Chapter 124 - 126: Golden Core

And in the wilderness where no one should have been, four figures in black now stood, emanating the aura of the middle-to-late stages of Foundation Establishment. Your journey continues on novelhall.Côm "Such a pity for the Li family," a cold voice remarked, as if lamenting something. However, it was just a casual expression of regret; when it truly came to action, he would definitely not show any mercy, sparing no cultivators of the Li family. "Let’s go," an aged voice urged, "Don’t waste any more time." If it weren’t for that sudden storm earlier, they would have already made their move against the Li family and obtained what they wanted. Without further words, the four utilized their Wind Control Skill and sped towards the Li family’s clan grounds. "A second-tier Minor Earth Element Formation? Mere child’s play!" Boom! The moment the four took action, they used their most powerful moves, and someone seemed very familiar with them. The second-tier formation that had protected the Li family for decades shattered into pieces in an instant. "Not good!" Li Zhirui and others, who were cultivating, heard the loud disturbance and instantly flew out, spotting the four figures in black hanging in the sky on first glance. Li Zhirui’s pupils contracted sharply, four middle-to-late stage Foundation Establishment cultivators?! If Li Shiqing hadn’t broken through to the Golden Core Realm a few days ago, just these four alone could have caused heavy losses to the Li family. If not for other measures, the Li family might have faced extinction! "Who are you people, daring to invade the Li family!" Li Shilian bellowed furiously. "The Li family? What are they worth!" The cold voice was full of disdain, "After tonight, the Li family will cease to exist!" One of them threw out several Array Flags from his hand. As Spirit Light circulated, the formation quickly took shape. "Is that the second-tier Thick Earth Indestructible Great Array?" Li Shiren exclaimed in shock – that was one of the most formidable confinement formations among the second-tier formations, and with his current knowledge in formations, he was completely unable to set it up. "You do have some insight," said the black-clothed man arranging the formation indifferently. The aged voice spoke up, "If you’re willing to surrender without a fight, we can spare the mortals on the island." Li Zhirui and the others were terrified. Not harming mortals was an unwritten rule among the righteous factions! Once discovered, they would be condemned by all! Yet the mana of these people was devoid of Demonic Qi, clearly originating from a righteous sect! "Let’s see then, what confidence you have to make such bold claims against my Li family." Li Shiqing, who was still consolidating his realm, appeared! The pressure of a Golden Core cultivator, along with a voice filled with rage, caused the four to instantly lose their composure, trembling all over, nowhere near the imposing figures they were moments before. "Golden Core?!" "How is this possible!" "Wasn’t it said that the Li family only had Foundation Establishment cultivators?" Three voices filled with shock and fear rose up. "Run!" It was the aged voice that reacted instantly, using his life-saving technique to flee into the distance. And as if his escape wasn’t enough, he also activated several Talismans to block the other three. Crack! The confinement formation, which Li Shiren called the strongest among second-tier formations, shattered instantaneously under Li Shiqing’s strike. A massive vine wrapped around the three men, and no matter how they struggled, they couldn’t break free. Their techniques were inferior to begin with, and now that they were obstructed for a moment, they were easily captured by Li Shiqing, the newly advanced Golden Core. If it weren’t for that person’s help, with Li Shiqing’s power still not fully under control, he might have not been able to catch all three. Unfortunately, in order to live, that person did not hesitate to abandon his companions. Li Shiqing looked at the three men with cold eyes, casually sealed their mana, and threw them in front of Li Shilian, saying, "The origins and purposes of these three, I’ll leave to you to investigate." Then he transformed into a beam of Spirit Light, flying back to the Spirit Cave in the rear hall to continue consolidating his realm, striving to master the power of the Golden Core Realm as soon as possible. At the same time, he needed to learn the Golden Core Realm cultivation technique from the Wanling Sutra as quickly as possible. "Shilian, did Second Brother achieve Core Formation?" Li Shile asked excitedly. Under the gaze of all the clan members, Li Shilian nodded gently and said with a smile, "Second Brother has indeed made a breakthrough!" "Hahaha, the Li family has finally birthed a Golden Core master!" "Golden Core..." The younger generation of the clan laughed out loud, excitement flickering in their eyes, while the older generation teared up, so overwhelmed they were unable to speak. "Everyone has really worked hard these years. I planned to announce this tomorrow morning, but I didn’t expect such an incident tonight," Li Zhizhun stood up and said, "Now we need to interrogate these three men, everyone go back and rest. If there’s anything you want to ask, I will answer it all tomorrow." It took some time, but they finally calmed everyone down, who returned to their homes. Nevertheless, this night was destined to be sleepless. And Li Zhirui, along with the other four Foundation Establishment cultivators, didn’t care for much else and directly dragged the three black-clothed men into the main hall. "Speak. Which power has sent you out?" Li Shilian asked coldly. Li Zhirui and the others really couldn’t understand why a power would suddenly make a move against the Li family, or why they would do so. The three of them closed their eyes, presenting themselves like lambs to the slaughter. "Hmph!" Li Shilian snorted coldly, "I hope you’ll still be so tough when it’s your turn." Before Li Shilian started to use torture, Li Zhirui took their storage bags from their waists and handed the weakest one’s to Li Shiting, saying, "I’ll have to trouble Mrs. Ting." Since these three were not yet dead, the divine sense marks left in their storage bags needed to be slowly eroded. Other than Li Shilian, Li Shiting had the highest cultivation level, so she could open the storage bags in the shortest time. Li Shilian then dragged one man into a compartment, and in an instant, a pitiful wail echoed, causing the two men in the main hall to tremble uncontrollably. It took but a moment before they began to plead