Looking at Shun Long, Fu Li sighed as he answered
''Brother, Lu Wen really surprised me this time.
As soon as he returned back to the sect, he calmly sat to the side and watched his eldest brother and his younger brother fight for the position of the family head.
Of course, his brothers also ignored him as well after he returned, and focused on fighting covertly between themselves.
Since Lu Wen had just returned from the 'Mortal world', it was extremely unlikely that he would try to fight for the position of the family head with his brothers, using his own meager connections.
After all, to become the head of one of the 5 families, you need other people to support you as well, both inside your family, and outside.
Since I am the only successor of the Fu family, I actually never had to face such an issue, but Lu Wen was different.
The Elders of the Lu family had mainly split themselves into 2 battlefronts, one of them supporting Lu Wen's older brother, and the other supporting his younger brother.
Only a small amount of the Elders of the Lu family were actually willing to support Lu Wen.
This is why I always thought that Lu Wen was actually a real friend of mine. Because he still wanted to get close to me, without having to gain anything in the process.
However, Lu Wen acted as if he didn't care about his family's situation, and was only interested to becoming a powerful alchemist, but in reality, he was rearing a secret army in the process.
Just when everyone thought that Lu Wen had completely given up on the position of the family head of the Lu family, more than 20 Heaven grade inner disciples suddenly joined his camp.
The most surprising thing was, that from those inner disciples, one-third of them originally belonged to the Meng family, but they actually switched their allegiance to the Lu family.
As for the other two-thirds. They seemed to have been loyal to Lu Wen even before he left the 'Floating Cloud city' to go to the 'Mortal world' in the past!''
Shun Long's eyes narrowed when he heard this.
He already knew that once someone advanced to the Heaven grade and became an inner disciple, they had to swear a Dao oath to follow the orders of the family that they had joined.
Even if these members had been originally 'supported' by Lu Wen behind the scenes in the past, after becoming inner disciples and joining the Meng family, they would have been unable to follow anyone's but the Meng family's orders!
Since 6-7 inner disciples from the Meng family had suddenly switched sides and became members of the Lu family, this could only mean one thing.
The Meng family had allowed this!
Why would the Meng family ever give up on their own inner disciples?
As Shun Long's train of thought continued, he instantly understood that Lu Wen seemed to have joined hands with the Meng family.
Suddenly, Shun Long's eyes widened as he stared at Fu Li.
He seemed to have understood what Fu Li wanted to say afterwards.
If Lu Wen had really joined hands with the Meng family and became the Lu family's head in the future, then things in the 'Floating Cloud sect' would drastically change.
After all, the Lu family was originally an ally to fatty Fu's, Fu family, and Lan Jinjing's Lan family.
But with the Lu family switching sides, wouldn't that mean that the balance of power in the 'Floating Cloud city' would instantly switch as well?
Lu Wen was also someone who was involved in his family's strife, and unlike Fu Li, it was impossible for him to not know about the matter of the Dao oath.
Slowly, Shun Long's eyes narrowed as he thought of different possibilities.
In the past, he had thought that Lu Wen had started to get close to him in order to repay his father's favor of giving him a pinnacle rank 3 bronze grade cauldron.
After all, to any rank 2 bronze grade alchemist, such a cauldron was a treasure.
Even in the 'Floating Cloud city', pinnacle rank 3 bronze grade cauldrons were rare to find as well.
However, everything seemed to have changed after hearing Fu Li's words.
''Lu Wen really hid himself well.''
Once he heard Shun Long's words, Fu Li nodded his head seriously.
At the same time, Shun Long didn't say anything else, but instead, he fell into deep contemplation.
Shun Long had always thought that he was good at judging people, but Lu Wen had really managed to fool him.
Although this scheme was much bigger, and Shun Long didn't seem to be an important part in Lu Wen's plans, he was still used in the end.
Raising his head to look at Fu Li, Shun Long suddenly asked curiously
''What's the current situation of the Lu family?''
Nodding his head, Fu Li didn't hesitate to reveal the inner situation of the Lu family
''In the past 2 years that Lu Wen returned to the sect, he consumed countless pills of the Lu family and is now already an early rank 2 Heaven grade expert... the same level as his older brother!''
As he said the words 'rank 2 Heaven grade expert', the jealousy in the fatty's eyes wasn't hidden in the slightest.
After taking a deep breath, Fu Li's voice instantly turned solemn as he continued with his next words
''With the sudden support of the Meng's family's inner disciples, many of the Elders of the Lu family that were supporting Lu Wen's brothers quickly joined his side instead, making the gap of power between himself and his brothers even larger than before.
Now, even the combined forces of Lu Ming and Lu Chen can't even compare to Lu Wen's own.
