On August 16, the day after the Mid-Autumn Festival, everything seemed to be pre-arranged.

…

Li Baitian and Ye Huayu went to Mount Shu.

Ning Qiancheng and Yu Qingyan went to Jinling.

Xu Chu went to the Jade Pool.

Du Hanyin was still in the Sky Academy.

The several young men from the East Emperor Palace went back there at the same time.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, it was a bit gloomy, with heavy clouds billowing in the sky. In front of the clear artificial lake, Li Tianlan was not there, only a Golden Retriever lay there wagging its tail.

With a sullen face, Li Baitian frowned and went directly into a luxurious palace, most of which was built of gla.s.s. And then, he went straight to Li Tianlan’s bedroom on the third floor.

Quick footsteps echoed in the corridor. At top speed, Li Baitian was the first to get there. He just reached out his hand and was about to knock on the door. However, Li Tianlan had opened the door upon hearing the footsteps.

When they looked at each other, they were stunned.

“So fast?” Li Tianlan said in surprise.

He looked at Li Baitian, Ning Qiancheng, and Xu Chu, who were behind Li Baitian. He said as he frowned, “Didn’t you say that you would come back tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?”

Li Baitian’s sullenness faded away.

He obviously felt relieved and whispered, “Are you okay?”

“What’s wrong?”

Li Tianlan leaned to one side to let everyone in. “How could anything bad ever happen to me?”

Li Baitian was hesitant.

“That’s good.”

Looking at Li Tianlan’s face, Ning Qiancheng tried to remain calm and said, “Is Yuetong gone?”

Li Tianlan looked at him and nodded. “She was taken away by her father the day you left.”

“We have all already known that. Now, everyone knows it. I couldn’t get through to you, so we came back in a hurry.”

Ning Qiancheng took a deep breath and said with a smile, “That’s good. Based on the reputation of the w.a.n.g family of Beihai, they won’t take this opportunity to embarra.s.s you.”

Li Tianlan gently narrowed his eyes. It was not until then that he discovered that everyone looked dignified. At the very beginning, they were worried and sullen.

“Does everyone know that?” Li Tianlan suddenly asked.

…

Yu Donglai, who stood behind several young men, suddenly sighed. He walked over and sat down in silence.

Du Hanyin looked dull.

Ye Huayu and Yu Qingyan looked confused.

Li Baitian’s eyes looked cold.

Ning Qiancheng smiled wryly and nodded. “Everyone knows that.”

He particularly stressed “everyone”, as if he wanted to show how extensive its coverage was.

“Oh.” Li Tianlan looked blank.

His eyes were mixed with a little sarcasm.

This sentence clarified Li Tianlan’s doubt from two days ago.

It was w.a.n.g Tianzong’s presence on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

w.a.n.g Tianzong was No. 1 on the Divine List, the Sword Emperor. No matter how much he valued Li Tianlan, he did not need to come all the way to say a few words to him. He did not need to pick up w.a.n.g Yuetong personally.

Now the power of the w.a.n.g family of Beihai in Huating began to revive. Whether it was Liu Shuanghua of the Jiangnan Society, Ye Fengcheng, the director of the Special Operations Bureau of Huating, w.a.n.g Xiaoyao, the Zhang family, or even Yue Chunguang, the mayor of Huating, Li Tianlan could not stop them from taking w.a.n.g Yuetong away. She was not courageous enough to go against the whole family. Moreover, w.a.n.g Yuetong was not in any danger. From both aspects, it showed that w.a.n.g Tianzong did not need to come here personally.

However, how could such a big man like him take unnecessary action?

On that day, w.a.n.g Tianzong went to visit his grandpa. He dropped by to see Li Tianlan. However, that was not the case.

He took away w.a.n.g Yuetong.

It was a signal.

It was a signal that everyone knew.

It was very clear to Li Tianlan that no one would know what w.a.n.g Tianzong talked with grandpa about when he went to Lin’an. He took away w.a.n.g Yuetong, which could explain many problems.

w.a.n.g Yuetong’s departure was not questionable. But in the eyes of the others, as w.a.n.g Yuetong left, the att.i.tude of the w.a.n.g family of Beihai became completely clear.

