Morally speaking, Lu Li could justify his actions. The four forces wouldn"t make trouble openly as long as Lu Li didn"t kill the five and stated his piece.
But no open trouble didn"t mean no trouble at all. The four forces could take actions behind Lu Li"s back. They could also delay their revenge.
Any one of the four forces could overwhelm the Northern Desert easily. Therefore, if Lu Li hoped for long term peace, he must first turn the whole thing into a bigger mess.
Instead of leaving right away, Lu Li had named his conditions, which was for the Grand Master of Demon-slaying Hall to take over the matter or he would kill Ji Mengtian, Yang Xuan and the rest. This was Lu Li"s way of making the situation more serious.
He had forced himself into a tight corner. Either they would all perish together or he could gain long term peace. At the very least, he had bought himself a buffering time.
The Demon-slaying City boiled when Lu Li"s message was brought back. It was the first time ever that a person dared to defy orders from patriarchs of the Demon-slaying Hall and wanted it to concede by resorting to intimidation.
What kind of place was the Demon-slaying Hall?
It was the most powerful in the human world. Here, it gathered most of the powerful warriors who were guardians for the humankind. Without the Demon-slaying Hall to guard the Demon-slaying Grounds, the Central Plains would have been breached. Humankind might have gone extinct.
For the general public at the Central Plains, the Demon-slaying Hall was a divine and holy place.
How could Lu Li disobey a G.o.d? How could Lu Li threaten a G.o.d? It was not surprising that people at the Demon-slaying City was shocked and even enraged.
News about Lu Li spread out quickly. People learned that he was an abandoned disciple of the Lu Family and now was a local despot at Northern Desert. He only managed to get into the small battlefield because he sneaked in with the Jiang Family…
He was only at the Eternal Realm. He was young but bodacious.
Compared to many senior warriors of the Demon-slaying Hall, Lu Li was a newborn calf who dared to challenge a pride of lions!
Many patriarchs were fuming with anger. Lu Li was challenging their authorities. Some patriarchs raised a hue by saying that Law Enforcement Patriarch should bring Lu Li out by force and kill him on the spot!
Of course, this was not something that would be done by merely having someone cry about it. Law Enforcement Patriarch would not resort to his most powerful means so casually, which would be against the rules of the small battlefield. What was more, the Demon-slaying Hall had strict rules. No such rash actions could be taken.
Finally, Law Enforcement Patriarch learned about the entire incident. He didn"t let personal considerations interfere with his execution of public duty. He called over the 10 most powerful patriarchs to have a discussion and arrived at two solutions.
They could send a 30-year old Human Sovereign Realm warrior to go into the small battlefield and bring Lu Li out. Or, they could ask Grand Master of Demon-slaying Hall to handle the matter, just as Lu Li requested.
There happened to be 30-year old Human Sovereign Realm warrior at the Demon-slaying Hall. He was educated and trained by Demon-slaying Hall and Central Plains wasn"t informed of this.
This Human Sovereign Realm warrior could bring Lu Li out easily without using some strong powers or breaching the rules of small battlefield of not allowing Earthly Immortal Realm warriors in.
That being said…
What if Lu Li flipped out and killed Ji Mengtian and the others? By then, the loss would outweigh the gain even if Lu Li was killed.
Law Enforcement Patriarch thought about it and said, "I have learned that Lu Li has taken a Quasi Relic from the prince of the Barbarian Race, the Ding of Barbarian G.o.d. He sucked Ji Mengtian and the others into it. Anyone of you know about that Quasi Relic? Can Lu Li kill Ji Mengtian and the others in an instant with it?"
"Ding of Barbarian G.o.d?"
The patriarchs were taken aback. This Quasi Relic was quite well known. Once, a barbarian captured many powerful human warriors with it and none of them made it out.
"Lu Li is only at the Eternal Realm, right? How can he have possibly taken the Quasi Relic from the Barbarian Race?"
One patriarch voiced his doubt. Law Enforcement Patriarch answered coldly, "Lu Li"s soul attacks are marvelous. One time, he defeated the allied forces of thousands of the four alien races by himself. But you will have to ask him about how he took the Quasi Relic exactly."
