Chapter 166: Completely Dumbfounded

Even if the misunderstanding were cleared up afterward, an impression would still be left.
Su Jingxing leaned closely toward a certain side.
Such little tricks could hardly be called conspiracies.
Li Lilou, Yan Yuanfeng, and the others were not afraid of angering Su Jingxing.
And indeed, Su Jingxing was not angry; he merely found it somewhat amusing.
Unsurprisingly, the Qi family would likely call to invite him shortly.
As expected, not only did Qi Xinjue call, but Zhao Zhongyi also called on behalf of the Northern Cross Alliance.
Aside from the four major martial arts families—Li, Zhou, Wang, and Qi—there were three major sects in Qinghe City: the Iron Thread Sect, the Jade Sword Sect, and the Divine Fist Sect.
The Flying Cloud Sect in the West District was merely an underground gang with limited martial artists and even scarcer resources, forcing them to cower within the city walls.
The Iron Thread Sect, the Jade Sword Sect, and the Divine Fist Sect were entirely different.
They were martial arts factions with legacies spanning over a century, possessing their own mountain gates outside the city and each commanding at least one fourth-grade master.
In addition, there were rogue cultivator factions such as the Northern Cross Alliance, the Tianshui Chamber of Commerce, and the Qingyun Pavilion.
These were all factions operating in the open.
Hidden forces that had remained in the shadows for years, like the He family, were exceedingly rare, and whether any similar ones still existed, Su Jingxing was not entirely certain.
Much like the major martial arts universities spearheaded by Xuantian University, their strength could not be underestimated either.
Several well-known local martial arts schools likewise had fourth-grade masters holding down the fort.
Right now, all these factions had been stirred into action because of the "Mausoleum of King Qin."
Tomorrow night at the Tianshui Building Auditorium of Xuantian University, it was predictable that a massive gathering of powerful masters would take place.
There were quite a few "fourth-grade" martial artists in Qinghe City who, like Su Jingxing, walked alone.
Unsurprisingly, these individuals had also received invitations from the various factions to attend tomorrow night's assembly.
Therefore, setting aside the decoding of ancient texts, tomorrow night's assembly would also serve as a prime opportunity to witness the fourth-grade masters of the major factions.
No matter what, Su Jingxing had to go and see the scene in person.
Naturally, he would not go in response to the invitations of Yan Yuanfeng, Li Lilou, and others, but rather on his own.
Su Jingxing was not foolish enough to align himself with any particular faction, even an intangible one.
...
The Li Family.

"Well? Did he accept?"
Li Mingfang, the head of the Li family, looked at Li Lilou, put down his phone, and asked with a frown.
"No."
Li Lilou shook his head. "Guest Elder Lin politely declined, saying he would go by himself."
"Hmph, not even a word of thanks?" A half-haired elder, meticulously groomed, scoffed upon hearing this. "This Guest Elder Lin really thinks rather highly of himself. The Li family has invited him time and again, yet he refuses without hesitation. It's just you people—if it were me, I wouldn't go licking his boots again. Calling him 'Guest Elder Lin'—I asked Lin Tuotian about him, and he doesn't even know what this fellow's last name is!"
"And then?" Li Mingfang looked at him expressionlessly.
The elder was stunned. "And then? What and then?"
"Aren't you quite the speaker? Despising Guest Elder Lin behind his back, looking down on him—what's the next step? What do you plan to do? Find him and beat him up? Or kill him?" Li Mingfang's expression remained blank.
"I..." The elder's face flushed red. "I didn't mean that."
"Then what did you mean?" Li Mingfang interrupted him, still expressionless. "He has no enmity or grievance with you. Is it necessary for you to wear a look of disdain and contempt every time you mention him?"
The elder's mouth moved, but no words came out; instead, his eyes flashed with shame and anger.
The reason he held a grudge against "Guest Elder Lin" was purely because this "Guest Elder Lin" simply did not know what was good for him.
Just how many people wanted to join the Li family?
Among them were many fourth-grade experts, all desperate to enter the Li family.
Yet this "Guest Elder Lin" continually ignored them!
However, both Li Mingfang and Li Lilou were well aware of this mentality.
Many people in the Li family had grown accustomed to arrogance, and they looked down on outsiders above all else.
Whenever things did not go their way, they would flare up in anger and humiliation, ultimately resorting to violence and causing casualties.
Such individuals could be considered the tumor of the Li family, present in every single generation for the past three hundred years.
The crux of the matter was that a century ago, their numbers had been very small.
Ever since entering the modern era, for some unknown reason, they had only been growing.
As the head of the family, Li Mingfang found this a massive headache.
He had constantly been searching for a solution, but had yet to come up with a good one.
Fortunately, there were still sensible members left, such as Li Lilou.
"Ahem, Old Seven didn't mean it that way."
Li Lilou chimed in to smooth things over. "Guest Elder Lin's polite refusal was well within expectations. As for Xu Tailong, what do we plan to do?"
"Has Xu Tailong come looking for us?" Hearing this, Li Mingfang knitted his brows even deeper.

