On East Mountain, all the guests invited to the Li family banquet stood stunned, their faces blank, filled with disbelief and shock.
Just ten minutes ago, they had firmly believed the Li family held all the cards, seeing the confrontation with Li Xiaotian as a mere trivial game.
But now, the sounds of battle filling the mountain told a different story. The Li family's foundations, their seemingly invincible Heavenly Army, were being slaughtered by Li Xiaotian's men.
And Li Bing, the lord of the Heavenly Army, had just committed suicide.
As for Li Weihai, the true master of the Li family, who had always stood high and mighty, believing he controlled everything, he was now groveling, begging Li Xiaotian for mercy.
This sudden turn of events left everyone reeling, their hearts filled with terror and trembling.
Especially those who had rushed to flatter the Li family and reprimand Li Xiaotian earlier, they now wished they could travel back in time to slap themselves.
Li Xiaotian was actually the King of the Dragon King Hall!
The foremost figure in the international war zones! Someone all forces feared and trembled before!
Only now did everyone understand that everything the Li family, and everyone present, had done moments ago was nothing more than a farcical clown show in Li Xiaotian's eyes.
Li Xiaotian looked at Li Weihai before him, his eyes cold, and said indifferently.
"Is it too late to regret now? When you used your own son as a sacrifice for the Li family's prosperity, did you not regret it then?"
Li Weihai’s face showed bitterness, his heart filled with grief and pain, but even so, he felt he had done nothing wrong. In fact, he even believed that without his actions back then, Li Xiaotian would not be where he was today.
However, these words he could not, and dared not, speak.
"Tian'er, I know I was wrong. I only beg you to give the Li family another chance. If you are willing, you will be the head of the Li family from now on!"
"Yes, Xiaotian, we know we were wrong. We are family, it shouldn't have come to this!" The rest of the Li family members chimed in.
"Xiaotian, in the end, we all share the same ancestors and the same bloodline. Do you truly intend to destroy the Li family? Do you not remember the Li family’s upbringing of you?"
"Xiaotian, the Li family is one of the three top aristocratic families in the Great Qin Empire. If you pardon us this time, from now on, the Li family will be yours! All of us in the Li family will obey your commands!"
The Li family members spoke out continuously, primarily because they were now cornered and unwilling to let go of any sliver of hope.
Moreover, in their view, reconciliation with Li Xiaotian was not impossible, after all, the Li family's strength was not to be underestimated.
Li Xiaotian watched the group before him with cold eyes, his heart filled with anger. Even now, they had missed the crucial point in his words!
"All of you! Kneel!" Li Xiaotian suddenly roared, his face contorted with rage.
"All of you kneel! Who gave you permission to speak to me while standing? Who gave you the audacity to negotiate with me?"
Seeing Li Xiaotian's sudden outburst, Li Weihai and the others felt a jolt of fear.
"Xiaotian, don't be angry. There's no need for such formality within a family. We are family, and we are all your elders. If we were to kneel before you, it would likely not reflect well on your reputation."
Li Zhi, the current head of the Li family, gritted his teeth and spoke. Forcing all the Li family members to kneel was clearly pushing them too far, especially with the heads of the major aristocratic families of the capital watching.
Li Xiaotian sneered at this, a glint of killing intent flashing in his eyes. He glanced at Li Zhi and delivered a powerful kick.
"Bang!" Li Zhi's body was sent flying a considerable distance. Even as he was in mid-air, he was coughing up blood, clearly indicating Li Xiaotian had not held back his strength.
This move stunned the rest of the Li family members, fear evident on their faces. Li Weihai was the first to bow his knees, followed by the other Li family members.
"I am here today to ask if the Li family regrets their actions. I am here to destroy the Li family, not to negotiate with you. The moment you forced my parents to their deaths back then, all chances of reconciliation between the Li family and me were gone!"
Li Xiaotian’s expression was grim, his tone unhurried as he spoke.
"I said I would destroy the Li family, and I said East Mountain would become my parents' resting place. What? Do my words as the King of the Dragon King Hall mean so little to you ants?"
Li Weihai and the others turned pale. Li Xiaotian truly intended to destroy their Li family!
"Tian'er!! You cannot! The Li family has been an aristocratic lineage for thousands of years, it cannot be ended in my hands! I admit I was foolish back then, and I am willing to pay any price to atone!"
"Xiaotian, please calm down. We are family, bound by blood. Don't be rash, absolutely do not be rash. If your parents were alive, they would never want to see this scene."
"Yes, Xiaotian, the Li family cannot be destroyed! Even setting aside kinship, just consider the benefits. A living Li family is far more valuable than a dead one!"
However, facing the sophistry of the Li family members, Li Xiaotian merely sneered and turned, ordering his men to bring forward his parents' gravestones.
"To me, you are all worthless now. Now, face my parents' gravestones and confess your sins and repent!" Li Xiaotian said with a cold laugh.
As the gravestones drew nearer, humiliation and grief filled the faces of the Li family members. But at this point, fewer than ten percent of their Heavenly Army soldiers remained, and they were surrounded by Li Xiaotian's menacing men.
They dared not resist!
"I was foolish!!" Li Weihai roared to the heavens. He regretted his foolishness back then. The struggles between aristocratic families were dark indeed, but few could bring themselves to plot the death of their own son.
"It's all your fault, you old fossil! For some damn family honor, you made your own son kill his own brother, and now karma has come knocking!"
A woman from the Li family berated him. The Li family's current predicament was entirely Li Weihai's fault from that day.
"It’s not our fault. We didn't know anything back then, we were too young." Several young disciples of the Li family cried out, their hearts filled with injustice and unwillingness.
"Li Xiaotian, the wronged have a target and the debt has an owner. It was the old man who harmed your parents back then. You should kill him, why involve us innocent people?"
"One person errs, the whole clan is destroyed? Is there any law left?"
"We are not resigned!"
Li Xiaotian watched the Li family members tear into each other, his heart filled with killing intent.
He had not given the Li family a chance. Since his arrival in the capital, if any member of the Li family had shown even a shred of compassion, today’s events would have been avoided.
However, the Li family was rotten to the core. Every single one of them was arrogant and self-righteous. The fact that they were now blaming Li Weihai was merely a natural consequence of everyone looking out for themselves in the face of disaster.
"Is this the Li family, built with such dedication? Hmph! Nothing more!" Li Xiaotian sneered at Li Weihai.