Chapter 6

Lei Liehu's elite guard glared angrily at Ye Lingtian, wishing they could hack him into a thousand pieces. "What should we do? What do we do now?" Chen Xiaoran panicked. Ye Lingtian might actually die here. "We need to notify Uncle and Auntie right away! Let them figure something out!" Zhou Xinyi hurriedly pulled Chen Xiaoran out of the bar. The others, including Shi Xingguang, also rushed to leave; nobody wanted to get dragged into this mess. "Quickly take the young master back to the estate! Bring him along too! Let the Crime Lord deal with him personally!" Several of Lei Liehu's subordinates immediately carried the unconscious Lei Liehu outside. Others moved in to take Ye Lingtian back. "No need to use force, I'll go back with you!" Ye Lingtian was planning to go give Lei Liehu a wake-up call anyway, to blow this matter wide open! Loyalty Manor was the stronghold of the Crime Lord, Lei Liehu. A full thousand hitmen and bodyguards protected the estate. When the news arrived that Lei Liehu's son had been brutally beaten, the entire manor erupted. Even Lei Liehu, fast asleep, was jolted awake! He personally led men to wait at the manor gates! Right now, he wanted to know why this stranger had beaten his son without rhyme or reason.

On the other side. When He Wenqian and Chen Guiyuan learned the news, He Wenqian almost fainted. She naturally understood the reason—Ye Lingtian was taking revenge for her. She burst into tears: "My poor Tian'er, why did you go provoke him?" Chen Guiyuan was furious: "You're saying this bastard actually went and beat Lei Liehu? Isn't that courting death?"

Chapter 13: He Is Untouchable, Let Alone Stoppable!

"Hurry up and find a way to save Tian'er! Offending the Crime Lord means certain death!" He Wenqian cried uncontrollably. "I wonder if Lei Liehu will grant me a favor?" "Forget it, I'll try!" Chen Guiyuan immediately set out to contact some major figures, planning to go together to find the Crime Lord and bail Ye Lingtian out!

