Chapter 522 - 345: Chaos Will Arise

Ling Xiao's warm smile made the expressions of the Gongsun Family's Sword Emperors tighten. From his calm and composed smile, they suddenly sensed something. They connected it to the words their ancestor had left for Ling Xiao in his final moments before ascending to the Holy Sanctuary, asking him to look after the Gongsun Clan. They originally couldn't figure it out. The Gongsun Family, a super-family! Why would they need a young man's help? But after hearing Ling Xiao's account of that night's events, coupled with the demeanor he now displayed—one far beyond his peers—the Sword Emperor Powerhouses of the Gongsun Family suddenly felt their resistance toward Ling Xiao melt away.

Gongsun Sword shook his head and cursed, "Dammit, sooner or later, I'm going to stand at that peak too. When that time comes, your business will be my business. If anyone wants to cause you trouble again, they'll have to step over my dead body first!"

...

Li Fei, Patriarch of the Western Li Family, had not left Shushan City. The next day, Ling Xiao granted him an audience, and Li Fei's objective left Ling Xiao slightly astonished.

Upon meeting Ling Xiao, Li Fei didn't hesitate, getting straight to the point. "Sect Leader Ling, the grudge between the Western Li Family and the Dragon Valley Gou Family involves the Lanyue Empire's Royal Family. Li Wuzhi murdered his own father and mother—his actions are simply beastly. Our Li Family is already aware of this..."

Before Li Fei could finish, Ling Xiao rudely cut him off. "Patriarch Li, this is an internal matter for your Li Family. Isn't it a bit inappropriate to be telling me, an outsider, all this?"

Li Fei's face showed no trace of displeasure. "Sect Leader Ling, please hear me out. Not only has Li Wuzhi committed these beastly atrocities, but he has also colluded with the Dragon Valley Gou Family for backing. This is something we cannot tolerate! Moreover, as far as I know, the son of the former Southern King, Li Wutong, is here with you, and also..." Li Fei paused here, glancing at Ling Xiao's face. Seeing that his expression remained unchanged, Li Fei continued, "And that bloodline left by the old King, the Third Prince... I hear... he is also here?"

Ling Xiao's eyes narrowed slightly. He was inwardly amazed. 'The great families are truly impressive,' he thought. 'I thought these matters were kept perfectly secret, yet someone found out.'

Ling Xiao gave a faint smile. "And what is it you want, Patriarch Li?"

"Haha, Sect Leader Ling, please don't misunderstand. I only know about the Third Prince because the Nangong Elder from the Imperial Palace told me." Seeing Ling Xiao's expression, Li Fei explained, feeling a little unnerved. In truth, the Western Li Family had controlled the Lanyue Empire for over 1,400 years, and their power in the Mortal World was not to be underestimated.

Ling Xiao's gaze flickered for a moment. He frowned and said, "If you have something to say, just say it. I'm very busy!"

Li Fei gave a somewhat awkward smile. Facing Ling Xiao, he didn't even have the urge to get angry. He said directly, "I would like to ask for Sect Leader Ling's help. Choose between Li Wutong's son and the Third Prince, support one of them to ascend the throne, and overthrow that beast Li Wuzhi's rule. When that happens..."

"Sorry, I have no interest in that whatsoever!" Ling Xiao interrupted Li Fei. "The Third Prince was forced upon me by Nangong Elder, who said it was the old King's last wish. The child is innocent; I couldn't watch him starve, so I took him in. As for Li Tianluo, he's a friend, so it's perfectly normal for me to take him in. However, I have no interest in the throne of the Lanyue Empire, and even less in any so-called benefits. If the Third Prince wishes to take back what is his when he grows up, he'll need to rely on his own strength. If your Western Li Family wants to kill Li Wuzhi, it would be laughably easy! Why come to me?"

In fact, the Li Family's greatest fear was that the Ling Family would seize power. Hearing Ling Xiao say this, Li Fei, though annoyed by his bluntness, had achieved his goal. He could now continue the fight against the Dragon Valley Gou Family with peace of mind.

...

「Half a month later.」

The Jingwu Family issued an announcement to all the great families on the continent: The East Sea Qin Family was, as a whole, Cultivating Evil Techniques, specifically by absorbing the Essence Blood of talented youths and Martial Artists at the Demon Sword Master level and above to increase their strength. This heinous and cruel behavior by the Qin Family was an offense against heaven and reason, and everyone had the right to punish them! The Jingwu Family guaranteed the truth of this matter with their family's honor! They also reminded all families and sects to remain vigilant and not let the Qin Family take advantage of them. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

At the same time, the Jingwu Family sent a letter to Ling Xiao.

The letter was personally written by the Jingwu Family's Grand Elder, Lie Suitian. The wording was extremely humble and full of regret, apologizing for the trouble they had caused the Shushan Sword Sect in the past. It also stated that if Ling Xiao was willing, the grudge between the Jingwu Family and the Shushan Sword Sect would be wiped clean, and the two families could interact normally from now on, helping each other out.

Ling Xiao gathered his core members in the meeting room to analyze the true meaning behind the Jingwu Family's letter at this particular time.

Thirteenth Master said boisterously, "What other meaning could there be? They can't have any good intentions. The only difference between the Lie Family and the Zhe Family is that they are much stronger! And now it seems they're also smarter! Seeing that a hard approach won't work, they're starting to use this trick. Sect Leader, you mustn't be deceived by them! We have to guard against their insidious schemes."