"Not yet."
Li Lilou shook his head. "Sooner or later, he will come knocking, so we must prepare ourselves. We can't possibly wait until he arrives at our doorstep before scrambling for countermeasures, can we?"
"This matter has nothing to do with us in the first place. Just because someone knows the *Seven Tribulations Revolving Technique*, does that automatically make them a member of our Li family?"
The brooding elder chimed in through gritted teeth, drinking in frustration. "If Xu Tailong wants to look for someone, he should go to the traffic monitoring center and investigate the surveillance footage!"
"Shut your mouth."
Li Mingfang retorted sharply, "Xu Tailong's only remaining son is dead. Do you really think he's in any state to listen to trivial explanations right now?"
The elder opened his mouth, then shut it again.
"Perhaps we should invite Xu Tailong to tomorrow night's Tianshui Building assembly as well?" Li Lilou mused.
"Explain." Li Mingfang looked at him.
"It's very simple. An expert capable of instantly slaying Tian Huaichao and his dozen-odd subordinates is undoubtedly a fourth-grade master!"
Li Lilou analyzed, "And tomorrow night, the number of fourth-grade masters present will certainly not be small. Who knows, the very person who killed Tian Huaichao might be among them! Luring Xu Tailong there might just flush that person out."
Pausing for a moment, Li Lilou continued, "I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but I've always suspected that whoever killed Tian Huaichao is also searching for the map to enter the 'Mausoleum of King Qin'!"
"You mean... the He family?" Li Mingfang narrowed his eyes.
"What do you mean?" The brooding elder looked blank upon hearing this.
Ignoring him, Li Lilou nodded in confirmation. "Precisely, the He family! I suspect the He family is also the one who leaked the news about the 'Mausoleum of King Qin.' If you ask who in Qinghe City is most familiar with the Mausoleum of King Qin, the He family ranks first!"
"Especially since He Rengu, a third-grade cultivator, died, and just as we joined forces with the Zhou and Qi families to make a move against the He family, this incident was exposed!"
"Moreover, I went to check the records this morning and discovered that two hundred years ago, when the first half of the *Seven Tribulations Revolving Technique* went missing, historical accounts noted it had once appeared at the Champion Tower. But because it was recovered in a timely manner, our ancestors back then did not make contact with the He family."
"Now that I think about it, perhaps even back then, someone in the He family was already practicing the *Seven Tribulations Revolving Technique*!"
"What!"
Hearing the conclusion, the brooding elder was utterly dumbfounded.
"Old... Old Four, are... are you saying Tian Huaichao was killed... by someone from the He family?"
Li Mingfang was also shaken, a look of profound astonishment appearing in his eyes.
"It's just a guess."
Li Lilou shrugged. "Whether it was done by the He family, won't we find out by letting Xu Tailong go and pressure them?"
"Tomorrow night at Xuantian University's gathering, the He family will definitely be in attendance!"