Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan-Chapter 1983 - 1460: Ambush (2)

Li Guangxing sighed with some regret and said, "What’s rather unfortunate is that we didn’t know this at first, so when we attacked, all we hit were illusions. The Water Devil ended up escaping. If we had managed to capture one, maybe we could have interrogated them and learned something."

"The Sea Clan must have some hidden scheme."

But beyond this, Li Hongshi could not guess anything more, since this was all the information they had for now.

"So, what should we do now?"

He thought seriously for a moment, then said, "Let the clan members resume their previous positions. I’ll lead a group who have already resolved their karmic bonds and are severely wounded back to our ancestral land. Perhaps the Clan Leader and others have more news."

This arrangement was considered quite proper.

"Agreed."

The news spread rapidly. Everyone, who had been confused just moments ago, was now in an uproar.

Li Guangxing assisted Li Hongshi from the side, helping make sure the word was passed on properly.

Soon, everything was swiftly wrapped up, and Li Hongshi took the clan members onto the Spirit Boat, departing at speed.

Once they returned to Mount Wanxian and reported the matter to Clan Leader Li Xiuyuan and the others, their first reaction was also to suspect that the Sea Clan had a greater plot waiting behind this.

"Did the Sea Clan do this on purpose, so the Immortal Tao would lower their guard and stop watching the East Sea, then seize the coastal regions in one move?" an Elder speculated.

"That’s very possible!"

Although this scheme was very simple, in the present situation, it was indeed quite effective.

The initiative was in the Sea Clan’s hands—whenever they wished to attack, that’s when it would happen!

Unless the Immortal Tao assigned a huge number of cultivators to watch the Sea Clan’s every move at all times, they’d inevitably reveal an opening for the Sea Clan to seize.

But the cultivators couldn’t keep watch forever—they still needed to find ways to resolve their karmic debts.

If that’s truly the case, things would become rather troublesome.

If Li Zhirui were here, he wouldn’t judge the situation so simply—he would broaden his view to the whole Primal Spirit Realm. Besides what they mentioned, there’s another place that situation applies to as well!

And that is—the Western Sea!

After all, if you compare the two regions, the East Sea is still more dangerous.

"Should we go and ask Ancestor Rui? The elder has always been wise—perhaps he will know what the Sea Clan is planning," an Elder, faced with difficulties, habitually wanted to seek Li Zhixuan’s help.

Li Xiuyuan shook his head and said, "Let’s not trouble Ancestor Rui with such minor matters."

He’d already been chased out by Li Zhirui earlier, expressing his unwillingness to get involved; now he keeps to his courtyard, behind closed doors, wishing to know nothing of these affairs.

After much deliberation, they settled on assigning a few clan members to keep an eye on the Sea Clan’s movements, so that if anything happened, they could alert the family at once and prepare responses.

...

The news that the Sea Clan’s Beast Tide was a disguise spread extremely quickly—even that very day, the Cave Abyss Sect had already heard it.

At first they didn’t believe it, but soon sent disciples to test for themselves—and found that things were exactly as rumored: the vast majority of Water Devils were mere illusions.

"No wonder the Beast Tide lingered in the sea from afar, never launching an assault—they couldn’t in the first place! And we’ve been wasting all this time waiting here."

Some cultivators felt they’d been toyed with by the Sea Clan, burning with anger. If a Water Devil appeared before them now, it would likely be torn to pieces on the spot.

At the same time, a number of cultivators began to worry—they’d anticipated the Sea Clan would launch a fierce attack and thus they’d have ample opportunities in the great war to resolve karmic debts.

Now, however, the Sea Clan hadn’t done so, nor did it seem they intended to in the near future.

No massive Beast Tide meant that years’ worth of enmity would be hard to resolve—what now?

In the end, they cast their eyes northward, turning their sights to the Li family!

"Should we strike at the Li family?" a certain Earth Immortal asked, hesitating.

Even though the Li family’s strength was far below their own sect, the presence of the Solar and Lunar Star Lords gave them pause.

