At that very moment, Gu Yinming, the man Prince Qian had just been thinking about, was following at Li Kuangren's side.
He held his low-grade Dharma Treasure, the 'Corpse Soul Life-Severing Banner,' and summoned vengeful spirits to surround the lotus-shaped green mountain ahead.
Before them was the very 'Bone Bridge' Prince Qian's subordinate had described.
The young man at his side stood with his hands behind his back, frowning as he gazed at his 'masterpiece.'
His words carried a clear tone of reprimand.
"Gu Yinming, there have already been incidents of ghosts and monsters harming people in the villages near Green Lotus Mountain. You had better keep your minions on a tighter leash and save our Li family the trouble of cleaning up your mess."
"..."
Gu Yinming remained silent.
Three days ago, Dongfang Xuan had said that the Li family wanted more.
He knew then that what the Li family wanted was their allegiance—the service of every member of Skynet.
And that was indeed the truth.
The Li family had laid out their conditions: once Prince Qian was dead, and the day came when Eternal Sun Prefecture and Duravia Trade Prefecture were no longer in turmoil, the members of Skynet would be free to go wherever they pleased.
Until then, every one of them had to stay by the side of a Li family member and could not stray more than 3 miles away.
As for this distance?
Gu Yinming glanced at the Ancestral Spirit Tablet hanging from Li Kuangren's waist. If he ever tried to get too far, he feared a real ancestor would pop right out of that tablet… According to their intelligence, 3 miles was likely the distance from which the Ancestor could quickly catch up after appearing—and perhaps that distance was ten times greater still.
"Ah, Little Brother Kuangren."
Gu Yinming was probably not a man who smiled often; it was an ugly sight. From beneath his hood, his handsome face revealed two rows of uneven, old, yellow teeth.
"For that, you'll have to ask your Old Ancestor Dalong. For our kind, who work with corpses and souls, things aren't so easy to control once we really let loose. Using my techniques requires thousands upon thousands of ghosts. Who's to say if some of them won't wander off?"
In his words, Gu Yinming's tone was actually quite amicable. This wasn't because he feared the Li family's Old Ancestor, but because this Li Kuangren was, in his own way, a decent fellow.
He, Gu Yinming, was the one who had created the Bone Bridge. When others saw such sinister and wicked arts, they would avoid him like the plague.
Li Kuangren, however, was a different story. When questioned, he shouldered all the blame himself, truly unafraid that others would accuse him of violating Heaven and Earth's harmony.
"Hmph." Li Kuangren let out a cold snort and said no more.
He then fixed his gaze on Green Lotus Mountain.
On Green Lotus Mountain was the Green Lotus Sect. Of the many stubborn powers in Eternal Sun Prefecture, the Green Lotus Sect had been the most rebellious after the Li family established their rule.
Even before Prince Qian fell into their trap, the sect had been gathering allies everywhere, preparing to drive the Li family out of Eternal Sun Prefecture.
They were willing to seek outside help at any cost and even had disciples in the imperial court who, time and time again, submitted memorials to the Human Emperor to denounce the Li family.
But Green Lotus Mountain had long been prepared; Gu Yinming had lured out a majority of their disciples, but they were all just cannon fodder.
The true experts were still hiding within their multiple layers of grand formations.
Outside the mountain, the numerous cultivators Li Kuangren had brought from Hundred Treasures Mountain were lying in wait, working to break the arrays. It was shaping up to be a prolonged battle.
Just at this moment, Gu Yinming's expression changed. "Little Brother Kuangren, Green Lotus Mountain is making another move."
As his voice faded, a sword formation like a great dragon materialized over Green Lotus Mountain.
It was the sword formation of the Green Lotus Sect's cultivators, emerging from within their sect's grand formation.
The disciples themselves did not appear; they simply directed the sword formation to attack the Li family's forces outside the mountain.
This, however, also created an opening. The moment the grand formation opened to unleash the attack was the perfect opportunity for Li Kuangren to lead his cultivators and strike at its exposed weakness.
Li Kuangren was already floating up into the air!
One sword formation after another appeared around him, filling the sky with sword phantoms until, in a flash, they assembled into a throne of bronze swords! He commanded the formations as if they were his own limbs, yet when he glanced at the bronze throne, he hesitated, not daring to sit upon it. Instead, he stood before it, advancing with his formations.
As Li Kuangren moved, the cultivators from Hundred Treasures Mountain also unleashed their techniques, clashing with the roaming dragon-like sword formation that had emerged from the enemy's array.
"This is…"
Seeing Li Kuangren's sword formation, Gu Yinming was stunned for a moment.
"Peak Nascent Soul, with a sword formation of this caliber… I'm afraid he has achieved a Nine-by-Nine Nascent Soul. What a pity. He must have a heart-demon. If he cannot break through it, I fear he will never in his life be able to glimpse the stage of Nascent Soul 'Leaving the Body'."
Immediately, he too did not dare to delay. His Primordial Spirit floated up to confront the Divinity Transformation sword cultivator within Green Lotus Mountain.
From where Li Kuangren floated in the air, Li Wei stood watching him command the field. When he saw that Li Kuangren didn't dare to sit upon the throne, Li Wei let out a sigh.
On the panel:
[Your descendant, Li Kuangren, affected by the 'Caged Bird' heart-demon, has reached Peak Nascent Soul but is unable to glimpse the 'Leaving the Body' stage. Trait Acquired: Caged Bird]
[Suffering from psychological trauma, he fears confined spaces and the cold touch of metal. As a Sword Formation Master, he dares not touch a longsword. Possessing the aura of a king, he will not ascend a throne. Until the heart-demon is broken, he cannot enter the 'Leaving the Body' stage. The day the cage is shattered, the sky will be high and the sea vast!]
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