"I... I came here to the Ancient Martial Rowe clan with him, for some business."
Hearing Lucy Sun's words, Lily Liang's face shifted—she felt a twinge of discomfort deep down.
The person standing before her—Lucy Sun—was Lily Liang's old classmate.
Though they were classmates, they weren't exactly close.
The Liang family in Tangshan wasn't as powerful as the Shang family's elite clans, but compared to ordinary households, they were still far above average.
Back in high school, Lily Liang was a campus standout thanks to her family's background and her looks and figure.
Plenty of guys wrote her love letters, and all sorts of campus heartthrobs tried to confess to her.
That was just everyday life for her.
As for Lucy Sun, her family wasn't well-off back then, and she didn't have much money. She looked decent, but her personality left a lot to be desired.
She was vain, liked to show off, and loved sucking up to whoever had power.
She often badmouthed Lily Liang behind her back, which led Lily to bring people and publicly beat her up once.
Later, after graduating high school, Lily Liang held a birthday party and invited lots of people to dinner.
She hadn't actually invited Lucy Sun, but Lucy knew there would be plenty of rich heirs at Lily's birthday, so she shamelessly showed up anyway.
Lily didn't kick her out—after all, it was her birthday and she wanted everyone to have fun, so she just let Lucy stay.
Most of Lily's time that day was spent with the Shang family heir. Him showing up to celebrate her birthday was an honor for Lily—it gave her a lot of face.
Especially since the Shang heir brought along a man who wasn't that young—about thirty at the time. Lily didn't know who he was, but the Shang heir treated him with extreme respect.
Later, everyone came over to toast, mostly wanting to get acquainted with the Shang heir who had ties to the Ancient Martial Rowe clan.
Lucy Sun was among them.
Lucy was hoping to meet some rich heirs, so when everyone toasted, she squeezed up front. She never expected the man the Shang heir brought would notice her right away.
That day, the man asked Lucy Sun if she'd be willing to leave with him.
After finishing, Lucy straightened up and glanced at Evan Lin, who was standing nearby.
Even if he took her back as his wife, Lucy Sun was willing.
With her hands behind her back and a cold, arrogant look, Lucy stared at Evan Lin. "Who are you, what status do you have, and what qualifications do you have to be here?"
"This is the Ancient Martial Rowe clan, and as far as I know, there's no one like you here!"
As for how exactly Lucy 'soared to the top,' Lily had no clue.
Until today, seeing Lucy Sun here—after so many years, her looks had only matured a bit, not changed much.
When Lily first saw Lucy just now, she was honestly startled.
She thought maybe seeing an old acquaintance would bring back a little nostalgia.
But Lucy's final words—'You shouldn't have the qualifications to be here'—really pissed Lily off.
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
Lucy Sun leaned in close to Lily Liang, smiling slightly. "Are you that shocked to see me?"
"What a coincidence—I really didn't expect to run into you here."
"Lily, honestly, I really should thank you back then."
Lucy Sun looked dead serious.
"No need to thank me, that's too formal."
Lily Liang gave an awkward smile.
"Of course I should thank you. Back then I just said a few bad things about you at school, and you brought people to beat me up. I still remember that beating to this day."
Lucy Sun's words sent a chill down Lily's spine.
Lily could feel the viciousness and mockery in Lucy Sun's eyes.
"You went around telling people I slept with a teacher, so that's why I beat you up. It's been so long—no need to hold onto it, right?"
Lily Liang's face changed slightly.
That whole incident hit Lily hard at the time.
Rumors spread everywhere, both inside and outside the school.
Back then, Lily was still young—a girl who dreamed about love.
She used to fantasize about a Prince Charming who would give her true love.
At that time, Lily had a top-student boyfriend. But because Lucy Sun spread rumors that Lily had slept with a teacher, the two broke up.
What Lily couldn't accept was that after the breakup, she saw Lucy Sun actively trying to hook up with her ex.
After that, Lily brought people to beat up Lucy, and from then on lost all faith in men. She started treating messing with guys as a hobby, and in college, she went wild—sleeping with all kinds of men.
In the end, it was just a kind of revenge—a way to get back at the pure love that never worked out when she was young.
Now, the old wound was being ripped open again.
Lily's expression turned ugly, and she clenched her fists.
"No, no, no."
Lucy Sun shook her head. "I just said bad things about you. You could've said bad things about me too—that would've been fair."
"But I said bad things, and you used your power to bring people and beat me up. That was wrong."
Lucy glanced at Lily's tightly clenched fists and gave a contemptuous smile. "What's wrong? Your fists look tense—are you thinking about hitting me again?"
"Why don't you give it a try?"
"Hm?"
"I promise, if you slap me, what you'll get in return is the lives of your whole family."
As she said this, Lucy's tone suddenly turned cold.
Lily was startled.
Before Lily could react—
Smack!
Lucy Sun slapped Lily hard across the face.
The slap made Lily's head snap to the side, her hair flying, and half her face turned red.
"That slap was just interest."
Lucy spoke seriously: "I don't mind telling you—these years, I've been following the Pill King."
"My master is the second alchemist under the Pill King, Master Dan Wuwang."
"Now I'm an alchemist myself—do you even know what an alchemist is?"
Lucy Sun smiled slightly.
Hearing this, Lily felt like she’d fallen into an ice cave.
Lily had never seen an alchemist herself, but of course she'd heard of them.
The pills alchemists made could be used by martial artists to cultivate.
And because alchemists were extremely hard to train and those with talent were rare, they were incredibly precious.
Even at the height of the Shang family, they treated alchemists with utmost respect.
Compared to an alchemist, the Liang family was utterly insignificant.
"What do you want?"
Lily gritted her teeth, her tone softening.
"I don't want anything."
Lucy Sun chuckled. "I was planning to come find you when I had time, but who knew you'd deliver yourself right to me."
"What happened back then isn't so easy to let go."
After finishing, Lucy straightened up and glanced at Lin Yi, who was standing nearby.
"And you."
With her hands behind her back and a cold, arrogant look, Lucy stared at Lin Yi. "Who are you, what status do you have, and what qualifications do you have to be here?"
"This is the Ancient Martial Luo Family, and as far as I know, there's no one like you here!"