"It seems your Dao Heart truly has been damaged today, Lin Yuanshan," Nangong Yazhi replied calmly. "How could someone like me possibly be used by the mere Li family?"
Nangong Yazhi smiled faintly. "However," she explained, "Jiang Chenghuan of Qi Region did offer our Nangong family a rather good price. In return, we spent five years assisting them in returning silently to the Qi Region."
"You..." Darkness clouded Lin Yuanshan's vision, and a mouthful of blood rose in his throat. "Fine! So it's you, Nangong family!" he spat. "Our fellow Daoists in Eternal Sun Prefecture will make you pay for this!"
"You think too highly of those 'fellow Daoists' you speak of," Nangong Yazhi retorted coolly. "Who among them hasn't conducted business with my Nangong family at some point? Produce actual evidence, Lin Yuanshan. That might bring retribution."
Nangong Yazhi then stood up and sighed deeply. "I actually thought your Qilin Mountain Lin family might devise some clever scheme," she said dismissively. "But who knew you couldn't even overcome the Azure Cloud region Li family? Instead, you were reduced to a mere pawn, flitting about like an insignificant jumping clown. To think I genuinely believed you could overthrow the Li family... I truly overestimated you."
"I..."
Lin Yuanshan wanted to say more, but Nangong Yazhi afforded him no opportunity. With a casual clap of her hands, two Nascent Soul cultivators materialized from the Nangong contingent. They lunged towards Lin Yuanshan instantly, and within moments, the already grievously wounded Lin Yuanshan was slain.
This man, once so arrogant and domineering towards the Li family, convinced he had perceived their weaknesses and vowing their destruction... in the end, died without even glimpsing a Li family member, killed instead by the hands of his supposed 'allies'.
Lin Hanhai sighed endlessly. Seeing Nangong Yazhi move to collect the corpse, he quickly bowed. "Senior," he asked, "our deal included eliminating the Xu family's representative. How should this humble one account for... the situation?"
"Account for it? What is there to account for?" Nangong Yazhi scoffed. "Do you have any idea who Xu Dingsheng of the Xu family really is? Within the Azure Dynasty, there's a Nascent Divinity List – every single person on that list has the potential to reach the Divinity Transformation stage! Xu Dingsheng is ranked twenty-third! If I possessed the power to easily kill someone like that, do you honestly think I'd be standing around here making deals with you lot?!"
Nangong Yazhi sneered. "And your master," she said to Lin Hanhai, "if I were actually injured after a major battle with Xu Dingsheng, I doubt I'd be able to leave this place alive either. The Li family's methods are quite ruthless, indeed."
"...."
Lin Hanhai was silent for a moment, then his gaze flickered towards the corpse Nangong Yazhi was handling. "Senior," he said deferentially, "in that case, this junior wishes to purchase this corpse. Would you be willing to name your price?"
The two proceeded to negotiate the transaction.
Meanwhile, in the distance, a group of cultivators clad in white robes, each bearing the emblem of a 'Heavenly Secret Pavilion mark' upon their chest, were keeping their auras concealed.
"Pavilion Master," one asked, "should we...?"
One of the cultivators made a distinct throat-slitting gesture.
Hearing this, the group's leader's eyes flashed with cold light. Though distant, he could clearly observe Nangong Yazhi. He raised a hand slightly, halting his restless subordinates. "That Nangong woman is not simple," he stated. "She likely perceived something, which must be why she let Xu Dingsheng leave unharmed. She wouldn't be acting so composed unless she had a guaranteed means of escape or a way to defeat us. There's no need to act without absolute certainty."
Immediately after, the group ceased all movement and turned back towards the Azure Cloud region.
Upon reaching the border city, the leader removed his mask and donned armor, revealing flowing white hair that cascaded over his shoulders. He then advanced with fierce determination, each step steady and resolute, toward the sturdy man clad in simple clothes who carried a coffin on his back. Standing beside him, he joined him in gazing towards the distant Endless Forest.
