Twenty kilometers from the Public Auction venue stood a vast, heavily guarded manor.
Inside the manor, armed soldiers patrolled everywhere. This was the residence of General Chachai, one of Blackfield’s five major warlords.
Inside the manor’s study.
General Chachai, dressed in a military uniform and standing tall with white hair, was reading a document—a detailed investigation report. The subject of the report was Ian Song.
As he closed the file, Chachai’s usually calm expression showed a hint of emotion.
He stared at the young officer standing before him and asked in a deep voice, "Is this report accurate?"
"Yes, General. I’ve verified it multiple times—it’s absolutely accurate," the young officer replied solemnly.
"Good!" Chachai nodded. "Where is he now?"
"He should arrive here in about ten minutes!" the young officer answered with precision.
Chachai waved his hand. "Pass down my orders—I’ll go greet him personally!"
"General, isn’t that a bit too formal?" The young officer was shocked. In his eyes, Chachai was one of Blackfield’s five warlords, commanding three full divisions of regular troops—a true regional powerhouse. Yet now he was going to personally welcome a teenager from the Yanhuang Republic.
"Just do as I say!" Chachai’s face darkened.
"Yes, General!"
After dismissing his subordinate, Chachai’s expression grew thoughtful. In truth, he wasn’t Blackfield-born at all, but a pure-blooded Yanhuang native. When he was seven, disaster struck his sect, and nearly a thousand members were slaughtered.
Only his master managed to escape with him, and in desperation, they fled to Blackfield.
To evade their enemies, master and disciple had to hide their identities and lived a life of hardship.
When he was twelve, his gravely injured master finally couldn’t hold on and passed away. Chachai still remembered his master’s dying words: "My disciple, once I’m gone, no one will be able to protect you. Promise me you’ll live well. As for avenging our sect, don’t even think about it—unless one day you reach Innate Ninth Layer!"
The year his master died, Blackfield was in the midst of chaotic warlord infighting.
To survive, he joined the forces of a minor warlord and became a child soldier.
But within two years, that warlord was wiped out by a rival, and Chachai simply joined the victor’s ranks.
Ten years later, at twenty-two, he broke through to Innate First Layer.
Once he reached the Innate realm, ordinary bullets could barely hurt him. No longer needing to hide his strength, he fought fiercely on the battlefield and soon caught the attention of his warlord patron.
Eventually, the warlord even married his daughter to him and handed over command of ten thousand troops.
After taking charge, he immediately set about reorganizing the troops and enforcing discipline.
In just one year, the morale of his ten thousand soldiers soared, and their combat power multiplied.
From the second year onward, he led his troops to conquer east and west. In only five years, he became one of Blackfield’s five great warlords, commanding fifty thousand men. At the same time, his cultivation reached the formidable Innate Sixth Layer.
Worried that enemies from his homeland would come for him, he abandoned his old identity and became a Blackfield native.
But just as he was about to continue his campaigns and wipe out the other warlords, a group of Innate martial artists launched a surprise attack on him.
His martial skills, honed on the battlefield, were incredibly strong.
After a fierce fight, he killed all ten-plus Innate attackers, but his dantian was severely injured. It took over half a year to recover, and even then, his strength had dropped to about Innate Third Layer.
With his power diminished, he could no longer hope to crush the other four warlords and unify Blackfield. After all, those four were no pushovers—if they could send Innate assassins after him once, they could do it again.
So, for the next decade or so, he could only hold his territory. His forces shrank from fifty thousand to thirty thousand. Of course, those twenty thousand didn’t disappear—they split up and infiltrated the Yanhuang Republic.
Though his master had told him on his deathbed that he could only seek vengeance after reaching Innate Ninth Layer,
he never forgot the sect’s blood feud. Sending those twenty thousand men into the Yanhuang Republic was all part of his plan for revenge.
This year’s Public Auction caught his attention because of Ian Song’s massive purchases.
He soon discovered that Ian Song was close with his old friend Harold Han, so he mobilized his Yanhuang intelligence network to investigate Ian.
The investigation results left him stunned.
Ian Song wasn’t some spoiled rich kid or second-generation heir, but a powerful martial artist.
If his guess was right, this seventeen-year-old’s cultivation was already above Innate Second Layer.
Seventeen years old and Innate Second Layer—a true martial prodigy. He himself hadn’t reached Innate First Layer until he was twenty-two.