"This is the first time I've ever heard of such a thing. I must see what kind of sacred being this is."
Qi Shanhai leaned on his cane and walked out, surrounded by a large crowd.
"Grandfather! This person called you out by name, and his martial arts are extraordinary! All these bodyguards were beaten to the ground by him!"
Upon seeing Qi Shanhai, Qi Yanran immediately stepped forward to explain the situation.
Nearby, a man with a flat top glanced at the bodyguards rolling all over the floor and cursed in dissatisfaction, "Useless trash! A bunch of useless trash!"
He was none other than the human weapon and top-tier bodyguard, Li Dazhong!
Upon learning of the situation, Qi Shanhai only looked slightly surprised.
Qi Shanhai maintained a calm expression. "No matter! With Li Dazhong here, no one can even think of invading our Qi Family by half a step!"
The other members of the Qi Family were furious. "No one has ever dared to hurt our people! This is courting death!"
"Little brat, kneel and kowtow immediately! Perhaps we'll spare your dog's life!"
Instead of directly asking about Ye Lingtian's intentions, Qi Shanhai waved at Li Dazhong, signaling him to take the person down first.
Li Dazhong slowly walked toward Ye Lingtian, speaking in broken Dragon Kingdom language, "Little brat, do you know who I am? The Blue House's number one... *Slap!*"
Before he could even finish his sentence, Ye Lingtian's voice rang out, "Do you even have a speaking part here? Get lost!"
With that momentum, he struck him across the face.
In an instant, Li Dazhong was hit as if by a truck speeding at five hundred miles per hour.
His entire body flew straight backward.
A mouthful of white teeth, mixed with streaks of blood, all fell out of his mouth.
"*Crack!*"
Like a cannonball fired from a barrel, Li Dazhong shot forward, instantly shattering the main gate of Gunan Villa Number One and carving out a human-shaped gap.
Without losing momentum, he flew another several hundred meters before crashing heavily onto the ground, blasting out a large crater. He curled into a ball, convulsed a few times, and went completely still.
Silence!
The entire scene fell dead silent!
Chapter 24: How Did You Get the Ring?
Chapter 24: How Did You Get the Ring?
Everyone in the Qi Family was utterly dumbfounded.
Their gazes were all locked onto the trajectory of Li Dazhong's flight just moments ago.
They looked like walking corpses!
Never in their wildest dreams could they have imagined this outcome!
They hadn't even managed to see how Ye Lingtian made his move!
"Qi Shanhai!"
Ye Lingtian called out.
Only then were the members of the Qi Family jolted awake from their shock.
Their eyes filled with terror and dread as they looked at Ye Lingtian.
Qi Shanhai's body trembled. This young man was simply invincible.
How did he pull this off?
A single slap carried such immense power?
And that was the Blue House's number one bodyguard!
A human weapon!
A grandmaster with the potential of a War God!
He was insane!
This was far too terrifying!
The crucial point was that he was only in his early twenties!
He was most likely a Great Grandmaster!
A Great Grandmaster in his early twenties could be counted on one hand across the entire Dragon Kingdom!
From what he had heard, only the four great guardian War Gods, including the Kunlun War God, had reached the Great Grandmaster level at this age!
Only now did the Qi Family realize just how terrifying the visitor was.
Qi Yanran, the proud favored daughter of heaven, looked as though her eyeballs were about to pop out.
This person, whom she hadn't even deigned to look at a second time, had actually sent Li Dazhong flying with a single slap?
Qi Shanhai immediately caved. "Great figure... how exactly did my Qi Family offend you? This should be our first time meeting, right?"
Ye Lingtian nodded. "Indeed. But you took my mother's ring! I've come to get it back!"
"Ah? Your mother's ring?"
Seemingly recalling something, Qi Shanhai trembled all over.
"There is indeed a ring! I'll go get it right now!"
Taking Ye Lingtian with him, Qi Shanhai hurried into his collection room, retrieved a box, and handed it to Ye Lingtian.
Upon opening it, inside lay a band ring inlaid with a fairly large blood-red gemstone!
Ye Lingtian immediately examined it, but could not discern any profound mystery.
It was simply a super rare gemstone, devoid of any strange energies or the like.
