Chapter 38: The Li Family Now Has Absolute Confidence!

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Li Xiang stared intently at the map of the Silver-Iron Forest on the screen.

Ever since the Li family had gained unrestricted access to this map, the mist concealing it had long since dispersed. With a single click, Li Xiang could now view the scene at any location.

At this moment, six white points on the map were converging toward the Silver-Iron Forest.

“They’ve taken the bait.”

Li Xiang narrowed his eyes slightly.

Ever since he had learned that the Pig Demon King was related to the Li family by marriage, this had become a trap the Li family had spent considerable time preparing.

And Li Xiang knew very well that, within this grand scheme, the Lantian Wu family was destined to lose the foundation it had built over many years in the Silver-Iron Forest.

On the map, the only route leading into the depths of the Silver-Iron Forest had been left completely undefended.

Because...

“Something terrible has happened! The Lantian Wu family has been annihilated!”

“The Demon King of the Silver-Iron Forest has appeared! It must have learned that the Seven Great Clans intended to besiege it and intercepted the Wu family in advance, planning to destroy us one by one!”

“People from the Lantian Wu family have come asking for reinforcements. Our ancestor sent me to ask whether you intend to save them!”

The various clans had only just approached the middle section of the forest when they halted.

On the map, four green points were moving toward the four major clans, carrying the news that the Lantian Wu family had been destroyed.

Those four green points represented members of the Li family and the Qingping Ancient Clan.

The four clans hesitated for a moment. They sent four Qi Refining experts to investigate, then withdrew resentfully in the direction from which they had come. They had no choice but to believe the warning. Better to believe it than not.

After all, if they died, what would become of their families?

“How did the news leak? Could there be a traitor among us?”

“No matter what happened, all we can do now is wait for word.”

“What about Master Shancai... Yes, once we return, we’ll say that the Lantian Wu family caused the trouble and disrupted everyone’s plans. It had nothing to do with us.”

Before the screen, Li Xiang smiled.

There was indeed a traitor—and there were two of them.

Otherwise, the allied forces of the Seven Great Clans would have marched straight in. There would have been no opportunity to arrange such a scheme.

Everything...

Was under the Li family’s control.

...

“Clan Master, we’re back!”

At that moment, in the section of the Silver-Iron Forest occupied by the Qingping Ancient Clan, the clan had remained where it was without moving.

The two who had returned were the very people who had gone to inform the other two clans.

“Mm.”

The clan master of the Qingping Ancient Clan looked like a refined scholar. He was gentle and elegant, yet there was always something sinister in his expression. He turned toward the members of his clan and said coldly, “This matter defies the order of Heaven and must be kept absolutely secret. Do you understand?”

“Understood!”

Everyone frowned as they answered in unison.

Yet one elder asked doubtfully, “Clan Master, why must we harm the Lantian Wu family? Our clan has suffered through years of drought and is precisely in need of the Silver-Iron Forest’s resources.”

The clan master did not grow angry.

His composure was truly rare.

“A season ago, Li Yaozu of the Li family came to see me. He asked me something that I found very interesting.”

“Oh?” The others were puzzled.

The clan master continued, “That boy from the Li family asked whether we would suffer casualties if we entered the Silver-Iron Forest. If the elders whom our clans had spent a century nurturing died because of it, would that truly be worthwhile?”

“This...”

The others exchanged glances. How could there be no losses when fighting for life and death? Most of them were already old. They were merely seeking additional resources to cultivate their descendants and strengthen their families.

“It would not be worthwhile. But we have been given an opportunity—an opportunity to obtain the wealth of a great clan with centuries of accumulation without losing a single soldier!”

The clan master gave a cold laugh. “Do you understand now?”

“The Lantian Wu family!”

“Most of their experts have died in the Silver-Iron Forest, and the Lantian Wu family is located close to our town of Qingping. They are a plump prize lying within easy reach!”

“The Wu family is now nothing more than a lamb awaiting slaughter. So that’s how it is!”

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The many elders of the Gu clan finally understood, and they could not help but rejoice wildly.

Why would anyone refuse food handed to them without having to risk their lives?