At the gates of Loyalty Manor. The formidable and overbearing Lei Liehu waited with a frantic expression, flanked by several private doctors with stretchers on standby. Behind him stood a dense sea of people, every single one gripping a weapon! Soon, two cars arrived at the scene. Seeing his son battered, bloody, and with ten broken fingers, Lei Liehu roared: "Whoever beat my son like this, no matter who you are, I will tear you to pieces!" "Kill, kill, kill!" The thousand men behind him shouted in unison. Afterward, Lei Liehu was rushed away by the private doctors for medical treatment. Ye Lingtian stepped forward to stand before Lei Liehu. A thousand pairs of eyes locked onto Ye Lingtian simultaneously! A completely unfamiliar face! Ye Lingtian also sized them up, his gaze falling upon a middle-aged man standing beside Lei Liehu. He was actually a Martial Grandmaster! A so-called Grandmaster was a master capable of founding their own school of martial arts! A single Grandmaster could rival an entire fully-armed, heavy-weapons-equipped combat battalion! "Who are you? Why did you hurt my son?" Lei Liehu's voice was like a booming bell, shattering everything in its wake. "Lei Liehu, is it? Let me give you a reminder! My name is Ye Lingtian. You hunted down my mother Zhou Xueqing in the past! And you even severed my adoptive mother He Wenqian's finger!" As soon as Ye Lingtian spoke those words, the expressions of Lei Liehu and the Grandmaster beside him changed drastically! "The illegitimate son of the Ye Family! It's actually you? You're still alive?" Lei Liehu exclaimed in shock. "If I weren't alive, how could I take your life?" Ye Lingtian offered a mocking smile. "Impudent punk, running your mouth! You're courting death!" The thugs behind Lei Liehu immediately cursed angrily. "Back then, you severed my adoptive mother's finger. Today, I broke all ten of your son's fingers! We'll call it even!" "But the score between us has only just begun. Lei Liehu, my path of vengeance starts with you as the very first sacrifice!" Lei Liehu's ferocious face twitched violently: "You're nothing more than an illegitimate son! The Longdu Ye Clan has absolutely nothing to do with you! How dare you be so arrogant?" No one in Jiangcheng had ever dared to provoke him like this! "You dare beat my son into this state? I want your life!" Lei Liehu was beside himself with rage. "I'll only give you two days! Gather all your strength and connections! Remember, pull out every single trump card you have! At this exact time two days from now, I'm coming to kill you!" In truth, for Ye Lingtian, crushing Lei Liehu right now was no different from swatting a fly. However, he wanted to use Lei Liehu to let the entire Dragon Kingdom know that he was untouchable, let alone stoppable! Therefore, the bigger this incident became, the better. Yet upon hearing this, Lei Liehu and his men burst out laughing. An illegitimate son actually daring to issue such a challenge to the supreme king of the underworld! Lei Liehu's underlings and thugs flooded Jiangcheng, numbering over ten thousand in total. Among them were hundreds of martial arts experts. Not to mention a Martial Grandmaster holding down the fort! He was the undisputed ruler of Jiangcheng's underworld—and yet some punk was challenging him like this? "Crime Lord! Let's just chop this kid up and feed him to the dogs!" His underlings could no longer stand it. Lei Liehu seemed to think of something, a cold smirk creeping onto the corner of his mouth. "No!" "Kid, you're good. You're the first person in history to ever issue such a challenge to me! I accept your battle challenge! Two days from now, I'll take your head and feed it to the dogs!" In everyone's eyes, dealing with Ye Lingtian was a matter of a single slash. Yet Lei Liehu wanted to use Ye Lingtian to send a shockwave through the entirety of Jiangcheng. Over the past few years, he and his son had been living like ordinary businessmen. It felt as though everyone had forgotten he was once a Crime Lord; he was a ruthless executioner who used to kill without blinking an eye! They shouldn't think that just because he put on a suit, he had completely laid down his butcher's knife! He would use Ye Lingtian to show the entire city of Jiangcheng that the Crime Lord's blade had not grown dull, and that he was stronger than ever before! He also wanted to show everyone just how miserable the consequences of provoking Lei Liehu would be! He wanted to strike fear into the heart of every single person! "Don't run off, kid! I'll have people watching you!" Lei Liehu sneered. After Ye Lingtian left, a hundred men charged out, all assigned to tail him and prevent his escape. The moment he left, Lei Liehu's phone rang. "Hmm? Chen Guiyuan? Right..." "Old Wei, you're calling to plead for him?" "Old Zhou, is this about the same thing? I've already let him go..." Lei Liehu merely mentioned that he had let Ye Lingtian go, omitting any mention of his plan to kill him in two days. After hanging up call after call, Lei Liehu's expression grew icy. "It seems one by one, they've truly forgotten my existence. If this were a decade ago, who in Jiangcheng would dare plead for someone who crossed me?" "Pass down my order: all brothers of the Loyalty Hall are to assemble at Loyalty Manor within a two-day deadline! Anyone who disobeys will be executed without mercy!" "I'm going to let this city of Jiangcheng know that I am still the supreme king!"