Puttng the ring away, Ye Lingtian's expression suddenly shifted as he fixed his gaze on Qi Shanhai and the others.
That majestic aura directly pressed down on Qi Shanhai and the others, forcing them to their knees.
"How did you get this ring? Was it snatched from my mother's hands?"
Ye Lingtian demanded.
This scared Qi Shanhai so badly he almost vomited blood.
"Ah? No! Great figure, I honestly don't know who your mother is! Twenty years ago, Chen Guofeng from the Chen Family sold this ring to me for seventy million, claiming it contained great mysteries! He said there was a secret hidden within the ring! I bought it because the gemstone on it was rare, but I've never been able to figure out what mystery lies inside!"
Ye Lingtian didn't take in any of the subsequent words; he only caught the name Chen Guofeng.
It really was the Chen Family!
"I'm taking the ring. How much is it? My maid will pay you!"
Having secured the ring, Ye Lingtian left in a hurry.
Just then, a Rolls-Royce arrived at Gunan Villa Number One.
Xu Yourong stepped out and brushed past Ye Lingtian.
"Go inside and pay!"
Ye Lingtian vanished in an instant, though his voice lingered.
Just as the members of the Qi Family were filled with confusion, a stunning woman arrived, instantly eclipsing Qi Yanran.
"Hello, I'm here to pay on behalf of my master!"
Xu Yourong said.
"You... aren't you Xu Yourong, the Dragon Kingdom general manager of the Black Gold Consortium? You're actually the master's maid?"
Qi Shanhai recognized her.
Xu Yourong smiled. "That's right, I am my master's maid! This is the greatest honor of my life!"
"Boom!"
The members of the Qi Family felt as though their minds were about to split open!
Just what kind of identity did he have?
The queen of the Black Gold Consortium was his maid?
Forge a connection!
They had to forge a connection!
Seeing hope, Qi Shanhai immediately said in an excited tone, "Ms. Xu! How could we ever dare accept payment? Besides, the ring originally belonged to the great figure's mother; it's merely being returned to its rightful owner. Not only that, but we must also go and apologize in person!"
Chapter 25: Daring to Do It But Not Daring to Own Up?
Chapter 25: Daring to Do It But Not Daring to Own Up?
At that moment, in the Chen Family estate.
Chen Shihao and his group sneered, "Grandfather, I heard that punk Ye Lingtian is looking for his mother's ring. What the hell does that have to do with us?"
Yet Chen Guofeng's expression turned peculiar, and he couldn't help but say, "It actually does have to do with us!"
"Ah?"
Everyone turned their gazes in unison toward Chen Guofeng, filled with doubt.
"Back then, this kid's mother sought me out and said that to thank Guiyuan and his wife, she wanted me to hand over a gemstone-inlaid ring to them on her behalf! She also said a secret was hidden within this ring, one sufficient to allow the Chen Family to rise to prominence!"
"Yet after pondering over it for half a day, I couldn't figure out what secret was hidden inside, and nobody I asked could crack it either. It just so happened that King of Buildings Qi Shanhai was interested in the gemstone on the ring, so I sold it to him for seventy million!"
"It's fair to say that the Chen Family's success today rests entirely on those seventy million!"
Hearing this, the members of the Chen Family were shocked. Never did they expect that they owed their current status entirely to Ye Lingtian's mother!
Chen Guofeng then admonished every single one of them. "However, you must keep your mouths shut no matter what! Do not tell a single soul, especially the Third Branch. Absolutely under no circumstances are you to speak of it! We will deny this matter entirely!"
"Understood!"
Everyone nodded in succession.
At that moment, Ye Lingtian returned to Junting Villa.
He happened to run into Chen Xiaoran and her parents returning from a walk.
"Adoptive mother, my guess was spot on! My mother's ring was indeed with the Chen Family back then!"
Ye Lingtian said.
The expressions of Chen Guiyuan and his daughter instantly darkened. "Ye Lingtian, what nonsense are you spouting? You're framing us! It's been twenty years, and I have no idea about any ring!"
"Adoptive father, I'm not talking about you; I'm talking about your old man!"