One elder suddenly realized everything. “No wonder that little girl from the Li family dared to offer us advice. She had already planned it all. She deliberately suggested entering the Silver-Iron Forest directly, silencing that old fool Wu Mengqiu. Then we would announce that we were going to besiege the Silver-Iron Forest from seven directions and spread the news that the Wu family had been annihilated. Every clan would then withdraw.”

At this, the elder who had raised his doubts moments earlier grew solemn.

“If that is the case, then not a single member of the Lantian Wu family can be left alive. Otherwise, if this matter gets out, our Gu clan will be treated as traitors to humanity. Clan Master, who will be sent to deal with the Wu family?”

“The Li family, naturally,” the clan master answered casually.

“The Li family?”

The elders of the Gu clan frowned one after another, suspicion filling their eyes.

After all, with all the clans gathered here, the Li family’s strength was hardly worth mentioning.

But the clan master of the Gu clan smiled.

“You do not think that the Li family—which destroyed two clans through its own strength, earning even my admiration—is merely being excessively arrogant, do you? When that boy Yaozu discussed this with me, I saw absolute confidence in him.”

...

“Absolute confidence?”

Li Xiang quietly watched the small words hovering above the head of the Gu clan master. His expression remained calm.

Yes.

Absolute confidence.

The Li family was no longer the same family that had once trembled helplessly before the Hu and Wang families.

Li Xiang looked toward the map.

The members of the Li family had already encountered the Lantian Wu family.

He clicked on Li Dalong’s portrait.

The scene shifted to a road passing through the depths of the Silver-Iron Forest. A cool breeze stirred the trees, sending their shadows swaying across the ground.

The sixteen members of the Lantian Wu family had stopped in place, all of them wearing startled and suspicious expressions.

Before them, Li Dalong stood alone, blocking their path. A silver coffin covered in mysterious patterns was strapped to his back.

An ancestral tablet floated beside him, radiating a brilliant milky glow.

“Li Dalong, why have you blocked our path instead of leading the Li family in an attack from the southwest?!”

Though Wu Mengqiu did not know why Li Dalong had acted this way, he already sensed that something was terribly wrong.

The Wu family members were equally on guard.

They could feel killing intent emanating from Li Dalong.

“Bang!”

Li Dalong did not answer. He silently unfastened the coffin strapped to his body. Only after the Coffin of Certain Death landed heavily on the ground did he raise his eyes and stare at the members of the Lantian Wu family as though they were already dead.

“Whoosh!”

The instant he moved, the sound of something tearing through the air came from afar.

“This is bad!”

Wu Mengqiu’s expression changed drastically. He barked coldly, “It’s a trap! Break the formation!”

At his shout, the Wu family members all looked up.

They saw long spears gathering in the sky, forming a massive net that descended toward them.

The Forest of Spears Formation.

It was a formation the Li family had obtained from the Hu family. By now, more than sixty cultivators in Gratitude Village had mastered it.

But the spears in the sky were not merely those produced by the Forest of Spears Formation. Other cultivators from Gratitude Village were also hurling spears and firing arrows into the air.

The members of the Wu family were formidable as well.

One Foundation Establishment expert immediately rose into the sky on his sword, using his spiritual power to resist the descending formation of spears.

Yet spears and arrows continued to fall from above.

Cracks appeared in the expert’s barrier in less than the time it took to snap one’s fingers.

One had to understand that every member of the Li family who ventured outside to fight was equipped with magical artifacts produced by the Forge Pavilion. Their power was extraordinary.

“Bold indeed! Li Dalong, you actually dared to set a trap and ambush my Wu family. You’re courting death!”

Wu Mengqiu was furious.

With a casual wave of his hand, a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Wu family understood his intention. Vast true energy surged forth like a spring and rushed toward Li Dalong.

But amid a thunderous roar, soil filled with the fragrant scent of summer scattered through the air.

The Purple-Thunder Sun Python burst from the earth, carrying the power of heavenly thunder and earthly fire.

With a furious roar, the python blocked the attack of the peak Foundation Establishment expert. It did not linger in battle, however, and charged straight toward Wu Mengqiu, the two-hundred-year-old False Core Formation expert of the Wu family.

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“Hmph! I heard long ago that your Li family possesses a spirit beast and a puppet.”

Wu Mengqiu showed no fear. His confidence was obvious.

“As you wish.”