Lu Wen's brothers were about to explode from anger when they saw the Elders of their camp quickly abandoning them one after the other, and in the end, they even temporarily stopped fighting with each other, as they both reported Lu Wen's actions to their grandfather.
They said that the meddling of the Meng family in their family's internal issues and the succession of the family head, would surely cause them some serious problems to them in the future.
Of course, if Lu Wen's brothers knew about this, then how could Lu Wen's own grandfather, the previous family head of the Lu family not notice the intervening of the Meng family?!
However, the most surprising thing was, that Lu Wen's grandfather actually didn't do anything about this, and instead, he even aided Lu Wen's actions behind the scenes.''
As soon as Fu Li finished speaking, Shun Long immediately understood what was going on.
''The Meng family has already joined hands with the Lu family to a certain extent.''
As this thought flashed through Shun Long's mind, his eyes instantly chilled.
Sending his gaze towards the 'Floating Cloud sect' that was right below him, Shun Long then mumbled in a cold voice
''Lu Wen... since you already tried to fool me, you can't blame me for what's about to happen!
326
Fatty Fu shivered the moment that he heard Shun Long's cold voice.
The cold expression however, quickly disappeared from Shun Long's face, and a few moments later, Fu Li could no longer suppress the curiosity inside him, as he looked at Shun Long and asked curiously
''Brother, where have you been for the past 1 year?
Were you really trapped somewhere inside the 'Vermilion realm'?
The sect waited for a long time after the 'Vermilion realm's' closing, but you never returned.
Actually, it wasn't just you, but quite a lot of people disappeared inside the 'Vermilion realm' this time, including Wen Zihao!''
When he mentioned Wen Zihao's disappearance, it was obvious that fatty Fu was shocked almost as much as with Shun Long's disappearance.
After all, Wen Zihao wasn't just the person ranked first in the arena rankings of the sect, but he was also someone who had a unique physique!
The upper echelons of the sect, including the sect master as well as the Elders of the big families, had placed quite a lot of importance to him.
Shun Long smiled when he heard fatty Fu mentioning Wen Zihao, and without hiding anything about this matter, he started to explain how the Dao King of the 'Vermilion realm', Cui Guoliang, had sent everyone who had passed through the second test to the 'Night star continent'.
Fu Li's eyes almost popped out of their sockets, and with a fervent expression that was filled with eagerness as well as disbelief, he looked at Shun Long and asked incredulously
''You- really went to the 'Night star continent'?''
As the heir of one of the 5 big families, it was only natural for Fu Li to have heard rumors about the closest continent next to their 'Desolate East'.
With a smile on his face, Shun Long continued narrating to Fu Li what had happened in the past 1 year, only hiding important things like Cui Guoliang being trapped in the 'Dragon Lord's villa', or secrets about Little Black and the 'Stone of Time'.
As the 2 of them started chatting, fatty Fu was becoming even more shocked.
Not only had Shun Long managed to get together with the goddess of their sect, but he had also traveled with her to various places in the 'Night star continent' and even had a powerful magic beast that could fight even Nascent Soul stage experts!
Although Shun Long didn't go into detail about Little Silver's strength, Fu Li immediately understood that with this magic beast as his mount, Shun Long was probably already unrivaled in the Desolate East.
Suddenly, Fu Li remembered Liu Jian's miserable condition in front of the main hall, and looking at Shun Long, he pointed at him with his finger as he asked incredulously
''Brother... were you the one who attacked the sect master earlier?''
In Fu Li's eyes, even Shun Long shouldn't have been at the level of fighting against the sect master, Liu Jian yet.
He had must have probably asked for Little Silver's help, in order to take care of the peak rank 3 Spirit realm expert so easily.
After all, it had been less than a year since the 'Vermilion realm's' closing, and before they entered, Fu Li clearly remembered that both he and Shun Long hadn't even reached the Heaven grade by then.
No matter what, Fu Li couldn't accept that Shun Long had already reached a level that could threaten the sect master already.
At most, he should have reached the late-stages of the Heaven grade by now.
Fu Li was about to exhale a sigh of relief as he reached this conclusion, when he saw Shun Long shaking his head at him as he answered
''It wasn't me, but Mei'er. She wanted to fight against her father by herself.''
The moment that Fu Li heard these words, he could feel his heartbeat that had started to rise.
''By herself?
Senior sister Liu is at the same level as the sect master?''
Shun Long nodded his head without explaining anything else.
Instead, he extended his right hand, and handed a green-colored spatial ring to the incredulous Fu Li.
Without waiting for him to accept or decline, Shun Long smiled as he started to explain
''Fatty, aside from 2 million low-grade spirit stones in this spatial ring, there are also some top-grade rank 3 pills called the 'Blood combustion pills'.
They can allow a Heaven grade cultivator to quickly advance to the following ranks without any issues.
