Chapter 2259: Counting the Harvest, Wang Yingjie Crosses the Minor Heavenly Tribulation

This is a conservative estimate. The beast tide has not completely ended yet, and many of the Liu family's islands are still resisting it.

Liu Chuande's face was filled with sorrow as he spoke. Over a dozen of his descendants died from the saw-ray's self-detonation. Had they not perished, one of them would have had a high chance of advancing to the Soul Transformation stage centuries later.

Liu Tianxiao's gaze was gloomy as he asked, "I told you to send someone to investigate Yunlan's whereabouts. Is there any news?"

No matter how many low-level clansmen died or were injured, it couldn't compare to a single Void Refinement cultivator. Liu Yunlan's prolonged absence gave Liu Tianxiao a bad feeling. Logically, if Liu Yunlan had fled with all her might, she should have been able to escape. If she did escape, why hasn't she returned to Thousand Bamboo Island? As for her being harmed, Liu Yunlan's soul lamp has not yet extinguished. Neither her person nor her corpse has been found; this was what Liu Tianxiao found most troublesome.

"They searched an area of tens of millions of li around the sea, but found no trace of Aunt Yunlan. Nor did anyone receive a distress signal. Could Aunt Yunlan have been captured by a sixth-tier demon beast?" Liu Chuande speculated that high-tier demon beasts sometimes capture human cultivators, either forcing them to impart their skills or to mate and bear offspring. Such situations are not uncommon.

"She has a Sea-Fleeing Clam; it would be difficult to find her even on the seabed. Never mind, withdraw the search party for now; we'll discuss it after the beast tide ends. I hope she hasn't fallen into the Wang family's hands." As Liu Tianxiao finished speaking, his eyes were full of worry. If Wang Changsheng truly did it, that would be terrifying.

He was more curious about how the Wang family managed to fend off the beast tide. This time, the Liu family brought trouble upon themselves. If they had used the Seven-Star Demon Lure Incense to divert the two sixth-tier demon beasts, they could have alleviated their own pressure and made a small profit without an issue.

Liu Tianxiao did not believe he had done anything wrong. He couldn't tolerate another power encroaching on his territory. He concluded that the Wang family had more than two Void Refinement cultivators, and it was possible the Zhenhai Palace had intervened. That's right, it must be so. The Liu family could ask the Coldflame Sect for help, so the Wang family could seek out the Zhenhai Palace. If Void Refinement cultivators from Zhenhai Palace had intervened, everything would make sense.

"Yes, Great Ancestor," Liu Chuande replied. Liu Chuande agreed and bowed before withdrawing.

Two months quickly passed.

On Qinglian Island, Wang Qingcheng and over thirty other cultivators were holding a meeting in the deliberation hall. The beast tide had completely ended, and the Wang family's losses had also been reported.

"Qiuhong, report the personnel losses!" Wang Qingcheng ordered.

A tall, thin middle-aged man acknowledged and stood up. "Patriarch," he reported, "we suffered a total of 2,735 deaths and 975 missing persons. Among these, 435 deaths and 134 missing are from our direct family, including eight Nascent Soul cultivators and forty-five Core Formation cultivators. Fifteen sets of fifth-tier formations were damaged, eight fifth-tier puppet beasts were scrapped, and over 1,700 puppet beasts below the fifth-tier were rendered useless."

Fortunately, the Wang family had crafted a large number of puppet beasts; otherwise, the personnel losses would have been much greater.

Wang Qingcheng's expression softened. This loss was not significant. Most of the sixth-tier demon beasts had already suffered heavy casualties before even reaching Qinglian Island; had it not been for this, the Wang family's losses would have been even greater.

"Now that you've reported the losses, let's hear about the gains!" Wang Qingcheng instructed.

"During this beast tide, conservatively estimated, we eliminated 200,000 demon beasts, mostly second and third tier. This includes three sixth-tier demon beasts, 155 fifth-tier demon beasts, and 3,354 fourth-tier demon beasts, along with a large quantity of demon beast flesh and demon cores." Wang Qiuhong reported truthfully. He did not know that Wang Changsheng had killed the Lihuo Falcon and believed the Wang family had slain three sixth-tier demon beasts, which was already very impressive. After many demon beasts were killed, their bodies floated on the sea surface, but the aftershocks of the battles shattered the corpses. Otherwise, the gains would have been even greater.

The beast tide had receded, and the Wang family's affiliated forces returned to their respective homes to repair their formations and rebuild their homes.