Everyone knew that it was more than just w.a.n.g Tianzong had taken w.a.n.g Yuetong away. The so-called signal had a deeper meaning, which was that the w.a.n.g family of Beihai did not welcome Li Tianlan, the Heavenly Son of Zhongzhou State.

The signal had been sent out.

Next, the w.a.n.g family of Beihai did not need to do anything.

It was time for Kunlun City to take action.

When the w.a.n.g family of Beihai showed its att.i.tude, some other wait-and-see forces of Zhongzhou State would surely show their corresponding att.i.tudes.

These att.i.tudes were the so-called general trend.

It was the general trend of Zhongzhou State.

The general trend was like this, so they could only go with the flow.

“It’s as expected.”

Li Tianlan paused for a while and slowly spoke. He did not think of w.a.n.g Tianzong’s profound meaning. However, he was well prepared mentally for what would happen next.

“I heard from Commander Ning that some changes may occur in the Special Warfare System of Zhongzhou State in soon, specifically…” Ning Qiancheng said.

He called his father “Commander Ning” in a slightly sharper tone of voice.

Li Tianlan interrupted his words and smiled. “I already know that from Marshal Dongcheng. Was the matter of the Special Warfare Department been settled after Yuetong left?” …

“This is not something that happens overnight, but the final result should not be out of expectation. It’s a systematic reform, so the high-level leaders’ opinions are not unanimous. If I’m not mistaken, they should do a trial first.”

Ning Qiancheng thought of the inside story that Ning Zhiyuan had told him, intentionally or not, in a somewhat complicated tone.

“A southeast trial?”

Li Tianlan’s mocking look became increasingly clear.

Ning Qiancheng nodded. “The Southeast Special Warfare Headquarters should be established soon. The location of the headquarters has not yet been determined. Commander Ning said that if there is no accident, the headquarters will be in Huating or Lin’an.”

Li Tianlan contracted his pupils and narrowed his eyes.

If the Southeast Special Warfare Headquarters was set in Huating, no one would object. It was a direct-controlled munic.i.p.ality with a prominent position, so the headquarters should be set up here.

However, it was unusual to set up headquarters in Lin’an.

Many southeast provinces were rich and prosperous. In terms of social position, Jinling was absolutely higher than Lin’an. The Southeast Special Warfare Headquarters was planned to be set up in Lin’an.

The Li family, who reappeared in Zhongzhou State, was now in Lin’an.

“Please sit down!”

Li Tianlan waved his hand and sat down, without speaking for a long time.

Everyone was waiting for Li Tianlan to respond.

The establishment of the special war headquarters was a disaster for the young forces that needed to rise fast to achieve a certain goal. The East Emperor Palace was particularly affected.

“What’s Mount Shu’s att.i.tude toward me?” Li Tianlan suddenly said.

…

He did not ask Ning Qiancheng about his att.i.tude towards the Eastern Theater of Operations, which was under the control of the Southeast Group. Even if Ning Zhiyuan wanted to do something for his son, he had to follow w.a.n.g Tianzong’s order, not to mention Ning Zhiyuan’s att.i.tude was uncertain.

He did not ask Xu Chu either.

The Jade Pool and the Dongcheng Clan were of the same qi and branches. The Dongcheng Clan would definitely stand in his place.

As for Mount Shu…

Li Tianlan suddenly wanted to know the att.i.tude of Mount Shu.

“First Senior Brother has not shown a specific att.i.tude.”

Li Baitian shook his head, hesitated for a moment, and smiled wryly. “Everyone here is one of us, so let me get this straight. I don’t think we can keep it a secret much longer. Weren’t you surprised that the leader of the battle of Changdao was Third Senior Brother, instead of First Senior Brother?”

Li Tianlan was shocked inside but said nothing.

Wei Kunlun was the Nirvana Sword Master of Mount Shu.

He was one of the top 10 masters and the top expert at the Half-step Invincible Realm.

“Why did not he partic.i.p.ate in the battle of Changdao?”

There was something complicated in Li Tianlan’s eyes.

