Lu Li indeed was at a critical junction in his cultivation. After his slumber, he had commenced building his Soul Pond at full split.The Xuan Energy in his Spirit Sea was being allocated to build a pond inside his soul according to the method he learned from Hunchback Tian.
Small as the Soul Pond was, it demanded a lot of time and a ma.s.sive amount of Xuan Energy. It was not an easy task to build a Soul Pond. Nothing could go awry, otherwise, the soul would explode. The result would be death or the warrior being reduced into a vegetable state.
A huge amount of Xuan Energy entered Lu Li’s brain and was being condensed and compressed there. The condensation was even more horrifying than Xuan Force. One hundred strand of Xuan Energy could only be condensed into one strand now. In the meanwhile, the Golden Silk of the Soul must be nurtured with care. Nothing could afford to go wrong. Once the Golden Silk was broken, the warrior would become less intelligent…
Lu Li had taken the Divine Soul Pellet, the efficacy of which was now covering up all the Golden Silks of the Soul to protect them from being snapped. The pellet was protecting the soul at full strength.
The Soul Pond should be the size of three fingers. Lu Li’s was now at one third of the full size. Some of the Golden Silks of the Soul now was melted together. With the help of Divine Soul Pellets and all kinds of other pellets, the process was going smoothly.
If Patriarch Seven sent a message to Liu Yi and asked her to wake Lu Li by force, all his efforts would have been in vain. The Bridge of Spirit would collapse, and all the pellets would go to waste, harming Lu Li’s soul in the process.
Eventually, Patriarch Seven did it!
However, he told Liu Yi that they would stall as long as they could. If they really came to the point where they couldn’t defend any longer, they would release a signal detonator so Liu Yi could wake Lu Li up.
Lu Li was the one telling them that he could be awakened.
Patriarch Seven and Liu Yi now had a blind trust and admiration in Lu Li as if as long as he was there, any knot could be untied and nothing was to be feared.
Three bandits groups had come in more than dozens of battles.h.i.+ps. More than 10,000 warriors quietly sneaked their way towards the Blood Evil Island around early morning. Not even the dumbest people would believe that those bandits were here as lobbyists.
After some thoughts, Patriarch Seven decided to buy themselves some time. He sent warriors to where the three groups of bandits were about to land, and planted white flags there.
At the break of dawn, the dozens battles.h.i.+ps pulled into sh.o.r.e. All the warriors saw the white flags and three messengers of the Blood Evil Island.
The three messengers sent over Patriarch Seven’s letter with fear. Patriarch Seven had demanded peaceful conversation on behalf of Lu Li. As long as they didn’t attack the Blood Evil Island, the Blood Evil Island could offer 10 million Xuan Crystals to the three parties respectively.
The three parties were intrigued. If they could get the Xuan Crystals without having to go into fight, this would be the preferred choice. What was more, they could still initiate the fight after they got the Xuan Crystals…
There was no limit to people’s greed. The leaders of the three groups instantly sent back a message. One of them wanted 80 million Xuan Crystals and two of them 50 million Xuan Crystals. They wanted to pocket the profits first…
Of course, Patriarch Seven wasn’t going to give them a single piece of the Xuan Crystals. What he wanted was more time. After a while, he had the messengers to bargain and up their offer to 20 million Xuan Crystals.
The three groups of bandits were really interested now. The Blood Evil Island was indeed wealthy. They had increased their offer by 10 million in one go. The three parties were lake bandits, but their sphere of influence wasn’t at the northwest side of the Thousand-island Lake. They had only come here under invitation…
The bargaining was still going on. The three parties all reduced their requests by 10 million Xuan Crystals and expected the counter offer from the Blood Evil Island eagerly. If the Blood Evil Island was willing to add another 10 million Xuan Crystals, the three groups would forgo the fights first and secure the 30 million Xuan Crystals before they took any other moves.
However!
Patriarch Seven didn’t send any words of bargaining. No messenger showed up again. After two hours, it was the highest of the day. Finally, some messengers came out, by which time the three groups of bandits were getting impatient.
