ragginovel Chapter 119: Tensions Rise
Chapter 119: Tensions Rise
A massive light shield stretched down, enveloping the entire area of Yunmeng Lake, spanning thousands of miles.
In fact, the Li family of Yunmeng Lake has always had a second-tier small cloud and smoke array covering the entire lake.
However, this small cloud and smoke formation is slightly weak in defense.
Li Ruoyu's direct activation of this second-tier top-grade "Separation Fire Gathering Spirit Array" clearly indicates that he knew the newcomer was up to no good.
"What happened?"
"Our clan's 'Spirit Gathering Array of Departing Fire' has actually been activated?"
Many members of the Li clan looked up, their faces solemn.
In the inner lake, on Biyan Island, Li Yourong and Li Feiyu both pushed open the door of their small courtyards and came out.
The "Fire Gathering Spirit Array" is only activated when a powerful enemy attacks.
Recalling that loud shout from earlier, they felt a sense of unease.
"Haha, they've finally arrived? It would be best if they could destroy the Li family!" However, some people looked up and grinned maliciously.
This person was Qin Sanyan, a former alchemist who was suppressed because he had asked the Li family for a share of the profits.
He is now under house arrest on an outlying island.
Over the years, Qin Sanyan has been waiting, waiting for the Li family to suffer misfortune.
In this way, he could take advantage of the chaos to leave Yunmeng Lake.
At this moment, Li Yourong, Li Feiyu, and all other members of the Li clan were alarmed.
Inside the battle chamber.
Once the formation was activated, Li Ruoyu made a hand gesture, injecting a spell into the bronze mirror on the formation platform.
"The law observes all directions..." Li Ruoyu murmured.
Instantly, light burst forth in the bronze mirror, transforming into the entire scene of Yunmeng Lake.
His divine sense penetrated into it, as if he were in the sky, taking in the entire scene of Yunmeng Lake within a thousand miles.
In the blink of an eye, Li Ruoyu had located the area in the northwest of Yunmeng Lake.
There, a group of uninvited guests were suddenly spotted.
There are three airships suspended in the air.
Six imposing cultivators stood atop the leading crimson iron flying boat.
Behind them, to the left and right, stood a black-gold flying boat and a red-jade flying boat, each with a group of cultivators at the late stage of Qi Refining.
Li Ruoyu's face turned extremely gloomy after seeing the six people on the leading red iron flying boat.
"It's actually the Four Fiends of the Black Wind..." Li Ruoyu murmured.
"What! The Four Fiends of Black Wind!" Upon hearing this, Li Jun, Li Qufeng, and Li Changyan, who were standing by the array pillars, all looked solemn.
At the same time, the four of them turned their gazes toward the bronze mirror.
When their gaze fell upon it, they saw six cultivators standing on the crimson iron flying boat outside Yunmeng Lake.
Among them were four men dressed in black robes, their eyes sinister and menacing.
These four people were Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Thirty-Six Caves of the Black Wind Mountain Range in western Chu.
There are seven Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Black Wind Mountains, known as the Seven Fiends of Black Wind. They dominate the region and their fearsome reputation is widespread.
The elders of the Li family shifted their gazes and locked onto a thin man among the four, who was wearing a metal eye patch.
This person is named Yan Jiuming, the leader of the Thirty-Six Caves of Black Wind Mountain, and has the cultivation level of the late Foundation Establishment stage.
To Yan Jiuming's right was a slightly overweight man with narrowed eyes and a sinister smile.
This person's name is Yan Wuchang.
He held a small black and gold cauldron in his palm, engraved with the Five Poisons Totem. The cauldron had a lid, and wisps of black mist emanated from it. Upon seeing the black cauldron, the three elders of the Li family all changed color slightly. This was clearly a poison cultivator, known in the Chu Kingdom as "Poison Impermanence".
Although this person's cultivation level was only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, many late-Foundation Establishment cultivators avoided him.
Beside Yan Wuchang was a thin man with pale skin and a frail body, as if a gust of wind could blow him over. His eyes showed no emotion, and his indifference exuded a chilling aura that sent shivers down one's spine.
This person's name is He Zizai, and he is at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment.
