Li Qingxiao cleared the dirt from his shovel again and sat on the steps at his door, feeling a headache coming on.
He had every right to have a headache.
He had painstakingly investigated the truth behind his parents' accidental deaths, giving up his position and future prospects, risking being casually killed by some powerful figure, and finally had some leads. But at this crucial moment, these annoying people showed up.
Li Qingxiao had planned to take advantage of the timing, conducting one final investigation. If nothing was found, he would leave. But plans changed, and the last investigation revealed significant progress, making it difficult to just leave.
Though Li Qingxiao had dealt with these two people, he knew from experience that killing was easy, but disposing of bodies was hard. Such matters couldn't be hidden; it was only a matter of when they would be exposed.
Once exposed, not to mention the Li family's main branch and the Peaceful Society, even the local Daoist temple couldn't be explained away. Regardless of the reason, murder was a serious crime.
Fortunately, Mei Ning and "Yi Wangsun" weren't from the same group.
Mei Ning came from the Heavenly Gate of Phoenix and Dragon Island. If the Daoist sect was the central court, then the Heavenly Gate was a local chieftain. Based on Mei Ning's mention of "Li family's important person" before her death and the conversation between Li Qinglan and Li Qingping, it was basically confirmed that these people were under Li Qingxuan's command.
Even among the Li family's main branch, there were hierarchies. Li Qinglan and Li Qingping were from the second house, while Li Qingxuan was from the main house, the true eldest grandson.
Li Qingxiao, as a distant branch of the Li family, knew a bit about the main family.
The Li family's generations: Jing Dao Ru Fa, Chang You Tian Ming, Wen Jing Zhen Yuan, Qing Yun Bu Wu.
Li Qingxiao's generation was the "Qing" generation. The previous generation was the "Yuan" generation, and the current Grand Master was from the "Zhen" generation. Li Qingxuan was the first among the "Qing" generation.
Under normal circumstances, Li Qingxuan's position as heir should have been unshakable. Unfortunately, Li Qingxuan's father had passed away many years ago, while his uncle Li Yuanhui, father of Li Qinglan and Li Qingping, was in his prime.
On this land, the conflicts between uncles and nephews played out repeatedly, and the Li family was no exception.
Li Qingxuan's opponent wasn't Li Qingping or Li Qinglan but their father Li Yuanhui behind them. Being a generation apart, Li Qingxuan was far behind in terms of connections, experience, position, and cultivation. If not for the protection of the Grand Master, he would have been pulled down long ago. Li Qingxuan's current offensive was more defensive than anything.
Mei Ning finding Li Qingxiao was an accident, not intentional targeting.
As for "Yi Wangsun" and the Peaceful Society, that wasn't an accident. The Peaceful Society had little to do with the Li family and wasn't interested in their internal conflicts. They were solely after Li Qingxiao, or more specifically, after the Bichen Hall's secrets he possessed.
If Great Master Qi were still around, Li Qingxiao wouldn't have much to fear. He could just cling to Great Master Qi's protection and remain unshaken no matter what.
But Great Master Qi was at the Immortal Crossing and couldn't return anytime soon. Li Qingxiao couldn't just wave Great Master Qi's banner and shout that he had connections, could he?
Setting aside whether others would believe him, rashly getting involved in the upper echelons of the Daoist sect wouldn't end well.
Li Qingxiao had been a legitimate Daoist with a position in the Daoist sect. As someone within the system, he knew some rumors about the upper echelons. It was said that Great Master Qi had almost become the Ninth Grand Master, but the Eighth Grand Master thought she lacked virtue, preventing her from taking the position.
After the Eighth Grand Master ascended, Great Master Qi held both the title of Great Master of Quanzhen Dao and the Purple Dawn Palace. Among the seven seats in the Supreme Council, Great Master Qi's faction held five positions, leaving the Ninth Grand Master gasping for air. Orders couldn't leave the Purple Dawn Palace, and Great Master Qi openly treated the Ninth Grand Master as a child, earning her the title of "Supreme Grand Master."
