heavenly Principles, and Li Chang.
A special event caught Li Wei’s eye.
[Overwhelming Power Breeds Suspicion]
[Your family possesses formidable strength in the Western Border, producing numerous Void Refining cultivators within a millennium, and has obtained the Body Integration opportunity of Nun Dairou, causing many dignitaries to grow wary.
After Qiu Xunfa severely injured Li Zhijing, Qiu Xundao, in order to protect his younger brother, sent messages to various dignitaries in the Imperial Capital, claiming that the Li Clan acts recklessly and publicly provoked the Qiu Clan without cause or reason.]
[The Imperial Capital’s dignitaries have long coveted the Li Clan’s treasures that allow for rapid cultivation.
They have already attempted to spy on and scheme against the Li Clan…]
[Several individuals are already conspiring in secret, a plot which has been discovered by the spies of the Hall of Heavenly Principles.
Perfected Yueqiu of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, Zishu Ling of the Royal Family, Gongyang Ju of the Emberwing Guard…]
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