Beside He Zizai was a man who was twelve feet tall, strong as an iron mountain, and with skin as dark as cast iron.
The man's name was Fang Daxian, and he was at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. He was dressed in a black robe, and he held a large sword in his right hand, with the back of the sword resting on his shoulder. His arm revealed muscles like coiled dragons, and his whole body seemed to be hiding a terrifying power, like a mountain torrent about to burst forth.
This is clearly a body-refining cultivator.
When they looked at the four people, the elders of the Li family all had solemn expressions.
Then, they shifted their gaze from the four people to the two cultivators to Yan Jiuming's left.
These are two middle-aged men dressed in brocade robes, with refined and scholarly appearances.
The first person on the left is named Su Mancang, the head of the Su family of Biyue Lake in Bihu County, who is at the peak of the early Foundation Establishment stage.
At this moment, Su Mancang's expression was somber, and a cold glint appeared in his eyes.
The Li family of Yunmeng Lake owed the Su family tens of thousands of spirit stones, which had driven the family to the brink of ruin.
If they don't receive any more spirit stones, the Su family will go bankrupt!
The elderly man beside Su Mancang was named Yu Tieshan, the head of the Yu family of Tiemu County in the State of Chu.
He was nearly seventy years old, yet he remained as imposing as a mountain.
He, who was originally renowned in Tiemu County, had lost all his majesty, and his eyes were filled with resentment.
Twelve years ago, they partnered with the Li family of Yunmeng Lake and signed a contract.
The Yu family supplied medicinal herbs to the Li family, and for this purpose, they recruited many people and acquired many medicinal mountains from Lingnong, investing a great deal of money.
As a result, the Li family defaulted on the spirit stones, causing the Yu family to be unable to make ends meet and even stop paying out the spirit stones to the spirit farmers!
If this continues, the Yu family will fall apart before Ling Nong even rebels.
Therefore, they chose to come to Yunmeng Lake to demand an explanation.
Behind these six Foundation Establishment cultivators were dozens of other cultivators dressed in black robes, all from the Thirty-Six Caves of the Black Wind Mountain Range.
These cultivators stood on the flying boat, and a billowing aura of malevolence emanated from them.
That kind of imposing presence is awe-inspiring.
"I demand that the Li family return my hard-earned money!" At this moment, Yu Tieshan strode forward, gathered his strength, and shouted loudly. His voice, like a great bell, resounded throughout the entire Yunmeng Lake for thousands of miles, vibrating endlessly. He had actually used the sonic technique "Heaven-Shaking Sound" of a body-refining cultivator.
The sound waves impacted the array light screen that appeared above Yunmeng Lake, causing Li Ruoyu and the others who had penetrated it with their divine sense to tremble.
Inside the array chamber on Li Clan's Earth Flame Island, Li Jun, Li Qufeng, and Li Changyan all withdrew their divine senses.
Their expressions were rather unpleasant.
At this moment, a ripple appeared on the crimson array light screen above Yunmeng Lake.
"Fellow Daoist, do not be anxious. Today, I, Li, will certainly give you an explanation!"
Li Ruoyu's voice resounded, reaching outside the formation.
"If we don't see any spirit stones within half an hour, we will breach Yunmeng Lake!" Yu Tieshan said.
"I will be here within half an hour!" Li Ruoyu said.
Outside Yunmeng Lake, Yu Tieshan and the others stared coldly at the array light screen that appeared in the air in front of them.
They naturally knew that the Li family of Yunmeng Lake could use this second-tier top-grade formation to observe the scene outside the lake.
……
Inside the Earth Flame Island array room.
Li Ruoyu's mind withdrew from the bronze mirror.
"Patriarch..." The three elders looked at Li Ruoyu with solemn expressions.
"Elder, come with me to meet them!" Li Ruoyu said.
"Yes!" The elder nodded.
"Second Elder, Third Elder, you two stay here to oversee the formation and prevent outsiders from entering my Yunmeng Lake," Li Ruoyu said.
"Rest assured, Patriarch, if these scoundrels dare to set foot on Yunmeng Lake, we will surely make them perish!" the Second Elder said, cupping his hands in greeting.
The Third Elder also cupped his hands in greeting.
