The Ye Clan!

Ye Qiu left the space within his Intent.

Truth be told, he did not quite believe what the Great Serpent had said.

But as things stood, he had no way to drive the Great Serpent out. He probably could not beat him, either.

So he could only play along and wait for an opening!

He clenched his fist.

He felt the surging, terrifying strength inside him.

He now had eighty-nine thousand jin of strength!

And the stable energy within him was still being slowly absorbed. His Qi and Blood continued to grow stronger.

By his reckoning, he already counted as a Body Cultivator!

At the very least, he was close to the threshold!

A Body Cultivator!

They were few and far between.

And terrifyingly powerful!

In the cultivation world, two paths were widely recognized as the Combat Power Ceiling: Sword Cultivators and Body Cultivators!

That was incredible!

By that reckoning, I might actually be able to beat Lu Li... Hope stirred in Ye Qiu's heart.

Getting beaten down by a woman without the slightest chance to fight back had left Ye Qiu seething. He refused to accept it!

It was a disgrace to men!

As he absorbed the energy within him, his Qi and Blood would definitely surpass ninety thousand jin.

He might even touch the threshold of a hundred thousand.

And once his Qi and Blood reached a hundred thousand, he would break through a major barrier and truly set foot on the path of a Body Cultivator!

His cultivation was also at the Profound Connection First Layer!

With his Qi and Blood plus his Profound Connection cultivation, his combat strength was at least three times what it used to be!

He smiled, turned, and walked out of the Cultivation Tower.

The moment he appeared, the Lineage disciples and elders outside stared at him in shock.

Ye Qiu was in a dreadful state.

He was drenched in blood from head to toe.

Even his hair, shoes, and socks were covered in it!

"What happened to Brother Qiu?"

"Sigh, Brother Qiu probably hurt himself to vent his anger... After all, he's such a proud man, yet a woman..."

Ye Qiu was the undisputed prodigy of Nanshan City. He could thrash anyone with one hand.

Once, he had stood alone on the Beacon Battle Stage with a single blade and beaten the prodigies of ten cities so badly they dared not raise their heads!

Who could see him and not obediently lower their head and call him Brother Qiu?

How proud must a man like that be?

Until that woman appeared...

Ye Qiu had been chased down and beaten by a sword-wielding woman, utterly unable to fight back. It had been humiliating.

Worse, that woman was his fiancée. They were about to set a wedding date.

They would be living together in the future.

"Poor Brother Qiu. What's he going to do from now on?"

"Couples are bound to quarrel, and Brother Qiu's so good at arguing. What if Lu Li can't win an argument with him and just draws her sword?"

"Honestly, Brother Qiu brought it on himself. He's so talented and good-looking. Lu Li had eyes for no one else but him..."

But Ye Qiu did not care about any of that talk now. He felt like he had a fighting chance again!

A Sword Cultivator, so what?

I'm a Body Cultivator!

Maybe things will be different this time!

In truth, Ye Qiu had been nursing his anger. He had always wanted another fight with Lu Li to reclaim his pride.

She had chased him through the streets for three days and nights, leaving him too scared to go home. His reputation as the Young King had been trampled to pieces.

Don't I have any dignity?

"Qiu'er, what happened to you?" A group of old men hurried over and surrounded him.

Seeing Ye Qiu in such a battered, even miserable state, their faces changed with fright.

Nothing could happen to him.

Good heavens.

If anything happens to you, that woman will tear the Wen Family apart!

"Hmph!" The sight of those old men made Ye Qiu's anger flare. They had no loyalty at all!

He fixed his gaze on an elder in black robes.

"Grandpa, think back. When you were poisoned three years ago, who went into the mountains to gather medicine for you?"

The Wen Family's Great Elder gave an awkward smile.

"Second Grandpa, remember when your grandson was surrounded and beaten? Who took three slashes for him?"

"And you, Third Grandpa. I've always treated your family well, haven't I? I even changed your granddaughter's diapers..."

He swept his gaze over the Great Elder, Second Elder, Third Elder, Fourth Elder, and the rest, then spoke through clenched teeth.

The old men all looked ashamed. "Yes, yes, you're right about everything."

"After treating me like this, doesn't your Conscience hurt?"

They looked even more ashamed. "Our Consciences are rotten to the core!"

Ye Qiu unleashed another volley at all of them, but these shameless old foxes were only ashamed in words.

They had not realized what they had done wrong at all!

"Well, Qiu'er, I know you're angry, but bear with it for now... Someone from the Ye Family is here."

The Great Elder broke the silence.

Ye Qiu narrowed his eyes.

The Ye Family?

He was not from Nanshan City. He was a Legitimate Son of the Ye Clan in South Capital, the capital of Southern State.

But when he was seven, something happened to his mother. His own father brought another woman home, along with an extra gift: an illegitimate son only three months younger than him.

He had even given the boy a name loaded with Intent: Ye Rudí!

Less than three months later, that father sent Ye Qiu to his maternal grandfather's home in Nanshan City.

Ten years had passed since then.

Ye Jiangshan had visited him only once. He had been on a business trip and happened to pass through Nanshan City...

They had not met again since.