for mercy, willing to divulge their identities and purposes, just pleading to avoid further torture. However, the content he was about to divulge was silenced by a Sound Severing Spell Li Shilian used, keeping it from being heard. After a quarter of an hour, Li Shilian threw the cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Realm out like a dead dog. He appeared unharmed, but in fact, his meridians had been largely destroyed by Li Shilian. Without saying a word, Li Shilian took away another person. The last one, seeing this, immediately blurted out their identity in fear. "The Wang Family from Rare Beast Pavilion?" Li Zhirui’s expression darkened as he said coldly, "You had your sights on Li family even before the trade meeting?" The man trembled all over and hurriedly revealed what he knew, "Yes, our family heard that the Li family possesses a Beast Taming Secret Technique that allows Contracted Spirit Beasts and cultivators to be of the same realm, so we harbored thoughts of taking this technique for ourselves." Of course, when they investigated personally, they found that the news they had heard was not entirely accurate. However, there was no doubt that the Li family had a Beast Taming Secret Technique, so the Wang Family had not given up. After all, the strength of the Li family was just so-so. It was decent in Yunping State, but in Green Mountain State, it was nothing at all. "What a brazen Wang Family of the Rare Beast Pavilion!" The more Li Zhirui thought about the Li family’s plans to purchase Tier 3 Spirit Beasts from the Rare Beast Pavilion, which he had recommended, the uglier his expression became. Yet, even with Li Shiqing’s breakthrough to the Golden Core, the Li family was no match for the Wang Family, for the Wang Family had two Golden Cores and dozens of Foundation Establishment Cultivators, a family whose strength far surpassed that of the Li’s! Li Shiren and Li Zhizhun also realized this, feeling as if a lump of frustration was stuck in their chests, so uncomfortable they could hardly bear it. "Lian, how should we deal with these few?" As soon as Li Shilian came out, Li Shiren swiftly asked. After thinking for a moment, Li Shilian said, "Keep them for now, and strip the Wang Family of their Beast Taming methods and anything valuable before we decide." He did want to retaliate, but unfortunately, the Wang Family was too far away and too powerful for them to confront. The Rare Beast Pavilion in the marketplace? If the Li family were to take action against it, that would be slapping the face of the Yuanming Sect! The Li family wouldn’t do something that would offend others like that. And as for whether the Wang Family would send a Golden Core to annihilate the Li family? Shen Leishan wouldn’t just stand by and watch that happen! Under Shen Leishan’s rule, any force that developed a Golden Core would automatically sever its prior vassal relationship and become a direct subordinate to Shen Leishan. Shen Leishan allowed infighting among subordinate forces, even to the point of annihilation, as being inferior in skill was inevitable; however, they would absolutely not allow an outside force to extinguish their vassals, as that would be an affront to their own dignity. For some major powers, face is a very important thing! However, the current members of the Li family were unaware of this, due to Li Shiqing’s recent breakthrough, and even more ignorant that they could take a moral high ground and swallow up the Rare Beast Pavilion in the marketplace. Under the inhumane torture by the members of the Li family, those three Foundation Establishment cultivators spilled everything they could, and once they were of no more value, their lives naturally came to an end. What they emphasized was the strength of the Wang Family and its various secrets, like how one of the Wang Family’s Golden Cores would most likely die within fifty years, but they could not find another family member who might reach Core Formation in that timeframe. And their storage bags, before they died, had had their divine sense marks erased by Li Shiting, Li Shiren, and a few others. Unfortunately, as family cultivators, when they went out, they didn’t carry their cultivation techniques and insights with them, apart from Spirit Stones, Spirit Pills, Magic Artifacts, and other Spiritual Objects. This was not unique to the Wang Family; all sects and families with inheritances would not carry such things. After all, the world of cultivation is not safe, and one could lose their life and Dao in an unfortunate event, leaking their family’s cultivation techniques. Only Loose Cultivators, with no fixed abode, would carry everything with them. "The Wang Family is quite inventive, having combined Beast Taming with Talismans, controlling Devil Beasts with talismans and conducting battles through them," Li Zhirui commented lightly. The approach of the Wang Family was to treat the Devil Beasts entirely as tools like Magic Artifacts and Talismans, so that even if the beasts were killed, it would not affect the person themselves, just representing the loss of a beast. This method conflicted fundamentally with the foundational Cultivation Technique of the Li family, the "Wanling Sutra." Even receiving it, they wouldn’t cultivate it, especially since they only understood a little about it, a vague notion at best. Besides, the drawbacks of this technique were not small; if the talismans fell into others’ hands, all the beasts that you’ve cultivated for many years would abandon you. But now, the Li family had gained three Tier 2 Devil Beasts of Foundation Establishment Realm: a metal and wind-attribute Rift Steel Eagle, a fire-attribute Flame Toad, and an earth-attribute Black Rock Giant Bear. "It’s a pity the family doesn’t have the same kind of Spirit Beast, otherwise we could start enhancing the bloodline," Li Zhirui said regretfully. "Isn’t the family still in the process of purchasing Tier 3 Spirit Beasts?" Li Shiren suggested, "Perhaps we could buy the same kind of Spirit Beast to accelerate the cultivation of the Tier 3 Spirit Beast group." Li Zhizhun personally agreed with the suggestion, but the family currently had too many places where Spirit Stones were needed and did not have enough to buy Tier 2 Devil Beasts. "If the Wang Family can capture these three types of Devil Beasts from the Green Mountain Range, we surely can too," laughed Li Shilian. It was simply that they wouldn’t use the talisman Beast Taming methods, but they could intimidate or bribe, after all! The Spiritual Intelligence of a Tier 2 Devil Beast was not much different from a ten-year-old child, and certainly, they could communicate.