Trouble at the Restaurant

Li Yating!

A beautiful girl with a heroic bearing faintly appeared in Li Ye's mind. Speaking of which, Li Yue was a cousin relatively close to him, and Li Yating was likewise a descendant of the Li Lineage—also his cousin.

Whether it was Li Yue or Li Yating, both were among the most outstanding descendants of their generation in the Li Lineage. However, Li Yue was male and the Grand Elder's grandson, while Li Yating was female and lacked Li Yue's powerful backing within the Lineage. Yet her talent surpassed his by a notch!

"No, no, Brother Li has misunderstood what I meant. It's just that we all know that woman is no easy person to provoke. Everyone should still remember what happened three years ago, right?"

As soon as Yuwen Tianhua finished speaking, Wu Wenhao and Li Yue's expressions both stiffened, a flicker of fear flashing swiftly through their eyes.

This amused Li Ye, who had been watching them from a corner. Of course he knew what had happened three years ago. He had even been one of those involved!

"Hmph! Times have changed! Even if she returns, I won't fear her!"

Li Yue said in a deep voice, though there was a trace of forced bravado in his tone.

"Speaking of which, I wonder how that trash from three years ago is doing now. After that incident, it seems no one has seen him again. Could it be that he knew he had no face left to stay in Wuzhou City and slunk away?"

Wu Wenhao suddenly spoke with a strange expression, leaving Yuwen Tianhua and Li Yue both slightly stunned.

"You mean... that trash?"

Yu Wen Tianhua's expression turned even stranger.

"Who else could it be?" Wu Wenhao shrugged, while his eyes subtly glanced at Li Yue beside him.

"Hmph! What face would that kind of trash have left to return to the Lineage? He probably starved to death on some street long ago! Hmph!"

Li Ye's gaze turned slightly cold in the distance. Of course he knew exactly whom the three were talking about!

"You can't put it quite that way. Though that trash was worthless, he was still that man's son. What a pity. They say a tiger father has no dog son, yet what a waste—one generation's peerless prodigy, the finest person your Li Lineage has ever produced, actually brought back such a trash son. I truly don't know why your Lineage gave the position of Patriarch to that man back then. Though he was powerful, he never cared about the Lineage at all, and his son was such trash besides! It would have been better for Brother Li's father to become Patriarch!"

Li Yue's expression grew even colder. He had heard plenty about the events of the Li Lineage back then from the elders, and resentment had long taken root in his heart!

"So what! That man was called the Lineage's greatest genius back then, but who knows whether he was merely living on an undeserved reputation! One day, I will surpass him! As for that trash! Heh heh! If he appeared before me now, I really would like to humiliate him properly! That bitch protected him back then! If that trash dares return to the Lineage this time, I'll break at least one of his legs!"

The malice in his words made it sound as though he were not speaking of a fellow clansman, but some lowly slave!

"Whose leg did you say you would break?"

Just then, an icy voice rang out nearby, startling the three, who had been behaving as though no one else existed.

They turned toward the source of the voice, and Li Yue's gaze immediately narrowed! Yuwen Tianhua and Wu Wenhao were clearly somewhat taken aback as well, but they quickly exchanged glances, amusement glinting in both their eyes.

Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives!

"Trash, you still dared to show your face before me?!"

There was a viciousness in Li Yue's eyes that did not match his age, while the one who had spoken was Li Ye. He had not wanted to stir up trouble at this time, but the three had gone increasingly overboard. Not only had they verbally insulted his father, who was missing beyond the city, but they had called him trash again and again, even threatening to break his leg?

"Li Yue, who did you just say you would break the leg of?"

Li Ye's gaze was cold. He was no longer the weak-willed youth abandoned by the Lineage. They were insulting him so wantonly—if he could still endure it, could he even be called a man?!

"Say that again if you've got the guts?!"

Li Ye had never been someone who easily lost his temper, but he was certainly no saint who could remain calm after being humiliated like this.

At that moment, the entire tavern fell silent from its former bustle because of his appearance. Everyone's eyes turned in this direction. Quite a few people immediately recognized this audacious youth, after all—the incident involving the Li Lineage back then had caused quite a stir throughout Wuzhou City.

"Isn't that the trash son of Li Kainian, the Li Lineage's prodigy from back then?"

"Yeah, wasn't that trash driven out of the Li Lineage a few years ago? Rumor had it that he starved to death in the streets. Who would have thought he was still alive!"

Whispers rose from the surroundings. Forty years ago, a peerless prodigy had emerged from the Li Lineage, crushing the other two great families and standing proudly over all Wuzhou City. It was because of that person's appearance that the Li Lineage had leapt in a single bound to become the foremost of the three great families.

"Li Ye? You're actually still alive?"

When Li Yue saw who stood before him, he was clearly surprised. Yet he immediately sneered, his eyes filled with disdain and contempt, as though he were looking at a mangy street dog. His tone was scornful as he let out a cold snort through his nose.

