Chapter 43: Giving an Account to the Li Family—Would the Li Family Even Dare to Take It?

"My Lord, the Li family has also issued a realm-wide bounty. Whoever brings the Young Master's head back to Lincheng is promised a five-star epic set."

"The Young Master must have been hunted down by the Li family, driven to desperation before fleeing into the wilderness. Please go and check on him quickly. If we are too late, I'm afraid..."

Gu He's voice carried a distinct tremor, and he didn't dare to continue.

That was the wilderness, infinitely perilous. Even awakened professionals stood a slim chance of survival if they entered.

Gu Chen had failed his awakening and couldn't even become a professional. Having fled into the wilderness under the relentless pursuit of the Li family, how could he possibly survive?

As the words fell, a terrifying aura suddenly erupted from Gu Qingfeng's body, directly knocking Gu He flying.

Gu Qingfeng's expression instantly turned icy cold to the extreme, his eyes filled with undisguised murderous intent.

"A realm-wide bounty? Hunting down my son? Absurd! Has the Lincheng Li family grown tired of living? How dare they commit such a rebellious act?"

Issuing a bounty across the Northern Territory to hunt down the son of the Northern Territory War King was tantamount to trampling the royal family's dignity heavily into the dirt.

The murderous intent in Gu Qingfeng's eyes surged violently. That was his son, being hunted by the Li family? And driven into the wilderness?

Even a Tier 1 professional might not survive in the wilderness, let alone Gu Chen, who was merely an ordinary person.

Outrageous!

Gu Qingfeng's anger flared, making him wish he could completely exterminate the Lincheng Li family and uproot their entire clan!

Just as he was trembling with rage, an elegant figure walked out from the hall.

Seeing the newcomer, a flash of displeasure crossed Gu Qingfeng's face, but he still spoke up, "The Lincheng Li family is hunting down Gu Chen? Do you know about this?"

"I only just received the news."

Qin Yun's expression remained calm, completely unbothered by his attitude. "Gu Chen killed the heir of the Lincheng Li family. Don't we owe the Lincheng Li family an explanation for this matter?"

Hearing this, Gu Qingfeng's gaze immediately turned chilling.

Within the Northern Territory, the Gu family reigns supreme!

A mere Li family was nothing more than an ant that could be crushed at will before the royal family. A single word from him, and the Li family would be reduced to ashes.

As the dignified War King of the Northern Territory, did he need to give an explanation to the Li family? What a joke!

Even if he were to offer one, would the Li family dare to accept it?

Gu Qingfeng looked at Qin Yun, the chill in his eyes intensifying. "Did someone from the Li family come to you demanding an explanation?"

"No," Qin Yun shook her head and said, "Gu Chen is, after all, the legitimate eldest son of the Gu family. Once the news of him killing someone spreads, it will harm the royal dignity. We must put an end to the fallout as soon as possible."

"My Lord, the one who died is, after all, the Li family's heir. If we don't provide an explanation for this, I fear the royal family's actions will chill the hearts of the Li family."

Gu Qingfeng's expression grew thoroughly icy. "Very well! Royal dignity, is it? My son is being hunted by the Li family, his life or death is unknown, and here you are lecturing me about royal dignity?"

"Let me make this clear to you: the royal dignity of my family was won through blood and slaughter on the Abyss battlefield, not begged for through apologies!"

"If the royal family's actions would chill the hearts of the Lincheng Li family, then we shall send the entire Li family to the Flame Demon Abyss. I'd like to see if the Flame Demon Lord can warm the hearts of the Li family."

Gu Qingfeng glared at Qin Yun, rebuking her coldly, "If you truly care about royal dignity, stop debasing yourself in the future. A mother kneeling before her son—to think you could actually stoop to such a thing!"

Qin Yun's eyes turned slightly red as she curtsied repeatedly. "My Lord, I only wanted our family to be reunited, and I didn't want to see Chen'er sever ties with the Gu family."

Looking at the chilling gaze in Gu Qingfeng's eyes, Qin Yun finally realized that with her kneeling that day, she had simply gone too far.

At this thought, she quickly said, "My Lord, I was muddle-headed before. Even if Chen'er killed the Li family's heir, why should we ever need to explain ourselves to a mere Li family?"

