After hearing Tang Yingâs misgivings, Duan Ling Tian lightly nodded, indicating he understood.
After saying goodbye to Tang Ying, Duan Ling Tian returned to the Li Clan Estate.
Everything was as normal.
However, at noon, the Li Clan Estate was in a complete uproar.
The Li Clanâs Grand Elder had died in Misty ForestâŠ
Duan Ling Tian originally didnât plan on going to watch the scene, but Li Fei dragged him and Ke Er over.
The Li Clan Estate, outer court Martial Arts Practice Field, it was filled full of people.
Noticing Duan Ling Tian walking over, the crowd automatically opened up a path.
Regarding Duan Ling Tian, who was ranked at the top of the Hidden Dragon List and was the Li Clanâs future pillar of support, anyone would give him some face.
âLittle Fei, it canât be that you dragged me here just so I can open a path for you, right?â The corners of Duan Ling Tianâs mouth twitched as he asked with slight suspicion.
âI didnât. Donât tell me you donât want to come watch the scene? I heard it was Triumph Cityâs Wang Clan members that found Grand Elderâs corpse⊠Hmm, Grand Elderâs death will cause Li Qing to completely lack anyone to rely on.â
As she finished speaking, Li Feiâs gaze was slightly complicated.
âWhat, youâre worried about him?â
Duan Ling Tianâs brows slightly twitched.
âNo, Iâm just musing⊠Li Qing is the same as me, his parents died in the calamity that year as well, and he lived together with his grandfather since he was small.â
Li Fei shook her head.
âSo thatâs how it is.â
Duan Ling Tian nodded.
Meanwhile, he had brought Ke Er and Li Fei to stand at the front of the crowd.
In the Martial Arts Practice Field, besides Li Ao, the group of Li Clan Elders was present and stood behind him.
Opposite them, there were seven young adults standing, both men and women.
Between the two groups of people, Grand Elder Li Tai lied there in a wretched state. Besides his right hand being broken, his throat was sliced open by a weapon as well.
Li Ao and the group of Li Clan Elders didnât have very good expressions on their faces.
Li Ao looked at the seven Wang Clan members and asked, âYoung men and young woman of the Wang Clan, when you found the Grand Elderâs corpse, did you notice anything else in his surroundings?â
âPatriarch Li, we examined the surroundings, but we didnât discover anything,â one of the Wang Clan disciples said.
âThank you for your troubles. Since itâs a matter of great importance, the Li Clan is unable to entertain everyone at the moment⊠Consider these Origin Increasing Pills a gift from me.â
Li Ao withdrew a bottle of Origin Increasing Pills and passed it over.
The Wang Clan disciples received the medicinal pills with delighted expressions.
âPatriarch Li, we understand. Farewell.â
The seven members of the Wang Clan came and went like the wind.
âGrandfather!â
Suddenly, a shrill and sad cry sounded from outside the crowd.
A youth in white clothes rammed straight through the crowd and knelt down beside Li Taiâs corpse. His body trembled as he cried his heart out.
It was precisely Li Qing!
âLi Qing, donât grief too much and accept the inevitable changes⊠Our Li Clan will surely spare no efforts to investigate and get to the bottom of this matter. We will give Grand Elder justice,â Patriarch Li Ao consoled.
âInvestigate? You donât have to investigate, I know who the murderer is!â
Li Qingâs eyes were crimson red as he lifted his head up with a vicious expression.
âYou know?â
Li Ao was stunned.
âLi Qing, if you know, you can speak out⊠I want to know who is so bold to dare kill our Li Clanâs Grand Elder. Does he really think our Li Clan is easy to bully?â an old man behind Li Ao said, in a low voice which had infinite rage mixed within.
âYes! Killing the Grand Elder is no different from slapping our Li Clan in the face. Li Qing, you donât have to be afraid; you can speak out.â
âI want to know as well. Who the hell has such tremendous bravery?!â
âIf we can find this person, we must shred his body into 10,000 bits!â
âŠâŠ
Each and every Li Clan Elder was filled with fury.
