Chapter 56: Crisis

“Everyone, act together! Unleash your most powerful spells!” Li Zhirui steadied his mind and let out a loud shout, swinging his Needle Rain Technique without hesitation.

Hidden within the profuse, hair-like rain of needles were thirty-six life-taking pine needles. Although the rogue cultivators were on guard, some of their fragile defensive spiritual lights could not withstand the law-breaking power of the pine needles.

In an instant, several cultivators died mysteriously. Not a single wound could be seen on their bodies, not a drop of blood flowed, and even their facial expressions remained unchanged, as if they had not died but had simply fallen asleep.

Li Zhirui's eerie method temporarily intimidated the rogue cultivators present, preventing them from charging forward frantically.

The attacks from the other members of the Li family followed suit, raining various spells down upon the rogue cultivators in a single onslaught.

Many rogue cultivators were killed by these spells before they could even react; their deaths were incredibly tragic, and some were even beaten directly into meat paste.

At this point, the rogue cultivators dared not advance any further; many even silently retreated, preparing to look for other shops.

“With so many of us acting together, this formation cannot hold us! Once the formation is broken, all the massive amounts of spirit stones the Li family has earned, along with the spirit pills and magical tools they store here, will be ours!”

“Follow me! Attack!”

As soon as these words were uttered, they immediately caught Li Zhirui's attention. His gaze was as sharp as lightning, and he quickly located the source: an unremarkable-looking cultivator.

Li Zhirui immediately mobilized several pine needles to block his escape route, while the other life-taking needles lunged downward violently.

*Buzz!*

Unexpectedly, the man was prepared. The moment the pine needles fell, a burst of precious light suddenly shielded him, and he looked at Li Zhirui within the formation with a mocking sneer.

“You think you can kill me?” The cultivator, who clearly possessed a precious pearl above his head, revealed his true cultivation at this moment—he was actually a ninth-layer Qi Refinement cultivator.

“He is just using a concealed magical tool! As long as we maintain our defenses, he can't do anything to us! Besides, there are massive resources within the formation that can allow us to advance our cultivation!”

The cultivator shouted, “Kill them!”

“You are seeking death!” Li Zhirui's expression turned terrifyingly grim, but before Li Shiren returned, he had to defend the formation and the clansmen within it at all costs.

At this moment, Li Zhirui also realized that the opponent had revealed himself initially because he had seen through his methods; he wanted to lure Li Zhirui into using the pine needles so he could block them and dispel the panic in the other cultivators' hearts.

“Summon all the spirit beasts! No matter what, we must hold out until Uncle Ren returns!”

The Megalithic Array had decent defensive capabilities; even an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator might not be able to break it. However, the one presiding over the formation, Li Zhirui, was merely a Qi Refinement cultivator—and one who had never studied formations—meaning he could not exert the array's full power. Furthermore, the number of rogue cultivators was simply too great.

If Li Zhirui only defended without attacking, the Megalithic Array would likely be broken before long.

“Da Qing, cast control spells,” Li Zhirui commanded, then began to focus intently on controlling the formation, hoping to maximize the Megalithic Array's power.

Seeing Li Zhirui so calm and composed, the other clansmen's fear subsided. One by one, spirit beasts appeared in the narrow backyard.

The Jade-Beaked Eagle, Green-Eyed Tiger, White Crane, Fire Crow, and Stone Ape—five types of Grade 2 spirit beasts that the Li family had maintained to sustain their clan and which were commonly contracted by Li clansmen—all made their appearance.

Although they only possessed Qi Refinement cultivation, the power of their spells was not weak. Combined with the attacks of the other clansmen, they fought back and forth against the hundreds of rogue cultivators.

Of course, this was because the Li family members were protected by a defensive formation. Although the rogue cultivators also employed defensive spells, they were ultimately inferior. To preserve their lives, they spent most of their time in passive defense rather than launching attacks.

