A Demon's Path Chapter 99

"What's going on?" Everyone was stupefied. They were stunned speechless.

Yuanzhi wore a serious expression. "Those thieves must've fled the moment you guys arrived. They killed everyone inside to silence them and cover up their tracks! They shouldn't have gone far. If they did, they wouldn't need to set up this array to cover up the ruins!"

A peculiar light shone in Zhao Kai's eyes. "Didn't you hear what Brother Yuanzhi said? Aren't you going to get going to chase after them?!"

The disciples of Myriad Bamboo Peak silently cursed him, We were already planning to withdraw a moment ago. But some idiot made us stick around. I wonder who… But they didn't need to be urged twice. All of them slipped away in a flash.

Zhao Kai respectfully said to Yuanzhi, "Brother Yuanzhi, thank you for all your troubles! If we catch those thieves, I'll definitely give you half the credit!"

Yuanzhi chuckled. "You're welcome. I still need to stay here and study this array. I want to see if I can find any clues as to the whereabouts of those thieves. Is Brother Zhao interested?"

Zhao Kai waved his hand. "No, no. I'll follow those scoundrels and make sure they aren't goofing off! I'm leaving. See you!"

"I won't be seeing you off…" Yuanzhi watched Zhao Kai walk off into the distance. Only when he could no longer see him did he coldly say, "I won't be seeing you off, you dunce!" He passed through the array and approached the tavern. He faintly smiled and asked, "Aren't you guys going to invite me in to sit for a while?"

Li Wuhen tightly gripped the sword in his hand. He didn't dare slack off in the slightest. "Someone's entered."

Ling Xiao mischievously laughed. "Yuanchong, you’re not going to invite your older brother in to sit for a while?"

Li Wuhen was stunned. Older brother?

Li Yuanchong rolled his eyes at Ling Xiao in annoyance before he brightly shouted, "Third Brother, come in."

A man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, a heroic aura emanating from him, appeared in front of the trio in the small tavern. He cupped his fists at Ling Xiao and said with a smile, "Greetings, Elder Ling of the Sunken Wind Valley."

Ling Xiao giggled. "Brother Li Yuanzhi is too courteous. Many thanks, many thanks!"

"There's no need to thank me. I should be the one thanking you. Grandfather told me my useless Seventh Brother would come here and cause trouble, so he asked me to come here to provide support." Li Yuanzhi smiled and shot Li Yuanchong a glance. "Seventh Brother, how is your injury faring?"

Li Yuanchong had a disdainful look on his face. "If it were not for your meddling, those morons would've never destroyed my array."

"We are brothers. You put on such a face after seeing me, your Third Brother?" Li Yuanzhi sorrowfully sighed. "You have to know, your Third Brother probably can't return to the Netherworldly Mansion after helping you this time."

"What do you mean?" Li Yuanchong was slightly puzzled.

Li Yuanzhi shot Li Yuanchong an accusatory glance. "You can deceive Zhao Kai with this tiny smokescreen, but do you think you can deceive his old man, Zhao Tian? Don't fool yourself into thinking that arrow was shot secretively. I only had to take a glance at it to know that it wasn't a Strength Soul Master who shot it, but rather it was the work of a Heavenly Soul Master using spatial arrays."

Li Wuhen felt slightly awkward. "Third Young Master is right in chiding me. I'll definitely be more careful next time."

Li Yuanzhi curiously looked at Li Wuhen. "You shot that arrow, right? Not bad, not bad. Seventh Brother, when did you take in such a powerful servant? What's your name? How about it, why don't you follow me?"

Ling Xiao, Li Yuanchong, and Li Wuhen, all three of them stayed quiet.

Li Yuanzhi shrugged. "If you don't want to, forget it. Anyway, you guys can't stay here any longer. I'll bring you guys back to Heavenly River City. Who is the wasteful scoundrel that used 800 yellow gems to set up this array? Collect them all! What a spendthrift!"

Ling Xiao felt his mood go sour. I, your father, am rich! What's it got to do with you, little boy?

Li Wuhen rapidly retrieved the 800 yellow gems and handed them to Li Yuanzhi.

"Alright. Watch and learn!" Li Yuanzhi's started making hand seals. The Heavenly Soul Stone on his soul chain shone with a blue light. It was a grand spectacle!

"He's actually a blue ranked Celestial Soul Master!" Ling Xiao and Li Wuhen were taken aback. Only Li Yuanchong remained indifferent, but he of course knew his brother.

