Little Ningning struggled in her grandmother's arms. Catching sight of a crowd of bad guys blocking her mom and dad at the doorway from the window, she began to cry out loudly, "My dad is an immortal! He beats up super-bad guys! Daddy, hurry up and protect Ningning and Mommy..."
"I'll count to three. If you still refuse to kneel, I'll cripple your limbs and flatten Youlong Villa to the ground!"
Seeing that Ye Chen still showed no intention of kneeling, Jiang Feichi lost his patience and pointed straight at Ye Chen, cursing.
*One...*
Jiang Feichi opened his mouth and had barely uttered the single word.
*Whoosh!*
Before the sound of his voice had even faded, Ye Chen had already charged forward.
Before anyone could react, a punch carrying the weight of a thousand catties lashed out fiercely.
*Boom!*
This punch was like an iron hammer falling from the heavens, sending Jiang Feichi flying straight back... *Bang!* But Jiang Feichi didn't fly more than a few meters before he crashed heavily right into the steel bucket of a bulldozer.
*Rumble!*
With a deafening crash, Jiang Feichi spat a mouthful of blood from the sheer force of that punch... He lay inside the steel shovel, unable to stand up no matter how hard he tried.
"Pfft... cough... pfft!"
Blood continuously bubbled from Jiang Feichi's mouth, and soon his nose, eyes, and ears began to bleed as well. His whole body convulsed like someone having an epileptic seizure, as if he were about to die at any second.
Silence!
In an instant, every single sound died away!
Even the bulldozer's engine stalled. Everyone stared at Ye Chen as if looking at an Asura God of Death who had crawled straight up from the depths of hell...
"That was the power of just a single punch? To think, to actually think...!"
Witnessing Jiang Feichi's miserable state, everyone froze, too terrified to utter a single word.
Ye Chen, however, wore a completely nonchalant expression. First, he calmly wiped the traces of blood from his fist, and then said coldly, "The rest of you—do you lot want to kneel and beg for mercy, or do you want to share Jiang Feichi's fate?!"
*Thud!*
*Thud!*
*Thud!*
Before Ye Chen's voice had even faded, the remaining group dropped to their knees in unison... With Jiang Feichi reduced to this state, how could any of them dare to put up a fight?
Yet Ye Chen didn't even look at these young masters. Instead, his gaze slowly shifted toward the trembling Xia Lingwei, and his voice carried the chill of a thousand-year glacier. "It seems you want to go to hell to keep Jiang Feichi company, and become a pair of ill-fated lovers in the netherworld!"
Chapter 29: Morning Exercise
Upon catching Ye Chen's gaze, Xia Lingwei's delicate body shivered, and her legs trembled incessantly like the strings of a plucked pipa.
Finally unable to withstand the oppressive aura radiating from Ye Chen, her legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground with a loud *thud*.
"Kneel for a full three hours, then get lost!"
"If you're even one second short, I'll twist your heads right off your shoulders!"
Ye Chen's anger had been fully aroused, but Little Ningning was watching him from upstairs... Therefore, Ye Chen still chose to give these people one final chance.
He was unwilling to let his daughter see him kill.
With that, Ye Chen turned, took Xia Qingyue's hand, and said softly, "Don't be afraid. I'm here."
"Mm!"
The trembling in Xia Qingyue's body finally subsided the moment Ye Chen grasped her hand.
Back inside the house, Little Ningning ran over in tears. "Daddy, Mommy, Ningning was so scared... Ningning wants a hug."
"Good girl!"
With a doting expression, Ye Chen scooped Little Ningning up into his arms, using his finger to gently wipe away the tear tracks on her cheeks bit by bit. "Don't be scared, Ningning. The bad guys have already been beaten by Daddy!"
"Mm."
The little girl nodded, rubbed her fair, tender little face with the back of her chubby hand, and then wrapped her arms around Ye Chen's neck, saying with a spoiled whine, "Ningning isn't afraid anymore. Ningning is going to sleep with Daddy tonight!"
"Alright, Daddy will sleep with Ningning."