As soon as those words left his mouth, Chen Guiyuan grew even angrier. "Ye Lingtian, what are you trying to do?! Now you're pinning accusations on my dad? Our Chen Family is also a prominent and reputable clan; would we covet a lousy ring of yours?"
"Ye Lingtian, are you trying to extort people? Fine, we admit it—how much money do you want? I'll give it to you!"
Chen Xiaoran felt an even deeper disgust.
This man Ye Lingtian was rotten to the core!
He Wenqian couldn't figure it out either. Why was he so convinced that the Chen Family had taken Zhou Xueqing's ring?
She had never even seen it!
"Whether your old man took it or not, we'll know as soon as we confront him face-to-face!"
Ye Lingtian said.
Chen Guiyuan immediately agreed. "Let's go! We'll go confront him! If he didn't take it, you just wait!"
Before long, the four of them arrived at the Chen Family estate.
"Third Branch, why are you all here?"
Chen Guofeng asked with a guilty conscience.
Speak of the devil!
"Dad! This punk Ye Lingtian claims that his mother's ring was lost at our Chen Family and that you took it! Is there any truth to this?"
As soon as these words were spoken.
The Chen Family was practically sent into an uproar.
They had just been discussing this very matter.
It had scared the life out of them.
The expressions of Chen Shihao and the others instantly turned ugly.
As an old fox, Chen Guofeng remained calm on the outside and immediately denied it. "I took his mother's ring? How ridiculous! I don't even know who his mother is! What do you Third Branch people mean by this? Is he interrogating me?"
On this point, He Wenqian still believed him.
Back then, the old man truly had never laid eyes on Zhou Xueqing.
Let alone taken any so-called ring.
Chen Guiyuan and his daughter were furious. "Did you hear that? He didn't take it! He doesn't even know your mother! What else do you have to say?"
Yet Ye Lingtian had caught every single detail: the flash of panic that had crossed Chen Guofeng's face just moments before, as well as the reactions of Chen Shihao and the others.
They had guilty consciences!
Chen Guofeng was lying and denying it!
"What? Chen Guofeng, you dare to do it but don't dare to own up?"
Ye Lingtian sneered.
That single sentence enraged the entire Chen Family.
Chapter 26: Refusing to Admit It to the Death!
Chapter 26: Refusing to Admit It to the Death!
"Impudent wretch, do you have any idea what you're saying?"
Chen Guiyuan looked as though he wanted to slap Ye Lingtian across the face.
Chen Shihao and the others also began raining verbal abuse down on Ye Lingtian.
"What do you mean? Spell it out! Your mother lost her ring—what does that have to do with our Chen Family?"
"Furthermore, our Chen Family is a wealthy clan. Would we cast our eyes on a lousy ring?"
Ye Lingtian smiled. "As far as I know, twenty years ago the Chen Family was merely a seventh- or eighth-tier existence in Jiangcheng, right?"
Chen Guofeng was startled; he even knew about that.
"A lousy ring? Chen Guofeng, you sold it for a full seventy million! Seventy million twenty years ago! The Chen Family's success today rests entirely on my mother's ring, doesn't it?"
When Ye Lingtian dropped these words, Chen Guofeng's body shuddered, and he nearly collapsed backward into his chair.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
The other members of the Chen Family also lost their composure one by one, trembling and coughing...
Never in their wildest dreams had they expected Ye Lingtian to know about all of this.
And in such detail?
How... how... how on earth did he find out?
However, Chen Guiyuan and his daughter immediately shouted, "Ye Lingtian, you're talking nonsense! You're spouting malicious slander! You're framing us!"
He Wenqian chimed in with persuasion, "Tian'er, stop making a fuss! There's no such thing at all!"
Yet Chen Guofeng wasn't afraid.
Even if Ye Lingtian knew, it was useless since there was no proof!
As for evidence?
That was in the hands of the King of Buildings, Qi Shanhai!
With Ye Lingtian's abilities, it was simply impossible for him to get his hands on the evidence!
As long as they bit the bullet and refused to admit it, Ye Lingtian wouldn't be able to do a single thing about it!
"What kind of fabrication are you spinning? This is malicious framing and slander against me! He Wenqian, is this your fine adopted son?"
Chen Guofeng raged.