The best offer the Blood Evil Island was willing to give was 30 million Xuan Crystals, and they had to hand them over after half a day. The Blood Evil Island claimed that they didn’t have so many Xuan Crystals at hand and that they had to draw some out from the Heaven Prison Chamber of Commerce.
Deal!
Half a day was nothing. The day had come after all, so it was impossible for the bandits to sneak their way in. The initiator wanted to teach the Blood Evil Island a lesson. The bandits thought they still could do it after they had acquired the Xuan Crystals…
"Okay!"
Patriarch Seven was delighted when he got the news. Lu Li should be done after half a day? Patriarch Seven sent someone to pretend to be on their way to the G.o.d-down Island to fetch the Xuan Crystals. He calmed the three groups of bandits, and sent them many food and fruits to enjoy…
The more than dozens of battles.h.i.+ps surrounded the Blood Evil Island. Not even a tiny bug could fly out. The three group leaders patiently waited to pocket the 30 million Xuan Crystals.
…
"What are they waiting for?"
More than 10 miles away from the Blood Evil Island, there anch.o.r.ed another battles.h.i.+p on the lake. Xu Yaoyang and Xu Sihe were in there. They started to have doubts after they didn’t hear anything from the Blood Evil Island.
"Somebody go over there and have a look!" Xu Sihe waved his hand and said. A scout sneaked over via the lake.
What Lu Li guessed was right. The Xu Family had planned the attack secretly under somebody else’s command. Madam Yan suggested Xu Chen to teach Lu Li a lesson so Lu Li could surrender to her.
Xu Chen was ashamed that Xu Yaoyang was thrown into the lake before under Lu Li’s command. Since Madam Yan had given her permission, he obviously wanted Lu Li to taste some bitterness.
He wanted to show Lu Li that the northwest side of the Thousand-island Lake belonged to him, Xu Chen, not Lu Li.
Actually, the bandit groups came into being because the several overlords let them be. On many occasions, it was not okay for the overlords to resolve matters by themselves. As such, it was the bandits that had to do the work. Otherwise, based on what Xu Chen was capable of, the Dark Demon Army would have long vanished.
The bandits that came this time were controlled by different families. Madam Yan had sent her words to the families one by one. All the bandits of the Thousand-island Lake were gathering here just to teach Lu Li a lesson.
There was something else!
The Bai Family had always been interested in the mysterious powerful warrior that had being following Lu Li around. Many scouts were sent by the Bai Family to hide in the nearby area. They wanted to see if the mysterious warrior that had helped Lu Li out at the Heaven Martial Kingdom would show up or not. They wanted to figure out his ident.i.ty.
"Idiots!"
Xu Sihe cursed after he got the news from the scouts of the Xu Family. Patriarch Seven was clearly stalling. There was no way that Lu Li would compromise. Even if he would, he wouldn’t bow to a bunch of bandits.
Xu Yaoyang was clever enough to figure this out soon. He angrily shouted, "Send a word to White Beard and tell them to attack now. The Blood Evil Island is stalling."
The scouts went but what they got as a reply infuriated Xu Yaoyang and Xu Sihe. The three groups of bandits listened not to their orders. They found some excuses to refuse. The three groups of bandits were hired by other families, so they had nothing to do with the Xu Family…
"Go!"
Xu Yaoyang was fuming with anger. He had someone to take control of the battles.h.i.+p and moved on. Even though he was not clear why Lu Li wanted more time, he was sure something was up.
He had to go there and pressure the bandits using his ident.i.ty as the Young Master of the Xu Family. Also, Xu Sihe was here. The bandits must have some fear towards them.
Xu Yaoyang and Xu Sihe both put on some disguise. They could not show in their real faces. When their battles.h.i.+p approached the Blood Evil Island, they secretly boarded a luxurious chariot and saw a white-bearded man of strong build. This man was called White Beard, the most powerful of the three groups of bandits.
White Beard could not refuse any longer since the Young Master and the Second Patriarch of the Xu Family were here. He had received order that he must listen to the demands of the Xu Family. White Beard had to order to initiate the attack now.
Wind was bellowing and drums were thundering. Another round of battle had begun.