Ye Chen hugged his daughter tightly and glanced at his wife. "It's getting late, let's all go to sleep... Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, Qingcheng, you should stay here in the villa for the night as well."
"Eh? Good, good, good!"
Xia Junjie and Zhang Lan had no idea what to do at this point.
Although Ye Chen's disciples had left, the methods he had just displayed hardly seemed human.
Given the circumstances, they might as well just stay here for now!
Back in the bedroom, Ye Chen first tucked Little Ningning in and coaxed her to sleep. By then, Xia Qingyue had finished washing up and was dressed in a sky-blue silk pajama set. The loose pajamas and silky fabric, illuminated by the indoor lights, failed to conceal the graceful curves of Xia Qingyue's figure in the slightest.
Moreover, because of the wedding dress and makeup, Xia Qingyue felt there was hairspray in her hair, so she had washed it as well.
At that moment, her damp hair fell around her as she tilted her head and dried it with a towel, droplets of water occasionally slipping from her locks to land inside the collar of her clothes.
Seeing this, Ye Chen found it somewhat difficult to pull his gaze away.
"Why aren't you going to wash up..."
Noticing Ye Chen's gaze, Xia Qingyue's pretty face flushed slightly. The romantic atmosphere had been interrupted, but after all, today was their wedding night, so Xia Qingyue was harboring quite a bit of anticipation in her heart as well.
"Ah, right!"
Overjoyed, Ye Chen nodded. Once Xia Qingyue finished drying her hair, he handed Little Ningning over to her.
Then he hurried off to wash up...
"Shh!"
With a flushed face, Xia Qingyue tried to lay Little Ningning onto the bed, only to find that her arm was firmly clutched in the little girl's grip.
Xia Qingyue was already extremely shy, and this scene only made her pretty face burn even hotter. Her watery, peach-blossom eyes didn't even dare to meet Ye Chen's gaze.
"Let me handle it..."
With a wry smile, Ye Chen took Little Ningning back. Midway, Little Ningning opened her eyes to take a look, and upon realizing it was Ye Chen, she wrapped her arms around his arm once more and drifted back to sleep.
One minute,
two minutes...
Half an hour later, Ye Chen began trying to gently set Little Ningning down... only to discover with helpless resignation that Little Ningning absolutely had to cling to someone's arm in order to sleep soundly.
Otherwise, the little girl would whimper uneasily, as if suffering from a nightmare!
"She must have been frightened by Jiang Feichi and the others just now..."
A slight frown furrowed Ye Chen's brow, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes. Those people were still kneeling outside at this very moment.
"Why don't we just let it go? The Jiang Family has immense influence; we shouldn't ask for trouble," Xia Qingyue said, seeing through Ye Chen's thoughts and looking rather worried.
"Alright... let's just hold our daughter and sleep." Holding his wife and daughter, Ye Chen said softly, "Stop letting your mind wander."
...
The next day.
When Ye Chen woke up, Xia Qingyue and Little Ningning were still fast asleep.
During his time on the summit of the Kunlun Mountains, he had grown accustomed to morning exercises, so he changed his clothes and went outside.
By this time, Xia Lingwei and the others kneeling at the gate had already left overnight, and Ye Chen didn't give it another thought—the matter was past, and he couldn't be bothered to settle scores with Jiang Feichi again.
With the kick he delivered last night, Ye Chen had only crippled half of Jiang Feichi's life, which could be considered showing mercy.
If the man proved ungrateful and came to make trouble again, a single kick would be the least of his worries.
Leaving the villa, Ye Chen first went for a light half-hour jog around Green Water Lake. Once his morning run concluded, he sat down beneath a large tree to begin his meditation.
Not long after he sat down, the iron gate of a nearby villa clattered open, and an elderly man dressed in a white Tang suit escorted a young maiden wearing white martial arts training attire out into the open.
At five-thirty in the morning, the entire villa district was exceptionally quiet. Neither the old man nor the young woman noticed Ye Chen. Upon stepping outside, they began practicing their forms near Green Water Lake.
