"Was that really the only reason?"
Hearing Li Chen mutter to himself, Dong Pengfei, who was watching the battle from outside, felt a flicker of doubt.
As the saying went, those caught in the game could not see it clearly. Earlier, Li Chen's actions had puzzled him greatly, and he had no idea what Li Chen truly wanted. Only now, when Li Chen personally took action and revealed his cultivation, did he finally understand.
All their previous judgments had rested on Li Chen being a Puppet Master of Master Artisan rank. As for his other supporters and powerful backers, others had those too. With the right maneuvering, those alone were nothing to rely on.
The various factions could slowly probe him, gradually discover how far they could push him, and swallow up the Guangyun region under his control, whether in great gulps or nibble by nibble.
But once he reached Core Formation, his position and the entire balance of power became utterly different.
For a Core Formation cultivator to possess only a lower-grade blessed land was a shabby, straitened state of affairs. Everyone could readily accept his expanding outward to increase his wealth.
As a Puppet Master, he had an excellent chance of advancing to Grand Artisan on that basis. His ability to refine mid- and high-tier puppets would give the various factions even more reason to cultivate friendly relations with him and protect his growth.
Then, with such prospects before him, did Li Chen really need to make an enemy of Mei Yunhe, who stood behind Mei Tang?
If he wanted to kill someone to establish his authority, why choose a descendant of another Core Formation expert when he could have killed anyone else?
Among all the managing elders, merchants' association stewards, attendants, and guards present, any of them