Inside the Chen family villa. "How did it go?" He Wenqian and the others asked anxiously. Chen Guiyuan hung up the phone and let out a sigh of relief: "Fortunately, I, Chen Guiyuan, still hold some weight in Jiangcheng! Lei Liehu let him go!" "Phew! That's wonderful!" The heavy stone in He Wenqian's chest finally dropped. Chen Guiyuan beamed with pride: "This kid owes me his life! To save him, do you know how many faces I had to lower myself to and how many bigshots I had to talk into persuading Lei Liehu? It wouldn't be too much for him to kowtow to me a few times, right?" "Mom! Let's kick Ye Lingtian out! Otherwise, something's going to happen sooner or later!" "He's acting just like a rabid dog! I just provoked him with a few casual words, and he actually beat Lei Liehu like that..." Chen Xiaoran seized the opportunity to suggest. Chen Guiyuan chimed in as well: "Mhm, I agree he should be kicked out! He causes trouble the moment he arrives! This time it was the Crime Lord, who will it be next?" "No! Tian'er is my adopted son! How could I possibly kick him out? If he's lacking in other areas, I'll just teach him!" He Wenqian refused flatly. How could she not know the real reason Ye Lingtian did this? He was taking revenge for her! Yet she couldn't possibly say it aloud! Right at that moment, Ye Lingtian returned. "Sorry, Adoptive Mom, I worried you!" Chen Xiaoran and her best friend glared at him furiously. So utterly immature! He was the worst guy they had ever laid eyes on! Chen Guiyuan stared straight at him: "Ye Lingtian, you ought to kowtow three times to me!" "Why?" Ye Lingtian looked puzzled. "Why? If it weren't for me saving you, would you have made it back alive? You beat the Crime Lord's son, and you think your little life could be spared?" "I was the one who contacted eight major figures of Jiangcheng to beg the Crime Lord together, and that's the only reason he let you off the hook! Isn't it the least bit appropriate to kowtow and thank me?" Chen Guiyuan wore a haughty expression. Ye Lingtian chuckled: "First of all, Adoptive Dad, thank you for your trouble, but my return has nothing to do with you whatsoever!" "Boom!" As soon as those words landed, the expressions of Chen Guiyuan and the others shifted completely. Could Ye Lingtian really be this ungrateful? He had clearly saved his life! And yet he denied it? An ingrate! Chen Xiaoran snapped in anger: "Ye Lingtian, how utterly shameless can you be? Do you have any idea what kind of person the Crime Lord is? He's the kind of monster who devours flesh and leaves no bones behind! You beat his son like that, and you actually think he would just let you walk away? If not for my dad, you'd have been chopped into minced meat to feed the dogs long ago!" Ye Lingtian merely smiled: "You guys don't even know the situation, yet you're running your mouths talking nonsense!" "If Lei Liehu dares to block my path, I'll slaughter every single one of his men!" "Pfft!" Chen Xiaoran felt like she was going to vomit blood. Not only was he ungrateful, but he could even brag like this? I give up! I honestly give up!

Chapter 14: Driven Out of the Chen Family!

"Do you have any idea what kind of strength the Crime Lord possesses? And you dare speak such words?" "Not to mention his tens of thousands of thugs and underlings! He has hundreds of martial artists under his command! Have you ever even heard of martial artists?" "And most importantly, he has a Martial Grandmaster by his side!" Chen Guiyuan roared angrily. "Uncle Chen, what is a Martial Grandmaster?" Zhou Xinyi asked, bewildered. Chen Xiaoran, however, knew these details by heart and immediately chimed in: "A Martial Grandmaster can project their inner Qi and kill without leaving a trace! A single Grandmaster is capable of establishing their own martial arts sect! They are supreme overlords who suppress entire regions! Unless you deploy a combat battalion and heavy weaponry, there's simply no way to deal with them!" Chen Guiyuan nodded: "Mhm, exactly! Lei Liehu's Grandmaster, Zhao Feiying, once faced three thousand fully-armed mercenaries overseas alone! After slaughtering over two thousand of them in a single breath, he actually managed to escape!" "What??? Three thousand mercenaries couldn't stop him?" Zhou Xinyi was dumbfounded, her face filled with shock. Chen Guiyuan sighed: "It's safe to say that Lei Liehu's foothold in Jiangcheng is largely thanks to him! Zhao Feiying alone can match an army of thousands. With him around, no one in Jiangcheng can touch Lei Liehu!" He Wenqian's expression was ashen. How could she not know how powerful Lei Liehu was? Zhao Feiying was the very person who had nearly slaughtered Ye Lingtian and his mother back then! And yet, Lei Liehu was merely the weakest among Ye Lingtian's enemies! What could Tian'er possibly use to exact revenge? "People, the most important thing is self-awareness—you need to know your own weight!" "Don't mistake your own ignorance for confidence!"