As top-grade pills, they will not leave any pill toxins inside your body and you can consume them freely.
Of course, the more pills of the same kind that you consume, the lesser the effects of those pills become, but these pills in here should still be enough to help you reach the rank 9 of the Heaven grade and still have some left to spare.''
Suddenly, the spatial ring in fatty Fu's hand felt as if it was weighting a mountain.
''Tw-two million spirit stones?''
2 million?
Even if the 5 big families of the sect pooled all of their spirit stones together, they wouldn't have 2 million!
Fu Li couldn't believe this, and could no longer resist the urge to send his spiritual strength inside the spatial ring and examine the contents.
Indeed, mountains after mountains of spirit stones were piled inside, making his eyes lit up in the process.
Without any inclination to decline, fatty hurriedly placed the spatial ring in his finger and started laughing loudly in joy, while the corners of his mouth had turned into a huge grin that couldn't be suppressed no matter how hard he tried.
He couldn't believe that Shun Long would give him 2 million spirit stones.
Of course, Shun Long wouldn't be stingy with Fu Li.
He still remembered how Fu Li had come to find him and was willing to share the pills that he had received from his father a few months before the opening of the 'Vermilion realm'.
Suddenly, Shun Long's gaze was focused on the small house at the center of the inner city.
Liu Jian who had just regained his senses, had gathered the Elders of the sect and was standing a fair distance away from Lin Huefeng house.
Due to the 2 undead knights who were standing guard at the house's entrance however, neither Liu Jian nor any of the Elders dared to get too close, lest they suffer the same way that their sect master did a while ago.
Liu Jian completely ignored his second wife, and looking at Liu Mei who was standing right next to her and was holding her mother's hands, he had a serious look in his eyes as he asked in a solemn tone
''Little Mei, are you certain that you want to leave like this? You will surely regret this in the future!''
Shun Long's eyes chilled when he heard Liu Jian's words.
Although he didn't dare to directly say it, but his words were meant to threaten Liu Mei, one way or another.
However, since he had promised Liu Mei not to interfere with this matter, Shun Long simply watched Liu Mei as he waited for her answer.
As expected, Liu Mei's eyes narrowed, while Lin Huefeng trembled when she heard the veiled threat behind Liu Jian's words.
Although she was a strong woman, Liu Jian's image in her mind was second to no one.
Looking at her father who was staring at her with a serious look in his eyes, Liu Mei shook her head before she answered with an ice-cold look in her eyes
''No, I won't leave like this.
'Father', I told you that I came here for two things.
The first was to take my mother back... while the second one is to make you pay!''
Liu Jian felt terror gripping his heart for some reason.
It was an instinctive fear that something bad was going to happen.
Taking a deep breath, Liu Mei's eyes first swept through the Elders around Liu Jian, before she sat down on the 'red-winged condor's' back along with her mother, and underLiu Jian's stunned gaze, she flew towards the northern part of the 'Floating Cloud city'.
Suddenly, Liu Jian's eyes widened in disbelief, before he turned his head to look at some of the Elders around him.
It seemed that he suddenly understood what Liu Mei was planning to do, and it was something that left him pale with fear.
327
.
There was only one thing in the northern part of the 'Floating Cloud city' that was important to Liu Jian and his plans for the future of the 'Floating Cloud sect'.
The headquarters of the Meng family!
The Elders around Liu Jian who belonged to the Meng family had extremely ugly expressions on their faces as they looked at the young woman on the 'red-winged condor's' back.
Fear slowly overwhelmed them when they realized what Liu Mei was intending to do.
At the same time, Liu Changpun who was standing behind Liu Jian, stared at Liu Mei with his mouth wide open.
''She can't be planning to destroy the Meng family!?''
As this thought flashed through his mind, Liu Changpun found himself feeling uncertain.
The Liu Mei that was on top of the 'red-winged condor's' back didn't seem to be the same Liu Mei that he remembered before they left for the 'Vermilion realm'.
Shun Long's lips curved up as he stared at Liu Mei from the sky. He could see the luxurious manor in the distance with the word 'Meng' written on it, and quickly understood what Liu Mei's intentions were.
At the same time however, Lin Huefeng's expression was completely different from Shun Long's.
There was no pride or joy on her face as she looked at her daughter, but only worry and fear of what was going to happen.
Although she had already heard the most important parts from Liu Mei regarding what she had experienced in the past year, and although Lin Huefeng knew, that the young man named Shun Long whom she had yet to meet was actually somewhere close to the 'Floating Cloud sect', in her mind, Liu Mei was still her weak little girl.
How could she fight with the powerful Meng family?
It was, after all, one of the 5 strongest families in the entire sect.
Even if it was the weakest one among the 5, even Liu Jian had to take their overall strength seriously.
Liu Mei however didn't show the slightest ripples of anxiousness or uncertainty in her eyes.
