Without missing a beat, Lily reached into her pants and pulled out a yellowed jade pendant. The pendant was absolutely saturated with her unique aura—so intense and overwhelming that it instantly dominated the scene. Even the gaunt old gatekeeper was stunned; he could tell right away this was no ordinary piece of jade!
"Th-this... what is this?" the old gatekeeper stammered, hands shaking.
"Take this pendant to Liana Kwan—now!" Lily took a deep breath and urged him, her voice sharp and urgent.
"Okay, okay, I'm on it!" The old man didn't dare hesitate for a second. He grabbed the pendant and scampered off inside, clearly realizing this was something special he couldn't afford to mess up.
Ryan Ling gave a little smile. Sure, Lily was a woman, but she'd followed him in his previous life—her status was on a whole different level. Meanwhile, Damon Shaw looked completely lost. He knew Ryan was some kind of top-tier expert, but he'd never paid much attention to Lily. Now, seeing all this, he finally realized Lily was anything but ordinary!
His suspicions were confirmed almost instantly. The Kwan Family's tightly shut gates flew open, and servants poured out like they were greeting royalty. But the real shocker was when an ancient-looking woman—had to be over a hundred—hurried out on a dragon-headed cane, her eyes wide with disbelief, scanning the crowd for someone.
People on the street noticed something weird was up with the Kwan Family. One by one, everyone stopped in their tracks, staring at the unfolding drama.
"Are you... are you the one who sent the jade pendant?" Liana Kwan's hands trembled uncontrollably as she looked at Lily.
Lily didn’t flinch at all. She glanced at the old lady and sighed, "Hard to believe you were just a teenager last time I saw you. Now you’re so old. Time really flies, huh?"
"Wait, could you be...?" The old lady was so excited she was about to pass out. Several women had to hold her up, or she’d have collapsed right there!
"No need to guess. I'm Lily!" she said coolly.
"What? What!" The old lady nearly stopped breathing when she heard that name.
Damon Shaw was totally baffled. Lily’s name sounded super ordinary—nothing special at all. But seeing the Kwan Family’s old ancestor this worked up? He wasn’t the only one confused; a bunch of people around him were thinking the same thing!
But things got even crazier. Suddenly, the old lady shook off the women helping her, tossed her dragon-headed cane aside, and dropped to her knees right in front of Lily.
Everyone—Damon, the bystanders, even the Kwan Family members—were completely dumbfounded by the scene.
But the old lady didn’t care if it looked embarrassing. She spun around and barked at her clan, "What are you idiots waiting for? Kneel!"
"What? You want me to kneel to some little girl?" a middle-aged man from the Kwan Family protested. Honestly, he had a point—it was pretty humiliating to kneel to a random teenage girl.
"You brat!" The old lady wasn’t having any of it. She swung her cane, knocking out two of the guy’s front teeth and sending him crashing to the ground.
"If you don't kneel right now, I'll break your legs!" The old lady was in full tyrant mode. The Kwan Family didn’t dare hesitate—they all dropped to their knees, a few of the more timid ones shaking like leaves.
"What the heck is going on?" Damon Shaw felt like he was dreaming—none of this made sense. Lily, though, was cool as ever. She glanced at the old lady, waved her hand, and said, "Alright, enough with the drama. Just take us inside and pick out a good room, preferably one I can cultivate in!"
"Got it, I'll get right on it!" The old lady didn’t hesitate for a second and personally led Ryan Ling and Lily inside. Outside, the neighbors in Barbarian City were totally confused, but now everyone was dying to know who Lily was. Gossip started spreading all over the streets, but nobody had a clue.
"Miss, does this room meet your standards?" The old lady brought Ryan and Lily to the most hidden chamber in the estate—actually underground, beneath a huge lake. The layout was clever, mixing water and earth qi for a supercharged cultivation environment. For Ryan, it was the perfect spot to make his next breakthrough to the Golden Immortal Realm.
"This'll do," Ryan Ling nodded.
"If Master says it's good, then it's good!" Lily smiled, making it clear she followed Ryan’s lead in everything.
"Miss, is this man...?" The old lady’s eyes went wide when she heard Lily call Ryan 'Master.' She definitely hadn’t seen that coming.
"Don’t ask, don’t say a word. Just pretend you know nothing, got it?" Lily turned to the old lady, her tone sharp and commanding.
The old lady didn’t dare say another word—she just nodded like crazy.
And just like that, Ryan Ling and Lily had their own turf in Barbarian City—and it was a pretty sweet setup, too. The Kwan Family might not be what they once were, but a starving camel is still bigger than a horse. Now, all their best resources went straight to Ryan and Lily, and the two of them couldn’t be happier.
Ryan knew better than anyone that the Kwan estate was the perfect place for him to push into the Golden Immortal Realm. This time, he had to be extra careful and reach the highest level possible. Plus, thanks to Damon Shaw, he could grab medicine straight from the Shen Clan!
But just as the two of them were settling in, chaos erupted outside—someone was raising a racket, and it sounded like debt collectors at the door.
"What’s this? You dare not pay back money you owe the Tiger Clan? You must have a death wish!" a thug shouted.
"Hugo, what’s with that attitude? Do you really have to push us this hard? At this point, you’re basically just robbing us in broad daylight!" the old matriarch protested.
"Damn right I’m robbing you! If you don’t cough up the money today, I’ll just start hauling people off!" the Tiger Clan thug sneered.
As soon as he finished, several young women screamed nearby.
"Hugo Harker, you’ve got some nerve causing trouble in my Kwan Family’s house! Do you think this old lady doesn’t exist?" Liana Kwan snapped, clearly fed up with the chaos.
"What’s the deal with the Tiger Clan?" Ryan Ling asked, annoyed by the noise that made cultivation impossible. He grabbed Damon Shaw, who was now totally loyal to Ryan.
"The Tiger Clan is one of Barbarian City’s ten big families—they’re tough. The Kwan Family used to be number one, but now going up against the Tigers is like an egg smashing into a rock. No contest. And judging by the way things are going, the Tiger Clan won’t stop until the Kwans are wiped out!" Damon Shaw explained.
"This is just bullying!" Lily gritted her teeth. With so few men left in the Kwan Family, she was clearly about to step in.
She didn’t waste another second—Lily shot out the door.
Hugo Harker was dragging several young Kwan women toward the gate, threatening to sell them to brothels as payment. The Kwan retainers couldn’t stop him—he was way too strong. Even Liana Kwan got pulled down in the chaos!
"You wanna die?" Lily didn’t hesitate—she flew in and slammed a vicious kick right into Hugo Harker’s crotch. The scream that followed was bloodcurdling. Hugo collapsed, face twitching like crazy, howling in agony. Lily had just kicked his bloodline clean off—no more heirs for him, ever.