Seeing this scene, Ryan Ling couldn't help glancing at Lady Melody beside him, a little surprised—was he really the only man left here? It looked like every other man had been killed off; inside and out, he was the only guy around.
At that moment, when the people inside asked about Ryan and Lady Melody, the rescued little sister immediately spilled everything about what happened in the Count’s Manor, giving them the full story. After she finished, the women finally nodded, and one big-sister type stepped out, bowed to Ryan, and said, "Thank you both for helping us. The Jennie Family is truly grateful!"
“Jennie Family?” Ryan was taken aback by the name—wasn’t this the clan Lady Miranda from Stan City told him to look for? Originally, Ryan hadn’t planned to seek them out, but here they were, popping up right when he needed it. Guess fate was working overtime!
So Ryan quickly told them about the Stan City situation. As soon as he explained, all the suspicion vanished from their faces—it was obvious Lady Miranda had already sent word ahead. Turns out, they’d been searching for Ryan and Lady Melody too. Now that everyone was connected, the whole atmosphere lightened up!
"Benefactor, please take the chief seat!" Once everything was clear, the eldest sister of the Jennie Family immediately guided Ryan to the highest seat. Ryan was still processing when, in a flash, every single member of the Jennie Family dropped to their knees.
"What are you all doing? Get up, quick!" Ryan blurted out—he definitely wasn’t ready for this kind of grand gesture. Even Lady Melody looked a bit dazed by it all.
But the Jennie Family women weren’t about to get up. The eldest sister even burst into tears, her voice trembling as she said, "To be honest, Benefactor, our Jennie Family has suffered horribly. Every man in our clan was slaughtered by the Count’s Manor—only us orphaned girls are left. Now we’re like rats, hiding everywhere, living lives worse than death. And let’s be real, with our current strength, there’s no way we can fight the Count’s Manor. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have let our little sister get taken without trying to save her."
The eldest sister paused, then continued, "And now it’s clear—you’re our biggest hope. Your strength has been proven, and you’re the first person to ever escape the Count’s Manor alive. So you’re the only one who can help our Jennie Family get revenge for this blood debt!"
"Hold up—why did the Count’s Manor wipe out your whole clan? I heard you’re not even a particularly big family." Ryan wasn’t about to promise revenge just yet; first, he needed to figure out what was really going on.
Hearing Ryan’s question, another woman—the second sister—quickly explained, "To be honest, Benefactor, the Count’s Manor has been hunting for a heaven-piercing treasure lately. It’s insanely powerful—if you get it, your cultivation skyrockets, and you can instantly open portals to the Immortal World and loot resources whenever you want."
Another woman chimed in, "Second Sister’s right—the Count’s Manor suspects that treasure is hidden in our clan, so they went on a rampage, trying to force us to hand it over. That’s why we suffered this disaster. And it’s not just our Jennie Family—at least a dozen other families in Demon-Dragon City have been wiped out the same way. Most are nearly extinct. If our Jennie Family wasn’t so good at digging secret tunnels, we wouldn’t have preserved even a sliver of our bloodline!"
"So that’s how it is!" Ryan gritted his teeth—no wonder the Count’s Manor is so hated. But hearing about this heaven-piercing treasure, even he couldn’t help getting interested. He asked, "What exactly is this treasure? Do you know anything more?"
"All I’ve heard is that it’s some kind of tree, but we don’t know the details. Just that it can connect directly to the Immortal World, and any power would kill to get it!" the eldest sister added.
Hearing that, Ryan’s mind instantly clicked—no need to ask, the treasure was definitely Primeval Heavenwood. Only Primeval Heavenwood could have that kind of world-piercing power, able to reach the Immortal World. In a flash, his heart was pounding. Sure, he’d already found a few broken branches of Primeval Heavenwood, but based on his research, those were just fragments, not the true main trunk. The Count’s Manor must be after the main trunk now. Its power would be a hundred times stronger than any branch—if Ryan could get it, he’d be unstoppable.
"Benefactor, will you help us get revenge? If you can, we’ll give you anything you want!" The eldest sister, clearly impatient, blurted out.
Ryan grinned, sweeping his gaze around—and of course his eyes landed on the eldest sister’s chest. Honestly, the Jennie Family didn’t have anything left except these women!
The eldest sister was super sensitive—she noticed Ryan’s gaze right away and blushed furiously. Then, unbelievably, she slowly moved her hand to her chest and pulled her collar down, clearly offering him a good look!
Ryan nearly coughed up blood. He hurriedly said, "Okay, okay, I’ll help you out! Honestly, I came to Demon-Dragon City to deal with the Count’s Manor anyway, so our goals already line up. But this isn’t something we can rush—it’s gotta be planned carefully. And most importantly, I need to break through my cultivation first. Do you have a super-hidden training room or something? The more secret, the better!"
Right now, Ryan was suppressing a surge of Da Luo Golden Immortal aura—the power was about to burst out at any moment. He had to level up fast, or else he might just start bleeding out of his nose one day!
"No problem—we’ve got one! This secret tunnel leads straight out of the city, and there’s a perfect spot for cultivation out there. It’s the best place to train! Plus, we can stand guard for you whenever you need." The eldest Jennie sister answered eagerly.
"Forget it, forget the whole 'standing guard' thing—I’m really not that particular!" Ryan blurted out, flustered.
Honestly, every single member of the Jennie Family was drop-dead gorgeous, and just based on how the eldest sister acted before, Ryan was painfully aware that any one of them might throw themselves into his arms at any moment. And let’s be real, his self-control was nothing to brag about.
But the instant he said that, not only the eldest sister, but all the women around him burst out at once.
"No way! We have to stand guard for our benefactor—if we don’t, we’ll never forgive ourselves!"
"Yeah! If our benefactor won’t let us do anything, what are we, just freeloaders?"
"We have to help guard you! We insist!"
......
Right then, every woman inside and outside started shouting, their voices echoing with fierce resolve—no one was backing down!
Even Lady Melody, who’d been quietly watching, suddenly spoke up for them: "Ryan, just say yes! The sisters are pouring their hearts out—why keep turning them down?"
"Ugh, you guys..." Ryan was totally at a loss for words.
And then, with the eldest sister taking the lead, every Jennie woman dropped to her knees in front of Ryan, crying out, "If you don’t let us go, we’ll kneel here until we die!"
"Fine, fine, you win! I surrender!" Ryan sighed in defeat—these women were seriously unstoppable. He had no way out, so he could only cave.
The second Ryan agreed, all the Jennie Family women finally breathed out, their faces lighting up with pure joy—some of them even looked like they were ready to start planning their wedding with him right then and there!
But Ryan didn’t have time to get lost in that mess. The pressure inside him was about to explode, and on top of that, the Count’s Manor was no pushover—he could feel it in his bones that they’d sniff this place out sooner or later!
So without another word, everyone hustled out of the city through the secret tunnels. For real, the Jennie Family’s tunnel-digging game was next-level—the place was a total maze, and if they hadn’t been leading, even Ryan would’ve been hopelessly lost!
Soon enough, they made it out of the city and stopped in a massive natural cavern. Ryan took one look around and felt the spiritual energy practically overflowing—this place was so thick with power it was about to burst. If you wanted a breakthrough, this was the place to do it...