"Spirit Puppets, on my command—seek the enemy. Deploy the puppets!"
"Form the Eight-Direction Puppet Explosive Kill! Quickly—take your positions in the array!"
"Spirit Puppet possession—activate talismans, form the Spear Forest Array Art!"
Following Li Wei's command, the clansmen encircling the Qiu Clan Immortal Mountain surged in from all directions, already springing into action atop their spirit boats.
Unlike the earlier forces who had taken advantage of the Qiu Clan's internal emptiness to carry out the slaughter, these clansmen were veterans of countless battles.
They were the descendants sent years ago by Li Jianshu to the rear of the Wu Tribe—back when Li Xinnian had gone to the Western Border, and the major factions of the Department of Immortal Suppression were heading toward the Auric Empire and the Cultivator Alliance Nations.
Even while still far away, under the command of a Li Clan descendant waving a battle flag, they had already begun executing their tactics with strict military precision.
Spirit puppets were deployed first.
In an instant, spatial rings flashed brilliantly.
From the edges of the spirit boats, spirit puppets rained down like scattered beans transforming into soldiers.
The family's Spirit Puppet Art had been developed over hundreds of years, eventually forming an Unorthodox Dao lineage within the Azure Cloud Prefecture and solidifying Li Yaotie's title as the Spirit Puppet Grandmaster.
The Artifact Sect only refined the simplest version of Li Yaozu's Spirit Puppet Art—using zombies as the internal foundation of puppets.
But the true core refinement method had always remained within the family.
Self-destructing puppet dogs, massive war puppets reminiscent of ancient battlefield constructs, and spirit puppets that could dissolve into liquid and attach to a cultivator's body…
Under precise control, these puppets slammed onto the icy surface of the Qiu Clan Immortal Mountain, sending shards of ice scattering in all directions.
Then came the Talisman Arts and Corpse Driving Arts.
These descendants remained calm and methodical, continuously activating talismans and techniques to strengthen themselves while forming layered arrays outside the Immortal Mountain.
Even before the family's spirit boats had reached halfway up the mountain, the entire Immortal Mountain was already blanketed in techniques, formations, Dharma artifacts, Spirit Artifacts, and Dharma Treasures.
The sky and earth became densely layered with array runes, stacked upon one another.
"This…"
The descendants managing the other Grotto-Heavens nearly had their eyes pop out, unable to conceal their shock.
Li Xinri, Li Xinjue, and the others who oversaw different branches of the family were not without their own methods.
But witnessing the combat style of these several thousand returning clansmen, they felt like mere primitives who only knew how to throw stones at their enemies.
"That's my son! Back then, he went to the main branch—he only sent a letter saying he was heading to the rear of the Wu Tribe!" A Li clansman pointed excitedly at a spirit boat.
On it stood a cultivator wearing a necklace that liquefied and spread across his body, covering him in shimmering silver light.
In the next moment, he transformed into a ten-meter-tall giant, drawing two long spears from his back and hurling them into the sky, where they hovered in place.
The thousands of spears hanging in the clouds could descend at any moment as a death sentence for the Qiu Clan.
"My grandson went there too… it's just a pity…" another clansman sighed.
Everyone lowered their heads slightly.
In truth, every Grotto-Heaven had sent their more talented descendants.
When the Family Head's order was issued back then, the decision had been left entirely to the younger generation.
The rear of the Wu Tribe was a place of both opportunity and extreme danger.
That single decision had taken away a large portion of the family's upper and middle-tier talents.
Over the years, news of deaths would occasionally return.
It wasn't that others hadn't wanted to go, but each branch family had its own territories to develop and responsibilities to uphold.
Soon, they cast aside their thoughts.
After all—they had returned.
These survivors of the battlefield would elevate the family to new heights.
They were veterans of a hundred battles.
"Jianshu, have they already grown to this level?" Li Zhijing nudged Li Jianshu with her elbow, her heart filled with excitement.
Back then, she had also received the family's letter and sent over a hundred trusted descendants from the Demon Suppression Lineage to the main branch.
