Chapter 3328

Li Wufeng appeared to be merely berating those elders, but in truth, he was speaking to Li Hongwu.

“As a family devoted to cultivating the sword, has all of the Li family’s sharpness been worn away in your hands? When did the Li family become so spineless that, after others came knocking to rob us, we still have to compensate them?”

Hearing this, the elders had no choice but to explain the situation to him.

“Supreme Elder, you don’t know the full situation. Our opponent’s strength this time is far beyond what we can handle. If we continue fighting them head-on, I’m afraid that even if we commit every expert in the family, it still won’t be enough.”

“Exactly! If we lose too many of our experts, we may not even be able to preserve our position as guardians of the Sword Dance Stone. By then, the family’s elders and disciples won’t be able to go there and practice the sword whenever they wish.”

“They have an army and are skilled in battle formations. Their individual combat strength is also astonishing, and they can even use giant spirit-qi beasts...”

The elders all talked over one another as they explained the situation to Li Wufeng.

Li Wufeng, however, could not take any of it in. He immediately waved his hand to interrupt them and said forcefully, “As sword cultivators, even if we know we are outmatched, we must not bend our spines. Otherwise, why cultivate the sword at all?

“The stronger our opponent is, the more suitable they are to serve as our whetstone. The Li family has lived in comfort for far too long. We need a bloody battle to awaken the fighting spirit in our blood.”

After saying this, Li Wufeng looked at Li Hongwu. “If the patriarch doesn’t dare face the enemy, then how about I lead the Li family’s experts into battle?”

Li Hongwu and the elders swallowed hard at his words and dared not speak again. They all turned their eyes toward Li Hongwu, hoping he would stop Li Wufeng.

Li Hongwu was also in a difficult position. He had already considered the matter. Given the strength of Ye Liuyun and the others, sending Li Wufeng out would only amount to sending him to his death.

However, Li Wufeng held a very high position within the family. Not only was he the most senior, but he was also the strongest. Especially after the elder who cultivated the sword had died, Li Wufeng had become the strongest martial cultivator in the Li family.

Even if Li Hongwu wanted to stop him, a single call from Li Wufeng would bring many martial-cultivation experts into battle alongside him.

Thus, Li Hongwu could only say helplessly, “All right, then. Since the Supreme Elder is so confident, I’ll gather all the family’s experts and give it another try!”

Only then did Li Wufeng nod in satisfaction. He said confidently, “That is how a sword cultivator should be. Rest assured, Patriarch. With my current sword intent, no one can withstand a single strike from me!”

Li Hongwu could only go along with him. “Then I’ll have to trouble you, Supreme Elder!”

In truth, Li Hongwu’s heart was pounding as well. “Could it be that the Supreme Elder’s sword intent has improved again recently? Is that why he is so confident?”

Although he had agreed aloud, he was already considering how they would deal with the aftermath if the Li family lost this battle.

Ye Liuyun was still relatively easy to deal with for now. If they sent more people to their deaths and their strength was weakened further, Ye Liuyun and the others might grow even more ambitious. They might have to pay an even greater price in resources to settle the matter.

And if Li Wufeng were killed as well, the Li family would be completely driven out of the ranks of the Sword Dance Stone’s guardians. The other three families might even take advantage of the opportunity to attack them. He therefore had to make preparations for all of this in advance.

Though he was inwardly lamenting his misfortune, he still issued an order for all the elders and disciples who wished to participate in the battle to gather in front of the main hall of their own accord, then follow Li Wufeng to kill Ye Liuyun.

Even the elders who had suggested seeking peace did not dare express their opinions in front of Li Wufeng. They silently pondered how to deal with the aftermath of their defeat. Yet every one of them wore a sorrowful expression, deeply worried about the Li family’s future.

“Hmph! A bunch of spineless old fools! Just wait until I wipe out those enemies and see what you have to say then!”

Seeing this, Li Wufeng continued to curse the elders inwardly for their incompetence.

He guessed that the reason the group sent out last time had failed was because they had been surrounded and attacked by Ye Liuyun’s people.

Although he knew that Ye Liuyun and the others were very powerful, he believed that as long as they concentrated enough manpower in one place, they could hold off the others. Then he could focus on dealing with the enemy’s experts and take them down one by one.

Just as more than ten thousand martial cultivators were gathering in front of the Li family’s main council hall, Ye Liuyun had already set off for the next planet.

Before they had even departed, Ye Liuyun had already released two demon legions, which began clearing out the local martial cultivators.

The two demon legions did not care whether their targets were martial cultivators of the Li family or not. They killed everyone they encountered and seized every resource they found. This army included puppets at the ninth and eighth levels of the Guiyi Realm, all equipped with Void-grade armor and equipment, so dealing with the local martial cultivators was more than easy for them.

After using his sword intention to help them cut down several martial cultivators with impressive sword intent, Ye Liuyun stopped interfering and let them hone themselves. He also felt that it was time to show the Li family what he was capable of; otherwise, they might think he was afraid to strike.

He was also secretly curious. “The Li family really refuses to yield! They are still insisting on opposing me.”

Judging from the situation, he estimated that the Li family would likely attack him again. Thus, he merely informed Ye Tiandao and the female soldiers to prepare for battle, just in case. He then captured the branch family’s patriarch and searched his soul, wanting to find out exactly what the Li family intended to do.

But when he learned that Li Wufeng arrogantly intended to lead more than ten thousand martial cultivators to reinforce them and had told them to hold on a little longer, Ye Liuyun merely smiled and devoured the patriarch’s soul.

“Since the Li family doesn’t want reconciliation, then let us kill them!”

By this point, he had already decided how to deal with the Li family’s next planet.

Even aboard the fastest flying ship, Li Wufeng’s large force would not arrive for several days. Ye Liuyun was not about to wait here for him. Since the Li family still refused to submit, he might as well let his army stockpile more resources along the way.

Once the demon soldiers had wiped out all the martial cultivators here and finished cleaning up the battlefield, Ye Liuyun immediately stored them in his dimensional world and sent them back to rest. After taking the planet, he used Spatial Force to hurry toward the next planet at full speed.

This time, he did not use any army. Instead, he released the ferocious beasts that he and his clones had captured in the Bloodflame Star System.

“Go hunt and feed. Stockpile resources however you like!”

Ye Liuyun said generously, treating the Li family’s planet entirely as a hunting ground for the ferocious beasts.

Among the ferocious beasts Ye Liuyun had captured, there were tens of thousands at the peak of the ninth level of the Guiyi Realm. The beasts of all the other realms numbered two or three hundred thousand combined. This was despite the fact that he had not released any beasts below the Guiyi Realm.

The ferocious beasts let out a chaotic chorus of roars as soon as they emerged, leaving all the martial cultivators on the planet dumbfounded. Then, the two or three hundred thousand beasts began thundering forward, charging together toward the Li family’s stronghold.

That was where the martial cultivators on the entire planet were most concentrated, so naturally the beasts headed there to hunt. Besides, with so many ferocious beasts lacking storage rings, they had to seize the martial cultivators’ storage rings in order to obtain space to store their food.