Chapter 273: So This Is the One Daoist Brother Li Has Been Waiting For?
"Not just that."
The patriarch of the Spirit Clan smiled mysteriously and said, "When the time comes, a Saint from my Spirit Clan will also emerge from seclusion!"
In the past, although Ling Cang and the others were slain by Xiao Fan, their deaths were not entirely unrelated to Li Xun. Without Li Xun's help back then, that little beast Xiao Fan would have died a hundred times over already.
And now, with so many troubles suddenly erupting, Li Xun could hardly escape responsibility!
The Spirit Clan and the Xiao Clan were unlike other factions. They either didn't make enemies at all—or if they did, they would eradicate them at the very first opportunity.
Li Xun had already made it clear that he stood on the opposite side of them.
Neither the Spirit Clan nor the Xiao Clan wished to leave such a hidden threat alive. After all, history had shown far too many similar cases—how many powers had perished because they hesitated to deal with their enemies when they still could?
Out of pride and concern for their reputation, they refused to let their senior experts intervene, only to wait until their foes grew strong enough to destroy them in turn.
In the Spirit Clan patriarch's view, the Golden Crow Clan was a textbook example of such foolishness.
Several of their princes had already fallen, yet they still clung to their pride—sending only other princes to avenge Lu Qingxian's attack. Wasn't that just asking for trouble?
If they had sent out a few Divine Palace Realm powerhouses right from the start, then by now Lu Qingxian's grave grass would be three meters tall, and the Dao Source Immortal Metal would already be safely in the Golden Crow Clan's hands.
Without Lu Qingxian, none of today's events would have happened.
Even Xiao Zhan wouldn't have perished as a result.
In short, it was precisely the Golden Crow Clan's misplaced pride and sentimentality that set off this entire chain of disasters.
For that reason, the Spirit Clan patriarch felt that the Golden Crow Clan and the Star-Moon Divine Sect were unreliable allies. If they truly wished to eliminate Li Xun, only a joint effort between the Spirit Clan and the Xiao Clan could guarantee success.
Two Saints striking together—unless Li Xun instantly ascended to sainthood on the spot—he would have absolutely no chance of survival!
"Two Saints!"
The old man from the Golden Crow Clan's pupils contracted sharply. He drew a deep breath, a genuine sense of admiration in his tone.
"What boldness!"
Indeed, he had to admit—his own Golden Crow Clan could never have done such a thing.
And not just them; even mighty forces like the Great Chu Imperial Dynasty or the Star-Moon Divine Sect couldn't do it either.
Saints were simply too important—each one was the foundation of a faction. It wasn't something one could casually send into battle.
Only a clan like the Xiao Clan, backed by a Quasi-Emperor, could afford such audacity.
"Heh."
The Spirit Clan patriarch chuckled lightly.
"By my estimation, that little beast Xiao Fan should have perished by now. Strange, though—why hasn't any word come yet?"
He frowned slightly in puzzlement.
Just then, a soft glow flickered from within his storage ring—a jade transmission slip was radiating a pale white light.
Sensing this, the patriarch's smile deepened.
As expected—speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
He had just been thinking about Xiao Fan's situation, and now news had arrived. No doubt, Xiao Fan was dead by now.
With Xiao Fan's fall, Li Xun's expression must surely be sour.
Still smiling, the Spirit Clan patriarch took out the jade transmission slip and infused his spiritual sense into it, but the moment he saw the message inside, his face froze solid.
'How… how is this possible?'
Crack!
A sharp, brittle sound rang out.
The Spirit Clan patriarch clenched his five fingers, crushing the jade transmission slip into a cloud of fine powder. His face turned ashen, his voice icy cold.
'A bunch of useless trash! They have so many powerhouses backing them, and they still can't kill a mere Divine Power Realm brat!'
Losing some combatants while doing this mission was one thing, but the real problem was that the people he'd sent out had let Xiao Fan escape!
That was utterly humiliating.
Not long ago, he had even placed a recording stone in the meeting hall, showing their experts hunting down Xiao Fan—so that everyone could watch and revel in the spectacle.
