Rebuild the Xiuxian Family

On the vast East China Sea, Li Xiuting was leading a group of his people cautiously, searching for suitable prey.

Since the outbreak of the great calamity, the Li family has dispatched a large number of small teams to search for alien creatures in the East China Sea and the Northern Region, using their lives to settle their own karma and escape as soon as possible.

Therefore, such situations are actually quite common. After all, the Li family are immortal cultivators and cannot directly attack other immortal forces or rogue cultivators.

Moreover, if one takes the initiative to attack, unless there is a significant difference in strength between the two sides, it is easy to put oneself at a disadvantage, resulting in greater casualties and costs, which is not worthwhile.

If it's a force that lacks the strength to attack, one or two wouldn't be a problem, but if the number is too large, other major forces might use this as leverage and perhaps unite to deal with the Li family!
However, one or two such individuals would not be of much help to the Li family of its current size; on the contrary, they might lead to financial losses and could easily damage its reputation.

In this situation, attacking those alien creatures naturally becomes the best option!

"Fifteenth Uncle, a group of water demons lives about a hundred miles to the northwest. There are about three thousand of them, and their strength is about two or three at the Human Immortal Realm." A clansman who had cultivated a pupil technique said with a look of surprise.

This size is only a small group in the East China Sea, but it is the most suitable target for their attacks.

The numbers and strength are just right, and if they successfully deal with these water demons, they can settle most of their karma, or even pay it off completely.

Unlike the other clansmen who were excited and agitated, Li Xiuting calmly asked, "Observe carefully again and make sure there are no problems before preparing for the attack!"

It wasn't that he was overly cautious, but rather that ambushes like this frequently occurred in the East China Sea. The water demons would often feign weakness to lure cultivators into attacking, only to fall into their carefully prepared traps, resulting in heavy casualties.

"Ok!"

The clansman calmed down and used his pupil technique again to carefully search the surroundings. After confirming that there were no ambushes or traps nearby, he reported to Li Xiuting.

"First, we'll go into stealth mode and wait for the water demons to enter our attack range before launching a full-scale attack!" Li Xiuting hoped to take down the water demons with minimal losses.

"Yes!"

Such a matter of life and death was of utmost importance to everyone, so no one dared to be negligent or careless. They all accepted the order and took it very seriously.

The group took out the Concealing Spirit Pill and swallowed it. Combined with the Concealment Technique, they vanished as if they had disappeared into thin air, leaving no trace of their presence.

They cautiously approached the group of water demons, who remained completely unaware of the approaching cultivators and continued their joyful celebration.

What they were celebrating was a group of about two or three hundred rogue cultivators who were bound and unconscious!
After seeing the appearance of those rogue cultivators clearly, a hint of surprise flashed in Li Xiuting's eyes, because he recognized this group of rogue cultivators. They were quite famous in Shanhai Prefecture and were known as Yinghua Sect.

Their intentions are clear from their name: they want to establish their own sect. However, they lack access to spiritual veins and territory, and mainly rely on the Li family's permission.

Therefore, although they all refer to themselves as a sect, to outsiders they are still just a group of independent cultivators.

The reason they have such a good reputation is that, in addition to having a Supreme Elder who is a Human Immortal, they also have several Loose Immortals serving as sect leaders and elders, and their disciples are quite strong.

Despite their small number of members, their lineage is well-organized, which is extremely rare among independent cultivation groups.

At the same time, Li Xiuting also understood why there were no traps around when they discovered the group of water demons; it turned out that the rogue cultivators of Yinghua Sect had already stepped on them.

These water demons were busy holding a banquet to savor the taste of these cultivators, and they were too confident that they had hidden themselves well, so they did not take any precautions, which allowed the Li family to take advantage of the situation.

He then gathered his thoughts and gave a wink to one of his clansmen behind him.

After several attempts to coordinate, the tribesman instantly understood what it meant and immediately used a secret technique to silently condense a thin layer of white mist around the water demon.

"Why is it suddenly foggy?" a certain demonic beast suddenly asked, sounding somewhat uncertain.

"Hahahaha, the banquet has only just begun, are you already drunk? Where did this white mist come from?" His companion laughed loudly.