The old man was practicing a routine of Tai Chi. Although his movements were slow, the sound of rushing wind accompanied the sweeps of his palms, causing his sleeves to flutter incessantly...
The young woman stood beside the old man, following along with his movements, though her mastery fell far short of his...
Still, the young maiden performed her Tai Chi rather well. She was blessed with delicate, pretty features, and perhaps due to the practice of martial arts, there was a trace of heroic vigor between her brows. With her dark eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, snow-white skin, and a petite, upturned nose above a pair of full, alluring cherry lips, she cut a striking figure.
She was about the same age as Xia Qingcheng, and as she moved through her postures, her figure beneath the white martial arts uniform was cast into subtle, shifting relief.
At that moment, Ye Chen slowly opened his eyes—his meditation had concluded.
"Sigh, the spiritual energy here is far inferior to the summit of the Kunlun Mountains..."
Muttering to himself, Ye Chen couldn't help shaking his head lightly, a trace of disappointment lingering on his face.
After all, Green Water Villa was located in the prime district of Jinling City, surrounded by picturesque mountains and rivers. If the spiritual energy here was inadequate, other places would likely prove even more dismal!
Unexpectedly, this scene was caught by the practicing Tai Chi maiden. Her delicate eyebrows arched slightly, and wearing a cold, frosty expression, she marched right up to Ye Chen and demanded, "You keep shaking your head and sighing—do you look down on the martial arts I practice?"
"Hm?"
Ye Chen raised his eyelids to take a look. The young woman was quite striking, around eighteen or nineteen years of age, with skin as white as snow, a delicate melon-shaped face, and exquisitely charming facial features...
Clad in a white martial arts uniform with her dark, soft hair tied back behind her head, she cut a remarkably spirited and dashing figure as a breeze swept past.
"Shaking my head?"
Ye Chen blinked in slight surprise before replying, "You might have misunderstood. I wasn't shaking my head to say your martial arts are poor; I was just thinking of some personal matters..."
"What?!"
Hearing this, the melon-shaped-face maiden's pretty face turned frosty. "When it all boils down, you still think my martial arts are poor?!"
Chapter 30: Provocation
Seeing the young girl with her eyebrows arched in anger, Ye Chen was left momentarily speechless.
To him, the girl's Tai Chi really wasn't all that impressive...
Yet his head-shaking just now hadn't carried any intention of mocking her; he had simply felt that the spiritual energy in this place was far too thin!
"I didn't mean that."
Too lazy to offer any further explanation, Ye Chen stood up and prepared to leave.
"Trying to run?"
Seeing this, the young maiden's pretty face grew even colder, threatening to freeze over entirely. She lunged forward with a pushing palm strike, attempting to block his path. "If you don't explain yourself clearly, you're not going anywhere!"
Her pair of fair, delicate hands looked frail and powerless. Yet Ye Chen could sense an undercurrent of Internal Force concealed within the girl's palms. If an ordinary person had been standing in his place, nine times out of ten they would have been sent staggering by her push and tumbled miserably to the ground.
However, Ye Chen was no ordinary person...
Observing her incoming push, he stepped lightly to the side and said, "Young lady, I harbor no ill intentions. Please refrain from pestering me."
"Hmph, 'young lady' is fine—why did you have to tack the word 'little' in front of it?"
A petulant look crossed the maiden's face as she glared at Ye Chen with widened almond eyes. "You really do understand martial arts after all! And yet you were shaking your head and sighing... You were definitely looking down on my Tai Chi! I'll teach you a lesson!"
With that, the girl's momentum shifted, and as she struck out again, the sleeves of her robe snapped audibly in the wind.
"Wan'er, do not be rude!"
Seeing that the girl was turning serious, the elderly man beside them changed expression and shouted urgently.
But it was already too late; the melon-shaped-face maiden had convinced herself that Ye Chen looked down on her, and this time, she held nothing back...
"Sigh."
At this point, Ye Chen was genuinely exasperated. He knew that if he didn't display a couple of tricks, this girl would pester him endlessly.