That night, Jiangcheng and even several surrounding cities were thrown into chaos. Because every single member of the Loyalty Hall had received the Crime Lord's order: over ten thousand men were rushing to assemble at Loyalty Manor. In the twenty years of silence, this was the first time the Loyalty Hall had ever made such a massive move! No one dared to slack off! In the middle of the night, Chen Guiyuan received a phone call. "Old Wei, what is it? In the middle of the night!" An anxious voice came from the other end: "Old Chen, something's happened! Lei Liehu suddenly gave an order to summon all members of the Loyalty Hall! The underworld in Jiangcheng is in total chaos right now... I have a bad feeling something big is about to go down!" Chen Guiyuan's expression changed drastically as well: "Didn't Lei Liehu promise to let him go? Why kick up such a huge fuss now, what is he trying to do?" "Could it have something to do with your adopted son?" At this reminder, Chen Guiyuan immediately got out of bed. He slammed his hand against Ye Lingtian's door, bursting it open. Waking everyone else up in the process. "What is it?" Ye Lingtian watched as everyone forced their way in. "Tell me! Did you cause trouble?" "Lei Liehu suddenly summoned all members of the Loyalty Hall, thousands upon thousands of them are gathering!" Chen Guiyuan stared daggers at Ye Lingtian. He Wenqian nearly fainted on the spot. She had known the Crime Lord wouldn't let this matter slide so easily. "Oh, I told him to gather all his forces. Two days from now, I'm going to kill him!" "So my return had nothing to do with you, Adoptive Dad. It's simply because our decisive battle is in two days!" Ye Lingtian said indifferently. "What?" Chen Guiyuan and the others were dumbstruck. They had never seen anyone issue a battle challenge to the Crime Lord! "Thud!" He Wenqian's vision went black, and she collapsed unconscious. Ye Lingtian hurried forward, placing a hand on his adoptive mother's shoulder, channeling a stream of energy into her body. Soon, He Wenqian came to. "Tian'er, how could you be so reckless? You issued a battle challenge to Lei Liehu?" He Wenqian cried a river of tears. Could anyone who offended the Crime Lord possibly survive? Chen Guiyuan's face turned green; he never could have imagined that Ye Lingtian possessed such boundless audacity. He hurriedly pulled back the curtains and looked outside. Sure enough, people had already surrounded the place! If they weren't the Crime Lord's thugs, who else could they be? Everything Ye Lingtian said was true! Chen Guiyuan instantly understood why Lei Liehu had let Ye Lingtian walk free. He wanted to use this opportunity to send a terrifying message to the entire city of Jiangcheng! Ye Lingtian was a dead man walking! And the Chen family would be implicated as well! At that thought, his head felt ready to explode. To think he had brought about such a catastrophe! Chen Xiaoran was even more furious: "Ye Lingtian, do you have any idea what you've done? You haven't just doomed yourself, you've doomed your adoptive mom! And you've doomed the Chen family!" "Could it be that you're trying to prove your strength to me in this ridiculous way? How childish!" Other members of the Chen family rushed over upon hearing the news, and upon arrival, they unleashed a torrent of fierce abuses directly at Ye Lingtian. He Wenqian wept uncontrollably. She knew Ye Lingtian had only provoked the Crime Lord to avenge her. Yet she couldn't say a word! She felt so wronged on this child's behalf! Ye Lingtian, however, merely sneered: "You're all scared out of your minds over a mere Lei Liehu?" Chen Guofeng was so enraged his hair bristled: "You truly are arrogant beyond belief, looking down on everyone in existence! How dare you utter such words?" Ye Lingtian smiled: "It's not that I look down on everything, it's that you people simply aren't worth a glance in my eyes!" "Lei Liehu might be an unreachable sky to you! But in my eyes, he's as insignificant as an ant!" Chen Xiaoran was utterly speechless. What time was it, and Ye Lingtian was still grandstanding? This was the ceiling of delusional men! Did he genuinely think he had the ability to fight the Crime Lord? The Chen Guofeng household felt like vomiting. Bragging like that to the heavens! "For the safety of the Chen family, he must be kicked out!" Chen Guofeng proposed. "Right! Kick him out!" "Get him out of here!" The Chen family members shouted in unison. Chen Xiaoran and Chen Guiyuan silently gave their tacit approval. If Ye Lingtian wasn't cast out, disaster awaited the Chen family! Seeing this, He Wenqian cried even more sorrowfully. She alone could not protect Ye Lingtian's place in this house. "You all don't believe me, do you? Anything more I say would be a waste of breath! Just wait two days, follow me there, and you'll find out for yourselves!" Ye Lingtian said. Not a single member of the Chen family believed him. Not even his adoptive mother. The bluff was simply too massive! That was the Crime Lord they were talking about! "Get the hell out of here right now!" Chen Guofeng even started shoving Ye Lingtian. "Out!" "Out!" ...... Despite He Wenqian's desperate attempts to shield him, it was completely useless. With a crisis like this on their hands, the Chen family had to look out for themselves! "Actually, I was giving the Chen family a chance! If you stand with me right now and take this gamble, then you will possess boundless wealth, and the future Chen family will stand proudly at the peak of the world!" Ye Lingtian threw out those words for the sake of his adoptive mother. Yet hearing this, the entire Chen family took him for a lunatic. "Get lost! Hurry up and get out of our sight!" "If you don't leave right now, we'll have the security guards throw you out!" The crowd roared in anger. "Fine, I'll leave! I just hope you don't live to regret this!" Ye Lingtian's icy gaze swept across the face of every single person in the Chen family. Unwilling to share hardship with him, and thus unworthy of sharing glory. "Drop the act! Who do you think you are? As if we'd ever regret it!" "Guiyuan! Tell the Crime Lord immediately that the Chen family is severing all ties with this bastard and has driven him out!" "Do whatever he wants with him, kill him or carve him up, it has nothing to do with the Chen family anymore!" The cold words of the Chen family echoed after Ye Lingtian. "Adoptive Mom, remember to apply the medicine every day!" After giving his final instruction, Ye Lingtian turned and walked away from the Chen villa.

