There was no other young masters Leng Wuxin could contact, and the only one Jun Mengchen could get in touch with was Haochuan. Similarly, Haochuan’s only contact was Jun Mengchen.
Lu Li had Uncle Nine and Jun Mengchen, an Earth Immortal Realm warrior of the Hao Family and Haochuan to wander around in the neighborhood to see if they could lure some more young masters and young ladies over.
Given the sheer size of the Forbidden Ground of Elder God, this was a task that had everything to do with luck. It would be next to impossible to capture an Earth Immortal Realm warrior outside the wind cave for Lu Li. One rash decision could lead to the destruction of the entire group. There was no assurance that he could win or not.
Lu Li could control some Feather Wind to go with him. However, when traveled far away, the Feather Wind could disperse. It was true that Feather Wind was present in many places. That being said, Feather Wind came and went with no trace. Nobody could tell when the next bout of Feather Wind would spring up.
Lu Li cultivated in the wind cave together with Leng Wuxin, while the rest waited outside. Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while. Maybe someone would happen to pass by.
One day, two days, four days!
Jun Mengchen and Haochuan hadn’t come back yet. But all of a sudden, the young masters and young ladies staying outside and the Hao Family Earth Immortal Realm warrior dashed in.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~”
Lu Li and Leng Wuxin heard noises. They looked at each other, not believing their good luck. An acorn had come to the blind squirrel.
The Hao Family Earth Immortal Realm warrior yelled from afar, “Run, master, run. They are from the Mage Imperial Universe.”
The Hao Family Earth Immortal Realm warrior ran over with the other young masters and young ladies following him. Lu Li didn’t move. A grin climbed to his face. He heard rumors that those from the Mage Imperial Universes were crazy people. While those from the other major universes didn’t have the courage to mess up with those from the Mage Imperial Universe, Lu Li did. He would take down all that came.
He formed several wind dragons with Feather Wind and shouted, “All of you, get down!”
Lu Li’s gang was now only several hundred feet away from him. They acted as they were told and got down to the ground. Lu Li controlled the wind dragons to fly over above them. But the squeaking noise still caused their ears bleeding.
He tried as hard as he could to steer the wind dragons away from them. Therefore, they didn’t sustain serious attacks on their souls. The wind dragons whooshed on, targeting at the four that followed in.
“What is that? Feather Wind!”
“Run—”
Someone shouted. The four turned around and tried to run. Unfortunately, they couldn’t escape because the Feather Wind was simply too fast and the cave was too narrow.
Five wind dragons circled around the four who fell to the ground and howled in misery. Two young masters soon passed out. The other two Earth Immortal Realm warriors held on for a bit longer but then both fainted as well.
“Good, quite nice!”
Lu Li grinned. Two more young masters. He could blackmail powerful warriors for another family now. Altogether, he had captured disciples from three super families. They should be able to rally against the Leng Family now.
What happened next was achieved without effort. The two Earth Immortal Realm warriors were the first to be planted with soul seeds. After they were dealt with, the young masters were taken care of.
Lu Li pulled the four out and questioned them when they woke up. Then, he sent them to attend to their wounds.
The two young masters indeed were from a super family of the Mage Imperial Universe. Their family, the Wu Family, was one of the four most powerful ones there. One of the young master was actually the future Family Patriarch, Wu Xie. The other one, Wu Shiming, was the grandson of a patriarch.
“It will be best if I can control young masters of another super family!”
Lu Li prayed to himself. He would have to trust his luck. His wish might be granted or might not. Either way, when there was only half a month left, he must contact the three families and force them to attack the entrance to the Forbidden Ground of Elder God located to the north of City of Leng.
Lu Li resumed cultivation as the others spread out to see if more would come by.
One day, five days, eight days!
Lu Li’s luck seemed to have run out. Eight more days had passed but there was no sign of Jun Mengchen or Haochuan returning. No other warriors stepped into this area.
He could only wait for three more days. He was in no mood to cultivate so he wandered around the wind cave, praying for miracles.
Two more days later, he heard a noise coming from the north. Following that was Haochuan’s voice, “We are almost there, just up front. Come on, you guys.”
“They are coming!”
Haochuan clearly was delivering a message to Lu Li. He waved his hand and those stayed with him spread out to hide. A Hao Family Earth Immortal Realm warrior followed Lu Li into the wind cave while the others hid nearby.
