Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan-Chapter 343 - 349: Indifference
"Then I'll call the clanspeople together right away and have you and Shilian lead the team to thoroughly investigate those small forces," Li Shiqing thought about resolving the issue with the evil cultivators and grew somewhat impatient.
Remembering what Shen Leishan had just said, Li Shiqing was overjoyed and said, "Shen Leishan is not in a good situation right now; if we pass this news onto them, we can owe them a favor."
Not to mention, this favor could bring significant benefits to the Li family, and it was all profit with no cost!
But the expected agreement from Li Zhirui didn't come; instead, there was silence for a long while on his end.
"What's wrong? Is there anything inappropriate with this matter?"
Li Zhirui didn't respond but instead asked, "Uncle, is there anyone else with you?"
The words he was about to speak must not be overheard, or they would bring great trouble to both him and his family.
When Li Shiqing heard this, his expression instantly became serious. Fortunately, Li Chengmo and the other elders were outside discussing; after he set up a shielding formation, he then said, "No one else is here, you can speak freely."
"I want to pretend I don't know about this matter."
This single sentence made Li Shiqing's brows furrow—knowingly overlooking the hiding place of the evil cultivators was tantamount to prolonging the conflict with them, wasn't it?!
One must realize, wars not only result in deaths, but they also continuously drain resources during the process.
Dragging this out with the evil cultivators wasn't advantageous for the family's development.
"I want to take this opportunity to address some of the smaller forces so that we can reclaim the Spirit Veins!" Just as Li Shiqing was about to advise, Li Zhirui's indifferent voice reached his ears from thousands of miles away.
The Li family, not being Demon Cultivators, had many rules to follow; they can't recklessly do as they please. Take, for example, how they took over Yunping State and Guangqing State from the Yuanming Sect. Among the myriad of Cultivator forces, besides those with grudges, others weren't easily dealt with.
And now was a prime opportunity!
Those forces were all cultivated by the Yuanming Sect, and who's to say there aren't those among them who are loyal? The Li family doesn't dare to use them.
And those who have received Yuanming Sect's benefits before and turned to pledge allegiance to the Li family are even less trustworthy—they could betray the Li family any day.
It was the perfect opportunity to take down these forces. Whether the Spirit Veins were to be used by the family or distributed to vassal forces afterward, either choice would be advantageous.
After hearing Li Zhirui's words, Li Shiqing was stunned but then responded with uncontrollable delight, "Brilliant idea, let's do as you say! Aside from the two of us, no one else should know about this matter!"
"Actually, beyond that, I also plan to use this as an opportunity to weaken Shen Leishan's strength," this was Li Zhirui's true purpose!
Although the relationship between the two families was neutral and not particularly close, and there was no enmity, Li Zhirui never forgot that if it had not been for Shen Leishan, Li Shiqing wouldn't have lost years of his life.
Besides, as the Li family continued to grow in power, Shen Leishan would sooner or later take notice of them and begin to suppress them.
Rather than waiting for that to happen, it was better to strike first. He intended to take advantage of this excellent opportunity to weaken Shen Leishan substantially.
Li Zhirui was also well aware in his heart that despite the current disarray of Shen Leishan, the loss was not significant. At most, a portion of Loose Cultivators had left Myriad Thunder State because of this incident and chose not to return, which only reduced Shen Leishan's Spirit Stone income slightly.
But what did that amount of Spirit Stone income mean to Shen Leishan?
Li Zhirui's plan was simple: he wanted the evil cultivators to stay a bit longer, preferably causing havoc up and down Myriad Thunder State, so they would be too preoccupied to pay attention to outside affairs.
He also intended to encourage those Loose Cultivators to leave. Of course, Li Zhirui did not plan to have members of the Li family carry out this task; he had other arrangements in mind for later.
"This..." At this point, Li Shiqing hesitated. After all, the scope of these two tasks was vastly different, especially the secret plotting against Shen Leishan. If it didn't come to light, that was fine, but if the news leaked out, every Cultivator of the Li family would have to flee for their lives.
"We are not going to take direct action ourselves, just turn a blind eye and conceal a few pieces of information," Li Zhirui explained when he didn't hear a response from Li Shiqing after a while.
"Besides, only the two of us know about this. As long as we don't talk, how could anyone else possibly find out?" he added.
Li Shiqing was inherently adventurous; otherwise, he would not have left the family to travel the world for many years. It was only as he grew older that he became more cautious.
But now, moved by Li Zhirui's words, he did not hesitate at all. He readily agreed to Li Zhirui's plan, repeatedly cautioning Zhirui to be careful and not to give anyone leverage against them.
"Uncle, please rest assured, I understand," Li Zhirui said with a smile, nodding in agreement.
At that moment, in Guangqing State, Li Zhirui quietly left the family's stronghold and flew towards Myriad Thunder State with the utmost speed.
After disguising himself, he entered a small Marketplace.
The once bustling streets were now sparsely populated with only a few Cultivators moving about. Li Zhirui's pupils shifted, and he immediately changed his previous plan, quietly approaching a few Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
"Fellow Daoist, Myriad Thunder State is becoming increasingly dangerous. It's said that several small Marketplaces have already been breached by evil cultivators, with all Cultivators captured for blood-draining and flesh-slicing—not even their skeletons have been spared," he whispered.
Upon hearing this, the cultivators trembled sharply, their faces growing even more filled with despair.
"I do not wish to sit and wait for death!" In a determined manner, Zhirui continued quietly, "So I'm thinking of calling together more fellow Daoists so that we can leave Myriad Thunder State as one group."
"But where can we go after leaving Myriad Thunder State?" one Cultivator asked in a trembling, weak voice. "It's said that evil cultivators' tracks can be found in every territory under Shen Leishan's control."
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"The number of evil cultivators in other places is not so exaggerated, and it's much safer," replied Zhirui.
Li Zhirui had been keeping an eye on the situation in Myriad Thunder State and knew that the evil cultivators were as numerous as weeds in the wild, incredibly numerous. Even though Shen Leishan had already taken action, the numbers were frighteningly high.
He roughly guessed the reason the evil cultivators were swarming Myriad Thunder State; it was because there were enough Cultivators here, making it convenient for collecting large amounts of flesh and blood.
In other places, like Yunping State, with less than a hundred thousand Cultivators in total, the collection of flesh and blood was too troublesome, as it was too easy for any small disturbance to be detected.
"Since the fellow Daoists are not willing, then I shall take my leave!" Having said that, Li Zhirui turned to depart.
"Fellow Daoist, wait a moment!" another quickly interjected, holding Li Zhirui back with a flattering smile, "May I ask how many are already willing, like you, to take the risk and leave Myriad Thunder State together?"
