"Is this the Lin Lineage headquarters?"
"Heavens..."
When Su Jianguo and Liu Huixian entered the resplendent manor, they still found it hard to believe.
They had never imagined that, as mere commoners, they would one day become connected to one of the Four Great Lineages... or even live within one of their headquarters' manor estates!
"This..."
Yet those even more stunned were Fang Ling'er and her family, who followed close behind them.
If Su Jianguo and his wife could at least be considered people who had seen a little of the world,
then Fang Ling'er's family were ordinary people through and through, people from the bottom rung... let alone seeing a place like this, they had scarcely even heard of one.
As a result, Fang Ling'er's family all seemed somewhat restrained.
Fang Ling'er in particular.
Yet she was not at a loss because of the luxurious splendor of the Lin Lineage headquarters manor... but because of Lin Jinyu, the "eldest young miss" before them, as the drivers and bodyguards called her, who had brought them here.
With her peerlessly beautiful face, unworldly bearing, refined speech, and the grand air evident in every gesture, Fang Ling'er, a young girl born a commoner, could not help but feel a trace of inferiority by comparison.
Especially after hearing that Su Zhan and Lin Jinyu had been childhood sweethearts and friends who had grown up together, she felt even more flustered inside...
"Uncle, Auntie, please rest assured and stay here."
"If you need anything in the future, feel free to tell me, or instruct the butler. They will do their utmost to fulfill your requests."
Lin Jinyu said with a smile.
She was more or less acquainted with Su Jianguo and his wife, so Lin Baitian had assigned her to receive them.
The butler and servants beside them all nodded slightly at Su Jianguo and his wife, offering respectful smiles.
"You've really troubled yourself, Xiaoyu..."
Mother Liu Huixian took Lin Jinyu's hand, worry written across her face. "Xiaoyu, tell me, has Zhan'er gotten himself into some huge trouble?"
"When I asked him over the phone, he wouldn't say anything. He only told his father and me to come here without worry, to put our work and everything else aside for now... But if he suddenly had us come to your place, something major must have happened."
"Tell Auntie, what exactly happened to Zhan'er, all right?"
When his parents received Su Zhan's call, all they had learned was that they were to set aside their work and that someone from the Lin Lineage would come take them to the Lin Lineage headquarters... beyond that, there had been no further explanation.
Naturally, they were deeply worried without knowing the circumstances.
These words made Su Jianguo and Fang Ling'er's family all prick up their ears.
They all wanted to know what had happened.
"Uncle, Auntie."
"You should know that among Martial Artists, there are geniuses capable of fighting above their rank, right?"
Rather than answering at once, Lin Jinyu asked a question in return.
"I know." Su Jianguo nodded. "I've heard rumors about the Four Great Academies before. Quite a few of their students are freakishly monstrous talents. Advanced Martial Artists can kill Ordinary Grade Beginner Martial Masters, even Intermediate Martial Masters."
"Even more exaggerated, some Martial Masters can kill opponents at the Martial General level. It's utterly outrageous!"
To someone like Su Jianguo, who was already forty or fifty years old and still at the Advanced Martial Artist realm, such people were monsters in every sense of the word.
"That's right, Uncle. Su Zhan is precisely the freakishly monstrous talent you spoke of."
"Huh?!"
Lin Jinyu's words shocked Su Jianguo and his wife, as well as Fang Ling'er's entire family.
Every one of them stared with eyes wide and mouths agape, unable to say a word.
They might not have been so surprised if it had been someone else... but Su Zhan had grown up right under their noses. They saw him and spoke with him every day. Though his progress had been a little fast and he counted as talented, how had he become some monstrous freak in the blink of an eye?
"More than that, in some respects, Su Zhan is even more terrifying than the freakishly monstrous talents you described!"
"Not long ago,"
"the Meng Lineage sent a Beginner Martial Artist to ambush Su Zhan, and Su Zhan counter-killed him while only at the Advanced Quasi-Martial Artist realm!"
Lin Jinyu spoke as if she would not stop until she shocked everyone to death. "Uncle, Auntie, you should know that Su Zhan went from Beginner Quasi-Martial Artist to Advanced Quasi-Martial Artist in just half a month. Yet his combat strength had already risen to such heights... the speed of his growth is simply terrifying!"
"And precisely because of this, the Meng Lineage, which has always borne a grudge against our Lin Lineage, will think of every possible way to eliminate Su Zhan."
"This assassination attempt was their doing. They merely misjudged Su Zhan's strength this time, but next time... I fear they will resort to even more extreme methods!"
"Now, Uncle, Auntie, you should understand why Su Zhan had me bring you here, right?"
After hearing this, Su Jianguo and his wife, along with Fang Ling'er's family, were all dumbstruck. The shock froze them where they stood, and they could not recover for a long while.
It was not that they lacked the capacity to bear it.
The news was simply too astonishing.
And its contents were truly too explosive.
"I... I... I understand!"
Su Jianguo was, after all, an Advanced Martial Artist. He was the first to recover, drew a deep breath, and said solemnly, "Xiaoyu, don't worry. We'll stay here peacefully and won't hold Xiaozhan back."
He knew that the situation was no longer something an Advanced Martial Artist like him could help with.
Since the Lin Lineage had arranged this for them, it naturally meant they valued Su Zhan highly... and would certainly protect him more properly than Su Jianguo could.
All he could do now was live peacefully, leave the Meng Lineage no opening, and cause Su Zhan no trouble.
"O-Our family too!"
Fang Ling'er's father hurriedly adjusted his glasses and replied, "We'll have to trouble you from here on."
"It's no trouble."
Lin Jinyu smiled. "Also, regarding your daughter's schooling, our Lin Lineage has dedicated internal teachers who can instruct her. I guarantee her studies will not be delayed."
"Thank you so much!"
Fang Ling'er's father was overwhelmed by the favor.
"Come, let me show you where you'll be staying."
Lin Jinyu continued leading them deeper into the manor.
Meanwhile.
Su Zhan looked at the empty house. Rather than feeling even a hint of heaviness, he felt much more relaxed.
Only with his parents fully protected could he truly spread his wings and throw himself into action.
"Elder Feng, I have something to ask you."
Su Zhan sat directly on the sofa and spoke.
Then his vision blurred, and Elder Feng's figure appeared. "Mr. Su, I will answer everything I know."
"I'm not trying to learn any particularly important secrets."
Su Zhan waved a hand. "I just want to ask whether you know of any place that buys beast bones, beast hides, vicious beast blood, and similar things in bulk."
"Preferably somewhere that offers better prices than Cloud Above Tower."
Cloud Above Tower was the world's largest chain seller of weapons, and at the same time the world's largest buyer of recovered goods... whether it was vicious beast materials, Heavenly Treasures, weapons, pills, or anything else, as long as you wanted to sell, they would buy. No matter how large the quantity, they could afford it.
The only problem was that their prices were hard to praise. At best, they offered seventy percent of market price; at worst, they gave only thirty percent... people online called them the "Cloud Black Tower."
Naturally, Su Zhan wanted a better channel, since the volume he had was not small.
But he could not find anything online, so he could only ask Elder Feng, an old hand who had roamed the world for years.
"Mr. Su, if you sell under your own name, it will be difficult to obtain a good price."
"If you do not mind, I have a VIP Token representing the Lin Lineage. For materials sold to Cloud Above Tower using it, they will uniformly buy them at eighty percent of market price!"
With a turn of his palm, Elder Feng took out a golden token no bigger than a thumb. The words of the Lin Lineage on it were especially eye-catching.
Before you continue