Chapter 50: Snake Tail

While Kou Bai was boosting morale, he failed to notice a spiritual eagle circling incessantly above their heads, its sharp gaze piercing through the vast distance to land upon the crowd.

On Great Banyan Island, the spiritual eagle's contractor was watching this scene through a secret method, utilizing the eyes of his companion.

"There are a total of three Foundation Establishment cultivators on the ship: one at the late stage and two at the middle stage. The number of Qi Refinement cultivators exceeds one hundred, and all are at least at the middle stage of Qi Refinement."

As he introduced the situation, the people present breathed a sigh of relief. Although this force was powerful, it was not enough to make them feel they were facing an insurmountable foe.

The Li family had a total of over seventy cultivators, including twenty-five at the late stage of Qi Refinement, thirty-eight at the middle stage, and the remainder were clan members of the "Zhi" generation who had only recently begun their cultivation, lingering at the early stage or yet to start.

"Do not let your guard down. Every clan member is extremely precious. Since we hold the advantage of heaven, earth, and man, we must do our utmost to ensure there are no casualties," Li Shiqing said with a serious expression.

"They are only ten miles away from Great Banyan Island!" the spiritual eagle's contractor suddenly announced.

Li Shiqing issued an immediate command: "Pass the order: let all clan members who have contracted Earth or Wood attribute spiritual beasts set up a large number of traps along the path these enemies take toward our clan territory, then return immediately."

"Once they walk into the traps, all clan members and spiritual beasts are to launch spell attacks upon them."

After these two waves of attacks, they would arrive before the formation and face the Li family cultivators in a direct confrontation.

However, Li Shiqing believed that these two waves of attacks alone would be enough to break their morale and claim many lives!

As time ticked away, the atmosphere in the main hall grew increasingly heavy, until the sound of screams and wails drifted from the distance, finally bringing a hint of a smile to everyone's faces.

Li Zhirui was also among the trap-setting team; Da Qing's various wood-attribute spells dealt a heavy lesson to these ignorant rogue cultivators.

Of course, among all the clan members, Li Shilian's stone ape possessed the greatest lethality; those stone spears, comparable to fine iron, could even pierce through first-grade defensive talismans.

However, this ambush did not cause significant damage to the Foundation Establishment cultivators. Their formidable strength and ability to temporarily hover in the air meant these traps could not harm them at all.

"Damn it! Our movements were discovered long ago!" Seeing the heavy casualties among the Qi Refinement cultivators, a trace of terror appeared in Kou Bai's eyes.

But before they could react, Li Shilian had already led the clan members back into hiding, and the cultivators could not find a trace of them.

"Be careful, there must be more traps along this road," Kou Bai reminded loudly, feeling slightly relieved now that the spells had stopped falling.

Following this, all the cultivators walked cautiously along the mountain path, occasionally using their divine sense to scout the way and ensure they did not fall into traps.

By the time they finished traversing this stretch of less than thirty miles, more than an hour had passed.

But before they could breathe a sigh of relief, the Li family cultivators suddenly appeared, followed by hundreds of incoming spells!

Sharp golden lights, roaring fireballs, and heavy boulders formed an unstoppable torrent of spells, seemingly intent on swallowing the invaders whole.

"Save me! Senior Kou Bai, save me!" The rogue cultivators standing at the very front of the group wailed in agony, only to become mangled corpses moments later.

Such a terrifying scene sent chills through everyone's hearts. For a time, many stood frozen in place, motionless, until the torrent of spells consumed them. Only the intense pain brought them back to consciousness, but it was too late; no one could save them.

"Everyone, cast defensive spells!" Kou Bai's voice could no longer hide his fear.

It wasn't that he feared the torrent of spells, but rather that he saw Li Shiqing and Li Shilian standing at the front of the crowd, along with the two Foundation Establishment spiritual beasts beside them.

Of course, besides the Azure-Eyed Tiger and the Stone Ape, the other Li family cultivators also had spiritual beasts by their sides with cultivation levels similar to their own.

"Why did no one know that the Li family is actually a beast-taming clan?!" one Foundation Establishment cultivator said, his face blank with shock.

No one could answer him, because no one had known the Li family hid such a massive secret.

"Run!"

Someone suddenly shouted, and the rogue cultivators, who had long been terrified out of their wits, turned and fled as if they had seen a glimmer of hope in a desperate situation.

Among all the cultivators, the Foundation Establishment cultivators led by Kou Bai ran the fastest, stepping on spiritual swords and flying several miles away in the blink of an eye.

"Patriarch, should we pursue them and kill them all?" Many clan members were eager to act. Although these cultivators might not be exceptionally wealthy, they surely had some spirit stones, right?

"Just drive them from behind." If they were truly pushed into a corner, the cultivators might drag several Li clan members down with them before dying, which was something Li Shiqing did not want to see.

"Follow them and drive all the rogue cultivators off Great Banyan Island," Li Shiqing ordered.

Fortunately, there were few secular clansmen on Great Banyan Island, and the desolate northern part had no mortals living there; otherwise, these people would have suffered.

Under the pursuit of the Li family, the rogue cultivators forgot about the traps on the road, resulting in many more deaths during their flight.

In the end, fewer than fifty rogue cultivators managed to escape Great Banyan Island!

From over a hundred ambitious men to about forty dejected survivors, it took only a few hours.

"Second Brother, why not kill them all? We don't even need the clan members to act; you and I could handle these rogue cultivators ourselves," Li Shilian said, his face full of confusion.

Li Shiqing said indifferently, "Who said I was going to let them go?"

Although it was nearly impossible for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to be born among these rogue cultivators, what if?

To strike a snake and not kill it is to invite harm; Li Shiqing would not leave a hidden danger for the clan.

The crowd was stunned. *Didn't you just tell them to leave?*

However, Li Zhirui understood Li Shiqing's meaning and guessed, "Patriarch, when you let them leave earlier, were you worried they would cause damage to the island?"

But now that they had left Great Banyan Island and were out in the vast ocean, Li Shiqing naturally had no such concerns.

"Let's go. You and I will go finish them off," Li Shiqing said to Li Shilian.

The two Foundation Establishment cultivators, accompanied by a late-stage Qi Refinement elder, boarded a spiritual boat and flew into the sky, catching up to the sea vessel that had not traveled far in just a few moments.

*Boom—!*

Two incredibly powerful spells descended from the sky. The first-grade sea vessel was instantly shattered into pieces. Some lucky rogue cultivators did not die in the strike, but heavily wounded, they had no hope of survival in the vast ocean.

After searching the sea surface and finding no survivors, Li Shiqing and Li Shilian returned to Great Banyan Island with their bountiful spoils.