As for Li Yan beside Shangguan Tianque, Liu Huaigu shared the view of many others: Mang Yan had been careless, while Shangguan Tianque had been cunning enough to conceal a body cultivator skilled in lightning-fast close combat in ambush. That was how Mang Yan had fallen into the trap.
The main reason was that the Pojun Sect had kept a tight lid on the news, and Li Yan had struck so swiftly that his sudden appearance looked more like a premeditated ambush.
Meanwhile, Liu Huaigu had failed to find the Guest Elder of the Dragon Capture Sect who had escaped, so he had no way to verify Li Yan's strength.
Of course, he was no fool, and he would not overlook Li Yan's role. But he had come out this time to settle a personal grudge and had not notified anyone else in his sect to help him.
Thus, he had sought out a few friends of his own. He felt that two of them joining forces would be enough to kill Li Yan, while he and another could handle Shangguan Tianque without trouble.
He reckoned Li Yan would die quickly, after which all four of them would surround and kill Shangguan Tianque. With an arrangement like that, their chances of victory were surely enormous.
Even if they could only beat him down until his nascent soul fled, Liu Huaigu would spread the news. With only Ren Yanyu left in the Pojun Sect, the other surrounding sects would surely no longer sit comfortably on their hands.
Each link in the scheme fed into the next. Killing Shangguan Tianque would be best, but even if he was merely gravely wounded, the Pojun Sect would be headed toward its end.
He also guessed that Shangguan Tianque had come to the market to