Lu Li waited with the Earth Immortal Realm warrior in the wind cave quietly. The time for one incense stick to burn went by when Lu Li heard footsteps in the wind cave. There were many people, probably eight or nine, judging by the sound.
“That many people? Are they from two families?”
Lu Li remembered Haochuan said “guys”. He went ahead and formed seven or eight wind dragons with Feather Wind.
This was no laughing matter. He must knock out all of them. Even though he had two Earth Immortal Realm warriors with him, once the other side retaliated, it would still be possible for him to be killed.
The footsteps were getting closer. The Earth Immortal Realm warrior with Lu Li listened carefully. When the incoming people were only half a mile away, the Earth Immortal Realm warrior nodded to Lu Li.
“Whoosh~”
The wind dragons dashed over. This time, Lu Li didn’t shout to Haochuan to let him get down to the ground. Too many were lured over. Lu Li didn’t want to act rashly and alert the enemies.
“What the hell is that?”
“That is Feather Wind. Leave now!”
“Young Master Haochuan, how come the Feather Wind is so strong here?”
“I think we are duped. There are people in there!”
Hearing the whooshing sound of the wind, those people became alarmed and bewildered. Soon, someone began to scream in pain. Lu Li listened in and judged the situation according to the sound.
“This is not good!”
Lu Li noticed three people who sensed the situation was not right had already started to escape from the wind cave. Lu Li ordered the two Earth Immortal Realm warriors of the Wu Family from the Mage Imperial Universe through soul seeds and told them to intercept those that had run away.
After the time for one incense stick to burn, everything quieted down. Lu Li waved his hand to the Hao Family Earth Immortal Realm warrior. The latter went out to take a look. He came back to report safety to Lu Li after he was entirely sure.
“Whoosh!”
Lu Li didn’t mind those in the wind cave. It would be a while before they could regain consciousness. He dashed out from the wind cave because a battle had started.
It was two young masters and one Earth Immortal Realm warrior that had escaped. The two Earth Immortal Realm warriors Lu Li told to stay outside the wind cave had already stopped them.
“Good!”
Lu Li was relieved upon closer check. The three couldn’t run anymore. The two young masters from the Mage Imperial Universe, those from the Jun Family and Hao Family were all here. They had encircled the escaped and it was only a matter of time before the three were taken down.
“Let’s go inside!”
Lu Li went back into the wind cave with the Hao Family Earth Immortal Realm warrior. He must take control of the six or seven fainted now.
This time, Haochuan did lure over disciples from two families. The number of Earth Immortal Realm warriors alone was four. The disciples must be from major families. The Hao Family Earth Immortal Realm warrior went over to take a look and said, “They are from two families of the Underworld Universe.”
Lu Li told the Hao Family Earth Immortal Realm warrior to bring one of the Earth Immortal Realm warriors deeper into the cave. Then, Lu Li began to plant soul seeds one by one. As more people were being enslaved, the number of soul seeds in Lu Li’s Soul Pond decreased.
“What? Why…”
Lu Li suddenly felt fatigue in his soul after he brought three Earth Immortal Realm warriors and two young masters into control. He blinked with confusion. His soul energy had always been rich. Why would he feel weak?
As he asked the question, the Hao Family Earth Immortal Realm warrior explained, “The craft of taking soul slaves is understood by many ancient powerful warriors. Many families have senior warriors that know it as well. It is to my understanding that too many soul slaves will have a negative influence on your soul. It may even hinder your future cultivation. Therefore… rarely any powerful warriors will employ this craft.”
“Affecting cultivation?”
Lu Li was taken aback. But it did make sense. There was a spiritual connection between his soul and the soul slaves. His soul was not pure anymore. When he could not maintain inner peace, he would be distracted during cultivation.
“This is something for the future.”
Lu Li made up his mind. Whether he could survive the crisis or not was still uncertain. Future cultivation was not his primary concern at the moment. He shall proceed with the soul slaves.
He took out some soul-nurturing elixirs so that his soul would not be this weak before he continued to collect soul slaves.
By the time he had done with everyone in the wind cave, the battle outside had come to an end. The one Earth Immortal Realm warrior who escaped was badly hurt, and the two young masters had been taken down.