Chapter 230: Confession
The Loose Cultivator, having suffered a loss once, where would he dare underestimate Li Zhirui's attack this time? Especially since the millstone was emanating such a terrifying power.
He brought out his defensive treasures with all his might, with numerous defensive spells enveloping him layer upon layer.
But when the millstone descended and struck him, seeing the spirit light instantly dissolve, his heart filled with terror, and without caring about the consumption of mana, he desperately cast defensive spells.
It was not until the tenth layer of spirit light shattered that the power of the millstone was no longer so terrifying, finally collapsing into pieces before him.
Seeing this, Li Zhirui let out a somewhat disappointed sigh. This was a divine power constructed from the Water-Wood Divine Light, his strongest one.
Although he never thought that he could resolve a Golden Core Cultivator with just one divine power alone, seeing the other party unscathed was somewhat of a blow to him.
"I underestimated you before!" Annoyance flickered in the cultivator's eyes as he flipped his hand and took out a glittering, gourd-shaped magical treasure.
Upon tilting the gourd, in an instant, countless golden miniature swords burst forth, densely shooting towards him.
Li Zhirui's expression changed slightly, and he grew more solemn. His fingers fluttered rapidly, repeatedly forming spells, with layers of water curtains falling from the sky, blocking in front of him to counter the attack of the miniature swords.
The result was that only after breaking through three layers of water curtains did they become dull and powerless.
"If this is the extent of your abilities, fellow Daoist, you might as well retreat as soon as possible," Li Zhirui said with an even tone, without a hint of mockery.
"Then let me show you what I'm capable of!"
The man seemed to pour all of his mana into the gourd magical treasure, which grew in size several dozen times, engulfing the nearby golden spiritual energy.
A great wind arose, causing the Spirit Boat to sway from side to side; Li Chengmo and the others had to support each other to avoid falling over.
Then they saw from the gourd a sky full of golden light, which seemed alive, transforming into all manner of Devil Beasts, overwhelming the sky as they swept towards Li Zhirui.
The golden Devil Beasts moved with incredible speed, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived before him. With no other choice, Li Zhirui had to once again deploy a divine power. Water and wood connected to form a forest atop the water, with numerous vines hidden within, like lurking snakes, continuously strangling the Devil Beasts.
This was Li Zhirui's first time clashing with a cultivator of the same realm after breaking through to the Golden Core, and contrary to his expectations of an evenly matched battle, he held the advantage whether he was attacking or defending.
The reason for this was that the opponent, being a Loose Cultivator, did not have as solid a foundation during the Foundation Establishment Realm as he did. And after breaking through to Golden Core, he had no way to learn divine powers, only able to wield spells of lower-level cultivators.
The gap between spells and divine powers was clear from their fight; the two were incomparable.
However, Li Zhirui could only maintain a slight advantage and found no way to completely defeat his opponent, let alone kill him.
Defeating a Golden Core Cultivator was not an easy task, even if the opponent was a Loose Cultivator, it was not something that could be done casually; at least not by Li Zhirui at his current level.
Seeing the golden Devil Beasts continually being vanquished, the cultivator's expression grew increasingly solemn. He had previously fought with Golden Core cultivators from sects or families, but never had he felt as stifled as he did this time!
For a moment, the thought of retreat arose in his heart. After all, he could not beat his opponent; rather than waste more time entangled with him, it would be better to withdraw and seek other targets. Experience more on My Virtual Library Empire
Li Zhirui was unaware that his opponent was already considering retreat and was still thinking about how to drive him away, his moves becoming more and more ruthless, even deploying the Golden Core True Fire.
Seeing this, the Golden Core Cultivator violently urged the gourd magical treasure, and a dazzling golden light exploded dazzlingly before their eyes.
The light was too brilliant, and in just an instant, Li Zhirui was blinded, forcing him to temporarily cease his attack. But before closing his eyes, he hastily protected himself with a divine power and observed his surroundings with his Divine Sense.
However, it seemed that the golden light also had the effect of obstructing Divine Sense, so much so that he could not extend it very far, only about one zhang around him.
By the time Li Zhirui felt the golden light fade and opened his eyes, he discovered that the other party had already vanished without a trace.
He had no intention of pursuing, and unhesitatingly controlled the Spirit Boat to fly towards Da Rong Island.
In the recent battle, to maintain his dominance, he spared no expense of his mana, so that after just a moment or two, only forty percent of his original mana remained.
Li Zhirui didn't dare stay, naturally because he hadn't forgotten that the opponent had a partner rushing over!
With his current condition, facing two Golden Core cultivators would be too strenuous, even with several third-rank Talismans in hand.
"Come on out, all of you," said Li Zhirui to the younger generations after leaving the battlefield.
"Uncle Shiling, you were just too amazing! You constantly suppressed that Golden Core, forcing him to flee."
"Yes, yes! Uncle, you didn't realize how cool you looked just now!"
A fight seemed to make them forget their fear of Li Zhirui, as they spoke with eyes full of admiration.
Although they had been hiding in the cabin the whole time, they could still clearly see the situation outside through the windows.
"Hahaha," Li Zhirui laughed joyously, but didn't say much more.
And this was one of the goals Li Zhizhun had in mind when he asked him to take them out.
The previous auction was meant to broaden their horizons, to let them know that beyond the Li family, there were many other forces, some much stronger than the Li family.
This fight during the return trip was also within Li Zhizhun's calculations. He had predicted that Li Zhirui, who had purchased the Spiritual Objects, would undoubtedly be intercepted by cultivators on the road, leading to a fight.
He hoped that through this fight, a seed longing for a higher realm would be planted in the hearts of Li Chengmo and other future members of the Li family.
Perhaps the seed in most people's hearts would only sprout or even die before birth, but among so many, there would always be one that would thrive and grow strong.
And as long as there was one, all the painstaking planning of Li Zhizhun would not have been in vain.
The rest of the trip home was smooth sailing, with no more cultivators blocking the way, and they returned to Da Rong Island safe and sound.
"We're home now, everyone go and rest well. Chengmo, come with me," said Li Zhirui.
"Yes!"
Li Chenglin, who had been pondering whether to come clean to the family, finally made up his mind at that moment.
"Uncle, there's something I want to talk to you about." Seeing that Li Zhirui was about to take Li Chengmo away, he quickly spoke up.
Li Zhirui turned to look at him and, after a moment's thought, said, "Go back and rest first. Come to the main hall tomorrow morning to talk."
"Okay!" After uttering those two words, Li Chenglin suddenly felt a sense of relief and even experienced a breakthrough in his state of mind.
Seeing this, Li Zhirui laughed and said, "Let's delay it for a few days, wait until you've solidified your realm before you come to find me, or you can talk to your eldest brother."
Having said that, he took Li Chengmo and left.