"Um…"
Several patriarchs frowned and exclaimed. How could an Eternal Realm warrior own such impressive abilities? He really defeated the allied forces of four alien races on his own? Theoretically speaking, he now had the capacity to kill Ji Mengtian, Lu Suan, Lu Ni, Yang Xuan and Die Feiyu in an instant.
An old man with brown eyebrows said, "I don"t think we should take any risks here. If Lu Li really killed the five, the four families will not let it go. By that time, people will be plunged into the abyss again. We might need to bother our Grand Master."
Clearly, the old man with brown eyebrows enjoyed quite a high status at the Demon-slaying Hall. His words silenced the other patriarchs. After a moment, two more patriarchs spoke in favor of the motion.
Receiving no more comments, Law Enforcement Patriarch stood up and said, "Then we will ask the Grand Master to come. I will go in person. You send someone in there to tell Lu Li that we can agree to his terms but he cannot hurt anyone or he will be dead!"
Law Enforcement Patriarch left and so did the rest. Four of the patriarchs looked at each other and put on a scornful smile.
Lu Li was the abandoned disciple of the Lu Family but he was the great-grandson of Law Enforcement Patriarch nonetheless. It would appear that Law Enforcement Patriarch was unbiased. However in reality, he was secretly taking sides.
The news spread out quickly. Once again, the Demon-slaying City was riled up. The Grand Master of Demon-slaying Hall had been in closed-door cultivation for 300 hundred years and now he was to be asked out because of Lu Li? Granted, the Grand Master might not come out but the news itself was generating enough buzz.
Who was the Grand Master of the Demon-slaying Hall?
Not even Family Patriarchs of minor families knew, not to mention regular citizens. Only super families had the authority to know. Also, only the 12 Royal Families had some information of the Grand Master.
One thing was for sure!
The Grand Master of Demon-slaying Hall was the most powerful human at the Great Land. Almost all the previous Grand Master of Demon-slaying Hall were the most powerful human warriors of their times. The current Grand Master had been at the post for more than 1000 years with no one to replace him, which meant that he had always been the most powerful of humans.
Many young warriors were getting excited. They should have gone back to their respective homes right after they left the small battlefield. But now they were all delaying their return. If they were lucky enough to see the Grand Master once, it would be enough for them to brag over their entire lives.
Team leading patriarchs of the four forces were getting anxious upon hearing the news. n.o.body would dare to take any ill-considered actions should the Grand Master really come out. Otherwise, one word from the Grand Master could potentially lead to the destruction of the 12 Royal Families.
However…
This entire incident disgraced the four forces, especially when the Samsara Palace was the most powerful at the Central Plains. If they could not teach Lu Li a lesson and win back some honor, their reputation would be jeopardized.
The four forces included the Lu Family!
Even though Lu Li was also a disciple of the Lu Family, n.o.body was connecting him to the Lu Family anymore. No one at the Lu Family, with the exception of Lu Lin and Lu Hongyu, would take Lu Li seriously, not to mention even consider him as one of them.
Lu Liantian, the team leading patriarch of the Lu Family, hated Lu Li to his guts. Not only did Lu Li capture Lu Suan and Lu Ni, he had also humiliated the Lu Family completely.
Every force began to mobilize resources off the record. They worked their way through the immense web of connections, making plans to act together to defeat Lu Li once and for all.
Another two young disciples were sent into the small battlefield to tell Lu Li Law Enforcement Patriarch"s message. Lu Li thought about it and said he would leave in two hours.
The two young disciples brought back with them Lu Li"s words. Countless warriors began to converge at the hall where the entrance to the small battlefield was located. In an hour, thousands had arrived. More were inspecting the situation with their psychic power, waiting for the show to go on.
Two hours later!
The teleportation portal glared as Lu Li and Jiang Qiling appeared together. Lu Li was holding the Ding of Barbarian G.o.d in his hand with Little White on his shoulder and Jiang Qiling standing by his side.
As soon as he was teleported out, Lu Li saw the large gathering of warriors and sensed many strong psychic powers and killing intent surging over. He shouted with Dragon Roar skill, "n.o.body move. I will make the Ding of Barbarian G.o.d explode as soon as someone makes a move. I will take Ji Mengtian, Yang Xuan, Lu Suan and the other two with me if I am killed."