The gazes from the surrounding crowd all descended upon Li Qing.
They all wanted to know who the murderer Li Qing spoke of was.
Eventually, Li Qingâs gaze swept through the crowdâŠ
In the end, it fixed itself on a violet figure.
âPatriarch, itâs him, Duan Ling Tian!â
Li Qing pointed towards the violet-clothed youth with a face full of rage.
Noticing Li Qing pointing at him and even proclaiming him as the murderer, Duan Ling Tianâs facial expression remained unchanged as he looked Li Qing in the eye calmly in a very tranquil manner.
After hearing what Li Qing said, everyone present followed Li Qingâs finger and their gazes all descended upon the violet-clothed youth.
For a moment, the entire scene lost control.
âIs Li Qing mad? He actually said that the murderer is Duan Ling Tian!â
âWhat a joke. Even if Duan Ling Tian consumed a Spirit Fruit once and his fleshly body has an extra strength of two ancient mammoths compared to ordinary martial artists, even though he has broken through to the Core Formation Stage, his strength is merely compared to a martial artist at the third level of the Core Formation Stage.â
âKilling Grand Elder, who was at the eighth level of the Origin Core Stage, with the strength of a third level Core Formation martial artist? To think Li Qing is able to say such a thing.â
âHe couldnât have gone mad from the news of Grand Elderâs death, right? Duan Ling Tian? How could that be possible!â
âThis Li Qing couldnât be thinking of using the power of the clan to settle a personal grudge, right? I heard that during the Hidden Dragon List competition, because of him being overbearing, Duan Ling Tian cut off his finger⊠Could it be because of this matter?â
âEven if he wanted to use the clanâs power to take revenge on a personal grudge, he should at least find a logical excuse.â
âYeah, actually framing Duan Ling Tian as the murderer, who would believe that?â
âŠâŠ
The discussions of the crowd entered into Li Qingâs ears and caused his expression to become ghastly pale.
âIâm not lying. Duan Ling Tian is the murderer, heâs the murderer!â Li Qing bellowed, abruptly standing up and moving. He exploded forth with his entire strength of three ancient mammoths, flashing towards Duan Ling Tian like a madman.
Swimming Dragon Steps!
Dark Nether Finger!
His first move was directly a killing move. His finger went straight for Duan Ling Tianâs vital points.
âLi Qing!â Patriarch Li Aoâs expression turned grim as he shouted in a low voice.
But how would the current Li Qing pay attention to Li Ao?
âYou donât know your own limits!â
Duan Ling Tianâs gaze turned cold as he stepped forward. Too lazy to use martial skills, he casually swung his fist out.
Four ancient mammoth silhouettes condensed above him.
Bang!
His fist flew towards Li Qing at a speed much faster than his finger and blasted Li Qing flying.
Li Qing loudly crashed on the floor with an ugly expression.
He struggled to stand up and desired to attack once more.
âEnough!â
Li Aoâs lofty figure blocked in front of Li Qing, his gaze cold and indifferent. âLi Qing, if you can bring forth evidence, then speak⊠If you want to use Grand Elderâs death as a means to settle your personal grudges with Duan Ling Tian, Iâll punish you according to the Clanâs rules right now! Donât forget, Grand Elder is your grandfather; his body hasnât even gotten cold, but youâre already busy trying to take revenge. How could he die contently in the nether world?â
âPatriarch!â
Li Qing knelt down sorrowfully. âIâm not using my grandfatherâs death to take revenge on a personal grudge, and every single word I say is true.â
âThen speak. Why do you say Duan Ling Tian is the murderer?â Li Ao asked, in a heavy voice.
The gazes of everyone present fell onto Li Qing.
âPatriarch, since my grandfather is already dead now, I wonât continue to conceal some matters.â
Li Qing took a deep breath as he slowly said, âDuring the youth gathering, Duan Ling Tian cut off my finger and practically crippled my Dark Nether Finger. Grandfather was very furious about this matter, and on many occasions he said that he would find a chance to teach Duan Ling Tian a lessonâŠâ
Hearing what Li Qing said, Li Aoâs expression became ugly.