There were some unverified rumors that Great Master Qi and the Ninth Grand Master fought for most of their lives, ultimately both suffering losses. The Ninth Grand Master ascended, and Great Master Qi was considered to have made a serious mistake, choosing to resign as the Purple Dawn Palace Grand Master and keeping only the position of Quanzhen Dao Great Master.
Was it related to the so-called "Heavenly Jade Capital" plan? The old man at the Eight Scenic Villa said that Great Master Qi personally oversaw this plan. Connecting it with the Li family massacre on Penglai Island and the ruins of the Eight Scenic Villa, it was clear that the plan wasn't successful. As the main person responsible, Great Master Qi's resignation made sense.
Perhaps because Great Master Qi had retired, combined with youthful audacity and the backing of the current Grand Master, Li Qinglan and Li Qingping dared to provoke Great Master Qi.
Li Qingxiao never imagined that he would be connected to the legendary Great Master Qi. After brief contact, Li Qingxiao agreed with the Eighth Grand Master's assessment of Great Master Qi - the Daoist sect's leadership absolutely couldn't be given to someone without virtue. Qi Wanmiao was frivolous and unsuitable for ruling the world.
Great Master Qi, Qi Wanmiao, held all the mysteries in her hands.
If Li Qingxiao chose to use Great Master Qi's name, he would gain protection but also enemies. The problem was that his protector wasn't in the mortal world, while his enemies were still unknown.
"Yi Wangsun" had a point - everyone was just pawns, don't think too highly of yourself or take yourself too seriously.
This also involved Great Master Zhou, who was the Chief of the Bichen Hall, the number two person, second only to the Hall Master. If not for Great Master Zhou's word, Li Qingxiao wouldn't have been able to leave the disciplinary department unscathed. Because of Great Master Zhou's intimidation, the Peaceful Society's higher-ups didn't dare act rashly, only sending minor figures to test the waters, giving Li Qingxiao some room to maneuver.
As for why Great Master Zhou spoke up for Li Qingxiao, a minor figure, Li Qingxiao wasn't clear at the time, only thinking that a noble person had shown mercy, letting him go because of his status as an orphan of a fallen hero.
Looking back now, it probably wasn't that simple.
Great Master Zhou cleared his name, and Great Master Qi suddenly found him on Penglai Island. Were these two events connected? Li Qingxiao couldn't say for sure, but he suspected there was some unknown connection.
Speaking of Great Master Qi, Li Qingxiao had an idea. Li Qinglan and Li Qingping wanted to use Great Master Qi to eliminate Li Qingxuan's people, and he could do the same.
There was an information gap here. Besides Great Master Qi, only Li Qingxiao temporarily had all the information. The Peaceful Society might not know about the Li family's internal conflict, and the Li family's main branch might not know that the Peaceful Society had secretly come to Penglai Island. If he could devise a way to make these two groups confront each other, wouldn't that be like driving a tiger to devour a wolf?
But these two groups weren't fools. Even with less information, why would they let him manipulate them?
As "Yi Wangsun" said, having or not having the Bichen Hall's protection was a world of difference.
Li Qingxiao's official cultivation was only at a basic level. After thinking for a long time without coming up with a good plan, he decided to stop thinking and instead take out the scroll given by Great Master Qi, planning to familiarize himself with this life-saving cultivation technique. Once this matter was resolved, he would start practicing immediately.
Otherwise, even if he fled to the South Seas, he couldn't escape the gaze of the so-called extraterrestrial "Great Wasteland Sky."
At this point, he might as well start practicing.
It was strange - Li Qingxiao had been in the Daoist sect for so many years and had only heard of the "Supreme Induction Chapter" but never of the "Supreme Induction Technique." Could it be a brand new cultivation technique created by Great Master Qi?
But then again, whenever he thought about the "Supreme Spell" that Great Master Qi recited when restoring the inverted tower, he felt it was unreliable.
Would practicing this thing be safe?
It couldn't really summon the Supreme Daoist Ancestor, right? That would be too exaggerated.