The other members of the Chen Family also stubbornly refused to admit it.
"There's no such thing whatsoever! The old man doesn't even know your mother, let alone anything about a ring!"
"If you want to extort us, just say so! You want money, is it? Take it! Now get lost!"
Chen Shihao even flung a wad of cash right in front of Ye Lingtian.
"Ye Lingtian, didn't you say my grandfather sold your mother's ring? Fine! Produce the evidence! Then we'll believe you!"
Chen Xiaoran's words were sharp and struck straight at the vital point.
Chen Guofeng and the others hypocritically chimed in, "That's right, bring out the evidence!"
"Produce the evidence and we'll believe it!"
Since the evidence was in the hands of the King of Buildings, it was equivalent to having no evidence at all.
Therefore, they felt completely secure and fearless.
"Fine, you want evidence, do you? I'll show it to you!"
Ye Lingtian thrust his right hand into his pocket, intending to pull the ring out, but suddenly a hand tightly grabbed his arm, stopping him from taking it out.
It was none other than his adoptive mother!
He Wenqian already believed it.
She hadn't believed Ye Lingtian's earlier jokes.
But seeing how far the investigation had reached, she believed it now—perhaps Ye Changsheng was helping him behind the scenes.
Yet she couldn't let Ye Lingtian produce the evidence. Doing so would be equivalent to exposing Chen Guofeng right to his face.
That kind of outcome would be good for no one.
It could lead to a permanent rupture in her relationship with the Chen Family.
The Chen Family was also a prominent clan, and Chen Guiyuan and the others were people who cared deeply about face.
If this charge was made to stick, the Chen Family would lose all their dignity.
"Don't!"
He Wenqian gently shook her head.
Ye Lingtian understood his adoptive mother's intent. Changing his tune, he said, "Fine, old man, I won't pursue this matter. But do me the favor of telling me my mother's whereabouts! Where did she go?"
Yet because Ye Lingtian had abruptly changed the subject, in Chen Xiaoran's eyes, this meant he simply had no evidence at all.
After framing and slandering her grandfather, he just wanted to act like nothing had happened.
She wouldn't stand for it!
"You're dropping it? Why aren't you pursuing it anymore? Ye Lingtian, either you produce the evidence today, or you kneel on the ground and kowtow in apology to my grandfather! Otherwise, this matter isn't over!"
Chapter 27: Ye Lingtian, I Look Down on You!
Chapter 27: Ye Lingtian, I Look Down on You!
Seeing this, Chen Guofeng became even more certain that Ye Lingtian had no evidence and lacked the capability to acquire it.
He sneered, "What is my reputation, Chen Guofeng? Who in Jiangcheng doesn't give a thumbs-up when they hear my name! Yet today, an outsider actually frames me for stealing his mother's ring and selling it for seventy million? If word of this gets out, how am I supposed to show my face in Jiangcheng? I've lost all my dignity!"
"*Slap!*"
With that, Chen Guofeng even dealt himself a vicious slap across the face.
"Dad! (Grandfather!)"
Everyone panicked.
Chen Guiyuan was burning with rage. He pointed straight at Ye Lingtian and shouted, "Kneel, kowtow, and apologize! Otherwise, this isn't over!"
Ye Lingtian's body trembled slightly.
If not for his adoptive mother, he would have suppressed and slain every single person present.
He wanted to hurl the evidence right into Chen Guofeng's face on the spot and summon Qi Shanhai to testify in person!
Yet his adoptive mother was pulling him back with all her might, resolutely forbidding him from taking it out.
"Child, no! Adoptive mother is begging you!"
He Wenqian pleaded in a low, bitter voice.
"Kneel and kowtow in apology!!!"
"At least eighteen loud kowtows!"
...
The members of the Chen Family pressed in aggressively.
Ye Lingtian hesitated, the veins bulging on his arm.
If not for his adoptive mother?
Did he even need evidence?
If they refused to confess, he'd just slap a few of them to death!
If he produced the evidence now, he could expose Chen Guofeng on the spot, but how would his adoptive mother manage to live within the Chen Family after that?
It would directly impact his adoptive mother's household.
In the end, Ye Lingtian loosened his grip and yielded to his adoptive mother's request.
