The entirety of Glory City was in an uproar.
Several News had spread around that made the heart of many Glory City's citizens shake upon hearing it.
First was the truth about Chen Zhenlong's disappearance.
For an entire year, every citizen of Glory City had been made to believe that Chen Zhenlong was in secluded cultivation, trying his luck at breaking through to Legend Rank.
After a year of absence, Chen Zhenlong had finally shown himself during the Martial Arts Tournament hosted by the Divine Family.
At first, everyone who saw Chen Zhenlong was curious about the results of his seclusion, whether he had managed to break through after such a long absence.
But once they confirmed that Chen Zhenlong's cultivation rank was still the same as before, many people sighed inwardly.
Although they did not expect much, they were still hoping that one of the heads of the three major families would manage to step into a higher rank.
Legend Rank was truly a heaven-defying realm. Every Demon Spiritualist worked hard to reach it, but only a few ever succeeded throughout the Glory City's history.
However, their thoughts on the matter did not last very long, since they were overshadowed by another piece of news.
Before the martial tournament formally began, Chen Zhenlong stood in front of all the attendees to address several important matters.
First, Chen Zhenlong revealed that he had never been in seclusion during the times of his absence.
Which made the people who heard him confused, and asked questions.
Most of it is about Chen Zhenlong whereabouts during all those times he was gone, 'if Chen Zhenlong wasn't in seclusion, then where did he disappeared to?'
Their questions were answered the moment Chen Zhenlong revealed that almost a year ago, he had met a traveling Legend Rank demon spiritualist who offered him a tremendous opportunity.
This revelation shook the entire Martial Arts Arena.
All the people in the stands erupted into an uproar.
"A traveling Legend Rank expert!?"
"Not from Glory City!?"
Questions were shouted from every corner of the arena.
Everyone wanted to know every detail about this mysterious expert, name, origin, everything.
Before the arena could descend completely into chaos, Chen Fe, an elder of the Divine Family and the younger brother of Chen Zhenlong, released his soul force, enveloping the crowd and forcing them to quiet down.
"Everyone, please. There is no need to cause so much ruckus. Naturally, we came here to disclose what everyone needs to know. However, we will not be answering any questions, as this is still a matter of our Divine Family." Chen Fe announced, silencing the crowds.
Seeing that Chen Fe managed to calm the crowd, Chen Zhenlong continued as he revealed to everyone that for an entire year, he had gone to the outside world, following that mysterious expert to search for a cure to his daughter's illness.
Once Chen Zhenlong said those words, three figures walked out from his back and stood beside him.
They were Chen Yinying, Chen Wenrou, and a child none of the crowd had seen before.
At first, the attendees were confused.
Many had long forgotten the incident from before, when the once most celebrated child in the entire Glory city had been struck by an illness that caused her to lose her unique physique.
Such a loss was heartbreaking that many people chose to forget the entire thing including the little girl herself.
So once Chen Linlin had appeared before the public for the first time in three years, it took some time for many people to recognize her.
But once they did, their expression quickly shifted from confused to bewilderment.
She was that little girl, the one that was named by many the Withered Princess.
A much greater uproar erupted throughout the arena. How had they managed to forget such a thing?
The little princess of the Divine Family, known for her heaven-defying talent.
And how everything had ended in tragedy.
But now, standing before thousands of attendees at the Martial Arts Tournament, Chen Linlin had appeared,.and she looked healthier than ever.
What everyone in the arena wanted to know was, how?
Chen Zhenlong then told the story of how everything went through.
How the mysterious expert had appeared at his doorstep, offered Chen Zhenlong a way to heal his daughter in exchange of that mysterious expert accepting someone from the divine family as his disciple.
Which ultimately led to Chen Zhenlong leaving Glory City for an entire year.
Everyone listened to Chen Zhenlong's story, their hearts pounding in excitement.
They were thrilled that the little princess with heaven-defying talent had been cured.
Thrilled that another Legend Rank expert had appeared in Glory City.
And even more thrilled that this mysterious expert had chosen someone from Glory City to become his disciple.
Any of this news meant one thing.
The future of the Glory city was looking brighter than ever.
After Chen Zhenlong finished addressing the public, he left the Martial Arts Tournament arena together with his wives and daughter, leaving management of the entire tournament under Chen Fe's supervision.