"I never expected trash like you to have the nerve to show up. I truly pity that old ghost of a father of yours for giving birth to such a useless son. You've utterly disgraced our Li Lineage!"

After saying this, Li Yue laughed loudly and without restraint, showing no regard for their shared blood. It was as though the one standing before him was not his cousin, but a lowly beggar.

All things considered, Li Ye and Li Yue were rather closely related within the Lineage. Li Yue's grandfather, the current Grand Elder, and Li Ye's grandfather—the biological father of Li Ye's father—were full brothers born of the same mother. Compared to the other descendants of the Lineage, the two should have been considered kin of the same branch.

Yet clearly, in Li Yue's eyes, Li Ye was not even worth as much as a dog on the street!

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm living quite well. You, Li Yue, on the other hand—after not seeing you for a while, you do look a bit more like a person. But underneath, you're still the same as before. All you know is how to boast all day long. If you go one day without bragging, you get so restless you can't stand it, right?"

If it had been before, Li Ye would have cowered in fear upon seeing a descendant of the Li Lineage. Forget speaking this way—he would not even have dared lift his head. This attitude left Li Yue and the others completely dumbfounded. Li Yue in particular, who knew Li Ye well, stared wide-eyed, as though he no longer recognized the timid, introverted cousin who feared trouble in his memories. For a moment, he failed to react.

Even Yuwen Tianhua and Wu Wenhao were slightly shocked, though the two soon revealed meaningful smiles.

"Didn't you say that if you saw me, you would break my leg? I'm standing right in front of you now. Come on—let me see how much you've improved over these years!"

The times had changed, and Li Ye was no longer the Li Ye of old. He did not fear these so-called rich young masters at all. Were they not merely relying on inherited bloodlines and family backgrounds? He was even a noble of the night—a Vampire!

"Brother Li, it seems someone has looked down on you!"

Yu Wen Tianhua gently waved the paper fan in his hand, appearing indescribably suave and elegant. Yet in Li Ye's eyes, he only looked so affected that it was nauseating!

That remark in particular carried an all-too-obvious intent to sow discord, making the man's sinister scheming even clearer.

"Shut up. What are you? Why are you butting in? Get lost!"

Li Ye's single sentence froze Yuwen Tianhua's formerly refined smile on his face. His eyes narrowed slightly, and a flash of savagery passed through them. But he quickly smiled again. "I am Yuwen Tianhua of the Yuwen Lineage. You must be the Li Lineage's Third Young Master, Young Master Ye? Meeting you is even more impressive than hearing of you!"

To be treated so discourteously to his face and still remain so composed made Li Ye view him in a new light. Compared with Li Yue, whose face had already turned completely livid, this young descendant of the Yuwen Lineage was clearly a notch superior in both scheming and temperament!

"Don't know you!"

Yet Li Ye gave him no face whatsoever. The Three Great Families of Wuzhou City had never been allies. On the contrary, each wished to wipe out the others' entire families and cut the weeds out by the roots. Yu Wen Tianhua in particular had not said much, but from the very beginning, he seemed to have been deliberately steering things in some direction.

"Brother Yuwen, it seems you too have been thoroughly looked down upon!"

The one who spoke was Wu Wenhao, one of the talented new generation of the Wu Lineage. Though the three sat at one table, laughing and discussing romance as though their relationship were harmonious, only they themselves knew what their true relationship was like.

"Hmph!"

Having his dignity slighted to his face like this, Yuwen Tianhua's patience was indeed formidable. He remained entirely unmoved, merely giving a faint snort. His expression grew somewhat colder, and he said nothing further.

But at that moment, both he and Wu Wenhao turned their gazes toward Li Yue.

Clearly, they were not the protagonists of this matter. Li Ye and Li Yue, these two brothers of the Li Lineage, were!

"Li Ye, you're courting death!"

An icy chill shone from Li Yue's eyes. His aura rose slightly, and an oppressive force bore down directly upon Li Ye.

"What a powerful aura! Li Yue seems to have only just turned seventeen, right? Yet he has already reached the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm! A great family truly is a great family. At such a young age, his strength already surpasses what ordinary people cultivate in three or four decades!"

There were quite a few martial cultivators among the Rogue Cultivators in the tavern. Sensing the aura emanating from Li Yue, they were all immensely shocked. One had to know that on the Yunteng Continent, the higher a martial cultivator's realm, the slower their cultivation progressed. Generally, reaching around the fifth level of the Spirit Martial Realm by age twenty was already considered genius-level talent. Someone like Li Yue, who had reached the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm at only seventeen, could only come from a descendant of a family blessed with the powerful inherited bloodline of its ancestors—and even then, only with exceptional talent!

Seventeen years old, seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm. Such strength and talent made him outstanding even within the Li Lineage. Among his peers, almost no one could contend with him! Li Haoran and Li Tianwu from before were not even qualified to carry Li Yue's shoes!