Chapter 3

"Hey, little sister, you really should have listened to me. I told you to talk to Father about your engagement to Qin Lie after dinner, but you didn't listen. Auntie's family was still at the table; how could Father conveniently say anything?"

On the mountain road between Lingjia Town and Medicine Mountain, Ling Yushi, wearing a green dress, frowned, her clear and refined face full of reproach as she gently scolded the young girl beside her.

Ling Xuanxuan, in a fiery red leather armor, seemed like a powder keg had been ignited. She kicked the pebbles in front of her, sending them flying in all directions. Her straight and graceful legs moved, creating a fierce wind. She huffed, "If it weren't for Du Fei that bastard provoking me, how could I have suddenly lost control? Auntie? That bitch isn't even our aunt!"

"Lower your voice, don't say such things!" Ling Yushi quickly reprimanded.

"Rubbish? Do you think I don't know?" Ling Xuanxuan narrowed her eyes, her face full of hatred, and said coldly, "That bitch married Uncle Second and came to our Lingjia Town. Just seven months later, she gave birth to Du Heng. After two years, she went back to the Nebula Pavilion, and soon after, she gave birth to Du Fei that scoundrel. Those two Dus are clearly the spawn of her cousin Du Haitian from the Nebula Pavilion!"

"Who told you that?" Ling Yushi became tense.

"I overheard it when the clan warriors were talking privately. You and Father and Uncle Third have been hiding it from me, afraid I would lose my temper and cause trouble, right?" Ling Xuanxuan's eyes suddenly reddened, tears welling up. She wiped them away fiercely and gritted her teeth, "Uncle Second didn't die from a spiritual fire attack; he was literally driven to death by that bitch and her family! Uncle Second was the one who doted on me the most when I was a child. I will avenge him sooner or later!"

"Ah, it seems even the clan warriors know about this. It looks like the Ling family will have a major change sooner or later." Ling Yushi's expression was somber, and she sighed deeply. She patted Ling Xuanxuan's shoulder and said earnestly, "Du Haitian has a high position in the Nebula Pavilion, and his realm is also very high. It's said he is about to break through to the late-stage Kaiyuan Realm. For now, our Ling family can't afford to provoke him..."

"I know you and Father are enduring, and I will endure too. Once we break through to the Kaiyuan Realm and enter the Nebula Pavilion, we will settle accounts with them!" Ling Xuanxuan said firmly.

"It's good that you think this way. As long as we sisters work hard, once we have a place in the Nebula Pavilion, Uncle Second's revenge will be avenged with blood!" Ling Yushi nodded and continued walking towards Medicine Mountain, but her heart felt bitter.

Although she and Ling Xuanxuan were both at the seventh level of Body Tempering, she... was already seventeen years old. To gain the favor of the Nebula Pavilion, she needed to break through to the Kaiyuan Realm before she turned twenty.

Three years to go from the seventh level of Body Tempering to the Kaiyuan Realm, how easy was that?

Ling Yushi's eyes were filled with bitterness, and she sighed softly, forcing a smile, "Father and Uncle Third are both on Medicine Mountain. It's not convenient to talk in the dining hall today. Sister will go with you to ask Father about your engagement to Qin Lie."

"I absolutely won't get engaged to that fool!" At the mention of Qin Lie, Ling Xuanxuan's face turned cold again, "I don't know what Father is thinking? That guy can't even speak properly, he has no soul. I can't even stand being alone with him for a moment, let alone endure him!"

"I know, I know. Sister naturally doesn't want to see you with him. Don't worry, Sister will definitely stand by you." Ling Yushi smiled gently and comforted her.

The two sisters, like two beautiful foxes of the mountains, walked towards Medicine Mountain, whispering to each other.

After a while, just as they were about to climb the mountain, they suddenly stopped and looked at Qin Lie, who was walking out of a cave on Medicine Mountain.

The sky was gradually darkening, and as usual, Qin Lie left the cave.

At a distance, he walked towards the two sisters, his expression still blank and his eyes always unfocused, as if he didn't even see them coming.

"Five years, day after day, running to the Medicine Mountain mine cave, is this fool a rat?"

Usually, Ling Xuanxuan ignored him, treating him like air, and didn't really dislike him. But today, as soon as she saw Qin Lie, she felt a surge of anger, and her tone couldn't be friendly.

"What are you angry with him for? He doesn't know anything. Ah, he's actually quite pitiful. Now even his grandfather is gone, and he just lives a dazed life. Our Ling family only provides him with two meals a day and doesn't care about anything else..."

Looking at Qin Lie from a distance, Ling Yushi shook her head lightly and said sympathetically.

"I, I know it's not his fault, but just seeing him makes me angry..." Ling Xuanxuan was at a loss for words. At fifteen, she wasn't truly malicious, just unable to accept the reality.

At that moment, a white figure suddenly darted out from the side of the forest!

The Ling family patriarch, wearing a pale ghost mask, saw his two daughters but decided to test Qin Lie's strength due to the astonishing discovery in the mine cave.

"Ah!"

As Ling Yushi and Ling Xuanxuan screamed in shock, Ling Chengye, transformed into a ghost, pounced fiercely on the still woodenly walking Qin Lie.