Seeing that no one else reacted, he assumed he was seeing things and stopped paying attention.

Little did they know that his words almost caused the Li family's plan to fail, and some clansmen even planned to take action ahead of schedule.

Fortunately, Li Xiuting calmed everyone down, telling them not to get excited and to wait for the right opportunity.

The monsters didn't notice them. While they were drinking and exchanging toasts, they absorbed a lot of mist. Before long, their heads became dizzy, but they all thought it was the effect of the spiritual wine in their cups.

"Why is today's spirit wine so intoxicating..." Before the demon beast could finish speaking, it fell into a deep sleep.

The other monsters were also confused, and their reactions became much slower.

Seeing that the desired effect had been achieved, Li Xiuting immediately transmitted his voice to everyone, "Use the killing move directly and finish them off in one strike!"

No one felt there was anything wrong with a sneak attack. Being able to defeat the enemy in one move without getting hurt themselves, let alone dealing with alien races, even if the opponent was a cultivator, they would not feel the slightest bit guilty.

puff-

The sounds of blood vessels being slit and gushing blood rang out one after another. One moment the banquet was bustling with activity, the next it was a scene of carnage, with corpses strewn everywhere.

Because the Li family was small, they were unable to kill all the water demons in one go.

Even so, the water demon, whose life had been temporarily saved, remained in a daze and confusion, unaware of what was happening in the outside world.

The change was so rapid that even the conscious Yinghua Sect cultivators couldn't react in time.

But they soon realized that other cultivators had taken the opportunity to infiltrate and eliminate the group of water demons in one fell swoop.

As for whether their lives were saved... no one is entirely sure.

After all, now that the great calamity has broken out, all living beings are trying to settle their own karma. At this time, they are powerless and still in the lair of the sea creatures. After killing them, they can directly blame it on those water demons who have already died!

So they didn't cry for help, but waited anxiously for their ultimate fate.

Meanwhile, the hidden members of the Li family began arguing about whether or not to take advantage of the situation and eliminate the group of rogue cultivators.

“If we kill them now, not only will no one know that we were the ones who did it, but it will also settle all our karma, and we might even have some left over to take back to the family, which will slightly relieve the pressure on the family.”

Those who wanted to save their lives didn't resort to lofty rhetoric—aside from a very small number of cultivators and disciples from powerful factions, few cultivators truly adhered to any distinction between good and evil—therefore, he too was acting from a self-interested perspective. "But if we spare their lives, make them work for the clan, and then have them become its vassals in the future, the value they bring is clearly greater!"

"That's too far in the future. Nobody knows what might happen, and would they be willing to risk their lives for the family?"

Another member of the tribe shook his head to himself and said, "Don't think of them as so simple."

The tribesman was speechless, unsure of what to say.

However, the final decision rested with Li Xiuting. After some deliberation, he decided to let them go.

Although some of the clansmen who advocated killing the group of rogue cultivators from Yinghua Sect on the spot were somewhat dissatisfied, they did not publicly object.

The reason Li Xiuting decided to let them go was not for long-term benefits as some other clansmen suggested, but because the sea race's ambush methods were becoming increasingly sophisticated, and even clansmen skilled in pupil techniques might not be able to detect them. The clan needed a group of cultivators to personally test them out!
Sending family members to test the waters is risky; if they encounter any danger, the chances of survival are slim. It's best to find outsiders instead.

This group of independent cultivators would make a very good match.

Li Xiuting revealed himself, looked at the group of uneasy rogue cultivators, and slowly said, "I can give you a chance to live, but you need to agree to one condition."

"Fellow Daoist Li, please speak frankly." Jiang Ying forced himself to calm down.

"We need you all to act as our vanguard and explore the way, personally investigating whether there are any traps or ambushes."

The rogue cultivators' expressions changed. They said it nicely, but in reality, weren't they just being used as cannon fodder to be sent to their deaths?

But if they don't agree, they definitely won't see the sun rise tomorrow.

Li Xiuting added, "Of course, we won't keep you all here indefinitely. As long as you ask the clansmen to investigate twenty times, we will let you leave."

