Bronze Ancient Sword

The black luxury car sped through the old district. The streetscape around them began to change, as though they were gradually crossing from the eighties and nineties of the last century into the new era.

Skyscrapers rose from the ground one after another, and the surroundings and passing pedestrians presented a scene utterly different from the old district.

Inside the car, Bai Xue wriggled out of Shen Yuan's arms and lay against the window, curiously examining the sights outside.

Although she had long known about the automobiles created by humans, this was her first time riding in a moving car. She was immensely curious about this creation of ordinary humans.

The adorable kitten completely captured Fu Yu's attention. Even when Fu Hua in the front seat repeatedly signaled with his eyes for her to speak with Shen Yuan, she ignored him.

Fu Hua, who was driving, gritted his teeth in frustration. He repeatedly wanted to take the initiative and strike up a conversation, but Shen Yuan paid him no attention at all.

Leaning back in his seat, Shen Yuan half-closed his eyes and refined the essence he had accumulated from absorbing a large amount of spiritual energy yesterday. His cultivation slowly advanced toward the Essence-Refining Late Stage.

Half an hour later, the car drove into a villa complex.

The security guard on duty at the entrance was about to step forward for an inspection, but when his gaze swept over the driver's seat and he saw that the one driving was actually Fu Hua, he jolted in alarm.

The residents of this villa complex were all either wealthy or powerful, yet some great figures stood head and shoulders above the rest.

Without question, Fu Hua, the current president of Heavenly Glory Group, was one such great figure.

Even Fu Hua could only sit in the driver's seat and drive, making the guard even more curious about the identity of the person in the back seat.

As he raised the barrier, the guard discreetly glanced at the rear seats and was surprised to find that it was only a young man who looked to be in his early twenties.

Before he had time to think further, the car had already driven far away.

The car eventually came to a slow stop in front of a villa. Fu Hua got out and personally opened the door for Shen Yuan, his manner exceedingly attentive.

Holding Bai Xue in his arms, Shen Yuan stepped out of the car. His gaze immediately locked onto the villa before him.

What drew Shen Yuan's attention was naturally not the villa's luxury, but the fact that, in his eyes, this villa was utterly out of place with its surroundings.

Under the clear daytime sky, the entire villa exuded an inexplicable chill. Even the sunlight falling upon it seemed to have weakened by several degrees. The originally warm and gentle rays that touched the ground carried a trace of deathly pallor and desolation.

"To leave an old man with one foot already in the realm of cultivation at death's door within only a few days, it truly isn't some illness.

"With yin energy this heavy, are ghosts causing trouble?"

A trace of puzzlement appeared in Shen Yuan's eyes.

However, Shen Yuan did not notice that when Bai Xue saw the villa shrouded in yin energy, a hint of delight appeared in her mismatched eyes.

Seeing Shen Yuan pause where he stood, Fu Hua quickly extended a hand and guided him. "Mr. Shen, this way, please!"

Shen Yuan withdrew his gaze and strode into the villa with Bai Xue in his arms.

The instant he entered the villa, that icy yin aura, as though it could blot out the sunlight, rushed toward Shen Yuan.

Unruffled, Shen Yuan circulated the Qi Refinement Method. His body seemed to transform into a furnace of flesh and blood, while the essence within him became firewood feeding its flames.

The bodily furnace blazed fiercely. In an instant, his surging blood and qi erupted, and rolling waves of heat scattered all the chilling yin energy within several meters.

Fu Hua and Fu Yu, walking ahead of him, only felt a wave of heat surge over them. It drove out every trace of cold hidden in their flesh, and an indescribable comfort spread through their bodies as if they had been immersed in a hot spring.

Fu Hua immediately turned back in astonishment. In his eyes, Shen Yuan seemed to have become a walking furnace, his presence so overwhelming that Fu Hua hardly dared look directly at him.

At that moment, Fu Hua immediately recalled the vision of the Nether Ghost Domain he had seen in that instant when he had threatened Shen Yuan before.

This wasn't a coincidence. Mr. Shen really is a master!

Fu Hua was utterly horrified.

The changes brought about by the Spirit Tide had stirred public discussion across the entire world. As a renowned wealthy businessman throughout Cloud Prefecture, Fu Hua had naturally learned some related information in advance.

After Old Master Fu fell seriously ill and even famous doctors could not identify the cause, it was not as though Fu Hua had never considered seeking out masters.

But the Taoist temples and Buddhist monasteries in the great mountains and rivers had already closed several months ago. Those that remained were merely man-made tourist attractions built later, and there was no chance of finding any true masters there.

Helpless, Fu Hua could only abandon the idea of searching for masters.

What he had never expected was that his father's friend of vastly different age was precisely the master he had sought in vain. This left Fu Hua both excited and vexed.

If only he had shown more respect back then, if only he had not offended Shen Yuan and had instead invited him into the house, then the position of heir would certainly have been his.

Yet because of one wrong thought, he had allowed this opportunity to slip through his fingers.

Ignoring Fu Hua's thoughts, Shen Yuan strode into the villa.

Quite a few people had gathered inside the villa. Most were dressed in luxurious finery and carried themselves with extraordinary bearing. The moment they saw Shen Yuan arrive, someone stood and questioned him.

"Who are you? Why have you barged into the Fu family?"

Before the words had even fallen, Fu Hua, who was following closely behind Shen Yuan, sternly rebuked him.

"Second Brother, this is Mr. Shen. Watch your attitude!"

Fu Jian, whom Fu Hua called Second Brother, showed no fear of his elder brother. He merely sneered.

"Fu Hua, don't think that just because you're the eldest brother, you can put on the airs of the family head. Father is critically ill right now, yet you left without authorization and brought an outsider here. Do you even have Father in your eyes?

"Father is merely seriously ill, and you are already acting like this. If Father passes away, I truly dare not imagine what you might do."

After being rebuked so mercilessly by Fu Jian, Fu Hua's face turned livid.

"Mr. Shen is Father's friend. He learned that Father was seriously ill and came specifically to visit him."

"Father is seriously ill and unable to receive guests. If he truly were Father's friend, he should not have come at such a time."

In Fu Jian's eyes, Fu Hua bringing someone here at this critical juncture had to be related to the inheritance. No matter what Fu Hua did, he had to oppose it.

Shen Yuan's gaze remained fixed on the traces of flowing yin energy. He could not even be bothered to spare a glance at the brothers' argument or their open and covert struggle over the inheritance.

His gaze finally settled in the direction of the second floor, and Shen Yuan stepped toward the stairs.

This action made Fu Jian's expression jolt, and he hurried forward to stop him.

"What are you trying to—"

Boom!

Before Fu Jian could even approach Shen Yuan, the icy yin energy shrouding the residence began to intensify at a terrifying speed. Shen Yuan's surging blood and qi transformed into rolling waves of heat that instantly swept through the entire residence. His tangible blood qi made Shen Yuan seem like a great sun descending upon a frozen realm.

Fu Jian froze in place. The Fu family members, who had been chattering all at once, also opened their mouths wide and stared blankly at the scene before them.

Yet Shen Yuan's expression remained unchanged. He had no intention of paying them any heed as he ascended to the second floor amid the increasingly heavy yin chill.

After entering the second floor, the yin chill grew even denser, yet behind it lay a hollow feeling, like duckweed without roots.

He pushed open the door to the room from which the chill originated. This was Old Master Fu's bedroom. He lay unconscious on the sickbed, haggard and withered like an old tree about to die, his entire body radiating decay.

Shen Yuan's eyes shone like torches, and his gaze immediately locked onto a Bronze Ancient Sword hanging on the room's wall.

"Found you!"