Dragon Gate and the Holy Palace had actually mobilized most of their forces there, with the leaders of both powers personally commanding the siege, all just to eliminate Li Hao.
They did not act rashly but chose this opportunity to dispatch troops to attack Dragon Gate’s old lair.
This was a rare opportunity, with the Holy Palace’s lair being eradicated by Prince Qing taking advantage of the situation, Dragon Gate’s lair was also vulnerably defended.
Through Tianji Tower’s mobilization of a large amount of intelligence, they had scouted out Dragon Gate’s nest and reported to His Majesty, after which the Li Family and the Imperial Family led troops to jointly rush to destroy it.
After spending more than half a month, the old lair of Dragon Gate was annihilated. Upon receiving the news outside the Mo River, the Master of Dragon Gate flew into a rage and advanced his plan to attack Qingzhou, heading straight for Qingzhou City.
But Li Xiaoran and Li Muxiu had already known that Li Hao had left the Mo River, so they did not continue to stand guard outside the Mo River but returned to Qingzhou ahead of time.
And anticipating that Dragon Gate, upon learning that their lair had been destroyed, might vent their fury on Qingzhou, they returned early to arrange defenses, leading to the failure of Dragon Gate and the Holy Palace’s overnight attack on Qingzhou, failing to break Qingzhou City and instead revealing their intent.
Following the failure of the Liangzhou plan, and the thwarted sneak attack on Qingzhou City, Dragon Gate and the Holy Palace could no longer act covertly. After negotiation, they directly called upon various demonic forces, aggressively attacking Qingzhou City with a vast and formidable presence.
Thus, this long-lasting slaughter began.
And in this battle, both sides sacrificed countless lives, holding on for over a month, until Qingzhou eventually fell.
Retreating all the way to their defensive line, abandoning most of Qingzhou’s city defenses, they finally, retreated to Qingzhou City.
The army sent from the Imperial City was intercepted midway by another force of demonic powers, not only failing to reinforce Qingzhou but also suffering heavy losses.
The demons besieging Qingzhou were not only from the Holy Palace and Dragon Gate, aside from those still guarding outside the Mo River, awaiting the return of their lord of the Great Void Realm, top-tier demonic forces also joined the fray.
When they sought aid from the Xia Family in Youzhou, they instead learned of the assault on the Xia Family by Gluttonous Valley. Clearly, this move by Gluttonous Valley was to constrain the Xia Family, for though the five Divine General Mansions competed openly and covertly, they assisted each other in times of crisis, and the Xia Family was the closest Divine General Mansion to the Li Family.
The assault by Gluttonous Valley left the Youzhou Xia Family unable to send reinforcements to aid Qingzhou, cutting off another of their hopes.
In recent days, the distress signals sent from Qingzhou to other places all sank without a trace, as if Qingzhou were isolated, surrounded by demons.
The force amassed by the demons this time was even greater than in Liangzhou, seemingly determined to shatter the entire Qingzhou, to break through completely.
Retreating from the border, fighting and losing ground, they abandoned their helmets and armor; now they have retreated to Qingzhou City, which is their very last stronghold.
If they lose this defense, all that will remain is that Divine General Mansion, like a frail boat in this vast sea, ready to be overturned at any moment.
Li Xiaoran’s expression was desolate; in over a month of deadly combat, both he and Li Muxiu had nearly lost their lives.
The Master of Dragon Gate revealed his strength, having already broken through to the Grand Tao of Peace Realm.
And the Palace Master of the Holy Palace was also at the Half-step Tao Realm, extremely formidable.
If not for Li Muxiu, who was at the Half-step Tao Realm and could barely hold up the Dao Domain to resist, they would have probably died in battle.
Using the Half-Step Invincible Fist and Half-Step Dao Domain, Li Muxiu bitterly fought the Master of Dragon Gate to a stalemate, greatly delaying the collapse of Qingzhou. Otherwise, Qingzhou would have already fallen a month ago, and Qingzhou City would have been destroyed long before.
But now, they were still stuck in a desperate situation.
“Their target is our Li Family, they want to see the Divine General Mansion removed from the records!”
After over a month of deadly combat, Li Xiaoran had discerned the demons’ objective—to eradicate the Li Family—and this was just the first step in their conquest of Dayu.
This plot might have been brewing decades ago, from the successive falls of the Nine Sons, to the frequent demonic attacks on the Li Family’s territories. Looking back, everything seems to have traces to follow, a targeted strategy.
They aimed to disrupt the bloodline of the Li Family, to leave the Li Family without successors. If they waited another few decades, the direct bloodline of the Li Family would wane, and the chosen True Dragons would likely be inferior to those of other Divine General Mansions by a large margin.
