Chen Lei naturally saw through this more clearly than anyone else. The leverage Chen Qiuyu had over him stemmed from this very matter.
Back then, fueled by a surge of passion, he went to bed later than a dog and got up earlier than a chicken. He trained in martial arts until he forgot the world around him, splitting the skin on his knuckles again and again, just so he could barely measure up to those legitimate heirs who spent every night at the Spring Fragrance Pavilion.
Even the duties assigned by the Lineage were being manipulated behind the scenes by powerful figures.
Once, he was forced to take on a highly dangerous assignment. One misstep led to eternal regret: Blood Yin Child of the Black Mountain Gang found him and punched him nearly to death.
Fortunately, Blood Yin Child had held back, and he had managed to cling to life.
But after that, the severe injury to his constitution stalled his progress in martial arts. The Lineage's favored heirs completely outstripped him, and whenever they saw him, they never missed a chance to sneer and jeer.
To compete with them again, he had thought of Blood Yin Child's unorthodox art—the Blood Yin Technique, which absorbed other people's blood and vital energy to nourish one's own essence!
The manual for this unorthodox art had appeared on his desk, though he had no idea who had left it at his residence.
At the time, he hadn't thought much of it. Figuring he had nothing to lose, he tried cultivating it. After draining two hostile martial artists, he found that it worked remarkably well.
That very day, he was able to fight the legitimate heirs again, and even showed signs of surpassing them. He was overjoyed.
But no wall could keep out