“What?”
“A clone? What does he mean by a clone?”
Hush whispers suddenly came from the crowd as they were shocked by Ghuanyu’s words.
Li Shu looked at Ghuanyu’s smirking expression and his heart grew cold.
He was about to speak but Ghuanyu immediately cut him off.
“Are you going to deny it? I wonder why you went so far to hide the fact you left the Li Clan unattended.”
Li Shen hearing the sarcasm in Ghuanyu’s voice and the implications of his words, felt a foreboding feeling in his heart.
‘Why is he here?’
Nothing good will come from Ghuanyu deciding to show up here.
“Why look so shocked that I knew? Well, now everyone knows of your absence. You were careless.”
Ghuanyu suddenly took out a jade slip and toss it to Li Shu.
After catching it in his palm, Li Shu looked down to see an ordinary-looking silver jade slip. Inside this jade slip, he felt a portion of his own power, but it was at the level of a Soul Transformation Realm.
Li Shu frowned and simply crushed the silver jade slip.
Ghuanyu smirked before he swish his sleeves and turned to the crowd.
“Aren’t you all angry?!”
“…”
The crowd was silent at Ghuanyu’s words.
“Your disciples were blatantly attacked, but instead of taking responsibility, the Li Clan bullied you all into silence. Aren’t you seething with anger at the humiliation?!!”
Li Shen’s heart dropped.
“This second prince…”
Ghuanyu turned his attention to Li Shen.
“He’s nothing more than a selfish and despicable brat trying to scheme against you all by attacking your disciples here to gain fame. How audacious!!”
“But could this be a result of the Li Clan sending a message to us? How could they allow something so outrageous to happen?”
Ghuanyu swerved to Li Shu and continue.
“Were you not here, in this very room? Why didn’t you stop your son when he attacked our disciples? Are you telling us as powerful Soul Transformation Realm Cultivators none of you could have foreseen this his actions?!! Why would the mighty Li Clan allow such a thing to happen?”
“Is it not obvious?”
Li Shen's heart shook as he realize Ghuanyu was using him to attack his father and family. It was just like Ye Fei had warned him off back then, it was now coming to past.
In the crowd, everyone held resentment towards Li Shen for his actions but with Ghuanyu's words, he was shifting all of that onto the Li Clan.
And it was working.
Numerous Elders and disciples alike were now wondering if this was something Li Shu intentionally allowed to happen, but why?
They all hang onto Ghuanyu’s words.
“Aren’t all of the top geniuses in the Second Prince’s generation here in this room? What else could it be than the Li Clan purposely attacking our disciples to send us a message? It is a blatant threat to reinforce how easy it is for the Li Clan to kill our disciples without suffering any condemnation!!”
“What outlandish remarks Ghuanyu!!”
Li Shu immediately roared and rose to his feet.
“Is it?”
Ghuanyu instantly clapped back.
“If the Li Clan was to carry out a massacre of a fellow Academy who would hold them accountable? Their hold on the continent ensures they remain in power and those who go against their interest can be gotten rid of. It’ll be only a matter of time before they show their true colors, the actions of the Second Prince are just a prelude. And when that time comes are you all just going to stand by and watch the Li Clan continue their tyranny?”
Most people in the crowd had hesitant looks on their faces.
Weren’t Ghuanyu’s words trying to incite a rebellion against the Li Clan?
They had been in power for generations, the position they had in everyone’s hearts wouldn’t just allow them to instantly think of going against them.
“Ghuanyu, is the Ming Clan trying to start a rebellion right here and now? Our Li Clan let you lot remain because of your status back then, how dare the Ming try and pull something like this.”
Ghuanyu sneered in contempt at Li Shu’s words.
“Let us off? After you dirty filth’s from the Li Clan staged a coup d'état and over through my Ming Clan?!! You murdered our Clan Leader and then staged an assassination against the Emperor. Your family is nothing more than a treacherous vassal family of my Ming Clan!!”
Ghuanyu as if the hatred he had buried deep in his heart was pouring out now.
The people in the crowd were shocked at this revelation.
The Li Clan was actually a vassal family for the Ming Royal Family?
Did they betray the Ming Royal Family and overthrew them to gain power?
“The winners win and the losers lose.”
Li Shu simply said, but Ghuanyu became enraged.
“What utter bullshit!! My Ming Royal Family was beloved by everyone, how could we have suspected that the most loyal of our vassal families would turn on us?!!”
Li Shen looked at his father.
From the things Ghuanyu was saying it seemed as if his Li Clan were the villains in the past.