"Grandfather," the white-haired man reported, "Lin Yuanshan is dead."
"And the other two families?" Li Dalong asked without turning.
"They've left," Li Yunbing reported. "This child was unable to find an opportunity to eliminate them all at once. I fear I have disappointed you, Grandfather, and our revered Ancestors."
"It matters little," Li Dalong replied calmly. "The road ahead is long; there will be time enough in the days to come."
.....
Meanwhile, on the battlefields of the Qi Region, a great battle was raging!
High above, five immense powers clashed – Primordial Spirits locked in a spiritual duel, sending ripples across the very heavens. Originally, Soul Duke and Luo Xing had perceived the crisis unfolding in Qi Region and were preparing to intervene. Who could have predicted, however, that they would once again be intercepted by Daoist Shanchen and Wang Jinhu – joined, this time, by a powerful Old Ancestor from the Jiang family!
The Wu Clan forces had clearly never anticipated that after so many years, the Qi Region troops would suddenly execute a 'sudden counterstrike' like this; they were instantly thrown into disarray.
Moreover, the Li family experts, hidden high in the mountains, caught the Wu Clan forces utterly unprepared!
[Your family's plans have been in motion for many years. Back when the faction known as 'Dawn' was secretly recruiting within the Eternal Sun Prefecture, Lin Hanhai, who had fallen out of favor with the Lin family of Qilin Mountain, chose to join them. Later, he transitioned into the 'Heavenly Secret Pavilion', an influential organization jointly controlled by Li Yunbing and Li Tianyue.]
[Through your family's machinations, Lin Yuanshan was turned into a pawn. He relayed false intelligence to the Wu Clan, diverting their attention towards Starfall Region, and the spread of this misinformation also caused the various factions in Eternal Sun Prefecture to lower their guard!]
[Leveraging connections through the Jiang family and the 'Heavenly Secret Pavilion', your family struck a deal with the Nangong family (of Hundred Treasures Pavilion, Eternal Sun Prefecture). This transaction enabled the Jiang family to covertly approach Qi Region and also facilitated your family's elimination of Lin Yuanshan.]
[Family Will +5 Gained]
[Your descendant Li Yunbing reports to you: He expresses his disappointment for being unable to eliminate the forces of the three visiting families all at once.]
"That's already quite good."
Li Wei gazed down at the battlefield below, watching his 'children' charge forward, holding their Ancestral Spirit Tablets. So many years had passed; he'd long grown accustomed to seeing the clan members carry the tablets tucked away like protective talismans in times of peace, only to wield them as weapons when conflict erupted.
Joy spread across his features; the Li family had now developed into a truly mature power. The children from their days back in Green Valley Village... now, they had all found their own ways to shine. Some had become regional hegemons; some directed vast networks from the shadows; others were the most ferocious warriors on the battlefield.
Lost in these thoughts, Li Wei suddenly noticed Xu Cuihua was in peril. Without a second thought, he swiftly activated an Ancestral Spirit Tablet from his position, entering the fray alongside Xu Cuihua.
[Consumed 3 Family Will. Activated Skill: Ancestral Heaven's Punishment!]
"What is that?!"
The Nascent Soul experts clashed far from any inhabited land. One of them, a priest of the Wu Clan, was a fearsome body cultivator—his movements ghostlike and unpredictable. A protective totem shielded his mind and spirit, and his regenerative abilities were monstrous. He had already managed to wound Xu Cuihua.
But then, the priest abruptly froze.
High above, lightning split the sky—two Tribulation Bolts surged downward, drawn into the Spirit Tablet that Li Wei had just activated. The air trembled with the sharp, deafening crackle of pure lightning.
As the Ancestral Spirit Tablet hovered in front of her, now shrouded in arcs of heavenly thunder, Xu Cuihua, fully transformed into her fox demon form, bared her fearsome fangs, and she surged forward in tandem with the lightning-charged tablet, the storm answering her fury.
"The Old Ancestors are with us, the descendants of the Li Clan!"
"Kill!"
---
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