At this moment.
A pin drop could be heard.
Everyone was like ducks with their throats clutched, their eyes wide and their faces full of expressions as if they had seen a ghost!
Not far away, Liu Mingxuan, who had maintained an elegant smile from beginning to end and believed victory was assured, had the smile on his face completely freeze! His powerful Qi Sea Realm Fifth Level perception made him clearer than anyone just how terrifying that pressure had been!
Chen Ruoxi, standing behind Chen Tianhao, clamped her small hands tightly over her mouth, barely stopping herself from crying out in shock!
Surging waves unlike anything before churned within her cool and aloof beautiful eyes!
This was...
The fiancé she had always believed to be trash, a simp...
Lin Yuan slowly withdrew his hand, and that terrifying pressure vanished into thin air with it.
Chen Yu sprawled limply on the ground like a puddle of mud, gasping violently. Nothingness but Endless Fear remained in his gaze toward Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan picked up a wineglass from the nearby server's tray and took a light sip, his indifferent gaze falling upon the ashen-faced Chen Tianhao.
"Do you still think that I, Lin Yuan, am unworthy of your Chen Family?"
Silence.
Deathly silence.
Chen Tianhao's lips trembled, but he could not utter a single word.
Just when everyone thought Lin Yuan would seize this opportunity to ruthlessly humiliate the Chen Family and take this marriage arrangement back into his hands.
Lin Yuan set down his glass, and his tone shifted.
"However..."
"I, Lin Yuan, have never stooped to forcing anything."
"Since the Chen Family Head believes this marriage arrangement is unsuitable, then let it be called off."
He rose to his feet and, looking down from above, slowly declared in a tone like a verdict:
"From this day onward, your Chen Family and my Lin Family will have no further ties."
After saying that, he did not spare anyone another glance. He turned and strode toward the corner he had long since chosen.
He left behind only petrified guests and Chen Tianhao, whose face shifted between green and white as though he had been slapped back and forth a hundred times in public.
Chen Tianhao's face was livid, and his dignity had been swept away, yet he did not dare say another word.
As he watched Lin Yuan's retreating figure, a flash of embarrassment passed through his eyes.
Liu Mingxuan remained where he was, his brows tightly furrowed as he secretly pondered how Lin Yuan's strength could be so unfathomable.
That pressure just now had made even his heart palpitate. This was absolutely not power an ordinary playboy could possess.
The air in the banquet hall seemed to have frozen solid.
Everyone had been intimidated by Lin Yuan's overwhelming force and could not help sighing over the Chen Family's total loss of face.
Lin Mengyao, meanwhile, followed Lin Yuan with a soft laugh, as if everything that had just happened had been nothing more than an insignificant interlude.
In a corner of the banquet hall, Chen Ruoxi was overwhelmed by a hundred tangled emotions.
She possessed extraordinary talent in artifact refining and had a natural admiration for the strong.
The scene of Lin Yuan casually suppressing Chen Yu, along with that pressure which made her soul tremble, made her realize that this was by no means power an ordinary playboy could possess.
All her dissatisfaction and disdain for him had vanished like smoke, replaced by intense curiosity and an indescribably complicated emotion.
Especially when she saw him suppress her younger brother with a single strike...
A strange feeling arose in her heart.
After all, at home, she had always been looked down upon by her father and mocked by her younger brother.
Yet Chen Ruoxi had always only bottled up all her emotions in her heart.
What had happened today actually made her feel that Lin Yuan had stood up for her!
She looked at Lin Yuan's retreating back and hesitated for a moment.
In the end, she gathered her courage, lifted her skirt, and hurried after him.
"Lin... Lin Yuan!"
She called out to him softly.
Lin Yuan paused and slowly turned around.
He looked at the somewhat disheveled woman before him, and his brows furrowed imperceptibly.
"Is something the matter?"
His voice still carried a trace of laziness.
Chen Ruoxi ran up before him, panting softly.
She raised her head, and a complicated emotion filled those cool and aloof eyes.
"About what happened at the banquet today... thank you."
She spoke softly.
Lin Yuan gave a quiet laugh at those words. That smile carried a trace of amusement and confusion.
"Thank me?"
