Chapter 32: Liu Clan's Attack
Li Bai woke up with an odd feeling. He brushed it off and thought of some more plans to get famous. He knew that there was the Backwater City competition in the later weeks, but he felt too impatient to wait. He wanted immediate results!
Even though his strength, his main objective, had been risen to large heights, he was fixed on gaining disciples this time, now that he had the epiphany. He didn't want to be the strongest anymore, although that would be a good achievement.
However, he already obtained this achievement multiple times, and no matter how many times he restarted, he always would. It was time to get a new achievement attached to his many names.
He thought of ways to gain disciples, and finally, after many long hours, he thought of one. Li Bai called Jin He from her room which was right beside his.
Jin He was the one who requested her room to be beside the young master. This confused many servants, as no one knew of the relationship between her and Li Bai except for Li Fu, Li Bai, and Jin He herself.
Corresponding quickly to the call, Jin He arrived at the door to Li Bai's room quickly. She saw her master's serious face. It seems like something's about to happen...
Li Bai was sitting while looking on the floor with his eyebrows furrowed. Normally, if this face was seen, one would be startled, but in Li Bai's case, he looked very silly. As serious as she is, Jin He couldn't help but giggle a bit.
The young master noticed this clearly. If his cultivation was like before, he would have. But now that his cultivation was at the Fifth Level Mark, he could hear all kinds of subtle sounds, including Jin He's little laugh.
Pretending not to have heard the giggle, he fixed his expression to an unserious one after he deduced the reason why Jin He laughed. He stood up and swept the dust off of his clothes.
He then turned his back against Jin He with both of his hands holding each other. This posture gave off a menacing vibe.
"Jin He, I need you to do something."
"What is it, master?"
"I want you to cause a ruckus outside..."
Li Bai's plan was to make Jin He cause trouble on the streets, while he swoops in to stop her. Repeating this plan in his mind made him rethink his choices.
"...No, wait, never mind."
Jin He raised her eyebrow. If it was something she could do, she would do it, so why was her master hesitating? She owed him very much after all, but her following him was not out of obligation but rather out of trust.
"Master, if can do it, then I will."
Li Bai wasn't hesitating for the reason Jin He thought he was. He wasn't hesitating because Jin He couldn't do what he planned to make her do, the reason was because he reevaluated his plan and deemed it extremely silly. No signs of hesitation were showing on Jin He's face, but if he mentioned the whole plan to her, she would think that it is a particularly petty plan.
Instead, he thought that he should make his debut in the big stage, the Backwater City tournament. He held off his impatience for now, and found himself contented with teaching Jin He, his first and only disciple for the time being. In fact, Li Bao, his sister, could already be considered one of Li Bai's disciples because of her constantly asking for advice from him.
While he was thinking about all of this, he stayed silent and just stood there with Jin He waiting for his orders. A lot of time passed before Li Bai went back to his senses.
"Ah, Jin He, sorry. I was contemplating."
"It's okay, master."
Although Jin He called him master, she spoke no formalities. As such, Li Bai was getting irritated by this halfhearted tone of respect and wished for her to speak normally.
"Jin He, drop the master. Call me Li Bai instead."
"Fine, Li Bai."
As time passed, the two talked about random topics, with Li Bai finding himself satisfied with teaching Jin He about the many things that she did not know. Li Bai was treating Jin He like a child, because after all, he has lived much longer than Jin He, so her age of twenty-three was nothing. Sometimes, Li Bai would find himself acting like a child, supposedly influenced by his small body, and it's in these times that Jin He would treat him like a child.
While the two were enjoying their time talking to each other, Li Bao barged in Li Bai's room and demanded that Li Bai teach her again. She shouted inside the room.
"Bai didi! Help me with this!"
Jin He and Li Bai were surprised by Li Bao's sudden entrance. They quickly turned to look at her.
Li Bao saw Jin He and Li Bai look at her like she was some kind of criminal. Maybe I interrupted something? ...That's it!
"Ah, Bai didi, mysterious woman, sorry for abruptly interrupting your private time!"
Li Bao turned around and started to walk away. Li Bai stood up and chased after her.
"Wait, wait, Bao jie-jie. What do you need help with?"
A confused Li Bai caught up with his sister. He was puzzled why Li Bao would walk away like that if she had something to ask.