Instead, her gaze was focused on the luxurious manor in the distance which clearly belonged to the Meng family.
Liu Mei knew, that the Meng family was Liu Jian's biggest supporter inside the sect.
Although she wasn't willing to kill her father or her brother directly, Liu Mei was more than willing to completely wipe out the Meng family from the 'Floating Cloud city'.
This didn't just stem from the fact that they supported Liu Jian or that the young master of the Meng family, Meng Shengyi wanted to marry her despite her refusing time after time, but because the Meng family was also the dirtiest one out of all the families in the 'Floating Cloud sect'.
They were the only family who would often not give compensation to the outer disciples who successfully passed their test in the 'Demonic Mountain Region' after joining the sect, and they were also the only family who was willing to secretly enslave mortals from the countless islands in the 'Mortal world' and have them work in the spirit stone mines of the sect.
Of course, their ideals were closely connected to Liu Jian's own, but as the sect master, Liu Jian couldn't bring up such topics or urge people to blemish their own image by doing that.
However, the patriarch of the Meng family didn't seem to have such moral restrains.
As long as there were benefits that could be exploited, he didn't mind sacrificing countless mortals or cultivators alike.
Although cultivators were often cruel and would kill others without batting an eye, enslaving mortals was a taboo in the 'Cultivation world'.
Usually, even the most heinous criminals would despise enslaving mortals for their own benefits or enjoyment.
Besides, if they were strong enough, they would much rather enslave other cultivators who also had longer lifespans and stronger bodies than mortals as well.
Of course, this could also be considered an excuse in itself by Liu Mei.
Even if the Meng family wasn't an evil family, Liu Mei would have still chosen to attack them.
After all, as the most loyal supporter of Liu Jian, eradicating them was similar to cutting off Liu Jian's left and right arms!
The manor of the Meng family quickly appeared in front of Liu Mei and Lin Huefeng, as well as Liu Jian and the Elders of the 'Floating Cloud sect' who were following behind the 'red-winged condor'.
Although Liu Jian didn't dare to fight against Liu Mei's undead knights again head-on, he couldn't just stay and watch as Liu Mei attacked the headquarters of the Meng family in the inner city.
Some of the Elders around Liu Jian had already been sent inside the manor to secretly inform the old patriarch of the Meng family of the incoming danger.
After all, the 'red-winged condor' wasn't flying at full speed, and Liu Mei didn't seem to be afraid that the Meng family would suddenly turn to flee.
Even if they did, she still believed that she would be able to catch at least the most important of their higher echelons and destroy them by herself.
...
In the main hall of the Meng family's manor, as soon as the old patriarch of the Meng family, Meng Shao heard of what was going on, his face instantly turned angry as well as pale from fear.
Originally, he had never placed any importance on Liu Jian's daughter.
If it wasn't because of his own grandson being so adamant on marrying her, he wouldn't have paid any attention to anything other than her name.
However, the moment that he heard that Liu Jian himself was injured by her, things had drastically changed.
With a serious look, he calmed down his emotions, and sitting back down on his chair at the head of the large table inside the main room, he looked at the 2 Elders who were still bowing in front of him, before he ordered them to gather everyone in this room.
A few minutes later, all of the high-ranking Elders of the Meng family had gathered inside the room, including the current patriarch of the Meng family, Meng Yang, as well as his son, Meng Shengyi.
As soon as Meng Shao explained what was going on, everyone turned their gazes towards the green-robed Meng Shengyi who had a stunned expression on his face.
He wanted to speak and curse Liu Mei, but he knew that the current situation was extremely grave, and his Meng family had a high chance of suffering a disaster!
Indeed, the old patriarch of the Meng family, Meng Shao had a solemn look on his face as he looked at the Elders around him, before he said in a serious voice
''Activate the protective formations!
No matter what that girl's reason is, we will not allow anyone to come to attack our Meng family, not even Liu Jian himself! Even if that girl really is stronger than Liu Jian, I don't believe that she can attack us through all the defensive formations carved by a rank 2 silver grade formation master and leave alive!
Even Liu Jian himself would die if he attacked our Meng family by himself!''
The Elders all nodded their heads with serious looks in their eyes, before they activated the protective formations around the Meng family's mansion.
The moment that Liu Mei arrived outside of the Meng's family's headquarters, both she and her mother, as well as Liu Jian and the Elders who were following behind him, saw countless layers of light completely covering the Meng family's mansion.
Liu Jian could feel the powerful energy fluctuations coming from these layers of light, and immediately understood that the Meng family had activated all of their protective formations.
At the same time, the doors of the Meng family's main entrance opened, and an old man with short white hair dressed in black robes appeared from it.
This was the Meng's family's old patriarch as well as their most powerful Heaven grade expert.