240: Chapter 241 The Li Family's Madness! The Final Gamble!

Kyoto, the Li Family.

The atmosphere was as oppressive as the sea before a storm.

All the servants walked on tiptoe, breathing carefully, fearing they would make even the slightest sound and provoke the Clan Chief's thunderous rage.

Inside the command center, it was already a mess.

Expensive instruments and equipment were smashed to pieces, with debris and wires scattered across the floor.

Li Qingcang's eyes were bloodshot, his hair disheveled, pacing back and forth like a trapped beast in a cage.

His once majestic and profound face now only held distorted madness and indignation.

"Trash! All of you are trash!"

"The Shadow Blade Alliance's gold-tier assassins! The death warriors the Family cultivated for years! And those so-called Prodigies from the Xiao Family and Han Family! So many people, yet they couldn't even deal with one brat! Useless! A bunch of useless fools!"

He grabbed the last intact teacup on the table and smashed it violently against the wall.

Bang!

The crisp sound of shattering porcelain made the hearts of the Family Elders standing nearby tremble.

Ying Wan's golden signal source had gone dark.

All the signals from the pawns sent into the Dragon Tomb were cut off.

This meant that his meticulously planned killing trap, into which he had invested astronomical resources, had completely collapsed.

A total loss!

This wasn't just a loss of money and manpower.

An even heavier blow came from the news sent by the Xiao Family and Han Family.

When those two IOUs for "ransom money," filled with humiliating terms, were delivered to him, Li Qingcang almost fainted from rage on the spot.

"Seventy years of mining rights for the Northern Border Vein... Dragon Blood Boiling Agent formula... Thousand-Year Profound Ice Soul..."

He looked at the contents; every word was like a knife cutting into his heart.

These resources were originally the bargaining chips he had promised to win over allies.

Now, they had all become Lin Qi's property!

His Li Family had not only failed to eliminate their mortal enemy this time but had personally delivered a shocking gift sufficient to let him soar to the heavens!

To go for the wool and come home shorn?

No, this was losing the chicken coop and the entire poultry farm as well!

"Clan Chief, things have come to this; further anger is futile." An elderly white-haired Elder finally couldn't help but speak, his voice hoarse. "We... might have truly provoked an existence we shouldn't have."

"Shouldn't have provoked?" Li Qingcang turned his head sharply, his blood-red eyes staring fixedly at the Elder like a wolf about to devour a person. "Are you saying my Li Family should just take this loss? We should just watch that bastard trample on the Li Family's face and rise step by step? And then wait for him to come to our door and settle accounts with all of us?"

"I didn't mean that." The white-haired Elder lowered his head, avoiding his crazed gaze. "It's just... this boy's growth speed has completely exceeded our understanding. He ignores the System's Laws and breaks through Laws with his Physical Body; this ability is unheard of. Dealing with him using conventional methods will likely only result in even heavier losses."

"Conventional methods?" Li Qingcang let out a neurotic sneer. "Of course I know conventional methods are useless!"

His gaze swept across all the Elders, who were as quiet as cicadas in winter.

"My Li Family hasn't lost yet!"

He walked to the command center's main console and, amidst the ruins, found a hidden red button.

"Clan Chief! You mustn't!"

Seeing that button, the white-haired Elder's face instantly changed.

"That is..."

"I know what it is." Li Qingcang interrupted him, his face showing a morbid, resolute expression. "This is the emergency communication channel between our Li Family and the 'Black Market.' Once activated, it means we have encountered a catastrophe that even the Family's own strength cannot solve, requiring the power of those old monsters living in the shadows."

"But the price is too high!" another Elder said anxiously. "Those old monsters are all jackals who eat people without spitting out the bones! Once they are allowed to intervene, our Li Family's reputation and Foundation will suffer immeasurable impacts!"

"Reputation? Foundation?" Li Qingcang laughed even more crazily. "If the Li Family is gone, what use are these empty names!"

He reached out and slammed down the red button.

Buzz—

An invisible signal was instantly transmitted from deep beneath the Li Family's ancestral home, merging into the underground network spread across the entire Federation.

"I have no way back."

Li Qingcang turned around, looking at the pale-faced Elders, and said word by word.

"I am going to expose everything that happened in the Dragon Tomb, including the news that the boy possesses the 'Primitive True Dragons Bloodline'!"

"I will issue the highest-level 'Blood Pursuit Order' against him in the Black Market!"

"I want every old monster, bounty hunter, and outlaw hiding in the shadows of the Federation to know of his existence!"

"Isn't he very good at fighting? Can't he kill people across levels?"

"I want to see if he alone can fight against the entire dark world of the Federation!"

Li Qingcang's words sent a bone-chilling cold through everyone present.

This was an open scheme.

A blatant open scheme.

He was putting Lin Qi on the fire to roast!

What would be the fate of a young man carrying such a shocking Opportunity as the 'Primitive True Dragons Bloodline' without a powerful background?

He would be swarmed and torn to pieces by those old monsters who had lived for hundreds of years, like sharks smelling blood!

Not even a scrap of bone would remain!

"Clan Chief, you are gambling with the entire Li Family's future!" the white-haired Elder said in deep sorrow.

"I am gambling!" In Li Qingcang's eyes, the final madness of a gambler flickered. "I bet he won't make it out of the Dragon Tomb! Even if he does, he won't live for more than three days!"

"When he dies, those IOUs will be nothing but scrap paper! My Li Family's losses can still be recovered!"

"If he's still alive... then we'll all... perish together!"

The command center fell into a deathly silence.

All the Elders understood that from the moment Li Qingcang pressed that button, the Li Family's great ship, which had been passed down for centuries, had sailed onto a course from which there was no return.

Either drag Lin Qi down with them.

Or be personally scuttled by that Devil King returning from the abyss!

...

Meanwhile.

In the dark corners of various cities across the Federation.

Countless old, dust-covered black terminals lit up their screens at the same time.

Crimson text appeared on the screens.

[Blood Pursuit Order]

[Target: Lin Qi]

[Information: Student of Tianhai City Third High School, Champion of the Federal Prodigy Tournament. Suspected of possessing the ability to break through System Laws, with a powerful Physical Body. Currently located in the core area of the 'Dragon Tomb' Sub-space, has obtained the 'Primitive True Dragons Bloodline'.]

[Issuer: Kyoto Li Family]

[Bounty Amount: 500 billion Federation Credits (Capture Alive), 300 billion Federation Credits (Corpse). Those who can provide accurate location or effective intelligence will be rewarded starting from 10 billion.]

This news was like a depth charge, setting off a massive wave in the entire underground world of the Federation.

In an instant, countless terrifying auras that had been silent for years slowly awakened from every corner.