Chapter 12 - The Fall of Huang and Li Clans
Lu Ran sat in his study, deep in thought. After the events of the past few days, he knew that he had to act quickly if he wanted to take down the Huang and Li clans. He had been biding his time for almost a year now, waiting for the right moment to strike. Now, with his two sons by his side, he felt confident that they could pull it off.
Lu Chenfeng and Lu Chenyang sat across from him, their expressions grim. They knew what was at stake, and they were ready to do whatever it took to destroy their enemies.
"We need to be smart about this," Lu Ran said, breaking the silence. "We can't just attack them head-on. They're too powerful for that. We need to find their weaknesses and exploit them. I don’t want to risk the lives of the clan members unnecessarily."
Lu Chenfeng nodded. "I've been doing some research on the Li clan," he said. "They have a lot of money tied up in some shady business dealings. We could use that to our advantage."
Lu Chenyang spoke up next. "And the Huang clan is known for their arrogance. They think they're untouchable. If we can find a way to make them look foolish in front of everyone, it will weaken their position and make them unable to make moves for a while."
Lu Ran smiled, impressed with his sons' ideas. "Excellent. We'll need to gather more information, but I think we're on the right track."
Over the next month, Lu Ran and his sons worked tirelessly, gathering intel on their enemies. They discovered that the Li clan was heavily invested in a business that depended on the harvest of the Mountainous Wild Beast Forest, which was on the brink of bankruptcy. They also learned that the Li clan was planning a lavish party to celebrate their latest victory with bringing in an external elder in the 3rd Foundation Establishment realm.
A perfect opportunity presented itself to the Lu clan.
On the night of the party, Lu Ran and his sons put their plan into action. Lu Chenfeng used his connections to spread rumors about the Li clan's failing business, causing panic among their investors and clan members. At the same time, Lu Chenyang slipped a very potent sleeping potion into the Li clan's wine, causing them all to fall into a deep slumber.
As the night wore on, Lu Ran and his sons crept through the Li clan's mansion, taking every item and treasure of value they could find. They even destroyed many stores and businesses of the Li clan during the evening. Whilst not leaving any evidence of their crimes.
After a while the sun started to rise and the Li clan had begun panicking. Their reputation just went down the drain. They had even lost everything they had worked so hard for.
The Huang clan started sneering and laughing at the Li clan members as they found out.
Huang Po, the new patriarch also spoke, “Li Han, see what happens when you get greedy. The Li clan would be better off without a rat like you at its helm. Even your external elder left a couple of minutes ago since you can’t afford him, ha ha ha.”.
Li Han was indeed a very greedy person, and wasn’t very strong. He only reached the Foundation Establishment realm by buying many pills and concoctions with his wealth over the years. As for the patriarch seats, he bribed many elders to get it.
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That’s why Huang Po, a man that’s very proud of his martial arts, despises LI Han for his deeds.
While the Li clan was falling more and more into the abyss because of their debts.
The Huang clan started fighting with the Li clan because of their disputes.
After a while a huge fight broke out and the two clans were in a full on war.
Of course that didn’t last long as many of the Li clan members started fleeing with the last wealth they had. The Huang clan won, albeit with many members wounded and exhausted even a few of their stores were burned in ashes.
Lu Ran and his two sons, Lu Chenfeng and Lu Chenyang, spent several days looking from the sidelines and planning to deal with the Huang clan after. They knew that they needed to be careful and strategic in their approach, as any misstep could lead to disastrous consequences.
After much discussion, they decided to launch a multi-pronged attack. First, they would hire mercenaries to launch surprise attacks on their businesses and properties, crippling their finances.
Next, they planned to infiltrate the clans themselves, using spies to gather information and sow discord from within. They knew this would be a risky move, but they felt it was necessary in order to weaken the clans from the inside.
The mercenary attacks were devastating, and the Huang clan lost a significant portion of their wealth and assets. The Huang clan members were desperate to find out who was behind the attacks, but they had no leads. Most members suspected that it was the Li clan making a final punch by hiring mercenaries with hidden funds.
However, they were quickly proven wrong as the Lu clan suddenly stood in front of their front gate.
Lu Ran stood in front and smirked, “If you and your elders cripple your clan members and then dispose of yourselves, Huang Po, I will spare the others and allow them to leave.”.
Lu Ran had imbued his voice with qi, and the whole area could hear what he yelled.
As such it didn’t take long for a crowd to form.
Huang Po and the uninjured elders came forward.
Huang Po started speaking, “We accept your terms, can we please have a moment to inform our clansmen?”.
Lu Chenfeng replied, “You may, but make it quick. We don’t have all day long.”.
“You should also write your will, while we may not look like honorable men in front of you now. We do honor a man’s last will.”, Lu Chenyang interjected.
The Huang clan members turned around.
Many people were screaming and crying throughout the whole encounter.
The whole area became quiet after a while and ordinary mortals and crippled cultivators started walking out of their domain. The Lu clan members started guiding them out of the city and even gifted them a lot of food for underway.
The Lu clan had finally become the sole ruler of Moon Cloud City.
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