"Isn't twenty times too many?" Although they knew in their hearts that the only way to leave this place alive was to agree to the other party's conditions, Jiang Ying still gritted her teeth and bargained with Li Xiuting, hoping to reduce the number of times.

No one from the Li family spoke up to answer his question. Only one member of the clan said, "Aren't the lives of hundreds of you worth this much?"

“…Okay.” Jiang Ying was speechless for a moment, and in the end, she could only agree to the request.

Because the calamity-inducing energy filled the heavens and earth during the great calamity, severely interfering with the effectiveness of the Dao oath, other means had to be used to ensure that these rogue cultivators would not regret their decision or betray the cause.

And this method is to entrust one's life and fortune to the Li family!

They would never have done this if they had any other choice.

After the matter was settled, Li Xiuting led his clansmen to clean up the battlefield and collect the spoils of war. Then, together with several hundred Yinghua Sect disciples, they set off to find the next gathering place of the sea monster clan.

He planned to wait until all the karma of his clansmen was settled before returning to the clan to replace them with a new batch of clansmen to continue fighting and killing!

He did this for two reasons: first, to hone his skills, and second, to gain merit so that his cultivation could break through after the great calamity ended.

As for danger? As long as you still want to cultivate and pursue a higher realm, what isn't dangerous?!
……

The sea breeze carries a salty, damp scent, unique to the sea, blowing in your face.

When you first see the ocean, you may find it vast and magnificent, but after a while, you'll only find it monotonous and boring.

The group of several hundred people searched the East China Sea for more than half a month, occasionally finding some lone water monsters, but they just couldn't find any small settlements of sea creatures.

Come to think of it, they were lucky. They had been wandering around the sea for so long without encountering a single water demon at the Earth Immortal realm or higher.

What they didn't know was that at this time, the water demons at the Earth Immortal and Heaven Immortal levels had already been summoned, preparing to lead tens of millions of water demons to invade the edge of the Eastern Continent, to see if they could break into the inland and take over some inland water systems!
Occupying inland waterways has long been a deep-seated obsession for the sea creatures.

anyway!

"Fifteenth Uncle! There is a gathering place of water demons more than two hundred miles ahead, but because of the distance, we cannot yet judge their strength or whether there are any traps around."

After the group carefully advanced for several dozen miles, his pupil technique finally allowed him to see the surrounding situation more clearly.

"There are three human immortal water demons here, and the sea race is about eight thousand strong."

After a short while, he spoke up and said what he had discovered: "Apart from that, I did not find any traps or ambushes nearby."

"Fellow Daoist Jiang, thank you for your trouble," Li Xiuting suddenly said.

Jiang Ying nodded upon hearing this. Since she had already agreed, there was no reason for her to regret it, especially since her life was still in their hands.

Then, when everyone set off again, the rogue cultivators were shocked to find that the Li family cultivators who had been in front of them had suddenly disappeared!

"What's going on..." Jiang Ying immediately released her divine sense to investigate, but could not find the other party at all. Then she thought of the other party's previous infiltration of the water demon's territory.

'Truly worthy of being a celestial power, possessing such exquisite and unparalleled secret techniques,' he couldn't help but marvel.

"Don't worry, everyone, we will be following you secretly. If things go wrong, we will take action immediately." Li Xiuting's words immediately attracted everyone's attention.

The cultivators from Yinghua Sect and other sects naturally had no right to say anything, so they could only obediently and cautiously head towards the water demon gathering ahead.

As soon as they entered the warning area, they were discovered by the water monsters, and within a short time, a group of water monsters rushed out and launched an attack without saying a word.

Jiang Ying and his men, naturally, would not stand idly by and immediately launched a counterattack.

"Fifteenth Uncle, should we lend a hand?"

Li Xiuting shook his head and said, "No need to rush. They can handle the current situation."

Indeed, as he said, the strength of this group of Yinghua Sect disciples should not be underestimated, and they are dealing with the current situation relatively easily.

Furthermore, they would unite with several nearby cultivators to form a small formation, which would better protect them and also allow them to attack the water demon. (End of Chapter)