“The Li Clan is nothing more than a backstabbing family that would do anything to remain in power. Just look at what they did in the past and covered it up from the public? They slaughter all of our talented members of my Ming Clan when we were finally recovering somewhat. Who is to say that they won’t do something like that again to any of you? This today is the evidence!!”
Ghuanyu finally reached his true goal, everything came down to this.
If it happened in the past to the powerful Ming Clan then the hungry for power Li Clan can do it to any Clan or Academy that threatens their power.
Everyone in the crowd was shocked.
Was the Li Clan this terrible? Did they actually commit genocide to remain in power? If so how would they react if any of their organizations gain a little bit of power? Wouldn’t the Li Clan wipe them out completely?
And worst of all Ghuanyu had pointed out before the rigid control the Li Clan had over the continent. Isn’t this just allowing a blood-thirsty tyrant to hold a sword over their necks that he would let fall for their slightest threat to him?
The Elders of the Various Academies shivered.
The members of the Mercenary Alliance including Huifen only casually looked on.
Some of the Noble Families had strange looks on their faces, while some were glaring at Ghuanyu with hostility.
As for the people from the Star Bound Continent, they merely looked as if they were watching a drama.
The entire hall had been divided because of Ghuanyu's words.
Looking at the room one could tell where someone's alliance lay.
Li Shen realize this entire situation was bad. Ghuanyu was turning more than a few people against his Li Clan painting them out to be some kind of power-hungry family.
But Li Shen was conflicted, it was true Ghuanyu was painting it that way, but what he was saying their family did, was it true?
Li Shen’s gaze went to his father again and he saw that his feelings were the same.
His eyes held dark flames and his father’s heart was filled with indifference, even though his angry expression was showing a different picture.
‘He’s pretending.’
Ghuanyu looked at Li Shu and said.
“Little brat, where is that bastard Fulong? I bet he isn’t dead yet. How about you let him come out and let the adults converse.”
His words were condescending and he spoke to Li Shu as if he was a little child.
However, in terms of age and seniority, Ghuanyu was definitely older than everyone here.
Li Shu remained silent upon hearing Ghuanyu's words.
After snorting Ghuanyu then said.
“He was the one who carried out the genocide of my Clan. Why not let that perpetrator come out and admit his actions? I had to watch helplessly as my friends who I call brothers and sisters get slaughtered before my eyes. I want to see the man who murdered them.”
“FULONG!! WHY WON’T YOU COME OUT!!”
Ghuanyu’s voice caused the hall to shake and his aura that slowly trickled out caused the void the tremble.
Everyone felt a chill down their spines upon feeling it.
It was the aura of the Soul Transformation Realm cultivator at the late stage.
“Enough of this!!”
Li Shu said before he stretched out his palm, a dark wormhole appearing in the middle of it.
When Ghuanyu saw that his eyes flickered intensely.
‘I was right, he has a Heavenly Palace from his original body.’
Li Shu then flicked his hand and the dark wormhole shot out to hover over Ghuanyu’s head.
A terrifying pressure was immediately released causing the floor of the hall to shatter.
Ghuanyu's knees impacted the floor and he groaned as the pressure pushed him into the ground.
Everyone in the hall back away from Ghuanyu and the wormhole.
“See, the Li Clan is filled with nothing more than a bunch of power-hungry bastards. You want to silence me after I called you out, but I’ll never submit. My Ming Clan has been bullied by you people for far too long. I, Ming Ghuanyu, swore to my Ancestors I will correct the injustice showed to us!”
Ghuanyu’s righteous voice echoed in everyone’s ears. He was nothing more than a man that had carried the burden of his Clan for decades, centuries.
Most people in the crowd's hearts were moved.
Ghuanyu slowly stood up under the pressure of the wormhole.
Standing tall as straight as a wooden pole, he stared at Li Shu and said.
“You all thought you wiped away the Blade God’s bloodline by severing our stems. But the root of it still remains.”
A two-meter saber suddenly appeared in his hand before he swept it upwards.
Li Shen's Heavenly Palace overhead immediately shattered sending shock waves across the hall.
When everyone recovered they saw Ghuanyu rising his hand and carrying it down towards Li Shu.
However, a figure suddenly appeared in front of Ghuanyu and casually caught the blade.
The floor beneath this person cracked, showing the amount of strength in Ghuanyu's one swing.
But even more terrifying was that the figure had stopped the attack rather effortlessly.
Seeing the figure’s appearance, everyone was taken aback, but Li Shen from where he was saw the back of this person.
It was someone that looked extremely familiar to him.
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