Everyone was shocked.
The owner of the Black Net was once an islander of Lei Ci Island?
No wonder he was so familiar with Lei Ci Island!
Also, their group of a few dozen people gathering together had already triggered heavenly lightning. Yet, he brought over a thousand people to the island without any issues.
Wolverine and Sin Angel exchanged glances, the more they thought about it, the more it seemed so.
But before everyone could ponder further, Li Chonglou directly spun a tale.
"You thought the people chasing you in the forbidden zone were from the Black Net? No, those were just the islanders of Lei Ci Island, and their goal was also the Divine Thunder Source."
"Did you notice they could wield the power of lightning?"
As soon as he said this, the crowd erupted in discussion.
"Yes! I exchanged a move with them, and although they didn't use any secret techniques, I was almost paralyzed!"
"Me too. If I hadn't run fast, and if they hadn't shifted their target later, I'm afraid I would have already died by their hands!"
"I was wondering how such a monstrous cultivation technique existed in this world, but it turns out it's because of the Divine Thunder Source."
With just one sentence, all the assassins instantly understood why those dozen or so strange individuals could wield the power of lightning.
At the same time, they also pieced together a scenario.
The entire affair was clearly the islanders of Lei Ci Island wanting to truly seize the Divine Thunder Source, so they colluded with the owner of the Black Net, a former member of their group, to concoct the task of chasing Li Chonglou, thus luring them all here.
Then, they planned to use the news of the Divine Thunder Source to lead them into the forbidden zone for a sacrifice!
Li Chonglou continued, "However, please don't misunderstand. They don't have a pure cooperative relationship; one could say their interests align temporarily."
"Then Brother Li, cough, Senior, you are?"
Li Chonglou's previous posturing had finally paid off.
Wolverine's address had shifted from "Brother Li" to "Senior."
Li Chonglou's expression turned grim again: "I had a feud with him over a decade ago. Later, I withdrew from the martial world and intended to return to China to live in seclusion. I never expected him to find people to infiltrate."
So that's how it was.
Everyone suddenly understood.
They were all foreign assassins and didn't know much about Chinese affairs. They only knew that someone had posted a bounty on Li Chonglou on the Black Net, and his cultivation realm was only listed as fifth layer.
The Black Net's reputation had been trustworthy before this, so none of them had any doubts.
But now, it seemed like a setup, a trap specifically for Li Chonglou!
And they were merely pawns in it.
Wolverine said fiercely, "I knew it! How could a target at the fifth layer have such a high reward? It was all just bait!"
His tone clearly conveyed his resentment towards the owner of the Black Net.
Li Chonglou, however, cut to the chase: "Alright, let's not waste any more time with unnecessary talk."
"We in China have an old saying: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Since we are all pawns of the Black Net, we should unite now."
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
This statement made everyone's eyes light up. Wolverine and Sin Angel exchanged glances and nodded silently.
This saying was spot on!
Li Chonglou continued, "The islanders of Lei Ci Island and the Black Net are not truly on the same side. Their goal is the Divine Thunder Source. As long as I release the Divine Thunder Source beforehand, they won't be able to cooperate."
Upon hearing this, everyone finally understood Li Chonglou's purpose here. It was for this reason!
"But, isn't it said that a certain number of deaths are required for the Divine Thunder Source to manifest?"
Someone raised a doubt.
Li Chonglou calmly replied, "Your deaths weren't enough initially, but if I break its seal first, it won't require so many soul bodies."
Soul bodies?
"The Divine Thunder Source has been suppressed on Lei Ci Island for hundreds of years, and it has long since developed sentience. The previous method was to passively awaken it using soul bodies. Now, it wants to come out more than anyone else."
Everyone nodded.
So, Senior Li was doing this. It was much more reliable than their aimless searching like headless flies.
Li Chonglou's expression suddenly turned serious.
"This place is the stronghold of the Lei Ci Island islanders. If you want to truly escape the danger of being hunted, you must first destroy their stronghold."
"Why?"
"How do you think my location was leaked earlier?"
Everyone was shocked.
They then remembered that the Black Net had been continuously updating Li Chonglou's location since they arrived on the island.
Wolverine asked doubtfully, "Senior Li, wasn't that location information fake?"
Wolverine was among those who had rushed to the location at the time.
But like the others, he hadn't seen anyone near the reported location.
Li Chonglou smiled and scanned the crowd. In a corner at the very back of the group, he spotted a figure deliberately hiding himself.
Li Chonglou's eyes lit up.
"My friend, there's no need to hide so thoroughly."
Everyone looked in the direction Li Chonglou was pointing, their faces filled with confusion.
A man in grey clothes looked up with a wry smile.
"Senior Li, I was blind and didn't recognize your true stature earlier. I hope you can forgive me."
If not for the large crowd present, he would have already knelt.
This person was the man in black whom Li Chonglou had deliberately spared, intending for him to publicize his strength.
However, after waking up and finding all his clothes and belongings gone, he harbored no thoughts of revenge.
Nor did he have any intention of helping Li Chonglou promote his strength.
Originally, upon realizing he had encountered an unbeatable master, he had intended to leave immediately.
Unknown to the others, he was the one who first discovered that they were being surrounded.
The reason he dared not reveal himself now was mainly out of fear that Li Chonglou would settle old scores.
After all, he had indeed spoken wildly and shown him disrespect at the time.
Another reason was that the clothes he was wearing now were naturally not borrowed.
Seeing the man's unnatural expression, Li Chonglou smiled gently, "Don't worry, I just wanted you to confirm whether I was there or not."
The man quickly responded, "Senior Li was indeed near the marked location, but he had concealed his aura. I arrived late, so I happened to see Senior Li emerge, and then..."
His voice trailed off.
The unspoken words were easily guessed by everyone.
Wolverine also immediately understood why Li Chonglou had suddenly brought this up.
He couldn't help but exchange a look with Sin Angel, seeing the astonishment in each other's eyes.
That was a reward equivalent to killing a ninth-layer expert. How could they not be tempted!
At that time, not only Wolverine, but Sin Angel, and several other seventh-layer experts had all come.
But none of them had sensed Li Chonglou's aura!
What did this prove? This precisely proved that Li Chonglou's strength was far beyond theirs!
Only a stronger being than them could achieve this so effortlessly.
Indeed, after everyone understood this, their gazes towards Li Chonglou were filled with awe.