"Twelfth Brother, what did you say?"
Prince Feiheng took a deep breath.
"I said, we have gravely underestimated this family. They have already become a formidable power. They left Azure Cloud over a hundred years ago, yet they are still Azure Cloud's uncrowned kings. Azure Cloud region's surname is Li."
He had been observing from the sidelines for two months!
He remembered that many years ago, even the Imperial Preceptor had believed that with the Li family scattered, their momentum was irreversibly lost.
What utter nonsense that was! These past few days, he had seen it with his own eyes: the people of the Azure Cloud region delivering the Tian Xing avatars one by one.
The people of Azure Cloud were ready to fight and die for the Li family!
If the Li family hadn't asked the Azure Cloud cultivators to depart, one fears that the entire area around this Qilin Mountain would be filled with the cultivators of the Azure Cloud region and that three hundred thousand-strong army.
In fact, it's likely that every single cultivator in the entire Azure Cloud region would have come, ready to sacrifice their lives without a second thought.
Over a hundred years had passed, yet all of Azure Cloud still bore the surname Li.
Prince Feiheng truly could not fathom how the Li family had managed it.
The people of the Li family were like ghosts; even in death, they still influenced every single aspect of the entire Azure Cloud.
"It seems that if I wish to become the Human Emperor, I still have much to learn."
Upon hearing this, Prince Xingyu furrowed his brow.
"Twelfth Brother, what is there to learn from a small family?"
"A small family?" A strange look crossed Feiheng's face.
Pointing at the cultivators behind the Li family members who were carrying cages, he said with a cold snort, "Look at them. Over a thousand people, and every single one is a genius! They stand behind the Li family members and obey only Li Yaoqing. Can you imagine what a vast power they will become in the future? The power of the Li family!"
"This..." Prince Xingyu's expression changed. "Geniuses all have their pride. How could they possibly obey the orders of the Li family?"
"I don't know."
Prince Feiheng let out a long sigh.
He had seen it with his own eyes: these geniuses had come from every corner of the land!
Every single one of them was holding a captured Tian Xing avatar, imprisoned in a cage.
After arriving at Qilin Mountain, they stood behind Li Yaoqing and respectfully called out, "Pharmacist."
He had no shortage of his own subordinates, so he could tell that every single one of these geniuses, after taking hold of their cages, had a look of profound gratitude in their eyes.
These fellows will absolutely become the hardcore supporters of the Li family in the days to come.
"Twelfth Brother, since you are so wary of them, why not..." A vicious glint flashed in Prince Xingyu's eyes as he gazed at the people who had risen into the air on Qilin Mountain.
"Hmph, foolish!"
Prince Feiheng let out a cold snort. "Are you trying to make me live in constant fear and unease?"
"Twelfth Brother..."
Xingyu scratched his head, utterly unable to comprehend why his elder brother would be so wary of a single family from the lands of Eternal Sun Prefecture.
Prince Feiheng, however, paid no mind to his foolish younger brother.
His gaze was fixed ahead, as if lost in thought.
Those geniuses were standing silently behind the Li family members. They had come from every corner of the Azure Dynasty. Every single one of them was carrying a cage, and their eyes were filled with both glee and gratitude towards the Li family.
And at the head of these geniuses were the members of the Li family!
Feiheng recognized everyone from the Li family.
At the very rear of the Li family group were the father and son pair, Li Chang'an and Li Xingchen, who had come from the Spirit Continent.
The same pair who had brought him such great political achievements.
They had trekked all the way from the Spirit Continent, and it was said they had even brought the five hundred strongest geniuses from that continent back to Azure Cloud.
This father and son pair, one dressed in magnificent, immaculate attire, while the other was filled with the untamed air of the Jianghu, yet Feiheng did not dare to look down on them in the slightest.
After all... they had gone to a strange continent all by themselves, and after a hundred-plus years, had conquered the entire Spirit Continent!
Beside them was Li Xinghuo.
That young man, clad in the armor of a Northern Border general, was a scout of the Northern Border and one of those who undertook the most dangerous missions.
He constantly walked amidst danger and had also received the Grand Tutor's true teachings.
Among the Grand Tutor's most favored adopted sons, Li Xinghuo, who had only just broken through to the Nascent Soul realm, could rank among the top ten!
Further ahead was Li Kuanghua, seated upon the Flood Dragon.
Her only public battle record was from many years ago when, upon her breakthrough, she fought Lai Teng to a draw.
