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Qingyang City, the Liu Clan residence, the council hall.
Wild, arrogant laughter echoed endlessly through the hall. Apart from the two people in the hall and Liu Huabai and Liu Xincheng, whose attention had been drawn to the "white cat," everyone wore a look of terror.
The Liu Clan truly could not contend with these three. At least, without Xiao Yan, the Liu Clan was still unable to stand against them.
After the laughter died down, the Six-star Dou Zun looked at Liu Huabai with a cold sneer, his eyes full of mockery.
Liu Huabai, however, narrowed his eyes and tilted his head slightly to the left. He looked at him impassively, then turned his head slightly to look at the First Elder.
The First Elder noticed Liu Huabai's gaze. The corner of his mouth moved slightly, forming a curve of unclear meaning. Then he shook his head almost imperceptibly and paid it no further attention.
Liu Huabai turned his gaze back to the Six-star Dou Zun. He narrowed his eyes and raised the corners of his mouth, revealing a smile that was not as harmonious as it looked.
This made the Six-star Dou Zun frown slightly. He turned to glance at the other two Dou Zun experts beside him, but before he could express what he meant, Liu Huabai's voice suddenly rang out:
"Your Excellency is an expert from Qingyun Manor. Having come to this southwestern border, you must be looking for the newly advanced Dou Zun expert, I presume? Hehe... Unfortunately, the Liu Clan has no such person. As for the expert you speak of, hehe, this old man does not know where he is either."
As soon as he said this, all three Qingyun Manor experts' gazes shot toward Liu Huabai and fixed firmly on him. The Six-star Dou Zun at their head narrowed his eyes slightly and gave a cold snort before speaking:
"Clan Leader Liu, I think you had better tell us the truth. That expert entered your Liu residence as a guest under the watchful eyes of everyone in Qingyang City. And now you say you don't know? Do you take the three of us for fools?"
The words were spoken neither forcefully nor lightly, but as soon as they left his mouth, everyone felt the pressure of a Dou Zun expert instantly fill the entire hall, leaving them all feeling as though they could hardly breathe.
"Hmph!"
At that cold snort, everyone in the hall except the other two Dou Zun experts instantly changed complexion. Their faces began to flush red, and even their breathing grew somewhat labored.
Liu Huabai's face was flushed, and veins bulged on his forehead. Enduring the pressure, he gritted his teeth and spoke with difficulty:
"Your Excellency, this is going a little too far. That senior did indeed visit the Liu Clan, but must an expert ask permission from me, Liu Huabai, the leader of a mere little clan, before acting? As for that senior, let alone the fact that I don't know where he is now, even if I did, I'm afraid you could do nothing to him."
Hearing this, the Six-star Dou Zun from Qingyun Manor could not help frowning. Could that man truly have some ability, to have earned such support from the Liu Clan?
The old man at their head quickly exchanged glances with the other two. The Six-star Dou Zun gave another cold snort, and only then did everyone look at the three of them, panting, not daring to relax in the slightest.
But no one noticed that the big white cat, which had been lying quietly on the cushion all this time, now nodded in an extremely humanlike manner.
Its bright eyes glanced at Liu Huabai, then closed again as it fell into a deep sleep, as though everything in the hall had nothing to do with it.
Liu Huabai took a deep breath, his gaze returning to its former calm. He smiled, looked at the Six-star Dou Zun, and said with a laugh:
"Haha... Since Your Excellency has come from so far away, you surely did not come just for the Liu Clan. You must have come for the Wu Clan. That old ancestor of the Wu Clan was indeed extraordinary, to have broken through at such an age. It truly was a blessing from heaven!"
At this point, Liu Huabai's formerly complimentary tone changed. He paused briefly, then continued:
"What a pity. Though his strength had risen, he had grown muddleheaded and dared to provoke anyone. He knew the senior was staying with my Liu Clan, yet he still came barging in, not knowing the immensity of heaven and earth. And in the end, heh... all that strength he had cultivated with such difficulty, before he even had the chance to put it on full display, just like that... Tsk, tsk! Life really is fragile!"
Liu Huabai sighed, then looked at the Six-star Dou Zun again and immediately continued:
"Your Excellency, you must value your own life above all else! You can enjoy ten thousand blessings if you have your life, but if your life is gone, what use is wealth and honor, even if you have them in abundance?"
The Six-star Dou Zun gave a noncommittal cold snort. Seeing this, the two Dou Zun experts beside him frowned slightly. This was not the situation they wanted to see.
With the Wu Clan wiped out, the Liu Clan had become the sole power in Qingyang City. In the future, the Liu Clan would surely rise, and the benefits it could reap would certainly be considerable.
The three men's ultimate purpose in coming to Qingyang City this time was to use the Wu Clan's affairs to pressure the Liu Clan into agreeing to hand over a portion of the benefits and resources it obtained in the future. But as things stood, the Liu Clan seemed intent on using force to refuse them.
If so, would their trip not have been in vain? They had already kept watch outside Qingyang City for many days, never daring to enter because they could sense Xiao Yan's terrifying presence.
Only a few days ago had the three of them ceased to detect Xiao Yan's presence. To be safe, they had held back for a few more days before entering, but they had not expected that the mysterious expert would turn the tables on them yet again.
The three exchanged several glances. After a long while, the Six-star Dou Zun finally steeled himself and jerked his head up to look at Liu Huabai, who sat in the seat of honor. His gaze was overbearing and sharp, full of brutality.
"Hmph! This old man was almost scared by you! Well done, Clan Leader Liu! Well done, Liu Clan! You dare make a fool of this old man, using a piece of trash who fled long ago to frighten me! You must have eaten a bear's heart and a leopard's gall! Liu Huabai! No matter what, you must give this old man a satisfactory explanation today! Otherwise..."
The Six-star Dou Zun's face was savage and fierce, killing intent surging wildly from his entire body. He was just about to continue when he suddenly fell silent. He stood rooted to the spot in a daze, cold sweat pouring from his head, not daring to breathe loudly. His eyes were filled with ineradicable terror.
"Otherwise, what are you going to do? Wipe out the Liu Clan? Kill that piece of trash you say ran away? Or capture him and torture him slowly, letting the Liu Clan watch and see what a piece of trash their savior is? Hmph! A mere Six-star Dou Zun dares to talk so big. You truly do not know life from death!"
As soon as these words rang out, the faces of the three below the dais changed drastically. With a crash, they knelt together and began kowtowing and admitting their fault.