On a snowy mountain a million miles from the Ye Lineage.
Snow swirled over the mountain in every season, summer or winter.
This was where the Falling Snow Sect stood.
At that moment, inside an icy palace, the fires of lust blazed, and springtime passion filled the air.
A shapely figure was entwined with an old man in an exceedingly erotic scene.
Before long, after two cries of satisfaction, the room finally fell quiet.
"My lord, an elder just sent me word that the Ye Lineage of Clearwater not only injured our disciples but also defiled them!"
On the bed, the beautiful woman spoke in a seductive voice.
She was Ximen Xue, the current sect master of the Falling Snow Sect.
The old man whom she attended with her body was the grand elder of the Huayun Sect.
Several months earlier, the Huayun Sect had received news of the Ye Lineage of Clearwater and dispatched him to make the journey in person.
Thus, he still did not know that the Huayun Sect had been destroyed.
The old man sneered. "The Ye Lineage certainly did not do this."
"Oh? Why?"
The old man stroked his white goatee and answered with a question. "The assassination of the Ye Lineage's young patriarch that I told you to arrange some days ago must have failed, correct?"
A trace of surprise flashed through Ximen Xue's eyes. "Your foresight truly is divine, my lord. I was just about to tell you, yet you already knew!"
"Did the Ye Lineage react in any way?"
"No, but reportedly, an ancestor returned to the Ye Lineage and killed the people from the Breeze Sect!"
"The Ye Lineage of Clear Wind is not as simple as you imagine. They would not do something foolish and provoke enemies everywhere. Even when others provoke them, they endure it whenever they can."
"Then why did they dare kill people from the Breeze Sect?"
"I looked into that Wang Shuiyan as well. He was arrogant, domineering, and utterly conceited. With the Ye Lineage being bullied right on their own doorstep, they naturally would not let the matter rest!"
"So that was it."
Ximen Xue understood at last.
"What is so unusual about the Ye Lineage?"
She continued asking.
In her eyes, the Ye Lineage was an insignificant little lineage that she could suppress with a single finger. Even if an ancestor had suddenly appeared, he could not possibly be that powerful. They were hardly worth so much scheming from the lord before her.
A sneer curled the old man's lips. "Do not ask any more about this. Just follow my arrangements!"
"Someone wants to use you to probe the Ye Lineage and seize the chance to swallow them whole."
"Heh, daring to snatch food from a tiger's jaws in Heavenly Profound Province! I would like to see who has such gall!"
Seeing the sneer on the old man's face, Ximen Xue could not help shuddering.
Some people were in for trouble!
"Send your people to handle this matter as usual. Do not let anything seem out of the ordinary!"
The old man glanced at Ximen Xue, a vicious look appearing on his face.
"Yes. Then I shall send disciples and elders to the Ye Lineage."
Ximen Xue dared not ask any more, but with this old man here, she feared nothing.
That night, at the Blood Kill Organization's branch in Feng City.
"Branch master, the Four Mountain Ghost Brothers failed!"
A man dressed entirely in black spoke inside the main hall.
At the head of the hall sat a burly man with several scars on his face.
He was Blood Hand, the leader of the Blood Kill Organization in Feng City.
The Blood Kill Organization was an assassin organization renowned throughout the Heavenly Profound Continent. Its influence spread across the continent, its tendrils reaching every corner.
Among all assassin organizations, its strength ranked in the top three.
"They failed? That should not have happened!"
Blood Hand rubbed his chin, somewhat puzzled. "As far as I know, the four of them were targeting a piece of trash at early meridian condensation, weren't they? How could they have failed?"
"Judging by the carnage at the scene, it seems the target killed them instead!"
"Useless trash!"
Blood Hand was somewhat angry.
A few days earlier, a woman had approached him and posted a mission to kill the worthless young master of a minor lineage, someone at early meridian condensation. The payment was one hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones.
He had seen that woman before. She was a core disciple of the Falling Snow Sect, as well as the sect master's disciple.
Killing someone at early meridian condensation would have taken her no more than the flick of a finger. There was no need at all to hire an assassin.
Moreover, one hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones was more than enough to kill a Qi Sea Realm expert, yet it was being spent on someone at early meridian condensation.
He had immediately realized something was wrong and had not dared act rashly.
So he had his subordinate introduce the Four Mountain Ghost Brothers to the woman and let them accept the job. He merely served as the guarantor, holding the payment of one hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones. Once the mission was complete, he would give the Four Mountain Ghost Brothers ten thousand low-grade spirit stones.
Now that the Four Mountain Ghost Brothers had failed, he could only take on the mission himself and dispatch experts from the branch, or return the payment.
"Find someone to finish the job. Remember, leave no loose ends!"
Unwilling to give up such a large payment, he decided to take a risk.
"Yes!"
However, just as the man in black was about to withdraw, a cold snort exploded through the hall.
In an instant, the man in black burst into a mist of blood, leaving neither corpse nor bones.
