"Damn! He actually escaped!"
By the time they safely got through the explosion and wanted to deal with Li Zhirui, he had already vanished without a trace.
And after the fight, the return journey was entirely uneventful. Li Zhirui, after several days of rushing, arrived back in Yunping State safe and sound.
"How has Yunqing Marketplace become so deserted and quiet?" Looking at the empty street with hardly any pedestrians, Li Zhirui mumbled to himself in surprise.
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This was once the busiest street, usually crowded with throngs of people and bustling with activity.
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"Senior may not know, but a few days ago a monster tide erupted, and the loose cultivators in the marketplace have all gone to the Boundless Sea to kill devil beasts and earn Spirit Stones," replied a cultivator, hoping to ingratiate himself with the response.
"A monster tide?" Li Zhirui frowned slightly, surprised that the time for a monster tide had come again. The last one had caused considerable damage to the Li family, but this time, it seemed it would be much easier to handle.
After all, the Li family was now strong, with two Golden Core cultivators in place. A normal monster tide was simply not a threat.
That was also the reason the marketplaceâs loose cultivators had all gone forth: with the two Golden Core cultivators from the Li family present and vowing to protect the Spirit Islands, they would never allow the water devils to come ashore.
Thus, the loose cultivators could safely stay on the shore, relentlessly killing the seemingly endless water devils, harvesting various spiritual objects from their corpses.
The lengthy and monotonous slaughter did not make the loose cultivators detest the task. Rather, they stayed in an excited state, knowing the more water devils they killed, the more spirit materials they would collect.
Moreover, each monster tide provided the best opportunity for loose cultivators to gather Spirit Stones. Perhaps with a few more years of effort, they could afford a Foundation Establishment Pill to help them with their Foundation Establishment!
But back to the point!
After giving the cultivator a few dozen Spirit Stones, Li Zhirui turned and left the marketplace. He had planned to inquire about the recent situation in Yunping State, but now that his family was facing a monster tide, even if he was confident in the familyâs strength, he couldnât just stand by and do nothing, could he?
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Meanwhile, at the east side of the Red Pine Island archipelago, a large number of loose cultivators stood watch. In front of them was an even larger number of water devils, swarming densely, so numerous they turned a vast expanse of the sea black.
"Uncle, it seems like there are a lot more in the monster tide this year," Li Zhizhun said with some concern.
Li Shiqing, leading most of the clan members, was stationed there to resist the monster tide and protect Red Pine Island. Meanwhile, Li Shilian had taken another group to guard Da Rong Island, to prevent surprise attacks on their territory.
At this moment, Li Shiqingâs face bore a trace of solemnity because this monster tide appeared to be out of the ordinary. After a moment of thought, he commanded, "Tell our people to be cautious and try to retreat from the front line. Remember to keep this from the loose cultivators."
If the loose cultivators discovered that the Li family were retreating, why would they stay? If that happened, it wouldnât be long before the defense line would be overrun by water devils.
Then Red Pine Island and the Spirit Islands would directly face the vast monster tide!
If it indeed came to that, even if the Li family ultimately won, the loss of spiritual objects on the island would be tremendous. The spells cast by the water devils en masse would be something the Spirit Islands simply could not withstand!
While perhaps those spells may not be able to kill a cultivator, they were lethal attacks to those fragile spiritual objects.
And if they were to lose, the consequences were unspeakable. The water devils would surely consume all the spiritual objects, leaving Red Pine Island and the three Spirit Islands barren. Years of the Li familyâs hard work would be destroyed in an instant!
However, contrary to their expectations, the following period was calm and tranquil, without a single incident.
This led the two of them to doubt their judgment, wondering if they had made a mistake, when suddenly, screams filled with horror erupted from the Loose Cultivators nearby.
"A third-order Water Devil?!" Li Shiqing leaped forward and saw a gigantic third-order octopus devil wreaking havoc, his expression growing extremely grave step by step.
"May I ask, what brings you here all of a sudden?" Li Shiqing shouted loudly, aware that third-order Devil Beasts were capable of normal communication.
Except for a very few Devil Beasts, after breaking through to the third order, their Spiritual Intelligence would be like that of a mature ordinary person, no longer as oblivious as before, and they even refined their Henggu, enabling them to communicate by themselves.
Moreover, when this third-order octopus devil appeared, Li Shiqing and the others realized the cause of the abnormal beast tide, as previously it was second-order Water Devils driving the other devils, and there were bound to be some that slipped through.
But this time, it was a third-order Water Devil that took matters into its own tentacles, naturally causing the number of lower-order Water Devils being chased away to increase significantly.
"Iâve just broken through recently and would like to borrow your lives for a moment," the devil said, as gigantic tentacles burst forth from the depths of the sea, catching some unlucky Cultivators who couldnât dodge in time in its maw.
"How dare you!" Li Shiqing witnessed this scene and was instantly furiously enraged. His Treasured Sword flashed with Spirit Light as he bellowed, "Letâs kill it together! Afterwards, its flesh is yours to deal with as you please."
With the promise of rich rewards laid out in front of them, surely a group of Cultivators would be attracted to join the fight.
And as many ants can kill an elephant, let alone with Li Shiqing joining the fray, it wasnât long before the octopus devil had one of its tentacles severed.
However, the enraged octopus devil did not choose to retreat but continued to fight fiercely against Li Shiqing.
"Humph! Youâre courting death!" With the help of other Cultivators and the enemy already wounded, how could Li Shiqing miss out on such an opportunity?
A variety of spells poured out, the dense flurry of attacks causing the octopus devil great pain, driving it from rage to a cold calm.
"Iâll remember this, and I will make sure to repay you in the future!" the octopus devil threatened before sinking into the sea, vanishing without a trace soon after.
This was the advantage of the Water Devils; if the situation turned dire, they could simply escape into the Boundless Sea, an area where Cultivators of the human race had no advantage whatsoever.
Even if some Cultivators believed they had the capability to kill the devil in the sea and thus pursued it, the one likely to end up headless was probably not the Water Devil, but the Cultivators!
"Damn it!" Li Shiqing clenched his teeth but could only watch helplessly as the octopus devil escaped, leaving a potential threat for the Li family.
However, without the driving force of the third-order octopus devil, the Water Devils in the beast tide began to calm down and started to retreat after suffering heavy casualties, choosing not to entangle themselves in a fight to the death with the Cultivators.
By the time Li Zhirui reached the chain of islands, he just happened to witness the retreat of the Water Devils, chuckling as he said, "It seems I was needlessly worried."
"Zhirui, when did you come back?" Li Zhizhun asked with a face full of surprise.
"I just arrived at Yunqing Marketplace today, and when I heard that a beast tide had erupted, I rushed over here without stopping," he said. However, he hadnât expected such a coincidence either.
"Alright, letâs catch up after we return to the family," end of conversation.