Chapter 233: Chapter 144: The Celebratory Spirit Wine Is Ready
"I’m afraid that’s highly unlikely."
Elder Ma said with a smile.
As the foremost True Inheritor of the Iron Sword Sect, Li Xuance’s Cultivation and strength were top-tier. He was currently ranked fifth among the Ning’an Ten Heroes, known as the Red Water Sword.
He couldn’t climb higher in the rankings, but not because he was weak. Rather, it was because the few people ranked above him were all rumored to have broken through to the Profound Gang Realm. That was why he was placed fifth.
To be precise, if one excluded those from the Blood River Sect and Zhou Chengzong from the Cyan Flood Dragon Alliance, Li Xuance’s current position was essentially that of the number one expert in Ning’an below the Profound Gang Realm.
However, this title was too heavy. Neither Li Xuance nor the Iron Sword Sect had the confidence to claim it.
"It may be unlikely, but it’s not impossible, is it?"
Zhou Chengzong smiled faintly, seeming to look forward to the possibility.
.....
Iron Sword Sect, atop Profound Sword Peak.
Inside a simple, desolate pavilion.
Two figures, one in green and one in white, sat facing each other. Both had extraordinary auras. The former was Lu Maozhi, a True Inheritor of Luoyun Manor’s Direct Lineage, while the latter was Li Xuance, the foremost True Inheritor of the Iron Sword Sect’s current generation.
More than ten days had passed quietly since the fall of the Song Family.
During the past half-month, Lu Maozhi had been in a state of utter humiliation.
One could say that his reputation was as wretched as Chen Sheng’s fame was glorious. After all, in the battle with the Song Family, he had not only become Chen Sheng’s stepping stone but had also ’lost’ his fiancée, Wang Zilan.
Although it was just an ordinary banquet, the outside world didn’t see it that way.
They only saw Lu Maozhi as a joke.
Some troublemakers in the Jianghu even changed Lu Maozhi’s title from "Cyan Light Sword" to "Green Hat Sword." This infuriated Lu Maozhi, and likewise, Luoyun Manor’s prestige suffered greatly from his crushing defeat.
He was even severely reprimanded by the elders within the manor.
The only thing that brought Lu Maozhi any comfort was that, through his desperate pleading and because of some intertwined interests between Luoyun Manor and the Ning’an Wang Clan, the marriage agreement was finally settled.
Although there was some resistance from the Ning’an Wang Clan, they ultimately decided that the advantages of the union outweighed the disadvantages.
As for Wang Zilan’s objections, they seemed insignificant in the face of the clan’s interests.
But before the engagement banquet, Lu Maozhi had to wash away at least some of this shame. He needed to make Chen Sheng suffer a defeat, to tarnish his fame. Only then could he be at peace.
To that end, he had been trying every method he could think of to get revenge on Chen Sheng. However, his elder brother, Lu Xuanzhou, couldn’t return anytime soon, leaving him with no one to stand up for him.
Using his status to suppress him was even more impossible.
Nie Xuanfeng of the Jingwu Bureau had nearly come to blows with Luoyun Manor over Chen Sheng, refusing to yield an inch.
Therefore, Lu Maozhi could only seek help from others.
But within Luoyun Manor, while there were many True Inheritors, their Cultivation and strength were inferior even to his own, let alone a match for Chen Sheng. Because of this, Lu Maozhi turned his gaze outward.
He could hardly count on the other sects. Golden Spring Temple and Qingfeng Temple had top-tier geniuses, but they rarely intervened in such matters. The Danxia Sect was in decline, with only one disciple ranked ninth on the Ten Heroes list, who was no match for Chen Sheng.
The Ning’an Wang Clan was even less likely to create enmity with the Jingwu Bureau over this.
So, Lu Maozhi was left with basically only one target.
And that was Li Xuance of the Iron Sword Sect.
This wasn’t a baseless hope. He had several reasons to believe he could persuade Li Xuance. First, he knew that there was a feud between Chen Sheng and Li Xuance’s younger brother, Li Xuanche.
Chen Sheng had once humiliated him.
Second, there was significant animosity between the Iron Sword Sect and the Jingwu Bureau. Previously, Chen Sheng had blocked the gates of the Iron Sword Sect to issue a challenge, causing the sect to lose a great deal of face.
’These reasons should be enough to convince Li Xuance.’
However, when Lu Maozhi prepared to visit Li Xuance, he was turned away at the door. The message he received was that Li Xuance was in seclusion for his Cultivation and was not seeing visitors for the time being.
That was why it had taken him so long to finally meet the man.
Li Xuance was actually well aware of Lu Maozhi’s purpose in visiting. Though he hated Chen Sheng, he wasn’t about to stick his neck out for Lu Maozhi. After all, the feud between Luoyun Manor and the Jingwu Bureau was quite advantageous for the Iron Sword Sect.
Thus, after Lu Maozhi explained the reason for his visit, Li Xuance immediately and politely refused.
"Li, are you telling me the Iron Sword Sect won’t avenge the shame of Chen Sheng blocking your gates? I heard that you yourself once challenged Chen Sheng in front of a large crowd."
Seeing Li Xuance unmoved, Lu Maozhi grew anxious.
"That grudge... I will certainly avenge it, but not now."
Li Xuance shook his head, his gaze calm.
’Does he really take me for such a fool, trying to use me as a hired gun?’
"Then when?"
Lu Maozhi pressed, unwilling to give up.
Li Xuance smiled. Then, no longer beating around the bush, he stared at Lu Maozhi and said bluntly,
"Lu, I understand what you’re getting at. But we both know how these things work. So, you should go. I need to continue my seclusion."
With that, Li Xuance stood up to see his guest out.
"Li, what if I hire you with Elemental Crystals?"
Lu Maozhi said hurriedly.
A smile touched the corners of Li Xuance’s lips.
"Fine. If you can produce fifty Elemental Crystals, Lu, I’ll make a move for you. Just once."
Hearing this, Lu Maozhi’s face instantly turned pale.
’Fifty Elemental Crystals?’
’He really doesn’t treat Elemental Crystals like the precious resources they are.’
’Forget hiring Li Xuance; even hiring a Profound Gang Realm master to assassinate Chen Sheng probably wouldn’t cost that much. Besides, I just lost twenty Elemental Crystals.’
’I simply can’t produce such an amount.’
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