Five years.
Back then, when those two ungrateful curs ran, Lu Yun couldn’t do a thing about them in the vast expanse of the Daxia New Country.
After all, how could anyone find a single pebble tossed into the vast ocean? Besides, he wasn’t a Grandmaster of Divine Intent back then.
But now... Lu Yun slowly lowered the newspaper, the corners of his mouth lifting into a slight smirk.
’Didn’t those two little animals love betrayal? I’ll just have to give them a taste of their own medicine... let them know what it feels like to be betrayed by others. To turn everyone around them into an enemy, so they can’t even sleep soundly or drink a cup of water without fearing it’s poisoned.’
In the southwestern Shun’an Province, a completely landlocked province separated from Yun Port City by Yifeng Province.
With its many mountains, remote roads, and poor communication, it was a place the Lu Family Trading Company had never set foot in.
In a large courtyard mansion in the East City District of the provincial capital, He’an City, a place usually devoid of visitors at this hour, the gates were bustling with people since early this morning.
Inside, the main hall’s open floor was crammed with a dark mass of people—at least a hundred of them at a glance.
There were martial artists in short tunics with open collars, brutish-looking gang enforcers carrying blades, and so-called "masters" in long robes holding folding fans.
These people were from every walk of life and corner of the underworld, and on a normal day, none would bow to another. But today, every single one of them stood there obediently, their gazes fixed in unison on the center of the courtyard.
Several groups stood there, each one composed of figures who could make the entire Shun’an Province tremble.
The group on the far left consisted of a dozen bald monks in gray robes, holding prayer beads and wearing compassionate expressions.
The old monk at their head had a sharp, restrained glint in his eyes. He stood as still as a mountain, his presence radiating a naturally powerful aura.
A man in his fifties, dressed in green with a sinister face, spoke up in a snide tone, "Master Huishan, shouldn’t you be at Jingkong Temple contemplating the Dao? What are you doing meddling in worldly affairs? Have you been chanting your sutras all for naught?"
Hearing this, the old monk Huishan put his palms together and smiled faintly. "Amitabha. These two benefactors are deeply sinful and thus have an affinity with the Buddha. As the saying goes, if not for the monk’s sake, then for the Buddha’s. So, I must ask Benefactor Leng to grant this old monk some face."
The green-clad man’s face darkened. Just as he was about to speak, someone else cut in.
"Leng Mingye, you’re the master of the Soul-Seeking Tower. Shouldn’t you be off doing your shady assassination work instead of stirring up trouble here?"
The Soul-Seeking Tower was Shun’an Province’s largest organization of assassins, specializing in business that couldn’t see the light of day.
It was said that as long as the price was right, there was no one they couldn’t kill. Leng Mingye himself was rumored to be a Grandmaster of Huajin.
The speaker was a giant of a man with knotted muscles, his tunic open to reveal a chest densely covered in scars.
He stood like an iron pagoda, clearly a master who had pushed his Horizontal Training to its absolute limit.
Leng Mingye turned and shot him a fierce glare. "Hmph, Zhou Lie, what business is this of yours? You should be more concerned with your own Bao Hu Tiegu Hall!"
Zhou Lie grinned, flashing a mouthful of white teeth. "What? Can’t I come and join the fun? Are these two yours?"
Leng Mingye said no more, but his expression grew even more sinister than before.
Meanwhile, on the other side, someone looked toward an old Daoist Master who carried the air of an immortal and couldn’t help but sigh, "Daoist Lingxu, I never expected that you, venerable elder, would also..."
The old Daoist Master’s hair and beard were completely white. He wore blue Daoist robes, held a duster, and stood with an ethereal presence, truly looking the part of an enlightened master.
Lingxu Daoist, the Observatory Master of Fuyun Temple, was a Grandmaster of Huajin who had been famous in Shun’an Province for a long time.
The old Daoist Master simply smiled at the comment. He said nothing, merely flicking the duster in his hand.
In the courtyard, the four Grandmasters of Huajin had each claimed a corner, none willing to yield to the others.
The onlookers crammed by the gate didn’t dare to breathe too loudly. They could only click their tongues in silent amazement. Things were really heating up today.
Every Grandmaster of Huajin in Shun’an Province had gathered here, and they all had but one goal.
On the floor of the main hall lay two people, a man and a woman, bound with thick hemp ropes and gagged with rags. Their bodies were covered in wounds.
The man was about thirty-five, the woman around thirty-two. Her eyes held an alluring charm, and she was dressed in a pink skirt.
However, the skirt was torn in many places, revealing wounds that were still seeping blood. Her once-delicate skin was now a patchwork of black and blue bruises.
They were none other than Chen Baitong and Chen Yuyu. For five years, they had hidden in Shun’an Province under new names and faces, believing they could live out their days in peace and prosperity.
Five years ago, driven by greed and vanity, they had conspired with the Fu Family to swindle their adoptive father, Lu Yun, out of a whole ship of cargo, and had even murdered everyone on board.
But when that newspaper had appeared before her a short while ago, she had been utterly stunned.
On the newspaper, the adoptive father they had betrayed was sitting there, calmly accepting a toast from the President—no, the Emperor.
In that moment, Chen Yuyu felt the world spin.
She had thought their adoptive father was finished for life. What could a mere Martial Champion Scholar from a former dynasty, a washed-up old man, possibly do?
But who could have imagined... that in just a few short years, he had actually become a Grandmaster of Huajin?
And the newspaper that came out in the last two days had made her and her brother regret their actions to their very core.
Their adoptive father wasn’t just a so-called Grandmaster of Huajin, but a Grandmaster of Divine Intent, a level above Huajin.
A nationwide bounty, for the price of a single wish. Every single word was like a knife twisting in their hearts.

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