CHAPTER 1237: CHAPTER 1209: THE MARTIAL ARTS CONFERENCE APPROACHES

Lin Shu left as soon as dawn broke the next day.

It must be said, he hardly slept that night in the villa.

He spent the whole night thinking, or rather, struggling.

He is indeed the head of the Lin Family, but from some perspectives, he is also a father.

As the head of the family, he understands Huaxia’s current system more deeply.

After all, the Lin Family has existed since the previous dynasty. He is more familiar with some of Huaxia’s systems than anyone else.

That night in the villa, he thought about many things.

But the most important thing was what Lin Xiaoxiao told him after dinner.

"These two silly girls!" Even while sitting on the plane, Lin Shu’s face was filled with conflict.

He really didn’t know how to handle this matter.

From a normal standpoint, he should indeed oppose it, but in reality, he couldn’t find any good arguments to refute it.

Yes, monogamy is Huaxia’s system, but how many people in high positions truly only have one woman? Even if they do, they are quite rare.

Even he had several women outside back in the day, didn’t he?

This isn’t opposing Huaxia’s system, it’s merely a reflection of reality.

Moreover, as the head of the family, Lin Shu was also quite eloquent, and that night he managed to extract some information about Li Chen from others.

The more he listened, the more shocked he became.

Compared to his own status in the capital, Li Chen was truly what you would call a local emperor, right?

And since his daughters and Li Chen sincerely loved each other, why should he oppose it?

However, from another perspective, Lin Shu felt he couldn’t not oppose it.

In the end, he couldn’t come up with a good solution.

So ultimately, early in the morning, he just left directly, not even saying goodbye to Li Chen, because he didn’t know how to face him.

Should he be angry or calmly accept it?

Clearly, he couldn’t do either, so he had to leave.

Li Chen appeared very calm about Lin Shu’s departure without a word, as Lin Shu’s reaction was almost what he had anticipated.

However, facing Lin Shu, he did feel somewhat awkward.

After all, he had messed up both of his daughters...

But since Lin Shu had already left, Li Chen felt relieved. Lin Shu would obviously not know that a token and a note slipped into his pocket while he was probing others for information that night.

That was the token from the Palace of the Nether King. Now that the Palace held a significant place among martial artists, if any martial artist had intentions against the Lin Family, revealing this token would deter them unless they were ready for a war with the Palace of the Nether King.

And the note’s message was self-evident.

Although he didn’t have much affection for the Lin Family, it was, after all, the old home of Lin Yi and the others, and he should take care of it to some extent. For Li Chen, it was a responsibility he ought to fulfill.

After greeting several of the girls, Li Chen went directly to the Nether Army Base.

Even though it was New Year, certain matters among martial artists wouldn’t just stop because of the holiday, and some issues needed to be addressed.

Li Chen felt he couldn’t just leave everything to Catherine. He was the King of the Palace of the Nether King, after all, and this was a responsibility he had to fulfill.

"Boss, you’re back?" When Li Chen returned to the office, Catherine happened to appear at the door, with a faintly teasing smile on her face: "I heard you met your father-in-law yesterday?"

Li Chen’s face turned dark: "Was it that brat Ye Tu?"

Catherine covered her mouth and laughed.

The two of them bantered for a bit before getting down to business.

When Li Chen saw the documents Catherine handed over, his expression grew somewhat serious.

"So many people?" Li Chen slightly raised his head, looked at Catherine, and asked.

Catherine nodded, smiling wryly and said: "Looks like we really underestimated the influence of the Hongmeng Pavilion. The number of people wanting to attend this Martial Arts Conference is really quite large. I think even if we wanted to, we couldn’t ignore it."

Li Chen nodded. If the application list in Catherine’s hand was genuine, then this Martial Arts Conference would likely draw away a good portion of the elite and backbone of the Palace of the Nether King.

If he didn’t manage this situation, unorganized participation of so many people in the Martial Arts Conference at the Kunlun Mountains might cause problems, and weakening the Palace of the Nether King’s living strength because of this would be too costly.

Moreover, Li Chen was well aware that although the Palace of the Nether King seemed as steady as a mountain now and had Hongmeng Pavilion as its backing, deterring anyone from making a rash move, there were likely still numerous people eyeing them secretly, waiting for them to reveal a flaw.

If he really allowed so many people to leave, Li Chen estimated that those people wouldn’t be able to hold themselves back.

Even if they didn’t raid the Nether Army Base, those who left would surely face ambushes.

This situation couldn’t be ignored any longer.

Catherine had asked him twice whether he wanted to attend the Martial Arts Conference, but Li Chen had no real interest in it. Though the so-called "Heaven’s Chosen" was very enticing, becoming a Heaven-level Expert was not something that could be easily achieved.

Besides, although other rewards looked tempting as well and seemed to offer a connection with these ancient families and sects, truly friendly relations couldn’t be established over such trivial matters.

Judging from the authority of these family sects, they were similar in scale to Hongmeng Pavilion. Even if slightly lesser, the difference wouldn’t be significant.

These elite and prominent cliques would not consider forming connections without long-term interest ties.

Moreover, Li Chen’s goal was to establish his own powerful force, which might conflict with these prominent entities, another reason for avoiding the Martial Arts Conference.

However, as things stood, this matter had to be dealt with first.

"How’s the Palace of the Nether King’s reputation outside right now?" Li Chen asked Catherine.

Catherine thought for a moment, then answered: "It’s known for being tightly organized, unlike other sect families, so many martial artists contemplate before applying to join us."

Li Chen’s eyes flashed, then he nodded.

"Alright, given that, organize those who want to participate in the Martial Arts Conference, mix them discreetly with others, and send them as Loose Cultivators to attend the Conference."