That would be the perfect time to attack the Li Family.
But now, the plans of the demons had changed, seemingly moved ahead of schedule.
Li Muxiu’s eyes were deep as he regulated his breath slowly. Just before, outside the Array, he had battled the Palace Master of the Holy Palace, driving him back in defeat, but he himself had also expended a great deal of energy.
The leaders of these two powers took turns in attacking him, leaving him utterly exhausted.
“Has there been no response from Mount Wuliang?”
Li Muxiu’s face was grim as he looked westward.
There, a tide of demons covered the mountaintops, dense and threatening, exerting immense pressure on everyone inside the city. Yet his gaze remained unchanged, piercing through the demon tide, looking towards the distant horizon.
Over there lies Mount Wuliang.
The Li Family had grown close to Mount Wuliang, offering incense daily. Now, Li Qianfeng was still the direct disciple of that Buddha Lord.
But the letters sent to Mount Wuliang for aid had vanished without a trace.
It was unclear whether they were not received or if Mount Wuliang itself was in trouble.
“Notify Tiangang,” Li Muxiu said, “I can’t hold on much longer. The Li Family has reached the moment of ultimate survival, it’s time to call them back.”
Li Muxiu retracted his gaze, knowing they could no longer rely on Mount Wuliang. He took a deep breath, his eyes becoming piercingly cold.
Li Xiaoran was slightly taken aback, his face changed, but then he fell silent.
He knew that, at this point, it indeed was time for the Li Family’s desperate struggle.
The glory of the past had spread far and wide. Now, it was time to return and defend that glory and legacy.
If the ancestral shrine was destroyed, then the scattered bloodline would be meaningless.
The thousand-year legacy of the Divine General Mansion was not just about bloodline, it also encompassed its foundation. Once that foundation was shattered, even if the bloodline survived, a resurgence would be impossible.
After all, success often depended on the right timing and opportunities, which could not be replicated.
“I understand.”
Li Xiaoran glanced at his second brother. He nodded slightly, then rose from his seat and sped towards the Divine General Mansion within the city.
Soon, like a streak of light, he descended into the Divine General Mansion.
Inside, within the Mountain and River Courtyard.
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Many figures gathered in the hall of the courtyard, the leading figure being a tall man with a dignified and commanding aura—Li Tian Gang.
At his right hand, a female general in battle armor sat on a rattan chair, his wife Ji Qingqing.
Besides the couple, He Jianlan, Li Xuanli, Gao Qingqing, and other ladies from various courtyards were also present.
But unlike their usual grandiose dresses, these ladies, like Ji Qingqing, were all clad in battle armor, their faces bearing a cold severity, seemingly ready to rush into battle at any moment.
“Mount Wuliang has not replied…”
“The Sword Saint from the Sword Cottage in the south also hasn’t responded…”
In the hall, the atmosphere was cold and solemn.
The network of connections from the past of the Divine General Mansion appeared to have been stripped away suddenly, leaving no trace.
However, excluding those two major powers closely related to the Li Family, many other forces and sects that had once benefited from the Li Family had hurried over. Yet, the majority of them did not possess warriors of the Four Stands Realm or even the Three Immortal Realms—the strongest among them.
Now, they urgently needed warriors of the Ultimate Study Realm to come to their aid, to alleviate Li Muxiu’s burden.
After all, it was exhausting for this old man to withstand the leaders of two major forces, one of whom was a true master of the Grand Tao of Peace Realm. He could fall at any moment.
With a swoosh,
Li Xiaoran’s figure landed outside the hall. Without hesitation, he stepped forward into the room and looked directly at Li Tian Gang, addressing the sullen faces of everyone present:
“Second brother said to prepare the ancestral offering and summon all of the Li Family bloodline back with the ancestor’s blood.”
“In this battle, to win is to live, to lose is to eradicate the Li Family!”
His gaze was profound and ice-cold: “Our fate hinges on this moment, and the second brother is also nearing his limit!”
Upon hearing Li Xiaoran’s words, everyone in the hall stiffened, but their expressions were not so much shocked as they were filled with bitter anguish.
The fall of Qingzhou, and the teeming demons outside Qingzhou City, made them realize that it was a matter of time.
When the offering with the ancestors’ blood was made, all of the Li Family’s bloodline would sense the crisis of the Li Family—it was a call using the bloodline, activated only when the Li Family truly faced life or death, when this Divine General Mansion standing for thousands of years was on the brink of extinction!
And the thousands of years of inheritance had branched out, the offshoots scattered across the Dayu Divine Dynasty, an overwhelming force. Once summoned by the ancestor’s blood, they would all feel the call.