Li Tai, no matter what, was still the Li Clanâs Grand Elder, but he was such a narrow-minded person.
The competition at the Hidden Dragon List youth gathering was something that had the unified acknowledgment of the three great clans of Aurora City and was thus extremely fair.
Getting injured during a spar was unavoidable.
The crowd went into an uproar.
âSo the Grand Elder was this sort of person.â
âI even thought that the Grand Elder was different from us, but I didnât expect him to be the same as us, so much so that his selfishness was even greater⊠Li Qing was injured by Duan Ling Tian during the youth gathering; many people witnessed it, and it was Li Qing who was overbearing and Duan Ling Tian is not to be blamed.â
âThink about it, Li Qing is his only grandson after all.â
âHumph! To think that I actually respected the Grand Elder previously, but he was actually this sort of person.â
âŠâŠ
Duan Ling Tian had a weird gaze.
Was this Li Qing an idiot?
His grandfather was dead, and he actually ruined his grandfatherâs name like thisâŠ
He could imagine that if Li Tai rose from the dead, he would probably be angered to death by Li Qing.
However.
The current Li Qing had already lost all reason. He continued, âIn these past few days, I noticed Duan Ling Tian going to the Misty Forest daily, so I told my grandfather. This morning, my grandfather followed behind Duan Ling Tian⊠but I never expected that what came back to me was instead my grandfatherâs corpse.â
âPatriarch, tell me, if the murderer isnât Duan Ling Tian, then who could it be?â Li Qing hysterically asked.
He didnât notice, however, that Li Aoâs expression was becoming darker by the second.
Hua!
Practically at the moment Li Qing finished speaking, the crowd went into an uproar once again.
âHe followed Duan Ling Tian into the Misty Forest? This doesnât seem like purely planning to teach Duan Ling Tian a lessonâŠâ
âOnce Duan Ling Tian enters the Misty Forest, even if he died, nobody would ever suspect the Grand Elder.â
âGrand Elder is too tyrannical. Li Qing only had his finger cut off, and it was even reconnected later⊠For this reason, he actually wanted to kill Duan Ling Tian.â
âGrand Elder is too frightening.â
âŠâŠ
All of the Li Clan disciplesâ expressions froze for a moment.
He had followed Duan Ling Tian into the Misty Forest purely to teach him a lesson?
Only an idiot would believe that!
âLi Qing, donât talk nonsense. How could Grand Elder be this sort of person?â Li Aoâs face was grim as he shouted in a stern voice.
âYes, I believe that with the way Grand Elder has always conducted himself, itâs absolutely impossible for him to do such a thing.â
âI believe that as well.â
âLi Qing, donât let revenge blind your eyes. Slandering your grandfather just to satisfy your own selfish desire for revenge is something you really shouldnât do!â
âŠâŠ
The Li Clan Elders voiced their opinions.
What a joke.
There were so many Li Clan disciples present right now.
Even if Grand Elder Li Tai had really done this, they would still not admit it, as the Li Clanâs Grand Elder didnât just represent a person, he represented the entire Li Clan.
âPatriarch, Iâm not lying!â
Noticing that no one believed him, Li Qing immediately got anxious and howled.
âEnough!â Li Ao bellowed. âWhereâs the Enforcement Elder?â
âPatriarch!â
Among the elders that stood behind Li Ao, a black-robed old man walked out.
âLi Qing slandered our Li Clanâs Grand Elder. Take him away and give him 30 paddle strikes as a warning to other clan members!â Li Ao ordered.
âYes, Patriarch.â
The Enforcement Elder walked out in large strides and grabbed ahold of Li Qing like how an eagle would catch a chick.
âPatriarch, Iâm telling the truth, Iâm telling the truthâŠâ
As he was dragged away by the Enforcement Elder, Li Qing continued to howl hysterically.