Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

Several days later, Li Zhirui and his team, dragging their weary bodies along with their rich harvest, returned to Da Rong Island.

They were the earliest to return, not because they were the strongest, but because there weren't many Water Devils in the northern seas.

"You've worked hard." Li Zhizhun, seeing that all the members returned safe and sound, couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief and said, "Everyone, go back and rest."

Li Zhirui didn't leave just yet, after all, during this hunting trip, he only took action twice, once to kill a second-order fish devil, the other to save a clansman from the jaws of a late Qi Cultivation stage water snake; he didn't feel tired.

"How are the family preparations coming along?"

Li Zhizhun said, "During this period, the family bought quite a lot of supplies from the marketplace, and the accumulation is enough to last more than a month now, so don't worry."

"It's just that the family's purchases have inevitably attracted a lot of attention, leading to a significant price surge for the later batch of supplies."

No matter what, with the Li family now being the second most powerful force in Yunping State, there were many eyes on them, and the act of buying a large volume of supplies was too noticeable to remain undetected.

"It doesn't matter; the family has already made preparations anyway." Were they really going to start trouble with the Li family over this?

After thinking it over, Li Zhirui asked, "But when do you plan to spread the news of the beast tide, big brother?"

"I already specifically wrote to the Yuanming Sect, the Zheng Family, and various other forces yesterday; as to whether they believe it or not, I don't know."

The matter of the beast tide was no small affair, and Li Zhizhun didn't conceal any of the information, but he also made it clear that this was only their speculation. Whether it was true or false, it depended on how each interpreted it.

What they didn't know was that, in the marketplace, the prices of resources such as Qi Replenishing Pills, Blood Replenishing Pills, and Talismans had soared overnight, rising by thirty percent from the previous day!

"What's going on? A bottle of Qi Replenishing Pills for thirteen Spirit Stones, isn't this robbery?!" a Loose Cultivator suddenly shouted.

The shop assistant calmly said, "Fellow Daoist, you can look in other shops if you like. Right now, the price of Qi Replenishing Pills is the same everywhere. And I might as well tell you, the price will be even higher tomorrow!"

Just as the shop assistant said, all of the stores in the marketplace were raising their prices, and the prices kept climbing.

Some of the older Loose Cultivators quickly sensed that something was amiss and began scrambling to gather information.

The merchants resting in the marketplace, each with a sharp nose, instantly perceived that something big was about to happen in Yunping State. With just a little inquiry, they learned about the beast tide message sent by the Li family the previous day.

And this message had also been confirmed by various families, which was why the shops had all raised their prices.

Now, the merchants with supplies weren't in a hurry to leave the marketplace; they were even thinking of buying more resources from Green Mountain State, ready to make a hefty profit during the conflict.

The Li family had the elder Li Shilian, plus the existence of the hunting team, so they detected the impending beast tide.

Other forces might not be as fortunate or alert as the Li family, but that didn't mean they didn't have their own ways to confirm it.

Especially the Zheng, Jiang, and He Families—had they not been busy exploring other Spirit Veins or hiding on their islands, afraid to venture out, they would have noticed the changes in the Boundless Sea earlier.

Now, with a reminder from the Li family, they quickly confirmed that the beast tide was indeed about to erupt, causing great anxiety among the three families.

The He Family need not be mentioned further; they were slaughtered by bandits, and to this day, they number only a dozen or so clansmen. The situation of the other two families is a bit better, but currently, they have many clansmen out scouting, with uncertain positions, and they simply cannot return in a short period of time.

Although the locations of the three families are on the second line of defense against the monster tide, with many cultivators stationed to resist on the islands ahead, that does not mean they are very safe.

It should be noted that in the monster tides of past years, all three families would suffer some casualties, not to mention the current situation.

In order to survive this monster tide, the clan leaders of the three families gathered on Red Pine Island to discuss how to stay alive.

"If you do not want your clan to fall into ruin or even become extinct, find a way to divert the disaster!" Patriarch Zheng said with a heavy voice.

A glint of sharpness flashed in the eyes of the other two; Patriarch He said, "Brother Zheng has always been resourceful, you must have a plan, right?"

"Draw the monster tide to the west." He did not hide his intentions, revealing his plan outright, "Set up Devil-Attracting Liquid in the sea between the three islands, gradually guiding the water devils westward."

The two frowned slightly. The idea seemed rather good, as it could weaken the monster tide they faced and also use it to sap the strength of the Li family. But the problem was, how to set it up?

One must know that Devil-Attracting Liquid can attract devil beasts only within a few miles radius, but they were at least three hundred miles away from Da Rong Island. Just purchasing enough Devil-Attracting Liquid would cost a large amount of Spirit Stones.

Furthermore, if you think about this plan seriously, you can see many flaws, such as how can they ensure that they can lead away a large number of water devils?

"This is the best method we have!" Seeing the expressions of the others, Patriarch Zheng immediately knew what they were thinking and said coldly:

"This way, our three families might be able to preserve our strength as much as possible. Otherwise, once our power declines, would the Li family let go of this great opportunity to annihilate us?"

He was well aware of the drawbacks of this method, but besides this, they had no other ways to rely solely on themselves.

"How about asking the Yuanming Sect for help?" Patriarch He suggested.

"What price are you prepared to pay for their assistance?" Patriarch Zheng scoffed, "The Yuanming Sect would rather see us dead in the monster tide!"

The Yuanming Sect could easily enlist them by giving them a little benefit, but for these vassal forces to get the Sect's help, the price would be substantial!

In the end, it all comes down to the fact that Yunping State is too small, and given that there are quite a few Foundation Establishment families, the Sect's gates are not large. The Sect would rather have some families annihilated so that it could have a reason to take over the lands they have long managed.

When the He Family was annihilated, the Yuanming Sect had similar thoughts. However, the uproar caused by that band of bandits was too great, making it widely known, such that if they swallowed up the He Family lands at that time, it would probably tarnish the Sect's reputation.

Moreover, because the He Family was too far from the Sect's gates, ensuring nothing went wrong would require a considerable number of people, which is why the Yuanming Sect gave up on taking control of the He Family lands.

But now, the Yuanming Sect definitely hopes for the annihilation of their three families, so it can take the three islands into its own pocket and then, through certain means, exchange lands with other families in Yunping State to expand its gates.

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"So this matter, we can only rely on ourselves to solve!" Patriarch Zheng looked solemnly at the other two.

The two clan leaders were silent for a long time but eventually nodded, "Given the circumstances, then let's go to the Marketplace to buy Devil-Attracting Liquid."

Meanwhile, the Li family was making last-minute preparations before the impending monster tide, utterly unaware that the three families to the east were now plotting against them.