"This masked man, even if he didn't die, must be heavily injured."
Sun Tian looked at the wooden box, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"I wonder who the Li family offended to attract such a powerful enemy!" other martial artists present said.
After surveying the scene, Sun Tian turned around, his face grim.
Sun Tian didn't care at all about the Li family being annihilated after this battle.
What he was concerned about was the emergence of a mysterious masked man in the Qingcheng base.
The critical point was that this person was so powerful, posing a hidden danger to the Sun family.
"Everyone, please help yourselves. I need to return to the Sun family."
With this thought, Sun Tian immediately took his leave, showing no intention of seeking justice for the Li family.
As the saying goes, when a wall falls, everyone pushes.
It was already good that the Sun family wasn't taking advantage of the situation; expecting them to stand up for the Li family was completely out of the question.
Moreover.
This mysterious masked man was so powerful that he could easily kill a renowned Grandmaster, suggesting he was no ordinary individual.
Sun Tian needed to hurry back to the Sun family to report this news to the patriarch.
After the Sun family elder left, the martial artists present began to stir.
Someone among them said, "Now that Li Mingyuan is dead, isn't the Li family annihilated?"
In the Qingcheng base, the Li family could only become a major family by relying on Li Mingyuan, a Grandmaster martial artist.
But now that Li Mingyuan had been killed here, the Li family was essentially wiped out from the Qingcheng base.
With the Li family now vulnerable, they, the unaffiliated martial artists, were different from the Sun family elders.
They had no qualms about taking advantage of the situation.
There were quite a few people present with this thought.
So, not long after Sun Tian left, the martial artists present also dispersed like startled birds.
And their destination was the Li family.
Although the masked man had annihilated the Li family, the Li family still possessed many cultivation resources.
If there's a bargain to be had, a fool wouldn't take it.
Upon arriving at the Li family's residence, these individuals immediately began to divide the Li family's wealth.
In reality, besides major families like the Sun family, many others in the base were involved in this matter.
The martial artists in the base also didn't worry about repercussions later.
This was because not only Li Mingyuan, a Grandmaster, died in the Li family, but all their elite martial artists before that had also perished.
It was even questionable whether the Li family could survive in the base.
At this point, who would care about the Li family's fate?
On the other hand, Ye Ningze returned home and immediately dealt with the more than a dozen Li family corpses in the courtyard.
By "dealing with," it meant throwing them onto different streets of the base.
After all, the Li family was annihilated, suffering countless casualties; who would care about a few more corpses?
The next day.
Ye Ningze continued to cultivate at home as if nothing had happened.
Meanwhile, the Sun family was discussing the Li family matter.
At the Sun family.
Sun Tian was reporting to his second uncle, Sun Ruhu, who was currently the strongest in the Sun family.
"Second Uncle, based on my analysis of the scene, it can basically be concluded that this was a revenge killing, but the identity of this mysterious masked man cannot be determined yet," Sun Tian said.
Hearing Sun Tian's words, Sun Ruhu frowned and asked, "Have you investigated the Li family's enemies?"
"Due to conflicts of interest, the Li family has made countless enemies. There are many who have reasons to attack the Li family, but we haven't found anyone capable of annihilating the Li family," Sun Tian replied.
Sun Tian's response caused Sun Ruhu to fall into thought.
After a moment, Sun Ruhu mused, "Are there any surviving martial artists in the Li family? Have you questioned them?"
"There are indeed," Sun Tian nodded and said, "There are a few surviving martial artists in the Li family, including a steward named Li An, who is an early-stage elite martial artist."
"Oh?" Sun Ruhu's interest was piqued, and he quickly asked, "Did this steward reveal any useful information?"
Hearing this, Sun Tian pondered for a moment, wanting to say something but ultimately swallowing his words.
Seeing his nephew's hesitant demeanor, Sun Ruhu asked, "Did Li An provide any valuable clues? Please speak freely."
"During my questioning of Li An this morning, he did mention something very suspicious, and it happened very recently," Sun Tian recalled.
But he stopped short after saying this.
After a while, Sun Tian chuckled again, "But this is completely impossible; this person absolutely doesn't have that kind of strength!"
"What exactly is the intelligence?" Seeing Sun Tian's reticence, Sun Ruhu pressed him more urgently.
Sun Tian smiled and asked, "Does Second Uncle know Ye Ningze?"
"Ye Ningze?" Sun Ruhu recalled, "I do have an impression. I heard the patriarch mention him when opening up the trade route."
"To reach the early stage of Grandmaster before the age of sixteen, he must possess high-level cultivation talent!"
Cultivation talent is inextricably linked to a martial artist's specific realm.
If a martial artist's cultivation talent is not high, even with the best cultivation pills, it would be impossible to break through the bottlenecks of their realm.
Ye Ningze's ability to break through to the Grandmaster level at such a young age undoubtedly meant he possessed superior cultivation talent.
Many martial artists, for their entire lives, could not break through to the Grandmaster realm.
"Is it related to Ye Ningze?" Sun Ruhu's interest was piqued.
"It is like this," Sun Tian explained. "A few days ago, the Li family sent their steward, Li An, to invite Ye Ningze to their residence. However, Ye Ningze did not agree and even injured the steward."
"Yesterday, Steward Li An did not participate in the battle due to his injuries, thus narrowly surviving. This is why I find it peculiar."
"Interesting." Sun Ruhu's eyes showed a hint of interest. "If what you say is true, the Li family suffered a setback from Ye Ningze and would naturally seek to retaliate."
"However, the Li family was annihilated that very night, and Ye Ningze is still fine. This matter is indeed strange."
"Should we capture Ye Ningze?" Sun Tian asked.
"Foolish!" Sun Ruhu said coldly.
"Do you think Ye Ningze's talent is too high, and he will definitely become a threat to the Sun family, so we must either recruit him or destroy him?"
Sun Tian did not answer his second uncle's words but implicitly agreed.
Sun Ruhu sighed, "Sun Tian, you must understand that this world is never short of talented people!"
"Let alone whether Ye Ningze is the one who annihilated the Li family, but if our Sun family destroys every genius we see, can our Sun family keep up? For such geniuses, we should either recruit them or befriend them; we cannot act rashly!"
After a pause, Sun Ruhu asked again, "Sun Tian, do you remember the Jin family that dominated the Qingcheng base eighty years ago?"
"The Jin family?"
Sun Tian's pupils contracted, and he finally recalled.
The Jin family was said to have killed a young martial artist with high talent. That martial artist was from a major base, which eventually attracted an extraordinary martial artist, leading to the Jin family's demise.
"Second Uncle, I understand! I will never act rashly again," Sun Tian said with lingering fear.