Chapter 495: Rumors (Supreme Palace Leader)

Green Pine Island

Li Xizhi was sitting quietly in his cave dwelling, flipping through small messages on his desk. He had been in seclusion for a long time, and upon emerging, he found many accumulated messages. Suddenly, he frowned and picked up one of them.

“The Yuan family called off the engagement? What is this!”

The matter between Li Yuexiang and Yuan Fuyao had always been a private arrangement, far from a done deal. Moreover, Li Xizhi had flatly rejected it and returned the betrothal gifts, so it had long since fallen through.

Yet now, this message clearly stated that the sect had received news that Yuan Fuyao had broken off his engagement with Li Yuexiang. This genuinely made Li Xizhi frown deeply. Looking closer, there were even rumors about how Yuan Fuyao had escaped.

“The Song family? Changed to the Song family?”

Li Xizhi almost burst out laughing, but anger welled up in him. He thought carefully, considered the current situation, and murmured:

“They joined the Chi family…”

He fell silent. As several Purple Mansion cultivators gradually showed signs of weakening, the Chi family’s power was slowly recovering. Chi Buzhi was nowhere to be found, but there was still True Person Sui Guan supporting the Chi family…

“True Person Yuanwu still has some lifespan left… Counting the time, probably more than half of the twenty-one cultivators in seclusion trying to break through to Purple Mansion will reach their end. With the increasing conflict in the Green Pond cultivation world, it's truly hard to predict how the future situation will change.”

As he was pondering, someone came up from below. Their face was filled with bitterness, a mix of anger and confusion, as they cupped their hands and bowed:

“Senior Brother! This is! This is…”

This person was indeed his junior brother, Yuan Chengzhao. He had clearly just received the news as well and was equally confused and angry. Li Xizhi sighed and replied:

“This is the Yuan family’s affair; it won't be held against you. Our brotherhood remains as before; there's no need to worry.”

Shanjit County Market.

Shanjit County had always been Xuan Yue Sect's territory. There weren't many markets, so the concentrated few were quite prosperous with a large flow of people. It was very close to the East Sea. Furthermore, Xuan Yue Sect had always acted with integrity, so many cultivators traveling to and from the East Sea would stop here.

Li Xuanfeng put away his golden bow. He casually found a tavern and sat down, ordering two small dishes. He sat in the hall on the second floor, watching the fluttering flags outside the window.

He had been to taverns twice in his life. The first time was with Liu Changdie. Liu Changdie had only asked him some irrelevant questions, saying his actions were like those of a demonic cultivator. This person had mentioned Jiang Yan amidst the demonic catastrophe very early on. He must have known the inside story for a long time.

‘Jiang Yan…’

The old man mulled over it for a moment, finding the name quite pleasant. He lowered his brows in thought. His ear twitched, and he heard a nearby cultivator say:

“Have you heard about… the Yuan family’s matter?”

“Of course I have! Sigh! Why would the Yuan family break off an engagement for no good reason?”

Li Xuanfeng slowly raised his eyes. His grey-black eyes swept over the table to his side. The jade cup in his hand trembled slightly as he listened quietly.

One person, dressed in black and wearing a Daoist scarf on his head, somewhat resembling an ancient Daoist, appeared to be a cultivator under the jurisdiction of the Grand Xiakui Temple in Linhai County, and he spoke:

“I heard that Miss Li is an orphaned Foundation Establishment cultivator! Who knows how many spirit items she inherited. That Young Master Yuan must be out of his mind to marry a girl from the minor Song family!”

Another person, dressed in white, it was unclear which sect he belonged to. He merely tapped his jade chopsticks and said seriously:

“What do you know! The Song family’s daughter is his childhood sweetheart; they grew up together. How could he easily betray her?… I think it’s a good quality.”

“Heh! He’ll regret it!”

The black-clad man’s face was stern when he suddenly heard a cracking sound, seemingly the shattering of a silver vase. He turned his head to look and saw a cultivator at the next table had crushed the spirit cup in his hand, sending emerald green fragments flying everywhere.

This person’s hair was mostly white, but he wore black and gold armor. His build was quite robust, and his brow was sharp and weathered. He looked like an old general who had fought for many years. His eyes were filled with coldness as he turned to look.

The black-clad cultivator was feeling suspicious. A sweep of his spiritual sense filled him with dread:

“A Foundation Establishment cultivator!”

He quickly stood up respectfully and said somewhat humbly:

“I don’t know what I said to offend you, senior… I am Lin… of the Lin family from Linhai County…”

Before he could finish speaking, he saw the person was already sitting beside his table, with profound eyes. He casually pressed the man back into his seat and whispered:

“You just said… the Yuan family… broke off their engagement with Yuexiang?”

As soon as the man surnamed Lin heard “Yuexiang,” he instantly understood, and his heart was filled with terror:

“Damn it! I ran into the main person concerned!”

The white-clad man beside him collapsed weakly to the ground with a thud. He had just said a few words in defense of the Yuan family. He wished he could slap himself several times. He knelt trembling, daring not to speak.

“Yes… The Yuan family had a change; I heard they broke off the engagement and parted ways unhappily with the Li family…”

He quietly recounted the entire situation. Li Xuanfeng’s expression became much calmer. He nodded thoughtfully, one hand gently tapping the table. Li Yuanjiao had died right before him, and the tyrannical pain in his heart had nowhere to be unleashed. And now his daughter was being wronged. This made the old man’s heart turn cold.

Li Xuanfeng paused for a moment, lost in thought. All the metal objects in the entire tavern began to tremble. The cultivators all huddled with their heads down like quails, not daring to make a sound.

Li Xuanfeng then looked intently at the black-clad man and asked:

“Since you're from the Grand Xiakui Temple, do you know Lin Chensheng?”

The black-clad man was overjoyed and quickly replied:

“He is indeed an elder of my clan!”

“Have his injuries healed?”

The black-clad man was astonished and nodded, saying:

“He’s much better now. I heard the elder returned to the sect and made a breakthrough.”

“Good.”

Li Xuanfeng tossed a bag of spirit rice as compensation for the spirit cup. In a breath, he vanished from the tavern. All the metal objects finally settled down. A golden pot clattered to the ground. The cultivators present collectively exhaled, and someone muttered:

“A dignified Foundation Establishment cultivator, drinking alcohol in a place like this… Truly rare!”

The black-clad man was still reeling from the shock. He looked at the sweating white-clad young man opposite him and sighed:

“You truly got lucky! It’s a good thing that senior had a good temper… Do you know who Lin Chensheng is!”

The white-clad young man, still unsettled, asked:

“Please enlighten me, fellow Daoist.”

“He’s the prodigy of our Temple, the true nephew of a True Person of the Purple Mansion! He can come and go freely even in the Immortal Grotto!”

“For this senior to know his name and ask about his injuries, they might have even gone to the Immortal Grotto together! Such a figure is no ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator; he could probably wipe you out with just a breath!”

Both of them breathed a sigh of relief. The white-clad young man spoke as if having narrowly escaped death:

“As the saying goes, trouble comes from the mouth. Now I truly understand. Fortunately, I’m alive… fortunately, I’m alive…”

The black-clad man shuddered, recalling Li Xuanfeng’s appearance. Seeing the entire tavern silently watching him with eager eyes, he spoke with a hint of showmanship:

“Someone bullied a junior while the elder was away… I’m afraid someone’s in for some bad luck!”