Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

"Ren, how long do you estimate it would take to break this formation?" Li Zhirui, pulling the two away from the crowd, asked in a low voice.

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Li Shiren replied with a wry smile, "You're giving me too much credit. My understanding of the Xu Earth Qianyang Array is limited to this."

Even if he hadn't overheard the loose cultivator mention the words "Xu Earth," he wouldn't have remembered this fourth-tier Great Array he had only seen briefly described in "Introduction to Array Methods."

"However, if the book's records aren't mistaken, then even Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn't be able to break through it quickly."

Li Shiren speculated, "With so many cultivators gathered at the riverbed, their combined effort should be comparable to that of a Nascent Soul cultivator, right?"

"Besides, even speculations should be made only after personally observing the situation with the formation before coming to a conclusion."

Li Zhirui's brows furrowed slightly. He had planned to conserve energy on the bank, only entering the water and pretending to assist when the timing was almost right, in order to preserve their side's fighting power as much as possible.

But after what Li Shiren said, could it really be necessary to enter the water and investigate?

"Why don't we ask those loose cultivators? They just came out of the water, didn't they?" Li Shiting suggested indifferently.

Li Zhirui's eyes brightened instantly. How had he forgotten about the many loose cultivators nearby?

Li Zhirui approached one of the loose cultivators they had eavesdropped on earlier and asked, "How is the relic's defensive array holding up? Answer me honestly, and these two bottles of Jade Spirit Pills are yours."

The loose cultivator replied with a look of surprise and delight, "When I left, the formation's Defensive Spiritual Light had already started to fluctuate intensely."

Li Zhirui was noncommittal. After Li Shiren returned with the information he had gathered, they compared notes and, finding the answers consistent, handed the two bottles of Spirit Pills to the loose cultivator.

"Does this mean the Xu Earth Great Array won't hold much longer?" Li Zhirui asked uncertainly.

Li Shiren nodded. While the Xu Earth Great Array's defenses were indeed excellent, ultimately it wasn't maintained by anyone. With so many cultivators continuously attacking for an hour, reaching the Formation's limit wasn't out of the question.

"Then let's disguise our identities and mana, and prepare to go into the water," Li Zhirui decided, changing his earlier plan.

The purpose of hiding their identities was to avoid bringing trouble to their family, while concealing their mana was to blend in with the Qi Cultivation cultivators and conserve their strength.

The three, undetected by the loose cultivators, changed their appearances and concealed their mana. However, as they were about to enter the water, they suddenly saw a vast Spirit Boat flying across the sky.

"What is this..." The unintentional imposing aura emanating from the Spirit Boat made all nearby cultivators' hair stand on end, as if they had encountered a peerless fierce beast.

Moments later, two men and a woman emerged from the Spirit Boat — three Golden Core cultivators, followed by a dozen or so Foundation Establishment cultivators, each one radiating precious light, clearly of no common heritage.

The three Golden Core cultivators didn't even glance at the multitude below, but directly controlled their Magic Artifacts to enter the river. One of the Foundation Establishment cultivators, with a look of disdain, snorted contemptuously and said, "A bunch of ants!"

As they entered the river, Li Zhirui managed to make out the insignia on their Vestment robes — a lush and leafy great tree, the emblem of the Wood Spirit Sect, one of the hegemonic forces of Green Mountain State.

As mentioned before, Green Mountain State was far more prosperous than Yunping State, not only boasting tens of thousands of miles of territory but also numerous cultivation forces, led by three longstanding Golden Core Sects, with the Wood Spirit Sect being one of them.

The reason for Green Mountain State's vast expanse was that the area was originally the domain of a Nascent Soul power.

For some unknown reason, this Sect suddenly declined. Seeing this, its affiliated forces banded together to eliminate it and then divided Green Mountain State among themselves.

So the current Green Mountain State actually consisted of three provinces, but people had grown accustomed to calling it Green Mountain State and had not changed their usage.

"Adding the three earlier Golden Core cultivators, this relic site has gathered at least six Golden Cores!" Li Zhirui said with a grave expression.

There might have been Golden Core cultivators hidden around earlier, and for sure there would be Golden Core cultivators rushing over later.

Luckily, there were no Nascent Soul powers nearby Yunping State, otherwise they wouldn't even have had the chance to enter the ruins.

"After we enter the ruins, we'll just explore the periphery and must not go deep," Li Shiren said helplessly.

With so many Golden Core cultivators gathered here, what could they, mere Foundation Establishment cultivators, use to compete with them? They would honestly explore the outskirts and be content if they could find a few treasures.

The three of them each performed a Water-Avoiding Charm and slowly swam towards the ruins.

"Are these ruins too big or what?" Li Zhirui said with a face full of shock as he looked at the seemingly boundless ruins before him.

He had always believed that the ruins, at most, would be a few tens or hundreds of miles in size, but now at first glance, they were at least several hundred miles wide!

This gave Li Zhirui a new idea, and he transmitted his voice, "We won't stay with the crowd; we'll find a place where no one is and wait."

However, Li Zhirui wasn't the only one who had this idea, as despite the vastness of the ruins, there were cultivators almost everywhere.

In the end, with no other choice, Li Zhirui could only find a corner far from the Golden Core cultivators, where only Qi Cultivation Loose Cultivators were nearby, to stay.

"There must be over three thousand cultivators near the ruins," but not many of them were actively taking action, especially the loose cultivators, who had no intention of making a move.

Li Zhirui and the others had previously encountered several loose cultivators who had exhausted their mana; they had accepted tasks from various sects like Yuanming Sect and Qianyang Mountain with rewards offered.

But this suited them well, they didn't even need to pretend, just stayed put like the nearby loose cultivators, waiting for the Defensive Array to be broken by the combined effort of those sects.

"Crack—"

Perhaps it was the join of those three Golden Core cultivators from Wood Spirit Sect, or maybe the Defensive Array was already nearing its limit, cracks had started to appear in the Defensive Spiritual Light!

"It's almost time!" A glint flashed in Li Zhirui's eyes, but he still had no intention of taking action.

"Crackling—"

The scene just now had inspired many cultivators, and when they launched another attack, the Defensive Spiritual Light began to crack continuously. Although it was not yet completely broken, it was shaking precariously and wouldn't last much longer.

"Boom!"

The third wave of attack delivered a fatal blow to the Xu Earth Great Array. The previously rock-solid Defensive Array was finally broken through by the persistent efforts of the numerous cultivators!

"Ren, wait! Let's see how things go first!" Li Zhirui swiftly grabbed Li Shiren, who was about to rush into the ruins.

However, the scene Li Zhirui feared did not occur, and a large number of loose cultivators safely entered the ruins, rushing towards the well-preserved pavilions and grand halls.@@novelbin@@

"Let's go in as well," Li Zhirui said. Although his actions might have seemed overly cautious, it's better to be safe than sorry.

Also, the moment the array broke, he did not see the Spirit Light of the Golden Core cultivators flying; it seemed they too were thinking of letting loose cultivators go ahead to scout.

After all, with their strength, even if a loose cultivator acquired some precious treasure, they could easily snatch it away.

Li Zhirui and the other two leaped into the ruins, while those Golden Core cultivators, even faster, transformed into streaks of Spirit Light and flew towards the center of the ruins.

Meanwhile, in a dark corner of the ruins, a pair of fog-white eyes suddenly opened.