Within the Eternal Sun Prefecture.
Inside Merit City, Li Dalong sat upright in the main hall, with Li Yaozu and Huang Xiujin in the secondary seats beside him.
Outside, Li Changsheng floated above the Old Tree. A great, scaled serpent with twin horns on its head was slithering up the trunk, flicking its forked tongue out toward him.
A maidservant entered the hall, carrying tea. It was truly a case of 'When a person achieves a high power, all their associates, no matter how humble, benefit and rise along with them'; nowadays, even the maids in the Li family's Merit City were at the Foundation Establishment realm.
In a place like Tailin Town, such strength would belong to an ancestor-level figure.
A Dark Crow flew in and landed on a roof beam, its crimson eyes fixed on the father and son.
Li Dalong did not spare it a single glance. He slowly picked up the teacup by its saucer, lifted the lid, and brushed away the foam.
Wisps of immortal spirit Qi steamed up from the tea leaves.
Only after taking a sip did he speak in a slow, unhurried voice, "Yaozu, do you remember Daoist Zhen of the Skyveil Sect?"
"I remember."
Li Yaozu gently placed his sword box across his lap. Beside him sat a basin of spiritual liquid. An attendant dipped a cloth into the liquid, wrung it dry, and handed it to him. Li Yaozu began to meticulously wipe down the sword box, not missing even the most obscure corner.
His expression was serious as he replied, "A treacherous wretch at the Golden Core realm. He thought he was being so methodical that by killing Old Pig, he could destroy our Li family, one step at a time."
Li Dalong asked another question. "And Feng Qingyang?"
Li Yaozu's hand paused for a moment before he continued wiping the sword box.
"He was a man who could scheme for the entire world, but unfortunately, he couldn't escape Tian Xing. He was a master of disguise, and played the entire Azure Cloud Region in the palm of his hand. If he were still alive, I fear he might have truly broken free from Tian Xing's control. There's no telling how far he would have come by now."
"Everyone under heaven says the Azure Cloud Region is a land of untamed barbarians and calls us the 'Southern Barbarians'. Perhaps they've always looked down on us."
Li Dalong slowly set down his teacup. "But if they were to truly come to Azure Cloud, and stand at the same cultivation realm as us, I wonder how many of them could have survived against our old adversaries—how many could have even scraped by."
Listening to his father's reminiscent tone, Li Yaozu smiled.
"The people of Azure Cloud just had a lower starting point. But let's not talk about the common folk.
Ancestor Tianye refined human elixirs on a massive scale, yet no one dared to speak a word against him.
Senior Tiangui of the Black Tortoise Sect—even after his sect's grand formation was seized, he still managed to survive in Azure Cloud.
Mi Zhunqi of the Prince Mi Mansion, who seemed never to contend for anything, yet no one's mind was more subtle than his.
Master Wushou of Longevity Mountain, who did his best to keep a low profile, but whom Fourth Sister called a true old fox …"
"And we… we came from that place."
Li Dalong let out a long sigh, filled with a sense of world-weariness.
He watched as his eldest son handed the cloth back to the attendant. With his Primordial Spirit, Li Dalong sensed the spirit ark outside as the Dark Crow on the beam dissolved into a black mist and vanished.
He let out a long breath and said in a low voice, "Our new adversary is quite formidable as well."
Hearing this, Li Yaozu slowly rose to his feet, slung the sword box onto his back, and glanced outside. With his Primordial Spirit, he sensed a young man with a warm and gentle demeanor standing upon the spirit ark.
Prince Qian might be his elder in years, but in his eyes, he was still just a young man.
He bowed to Li Dalong. "Father, your son is leaving."
Li Dalong waved a hand in dismissal.
…...
Aboard the Spirit Ark, Prince Qian pointed toward the teleportation point for Merit City and spoke gently to the ugly woman.
"Look, that is the home of the Li family, the ones who married you to me."
"They are quite remarkable. They even devoured a heaven-defying existence like Tian Xing."
The ugly woman trembled with fear.
Prince Qian continued, "It is all too easy for people to become intoxicated by victory. Decades have passed, but the glory of that achievement still follows them everywhere."
"But they have made the same mistake as Tian Xing. Their clan members are spread throughout Eternal Sun Prefecture, and the Hall of Heavenly Principle and the Azure Cloud Region are like their avatars."
"A pity. All of this looks so magnificent, but in truth, it is just as fragile as Tian Xing once was."
"Their greatest reliance is their Old Ancestor. He is an undying and indestructible being who can appear at the side of any Li family member in an instant. But as long as my forces strike at the same time, he will have no way to escape. Baimei has him pinned down. If he dares to leave, Li Changyao will die without a doubt. He has no choice."
"My forces will scatter and kill the members of the Li family. They will become enraged, just as Tian Xing once did, and that will be the beginning of their downfall!"
"To use their own methods…"
Prince Qian stood at the prow of the ark, watching a familiar figure emerge from the Merit City teleportation array.
The man still carried his sword box on his back, his face was still a mask of indifference, and he still had that same air of looking down on everyone.
Excellent!
He hoped that the man who had forced him to constantly recall the words "I was wrong" could maintain that same arrogant posture!
Prince Qian's voice was low and spectral. "…and turn them against them!"
In an instant, Li Yaozu appeared before Prince Qian's spirit ark.
Li Yaozu tilted his head slightly, his eyes falling on a man who had appeared on the spirit ark.
The man was bare-chested and radiated the aura of a peak Divinity Transformation expert. In his realm, he should have long since been able to shed his mortal imperfections, yet his powerful muscles were still covered in hideous scars.
His gaze was sinister. He held a long, golden staff, and the sound of it tearing through the air with the slightest movement spoke of its immense weight.
"I was wrong."
Prince Qian gazed at Li Yaozu, who hovered above the city, yet dared not make a move for fear of the man behind him.
The prince smiled faintly. "Your Excellency, the Sword Venerable, if you wished to hear those words, then this Prince has come today specifically to say them to you ."
Seeing Li Yaozu finally frown, Prince Qian maintained his light, breezy smile, but made no effort to hide his triumphant sarcasm.
"I was wrong. I thought your Li family had some real skill, daring to spout such arrogant nonsense in my mansion, but it turns out you're nothing special after all."
"You killed Tian Xing and took everything he had. You thought you were truly invincible in Eternal Sun Prefecture. You thought that by ascending to the ranks of the Azure Dynasty's nobility, you could look down on the rest of the world."
"But what you don't know is that even Tian Xing's own master now works for me!"
Prince Qian was ecstatic!
He had waited for years for this very day—the day he would exterminate this arrogant, condescending clan.
He would rule over two prefectures, he would seize everything the Li family possessed, and then he would march back into the Imperial Capital to confront that old bastard on the throne whose days were numbered—and crush his fingers!
"Your Li family is just like those people in the Imperial Palace!"
"You have always underestimated me!"
"But you don't know that I have been waiting for an opportunity—a chance to rise to power in a single step!"
And yet, Li Yaozu was still just frowning.
His calm demeanor caused Prince Qian's smile to gradually fade, and his own expression turned grim.
Eternal Sun Prefecture was in flames, their Shadow Division had been dispatched, their Divinity Transformation experts were locked in a bitter struggle with the local powers, and the Li family's greatest pillar of support, their Old Ancestor, was being held at bay by Baimei.
This arrogant Sword Venerable before him should be enraged!
He should be desperate to kill him, only to be ruthlessly humiliated and ground under his heel!
That is how it should be!
But the reaction he anticipated never came. All he received was a single, disdainful sentence from Li Yaozu.
"You are too loud. As loud and obnoxious as your schemes."
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