Chapter 15: I Command Eighteen Hundred Thousand Grandmasters! Do You Dare Accept This?

From this moment on, the only person he cared about was his adoptive mother. The Chen family had just thrown away their chance! He Wenqian collapsed directly into a faint. The rest of the Chen family breathed a collective sigh of relief. Chen Xiaoran wore a smile on her face. He was finally driven out! However, Ye Lingtian hadn't gone far. He merely headed to the gardens behind the Chen family villa. He still needed to rely on the subterranean ice veins beneath to suppress his Congenital Fire Poison! Soon, the news that Ye Lingtian had been expelled by the Chen family reached Lei Liehu's ears. "Look at that, it worked! The Chen family is already terrified!" "Two days from now, I will make the entire city of Jiangcheng fear me!" That night, the entirety of Jiangcheng was a swirling storm of commotion. Tens of thousands of people converged upon Loyalty Manor. Lei Liehu had originally estimated around ten thousand people at most. Yet unexpectedly, over ten thousand had gathered overnight, with even more still streaming in continuously. The various generals under his command had also cultivated plenty of underlings over the years. This left Lei Liehu exceptionally thrilled. While Lei Liehu's forces were gathering with overwhelming momentum, the experts summoned from across the globe by Ye Lingtian through the Dark Lord's Decree quietly slipped into Jiangcheng, infiltrating its streets, alleys, and every single corner unnoticed. Even the four Guardian Gods of War had no idea where those people had gone. Clearly let through by them, yet they vanished like phantoms. He Wenqian naturally wasn't going to sit back and watch Ye Lingtian march to his death. She would exhaust every possible means to protect him!