Chapter 130 - 121 What are you laughing at_1

In the mansion of Li Wenxuan, the meeting hall.

Twelve people were seated, with Li Wenxuan at the head, and right below him, near him, was Li Canglin.

These twelve people were all martial marquises, the backbone of Li Wenxuan’s faction.

Originally, Li Wenxuan’s faction had more than just these martial marquises, but over the past few years, a series of losses, including those of Li Wenlong, Li Wenyan, and Li Wenjie, had significantly damaged their strength.

Martial marquises were not cabbage; even master-level feudal lords didn’t have many.

For example, the Li Family had forty-odd martial marquises on paper.

These included both the blood members of the Li family and Elder Keqing.

These over forty martial marquises, not counting the few who are neutral, were split into two factions, one supporting Li Wenxuan and the other supporting Li Wenxin.

And now, in terms of the number of martial marquises, Li Wenxin’s faction has taken the upper hand.

"Gentlemen, what do you think of this upcoming contest?"

Asked Li Wenxuan.

The crowd was silent, the atmosphere somewhat tense.

Because in this contest, they were clearly at a disadvantage.

Both factions were familiar with each other’s elites.

With five matches and three wins, only their Level Two and Level Four martial marquises could be sure of success on their side.

However, their Level One, Three, and Five martial marquises were inferior to the opposing side, and it could even be said that their defeat was inevitable.

Originally, the two factions were not particularly distant in strength, and the outcome of the contest was unknown.

But a recent breakthrough by Wang Dao had put them at a disadvantage.

Although Wang Dao had not long since broken through, he had formed the Acquired Martial Body during his fifth limit-breaking, with twice the Qi-blood of a normal person. After reaching the Martial Marquis level, his combat power far exceeded his peers.

On their side, none of their Level One martial marquises were a match for Wang Dao.

"Father, we must pull out all the stops, or our defeat is certain,"

Finally, Li Canglin was the first to speak up.

"Oh? Canglin, do you have a good strategy?"

Asked Li Wenxuan.

"We send someone to injure Wang Dao, making him unfit to participate in the contest over a short period. Then victory will be ours."

To prevent misunderstandings amongst them, Li Canglin added, "Even though our ancestor forbids us from fratricide, we only need to injure, not kill, and even if our ancestor finds out, he won’t blame us."

"After all, the competition between our two factions not only examines our martial power, but also our strategies and cunning. Otherwise, how can we lead the Li Family towards its glory?"

Many people nodded, agreeing with Li Canglin’s argument.

"Canglin, your idea is good, but not enough, we cannot guarantee victory by just injuring Wang Dao. We must act and hurt Li Suifeng as well."

Li Wenxuan slowly said.

Li Suifeng was the Level Three martial marquis of Li Wenxin’s faction.

Among the Level Three martial marquises, no one on their side could challenge him.

"Master is truly wise," the crowd praised.

"So it’s settled. We shouldn’t act too early, it would be best if we made our move right before the contest, leaving them with no time to recover."

Li Wenxuan said, a trace of ruthlessness flashing in the depths of his eyes.

The Immortal Bone was a must-have.

He would not hesitate to displease the ancestor to achieve this.

As long as he breaks through to the master level and uses the Immortal Bone to suppress adverse reactions as a result of this, would the ancestor’s attitude still be important then?

...

At Wang Dao’s mansion, Lu Yan sparred with Wang Dao daily on knife techniques. After having dinner, he returned to the martial arts hall to practice martial arts and improve his bone strength as dusk fell. His days were pretty fulfilling.

Time flew by quickly, and soon only seven days were left until the day of the contest.

That evening, after Lu Yan finished dinner at Wang Dao’s mansion and was getting ready to go home, he unintentionally noticed someone hiding in a large tree outside the courtyard.

This person was very well-hidden, almost entirely covered by the leaves of the tree. He didn’t move at all, as if he were part of the tree.

But Lu Yan, who had already trained his Sky Eagle Eye to the Unity of Man and Martial Arts, had excellent eyesight even in the dark.

That person’s eyes were constantly fixed on Wang Dao’s mansion through the gaps in the leaves.