However, no one paid much attention to the results of the tournament anymore.
Some attendees from various noble families even left the stadium early to relay the news to their house masters.
This news would surely bring huge changes to Glory City.
Unbeknownst to everyone, those changes had already happened, especially for another major family.
The Snow Wind Family.
The leading family of Glory City, the clan to which the City Lord, Ye Zong and his father the Legend Rank demon spiritualist Lord Ye Mo were part of.
One month ago
After spending enough time with his family, Chen Zhenlong had finally decided to speak with Lord Ye Mo and Ye Zong about his breakthrough to Legend Rank.
Naturally, the story he was about to tell them was the one he and Xue Hui had fabricated.
They deliberately left out some details, mostly, everything regarding Xue Hui's true origin and knowledge of the future events was something the two of them had decided to keep to themselves.
Without sufficient evidence, such knowledge would only bring more harm than good to the entirety of Glory City.
Accompanying Chen ZhenLong was none other than Xue Hui.
Bringing him along would able Chen Zhenlong to introduce Xue Hui to Lord Ye Mo and Ye Zong.
Xue Hui's identity as the disciple of a mysterious Legend rank expert gave Xue Hui enough standing to be presented to Lord Ye Mo and the city lord, as Chen Zhenlong wanted Xue Hui to be acquainted with them.
But beside that, there was another reason why the both of them decided to finally pay a Snow wind family a visit.
Last night, news had spread throughout Glory City, regarding the City Lord's wife Ye Yurou.
According to the news Ye Yurou had fallen sick to an unknown disease and had since fallen into a deep slumber, unable to wake up.
The news was circulated across the city in the hope of finding someone capable of treating her condition.
When this news reached both Xue Hui and Chen Zhenlong, they decided to pay a visit and see if Xue Hui could do anything about it.
With Xue Hui being the "disciple" of a Heavenly Doctor, discovering the cause of the City Lord's wife's affliction should be easy for him.
The two eventually arrived at the City Lord's Mansion, and with Chen Zhenlong's status, they were immediately escorted inside to meet the City Lord.
"Chen Zhenlong pays his respects to Lord Ye Mo." Chen Zhenlong immediately gave his salutes upon meeting the person who welcomed them.
"Ah… Xue pays his respect to Lord Ye Mo."Confused, Xue Hui whispered to Chen Zhenlong, beside him, "Uncle… he's not the City Lord right?"
The man had long white hair and an equally long white beard. His eyes were hidden beneath thick eyebrows, yet one could still perceive a faint glow within them. He stood straight, showing none of the back problems common for someone of his age.
With a single glance, Xue Hui could tell that beneath those white robes was a physique not the least bit inferior to Chen Zhenlong.
The one who greeted them was in fact not the City Lord, but none other than the great hero of Glory City, Lord Ye Mo.
"I am indeed not," hearing Xue Hui's question, Ye Mo replied with a faint smile, his keen sight was studying Xue Hui, a flash of astonishment glinted to his eyes "Young one, how old are you? Although I cannot tell what your cultivation is." Ye Mo leaned forward, his gaze piercing straight into Xue Hui's very soul. Within that gaze held both shock and satisfaction. "A small child like you, shouldn't be able to conceal your aura to this extent."
"Hehe…" scratching the back of his head, Xue Hui laughed awkwardly. 'It seemed that underestimating the people of the Snow Wind Family was a bad idea.
Not even a minute passed and Lord Ye Mo had quickly perceived my soul concealment' Xue Hui thought.
"Don't worry, young one. I am the last person who would hurt a talented child like you." Lord Ye Mo assured Xue Hui, as he took out a piece of candy from his interspatial ring and handed it to Xue Hui.
Taking the candy, Xue Hui properly introduced himself, his name, age, and demon spiritualist rank.
As Xue Hui allowed his soul force to leak out, allowing Lord Ye Mo to properly perceive his strength.
Nodding in approval, Ye Mo let out a satisfied smile "Three-star Bronze Rank. Furthermore, judging by the quality of your soul force, your strength is comparable to a Silver Rank." Lord Ye Mo patted the smaller boy's head. "Good child indeed"
Although the past few days had been difficult for Ye Mo, as his daughter-in-law's condition continued to worsen, seeing a young boy, who's only seven or eight years old possess such talent was still something worth being happy about.
