Chapter 160: Huili is a she?

(A/N: Join the discord, to have intellectual conversations with your fellow cultivators! We have graphs and stats on the cultivation worlds there! Plus you can actually cultivate and go to closed-door cultivation.

Link: discord.gg/SC9HNKVj5e

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——(POV third person)——

The moment the formation master walked away, everyone in the group turned to look at Li Huang. It wasn’t that they were surprised by how arrogant the formation master acted, it was something known to even children that a formation master is more respected than a cultivator. They were surprised because Li Huang was invited by the grandmaster to a meeting.

As far as everyone knew, it was Li Huang’s first time seeing grandmaster Huili so it was expected that they would react like this.

“What does grandmaster Huili want with you?” Li Wanrou was the first one to voice her question. Hu Anjing also nodded as this was an important question.

“Let’s just say that I might have found a good business opportunity.” Li Huang said. If he could get some pointers on the formation art from a grandmaster, it would be worth the map that he is providing. Well, his main objective was to stop Huizheng from gaining favor and he is almost sure that he will be successful in that regard.

Li Wanrou frowned a little and it was Hu Anjing’s turn to say something.

“I think at least one of us should go with you.” Hu Anjing said with a straight face. Hearing this, Li Wanrou looked at Li Huang and nodded.

Li Huang couldn’t understand what was going on. How could they not know that he was invited and it would be impolite to invite someone else on his accord? That aside, the other person was of higher standing than Li Huang, so this could create some huge backlashes for the Li family and now that they were approaching a war, this would be the last thing they want.

“But why?” Li Huang said. He could see that Li Wanrou and Hu Anjing had their own reasons so he decided to at the very least hear them out.

“Didn’t you see how she was looking at you?” Hu Anjing said. She looked at Li Huang as if her words had explained everything.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Li Huang didn’t know which part of this question should he address so he decided to break it down for more ease in answering.

“How do you know that grandmaster Huili is a she?” Li Huang asked the main thing that was in his mind and not only Hu Anjing and Li Wanrou, but every girl in their group looked at him like he was an idiot. As far as Li Huang knew, Huili was a unisex name so he isn’t wrong to assume that Huili could be a girl or boy.

For once Cai ZhenKang was glad that he didn’t ask the question that was in his mind, and Li Huang was the one who suffered this time. He didn’t want to get involved in this conversation because he knew that if they were looking at Li Huang like this, they would at the very least beat him.

“Why would a boy need to cover his face?” Li Wanrou said but Li Huang didn’t get her point.

“It’s obvious that the other formation masters are protecting her from an arranged marriage by hiding her identity.” Li Wanrou said and Li Huang just now understood why they were looking at him like he is stupid.

For someone of low status, it would be hard to reject a proposal from a big family, even if they are a formation grandmaster as it would affect the relations between that family and the formation masters. Other than that, as Huili is clearly young, she might get tricked into marrying someone that she thinks is a good option but in reality, is only looking to use her and her position.

If Huili was a boy, he would be the one to propose so other girls might try to trick him but it could be handled easier by the other formation masters as they could keep his emotions in check as his father figures. Now, if Huili is a girl, they would all dote her and it would make it harder for them to say no to her wishes, no matter how much they are against it.

“Now that you put it this way, it makes too much more sense for grandmaster Huili to be a she.” Li Huang nodded and said. Li Wanrou and others didn’t continue talking about this as they could see that Li Huang understood it.

Cai ZhenKang almost screamed from frustration. If it was him in Li Huang’s shoes, he wouldn’t hear the end of it.

“…But it still doesn’t explain why you would have to be there.” Li Huang said. Sure, he didn’t guess that Huili was female like them, but he could see from a hundred miles away that this wasn’t a good idea to go somewhere uninvited and this was exactly what Li Wanrou and Hu Anjing wanted to do.

“Didn’t you listen? With the way she was looking at you, I’m sure she has something planned for you.” Hu Anjing said and Li Huang did his best to not laugh.

“Come on, she is just a teenager…” Li Huang said. He couldn’t believe that they thought a teenager could scheme this expertly.

“And you are not?” Li Wanrou threw a meaningful look at Li Huang and said.

Li Huang raised a finger to answer back, but he couldn’t think of anything that would help his case.

“…Fair enough.” Li Huang said. Even if you were to count his past life, he would still be a child in terms of the cultivation world.

“But there is a reason that she was looking at me.” Li Huang said and before they could ask him about the reason, he continued.

“As you might know, that Rings were found in the trial by me and Hu Anjing. Seeing that grandmaster Huili was about to make a deal, I had sent her a sound transmission so that she wouldn’t do so. As a result, I have to go and see her and finalize the deal.” Li Huang explained with as much detail as he could without giving the full information on the matter as they were in a public place.

Li Huang had to use a few more tactics to persuade Li Wanrou and Hu Anjing that this was a bad idea to come to the meeting when they were not invited, but in the end, he was successful in doing so. With this matter settled Li Huang went toward the meeting place that was mentioned in the parchment.

After a few minutes, Li Huang reached the place where the parchment pointed him to. The pavilion that Li Huang was standing in front of, was simple in design but even without the help of the peeping eye of heaven, Li Huang could feel the sheer amount of formations around him that were fortifying the mansion.

Li Huang walked to the front door and showed the parchment to the guard that was standing there.

Seeing the seal that was placed on the parchment, the guard bowed to Li Huang and guided him inside the pavilion.

The inside of the pavilion was not as imposing as its outside but it was beautiful nonetheless. After a few meters, the guard stopped and politely turned to face Li Huang.

“I am not allowed to walk further than this, please follow this path and you should reach the meeting room soon.” The guard said.

Li Huang nodded and thanked the guard. He started walking again and he soon understood why the guard was not allowed to walk further, it was impossible to walk in here if you didn’t know enough about formations.

After Li Huang had taken a few steps he could feel that he has entered a near-perfect illusion that would dull his senses and made it hard for him to find the exit.

Li Huang was surprised that they would let him walk into a trap and not even warn him about it.

‘Are those formation masters testing me or something?’ Li Huang couldn’t help but sigh in exasperation.

Luckily for him, he was in the eternal wail trial recently and he knew better than anyone what a perfect illusion is. This illusion in front of him is not even close to that level.