Li Guanqi's speculations regarding his grandfather's identity were actually verging on the truth.
Yet even now, having broken through to the Body Integration Realm, Li Guanqi was still unable to touch upon Su Xuan's realm.
Whenever he recalled the aura the old man had occasionally revealed in the past, he felt it deviated drastically from his own understanding.
As for what realm the old man truly stood at, Li Guanqi now boldly guessed that at the very least, he was in the Tribulation Transcendence Realm!
Of course, Li Guanqi still did not know that the ancestor of the Yu clan, one of the nine great clans in the Ethereal Immortal Domain, was already dead...
To kill a Tribulation Transcendence mighty figure, his grandfather had taken less than half an incense stick of time.
Both thoroughly enjoyed the serene quietude as the moon climbed into the night sky.
Silvery moonlight gently spilled across the earth. The rhythmic chirping of crickets slowly arose, mingling with the undulating hum of cicadas.
Li Guanqi set down his wine cup, pulled out a jade pendant, and murmured, "Brother Ji, help me look into whether the Lu clan and the Zhu clan have been growing close lately."
Soon, Ji Yuchuan's voice came from the jade pendant: "Did they make a move against you?"
Li Guanqi did not say much, merely asking Ji Yuchuan to keep an eye on the Lu clan's recent movements.
***
Guanyun Pavilion.
Tang Ru and Xi Yunhuai sat off to the side, having also heard the instructions Li Guanqi had given.
Ji Yuchuan frowned slightly, his voice chilling. "It seems the Lu clan truly did make a move against Pavilion Master!"
The elderly man beside him frowned and said, "Yet so much time has passed. Even after activating our moles planted within the Ancient Clans, we still haven't received any news regarding the Lu clan."
"Who would have thought they would dare strike against Pavilion Master!"
"Is Pavilion Master all right?"
Ji Yuchuan shook his head. "He's fine. However, we must thoroughly investigate the Lu clan's whereabouts!"
"Uncle Xi, I'll leave this matter to you. I cannot get away from the pavilion."
Xi Yunhuai frowned slightly. Recently, he had been helping the Great Xia Sword Sect carve various formations and could not easily spare the time either.
Even so, he did not refuse the investigation into the Lu clan. Rising to his feet, he said, "All right. Tomorrow I'll speak to Sect Master Lu and let him know I won't be heading over for the next few days."
Tang Ru pursed his lips and remained silent. He wanted to offer to investigate himself.
However, tracking the movements of an Ancient Clan naturally required great strength.
Yet currently, he was only at the mid-Soul Formation Realm; even within Guanyun Pavilion, his cultivation was far from top-tier.
Back when Li Guanqi first found him, Tang Ru had barely reached the peak Nascent Soul Realm.
In such a short span of time, he had successfully broken through to the Soul Formation Realm and even advanced his cultivation to mid-Soul Formation.
Tang Ru stood up and spoke: "Brother Ji, Uncle Xi, how about I take charge of this matter instead?"
Xi Yunhuai glanced at Tang Ru with some surprise, while Tang Ru tucked his hands into his sleeves and chuckled.
"Now that Guanyun Pavilion's commercial division can simply be left in Qianqiusui's hands, I can pull myself away completely."
"I also have a few other connections and methods at my disposal. Leave it to me."
Ji Yuchuan, however, said in a deep voice, "No, Tang Ru."
"Don't blame your brother here for speaking bluntly, but with your current strength, trying to investigate the Lu clan is far too dangerous."
"If we really must do this, I will deploy my avatar."
Tang Ru interrupted him, saying with great resolve, "Let me go. I won't personally scout in the field—our Guanyun Pavilion has plenty of powerhouses now!"
Hearing this, Xi Yunhuai persuaded as well with a laugh: "Haha, Old Ji, just let Tang Ru go. In any case, he won't need to scout personally; he can simply oversee things from the rear."
Left with no choice, Ji Yuchuan could only nod in agreement. Handing Tang Ru a thick stack of inscribed talismans, he said solemnly:
"All right, then this matter is yours."
"These are specialized inscribed talismans. If you run into danger, slap them onto your body, understand?"
Tang Ru took the talismans with a grin and nodded. "Don't worry, Brother Ji."
