"Patriarch Li, weren’t you going to kill my Chu Family’s butler? Why aren’t you making a move?"
Ian Song’s voice rang out again, brimming with disgust and mockery.
Faced with Ian’s pressing question, Stephen Li’s face grew even uglier as he instinctively glanced toward Roger Qin and the other two.
But all three deliberately turned their heads away, pretending not to see. Stephen Li had brought this on himself, and none of them wanted to be dragged down with him.
Seeing that none of the three would speak up for him, Stephen Li felt a wave of despair—but even more, he resented Roger Qin and the others.
"Still not making a move?"
Ian continued to urge him.
Suddenly, Stephen Li jerked his head up, glaring at Ian with a twisted expression. "Evan Chu, don’t push me too far! My Lee Family may not be as strong as yours, but if we fight, your Chu Family won’t have an easy time!"
"Heh!"
Ian just laughed, a touch of scorn in his voice. Then, with a flash of sword light, a head flew into the air.
After a moment, the severed head tumbled to the ground, its eyes wide open, filled with disbelief and unwillingness.
Seeing Stephen Li killed, Roger Qin and the other two weren’t surprised—instead, their fear of Ian deepened.
Having decapitated Stephen Li with a single sword strike, Ian acted as if nothing had happened and said to Roger Qin and the others, "Of the Lee Family’s industries, my Chu Family will take forty percent. The remaining sixty percent, you three uncles can divide as you see fit. How about it?"
The three men’s faces lit up at his words. They’d thought the Lee Family’s assets were out of reach, but Ian was actually offering them sixty percent to split.
Of course they didn’t refuse—each nodded eagerly in agreement.
"I’ve set a modest table in the inner courtyard. I hope you three uncles won’t mind sharing a drink with me!" Ian said with a smile.
"Of course not!"
After some polite conversation, the four of them laughed and chatted as they walked into the inner courtyard. The three patriarchs instinctively fell a step behind Ian, while Stephen Li—now dead—was left behind, no one caring about him anymore.
Half an hour later, Roger Qin and the other two left the Chu estate, faces flushed with happiness.
Immediately, two pieces of news spread through Gracefield Town: first, Evan Chu is alive; second, Lee Family patriarch Stephen Li offended Evan Chu and was beheaded by him on the spot!
That same night, shouts and battle cries broke out all across Gracefield Town.
By the end of the night, the Lee Family was formally erased from Gracefield Town, and its assets were split among four clans.
Two days passed in a flash.
Gracefield Town seemed peaceful once more, but over in Maplecloud City, the Feng Family was anything but calm—the air was tense and restless.
"So? Have any of the spies we sent to Gracefield Town returned yet?" Arthur Feng asked a middle-aged man with a bushy mustache.
The mustached man was Howard Fu, Arthur Feng’s chief strategist and head of intelligence.
"No," Howard Fu said, shaking his head helplessly.
Howard Fu shook his head again. "This is the fifth batch of spies I’ve sent, but not a single one has come back!"
"Why is that?" Arthur Feng couldn’t help but ask.
Howard Fu replied seriously, "There’s been no news from Gracefield Town, but I’ve gathered plenty of information from Changyang Town about Evan Chu. He’s no ordinary person. A few months ago, his uncle Drake Chu crippled his cultivation and expelled him from the Chu Family. But just days ago, not only did he recover, his strength skyrocketed from Body Tempering Seventh Layer to the peak of the Divine Sea Realm. He killed Drake Chu and reclaimed the Chu Family!
For a normal martial artist, going from Body Tempering to Divine Sea would take decades—but he did it in just a few months. So I suspect there’s at least a Sigil Condensation–Stage master standing behind Evan Chu!"
"Oh? Why do you think that?" Arthur Feng was visibly moved.
"First, an ordinary Core Formation expert can repair a shattered dantian, but it’s extremely difficult. Only a Sigil Condensation–Stage master could easily rebuild Evan Chu’s dantian. Second, Elder Ethan Xu has been at Core Formation for ten years and is much stronger than most. Even peak Core Formation experts would struggle to kill him. But Ethan Xu hasn’t returned, which means he’s likely dead. Only a Sigil Condensation master could kill him so easily!"
"If Evan Chu really has a Sigil Condensation master backing him, our Feng Family is in serious trouble!" Arthur Feng said, his face full of worry.
"Not necessarily," Howard Fu said, shaking his head again.
Howard Fu continued, "If that Sigil Condensation master wanted to cause trouble for the Feng Family, he would’ve come in these last two days. Besides, our clan has centuries of heritage—even a Sigil Condensation expert would hesitate to provoke us. As long as we don’t go looking for trouble with Evan Chu, he probably won’t bother with us."
Arthur Feng felt much more at ease after hearing this.
"Alright then. In that case, let’s stop sending spies to Gracefield Town. After some time, we’ll send a gift to smooth things over with Evan Chu." Although Arthur Feng was reluctant to lose a Core Formation expert, the risk to the Feng Family was too great.
The next morning, at dawn.
At the Chu estate, in the patriarch’s private courtyard, Ian Song was instructing Chloe Snow in her cultivation.
After this period of training, Chloe Snow could now perform the Chu Family’s basic fist and palm techniques with real skill. Her once sallow, malnourished face had regained a healthy rosy glow.
"Big brother, was that okay?"
Finishing a set of palm techniques, Chloe’s nose glistened with sweat as she looked at Ian with hopeful eyes.
"Not bad. Here, swallow this pill!"
Ian took out a Marrow-Cleansing Pill and handed it to Chloe, gesturing for her to open her mouth.
He’d waited until now to give her the pill because her constitution had been too weak before; he’d worried she couldn’t handle its effects. But after this period of conditioning, her body was finally up to normal strength.
"Okay!"
Chloe nodded sweetly and swallowed the Marrow-Cleansing Pill. Instantly, she felt a surge of heat inside her, and impurities began pouring out of her body, turning her into a little 'mud person.'
"Big brother, what’s happening to me?" Chloe cried out in surprise.
"It’s fine. This is just the process of washing the marrow and cutting away impurities. You can clean up in a bit!"
Half an hour later.
After changing into fresh clothes, Chloe reappeared before Ian. Her black hair was still damp, but her cheeks were rosy and she looked especially adorable.
Next, Ian selected an immortal cultivation method and passed it on to Chloe.
Ten days slipped by quickly.
After training with the immortal method, Chloe had grown noticeably taller, and her cultivation reached the Second Layer of the Qi-Refining Stage.
Ian summoned the four elders, gave them instructions, and began preparing to leave Gracefield Town.
After all, the System had only given him one year—and besides, he’d long wanted to see more of the world.
So, that night, he quietly left Gracefield Town with Chloe Snow.
He hadn’t planned to bring Chloe along, but when she heard she couldn’t go, she stared at him with tearful, pitiful eyes. Ian’s heart softened, so he brought her along. After all, he had the Divine Temple—if danger arose, he could always hide her inside.