She had not fought again in over a hundred years, yet her name has long remained in fourth position on the Nascent Divinity List.
Everyone in the entire Azure Dynasty says that after a hundred years have passed, on the day she finally makes her move, everyone on the Nascent Divinity List—aside from the one ranked first—will be left staring at the dust of that black and white Buddha-Demon Disc.
There was Li Kuangren, who had not appeared in public for over a hundred years.
This was the man who had once controlled everything from the shadows in Azure Cloud, vetting all those who came to the region, the Region Prince, unrecognized by the Imperial Dynasty.
At this moment, he was seated upon the throne.
Even though it was their first meeting, Prince Feiheng felt an inexplicable sense of apprehension.
This person sat upon the throne with such solitary pride, as if looking down on all of creation, as if he were born to sit there and gaze upon the world with disdain.
At the very forefront were the first two generations of the Li family.
Feiheng felt that everyone in the world should hold these fellows in reverence and awe.
Because even when faced with Tian Xing's sudden assault, these first two generations had all survived unscathed, and they were the very figures who had led the Li family to this day.
The Pharmacist, Li Yaoqing, the leader of all the geniuses, her reputation as a pharmacist of extraordinary, heaven-gifted talent was already renowned over a hundred years ago.
The Li family's Li Yaotie... this time, he did not appear, but Feiheng knew that Li Yaotie had become the favored child of the Heavenly Light Sect.
And the reason Li Kuanghua could not surpass the first-ranked on the Nascent Divinity List... was because in the face of a peculiar Artifact Refiner like Li Yaotie, even a genius is nothing special.
That Li Yaozu, who carried the sword box on his back, was not yet five hundred years of age, yet had already reached the Divinity Transformation realm.
This person had never even been on the Nascent Divinity List.
For over a hundred years, no one knew where he had gone.
They only knew that he had dragged his grievously wounded body to escape danger.
When he returned, he still carried that same sword box, but now, he used the blood of Divinity Transformation experts to consecrate his sword.
A single red leaf drifted in the sky. Feiheng knew it was likely that scholar from the Li family.
This person had brought the entire Merit City to the Eternal Sun Prefecture. And it was also she who, for these past hundred-plus years, had contended with Tian Xing's divinations!
Then there was that Li Dalong, with his plain and unremarkable appearance. He was as firm as a great rock.
Beside Li Dalong was the Li family's matriarch, Xu Cuihua.
Such a vulgar name, yet it belonged to such an exquisitely beautiful woman; it truly made Feiheng find it incomprehensible. Especially her demonic Qi...
Feiheng gazed into the distance. Demon after demon had somehow stepped onto the lands of the Azure Dynasty, and that old man seated in a basket on a robust man's back was currently staring at him with a smile that was not a smile, making his scalp tingle with dread.
His father, the Emperor, far away in the Imperial Capital, had even sent a message: "Do not, under any circumstances, provoke this existence who currently poses no threat, yet who could become a threat at any moment."
"And it's a good thing, too..." Feiheng murmured, a flicker of relief in his eyes.
Beside him, Prince Xingyu was stunned for a moment. "Fortunate for what?"
Feiheng seemed to let out a sigh of relief, yet there was also a hint of regret.
"If I hadn't come here myself," he said, "I too would never have understood why the Grand Tutor wished to help the Li family, nor why the Imperial Preceptor wished to test them. I heard that over a hundred years ago, the Li family had more than two hundred members, yet their reputation was not prominent.
"But only after I investigated did I learn that it was difficult for them to make a name for themselves because they were overshadowed by the reputation of their elders.
In reality, every single one of them was extraordinary, hidden in various places throughout Eternal Sun Prefecture. If they were still alive..."
The mere thought of it made Feiheng's scalp tingle with dread.
Prince Xingyu was dismissive. He waved his hand and said.
"Twelfth Brother, let's not even talk about whether they can survive. The one they are facing is Tian Xing, after all.
If you want the Li family to be of use to us, they first have to actually get past this hurdle.
In my opinion, no matter how highly you think of them, when facing Tian Xing? Heh.
Compared to someone like Tian Xing, the Li family is nothing. I truly don't understand why you, Twelfth Brother, would abandon Tian Xing for the sake of the Li family."
Prince Feiheng's brow was tightly locked, but he said nothing.
Admittedly, these people from the Li family were terrifying, and though Tian Xing was now like a caged beast, he was still an insurmountable chasm for them.
That Lin Wudao... he was the truly terrifying existence!
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