"Forget it, forget it. Can I really lower myself to the level of a kid? Remember, watch your mouth next time!"
Chen Guofeng smiled and waved his hand dismissively.
"Dad, I'm sorry for causing you trouble. I'll make sure to discipline Tian'er when we get back!"
He Wenqian immediately apologized.
"We'll talk when we get home. This is utterly humiliating!!!"
Chen Guiyuan stormed off in a huff.
Chen Xiaoran glared fiercely at Ye Lingtian. "I look down on you!"
After Ye Lingtian and the others left, Chen Guofeng and the group burst into laughter.
"Hahaha..."
"That was close, I was scared to death. I really thought he was going to produce evidence!"
"Isn't that the truth? He actually knew about all of that!"
Lingering fear gripped everyone's hearts.
Chen Guofeng sneered repeatedly, "Want to expose me? Impossible! With his capability, he'll never even touch the level of the King of Buildings in his lifetime, let alone get his hands on evidence!"
"From now on, stick to this: bite the bullet and deny it to the death! He has no moves left! And you must absolutely not tell the Third Branch's family!"
Upon returning to Junting Villa, Chen Guiyuan flew into a rage, blowing his beard and staring in fury.
Chen Xiaoran was truly speechless!
"Ye Lingtian, can you just behave yourself? Stop stirring up trouble! How long have you even been here? First you provoke a gang leader, and now you frame my grandfather! Does our Chen Family owe you something?"
He Wenqian hurriedly led Ye Lingtian back to his room.
Right at that moment, Xu Yourong's side had finished investigating the situation from back then and sent the details over.
After soothing her husband and daughter, He Wenqian came to Ye Lingtian's room and looked at him with heartache. "Child, you've been wronged. Adoptive mother thanks you!"
"Adoptive mother, it's nothing. I've already gotten the ring back. I just wanted to ask about my mother's whereabouts! Where did she go?"
When he produced the ring, He Wenqian knew her guess had been right.
"Adoptive mother, actually, after my mother sent me overseas back then, she came back to Jiangcheng! In her haste, she gave this ring to Chen Guofeng, actually intending for him to pass it on to you! It was meant as a token of gratitude! But the ring got sold."
"I won't give this ring to you all; it doesn't have much use for you right now. As for the Chen Family's business, the ancient medical formula I gave to adoptive father is more than enough!"
Chapter 28: The Person with the Most Kept-Up-to-Date Intelligence!
Chapter 28: The Person with the Most Kept-Up-to-Date Intelligence!
"Ah? An ancient medical formula? Understood!"
A strange flash crossed He Wenqian's face.
She knew that Chen Guiyuan had long since thrown that piece of paper away.
Yet she felt too embarrassed to tell Ye Lingtian.
Above all, she hadn't taken it seriously herself.
Meanwhile, Shang Hongwei, Xiang Haiwen, and the others had reached the final stages of researching the Black Ginseng Jade Bone Ointment.
They had already secured approval from the medical department and were ready for mass production and market release.
Naturally, the medicinal herbs demanded by this ancient formula were all of the highest grade, such as black ginseng and jade bone grass.
Finding any substantial quantity was utterly impossible, let alone mass-producing it.
The Black Ginseng Jade Bone Ointment given to his adoptive mother used the absolute top-tier medicinal ingredients.
The raw ingredients alone in that single box were worth at least several hundred million!
Let alone the finished product.
However, Shang Hongwei and his team had found lower-cost substitute herbs that could be used for mass production while still delivering significant results.
Yet Chen Guiyuan remained entirely oblivious to all of this.
"Alright, go say hello to your adoptive father and Xiaoran and patch things up!"
He Wenqian pulled Ye Lingtian out.
Chen Guiyuan's anger had already dissipated. "Don't pull stunt like that next time; it makes me angry!"
"Understood, adoptive father!"
Ye Lingtian nodded.
Afterward, he asked, "Adoptive mother, do you know about San Ye?"
Xu Yourong had just discovered that there was a faction in Jiangcheng specializing in intelligence and information trading, and their boss went by the name San Ye.
He was the person with the most up-to-date intelligence network in Jiangcheng.
Perhaps he knew his mother's whereabouts.