The glimmer in that person’s eyes was what Lu Yan saw through the gaps in the leaves.

"Is he monitoring me or Wang Dao?"

Thoughts started whirling in Lu Yan’s mind.

He guessed that the person was most likely keeping an eye on Wang Dao, considering that the showdown between the two big factions was imminent.

Were they planning on doing something harmful to Wang Dao?

"Brother Wang, I won’t return home today, may I stay the night here?"

Instead of leaving, Lu Yan turned around and went back to ask.

"That would be great, guest rooms have already been prepared."

Wang Dao was delighted.

Having decided to stay, Lu Yan went with Wang Dao to the practice room and sparred for a while on knife technique before they went to their own rooms.

Upon reaching his room, Lu Yan took off his outer clothing. At the same time, his figure and appearance began to change.

Soon, he looked like a resolute old man who shared quite a resemblance to Yang Zhihuan.

That’s right, he was planning to pose as Yang Zhihuan.

Even though they only had a passing resemblance, under the cover of night, as long as he had the same figure, he could get away with it.

He opened the window behind him and slipped out.

Li Yue, a Level Three martial marquis, was sent by Li Wenxuan to deal with Wang Dao this time.

A Level Three martial marquis against a Level One martial marquis, even if Wang Dao was very strong, it was still hard for him to cross this gap. It was almost a sure thing.

However, he hadn’t expected there to be another person in Wang Dao’s mansion. He recognized him as Lu Shanchuan, the head of the Sanjue Martial Arts Hall.

"Why is Lu Shanchuan here? This is perfect, I can injure both men at once. This will increase our chances of winning even more. Otherwise, if we only injure Wang Dao, Lu Shanchuan would probably step in to fill the gap, and his abilities seem quite formidable."

Li Yue speculated.

He planned to wait until both men were asleep, to first sneak into Wang Dao’s room to injure him, and then sneak into Lu Shanchuan’s room to injure him as well.

"Lord Wenxuan made a careful plan, but he overlooked Lu Shanchuan. Once this resolved, Lord Wenxuan would surely reward me."

Thinking of this, a smile graced Li Yue’s lips.

"What are you smiling at?"

Suddenly a voice came from behind Li Yue.

"Smiling..." Li Yue got startled and instinctively started to reply, but quickly realized what was happening, his heart racing.

A figure had somehow appeared behind him unnoticed.

Instantly contorting his body, he lunged towards the tree. As he dove, he glanced back.

In that moment, he saw a sturdy silhouette, gazing at him coldly.

"Yang Zhihuan..."

Through the dim nocturnal haze and the veil of leaves, he recognized the figure to be Yang Zhihuan.

Shua!

A flash of sword light streaked towards Li Yue.

Li Yue, taken by surprise, reacted by activating his bone strength defensively.

But the sword light was relentless, like a thunderous explosion, ceaselessly engulfing Li Yue.

Puchi!

The sword light had pierced Li Yue’s chest, tearing a two-feet long wound. The strike was so close to slicing him diagonal.

"Nine Divine Lightning Slash, it has to be that old man Yang Zhihuan."

Li Yue quickly composed himself, reaching into his coat to throw a steel ball at his adversary before turning to escape.

Lu Yan swung his sword, deflecting the steel ball, and made no move to pursue.

The reason he had posed as Yang Zhihuan was because he had no intention of killing his adversary.

Without a doubt, this man was likely sent by Li Wenxuan.

In recent times, Lu Yan had been staying with Wang Dao, spending his time exchanging martial insights. This was something that could easily be discovered.

If Lu Yan were to kill this man, then he would become the prime suspect in Li Wenxuan’s eyes.

Li Wenxuan and Li Canglin had already been suspicious of him due to the incident with Li Cangxin.

Now, if a Martial Marquis Level Three died here, the suspicion on Lu Yan would undoubtedly deepen.

Li Wenxuan might start to doubt whether he was hiding his true cultivation level that allowed him to kill Li Yue and thus, to kill Li Wenlong.

By letting him go, when the man reports back, he would only suspect it to be the work of Yang Zhihuan.