After all, this wasn’t a friendly sparring match, but a genuine battle to the death, likely with heavy casualties on both sides.

Would those two Star Lords become enraged and target the Cave Abyss Sect elsewhere for revenge? All such factors had to be weighed.

"Maybe we should just forget it? After so many years of development, the Li family’s stronghold must be as impregnable as iron. If we attack, they’ll have a huge advantage on their own turf."

Debate broke out on whether to attack the Li family.

In reality, though, decisions of such magnitude were not theirs to make.

Once the news made its way back to the Cave Abyss Sect’s main mountain, most Elders were opposed to making a move on the Li family!

First, because the Li family had at least two Celestial Immortals in residence, and judging by their past performance, their combat prowess was nothing to scoff at. Second, an offensive would forfeit the advantage, and thirdly, none of them wanted to be the ones to ignite internal strife among the Immortal Tao forces.

Furthermore, the issue of Li Chengsheng and Li Chengshuo—the special status of these two Star Gods made all living beings cautious of offending them.

Thus, the majority of Elders stood against attacking the Li family.

And now, with the Sea Clan and the Li family both unable to help their disciples resolve karmic debts, the Cave Abyss Sect had to seek other venues—like the Immortal-Demon battlefield, the Demon Clan, or even the Wanling Alliance further north.

Just which to choose still required careful division of duties and discussion.

...

Meanwhile, at the Immortal-Demon battlefield—

At this moment, the demonic cultivators had gained the upper hand, pressing the righteous cultivators into a disadvantage, with heavy casualties mounting on the Immortal side.

The cultivators were searching for ways to recover; things couldn’t go on this way.

"How did the demon cultivators suddenly become this strong?!"

Even with reinforcements arriving from the rear, joining the fray, this result didn’t make sense.

The Immortal Tao forces began racking their brains for ways to turn the tide, while the demonic side was naturally exultant, hoping to keep the momentum going.

But it wasn’t long before sudden news arrived to break the stalemate!

The Sea Clan had launched a massive invasion of the Western Sea, swiftly seizing sea domains and advancing up inland waterways, attempting to set foot on land and seize the terrestrial watersheds!

"What’s going on? Weren’t the Sea Clan attacking the Immortal Tao in the East Sea? Why have they suddenly turned up in the Western Sea!?"

This time, not just the lower-ranked demon cultivators, but even the Celestial Demon Immortals were stirred from their seats.

All knew well in their hearts—if the Sea Clan captured a terrestrial water network, that would be the beginning of endless trouble. They’d target more and more water systems, launching ceaseless strikes, making life intolerable.

Many demon cultivators no longer cared about slaughtering Immortal cultivators; right now, their only thought was to rush to the western reaches of the continent and halt the Sea Clan!

Quite a few cultivators harbored thoughts of taking advantage of the chaos, but were quickly rebuked by one of the Celestial Demon Immortals: "Are the Immortal Tao and foreign races secretly colluding, joining forces against us—against the human demon path?"

The accusation was enough. Several Celestial Immortals stepped in and forbade further pursuit of the demonic cultivators.

And in this matter, none was more frustrated than Li Zhixuan!

She had planned to wait for a time, then appear in a slightly weakened state, luring a Celestial Demon Immortal into a duel in the starry sky.

But now, thanks to the Sea Clan’s attack, the demon cultivators had to turn back and defend. The plan she’d been laying out for so long was entirely ruined.

"Sigh!"

At this, Li Zhixuan couldn’t help but sigh—she no longer even knew where she might find a suitable battlefield.

This problem troubled not just her, but other cultivators as well!

At least she had already settled her karmic debts; the only reason she remained in the midst of this calamity was to pave her way for future transcendence.

Now, among the great factions of the Primal Spirit Realm, with the Sea Clan and Demon Dao about to engage in bitter struggle, and the Human Path and Demon Clan set to clash in the southern domains, only the Wanling Alliance in the north remained as a potential adversary!