Ye Qiu had nearly forgotten what he looked like. He had long since forgotten that he was a Legitimate Son of the Ye Family's main line, too!

Why would the Ye Family come now?

"They're waiting in the main hall."

Ye Qiu thought for a moment, then strode straight toward the main hall.

"Shouldn't you wash up first?" The Great Elder and the others followed him.

Ye Qiu ignored them and quickened his pace. He reached the main hall and strode inside.

When he entered, his maternal grandfather, Wen Zheng, was already seated in the main chair. Two people sat below him on the right.

A man and a woman.

They were dressed in finery.

Both carried themselves with distinction.

The man was somewhat older. He turned to glance at Ye Qiu, and when he saw how bedraggled Ye Qiu was, his eyes filled with disgust and contempt.

Ye Qiu looked back at him. "Who are you?"

The man replied, "Ye Hong of the Ye Family!"

"Do you need something?" Ye Qiu asked.

"On the Young Master's orders, I'm here to bring you back to South Capital!"

Ye Qiu looked at him. "Which Young Master?"

Ye Hong smiled. "The Ye Clan of South Capital has only one Young Master: Ye Rudí, who possesses the Heavenly King Body!"

The Heavenly King Body was a rare and fearsome constitution!

But Ye Qiu did not give a damn. He sat down, picked up a cup of tea beside him, and took a sip before speaking. "Two things."

He raised his head and stared at Ye Hong. "First, this Young Master and his Heavenly King Body have nothing to do with me."

"Second, go back and tell Ye Jiangshan that I stopped thinking of him as my father long ago. He can pretend he never had a son like me. From now on, we'll be water from separate wells, never crossing paths."

With that, he drained his tea, stood, and said, "The Wen Family doesn't welcome the Ye Clan. Don't come back."

He turned to leave.

Just then, Ye Hong abruptly stood and said coldly, "Ye Qiu, the Young Master ordered me to bring you back!"

The young woman also glared at Ye Qiu. "You're just the Ye Clan's Abandoned Son. What gives you the right to act so arrogant?"

"Hmph! The Young Master has honored you with an invitation to his investiture ceremony. That's a blessing you must have earned over eight lifetimes!"

Ye Qiu stopped and glanced back, giving them a look reserved for fools.

What's wrong with them?

"Ye Qiu, stop right there!" Ye Hong's face darkened further. "I'm taking you with me today!"

Ye Qiu stopped, turned, and stared at Ye Hong. "You want a fight?"

Ye Hong froze for a moment, then chuckled.

He looked Ye Qiu up and down.

You?

Boom—

But before his chuckle could fully form, Ye Qiu charged. He was terrifyingly fast.

As he closed in, he raised his fist. No tricks, no flourish—just raw, brutal force!

Ye Hong's smile remained. As Ye Qiu punched, he raised his own fist, and dazzling Purple Light rippled across it.

But—

The instant their fists met, Ye Hong's smile vanished. Shock took its place, followed by... fear!

Disbelieving fear!

Crack—

In an instant, the Purple Light around his fist exploded. Bone and flesh split apart, and blood sprayed everywhere.

His body shot backward with terrifying speed.

As he flew, his arm seemed to twist out of shape!

Thud—

At last, he slammed into the floor, smashing a spiderweb of cracks beneath him.

Ye Qiu drew back his fist and looked at him coolly. "Fuck, I might not be able to beat my wife, but you? I can beat you."

As he spoke, another surge of anger rose in him. He rushed forward and planted a foot on Ye Hong's mouth.

Ye Hong's teeth shattered. Blood covered his face, along with the print of Ye Qiu's boot!

"Fuck!"

Wen Zheng, the Great Elder, and the others standing nearby silently rubbed their noses and said nothing.

But as they looked at Ye Hong writhing and wailing, there was a hint of pity in their eyes.

You really can't read the room, can you? Didn't you see the storm on Qiu'er's face when he came in?

He's been in a foul mood lately.

And you could at least have asked around. In South Mountain and the ten nearby cities, who hasn't heard of Ye Fengzi?

With what little skill you have, could you even take one of his hands?

Did you really think coming from a great clan made you untouchable?

Has Qiu'er not killed enough people from great clans?

And didn't you see him covered in blood?

Why provoke a man who's that ruthless even to himself?

Although Ye Hong was howling in pain, inwardly he was shocked to the core!

He and his peers were from South Capital. The resources they received and the training they underwent were the best of the best.

Ye Qiu, on the other hand, had been sent to South Mountain at seven, where resources were painfully scarce.

His circumstances were worlds apart from theirs.

And yet Ye Hong could not withstand even one punch from him?

Ye Qiu was only seventeen this year, wasn't he?

Just how gifted is he?

If he had more opportunities, more resources... What would he become?

He's a monster!

"Ye Qiu, you bastard, how dare you—" The sight stunned Ye Qian for a moment. Then she snarled and roared.

Smack—

But the instant she spoke, Ye Qiu sent her flying with a slap that shattered every tooth in her mouth.

She hit the floor and fell unconscious on the spot.

"You think I won't hit a woman? Right now, there's nothing I'd rather do!"

The corners of Wen Zheng's mouth and the others' twitched...