Chapter 463 - 461: Last-Ditch Effort

Chapter 463: Chapter 461: Last-Ditch Effort

You could say that when they first obtained the Gu-controlling Secret Technique, the upper echelons of the Li Family were so excited they could hardly sleep.

With the opportunity to reach the Divine Travel Realm within their grasp, who could possibly remain calm?

But alas,

they had ultimately gotten their hopes up a little too high.

After conducting experiments, they discovered

that even with the Gu-controlling Secret Technique, they could not command the Flying Heaven-Splitting Spirit Ants to mate!

No matter how they tried, no matter how they used the Gu-controlling Secret Technique to communicate,

the only response they received was a listless one. The ants showed no interest in mating and reproducing whatsoever.

And yet,

the Gu-controlling Secret Technique only allowed a Cultivator to communicate with their own Gu Insects.

It couldn’t control their actions.

Thus,

their progress was stuck right at the first step!

But with so much at stake—

a combat power at the Divine Travel Realm Level—

how could the Li Family’s leaders possibly give up?

So, after some discussion, the highest-ranking members of the Li Family came to a conclusion:

the Gu-controlling Secret Technique had to be a neutered version of the Minghuan Gu Scripture Fragment that Shen Changchuan had obtained!

The method for large-scale, industrial-like breeding must have been something Shen Changchuan had split off from the secret techniques inherited from the Minghuan Gu Scripture!

By simplifying and splitting the secret techniques from the Minghuan Gu Scripture,

the original secret techniques had been turned into the Gu-controlling Secret Technique and the trick to mass-producing Gu!

Since it was a neutered version,

it naturally couldn’t control the Gu Insects’ behavior!

This wasn’t just a belief held by the Li Family;

it was a widely circulating theory in the outside world!

For this reason,

the upper echelons of the Li Family were utterly convinced.

After all, if they were in his shoes,

they would have done the same thing!

In fact, they would have neutered it even more drastically!

Otherwise, wouldn’t that be arming the enemy?

The neutered secret technique couldn’t control the Gu Insects’ behavior,

but the original secret technique from the Minghuan Gu Scripture definitely could!

The techniques recorded within it could probably even unleash the Flying Heaven-Splitting Spirit Ants’ power to a much greater extent!

And so,

they set their sights on Shen Changchuan!

Or rather,

they set their sights on the Minghuan Gu Scripture Fragment in his possession!

And this was precisely why the Li Family didn’t retreat from Heaven’s End Valley after withstanding the Ancient Sword Sect’s first attack!

Shen Changchuan’s initial premonition was correct.

Heaven’s End Valley...

...had been a trap laid by the Li Family to lure him in all along!

After discovering that the Gu-controlling Secret Technique couldn’t solve the Flying Heaven-Splitting Spirit Ants’ breeding problem and subsequently targeting Shen Changchuan,

the Li Family started mobilizing their forces to gather information on him.

It just so happened that they learned Shen Changchuan was searching for Flying Heaven-Splitting Spirit Ants!

Thus, they decided to lie in wait.

They would wait for Shen Changchuan to arrive,

then kill him and seize the Minghuan Gu Scripture Fragment from his body to solve the breeding issue with the Flying Heaven-Splitting Spirit Ants.

Moreover,

by killing him,

they could also collect the bounty from the Demonic Alliance and earn a favor from two figures who stood at the Peak of the Nanyue Kingdom’s Immortal Cultivation Realm: the Seven Extremes Old Demon and the White Bone Old Demon.

In this way,

not only would the Li Family avoid decline after losing Heaven’s End Valley,

they would very likely seize an opportunity to soar to new heights!

Unfortunately,

the plan was wonderful,

but reality was cruel.

Li Changzun had prepared for all sorts of potential accidents.

He was even prepared for the possibility that the lure would fail and Shen Changchuan wouldn’t show up!

The one thing he hadn’t anticipated...

...was that the little brat who had just advanced to the Soul Emergence Seventh Layer would possess such combat prowess!

The many measures he had set in place failed to capture Shen Changchuan.

In fact, due to Shen Changchuan’s strength, the Li Family suffered a crushing defeat on the battlefield!

All their intricate schemes had come to nothing!

Not only had they failed to achieve their initial goal,

but now the entire Li Family was facing the threat of annihilation!

"The only option now is to stake it all on one last, desperate fight!"

Li Changzun’s expression flickered,

as he finally made a certain decision.

He shot to his feet,

his gaze fixed on the enemies rapidly advancing outside Heaven’s End Valley, a ferocious glint flashing through his eyes.

"Clan Leader, do you have a plan?"

Seeing this, the surrounding, terrified Li Clan Members’ eyes lit up. They all turned to Li Changzun, their faces filled with hope.

"Of course I do!"

"If this succeeds, not only will it resolve our current crisis, but it will also make the Li Family great again in the future!"

"However, this matter will also require a small... sacrifice from all of you..."

Li Changzun’s gaze lowered, and his voice turned strange.

At any other time,

the Li Clan Members present might have sensed that something was off.

But unfortunately,

with a great enemy at their doorstep,

the imminent threat of death left them no room for such thoughts, so they paid it no mind.

Instead, they urged Li Changzun on anxiously:

"The Clan Leader is wise! You always have a way!"

"Clan Leader, whatever trump card you have, use it now! Otherwise, it’ll be too late!"

Li Changzun was silent for a moment,

then said with a placid expression:

"Very well!"

SQUISH! SQUISH...

Suddenly,

inside the great hall,

a series of sickening thuds rang out.

Immediately after,

blood flew everywhere!

...

「Meanwhile,」

on the other side,

BANG!

A sharp sword beam slashed across the sky and shattered an Array Light Curtain.

The scene beyond was revealed.

The sight before them,

however, made the crowd eagerly rushing in from outside frown and halt in their tracks.

"This is..."

In mid-air, Shen Changchuan’s figure also came to a stop.

He looked at the scene before him with a sense of visceral revulsion.

Because,

what appeared before them...

...was a forest of corpses!

Corpse after corpse stood rooted to the ground. Bizarre, hideous trees burst forth from within the bodies, their roots dug deep into the earth, and their canopies of blood-red leaves flourished.

Human and tree trunk were fused together in a grotesque image.

What was even more terrifying,

was that the corpses were still alive!

Their flesh writhed, and through the living skin, one could see the blood flowing in the vessels beneath.

The faces embedded in the tree trunks let out miserable screams and howls,

echoing and overlapping throughout the entire corpse forest.

It was as if they were enduring an endless, death-like torment.

"Using humans as seeds... As expected, these Demon Dao fiends should all be slaughtered!"

At the side,

a Cultivator in the Soul Emergence Realm snorted coldly.

The others around him nodded in agreement.

In truth,

as beings of the Soul Emergence Realm,

there was already a vast difference between them and ordinary mortals, or even Cultivators in the Qi Introduction Realm.

Even if ordinary people or Qi Introduction Realm Cultivators died before their eyes,

they wouldn’t feel much of anything.

To have gotten this far

on the brutal Path of Immortal Cultivation, fighting for fortuitous encounters and the chance to advance, which one of them didn’t have dozens of lives on their hands?

Their hearts had grown cold long ago.

But even so,

seeing this scene before them

still filled them with a sense of profound discomfort.

This just went to show

just how cruel this seemingly endless forest of corpses truly was!