The three elders reacted no less violently.
The Grand Elder shot up from his seat, his beard shaking as his eyes widened in disbelief. "Absurd! Seventy thousand for a mere set of Marrow Cleansing Potions? Are you trying to bankrupt the Zhao family?!"
The Third Elder's face twisted with fury, his hand slapping the table so hard the porcelain bottles rattled. "That price could buy half the Treasure Pavilion! Has this boy lost his mind?"
The Fourth Elder's lips curled in disdain as he sneered, "Patriarch, forgive my bluntness, but your son is not only wasteful, he's reckless to the point of being a liability! Who in Azure Wind City has ever heard of such foolish bidding?"
Zhao Lieyang's face darkened further, his fury turning cold as ice. His hand trembled, pointing at his son like he wanted to tear him apart. "Xiaotian… explain yourself! How dare you spend seventy thousand gold coins on something worth less than half of that! Do you think the Zhao family's wealth grows from the soil of our courtyard? Speak!"
Zhao Xiaotian's face had long since lost its color, and cold sweat slid down his back. His lips quivered as he forced out his words. "F-father… it wasn't my fault. That bastard Li Yun… he, he tricked me!"
Zhao Lieyang's eyes narrowed dangerously, and the elders all leaned forward with scorn etched on their faces.
"What do you mean tricked you?" the Grand Elder demanded sharply.
Clenching his fists and grinding his teeth, Zhao Xiaotian hurriedly explained. "At the auction… Li Yun deliberately kept raising the price. Each time I bid, he would push it higher, always just enough to provoke me. He acted as though he was determined to win, and I, I couldn't allow him to succeed. Everyone was watching! If I backed down in front of so many people, the Zhao family's reputation would've been ruined!"
He swallowed hard, his voice turning weaker as he added, "And in the end, just when the price reached seventy thousand… he suddenly withdrew. He forced me to buy it at that price! If I didn't, it would have been a complete humiliation!"
As those words left his mouth, the courtyard trembled again with the elders' outrage.
The Third Elder slammed his palm on the table once more, his voice like a whip. "So you let a brat from the Li family toy with you like a monkey? Is this what the Zhao family's young master has become?"
The Fourth Elder laughed bitterly, his voice dripping with venom. "To think the Patriarch's son, the one we pour endless resources into, could be led around by the nose in public! The whole city must be laughing at us now!"
The Grand Elder shook his head in fury, glaring at Zhao Xiaotian as though he was filth. "If word spreads of this, the Zhao family will be a joke. Xiaotian, you have shamed us all."
Zhao Lieyang's fists clenched tightly on his chair, his face pale with suppressed fury. His voice came out low and dangerous. "You fool. A thousand times a fool! You let Li Yun bait you and bleed seventy thousand gold coins from our Zhao family? Do you realize what you've done?!"
Following that a heavy silence followed. Zhao Xiaotian kept his head down, didn't dare to look at his father.
"Li Yun? Which Li Yun? Which bastard dares to toy with my Zhao family?" Zhao Lieyang's voice cut through the tense silence after he finally managed to steady his breathing. His tone was calmer than before, but the veins at his temple still throbbed with suppressed fury.
The Zhao family, like the Li family, was one of the three major powers in Azure Wind City. Both sides had clashed countless times in the shadows, testing each other's strength and influence, but even as Patriarch, Zhao Lieyang prided himself on knowing every talented youth of their rivals.
Yet, this name, Li Yun, rang hollow in his memory. There was no such remarkable figure among the Li clan's young generation. The brightest of their seedlings in recent years had always been Li Xian, the one who had already entered Sword Hall, the strongest force in Moonriver County.
Zhao Xiaotian seized this moment, straightening his back and trying to shift some of the blame.
"Father, Li Yun is the grandson of Li Zhen, the third elder of the Li family," he said bitterly, his voice sharp with anger. His knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists, and the hatred in his eyes flared like wildfire.