Given Yang Zhihuan’s close relationship with Wang Dao, it would be plausible if he came to visit Wang Dao at night and stumbled upon Li Yue.

After Li Yue had left, Lu Yan vanished in a flash, returning to Wang Dao’s residence.

Bang!

The door burst open, and Wang Dao rushed out with his sword.

Naturally, the commotion from the fight earlier could not evade the senses of a Martial Marquis.

His gaze swept across the area before finally focusing on the tall tree outside the courtyard.

At the same time, Lu Yan was also emerging from his room.

"What happened?"

Lu Yan asked with a furrowed brow.

"There was a fight just now, somewhere around this large tree. The participants were incredibly powerful, undeniably at least at the Marquis level, and not just any ordinary Marquis either."

Wang Dao headed to the tree to inspect, making his inference.

"Quite right. But the strange thing is, where have they gone now? And what intention did they have?"

Lu Yan revealed a baffled expression.

Just then, several figures were seen rapidly approaching from a distance. Drawing nearer, it was clear that it was Li Cangqing, Yang Zhihuan, among others.

"Wang Dao, are you alright?"

Seeing Wang Dao unharmed, Li Cangqing and the others sighed in relief.

"I’m alright. My lord, why have you come so suddenly?"

Wang Dao asked, curious.

"Li Suifeng was injured and won’t be able to recover within a month, thus he’s unable to participate in the competition seven days away. I was concerned that you might be in danger, so we rushed over."

Li Cangqing’s face was clouded, his expression one of worry.

"Was it done by Li Wenxuan’s people?"

Wang Dao’s expression altered, and he instantly thought of this possibility. He also remembered the commotion outside the courtyard just now and said, "Just now, there was a fight outside my yard involving a Martial Marquis. But by the time Brother Lu and I came out to investigate, the person had disappeared. Could it be that it was Li Wenxuan’s people? But then who helped me?"

"You mean there was such an incident?"

Li Cangqing, Yang Zhihuan and others showed both surprise and confusion, but they couldn’t figure out what had happened.

However, one thing was certain, the person who had stepped in was a friend, not a foe, otherwise he wouldn’t have helped Wang Dao.

"During the last seven days, stay in my father’s mansion. Don’t go anywhere else, to avoid any accidents."

Li Cangqing advised.

Lu Yan, together with Wang Dao and Li Cangqing, arrived at the residence of Li Wenxin.

By the time they arrived, several Martial Marquis were already present.

Once everyone was seated, the atmosphere was tense.

"Father, how severe is Uncle Suifeng’s injury?"

Li Cangqing asked.

Li Suifeng was also a member of the Li family, but he was from a collateral branch and thus, on the same generation as Li Wenxin.

This is why Li Cangqing called him uncle.

"The injuries are quite severe. Within seven days they definitely can’t be completely healed. Even if he participates, the odds are his strength will not have more than half its usual effect."

Li Wenxin replied.

"Do we know who did it?"

Li Cangqing asked again.

"Your Uncle Suifeng said that the attacker was incredibly strong, at least a Martial Marquis Level Five, and it was a sneak attack. He had no chance to resist and was injured before he could see who it was."

Li Wenxin shook his head.

"Damn it, it has to be someone sent by Li Wenxuan. He knows he is sure to lose the martial competition, so he resorts to these despicable methods. We should seek an audience with the Ancestor, and ask him to pass judgment."

Li Cangqing said angrily.

"With no evidence or proof, how are we going to talk to the Ancestor? If Li Wenxuan denies it, even accuses you of framing and setting him up, what will you say?"

Li Wenxin pointed out.

"But Martial Marquis Level Five, besides Li Wenxuan, who else in Baicao City could send him? Could it be the Clan Elders?"

Li Cangqing still refused to accept it.

"No use."

Li Wenxin shook his head and said, "The competition for the position of Family Head has never just depended on martial power. Wisdom, strategy and other factors all come into play. Even if we go to the Ancestor, he will not interfere. We have to resolve this matter ourselves."

Li Wenxin’s understanding of the key issues was clear.