“Because at that time, First Senior Brother was doing his best to make a breakthrough and tried to reach the Invincible Realm.”

Li Baitian smiled wryly. “But he failed, and now he is seriously injured. He slipped from the Half-step Invincible Realm to the peak of the Thunder-shocking Realm. At this time, Mount Shu can only keep silent about this matter. ”

He suddenly looked at Li Tianlan and continued, “First Senior Brother asked me to tell you, when retreating a step, your mind will be broadened.”

With emotions showing on his face, Li Tianlan looked at Li Baitian seriously and whispered, “I’m thinking of one thing. When the three of us were in the Sky Academy, we were in the same dormitory. Isn’t it a coincidence?”

Li Baitian’s face froze.

Ning Qiancheng wore an unnatural expression.

Since he had met Dongcheng Wudi, Li Tianlan already knew that the Dongcheng Clan had arranged for Ning Qiancheng to live in a dormitory with him.

As for Li Baitian…

Li Tianlan said softly, “Did Wei Kunlun arrange it?”

Li Baitian hesitated and smiled wryly. “No. It’s no big deal. It’s not a coincidence that we lived in a dormitory. I was asked to help you within the bounds of my abilities so that you can be as strong as possible. However, it was not First Senior Brother who made all the arrangements. He didn’t know you at that time. It was Second Senior Brother who asked me to stand by your side.”

“Second Senior Brother…”

Li Tianlan looked stunned.

The other young people were confused.

Yu Donglai was stunned for a moment, and then he understood clearly and his eyes lit up.

It was Second Senior Brother of Mount Shu.

Precisely speaking, the so-called Second Senior Brother was not a senior brother but a senior sister.

She was Yun Qinxi, the Phantom Sword Master.

She was also the most mysterious sword master of Mount Shu.

People everywhere loved to gossip about such a person with an ident.i.ty as a Mount Shu giant, a female, and a Half-step Invincible Realm expert.

Li Tianlan heard Yun Qinxi talk about the top a.s.sa.s.sin, Deep Dream of Sigh City, when he was in Changdao. It was said that the Phantom Sword Master had a terrible relations.h.i.+p with Situ Cangyue, the Hidden G.o.d of Zhongzhou State. They were incompatible as fire and water. Just because of this, Li Tianlan became so confused.

He thought that Wei Kunlun had arranged for Li Baitian to live with him in a dormitory, but now Yun Qinxi appeared.

“Since she had a terrible relations.h.i.+p with the Governor of Sigh City, why did she help me?”

Li Tianlan could not help asking, “Does your Second Senior Brother know me?”

…

“No.”

Li Baitian shook his head, looked at Li Tianlan with strange eyes, and said in a weird tone, “Although Second Senior Brother doesn’t know you… Tianlan… you think that our Old Master just stayed at the frontier and did nothing.”

The Old Master who Li Baitian mentioned was Li Honghe.

However, the problem was that Li Tianlan knew nothing.

Evidently, Li Baitian seemed to know something.

“What do you know?” Li Tianlan asked directly.

…

“I’m a few years older than you, but when the Li family had an accident, I was not an intelligent child. What could I know?”

Li Baitian said helplessly, “I’ve heard First Senior Brother accidentally mention Old Master Li before, but I forget the specifics. At that time, First Senior Brother said that in the entire Zhongzhou State, the old fox… Ah no, the wily man… Er, the man who becomes firmer as he grows old… Oh… Senior Li is the real first person in Zhongzhou State. So, that’s what he meant.”

Li Tianlan felt a little strange.

“The old fox… The wily man…”

That was what Wei Kunlun meant at that time.

Since his grandfather had been quiet for years, what was he plotting?

Li Tianlan’s curiosity was aroused. “Why did you say that?”

Li Baitian frowned and shook his head. In his memory, the only time when First Senior Brother mentioned the Li family, he seemed to drink too much. He could drink more than Wei Kunlun, but Li Baitian would not be soberer than him if Wei Kunlun were drunk. He could only remember a few words of their conversation.

“I only remember four words.”

Li Baitian calmly said, “A world-shaking scheme.”