Chapter 29: The Li Dynasty (5)
After Su Chen's persuasion, Li Hongwen finally agreed to take action. Meanwhile, Li Ming arranged the exchange with the Twelve Heavenly Fiends and set a meeting place.
The Twelve Heavenly Fiends arrived without the slightest caution. In their eyes, as long as no expert above the seventh layer of the Spirit Soul Realm intervened, they could always escape if things went south. But they never imagined that the ancestor of the mighty Li faction—one of the top five powerhouses in the world today—would personally step in over such a "trivial" matter.
Li Ming's great-grandson was rescued. Until their final moments, the Twelve Heavenly Fiends could not believe it. They roared in unwilling fury.
"Li Hongwen—how could you be here… you shouldn't be here!"
Li Hongwen severed all twelve of their heads and hung them neatly in the wilderness, leaving behind a single bold inscription: "Those who offend the Li Clan shall be punished, no matter how far they flee."
When the news spread, the entire realm erupted. Though the Twelve Heavenly Fiends had terrorized the Heavenly Wind Kingdom for only a few decades, the crimes they committed in that time were too numerous to record, enough to fill days of endless recounting.
Now those twelve villains had been slain by the Li Clan. The Great Plain Li family harvested an enormous wave of prestige.
Just as Su Chen had predicted, the strategy of "spending gold to buy horse bones" worked anywhere. The collateral branches, seeing such a clear precedent, grew even more loyal to the main branch.
At the same time, the second young master of the Li faction—Su Chen himself—was thrust into the spotlight. Numerous powerful cultivators began seeking him out and pledging allegiance. An unexpected bonus. Not long after Li Ming's great-grandson was saved, Li Ming sought Su Chen again. He expressed his gratitude and specially prepared a banquet in thanks.