Ever since he killed NanGong Le and set the cornerstone for this gathering in Sky Bearing, everything else that followed had always been smooth sailing and within his expectations. While there were some exceptions, it didn't affect the overall picture.

In other words, everything was under Ling Tian's control and this success also made him a little conceited.

However, In the past few days, the a.s.sa.s.sins of the Blood Slaughter Pavilion had first snuck into Sky Bearing and a mysterious but yet powerful organization like Qian ShuiRou had also unexpectedly appeared. In particular, the otherworldly expert that he met outside the Smoky Thea Tower was someone who Ling Tian didn't have the confidence to face. All of these affairs came so suddenly and made the situation especially mystifying. Now, the plan that he had in place was already beginning to slip out of his control, and such a feeling made Ling Tian feel extremely uncomfortable. This was something that the chess player would never be able to accept!

After slowly thinking through the events that happened in the past few days, Ling Tian had gradually gathered all of his attention to Qian ShuiRou! According to the information he had on hand, this lady didn't belong to any of the Eight Great Families. However, her personal strength and the strength which she had under her control was something that only the Yu or DongFang Family could match!

From this point alone, it was both a good and bad indication to Ling Tian.

The good was the fact that the otherworldly expert was probably unrelated to Qian ShuiRou. If they were related, even if that expert didn't partic.i.p.ate in the previous a.s.sa.s.sination attempt due to consideration of his own status, Ling Tian was certain that he wouldn't be able to fully retreat. Furthermore, with the martial arts that otherworldly expert possessed, it was impossible for him to fall under the command of anyone, and Qian ShuiRou was obviously the one who had the most authority among her group. Thus, it was unlikely that they were related. But if they really were related, Ling Tian felt that he wouldn't have any way to deal with them. After all, in front of absolute strength, all his little tricks were useless.

The bad indication wasn't totally bad, and the good indication wasn't totally good. But at the very least, Ling Tian was able to have a general idea of where Qian ShuiRou came from. If such a character wasn't the hidden strength of a certain great family, how could there be no news of her at all before today? Furthermore, she seemed to have some relations.h.i.+p with the Imperial Family of Sky Bearing as well!

Sky Bearing's Imperial Family! An inspiration flashed past Ling Tian's head. If he wanted to unravel this mystery, the most direct way would be for him to begin his investigation from the Imperial Family! While Ling Tian didn't intend to take personal action yet, he was a.s.sured to hand this matter over to Ling Jian.

As he finally found a possible solution to this issue, Ling Tian couldn't help but be relaxed. After sitting down for such a long period of time, even his strong body began to feel a bit sore. Just when he wanted to raise his hand up to stretch his body, he suddenly stopped halfway.

From the outside, there was an extremely light knocking sound from one of the rooms. The winds were blowing on the outside and this knocking sound was almost inaudible. However, Ling Tian's hearing was exceptional and far better than other martial artists. Especially after he had entered the XianTian realm, he would be able to even pick up the sound of a leaf falling if it was within a thousand feet. While the sound sounded from afar, the night was currently silent and Ling Tian could still hear it.

The moment he heard the sound, Ling Tian could tell that this was the sound of someone knocking on the door. Furthermore, knocking sound was in a rhythmic sequence. After knocking thrice, the person paused for a moment before knocking twice. This should probably be a special communication method for an organization.

Ling Tian circulated his inner strength and floated out of the window like a feather. He then stuck himself to the wall and observed his surroundings, only to see the curtain by the door of the Extreme Joy Pavilion shaking slightly.

Lifting his body up slightly, Ling Tian had already arrived at the roof of the building. Like a leaf, he landed silently on the roof of the Extreme Joy Chamber, placing his ears on the tiles and circulating his inner qi to hear the contents of the conversation below.

Someone in the room then said, "How? What did father say?" It was XiMen Qing's voice, purposefully suppressed into a whisper.

Another whisper could then be heard, "The Family Head has already sent out 50 Blood Iron Death Troops. We must definitely take revenge for our young n.o.ble's death. The mission this time is a top secret one and we must definitely succeed in a single strike. We must not allow news of this mission to be leaked out. If Beyond Heavens were to find out that we were the culprits, we would be in grave danger. Family Head is afraid that young n.o.ble wouldn't be able to remain calm and choose to take action prematurely. If you do so, you will only be alerting our enemy and it would be difficult for you to succeed. Thus, he sent this subordinate to inform young n.o.ble to not be rash."

XiMen Qing then said, "That darn b*st*rd made me lose all my face. When I catch him, I will take care of him personally and make him lead a life worse than death!" These few words were slightly louder and the sound of gnas.h.i.+ng teeth could be heard. It was obvious how much hatred was in those words.

The other party then chuckled, "Young n.o.ble need not be impatient. The Blood Iron Death Troops were all personally trained by the Family Head and all have exceptional martial arts. Furthermore, they don't fear death in the slightest, and they will definitely take care of Ling Tian easily. Even if he has exceptional martial arts, he is still no more than a fragile young n.o.ble from an aristocratic family. How would he be able to withstand the bloodl.u.s.t of the Blood Iron Death Troops? At that time, you will be able to deal with him however you like! I also heard that he even has two country-toppling beauties by his side. Young n.o.ble can really enjoy yourself this time… Hahaha…"

XiMen Qing then lecherously laughed, "Six, you are indeed right. Those two la.s.ses are really gorgeous. Heh heh, even though this young n.o.ble has seen many ladies before, I've never met two as stunning as them. I'll make that darn Ling Tian wear a green hat even as a ghost.  After this young n.o.ble has had my taste of them, I won't leave you out. We can let a few more brothers share that b*st*rd's ladies. Hehehe…"

After that, they began to laugh lecherously.