Ye Mo himself had not reached this level of strength at the same age as Xue Hui.
If the boy continued to grow at this rate, Xue Hui might very well become the next Legend Rank demon spiritualist of Glory City.
"Lord Ye Mo, may we take a look at Madame Yurou's condition? We came here to help her." hearing their request,
The hand that was patting Xue Hui's head stopped.
Ye Mo did not reply immediately. Instead, he shifted his gaze between the two people standing before him.
Then he nodded.
"Very well. Follow me."
Turning his back, Ye Mo led the two of them deeper into the City Lord's residence.
"He's… so… cool!" Xue Hui whispered in astonishment.
Chen Zhenlong sighed bitterly upon hearing Xue Hui.
He himself was a Legend Rank expert like Ye Mo, but he didn't possess such a "cool" aura like him.
At least, a cool aura that could make Xue Hui feel giddy about.
Entering the main residence of the City Lord, they were welcomed by the sight of a few people from the Snow Wind Family.
Their faces darkened, each of them had an expression of hopelessness on them.
"Brother Chen, you've come." The one who greeted Chen Zhenlong was Ye Xiu.
In terms of strength and authority within the Snow Wind family, Ye Xiu was only below Ye Mo and the City Lord.
"We came here to see if my nephew could do something about Sister Yurou's condition," Chen Zhenlong replied, not surprised by the confused expressions he was receiving from everyone.
While they were talking, Xue Hui didn't pause his steps until he reached the door of the room where Madame Yurou was being treated.
He was about to reach out and open it when an aura locked onto him and halted his movement.
"Boy, it's a little improper of you to just waltz into someone else's home." After reprimanding the boy, the man looked at the door, concern etched on his old face.
This was Ye Shuo. He was fourth in terms of authority in the Snow Wind Family.
But just like everyone else in the room, Ye Shuo felt hopeless, as he couldn't do anything to help Ye Yurou, so he simply stood at the door guarding it.
Ye Shuo was about to continue and lecture the boy about proper decorum when visiting someone else's home.
When suddenly, he felt his aura being severed, followed by a frost chill that disrupted his senses, making him feel disoriented.
Once Ye Shuo managed to disperse the frost chill within his body, he noticed that the boy was already gone.
"What the!? How!? Where did the brat go?" His sudden outburst disrupted the conversation between Ye Xiu and Chen Zhenlong.
They first looked at him strangely, but then also noticed that Xue Hui was no longer with them.
While this was happening, Ye Mo, who had remained silent during the exchange between Xue Hui and Ye Shuo,
was momentarily stunned after witnessing the boy's actions.
Originally, Ye Mo had stayed quiet and said nothing to see how Xue Hui would carry himself when meeting someone like Ye Shuo.
But Ye Mo didn't expect that Xue Hui to be so capable.
Severing someone's soul force.
Not just any normal soul force.
It was the soul force of a Black Gold Rank Demon Spiritualist.
With his keen spiritual perception, Ye Mo watched as the boy's spiritual energy formed a needle-like thread and used it to pierce through the weakest part of Ye Shuo's soul force.
With an unknown method, that needle-sized hole began to tremble like disturbed water, followed by rapid tearing that severed the soul force, locking Xue Hui's in place.
Ye Shuo was a powerful expert. By rights, he should have felt that his soul realm was being pierced through and torn apart.
But Lord Ye Mo sensed the Law of Water gently soothing the spot where the tear spread, to the point that Ye Shuo almost didn't feel anything amiss in his soul realm.
Only when Xue Hui released a bit of frost chill into Ye Shuo's soul force did the man become disoriented, long enough for Xue Hui to sneak his way.
'To actually possess such a technique and such deep insight into the Law of Water… No wonder the boy's cultivation has reached such a frightening strength at such a young age,' Lord Ye Mo thought.
Ignoring the trio who were frantically searching for Xue Hui, Ye Mo followed Xue Hui inside.
While walking, Ye Mo also noted that Ye Shuo had grown careless and left his soul realm unguarded in front of Xue Hui.
If the boy had released a frightening amount of frost chill at that moment, Ye Shuo wouldn't even have known how he died.
"Maybe there is still hope," Ye Mo muttered under his breath.
End of Chapter 31