"I'll ask later, it seems like you two are doing something."
"No, since you are already here, you should ask now. We aren't really doing something."
Li Bao finally submitted and asked the issue she had. Li Bai taught her while Jin He watched idly. She listened to Li Bai as well.
When Jin He heard something that confused her, she stopped Li Bai and asked him. Li Bai was puzzled, why would she ask something about this topic? Nevertheless, he answered her question. Li Bao was confused, so she too asked Li Bai.
Li Bai was now teaching both of them at the same time.
.....
Most of the minor clan heads were gathered in a room, with a foreigner at the center. This foreigner wore fancy clothes that looked were expensive than the minor patriarchs' total worth! As such, they looked at the foreigner and his intricate clothes with envy.
The foreigner brought out a container that contained a reddish powder. The others then grinned as they examined the powder from afar.
"Are you sure that'll work now?"
"Yes, yes, master Jin."
The foreigner handed the powder to the one closest to him. That person then handed it to the one behind him.
"Now, hurry off."
.....
Li Fu was in a meeting about the Backwater City tournament. It seems that he was specially invited by the Liu clan because usually, the only ones that attended these were the major clans.
For this reason, Li Fu was not in the Li clan at the moment. This meant that the management of the clan would be left to the second highest position in the clan, the high elder.
The high elder was someone that Li Fu really trusted, so it was only natural that he handed over the responsibility to him. He was very skilled when it came to managing the clan, so everything went well.
Li Fu came back with a troubled expression on his face, sweat dripping down from his forehead. It was evident that he rushed to get back, there was something extremely urgent to address.
As soon as the clansmen saw the state of which their patriarch was in, they started to panic. They have never seen their patriarch like that, what could've possibly happened that made him like that? Li Fu called everyone to deliver the dreadful news.
"Calm down, everyone. I have something to say. The Liu clan has decided to cut all ties with us."
Everyone had despair written all over their faces. As for Li Bai, he simply didn't care as much as the other people. Jin He wasn't that familiar with the clan so she was not affected as well.
.....
In the Liu clan, everything was in chaos. All of the elders were inexplicably angry! Even Liu Gong was like that, it was like something invoked his anger! Especially when he saw his old friend Li Fu, he couldn't help but want to punch him!
When Li Fu arrived, Liu Gong glared at him with hostile intentions, bloodlust emanating from their whole body, unlike when the other clan heads arrived. Normally, if there was a meeting in which all of the major clans attending, he would be angry at the Lu clan. In fact, this was the case before Li Fu arrived! But once he did, all of Liu Gong's anger was directed towards him!
Liu Gong rampaged like a maniac in the meeting that he declared he would cut all ties with everyone in the vicinity! Of course, all of the clan heads were baffled! Not only did he get angry to the person he invited even though there was strong opposition, but he also got angry at all of them, claiming that their relationship with the Liu clan was no more.
After the meeting, the rumors that the Liu clan was planning on secluding themselves spread. Cutting all ties with everyone only meant two things after all.
The first reason to cut ties with someone was if they offended them. Surely, not everyone offended the Liu clan, and at the same time at that.
The second reason was if they were going into seclusion, planning on not relying on anyone. This was more likely than every clan offending the Liu clan at the same time, and so this became the general belief.
The chaotic state within the Liu clan was not decreasing, on the contrary, it was actually rising. A spectator was watching this chaos from afar, gleefully grinning in the process. It was the foreigner!
"Oh, if things go well this time... this city will be in the palm of my hand! And I'll finally get recognized by my stingy boss!"
The situation within the Li clan wasn't any better. The Li clan had received so much help from the Liu clan that they had become dependent on them. If they were not to get their support now, who knew what would happen?
Suddenly, a storm of dust was heading towards the Li clan's territory. This storm of dust was accompanied by loud sounds of stomping and screaming. As it grew closer, it became more obvious what it was.
It was an army composed of the elders of the Liu clan, lead by Liu Gong.
An army composed of high ranking people from the Liu clan along with their followers and servants was charging towards the Li clan for an unknown reason. When this was seen by the clansmen of the Li clan, they all started to panic more! They were sure they had no chance of winning.