"Since there is still no news of Chen'er's whereabouts, it means he is temporarily safe. We will set off for Lincheng immediately, force the Li family to apologize and make amends, and make damn sure they hand Chen'er over."

Gu Qingfeng's expression softened slightly, and he nodded. "Hmph, at least you still know what matters most."

Immediately after, Gu Qingfeng looked at Gu He and said in a deep voice, "Assemble the royal guards and accompany me to the Lincheng Li family. If any harm comes to my son, I will wipe the entire Li family from existence!"

"Yes!"

Gu He's expression was filled with excitement. He let out a long breath and quickly retreated to summon the guards.

It was ten thousand miles away from Gubei City to Lincheng. He just hoped they would make it in time.

Otherwise, not just the Li family, but the entire city of Lincheng would likely usher in a storm of blood and slaughter.

The next day, as dawn broke, the small border town of Lincheng ushered in an unprecedented bustle.

A large number of professionals who had traveled from afar appeared in the city, gathering information related to Gu Chen through various channels, before teaming up to head outside the city and search the wilderness for traces of him.

"So many professionals! This is my first time seeing this many people on the streets of Lincheng."

"They must all be here for the Li family's bounty. I bet Gu Chen is dead for sure this time."

"A bounty? What's going on? Weren't these people brought in by Lincheng's tourism bureau?"

"Are you even a local? The mess with the Lincheng Li family has blown up so badly, and you don't even know?"

"Sigh, I just came out of a dungeon this morning. Hold on, let me browse some videos and catch up on the gossip."

Along the street leading to the city gates, the small eateries on both sides were packed with curious ordinary people, as well as a large number of professionals below Tier 2.

The wilderness was far too perilous for such groups, so they could only sit in the city, watching the endless stream of people pouring out toward the outskirts, discussing every juicy detail of the unfolding events with great relish.

"Holy shit, the Li family's heir was killed by a commoner? Whose subordinate is this?"

"I heard he's an awakened student from Lincheng No. 1 High School with zero background. His name is Gu Chen. As for why he killed Li Renjie, nobody knows."

"I remember Gu Chen cleared the hell-grade novice dungeon and even got an SSS-rank rating. The direct recommendation spot for Shangjing University was definitely his. Why would he throw away such a bright future to offend the Li family?"

"What? An SSS-rank rating? Are you drunk? Up until now, Lincheng's hell-grade novice dungeon has never been cleared!"

"You should read the news more often, man. I even liked the video of Gu Chen getting his SSS-rank rating. Let me find it... Damn! The video was taken down?"

"No way, let me check. Huh? It really can't be searched anymore?"

"What kind of nonsense is this? I suspect you guys are teaming up to trick me."

Listening to the conversations of the people around them, Lin Yuan, Lin Qingqing, and Su Ran wore faces covered in worry.

"See? I told you so. The fact that we got the SSS-rank rating has been swept under the rug. Aside from the professionals who were present that day, almost nobody in Lincheng knows that the hell-grade dungeon was cleared."

"If even the locals in Lincheng don't know, outsiders definitely won't. The only ones capable of pulling this off, besides the City Hall, are the Li family. We can't even rule out the possibility of them collaborating," Lin Qingqing guessed.

"I heard Li Renjie failed to secure a recommendation spot in Gubei City. It looks like the Li family had their eyes on Gu Chen's recommendation spot from the very beginning, which is why they suppressed the news of us clearing the hell-grade dungeon."

"With so many professionals entering the wilderness to hunt Gu Chen down, if he gets caught, he's definitely dead!"

"Let's go. We'll go look for him too. We have to find Gu Chen before the Li family does, or else we'll be in deep trouble!" Lin Yuan decided decisively.

The three of them quickly came to a consensus and immediately set off toward the city gates.

As more and more professionals entered the wilderness, the danger actually decreased significantly compared to before.

Right at that moment, a sudden commotion erupted from the distant city gates. Following that, a massive, ship-shaped shadow appeared on the horizon, and a thunderous roar soared into the clouds.

Soon, a giant warship appeared in the skies above Lincheng. Countless warriors clad in black armor stood upon the deck, and the royal battle banner bearing the character "Gu" fluttered violently in the fierce wind.

At the same time, a resounding voice echoed across the skies of Lincheng.

"The War King has arrived. All bystanders make way!"