He Was Still Himself, but She Was No Longer the Same

The disciples in the Liu Lineage convoy gripped the reins or steadied the cargo crates, their gazes all falling on Ye An.

They had heard his name before, but had never seen him.

They had first heard it when Ye An helped Liu Ruyan secure her position at the mine. As time passed, though, the name had gradually faded from memory.

The next time they heard of him was during the dispute over resources between Azure Dragon Hall and Black Tortoise Hall. Ye An had not shown up, and people had mocked him as a "turtle."

Then the news took a different turn: Guest Elder Ye had reached Qi Condensation.

Now he stood before them. Meng Qian had spoken politely, hoping he would recognize the difficulty and retreat, but Ye An merely shook his head and neither dodged nor backed away. In this world, too many people took money without doing the work, and even more drew a salary for holding a guest elder title in name only. Guest Elder Ye was not one of them.

"Then let's settle this with our fists." Meng Qian made up his mind. So what if Ye An's cultivation matched his own? The man was so young that he must have used some shortcut, swallowing pills or the like. His foundation had to be flimsy.

How could the Qi Condensation he had earned through decades of bitter cultivation lose to some greenhorn?

He raised both palms slightly and took his stance.

Seeing Meng Qian move, Liu Ruyan knew he was about to attack. She stepped half a pace forward. "Master Ye, be careful..."

Before her words had faded, Ye An moved.

There was no sign of him gathering power. He simply stepped forward and pushed his right palm out. This strike was only a