Fourteenth Master rolled his eyes. "The Sect Leader is so brilliant, how could he be deceived by them? If you ask me, the Lie Family is just scared of the Young Master's methods of retaliation. Hmph, that's why they're acting like this!"

Ever since the old master Song Qi had returned to the Song Family Island, Thirteenth Master and Fourteenth Master had become active again. When Song Qi left, he had once again made it clear that from then on, Thirteenth Master and Fourteenth Master would be Ling Xiao's subordinates, a small gesture of goodwill from the Sea Domain Song Family toward Ling Xiao.

One had to admit, Song Qi was extremely shrewd. He said they would serve Ling Xiao, not the Shushan Sword Sect. This meant that in the future, when Ling Xiao ascended to the Holy Sanctuary, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Master might return to the Sea Domain Song Family.

However, Ling Xiao was indifferent to this, and Thirteenth and Fourteenth Master were as well. The two old men seemed like mischievous children, bickering and arguing all day, but in their hearts, they understood everything perfectly! How could they not see the benefits of being by Ling Xiao's side? They had been stuck at the Tier Two Sword Emperor Realm for decades, but after coming to Ling Xiao's side, in just a few short years, they were now at Tier Four Peak. Perhaps in a few more years, they could break through to become Tier Five Sword Emperors!

This rate of improvement was something even Song Qi himself deeply envied. Even if Ling Xiao were to one day enter the Holy Sanctuary, because of this bond they had forged, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Master would not leave the Shushan Sword Sect!

Shangguan Yutong spoke softly at this moment. "Ling Xiao, do you remember the matter the Lie Family just announced about the Qin Family cultivating evil techniques?"

Ling Xiao nodded. The incident had just occurred and had already caused a huge uproar among the great families and sects. The Qin Family had become universally despised overnight; how could he not know about it?

"The Lie Family announced this on one hand, and on the other, they are proactively showing goodwill to us. I feel that these two matters must be connected in some way," Shangguan Yutong said, her beautiful eyes fixed on Ling Xiao's.

Ling Xiao nodded and said, "The old are always the most cunning. The Lie Family's move is likely to divert people's attention. The battle could be covered up, but the news of Lie Suixue being played for a fool by me has now spread throughout all the great families and sects. As a super-family, how could they let such a scandal continue to spread? Besides, the threat of the Qin Family is indeed great! Everyone should be warned."

"The Qin Family..." Sitting in the corner, Lingzhi suddenly thought of that little bastard Qin Jian from the Bauhinia Clan in the northern part of the Empire. Wasn't he from the Qin Family? Several years had passed in a flash since he had last seen him. He had no idea what had become of him. Lingzhi thought with a soft sigh, 'That little bastard... I hope this has nothing to do with you!'

After some discussion, although everyone had their own opinions, they generally agreed on one point: the Lie Family's gesture of goodwill was probably genuine. So, everyone was quite happy. After all, having a super-family constantly eyeing them like a hungry tiger from the shadows was certainly not a comfortable feeling.

However, a single thought crossed both Ling Xiao's and Shangguan Yutong's minds almost simultaneously: 'The Lie Family is making a gesture of goodwill, but will Xie Xiaoyan give up?'

Ling Xiao shook his head forcefully. 'So what if she doesn't give up?' he thought. Three years had passed, and the old grudges should have faded by now. His own strength had far exceeded his expectations from back then. If Xie Xiaoyan stayed quietly at home in the Lanyue Empire, Ling Xiao believed he wouldn't even bother to unblock her meridians for her! For Xie Xiaoyan, the best thing would be to quietly find someone to marry and become a happy young mistress. With her cunning, Ling Xiao didn't think she would ever be at a disadvantage, even with no power at all.

In fact, Ling Xiao had long since figured it out. The 'Ling Xiao' of the past hadn't died at Ling Tianxiao's hand, but from his own utter despair! When a person gives up all will to live, even if they were perfectly healthy before, it wouldn't take long for them to become gaunt and haggard. That, combined with Ling Tianxiao's slightly-too-heavy slap... Moreover, that 'Ling Xiao' had only ever felt love for Xie Xiaoyan, never hatred.

This was something Ling Xiao had once found very strange. Xie Xiaoyan had treated him so cruelly, yet he felt no hatred for her. This was something the current Ling Xiao, who had never experienced love, could not comprehend.

Later, as more beautiful women entered his life and he was no longer ignorant about matters of the heart, he finally understood. It was just like his love for Ye Zi and Yisha; even if they were to betray him, Ling Xiao wouldn't be able to bring himself to harm them!

However, they would never betray him! They would never even think of trying to kill him.

Moreover, what Ling Xiao had not initially expected was that the powerless Xie Xiaoyan would still be so fixated on getting revenge on him. Her cunning had reached such a level that Ling Xiao couldn't help but feel a little impressed by her.

Because their secret had been suddenly exposed, the Qin Family became utterly reckless, crazily committing atrocities everywhere.

In the short span of three months, the Lanyue and Zichuan Empires, along with a dozen or so surrounding countries, descended into chaos. Every Martial Artist with a cultivation level above Demon Sword Master lived in fear!

Ling Xiao looked at the reports constantly coming in from all over, sneered, and paid them no mind. He focused his entire attention on training the ten first-generation disciples of the Shushan Sword Sect. After being personally taught by Ling Xiao, the ten great disciples of the Shushan Sword Sect would walk a path completely different from any other Martial Artist on the Canglan Continent.

The first thing to do for them was Foundation Establishment.

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