A short while later, XiMen Qing asked, "How much longer will it take for them to reach Sky Bearing? I can't wait for their arrival! You must definitely tie up all loose ends and ensure that no one is left alive."

The one called 'Six' then replied, "According to their current pace, they should arrive at dusk tomorrow at the latest. Rest a.s.sured young n.o.ble, the ladies will be there waiting for you. As for keeping the matter a secret, you don't need to worry at all. After this batch of Blood Iron Death Troops left, they have already taken the 'Unfettered Celestial Ascending Powder'. When the time arrives, they will immediately ascend into the afterlife and no loose ends will be left behind! There will definitely be no one left to leak out the secret."

XiMen Qing responded with a 'Mmm' as they began to discuss how they would deal with Ling Tian after catching him. With his teeth grit tight, XiMen Qing thought of many possible methods to torture him. The more they came up with the ways to torture Ling Tian, the more excited they grew.

On top of the roof, Ling Tian floated up like a cloud and had returned back into the Heavenly Fragrance Chamber. In the Extreme Joy Pavilion, XiMen Qing was still gleefully discussing their plans, completely unaware of the fact that their plans were already completely exposed.

"XiMen Qing, regardless of how many of your men from the XiMen Family are coming, if I were to let even a single one of you out, this young n.o.ble would be letting myself down!" A cold glare gleamed in his eyes as he mumbled to himself. It made Ling Tian completely enraged for XiMen Qing to dare to covet after Ling Chen and Yu BingYan.

Without Yu ManTian creating a mess in the scholarly meeting, the second day of the meeting went much smoother. At the same time, XiMen Qing also acted extremely elegantly, polite in his words and humble in his actions. While he lost to Yu BingYan in painting and lost to Ling Chen to music, XiMen Qing still remained elegant and even praised both the ladies greatly without a trace of humiliation from his defeat on his face. He could be said to be extremely graceful in his bearing.

All the old scholars nodded their heads in praise, thinking about how young n.o.ble XiMen was still able to remain humble and calm despite facing many defeats. It was definitely a good show of his splendid mental state. With his calm mental state, he would definitely be able to achieve great things in the scholarly field as long as he continued to persist. Thus, many people praised XiMen Qing greatly.

However, only Ling Tian knew that the reason why this young n.o.ble XiMen was able to be so humble and calm was because XiMen Qing thought that Ling Tian would become his plaything by the time night arrived! As for Ling Chen and Yu BingYan, XiMen Qing had already seen them as ladies who he could toy with as he liked. What was the point for him to fight against these ladies?

With regards to XiMen Qing's dreams and imagination, Ling Tian only watched from the side with disdain in his heart. When night arrived, XiMen Qing would know who would be the one to cry.

After lunch, Ling Tian took Ling Chen and Yu BingYan out, purposefully leaving the Smoky Thea Tower.

After roaming a few rounds around the city, they arrived at a large building which was one of the secret gathering spots for the Violent Wind Gang. Ling Tian had already purchased this place many years back as not many people frequented this place due to its deserted location.

When Ling Tian entered, there were already seven to eight people waiting for him. They were Ling Jian and the other five a.s.sa.s.sins, together with a few managers of the Violent Wind Gang. When they saw Ling Tian enter, they quickly paid their respects to him.

Ling Tian waved his hands and asked, "Have you found Ye BaiFei's resting spot? What did all of you find out about Qian ShuiRou?" As he said that, he sat down in the armchair in the room. After Ye BaiFei and the others from the Blood Slaughter Pavilion fought Ling Tian previously, they had already changed their location.

A middle-aged man, the gang leader of the Violent Wind Gang called LiLin, stood up and said respectfully, "Reporting to young n.o.ble, we just received news that Ye BaiFei and gang are staying in a small alley near the Yang residence. The few households there received plenty of silver and s.h.i.+fted out without hesitation. However, Qian ShuiRou is far too mysterious, and we are unable to find anything despite trying our best! May young n.o.ble punish us!"

After responding with an 'oh', Ling Tian said, "Qian ShuiRou's organization is extremely mysterious, and it is reasonable for you to be unable to find anything. What is your fault? How many men does Ye BaiFei have? Did anyone else join them?"

LiLin said, "According to the reports from the brothers, their exact quant.i.ty is still unsure. However, every one of them is a martial arts expert, and we don't dare to go too near for fear of alerting them. But from the amount of food they are buying every day, there should be thirteen to fourteen of them. Only two of them could be seen coming out every day and the rest of them haven't done anything yet."

"Thirteen to fourteen?" Ling Tian frowned, "So many?"

Ling Jian then said, "Young n.o.ble, who cares how many men they have? With young n.o.ble present, wiping them out will be no more than just slicing up vegetables. Hehe." His words were full of confidence with Ling Feng and the rest almost jumping in excitement.

Ling Tian then looked at Ling Jian and said, "Do you guys really think that your young n.o.ble is invincible? Ling Jian, overconfidence is no longer confidence but arrogance! No matter what, you must never underestimate your opponents. Remember that!" He then smiled, "How could fighting them head-on with our lives on the line be compared to fis.h.i.+ng for benefits from the side?"