Chapter 516 - 341: Holy Sanctuary Gate

At this, even Lie Suifeng, who had supported exterminating Ling Xiao, nodded. "If it were a fight to the death, Elder Yu could theoretically annihilate the entire Zhe Family without issue. But, Young Master, have you considered this? If they couldn't win, why didn't they flee? Dozens of Sword Emperors from the Zhe Family were wiped out, not one spared. This proves one thing, at the very least: the Shushan Sword Sect killed them with extreme ease! You all saw those six elders from the Shushan Sword Sect today. In terms of strength, the most powerful among them was only at the Tier Six Sword Emperor Realm, yet none of them appeared injured. Do you believe the Zhe Family, an ancient family of equal standing, didn't have a single Tier Six Sword Emperor?"

"The Zhe Family, of course, had more than one Tier Six Sword Emperor." Lie Suitian sighed softly. "Which is why I have a feeling that Ling Xiao's strength is likely no less than my own! If we try to use force on someone like him and he escapes, he could find a place to cultivate in seclusion for a few decades. When he reappeared, he would be an absolute catastrophe for us! By then, he would be an enemy I could no longer hope to defeat."

"What?" Even Lie Que was taken aback by Lie Suitian's words.

Lie Yang cried out, "How is that possible? Great-Grandfather, I refuse to believe Ling Xiao is that strong!"

The tavern was incredibly noisy, but Lie Yang's outburst brought it to a sudden silence. Everyone turned to look at him as if he were a complete fool.

A staggering drunk pointed at Lie Yang and roared with laughter. "HA, HAHAHA, see that? Another one with a death wish! Look at him, just a pretty boy… and he actually dreams of going against Lord Ling Xiao. Kid… you better count your lucky stars this isn't Shushan City. Otherwise… those words alone would be enough to get you killed ten times over!"

"HAHAHAHA!"

The tavern erupted in a wave of raucous laughter. Many were doubled over, tears of mirth streaming down their faces. Clearly, not a single one of these Adventurers was unaware of Ling Xiao.

Lie Yang's face turned livid. He was about to stand up when Lie Suitian barked, "Sit down!"

Lie Yang shot a venomous glare at the Adventurer who had just mocked him, thinking, 'You're a dead man! I'll kill you and teach you the price for running your mouth!'

Lie Suitian sighed softly and glanced around. A few people were still looking their way, but taverns were like that. People spouted all sorts of nonsense; some Adventurers even got drunk and boasted about killing the Emperor and taking his throne. No one took such talk seriously. Still, among the crowd, a few people shot furtive, calculating glances in their direction.

Lie Suitian said, "We came here and are staying in a place like this precisely to avoid you exposing yourself!" Seeing Lie Yang lower his head in silence, Lie Suitian continued, "Killing Ling Xiao wouldn't be difficult for us, and Elder Yu will have his chance to avenge the humiliation he suffered. What's most important right now is figuring out how to capture Ling Xiao and extract his knowledge of Arrays and Alchemy! Elder Yu, don't lose heart. I'm confident that once we capture Ling Xiao, we will be able to torture the information out of him!"

At this point, Lie Suixue agreed that simply killing Ling Xiao would be letting him off too easily. He nodded and said, "Very well. I'll wait. The day we catch that brat, we'll see if he still dares to act so arrogant with me!"

"The problem is, the boy is elusive, and the Shushan Sword Sect's Array is simply too powerful! *Sigh*… To think of the two Sword Emperor experts from our clan who were trapped and killed in there… what a terrible waste." Lie Suitian sighed, then continued, "Our top priority is to find Ling Xiao's weakness. Do any of you have a good plan?"

Lie Yang then spoke up in a low voice, "A few years ago, Ling Xiao had several exceptionally beautiful women with him, but they all vanished around the same time he did. We originally thought they were in the Shushan Sword Sect, but we didn't see them at the sect's founding ceremony today, a day of such importance. That Ling Xiao is a deeply sentimental man. If we could capture one of those women… Hmph, I doubt he would refuse to cooperate!"

Lie Que silently cursed his brother. 'How despicable,' he thought, 'to come up with such a vile plan.'

"Oh? So the boy is a romantic?" Lie Suixue let out a sinister laugh. "That makes things much easier! If I recall correctly, there's a woman right here in Lanyue's Imperial Capital Yalan City. Years ago, Ling Xiao even dispatched men to protect her. Que, you were in charge of that matter. You should know about this, right?"

A chill went down Lie Que's spine. 'How could I have forgotten about Huangpu Yue?' he thought. Of course, Lie Que knew where Ling Xiao's other women had gone, but he would die before he ever told anyone. Besides, the Gongsun Family was not to be trifled with. If anyone actually dared to make a move on those seven women, the Gongsun Family would be the first to object.

'But this Huangpu Yue… she's a real problem!'

For all these years, Huangpu Yue had been living in the Imperial Capital. Ever since the Wulan Clan had been soundly rebuffed and utterly humiliated while trying to cause her trouble, they hadn't dared to bother her again. As a result, Huangpu Yue had been managing Ling Xiao's businesses in peace, and they had always been quite prosperous.

'If they really use her to threaten Ling Xiao,' he thought, 'there's a ninety-percent chance my sworn brother will step in to save her!'

While thinking this, Lie Que nodded and said aloud, "I heard that Ling Xiao's people had some sort of transaction with the Huangpu Clan and owed the Huangpu Family a favor. That's why they sent someone to help Miss Huangpu that one time. If Miss Huangpu were actually Ling Xiao's woman, she would have been brought to the Shushan Sword Sect long before the war with the Zhe Family even began."

"So you're saying the relationship between Huangpu Yue and Ling Xiao is nothing special?"

Lie Yang suddenly frowned, his eyes fixed on his younger brother, Lie Que. Xie Xiaoyan had always suspected something was off, but no one could have ever guessed the truth: that Lie Que had become sworn brothers with Ling Xiao! For someone from a clan like theirs, the consequences of such a betrayal were horrific.