Even while defending himself, his mind churned with vicious thoughts, once a chance presented itself, he would carve Li Yun into pieces.
Zhao Lieyang's brows knitted tightly. "You mean that Li Yun? The cripple who can't cultivate?" A scoff of disbelief escaped him as the memory surfaced. Yes, Li Zhen, the third elder of the Li clan, did indeed have a grandson by that name. And Li Yun was the son of Li Tian, once celebrated as Azure Wind City's number one genius.
But Li Tian had died young, and his son… useless, born without a spiritual constitution, unable to cultivate.
Everyone in the city knew him as a waste. Even within the Li household, he was barely acknowledged, living in the shadows without importance. How could such a figure possibly stand against his son at a Treasure Pavilion auction?
But Zhao Xiaotian shook his head vehemently. His eyes gleamed with a mix of fear and resentment. "Father, you don't understand. Li Yun is not as simple as people believe! At the auction, I saw it clearly. He… he has a very close relationship with Director Lan Yueli of the Treasure Pavilion!"
The moment those words fell, the temperature in the room seemed to plummet.
"What did you say?" Zhao Lieyang's voice deepened, and his pupils contracted into dangerous slits.
Zhao Xiaotian recounted everything in detail, how Li Yun had smiled and spoken casually with Lan Yueli, how she had shown him favor, how even the handling of the purple fruits and the settlement of gold coins had been far too personal, almost deferential.
Zhao Lieyang's expression darkened, but the next possibility that crossed his mind made even him pause. "Are you suggesting… that this Li Yun might have ties to Guan Long himself? Could it be that Li Yun is Guan Long's illegitimate son?"
The words landed like thunder.
The three elders of the Zhao family exchanged stunned glances, their eyes almost bulging from their sockets. The thought was absurd… yet not impossible.
Guan Long, the reclusive master of the Treasure Pavilion, was a figure of unimaginable weight in Azure Wind City. Though he lived quietly, his influence rivaled even the City Lord's.
If Li Yun truly bore a connection to such a man, if he were even rumored to be Guan Long's son, then his position was not something the Zhao family could touch lightly.
"Unbelievable… yet if true, this is a simply shocking matter," one elder muttered, his face pale.
But Zhao Lieyang, despite the shock, was not about to let his son off so easily. His cold gaze snapped back to Zhao Xiaotian, and his voice lashed like a whip. "Even so, you are still a fool! You let a mere cripple drag you by the nose and strip you of seventy thousand gold coins! How dare you shame me like this?"
Zhao Xiaotian flinched, bowing his head in shame, but before he could speak further, Zhao Lieyang cut him off with a harsh wave of his hand. "Enough. Get out of my sight. You will confine yourself within the Zhao estate for one month. Not a single step beyond the gates! Reflect on your disgrace in silence."
The punishment sounded heavy, but everyone in the hall knew Zhao Lieyang's hand was soft when it came to his son. He had not even confiscated the Dark Light Sword that Xiaotian still held. His fury was real, yet his love remained greater.
As Zhao Xiaotian stumbled out, his expression twisted with humiliation and hatred, the atmosphere in the room grew colder.
Zhao Lieyang's face became solemn, his voice low and edged with killing intent. "This matter must be investigated thoroughly. If Li Yun truly has ties to Guan Long, then we will tread carefully. But if not…" His eyes narrowed, sharp as blades, and a chilling smile tugged at his lips. "…if it turns out he has no backing, then daring to humiliate my son means only one thing, Li Yun will die."
His gaze shifted to the Third Elder, who stood at once, bowing. "Third Elder, I entrust this matter to you. I want every detail about Li Yun's connection to the Treasure Pavilion unearthed."
"Yes, Patriarch." The elder's voice was steady, but his heart was heavy. He knew that depending on the outcome of this investigation, the fate of Li Yun, and perhaps even the balance between the Li and Zhao families, would be decided.