Stepping out of the room, Tang Ru departed with Guanyun Pavilion's Cloud Shadow Guards.
Xi Yunhuai sat opposite Ji Yuchuan with hands tucked into his sleeves and murmured, "There were quite a few Spirit Gathering Talismans in that stack of yours."
Ji Yuchuan lowered his head as he poured tea, murmuring, "Little Tang's cultivation has been progressing too slowly lately. He works day and night to earn money for Guanyun Pavilion."
"This has indirectly caused the gap between him and Pavilion Master's brothers to widen further and further..."
"Little Tang was among the earliest people to know Pavilion Master, yet now they are separated by several major realms."
"Every time he sees Ye Feng, he feels a bit awkward, even though Ye Feng still treats him as he always has."
"Yet his fierce pride still causes him to instinctively stoop and lower his head."
Xi Yunhuai raised his teacup and sighed. "Indeed. An ordinary person could hardly endure such a stark contrast."
"I'll think of something for him later as well. Keeping Tang Ru tied down in Guanyun Pavilion... is wasting talent."
"What Pavilion Master lacks by his side right now is a mastermind—yes, a strategist!!"
Ji Yuchuan looked up at Xi Yunhuai, his eyes flickering as he whispered, "Precisely."
"There's no need to worry about combat power around Pavilion Master, but what he lacks is a diviner!"
Xi Yunhuai's eyes lit up. Leaning forward toward Ji Yuchuan, he said in a low voice:
"You mean... you want Tang Ru to walk the path of the School of Yin-Yang's deduction?"
Ji Yuchuan raised his teacup, obscuring his face, and said with bright eyes, "Why not?"
"Little Tang's temperament is well-suited for such things!"
The two then chatted in the room for a long while.
***
Tang Ru led the Cloud Shadow Guards out of the domain boundary. Behind him stood a man cloaked entirely in a black robe, displaying immense deference.
This man was likewise a Body Integration Realm powerhouse; alongside him were two Void Refining Realm elders who were also Cloud Shadow Guards.
Gu Chuan asked in a deep voice, "Elder Tang, what are we to do next?"
The corners of Tang Ru's mouth curved slightly. He whispered, "Naturally, find out where the Lu clan is hiding!"
With a wave of his hand, several jade slips appeared in his grip. Tang Ru uttered only a single sentence: "Find out the Lu clan's location for me."
The jade slips shimmered with faint light as several ripples of spatial fluctuation vanished into thin air.
Tang Ru narrowed his eyes slightly, casting a chilling glance into the void. "Dare to make a move, and we'll chop off your claws!!"
"Right, find a way to contact the Gu clan."
"There is definitely a mole in the Gu clan. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for anyone to obtain the spatial coordinates to the Gu clan's thunder pool."
"Look into any members of the Gu clan who were away for a long time, especially those who returned to the clan recently."
The leader of the Cloud Shadow Guards, Gu Chuan, felt his eyes brighten. Tang Ru's train of thought was spot-on. If they could identify the mole in the Gu clan, then that person would very likely know where the Lu clan was!
Following several spatial ripples, the voice of someone named Gu Li slowly sounded:
"Are you Brother Li's subordinate?"
"Wait a moment and I'll send you the list. Keep your investigation discreet; most of them are elders of our Gu clan."
In the Ethereal Immortal Domain, Gu Li frowned as he passed the information to Tang Ru.
What irked him, however, was that the person who brought him the news regarding Tang Ru was actually a cousin from a collateral branch of his own Gu clan...
In other words... Guanyun Pavilion had already infiltrated the Gu clan in such a short amount of time.
Put another way, from the exact moment Gu Li established contact with Li Guanqi, Guanyun Pavilion had already sprung into action!!
Tang Ru smiled as he toyed with the jade slip in his hand, which contained the list of everyone who had recently returned to the Gu clan.
For some reason, looking at the smiling Tang Ru, Gu Chuan felt a chill run down his spine.
Even though the man was only at the mid-Soul Formation Realm, the methods he displayed had chilled him to the bone from start to finish!
Within the entirety of Guanyun Pavilion, second only to the Pavilion Master and Ji Yuchuan, Tang Ru's authority and prestige far surpassed even Xi Yunhuai's!!
Yet at this moment, Tang Ru still did not know what he was about to face.
Chapter 871