[System Notification: Your descendants, after extensive deliberation and strategic planning, have resolved to adopt a path of deep concealment within the wider world. They will proceed with utmost caution, step by painstaking step, to free their kin from their current predicaments. Family Trait 'Azure Cloud Region War Clan' has undergone a transformation, evolving into: 'Transcendent Immortal Clan'.]
[Trait Effect ('Transcendent Immortal Clan'): As you begin to grasp the true path of an Immortal Clan's existence, the following bonuses are applied: Cultivation Speed +5%; Comprehension +5%.]
Indeed, this approach mirrored the survival strategies of truly powerful, established sects and clans – entities like Heavenly Light Sect, where Li Yaotie now found himself, or Azure Mist Mountain, where Bai Rourou had sought refuge.
Once their council concluded, the Li descendants began to gradually depart from the spiritual space, each returning to their individual circumstances to resume their cultivation with a new purpose. Now, every single one of them was imbued with a renewed vitality and a clear sense of direction; they were no longer adrift without purpose.
Li Wei, too, let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Though the predicaments facing his 'children' remained incredibly harsh, he could now dimly foresee the emergence of an even more formidable Li Clan in the times to come.
Just then, a new message flashed into view on his system panel.
[System Alert: Your descendants, Li Chang'an and Li Xingchen, are presently conducting rites of ancestral worship in your honor. They have been informed of their true lineage and are now aware of the clan's current dire straits. They express their fervent hope to contribute their strength to the family's cause!]
"So, Qingyu finally decided to bring them back into the knowledge about their family after all?" Li Wei mused.
In the next instant, Li Wei manifested within the Ancestral Hall of their small fishing village.
At that moment, Qingyu was guiding Li Chang'an and Li Xingchen as they kowtowed before the Ancestral Spirit Tablet.
She must have, by now, recounted to them the saga of the Li Clan, for their eyes were wide with profound astonishment.
It was evident they had never remotely conceived that they, raised in this humble fishing village, were part of such a vast and mighty lineage.
Yet, as he observed Qingyu and her two 'children,' Li Wei ultimately shook his head.
He had allowed the Spirit Tablet to flare briefly with his presence and reassurance, but then resolved to let this particular family branch continue their simple, undisturbed lives for now.
The foe the clan now confronted was simply too overwhelming; it was far better, he decided, for this small family to remain in their peaceful obscurity, at least for the time being.
...
Tian Xing Cultivator Abode.
On this occasion, only Li Yunlin had entered the Li Clan Space.
The group of thirteen remained, as ever, trapped within the Tian Xing Abode. The instant they saw Li Yunlin, who had been seated cross-legged, his consciousness presumably in the conclave, open his eyes, the others all quickly pressed closer.
"Elder Uncle!" one of them asked anxiously. "What's the news? Are our other clan members... are they all safe?"
"What about my Father ?" someone asked urgently. "Is he alright?"
"And what did the Ancestor have to tell?" another voice chimed in.
A barrage of overlapping questions assailed Li Yunlin. During their five years of confinement, vague news had reached them that the clan outside had met with calamity.
Had they been able to escape the Tian Xing Abode, they would have rushed back to the family's side without a moment's hesitation.
Li Yunlin's gaze swept over the assembled faces, his own expression heavy and somber.
He then proceeded to relay, one by one, the current status of their various clan members scattered outside.
When his eyes finally rested on Li Changsheng and Li Changyao, he paused, then shook his head gravely. "Changsheng, Changyao," he began, "I will not conceal the truth from you. Your father is presently trapped within the Eternal Sun Prefecture. For now, however, his life is not in immediate peril."
"Damn them!" Li Changyao of them spat out.
Li Changyao seethed with extreme anger. Seeing his younger sister incandescent with rage, Li Changsheng gently tugged her sleeve. After a few moments of quiet persuasion, he finally managed to soothe her somewhat.
"We are inside the Tian Xing Abode now," he reminded her gently. "No amount of anger will help our situation. To be blunt, as things stand, we are nothing more than fish on Venerable Tian Xing's cutting board, completely at his mercy."
At these stark words, a heavy silence fell over the Li family group.
The bronze mirror before them continued to display images of Nangong Yazhi. Over the past five years, she had evidently managed to rally some thousand cultivators to her banner, establishing control over a significant territory within the Tian Xing Abode.
Right now, however, the trapped Li family members had no heart to seek out Nangong Yazhi or cause her any grief; they themselves remained utterly ignorant of the true nature and current state of this Tian Xing Abode.
It appeared Venerable Tian Xing could sense their every move within the Abode, yet, perplexingly, he had refrained from taking direct action against this particular group.
This itself was an enormous enigma, a puzzle for which even the great Venerable Elder Baimei of Azure Mist Mountain possessed no certain solution.
"So, what's our next move?" Li Yundou demanded. By nature, he was not one to patiently endure hardship. "Our kin outside have already found renewed determination and are starting to regroup! We can't just stay here twiddling our thumbs, waiting to be slaughtered!"