Without hesitation, he lifted his left hand slightly, and as the girl charged forward, he redirected her momentum with a sweep of his arm... Her hands had originally been aimed at striking Ye Chen's vital acupuncture points, but caught in the leverage of his arm, her body suddenly spun out of control.
"Aah! Aaah! Grandfather, Grandfather, save me!"
Drawn along by a strange, irresistible force no matter how she struggled, the young girl stumbled headlong toward Green Water Lake!
"Wan'er!"
Shocked, the elderly man tried to lunge forward and grab her, but it was already too late. With a loud *thud*, the maiden tumbled straight into Green Water Lake, instantly transforming into a drowned rat.
"Blub, blub..."
Struggling, the girl broke the surface of the water, pointed fiercely at Ye Chen, and shrieked, "Grandfather, this ruffian pushed me into the water! Hurry up and punish him to avenge me!"
"Wan'er, mind your manners!"
The old man cast a glance at his granddaughter before stepping over to Ye Chen, bowing slightly as he spoke. "I had no idea my young friend was also a man of martial arts. That push just now... Although Wan'er was careless, such a technique is beyond this old man's abilities! Might I ask who your master is?"
"My master...?"
Ye Chen shook his head slightly. "My master has already passed away."
"Ah... My condolences, young friend. If your late master could see the achievements you've made in martial arts today, he would smile even in the netherworld."
As the old man spoke, the melon-shaped-face maiden had already swum ashore.
Green Water Lake wasn't deep, but the season was bitterly cold, and combined with the chill of early morning, taking an accidental dip was a thoroughly miserable experience.
"Grandfather, why are you trying to strike up a friendly relationship with him? He pushed me into the water to harm me..."
Looking furious, the young maiden—who had been pampered since childhood and had never suffered such a grievance since she could remember—saw that her grandfather refused to take her side. Disregarding her soaked clothing, she immediately struck a combat stance, prepared to fight Ye Chen to the death.
"Wan'er..."
Frowning, the old man moved to reprimand her, but the girl had already charged forward once again.
"Is this never ending?"
A faint frown creaked between Ye Chen's brows. True, he had pushed her into the water, but since this girl had provoked him repeatedly, teaching her a small lesson was entirely justified.
Besides, Ye Chen had shown restraint; he had only used a fraction of his strength.
Otherwise, falling into the water would have been the least of her concerns—at best she would have suffered severe injuries, and at worst, she'd be dead!
As those four thoughts crossed his mind, Ye Chen increased the force behind his technique by another fraction. Before the girl could even brush against the hem of his clothes, a heavy punch whistling with the force of a howling gale was unleashed.
"Wan'er, be careful! Young friend, show mercy!"
Catching sight of Ye Chen's punch, the old man's heart skipped a beat. He had assumed that simply pushing his granddaughter into the water was the extent of the young man's ability... He never expected this youth had been concealing his true strength.
If a punch carrying such formidable momentum landed on the girl, it would fracture several of her ribs at the very least!
Realizing the danger, the old man didn't dare hesitate. Gathering every ounce of Internal Force within his body, he crossed his arms in an 'X' shape over his chest and threw himself directly in front of his granddaughter, intending to take the blow head-on.
*Thud!*
A dull impact echoed across the clearing, and the old man let out a heavy groan. His arms trembled violently, feeling as though they had been struck by a speeding car.
Not only his arms, but his chest was churning violently as well. If not for the foundation built over decades of training, he would have already spat a mouthful of blood...
"Grandfather! Grandfather, are you alright? Grandfather!"
Seeing her grandfather's face turn as pale as dirt, tears welled up in the maiden's lovely eyes. "Grandfather, grandfather, don't scare me..."
Crying, she spun around and glared at Ye Chen, ready to fight him to the death!
"W-Wait..."
The old man abruptly grabbed his granddaughter's wrist. After regulating his breathing with a few cycles, his lips trembled as he managed to say, "He... he already showed mercy just now. Otherwise, this old life of mine would be gone!"