He asked in return.
Chen Ruoxi froze, momentarily speechless.
She had not expected Lin Yuan to react like that.
She had originally thought he would enjoy her gratitude and might even take the chance to say something. But Lin Yuan's reaction was completely beyond her expectations.
She paused, doing her best to calm herself.
"About the marriage arrangement..."
She spoke softly, trying to explain something.
When Lin Yuan heard her mention the "marriage arrangement," his brows furrowed again.
He thought she still wanted to cling to him, and a trace of impatience immediately rose within him.
He casually pulled a simple, ancient book from his robes and tossed it to Chen Ruoxi.
"A little gift for you."
Lin Yuan said indifferently, his tone carrying an unquestionable coldness. "Don't pester me again in the future. As for the marriage arrangement, I, Lin Yuan, keep my word. It has already been dissolved, with no room for reversal."
After saying that, he ignored Chen Ruoxi and walked straight toward the quiet area in the corner of the banquet hall.
Chen Ruoxi stood there blankly, looking at the unremarkable ancient book in her hands. Four large words were written upon it: Heavenly Crafts Illustrated.
At first, she did not think much of it, believing it was merely something Lin Yuan had casually used to dismiss her. But after flipping through a few pages, her delicate body suddenly trembled, and the calmness on her face was instantly replaced by fervor!
How could this be worthless scrap paper?!
This was clearly a Supreme Dharma of artifact refining that had never been passed down in this world!
The theories and methods recorded within surpassed everything she knew!
She felt as though she had opened a door leading to a brand new world!
"H-How is this possible?!"
Chen Ruoxi's breathing quickened.
Her heart pounded like a drum, and an incredulous light flashed in her eyes. She clutched Heavenly Crafts Illustrated tightly, as though holding the most precious treasure in the world.
How could a book Lin Yuan casually tossed out be a supreme artifact-refining art?
Could it be that he also possessed extraordinary talent in the path of artifact refining?
How could that be possible!!!
Chen Ruoxi was utterly horrified.
She felt as though she had discovered some incredible secret!
Just as Chen Ruoxi held Heavenly Crafts Illustrated in uncontrollable excitement, a system prompt rang out in Lin Yuan's mind.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for successfully sending Chen Ruoxi away and maintaining your laid-back career!] [Reward obtained: Heaven Grade Supreme Tier Artifact Refining Technique: Great Profound Treasure Refining Art!]
Elsewhere, Chen Ruoxi regarded it as a priceless treasure.
She did not even wait for the banquet to end before immediately returning to the Chen Family, shutting herself away to study Heavenly Crafts Illustrated day and night.
Over the following days.
Chen Ruoxi kept a low profile, immersing herself every day in the surprises Heavenly Crafts Illustrated brought her.
Her path of artifact refining advanced by leaps and bounds. In just a few days, she broke through several bottlenecks and reached a level that even the Lineage Elders could only gaze upon from afar.
She felt her artifact-refining skills improving at an unprecedented pace.
Problems that had once plagued her were solved with ease before this ancient book. Her artifact-refining methods became ever more exquisite, and her understanding of materials reached an entirely new height.
Yet the Chen Family paid no attention to her progress.
After losing face before Lin Yuan, Chen Yu had nowhere to vent the fury in his heart, so he took all his anger out on Chen Ruoxi.
"You piece of trash! You still dare come back! You've disgraced the Lineage completely!"
The more Chen Yu thought about it, the more upset he became. Pointing at Chen Ruoxi's nose, he cursed, "You even had the nerve to cozy up to him! Are you still hung up on him? Wishful thinking! You think you can turn things around by relying on that trash Lin Yuan? Dream on!"
He sneered coldly, his words filled with malice.
"Ruoxi, you have disappointed me too greatly!" Chen Tianhao said coldly. "Do you think holding some broken book can change anything? You will only bring shame upon the Lineage!"
Her father, Chen Tianhao, was also deeply dissatisfied that she had taken a book from Lin Yuan.
Chen Ruoxi did not argue. She merely silently endured it all.
She treated her father's and younger brother's scolding as wind passing by her ears, immersing herself in Heavenly Crafts Illustrated every day!
Before you continue