Li Ruoyu nodded slightly, then moved, transforming into a rainbow of light with the Second Elder, and flew directly out of the magnificent array chamber.
outside.
Li Wannian has arrived.
"Give the order: the entire clan is on high alert!" Li Ruoyu said.
"Yes!" Li Wannian nodded.
Then, another rainbow of light flew out.
It was Elder Guest Xu Huaiyi and Gongsun Yangfei who arrived.
"Gentlemen, please accompany me to meet the people from outside the lake!" Li Ruoyu said.
"Yes!" Gongsun Yang and Xu Huaiyi nodded and followed Li Ruoyu as they flew towards the lake.
……
Yunmeng Lake is vast.
It is a distance of 620 li from the northwest shore of the lake where Zhiyu Tieshan and others are located on Diyan Island.
It took a Foundation Establishment cultivator more than four quarters of an hour to fly at full speed using his magical artifact.
call out!
A rainbow streaked across the void.
Li Ruoyu and Li Jun stood on their flying swords in front of the array light screen inside the lake.
Gongsun Yang followed and landed on his flying boat. Once they reached the lakeside, his flying boat flashed and disappeared into his palm.
The clouds swirled around his boots, suspending his body in mid-air.
These boots are clearly a second-tier magical artifact.
Xu Huaiyi, on the other hand, stood on a crimson flying sword.
Immediately, the four Foundation Establishment cultivators stood side by side, looking out at the lake through the array light barrier in front of them.
On a speedboat outside the lake.
Yu Tieshan and Su Mancang looked at Li Ruoyu, stepped forward, and cupped their hands, saying, "Patriarch Li, how have you been?"
"With such a grand entrance for you two fellow Daoists, outsiders might think you're here to attack my Yunmeng Lake!" Li Ruoyu said with a smile.
Yu Tieshan and Su Mancang, however, remained solemn and showed no intention of forcing a smile.
"Patriarch Li, are the spirit stones ready?" asked Fang Daxian, who was standing next to him with a large sword on his shoulder and a body as tall as an iron tower.
"Fellow Daoist, it seems that my Yunmeng Lake and your Black Wind Mountain have no connection whatsoever, do they?" Li Jun said with a cold snort.
"My Black Wind Mountain truly has no connection with your Cloud Dream Lake..." Fang Daxian said, "but the Su family head and the Yu family head said that once they receive the spirit stones, they will give us 60,000 low-grade spirit stones... Family head Li, you should settle the remaining payment as soon as possible!"
"We brothers are in a hurry to go for a drink!" he said arrogantly.
"Sixty thousand low-grade spirit stones?" Upon hearing this, Li Jun frowned. He looked at Yu Tieshan and Su Mancang and said, "Fellow Daoists, why do you have to do this? My Li family has already informed you that once the spirit stones are circulating, we will settle the payment with interest."
"Your pressure is causing my Li family's business to run into difficulties, and it will also affect your business. Why bother?"
He spoke earnestly and patiently.
"Hmph, wait? We've been waiting for six years... Every time we ask for payment, you give us the same excuse. If we wait any longer, the entire Su family will be begging on the streets!" Su Mancang said angrily. "Patriarch Li, I only have one thing to say: settle the debt in full, principal and interest, and that's it. Otherwise, don't blame us for disregarding our past relationship and personally going to your Li family to collect it!"
"Patriarch Li, over the past eight years, you have owed my Yu family a total of 56,800 low-grade spirit stones. With interest of 6,000, the total is 62,800. The remaining 800 will not be paid. However, you will have to pay half of the money for inviting Black Wind Mountain, which is 92,000 low-grade spirit stones. Please prepare them immediately," Yu Tieshan said coldly.
"What! You want us to pay for inviting Black Wind Mountain Range?" Upon hearing this, Li Jun was furious.
"Of course!" Yu Tieshan said, "If you hadn't been in arrears, we wouldn't have needed to invite the fellow Daoists from Black Wind Mountain to urge you to pay."
"This expense should be borne by you!"
His face was icy cold.
"The Li family owes my Su family a total of 88,600 low-grade spirit stones!" Su Mancang also said.
"You...you've gone too far!" Li Jun shouted angrily through gritted teeth, then looked at Li Ruoyu.