Hmmmmmm! A low humming sound rang out and a blue light array flew out from Li Yuanzhi's hands. It became all the more dazzling as it absorbed the power of the yellow gems. Finally, it was so bright that Ling Xiao couldn't open his eyes.

"We're going!" Li Yuanzhi shouted. The sound of an explosion rang out. Following the collapse of the tavern, an intense blue light flashed and the four of them disappeared from the small village.

With the destruction of Li Yuanzhi's large array, the tavern was reduced to the ruins he'd previously shown to the disciples of Myriad Bamboo Peak. The only difference was that the people inside were still alive. They'd been knocked unconscious.

…

Zhao Tian stood on Myriad Bamboo Peak. When he saw the eruption of blue light at the foot of the mountain, he seemed to have recalled something. He ran toward the Three-headed Fierce Vulture's corpse in a hurry, whereupon his expression changed. In his hand were the remains of the arrow that had killed the bird. A malevolent look formed on his face. "Why didn't I think of this sooner… It's next to impossible for an arrow of this quality to ignore the wind's drag and travel so far up the mountain. It can only be the work of a Celestial Heavenly Soul Master! Heavenly River City! Li Xuanyi, you old offal! You actually convinced your disciples to steal from me! How disgraceful!"

But other than cursing at the heavens, the earth, and his mother, Zhao Tian had no other means to deal with this situation. Unless he could catch the small thieves who stole the Soul Returning Grass red handed, he absolutely didn't have the guts to go to Heavenly River City and interrogate Li Xuanyi. Anyone dared to provoke Zhao Yang of the Seven Grand Holy Land's Netherworldly Mansion, but no one dared to provoke Li Xuanyi. Moreover, Zhao Tian was nothing more than Zhao Yang's younger brother.

With the loss of a strand of Soul Returning Grass and his guardian beast, Zhao Tian found it difficult to tolerate this depressing loss. The thieves didn't kill a single disciple of his. But in Zhao Tian's heart, even if all the disciples on the mountain were dead, it couldn't compare to the loss of those two items. This feeling was the worst! After thinking it over, he finally decided to act. "I'll discuss this with my older brother. Doesn't Li Xuanyi have a grandson named Li Yuanzhi who receives my older brother's tutelage?"

…

It never crossed Zhao Tian's mind that this very Li Yuanzhi had already returned to Heavenly River City and was currently present in the main hall. "Grandfather." Li Yuanzhi started before he curiously asked, "Everything is within your plans. Do you not intend for me to return to the Netherworldly Mansion?"

Li Xuanyi nodded. "You get some rest first. It's time for me to officially abdicate my post. I shall do it when your other brothers return."

Li Yuanzhi seemed to be cautious as he asked, "Grandfather, there's something I don't understand. Why did we have to brazenly offend the Netherworldly Mansion this time? That old man Zhao Yang is nominally my Master."

Li Xuanyi coldly scoffed. "Who would dare do anything to your grandfather even if I were to offend everyone in the world? Do you know? The people in this world can be described in a single word, lowly! The more you bully them, the more afraid they are of you. If you express goodwill to them, they'll think it's easy to bully you. Yuanzhi, you're too cautious in doing things. In this aspect, you're inferior to Yuanchong."

Li Yuanzhi respectfully responded, "Grandfather is right in lecturing me."

Li Xuanyi suddenly spoke with indifference, "What do you think of that boy Ling Xiao? Tell me your first impression of him."

Li Yuanzhi bitterly laughed. "Even though he appears to be amiable on the surface, I have a feeling his heart is an enigma, one that is impossible to see through. It's good to be friends with him, but to be enemies… Thankfully, his cultivation is not that strong yet. He can't stir up any big waves for now."

Li Xuanyi expressed a strong sense of self-confidence. "Relax, he won't ever touch our Heavenly River City. He isn't perfect either. He has his weak spots too. His only flaw lies in the fact that he appears to be heartless, but he's actually more emotional than others. Alright, Yuanzhi, we'll leave matters of the future for the future. Go tend to your Seventh Brother and Ling Xiao's injuries so they can recover sooner."

"Yes, Grandfather." Li Yuanzhi cupped his fists at Li Xuanyi and left the main hall.

Li Xuanyi closed his eyes and suddenly let out a long, drawn out sigh. "All 10 of my grandsons are geniuses in their own respects. It really isn't easy being their grandfather. Ling Xiao, who will you support? Will it be Yuanchong, or the other one?" A mysterious smile appeared on his face. He was probably the only one who could understand the meaning behind this smile.

Chapter end