Fortunately for them, quite a few hidden gems have been polished since the Annual Li Clan Testing Ceremony revealed them. There was a higher percentage of Fifth Level Mark cultivators among the cultivators in the Li clan, but ultimately, this advantage was nothing against the Liu clan's enormous numbers.
Liu Gong was leading the army, rushing towards the Li clan at high inhumane speeds. Li Fu was in front to intervene. He was still confused as to why his old friend would suddenly turn hostile against him. Nevertheless, he needed to be prepared for any sort of attack, even if it came from his friend.
The news of the Liu clan's army reached Li Bai, and he suddenly snapped out of teaching both Li Bao and Jin He. This is a chance for some battle experience! His face showed not an expression of despair upon hearing the news from a servant, it was more of excitement.
The servant was puzzled as to why the trash Li Bai would be so excited about the Liu clan's attack. Maybe his viewpoint was a little twisted, not caring about the Li clan since he was bullied. Li Bai may be thinking that this was divine intervention and that the Li clan deserved it. That thought made the servant despise Li Bai even more.
Li Bai walked out of his room with both Jin He and Li Bao. Coincidentally, Li Da also happened to pass by when they exited the room. When he saw the sight of his trash cousin coming out from his room accompanied by the two most beautiful girls, he almost coughed up blood.
As a pervert, his thoughts immediately went to them just having finished. Li Da also saw that a servant looked at Li Bai with disgust, which further strengthened his distorted beliefs. He thought that the servant walked in on Li Bai and the two girls and was disgusted.
"Ahhh... trash cousin, how did you gain the favor of these two goddesses?!"
As Li Da was writhing on the ground in agony, Li Bai was planning in his head what to do, since the enemy had multiple Fifth Level Mark cultivators, they were a force not to be taken lightly. He was at the peak of Fifth Level Mark himself, so he should have no trouble fending for himself, and Jin He was at the peak of the Godly Mark Realm, so she should be able to take care of far more than him. His sister, however, was a mere Third Level Mark, and that was a huge problem since it made a huge hole in the defense.
Yes, almost all of the elders of the Li clan and Li Fu himself were at Fifth Level Mark, but the mere number of elders in the Liu clan could make up for that, not to mention their followers. In huge numbers, even Third Level Marks were nothing to scoff at, and this Liu clan had an enormous number.
This meant that the Li clan would be relying far more on their lower Level Mark cultivators than the Liu clan to make up for the difference in the number of people. What's more, these lower Level Mark cultivators would be facing off against the Fifth Level Mark cultivators of the Liu clan, and defeat was ensured. Luckily, they had Jin He who could take on the Liu clan cultivators that the Li clan cultivators should not be able to face.
Li Bai could fend for himself before the cultivators, but since his strength hasn't been revealed yet, he should be the biggest hole in the defense. Most of the cultivators would be aiming for him rather than other people because they're certain that they could beat him. This would be devastating for a normal Fifth Level Mark, the majority of an army aiming for them, but since Li Bai wasn't a normal Fifth Level Mark, he stayed composed.
He knew many techniques that could help him tremendously, he could even beat a First Heavenly Mark 1-gem cultivator! Of course, he won't reveal all of his trump cards for a measly quarrel between two clans in a backwater city. He won't hold back either since he formed some attachment to this place.
With this, Li Bai was ready as ever to take on the huge army of the Liu clan. If they were as smart as Li Bai predicted, then this fight would be over in a flash. However, if they were charging in with no tactics, that could prove to be a problem since the raw strength of the army was enough to level the Li clan!
What Li Bai was wondering about now was the reason why the Liu clan was attacking the Li clan, the clan they had the best relationship with due to the friendship between the clan heads. Li Bai couldn't think of any reason for the Liu clan to attack them, it was too confusing to think about. He reaffirmed himself that the reason was irrelevant if a major clan was to attack a minor clan indiscriminately.
.....
Li Fu was ordering around several men hastily. He didn't know when the army would arrive. They could arrive any second now...
The defense formation of the cultivators inside the Li clan was hurriedly put together, so there were a lot of mistakes here and there. Li Fu couldn't be bothered to fix them, as he was a mess himself. Why would his best friend attack his clan so suddenly?
The sound of galloping horses could be heard. The citizens living near the Li clan's territory were leaving, not wanting to get caught up in the collateral damage.
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