In the study.
Li Haitao frowned deeply. After a mont of thought, he said to Li ngchao, "Stay in the study for now. Don’t go out. That old coot Sun Yong is here, and he’s furious. Don’t give him a chance to take his anger out on you and complicate matters."
Though Li ngchao was reluctant, he knew his father was right. He frowned, nodded, and said, "I understand, Father."
Li Haitao said no more. He straightened his robes, then turned and strode out of the study toward the main hall.
...
Sandalwood incense smoke curled through the air in the Li Family’s main hall.
On the main wall hung an ink wash landscape painting with bold brushwork, conveying a sense of profound tranquility.
Sun Yong stood before the painting with his back to the entrance, hands clasped behind him. His posture was as straight and tall as a pine tree, but a biting chill radiated from him, so intense that the servants waiting in the hall dared not even breathe too loudly.
"Hall Master Sun, what an honor. Please forgive for not greeting you sooner."
Li Haitao’s voice ca from the doorway. He was followed by three old n, all of them respected Elders of the Li Family. Each had a profound aura, and all possessed the strength of the Peak of Dark Energy.
Sun Yong slowly turned, his gaze sharp as a blade as it fixed on Li Haitao. "Patriarch Li, let’s dispense with the pleasantries. I’ve co for one reason and one reason only. Yesterday, my apprentice, Lin Yue, was crippled. His major acupoints were destroyed, and the tendons in his hands and feet were severed. Don’t you think the Li Family owes an explanation?"
His tone was cold and direct, leaving no room for pleasantries.
A look of perfectly crafted surprise appeared on Li Haitao’s face. He spread his hands. "Sothing like that happened? Hall Master Sun, I’m afraid there must be so misunderstanding. The Li Family has always conducted itself with integrity. How could we possibly do sothing so vicious? Perhaps your apprentice made other enemies who decided to take revenge. This has absolutely nothing to do with my family."
"A misunderstanding?" Sun Yong sneered, the fury in his eyes burning hotter. "Even if my apprentice made a mistake, it wasn’t the Li Family’s place to inflict such a cruel injury!"
Before the words had even left his mouth, he blurred into motion. He was a streak of an afterimage as his right fist, crackling with imnse power, shot toward Li Haitao’s face!
The punch was blindingly fast, carrying the force of a thunderbolt. He was clearly enraged.
"Sun Yong, how dare you!"
Li Haitao’s face fell. He clearly hadn’t expected Sun Yong to attack so suddenly in front of everyone. With no ti to think, he slapped his palms together and unleashed his family’s heritage technique, the Vajra Hand Seal. His fierce palm strike, ringing with the sound of striking tal, t Sun Yong’s fist.
BOOM!
As fist t palm, a muffled boom shook the hall’s pillars and beams, making them hum. The surrounding servants scrambled back in terror, their faces deathly pale.
Li Haitao felt a tyrannical wave of energy surge through him, numbing his entire arm. He stumbled back several steps, only stopping when he crashed into the Grandmaster’s Chair behind him.
A flush crept up his face, and a trickle of blood escaped the corner of his mouth. He appeared to have suffered a serious internal injury.
"Patriarch!"
Seeing this, the three Li Family Elders roared in anger.
"Sun Yong! You’ve gone too far! Do you really think the Li Family has no one to oppose you?" the white-bearded Elder at the front demanded, his eyes wide with fury.
Another Elder glared at the stunned butler of the Li Mansion and snapped, "What are you standing there for? Go get the Grand Elder!"
Jolted from his stupor, the butler spun around and ran toward the rear hall, clearly stunned by the sudden outbreak of violence.
As one of the six great families of Yuhe County, the Li Family had been established here for a century. It had been years since anyone had dared to assault them on their own doorstep.
The atmosphere in the main hall instantly beca hostile and tense.
Sun Yong stood his ground, watching Li Haitao coolly, the fury in his eyes undiminished.
Li Haitao clutched his chest, his face pale. His gaze toward Sun Yong was now icy as the three Elders shielded him, watching their opponent warily.
The sandalwood incense still drifted through the air, but it could no longer dispel the sll of gunpowder that now filled the hall.
Sun Yong’s razor-sharp gaze fell on Li Haitao. "Aren’t the sons of your Li Family afraid to walk the streets at night?" he asked, his voice like ice.
At these words, Li Haitao’s face darkened instantly.
How could he fail to understand the implied threat?
Sun Yong was implying that if the Li Family didn’t give him a satisfactory answer, he wouldn’t hesitate to use... special thods of retaliation.
Sun Yong was a long-renowned Huajin Powerhouse. If he were to secretly target the sons of the Li Family, who could possibly stop him, unless Li Haitao himself or the Grand Elder personally stood guard?
"What do you an by that, Hall Master Sun?" Li Haitao demanded, a cold light glinting in his eyes. "Are you truly determined to fight the Li Family to the death?"
Just as the tension between the two n reached its peak, an old but powerful voice echoed from the rear hall. "Such a temper, Hall Master Sun. Aren’t you afraid of being known as a bully for attacking the younger generation of my Li Family? You would tarnish your own reputation for no reason."
All eyes turned toward the voice. An old man in a navy blue brocade robe was walking out slowly. His hair and beard were white, but his spirit was vigorous. His hawk-like eyes swept over everyone in the hall before finally landing on Sun Yong.
It was the Grand Elder of the Li Family—their other Huajin Powerhouse.
The Grand Elder ca to a stop beside Li Haitao, his gaze locking with Sun Yong’s from across the room. It was as if an invisible force collided in the air between them.
"Bullying the weak? Fine, then I won’t bully the weak." Sun Yong took a step forward, his aura surging. The oppressive might of a Huajin master washed over the hall like a tidal wave, pressing down on Li Haitao. "Patriarch Li, do you dare face on the Luoying Platform?"
"The Luoying Platform?!"
Everyone in the hall gasped in shock. Even the Li Family’s Grand Elder’s expression changed.
The Luoying Platform was located in the South Suburb of the county, a place where the Martial Artists of Yuhe County went to settle matters of life and death.
Once a person stepped onto the platform, the fight would not end until one of them was dead. Only one person could walk off alive. It was a stage for duels to the death.
It was an extrely brutal thod, one rarely used. The last ti a duel had been fought on the Luoying Platform was two years ago.
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