The Person of Calamity!

Silence!

Deathly silence!

Every last person in the crowd—the ones who had teased, sneered, looked down on him, laughed at him—stood frozen!

Shock, bewilderment, horror, fear... until at last they trembled uncontrollably!

They shook like chaff in a sieve!

Their hair stood on end!

This Ye Qiu...

Wu Gang and that tall, thin man were both Heaven's Chosen on the South Province Ranking.

They were famous!

Yet neither had withstood even one slash!

A coincidence?

A sneak attack?

Perhaps the first time. But the second time too?

It was as if they were seeing Ye Qiu for the first time!

Someone exclaimed, "No wonder Senior Sister Lu took a liking to him. He's not just a pretty face!"

Ye Qiu sheathed his blade, turned, and swept his gaze across the crowd. "Anyone else?"

Silence below the stage.

A few people seemed eager to try, but when they met Ye Qiu's eyes, fear welled up inside them.

None dared move!

"Next time you want trouble, don't come to me. Go to Lu Li. I really don't know her that well."

Leaving those words behind, Ye Qiu stepped down from the Life and Death Stage. The crowd parted, and he strode away.

The silence held behind him. Only when he was nearly out of sight did the clamor erupt again.

Some were shocked, some furious, some roared, and someone sneered. "That brat's in big trouble!"

"Right! He killed Wu Gang!"

"Wu Gang's older sister is ranked among the top thirty on the South Province Ranking!"

"This won't be over so easily!"

Ye Qiu knew none of this. Even if he had, he would not have cared much.

It was the usual routine.

Beat the younger one, and an older one came. Beat that one, and an elder showed up... It had been the same when he fought for the Wen Family in South Mountain.

Of course, he was no fool.

His rule was simple: fight if he could win. If he couldn't, fight like a madman. If that still failed, run.

If someone sent an elder after you and you charged in like an idiot, didn't that mean there was a bubble in your brain?

Wasn't Lu Li there?

If Lu Li couldn't handle it, her teacher could!

They were the ones who had brought all this trouble on him!

He headed toward Green Moon Mountain. Those two slashes had also given him a deeper understanding.

He might have looked calm, but every time he struck, he had put everything into it.

After all, those had been fights to the death.

One lived; the other died.

Who had time to show off?

"Brother Snake, how exactly do I comprehend Artistic Conception?" Ye Qiu asked inwardly.

There was too much trouble here.

He had cowed the crowd today, but this was Nanzhou Academy. The finest Heaven's Chosen in all of Southern State had gathered here.

Plenty of them were formidable!

There would surely be more trouble.

He had to leave as soon as possible.

He felt that once he comprehended Artistic Conception, he would have nothing to fear from Lu Li.

After a long silence, the Great Serpent asked, "Why do you cultivate?"

Ye Qiu: "..."

The Great Serpent asked, "Why do you seek strength?"

Ye Qiu said, "I've already used that line myself. At least come up with a new one."

The Great Serpent said, "Artistic Conception is really an advanced form of Essence Qi and Spirit!"

Ye Qiu frowned.

"If you want specifics, there's no real way to explain it. Everyone's Essence Qi and Spirit, thoughts, and ideas are different, so the Artistic Conception they comprehend is different too."

"You might comprehend it in a fight. Or you might be eating, let your mind wander, and suddenly comprehend it..."

Ye Qiu only half understood, but one thing was clear: this could not be taught. He had to find his own way.

Fine.

He returned to Green Moon Mountain. When he reached the peak, Lu Li was emerging from a brand-new Thatched House.

There had been two Thatched Houses here. Now there were three.

Lu Li glanced at Ye Qiu. "You'll live here from now on. I just built it. I've prepared bedding and everything else you'll need."

Ye Qiu looked at her. "You have so much money. Why live in Thatched Houses? To remember the bitter days?"

She could spend five million without a thought and smash a South Sea Blood Bright Pearl worth over a million. Surely she could afford a house?

Lu Li said, "We won't stay in Southern State long. If we built a big house, we couldn't take it with us. That would be a waste."

Ye Qiu snorted. Since when are you afraid of waste?

Wait!

Leaving?

Ye Qiu's eyes lit up. "When are you leaving?"

Lu Li looked at him and smiled faintly. "We'll take you with us when the time comes."

Dream on! Ye Qiu kept the words to himself, but his mind was made up. Absolutely not!

Besides, his grandfather was getting old. He was worried about leaving him.

He entered the new Thatched House. Its interior was neat and peaceful, and someone had even built a double bed.

Ye Qiu glanced at the bed and frowned slightly.

Doesn't Lu Li have a single bed in her room?

Why did she build me a double bed?

Hmph!

There was also a Storage Ring on the double bed.

Ye Qiu walked over and swept it with his mind. Inside were Demon Beast Spirits and Body Tempering Materials.

Worth five million!

No.

If he counted the shattered South Sea Blood Bright Pearl, the total came to over six million.

Ye Qiu's expression darkened at once.

Is that woman trying to buy me off?

Does she think I'll give in just because she's giving me so much?

"If you don't want it, give it to me." The Great Serpent's voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

Ye Qiu immediately declared with righteous conviction, "Brother Snake, we need to have some backbone!"

The Great Serpent said, "I was born spineless."

Ye Qiu: "..."

He did not want to take it.

If he accepted this much, he was afraid he would never be able to repay her. He would have even less standing to negotiate with Lu Li.

Forget that he could not beat her now. Even if he could someday, how could he bring himself to attack her after taking all this?

The Great Serpent said, "If you want to grow stronger, you need resources. You cultivate both body and technique, so you need far more than an ordinary cultivator—perhaps ten times as much, even a hundred! And that's only in the early stages. It'll get worse later!"

"You're the Person of Calamity!"

"What calamity?"

The Great Serpent abruptly fell silent, then recovered quickly. "You can't even beat your wife. If that isn't a calamity, what is?"

Ye Qiu: "..."

So even Brother Snake looks down on me!

But what could I do?

I was left in South Mountain for ten years with hardly any resources. If I'd spent those ten years in South Capital with enough resources, would I be like this?

Besides, Lu Li... she's Heaven's Chosen!

Still, he shook his head firmly. "This would make me feel ashamed. Wouldn't I basically be a kept man?"

The Great Serpent snorted. "You're still too young... You don't know how sweet it is to be kept!"

"Lie back in bed and enjoy all the best food and drink. What could be better?"

Ye Qiu: "..."

"Hurry up and stop dawdling. I'm wasting away here."

Ye Qiu was about to refuse when a mysterious aura wrapped around the Storage Ring. Before he could stop it, the aura pulled the ring into the inner space.

By the time Ye Qiu followed it in, Brother Snake had eaten every Demon Beast Spirit inside.

A faint blood-red light flickered over his body. He looked more imposing now, his face filled with pleasure...