And now? Xiao Fan wasn't dead at all!
Didn't that mean he had just slapped himself across the face?
As he thought of Xiao Fan's terrifying rate of growth, a sudden sense of urgency rose within the Spirit Clan patriarch's heart.
After all, it had only been a few short years since Xiao Fan left the Xiao Clan.
In that brief time, he had already reached the Divine Power Realm.
Given a little more time, wouldn't he soon step into the Life and Death Realm, or even the Divine Palace Realm?
The patriarch could not allow another prodigy as monstrous as Li Xun to appear in this world.
Especially since the two of them stood on the same side.
'I can't possibly let a Saint act just to kill that little beast Xiao Fan, can I?'
The Spirit Clan patriarch fell into deep contemplation.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of miles away.
A streak of golden divine light tore through the heavens, splitting the void with thunderous rumbling.
From beyond the nine heavens, it descended upon a lonely mountain peak.
As the radiance faded, a golden chariot appeared, gleaming with celestial brilliance.
From within, Li Xun stepped out.
Behind him followed Lu Qingxian, her long gown trailing along the ground, her graceful figure like that of a celestial maiden descended from the Moon Palace.
Li Xun stopped at the summit, lifting his gaze toward the distant sky.
A faint smile curved his lips.
"Finally, she's here."
Lu Qingxian blinked in surprise.
'Who's here?'
She had originally thought that upon arriving, Daoist Li Xun would tell her to part ways—but now, it seemed that wasn't the case.
He was waiting for someone.
Not long after—
Screech—!
A phoenix's cry tore through the firmament.
An aura of ancient holiness swept across the heavens, accompanied by a shattering, star-annihilating pressure that rippled through all existence.
The eternal blue sky seemed ready to turn to ash.
Lu Qingxian felt as though she were nothing more than a tiny leaf adrift in a boundless ocean—fragile, insignificant, and on the verge of being swallowed whole.
Deep within her heart, an involuntary feeling of smallness surged forth.
She couldn't tell exactly what realm this being possessed—but instinct told her that if this existence so much as willed it, she would be erased in an instant.
'A… Saint?'
Her pupils widened in terror.
Yet somehow, it didn't feel like a Saint—this aura… was beyond sainthood.
Could this be the one that Daoist Daoist Brother Li had been waiting for?
Rumble!
The firmament split apart.
A colossal black vortex appeared in the heavens, from which seven-colored divine light surged outward, illuminating both heaven and earth.
Within that light, a slender figure stepped forth—and in the instant she appeared, she became the sole existence in all creation.
All other brilliance dimmed before her.
She was tall, her legs long and shapely, clothed in flowing rainbow-hued silks that fluttered in the wind yet failed to conceal her breathtaking curves.
An otherworldly beauty—no more than in her early twenties by appearance—her skin glowed like polished jade, luminous and flawless.
Yet her face was veiled in mist, hiding her true countenance from mortal sight.
'Could that be… the Saint of the Profound Sun Holy Land?'
Lu Qingxian's heart trembled.
She couldn't gauge the woman's true strength, but one thing was certain—her lowest possible realm was already that of a Saint.
And yet, Li Xun's own backing was the Profound Sun Holy Land…
'But wait,' she thought, 'the Profound Sun Holy Land's Grand Elder… was a woman?'
<+>
If you want to see more of this story and don't mind paying $5 each month to read the latest post, please go to my Patreon[1].
The current chapter in Patreon: Chapter 282: Did Li Xun… Finally Come To His Senses?[2]
Link to the current chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/i-thanks-to-my-144981869[3]
https://www.patreon.com/c/HannibalNotBarca/posts?filters%5Btag%5D=I+Thanks+To+My+Unlimited[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/c/HannibalNotBarca/posts?filters%5Btag%5D=I+Thanks+To+My+Unlimited
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/i-thanks-to-my-144981869
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/i-thanks-to-my-144981869
[4] https://www.patreon.com/c/HannibalNotBarca/posts?filters%5Btag%5D=I+Thanks+To+My+Unlimited