Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

"I..."

Xu Changle was somewhat hesitant. He knew his own limitations, for he had been a mediocre person all along. How could he possibly shoulder the great responsibility of revitalizing the Spiritual Cloud Sect?

"Changle! You can do it! Believe in yourself!" Liang Huan'an's eyes were filled with encouragement as he looked at him.

In fact, he was well aware of Xu Changle's modest abilities. However, given the circumstances, there was no other choice!

Compared to those elders who thought only of escaping when disaster struck, at least Xu Changle had truly brought back reinforcements and preserved the last spark of the Spiritual Cloud Sect.

However, if those people were to learn that the Spiritual Cloud Sect had survived in the end, who knows what they would feel.

One thing was certain: when the time came, there would undoubtedly be many elders returning to vie for power and profit with Xu Changle, disturbing the peace of the sect.

Unfortunately, even if he knew this, there was nothing he could do but to offer a few reminders and advise Xu Changle to be wary of those people.

——

Meanwhile.

Li Zhirui stood in the sky, watching the battle between his clan members and the Demon Cultivators.

Li Zhixuan's capability and skill went without saying. Her masterful swordsmanship left the Golden Core Demon Cultivator with no chance to fight back, merely putting up a desperate defense. But judging by the situation, it wouldn't be long before he would perish at her hand.

Li Chenghuo's performance also greatly satisfied Li Zhirui. After all, the battles he'd fought previously had honed him well. Together with his Life-Bound Magical Treasure, the Nine Flames Burning Heaven Pagoda, and his most adept spells, he was steadily driving his opponent into a corner.

As for the newly advanced Golden Core, Li Chenglin, since his Life-Bound Magical Treasure wasn't yet refined, he could only manage to barely cope, but he should be able to end with a draw at the very least.

But the ones Li Zhirui was most concerned about were the lower-ranking clan members.

After all, they were generally not as strong as the Demon Cultivators of the same level!

From the moment Demon Cultivators started their path, they grew up amidst slaughter. Setting aside their realm and state of mind for the moment, their strength was definitely formidable, else they would have already died at the hands of their own sect members.

By the time the last clan member finished their fight, evening had arrived.

And the Spiritual Cloud Mountain, which had been littered with corpses and rivers of blood, now had its picturesque scenery of clear mountains and waters restored, thanks to the thorough clean-up by the many cultivators.

As dusk approached, Li Zhirui was not in a hurry to leave, but instead planned to stay the night on Spiritual Cloud Mountain.

As it was not yet publicly declared that the Spiritual Cloud Sect was a vassal of the Li family, and with the current uneasy state of people's hearts, plus the day's rescue, now was the best time to win everyone's loyalty.

——

"What madness has possessed the Water Spirit Sect and Wuya Mountain? Why have they suddenly gone crazy and attacked Green Mountain State!?"

"Could it be they've discovered our presence and that's why they've suddenly taken action?"

"Suddenly?" Another Golden Core Demon Cultivator snorted coldly, "The Spirit Boats transporting Spiritual Objects have been traveling back and forth more than a dozen times by now. Do you think this is something they just suddenly decided to do?"

"Impossible! We've been in Green Mountain State for several years now and have never slipped up..."

But before he could finish his sentence, he recalled the secret discussion in the cave.

"It's terrible, it's terrible! Almost all of the Life Tokens of our brothers who went to the Spiritual Cloud Sect have shattered!" the man said breathlessly. "Before I came here, only a few Life Tokens remained intact.

"Who is it!? Who did this?"

"The Spiritual Cloud Sect doesn't have such strong power. Is it the Li family, or maybe Shen Leishan?"

Under normal circumstances, even if two Nascent Soul forces took action, they could still stand toe-to-toe with them.

But now, with Water Spirit Sect and Wuya Mountain attacking their territory, they couldn't spare many hands, and even if they could squeeze out a few demon cultivators to send to the Spiritual Cloud Sect, it would be nothing but a suicide mission.

"It seems that these three clans had long conspired to force us into such a passive situation," a demon cultivator soon saw through the scheme.

"What do we do now? With three major Nascent Soul powers acting against us, with our current strength, we simply won't hold out for long."

If it were just this, they could simply flee, but the crux of the matter was that if they returned to the sect, they would be designated as having failed the mission!

And a mission failure would inevitably lead to punishment!

"Do we have any other choices?"

To flee without a fight would only add to their crimes!

The already severe punishment, if increased even slightly, meant that many of them likely wouldn't escape unscathed, and a number of them might even die.

"You're right, we have no choice but to confront them head-on!"

The lead demon cultivator sighed helplessly and said, "Quickly send word back to the Holy Sect, requesting backup!"

This was also to inform the sect that the situation here was extremely dangerous, and without support, they simply couldn't hold the line.

By doing so, even if they couldn't completely avoid punishment, at least it wouldn't be as perilous.

The crowd nodded in agreement and then immediately mobilized people to engage in a fierce battle with the two powerful sects.

——

At Shen Leishan, within the sect's main hall.

The two rarely seen Nascent Soul True Lords, Yun Lei and Qing Lei, were now sitting on large chairs behind the Sect Leader.

"The commotion caused by the Li family yesterday, what was that all about? Has it been investigated clearly?"

The Li family had mobilized several Spirit Boats at once, each filled with cultivators of various realms, and the leader was none other than Li Zhirui, the Li family's only Nascent Soul True Lord.

Taken individually, each of these three factors was enough to draw the attention of Shen Leishan, let alone all three combined.

If it weren't for the considerable distance between them, the cultivators sent to scout would have followed more cautiously, and the specific details would have been ascertained much sooner.

"The Li family headed to the Spiritual Cloud Sect in Green Mountain State, and their purpose was to relieve the siege of the Spiritual Cloud Sect..." the Elder responsible for the matter reported in detail.

"The Spiritual Cloud Sect was surrounded by demon cultivators? The Li family went to the rescue?"

Many Elders were taken aback upon hearing this; how did these unrelated events come together?

"In addition, we captured two cultivators who had fled after the Mountain Protection Array was shattered in the territory of the Spiritual Cloud Sect."

The Elder's expression turned grave as he said, "According to them, the other two major powers in Green Mountain State had actually been under demon cultivator control for some time, but for some unknown reason, the information was suddenly leaked, prompting the demon cultivators to make their move against the Spiritual Cloud Sect."

"The Li family was sought out by an Elder of the Spiritual Cloud Sect with a special talent, who quietly ran to Wanxian Island to ask for help before the siege was complete."

"I always feel this matter cannot be separated from the Li family! Moreover, the Li family has big ambitions!"

This statement was acknowledged by the Elders present.

Li Zhirui was always cautious, but this time he had taken nearly a third of the Li family's strength; he definitely wouldn't have done so for just a minor matter!

"However, this is also good news for us!" the Sect Leader suddenly laughed, "We can take the opportunity to invade Green Mountain State under the guise of expelling demon cultivators and occupy a part of the Green Mountain Range!"