Blood Hand also felt an immense force crash down on him like Mount Tai, pinning him to the ground and leaving him unable to move.
The strength of this force was beyond anything he had ever heard of or seen.
Then, beneath his utterly terrified gaze, the figure of a man in white slowly appeared.
It was Ye Chen.
That day, he had searched those assassins' souls and learned that they had accepted the mission through the Blood Kill Organization.
As for the employer, they did not know her either.
Thus, he had come here today specifically to learn the details.
He could not be bothered with pointless talk. His sharp gaze swept over Blood Hand, and he directly searched his soul.
A moment later, a cold gleam flashed through Ye Chen's eyes.
"The Falling Snow Sect!"
Then, in the blink of an eye, he appeared above Blood Hand's organization and struck down with his palm, instantly reducing it to drifting ash.
After doing all this, he headed straight for the Falling Snow Sect.
At the Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce in Feng City, Steward Qian stood on the third floor, gazing into the distance.
It was already late at night. Normally, he would have been resting long ago.
He was standing here now because Ye Chen's palm strike had been so powerful that the commotion it caused was no less than yesterday's destruction of the city lord's residence.
Not just him-everyone in Feng City, men and women, young and old, had been startled awake.
"Steward, Blood Hand has been wiped out!"
A black-clad figure appeared behind him, his voice trembling slightly.
"Mm. I know."
Steward Qian spoke calmly.
Not only did he know that Blood Hand had been wiped out, but he also knew that Ye Chen had done it.
A white figure had just flashed above Blood Kill. It had undoubtedly been Ye Chen.
Other than him, no such expert could possibly be in Feng City at present.
Seeing how calm Steward Qian was, the man in black asked in surprise, "Could it have been the same person as yesterday?"
"Yes!"
Steward Qian's expression was grave.
"Steward, with such major incidents happening one after another in Feng City, should we report this to our superiors?"
"If that man can destroy Blood Kill in one blow, he can surely destroy the Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce too!"
The man in black was somewhat worried.
"I have already sent word to our superiors. A Spirit Refinement Realm expert will arrive shortly to oversee things here!"
Hearing this, the man in black finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Spirit Refinement experts were invincible existences in a small nation like the Clear Wind Kingdom.
"Have you made any headway with the matter I told you to investigate?"
"Yes. One of those two people yesterday was the son of the Ye Lineage's patriarch in Clearwater Town, named Ye Yan. The other..."
"What about the other?"
Seeing his hesitation, Steward Qian asked in confusion.
"The other is reportedly an ancestor of the Ye Lineage who had been missing for many years!"
"An ancestor who had been missing for many years?"
Steward Qian murmured, then his brow relaxed. "It seems I guessed correctly. Although that man looks very young, he is actually an old monster. No wonder he is so powerful!"
Earlier, he had feared that Ye Chen really was that young. That would have been truly terrifying, and he would surely have had an immense background behind him.
In that case, he would definitely have had to return those thirty-odd million low-grade spirit stones. Otherwise, given Ye Chen's habit of exterminating people without hesitation, he might wipe him out someday too.
Now that he knew the Ye Lineage's background, and an expert would soon be stationed here, the Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce could rest easy.
He would not have to lose such a huge sum of spirit stones either.
On the outskirts of Black Mountain.
At that moment, five young men around twenty were sitting in a circle.
In the bright light of the campfire, their lecherous smiles were laid bare.
"Young sect master, the Falling Snow Sect's disciples really are something!"
"Absolutely! That disciple called Wang Qian-her figure, her face, both were incredible. Especially her cries. So damn slutty!"
"Ah! I feel like I didn't get enough! Who knows when we'll get another chance to have some fun!"
"You think the Falling Snow Sect is a brothel? If the young sect master hadn't picked us to join him on this mission, do you think such a good thing would have fallen into your lap?"
"Exactly, exactly! We have the young sect master to thank!"
"Young sect master, from now on, I, Zhang San, am your man! Up mountains of blades or down into seas of fire, I won't refuse!"
"Same here!"
"Same here!"
The lavishly dressed young man sitting in the center was the young sect master, his face covered in a smug smile.
"All right, this is only the beginning. The good days are still ahead!"
"Oh? What do you mean?"
The others were all very curious.
Looking at the campfire before him, the young sect master curled his lips into a sneer.
"As far as I know, the sect will soon make its move against the Ye Lineage and the Falling Snow Sect! When that happens, the resources and the women will all be ours!"
"The Ye Lineage? What could the Ye Lineage possibly have?"
The others were all somewhat curious.
"Don't ask questions you shouldn't!"
The young sect master spoke coldly.
They fell silent like cicadas in winter.
But in their eyes, the Ye Lineage was nothing but ants, something they could wipe out whenever they pleased.
Didn't that mean the good days were almost here?
In their excitement, they began fantasizing about the days ahead, with great handfuls of resources in their left hands and Falling Snow Sect disciples in their right arms.
Just then, a white-clad figure slowly appeared behind them, without a sound.
He looked at them, his face icy.