Seeing Wu Mengqiu’s arrogance, Li Xiang clicked on the War Puppet before the screen.

“Boom!”

As Li Xiang’s eyes turned white, his consciousness entered the game world.

The War Puppet, which had been waiting in the Silver-Iron Forest, rose into the air. Every weapon on its body erupted at once as it charged toward Wu Mengqiu.

Back during the battle in Tailing Town, the War Puppet had even lost an arm.

But after five years, the injuries on its body had long since been repaired by recovering the puppet’s scattered fragments and using the biotechnology within it. Some fragments could never be found, however, leaving its exterior old and battered, covered in scars.

“This is bad!”

The thunder of laser fire shook the heavens. The Purple-Thunder Sun Python unleashed the power of lightning and flame, yet that alone did not make Wu Mengqiu panic.

What truly frightened him was the appearance of the War Puppet—and the demonic beasts rushing over from every direction.

These were all spirit beasts that guarded the Pig Demon King of the Silver-Iron Forest. The clans from every direction had already departed, allowing the beasts to surround the Wu family. For the Wu family, this had been a death trap from the beginning.

This was the Li family’s strength now.

The Li family had become related to the Pig Demon King by marriage. Having earned the demon king’s gratitude, the spirit beasts of the Silver-Iron Forest could now be commanded by the Li family.

The combined strength of the entire Silver-Iron Forest.

A full fifty spirit beasts.

This was a force the Li family had once never even dared to imagine—fifty Foundation Establishment experts, including four spirit beasts whose strength rivaled that of the Purple-Thunder Sun Python.

“Run!”

At the sight of those spirit beasts, Wu Mengqiu was stricken with terror.

“No matter who you are, spread the news! The Li family set a trap in the Silver-Iron Forest. They have joined forces with the Demon King and are traitors to humanity!”

“Hahaha, run? Let’s see how you plan to escape!”

Li Dalong finally spoke.

The approaching spirit beasts had already taken up positions on the branches, blocking the Wu family’s escape by flying sword.

The terrified Wu family cultivators scattered in every direction across the ground.

But soon, their hopes of escape were shattered.

“Crack, crack!”

The earth began to move.

Li Dalong opened the Coffin of Certain Death.

After obtaining this spiritual treasure, Li Dalong had dug up all the corpses buried beneath the beast-blood fruit trees during the battle in Tailing Town.

Every one of those corpses had been refined into zombies through the coffin’s corpse-driving art and the Coffin of Certain Death.

One withered hand after another tore through the soil. Dry hair emerged first, followed by bark-like faces. The corpses crawled out from underground, maggots writhing across their bodies.

More than a thousand zombies blocked the Wu family’s path of retreat.

The members of the Li family joined the spirit beasts in battle, preventing the Wu family’s experts from escaping.

Xu Cuihua transformed into her two-tailed fox form. Wielding the spiritual artifact Heavenly Balance Seal, seized from the Wang family, she was even capable of battling a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator.

“Heaven-Drawing Thunder Scripture!”

This technique summoned heavenly thunder and had been obtained from the Secret Canon of Parting Heaven. Xu Cuihua had learned it and now channeled the lightning into the Heavenly Balance Seal. Even peak Foundation Establishment cultivators could do nothing but avoid its edge.

“Steps of the Bewildering Shadow Thicket!”

“A Hundred Shadow Sword Radiances!”

In battle, Li Yaozu became impossible to predict, his movements seeming almost unreal.

He had long since mastered the Steps of the Bewildering Shadow Thicket through his constant cultivation inside the Coffin of Certain Death. It could now create ten clones, each possessing one-tenth of his true strength.

The Hundred Shadow Sword Radiances produced a hundred sword shadows with every thrust.

With the two techniques working in concert, the sky filled with sword shadows, real and illusory. Even a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator could fight him.

“Quickly, quickly! Hold him down! I’ll smash him to death!”

Only Li Yaotie seemed somewhat out of place. Carrying a massive hammer thicker than his own body, he called for a tree demon to restrain a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

His severed left arm had originally been a powerless prosthetic, but after breaking through, he tempered it with alchemical fire. It had now become a magical artifact, capable of lifting a thousand kilograms with ease.

Gripping the massive hammer with both hands, he wielded it without the slightest strain.

Each blow sent blood spraying into the air.