With those words, the old man rose unsteadily to his feet, walked step-by-step toward Ye Chen, and bowed respectfully. "It was we who acted rashly. We never imagined the mister's martial arts power would be so formidable, and we admit our defeat wholeheartedly. If the mister hadn't held back seventy percent of his strength just now, this old skeleton of mine would likely have perished here."
"You needn't be too modest. To have mastered *The Mysterious Breath Inhalation Technique* in a mere two years... not bad." Ye Chen said calmly.
Just now, when the old man was regulating his breathing, the exact technique he used was none other than *The Mysterious Breath Inhalation Technique*.
This breathing method originated from Kunlun, and Ye Chen had once taught it to a disciple.
However, that disciple hadn't been in touch for quite some time, and when Ye Chen returned to Jinling, that person hadn't shown up either...
"You know *The Mysterious Breath Inhalation Technique*?"
Shock surfaced in the old man's eyes. "Furthermore, you can even state the exact duration of my practice... May I ask, precisely who are you..."
In the span of half a minute, the old man had changed his form of address for Ye Chen twice.
From 'young friend' at the start, to 'mister', and now to the formal respectful pronoun!
"I am Tie Kuangyun's teacher..."
Without concealing his identity, Ye Chen stated each word clearly: "I am Ye Kunlun."
By now, Ye Chen had deduced that *The Mysterious Breath Inhalation Technique* must have been passed down to the old man by Tie Kuangyun... Although the specific reason remained unclear, if the old man had ever heard the name 'Ye Kunlun', the mystery would be solved right here and now!
Chapter 31: Paying Respects to the Grandmaster
"Ye Kunlun?!"
Hearing those three words, the old man's entire body trembled. He dropped abruptly to his knees and shouted aloud, "Your grand-disciple Jiang Yongan pays respects to the Grandmaster!"
Grandmaster?
Hearing this title, Ye Chen couldn't help frowning slightly.
It seemed Tie Kuangyun had taken this old man as a disciple, but... Tie Kuangyun could hardly be considered Ye Chen's final closed-door disciple, so Ye Chen had no desire to play the role of this accidental grandmaster.
"Get up first. You can dispense with the title of Grandmaster."
Ye Chen waved his hand dismissively and then asked, "How did Tie Kuangyun end up taking you as a disciple?"
As far as he knew, Tie Kuangyun was only in his early forties, while the white-haired old man standing before him was at least seventy years old.
Thus, Ye Chen was quite curious how Tie Kuangyun had suddenly decided to take an elderly man as his student.
"Two years ago, this grand-disciple... no, this old man suffered internal injuries in his youth, and visiting countless renowned doctors proved entirely useless."
"Later on, I encountered Master by the lakeside. At the time, he was already severely wounded, and he begged me to do one thing: to bury his family properly after his death..."
"Just then, my internal injuries flared up, and seeing Master covered in wounds with nowhere left to turn, a sense of shared misfortune welled up in my heart, so I agreed."
"I selected a geomantically auspicious plot for Master's family and gave them a grand burial."
"When Master left, he imparted *The Mysterious Breath Inhalation Technique* to me... Back then, I was utterly in despair. Having consulted so many physicians to no avail, I harbored no real hopes. Later, when my chronic ailment flared up again, I simply treated it as a last resort. To my astonishment, after practicing it for several months, not only did the chronic ailment vanish, but my martial prowess grew day by day!"
"However, Master had already left Jinling. Before leaving, he only uttered a single sentence: his master's name was Ye Kunlun, and by learning *The Mysterious Breath Inhalation Technique*, I had become the Grandmaster's grand-disciple..."
Speaking thus, Jiang Yongan dropped to his knees once more. "Master bestowed the gift of life upon this disciple, and he once named Grandmaster... Therefore, I beg Grandmaster not to expel this grand-disciple from the sect."
Beside them, the melon-shaped-face maiden stood utterly dumbstruck.
Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that this exasperating young man turned out to be her grandfather's grandmaster?
Wouldn't that make her lower by one, two, three, four generations in the lineage?