[ZHAO FAMILY ESTATE]
[THE SECOND ELDER COURTYARD]
The previously luxurious courtyard had now turned into a scene from hell. The two majestic statues in front of the gate before were now shattered into pieces. The previously large and intimidating gates now lay broken across the yard. The inside was even worse than the outside, with the expensive floor materials now having holes of different sizes all over them.
[INSIDE THE INNER ROOM]
"SMASH!"
"CRASH!"
"That bitch!"
"How dare she humiliate us like that in front of the whole city?"
"How dare she ignore us and treat us like ants?"
"What a good small Zhao family—can't do anything to me!"
The fifth elder, whose body was previously shriveled and sunken-faced, now appeared healthy with a rosy face, which was now flushed from anger, roared, smashing everything in the room one after another, the killing intent rolling off his body in waves, almost solidifying. The previous women who were serving Zhao Chen now curled up in a ball in an inconspicuous corner of the room, frightened and shivering but not daring to make any sound, afraid of being used to vent his anger.
"Sigh."
A helpless sigh sounded from the middle of the room, where the other two elders sat cross-legged, refining various medical pills beside Zhao Lee, who was still lying on his stomach unconscious.
One of the two men opened his eyes. Upon seeing the expensive furniture and jewelry that had cost him a lot to acquire smashed into several fragments, he could only sigh and lament inwardly about his loss, but there was nothing he could do about it. After all, it was his fifth brother's temperament.
"Fifth junior brother, calm down. This matter is not easy to handle."
"It is better to seize the time to heal and recover your strength."
"Although you look okay now, you should know the damage of the formation is not so easy to solve, especially at your realm."
He said, trying to calm the other party down.
"Second brother, how can I bear this?"
"No, I'm going to summon the rest of the army and fight her to the death!"
"Haa…" Zhao Chen sighed once more. He felt really helpless about this brother's brainless temper.
"Did you forget that the rest of them were called to follow the Chu family and the patriarch on a mission for the lord? Who do you want to call?"
"This…"
"Then what do we do?"
"Do you mean we should swallow this anger?"
Before Zhao Chen could reply, the other man beside him also spoke weakly.
"Yes, second child, the fifth is right. If we don't take revenge, how do we establish a foothold as the number one force?"
Hearing the voice, Zhao Chen turned to the side and saw the man who previously had the appearance of a middle-aged man in his late forties now had the look of a man in his late sixties.
"Fourth brother, how is it? What is wrong with you?" he asked, distress evident on his face.
"Heyya, second, it is the backlash from the spell."
"You should know that I am less talented compared to the fifth child. Although both of us are first-level grandmasters, there is still a difference. He has already solidified his breakthrough. I, on the other hand, barely broke through. Plus, using that terrible formation consumed ten years of my lifespan."
He said dejectedly.
"Damn Lin Feng!"
"Damn that bitch!"
"I will definitely tear them both to pieces!"
The fifth elder said with red eyes.
Zhao Chen said nothing. His eyes were no less cold. Anyone who knew him would know that he was really angry this time.
"Don't worry, fourth. The eldest brother will definitely avenge you," he said after taking a deep breath to calm down.
"Second brother, what do you mean?" the fifth replied gloomily.
"The both of you don't know, but after Zhao Lee left, the clan leader called me and gave me a secret mission." The both of them were stunned at this discovery.
He nodded, then continued.
"He knew that based on Zhao Lee's arrogant and domineering personality, he would definitely suffer a big loss."
"So he asked me to pay attention that if there was a request for help and I got there, if the Martial Pavilion people were present, I should do everything possible to drag them into the conflict so as to draw out their pavilion master and find out her exact strength."
"It doesn't matter if I expose some of the hidden strength of the family to test her bottom line. Otherwise, why would I summon the soldiers left behind?"
They became confused at his question.
"Isn't it to destroy the Lin family?"
He shook his head and replied.
"No. The Lin family is an inconsequential ant that can be destroyed anytime."
"We all know the strength of every force in the city except the Martial Pavilion because of its mystery."
"Its mysterious nature is a wildcard which could spoil the lord's plan, so the clan leader has always been trying to find out her strength so as to cut off any doubt, but there has been no opportunity for her to act. So the patriarch thought today's event would be the time to figure it out."
"I just did not expect her to be so strong, and it was difficult to get off the tiger once you start riding. Heyya…" he said, slightly depressed.
"Ooh, I see." The two had a look of sudden enlightenment.
"But second brother, now that we have figured it out, why don't we use that thing to kill her?"
"Although we can't beat her on our own, if we use that, we can kill her."
"Kill her? Sure, it can—but have you forgotten what the lord said on his visit to our home?"
Zhao Chen sneered and continued.
"He said that he faintly noticed there is an existence in that pavilion that is at least high-level Martial Spirit. It could even be peak Spirit Realm once, but it later vanished."
"Have you ever thought that if you try to kill her, would that party let you? Even if you succeed, the other person will kill all of us first, then notify the strong ones in the headquarters of the pavilion to come and ambush the family head when he returns. Are you trying to destroy our Zhao family?"
Hearing Zhao Chen's analysis, they both trembled in fright at the thought that they almost led the family into the abyss of no return. Fortunately, they had their second brother.
Seeing their reaction, he shook his head, disappointed, then picked up a healing pill from the pile beside him, threw it into his mouth, and returned to meditative healing.
---
[THE MARTIAL PAVILION BUILDING]
[PAVILION MASTER'S OFFICE]
Inside the office, the pavilion master, who had now changed out of her previous attire, now wore a loose-fitting transparent night dress, lying down on a sofa, stretching and turning, which showcased all of her proud figure. If any man was here, they would definitely not be able to resist pouncing on her, but it is a pity no man was there to enjoy the view.
Suddenly, a shadow Qi surged a bit, then receded, and in its place appeared a woman in a maid uniform that filled out in all the right places, with a mask on that covered the bottom half of her face. But even so, from the top half of her face and her eyes, one could tell she was exquisite, although compared to her, she was inferior—but only slightly.
The woman stood aside quietly and just watched the pavilion master laze around.
"What is it, Ling'er? I know something is on your mind," the pavilion master spoke up after the room was silent for a few moments.
"It's nothing," she said, then paused before continuing.
"It's just I don't understand—why did you help that Lin Feng boy?"
"I have never seen you go out of your way to help others like that. It's completely unlike you."
"You even fought others for him. Could it be that you…" She said but stopped before completing the sentence, looking at the pavilion master with a scandalous look.
Seeing the look in her eyes, the pavilion lord laughed, then waved her hand to dismiss any idea she was having. It was clear that although they were master and subordinate, they were actually close friends who could joke around.
"It's not like that. I just thought his situation and my own aren't much different, but unlike me, someone can save him. I can save him, so I did," she explained, her tone slightly sad.
"Okay, Ling'er, you go back. I want to rest now," she said while turning in the opposite direction.
"Okay, young miss." The maid looked at her with pity, then vanished into the shadows again.
---
[THE LIN FAMILY]
As the sun began to rise, signaling the start of a new day, inside Lin Feng's run-down courtyard that managed to mostly survive the conflict, Lin Feng sat cross-legged but was awakened by the sound of the system.
[DING]
[24 HRS RESET. HOST HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO SIGN IN.]
[WOULD THE HOST LIKE TO SIGN IN NOW?]