Seeing the white figure rushing towards him, Qin Lie's expression remained blank. Even as Ling Chengye's large hand reached out and pressed towards his chest, he continued to walk mechanically.

His body didn't stop, his expression didn't change, and he didn't even try to defend or counterattack.

"Bang!"

Ling Chengye's palm pressed into Qin Lie's chest, and Qin Lie's figure was pushed back several steps before stabilizing. He looked at Ling Chengye blocking the road, his eyes confused and puzzled, as if wondering why this person was attacking him.

This curiosity lasted only a moment, and then he resumed his steps, as if he had already forgotten about Ling Chengye's attack and continued walking forward.

"Who dares to cause trouble on our Ling family's territory?"

"Masked rat, you can't escape!"

The two sisters suddenly leaped up, their faces cold, and rushed towards Ling Chengye. The two streams of not weak spiritual energy caused the mountain wind to suddenly howl.

On the mountain path, Ling Chengye, with his back to his confused daughters, looked at Qin Lie with a strange expression...

At fifteen, Qin Lie looked very thin and malnourished, but under his previous palm strike, he only retreated a few steps and didn't fall.

Although that strike didn't use any spiritual energy, Ling Chengye knew that the force was enough to knock down many Body Tempering third-level warriors!

From his previous perception, there was no obvious spiritual energy fluctuation protecting Qin Lie's chest, indicating that Qin Lie had no spiritual energy and thus wasn't a true warrior.

Yet, Qin Lie had endured the strike without falling!

This suggested that beneath his frail appearance, Qin Lie had an incredibly strong body!

Was it just a strong physical body?

The Ling family patriarch was puzzled and, after a moment of hesitation, suddenly attacked again!

"Crack, crack, crack!"

Ling Chengye's hand bones made a cracking sound, and his palm suddenly swelled to twice its size!

A thin layer of green mist rose from his palm, and as he moved, the green mist flickered like a cluster of green flames.

Green Flame Power, a fifth-grade Ling technique, was a secret skill that Ling Chengye practiced in secret. He rarely used it, and even his two biological daughters had never seen it.

At the mid-stage Kaiyuan Realm, Ling Chengye used one-tenth of his spiritual energy, and his palm, like a burning green flame, pressed towards Qin Lie's chest again.

"Shameless scoundrel!"

"You dare!"

The Ling sisters shouted in unison, but they were still some distance away and could only verbally pressure him.

Ling Chengye was focused, his palm, now twice its size and enveloped in green mist, just inches from Qin Lie's chest. He stared intently at Qin Lie, hoping to see some unusual change.

"Boom!"

A surge of spiritual energy mixed with green mist flooded into Qin Lie's chest. For a moment, fine threads of icy cold lightning seemed to dart through Qin Lie's otherwise unchanging, hollow eyes.

Almost simultaneously, a thunderous boom echoed in Ling Chengye's mind, shaking his spirit.

At that moment, the Ling sisters finally caught up, ready to attack him.

Ling Chengye didn't have time to determine whether the thunder in his mind and the icy cold lightning in Qin Lie's eyes were illusions. Seeing his daughters about to attack, he had to retreat in frustration.

Like a wisp of white smoke, he flickered a few times and disappeared into the forest.

"Don't chase him!" Ling Yushi's bright eyes sparkled, and she shouted to stop Ling Xuanxuan, her face serious, "That person's retreat was like a ghost or lightning; he is definitely not at the Body Tempering level. He is not someone we can handle."

Bending down, she looked at Qin Lie, who had fallen on the stone ground, his chest showing a dark green handprint after his clothes were torn. She frowned and said, "That person is very scary. It's strange, why would he attack a fool? Could he be an old enemy of Grandfather Qin Shan?"

As she spoke, she extended her white hand and gently pressed a few times on Qin Lie's injured area. Her beautiful face showed even more confusion, "He didn't use his full strength; the spiritual energy that entered Qin Lie's chest was very little and is gradually dissipating. It's strange, if he wanted to kill Qin Lie, he wouldn't have just done this..."

Earlier, Ling Chengye had attacked Qin Lie with his back to the two sisters, and with him between them and Qin Lie, the two girls didn't see any abnormality in Qin Lie's body or his eyes, nor did they hear the thunder in his mind.

"Ling Yushi, Ling Xuanxuan, carry Qin Lie back. We'll talk about it when I and your father return!" Ling Chengzhi suddenly appeared on Medicine Mountain and shouted.

"Uncle Third, we..." Ling Xuanxuan called out.

"I know, a white-clothed person attacked Qin Lie, and we saw it too. Your father has already gone to chase him. You two take Qin Lie back first to avoid any further accidents." Ling Chengzhi said, covering for them.

Ling Yushi, hearing this, didn't think much more. Seeing Qin Lie unconscious, she had no better option and bent down to carry him, "Ugh, this guy is so heavy!"

The graceful sister had just lifted Qin Lie when her legs trembled, and her bright eyes showed surprise.

"Sister, what are you talking about? This fool is so thin, how can he feel heavy?" Ling Xuanxuan pouted, thinking her sister was joking.

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