Because if they grew careless, the extra corpses appearing beside them would be their own fate!

These cultivators had all died at Li Zhirui's hands. Even knowing his method of attack was useless, because the pine needles possessed a law-breaking effect; if their defenses were not strong enough, the pine needles, waiting for an opportunity, would strike and claim their lives.

“Why hasn't Uncle Ren returned yet!” Li Zhirui was extremely anxious; the spiritual power within his body was running low!

The Megalithic Array was supplemented by spirit stones, so it did not consume much of Li Zhirui's spiritual power, but the pine needles were different. Simply keeping them activated consumed a vast amount of spiritual power, let alone using them to attack others from time to time.

Gritting his teeth, Li Zhirui swallowed another Spirit Replenishing Pill. Without waiting to refine it thoroughly, he immediately used that spiritual power to maintain the pine needles.

This practice would cause damage to his meridians, but the situation was critical, and Li Zhirui could not afford to care. As long as he could hold out, the worst that could happen was spending a few months recuperating back in the clan.

“They won't last much longer!” the leading ninth-layer Qi Refinement cultivator suddenly shouted. The morale of the rogue cultivators, which had been low, instantly surged as if they had been injected with adrenaline, and they launched another attack on the Megalithic Array.

Dozens, even hundreds of spells came flying toward them. Various spiritual lights illuminated the night, looking quite magnificent, but beneath this beautiful spectacle lay a murderous intent aimed at taking lives.

Under their onslaught, the formation that had held out for so long began to dim, and the protective shield started to fluctuate violently.

Li Zhirui stared fixedly at that man, but the opponent was hiding within the crowd, and the precious pearl above his head subtly countered the pine needles, preventing Li Zhirui from being able to finish him off.

There was also one point that puzzled Li Zhirui: these rogue cultivators had already paid such a high price and so many had died, yet they were still unwilling to retreat. Occasionally, passing rogue cultivators even joined in.

Li Zhirui could understand the latter, but he could not fathom why these rogue cultivators, who were typically terrified of death, were being so tenacious this time.

“Zhirui, our spiritual power is exhausted,” a clansman suddenly spoke, interrupting Li Zhirui's thoughts.

Li Zhirui frowned slightly. After a moment's thought, he took several Spirit Replenishing Pills from his storage bag and said, “Hurry and recover your spiritual power. I will maintain the formation.”

In this moment of crisis, no one was polite with Li Zhirui. They immediately swallowed the pills and began to refine them as quickly as possible.

Li Zhirui took five hundred spirit stones from the shop's storage bag and placed them into the core of the formation to boost the Megalithic Array's defensive power. However, the critical problem now was that cracks were beginning to appear on the formation flags.

If this continued, the formation would be broken before long. When that happened, Li Zhirui and the others would absolutely have no way to survive!

The rogue cultivators seemed to realize they were nearing the end of their strength. They attacked even more vigorously, with many even abandoning their defenses to launch frantic assaults.

Countless spells struck the defensive spiritual light, causing waves of ripples, and the cracks on the formation flags grew larger and larger. For a moment, the Megalithic Array teetered on the brink of collapse, seemingly unable to hold out much longer.

“Zhirui, once the formation is broken, escape through the back door. We will do our best to hold these rogue cultivators back for you,” an elder from the 'Shi' generation suddenly said.

Hearing this, Li Zhirui froze. He truly never expected such a scene to happen to him.

“It is because we, the elders, are useless, always making you stand in front of us. Now it is our turn to do something for a junior like you,” another elder said with a smile.

“If you can make it back to the clan, please tell your aunt that I am sorry to her...”

“Elders!” Li Zhirui's voice choked up. He wanted to say something to encourage them, to say they would never end up in such a tragic state, but when he opened his mouth, no words would come out.

Because everyone knew in their hearts that unless a miracle occurred, it would be great luck if even one of them could leave alive—and they were giving that sole chance to Li Zhirui.