But even she hadn't expected that several thousand of them would become comparable to any elite army in the world.
"Mhm."
Li Jianshu nodded calmly.
"The family has more and more descendants. As for people like Uncle Xinri… cough, cough."
Under the sharp glares from Li Xinri and Li Zhijing, Li Jianshu shifted his gaze to the battlefield, now resounding with explosions, and said with quiet satisfaction,
"The family's descendants need tempering. Neither the Azure Cloud Prefecture nor the Western Border is suitable for that.
Back then, I only wanted to find a place for them to grow. I thought only a hundred or so would go—I never expected several thousand to appear."
"It seems they experienced far more in the Western Border than I imagined… and they've grown far beyond my expectations."
Even Li Wei—who had already appeared before the four Qiu Clan Elders in an instant—couldn't help but praise them:
"It seems that after decades in the Western Border, the children of the family have truly matured."
[Many years ago, Duanmu Qi of the Eternal Immortal Sect, Changsun Buhuo of the Changsun Clan, and Heavenly Lord Jiang of the Heavenly Monarch Dao Sanctuary under the Department of Immortal Suppression led their factions through your family's route to the rear of the Wu Tribe, seeking breakthroughs and immense profits.
Your family struck a deal—these three factions would protect the 4,972 family members who went along.]
[Your numerous descendants from all major branches set out.
Under the protection of the three factions, they established a foothold near the borders of the Auric Empire.]
[At the time, the Auric Empire and the Cultivator Alliance Nations had ceased hostilities to jointly resist the Wu Tribe and the Demon Race.
Amid the chaos of war, your descendants operated in the rear, gradually learning to coordinate as a unified force.]
[Special Event: Plundering the Wu Tribe's Spiritual Herb Garden.
Taking advantage of the Divine Fire Lineage's empty rear, your family sacrificed 12 members to seize the Wu Tribe's Spiritual Herb Garden for cultivation resources.]
[Your descendants harvested vast quantities of spiritual herbs.
They began to reflect—nearly five thousand people attacking a mere three-hundred-member tribe had still resulted in casualties.
From that point on, they gradually mastered the 'Spear Forest Array Art,' 'Spirit Puppet Art,' and 'Talisman Art'…]
[Special Event: Plundering Wu Tribe Supplies…]
[Special Event…]
Lines of intelligence flashed through his mind.
At the time, Li Wei had been overwhelmed by crises in the Western Border and had no capacity to focus on their development.
But now—
This force, tempered through countless battles, could truly be called veterans.
Looking at their techniques, nearly all of them had mastered the [Spear Forest Array Art], the [Puppet Control Art] from the [Spirit Puppet Art], and the [Corpse Driving Art].
They were uniformly equipped with the [Black Iron Beast Blood Armor Set], refined by the Azure Cloud Prefecture's Artifact Sect.
[Your family has produced 32 Artifact Refiners, 29 Alchemists, and 16 Array Masters…]
[After years of survival and combat in the rear—against the Wu Tribe, the Demon Race, and the perilous wilds—they have gained the Group Trait: Veteran of a Hundred Battles.
Combat power +10%, willpower +10%.]
[Acquired Trait: A Wealth of Skills is No Burden.
In complex battlefields, aside from core military training, nearly every individual cultivates an additional unorthodox art.
Comprehension of unorthodox arts +10%.]
[Over more than fifty years, 418 family members were lost in the rear.]
[3 advanced to the Divinity Transformation realm.]
[26 advanced to the Nascent Soul realm.]
[63 advanced to the Golden Core realm.]
[585 advanced to the Foundation Establishment realm.]
[132 failed their breakthroughs, resulting in death or regression.]
[21 perished due to reaching the end of their lifespan.]
These descendants were the true core strength of the family.
They had grown in silence, deep within the rear of the Wu Tribe.
In just fifty years, supported by the family's foundation, they had surpassed any sect or faction within the Azure Cloud Prefecture.
It wasn't only the elders in the Western Border who had endured hardship.
They had as well.