Li Tianyue considered this for a short while.
"Elder Uncle's power continues to increase day by day," she said. "All the spirit objects we've managed to collect within this Abode over the past five years have been absorbed by the Skyveil Hall. Perhaps we should covertly eliminate one of the other groups also trapped here? That Wuwen Scholar of the True Yang Faction, for instance, seems like a prime candidate. He ambushed Xu Dingsheng not long ago; he ought to be quite flush with loot from that encounter. If we succeed,"
She continued, "We can use the spoils to push for our own cultivation breakthroughs, bolstering our overall power. Then, when our kin eventually come to free us from this accursed Abode, we'll actually possess the strength needed to truly contend with Venerable Tian Xing!"
"Excellent!"
....
At that very moment, however, Li Wei had no capacity to spare any thought for the developments inside the Tian Xing Abode. His brow was deeply furrowed in concentration.
Far out upon the waters of the North Sea region, Li Kuanghua, journeying alongside her Raging Sky Flood Dragon, suddenly found herself facing a dire crisis!
[Special Event—Besieged by the North Sea Crab Spirit Beast]
[Descendant Update (Li Kuanghua): She is at a crucial point in her body cultivation, preparing for a breakthrough. Her aim is to gather supreme items representing the five elements of Heaven and Earth. She plans to use these, in conjunction with pushing her Golden Core stage physical body to its absolute apex, to forge her way into the Nascent Soul realm.
Items currently in her possession (gifts from the Primal Blood Tree before she left): 'Rootless Pure Land', one branch from the Primal Blood Tree.
Item acquired through two years of searching: 'Heaven and Earth Metal Treasure'.]
[Current Situation: Having heard rumors among the North Sea Spirit Beast Clan of the existence of 'Ten-Thousand-Year Heavy Water' (another of the five elemental treasures she seeks), she pursued it, only to become ensnared on a desolate island. Crab Spirit Beast now swarms her from every direction. Her only recourse is a defensive array, and she has no route of escape.]
"...."
Upon seeing Li Kuanghua and the Raging Sky Flood Dragon's current location and desperate situation, Li Wei felt his scalp prickle with dread.
"That girl Kuanghua," he thought with exasperation, "She's really gone and kicked the hornet's nest, or in this case, the crab's den, this time!"
The moment Li Wei teleported to the desolate island where Li Kuanghua was besieged, he found the skies above completely blotted out.
He saw at once that a defensive formation was active on the island, but its perimeter was completely swarmed by crab after crab...
Rising higher for a better vantage, Li Wei confirmed his fears: the ocean surface as far as he could see was a teeming mass of crabs.
Most significantly, hovering at a higher altitude still, were four figures, three men and a woman, all garbed in azure robes.
They were currently glaring down at the island, their faces dark and forbidding. These were clearly transformed Sea Spirit Beasts, and every one of them radiated the power of the Nascent Soul realm!
The defensive array active on the island below was clearly being fueled by Old Raging Sky Flood Dragon's own reserves of Heaven and Earth Spirit Qi.
Evidently, the Crab Spirit Beast leaders were avoiding a direct confrontation with the Old Raging Sky Flood Dragon.
Their strategy was to employ this siege to gradually deplete his energy, aiming to wear him down through attrition. Had it been otherwise, they would surely have launched a direct assault on the formation itself much earlier.
"Have they actually managed to anger an entire Crab Spirit Beast clan ?" Li Wei mused, dismayed.
"It's always said that the Spirit Beasts inhabiting the deep seas are particularly fearsome, and this certainly proves it."
Li Wei felt his scalp prickle anew; the sheer quantity of enemies was horrifying enough on its own! Very quickly, however, a knot of anxiety tightened in his gut.
He checked his own Family Will reserves: only 13 points were left.
He was uncertain: even if he were to personally intervene, could he truly rescue Li Kuanghua from this sky-obscuring, earth-covering horde of Crab Spirit Beasts...?
Everywhere he looked, the ocean was a churning mass of Crab Spirit Beast; the heavens above and the depths below teemed with their sinister Spirit Beast Dao formations!
"I can't possibly manage this alone," Li Wei concluded grimly. "I need assistance."
Li Wei's mind spun rapidly. All the potential allies he could summon were too distant to arrive in time. As for Li Yunbing, his current delicate political situation meant he was completely unable to intervene directly. Li Yaotie, true, was much closer, residing in the Imperial Capital. But he, too, was under the intense scrutiny of numerous factions there, unable to act freely.
Then, abruptly, Li Wei recalled the small fishing village... His eyes shifted.
At that very moment, in the small fishing village, a youth of refined features, with two sickles strapped to his back, was just stepping into the hamlet, the air thick with the scent of the sea and fish.
He made his way to a small tavern. Frowning, he shot a quick glance at the drunkard sprawled by the entrance, seemingly begging, before rapping sharply on the tavern's door, which remained firmly closed even in the bright light of day.
"Hello? Is anyone in?" the youth called out. "I am here to find my relatives."
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