The Zhou Family's Final Arrogance

After agreeing to Li Jiuchuan's request, Ye Tian ordered Chen Jian to gather Medicinal Materials from several pharmacies under his name.

As a family that had been passed down for centuries, the Li Family could be considered the wealthiest household on the surface along the East Sea Coast.

Since he had caught this opportunity, he had to make a hefty profit no matter what.

After giving Chen Jian his instructions, Ye Tian began tinkering with the earthen stove again.

That morning, he had promised his sister and Na Na that he would make roasted Fire Spirit Chicken.

A promise made could not be broken.

Li Jiuchuan, standing nearby, eagerly stepped forward to help, completely lacking the airs of a noble young lady.

That made Ye Tian regard her more highly.

After all, Li Jiuchuan was unlike him. He had grown up enduring hard times, so he did not care in the slightest if dirt got on him.

It could be said that from the moment Li Jiuchuan was born, servants and maids had attended to her daily needs.

Over the past few years, Ye Tian had also met many young ladies and young masters from prominent families.

Every day, they were either admiring flowers and willow trees or wandering the streets, always looking as though untouched by the dust of the mortal world, with not a speck of dirt on them.

Li Jiuchuan did not shy away from such things, which was truly rare.

Hu Liena, on the other side, could not bear to watch any longer.

She became even more certain that Li Jiuchuan had ulterior motives for approaching Ye Tian.

"Miss Jiuchuan, I can handle this little matter myself."

Hu Liena moved over, snatched the firewood from Li Jiuchuan's hands, and skillfully started a fire in the earthen stove.

Spirit Hall Academy's daily lessons did not merely teach students the principles of cultivation.

They also taught them survival skills for the wilderness.

For Soul Masters, cultivation was only a small part of their lives. Only battle allowed them to grow swiftly through tempering.

Therefore, starting a fire was child's play for Hu Liena, who had learned wilderness survival.

Li Jiuchuan, whose task had been abruptly taken away by Hu Liena, was left at a loss.

She could tell that Hu Liena cared deeply about Ye Tian.

She had not expected her appearance to pose a threat to the girl before her.

That left Li Jiuchuan somewhat disappointed, yet secretly pleased as well.

She was disappointed because a boy like Ye Tian would never lack outstanding beauties around him, making him difficult to pursue.

She was pleased because if Hu Liena saw her as a threat, then perhaps she did not have no chance at all.

Just then, a burly, white-haired middle-aged man approached from afar.

Hearing the footsteps, Ye Tian turned around and met Zhou Long's gaze.

Zhou Long wore a resolute expression as he bowed. "Greetings, Young Master."

Ye Tian could guess that Zhou Long had come personally because of the situation in Eastsea City.

He clapped his hands, rose to his feet, and smiled at the two women beside him. "There's a little business to handle. You two carry on. I'll be back soon."

"Alright." Hu Liena obediently agreed, then immediately cast a wary glance at Li Jiuchuan beside her.

Li Jiuchuan smiled awkwardly. She was a guest, after all, and could not steal the host's place.

After waving to his sister, Ye Tian led Zhou Long beneath a secluded grapevine.

Ye Tian casually plucked a fresh green grape leaf and asked, "Does the Zhou Family have any intention of repenting?"

Following his principle of keeping a low profile, he had still wanted to give the Zhou Family one more chance.

There had been anger mixed into his decision last night.

At that moment, Zhou Long bowed and said, "They have absolutely no intention of repenting. Several healers in Eastsea City were executed by the enraged Zhou Family Patriarch because they could not treat Zhou Wu's injuries!"

"The Zhou Family has now fully mobilized. They have also joined forces with the other three great families and are distributing weapons."

Ye Tian's expression turned icy at those words.

A few of the healers in Eastsea City had even been trained by him personally.

He had not expected the Zhou Family to execute them all simply because they failed to provide treatment.

Since that was the case, there was nothing left to reconcile.

It was better that those families had gathered together. It would save him the trouble of sending people to hunt down the remnants.

He crushed the grape leaf in his hand into a ball and flung it away. His voice was cold. "The plan remains unchanged. At midnight tonight, make the East Sea City Four Great Families disappear."

"Yes!" Zhou Long bowed.

Then Ye Tian added, "Do not make a move. Let the North Star Squad act alone. An army trained for a thousand days is used for but a moment. It is time to test the results of their training."

With Zhou Long's strength as a Titled Douluo, wiping out the Four Great Families would have been as easy as turning his hand.

Since he had decided to destroy the Four Great Families, it would be far too wasteful to squander this opportunity for real combat.

The North Star Squad was a special forces unit within the Heavenly Strategy Army.

Every member was a highly gifted Soul Master.

To train them, Ye Tian had invested a vast amount of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, refining them into pills for their consumption.

Even the weakest member was a Soul Sage.

Every member was equipped with the most advanced weapons. Their methods were bizarre, capable of killing without leaving a trace.

Perhaps in a direct contest of true strength, these North Star Squad members might not even surpass ordinary Soul Masters of the same rank.

But when it came to assassination, even a powerhouse at the Titled Douluo level would struggle to escape death once targeted by the North Star Squad.

After all, battle required facing one's opponent openly and honoring strength above all else.

But the North Star Squad, which operated in the shadows, sought only one result: the enemy's death. Whether their methods were righteous was not something within their consideration.

"Also, tomorrow night, I need to make a trip to Golden Turtle Island. You will serve as my guard."

"Understood."

Zhou Long gave a slight bow and nodded in agreement.

As a subordinate, he understood clearly that he should not ask why.

He only needed to obey orders.

Even as a level 94 Titled Douluo, he had never been arrogant or conceited before Ye Tian.

On one hand, he was grateful for Young Master Ye Tian's life-saving grace back then, as well as the selfless support of pills over the past few years, which had given him the possibility of reaching the rank of Titled Douluo.

On the other hand, as one of Ye Tian's core personnel, he knew very well just how terrifying the power in Ye Tian's hands was.

Forget ordinary Titled Douluo—even if dozens of Super Douluo attacked together, as long as Young Master Ye Tian wished it, he could wipe them out with a flick of his hand.

It was this dual awe born of strength and gratitude that made him willing to follow Ye Tian with utter devotion.

Zhou Long knew that on the Douluo Continent, there were almost no people as outstanding as Ye Tian.

The gains from remaining at Ye Tian's side far outweighed anything he had to give.

After finishing his discussion with Zhou Long, Ye Tian returned to the front of the small courtyard.

Hu Liena and Li Jiuchuan had already started the fire and were slowly feeding bamboo into the earthen stove.

The bamboo crackled and popped within the blazing flames.

Seeing this, Ye Tian covered his face as he walked over and said helplessly, "Girls, we're not roasting a fire. If you burn them one stick at a time like this, the fire will probably go out before you're done."

"Put all the bamboo in at once. We can start grilling only after it burns into charcoal."

Upon hearing this, Hu Liena looked at Ye Tian like a child who had made a mistake, her eyes wide and pitiful.

"Brother, I was wrong."

After saying that, she shot Li Jiuchuan beside her a slightly smug glance.

Clearly, admitting fault was not her true goal.

Showing off her closeness with Ye Tian was why she had apologized in the first place.

Li Jiuchuan, meanwhile, looked rather embarrassed. She could not help but stand up and take a step back. "Ahaha, this is my first time grilling something myself."

"I'd better do it myself."

Ye Tian rolled up his sleeves, crouched down, and began burning the bamboo into charcoal.

When roasting Fire Spirit Chicken, controlling the charcoal fire was extremely important.

If he let the two women handle it, he feared that all he would be eating today was air.