313: Chapter 313 isn't much, only one hundred and twenty!

Ye Chen turned his head and glanced at White Charm.

"The Soul Hall has caused no small amount of harm."

"Such a filthy place should not remain in this world."

White Charm pursed her lips and said nothing.

Ye Chen placed his hands behind his back and continued.

"Pay a bit more attention to this matter."

"You are familiar with the people, and you are familiar with the work."

"I'll leave the supervision to you."

White Charm nodded slightly. "Yes, this White Slave will not fail her master's trust."

Ye Chen said no more, waving his hand casually as a response.

Then.

He left the private room directly, disappearing into the elevator under the watchful eyes of White Charm and the other.

Only after he had left did White Charm slowly straighten her back and look at Lin Biao beside her.

"Do you understand now? This is Master's grand vision!"

Lin Biao raised his head, met her gaze, and smiled bitterly. "It's lucky I'm a citizen of the Dragon Kingdom, otherwise I would never have witnessed such a magnificent sight..."

White Charm didn't wait for his answer, only smiling as she walked outside.

"Let's go."

"It's time to get to work."

Lin Biao watched her retreating figure and swallowed hard.

Then.

He quickly caught up... Early the next morning.

The Sima Family estate in the capital.

*Knock, knock, knock—*

There was a soft knock on the study door.

"Come in."

Sima Li set down his teacup and looked toward the door.

Sima Nong pushed the door open, stopped three steps before the desk, and bowed deeply.

"Master..."

"This old servant has failed your trust."

Seeing him like this, Sima Li's brow furrowed. "Stand up and speak."

Sima Nong did not move.

He simply maintained his posture and gave a bitter laugh, recounting everything that had happened in that restaurant in Xiamen City exactly as it occurred.

Once he finished his recount, the air in the study seemed to freeze.

Sima Li didn't speak; instead, he lowered his eyes and gripped the Hetian Jade Pixiu beside his teacup, a piece he had played with for thirty years.

*Crack.*

The jade shattered.

Sima Nong jerked his head up and saw the pile of shattered jade in Sima Li's palm, along with crimson blood seeping through his fingers.

His face changed instantly. "Master!"

Sima Li didn't look at him, only staring down at his palm as he spoke slowly.

"Good..."

"What a fine Ye Chen."

"I respected that he became famous at a young age and that his cultivation was peerless, so I was unwilling to form a deadly grudge with him."

"I sent you to his door personally with generous gifts and a smiling face to humbly seek peace."

"Yet he thinks..."

Sima Li slowly clenched his fist, jade shards mixing with blood as they dripped from his fingers. "Does he think I am actually afraid of him?!"

The last few words were practically spat out through gritted teeth.

Sima Nong's heart skipped a beat, and he knelt on the spot. "Master, please calm your anger!"

"Calm my anger?"

Sima Li narrowed his eyes and laughed coldly. "Others are already shitting and pissing on the Sima Family's head, and you're telling me to calm my anger?"

Sima Nong shrank his neck, about to offer some advice when... Sima Li took a deep breath and spoke words that were shocking: "Enter the Kunlun Ruins."

Sima Nong's entire body shook, and his face instantly turned deathly pale.

"Master!"

"The Kunlun Ruins is a forbidden land!"

"Without the permission of those people, even the state cannot set foot there..."

He didn't dare say more.

He didn't dare imagine what kind of thoughts the Family Head was having to turn his gaze toward that place.

The Kunlun Ruins.

Located in the heart of Kunlun.

But it wasn't a place anyone could enter or leave at will, because the people hidden there were all peerless masters. Any one of them coming out would be an invincible existence.

For this reason, the state had a three-point agreement with them.

As long as the people of the Kunlun Ruins did not leave without permission or kill the innocent, the state would not take action against them.

In return, the people inside promised the Dragon Kingdom that if a great catastrophe befell the nation, they would step forward without hesitation!

One could imagine... just how terrifying the power inside was!

Sima Li looked down, peering at the old butler kneeling on the ground.

"My youngest son is inside."

"I am sending someone to visit my own son, and I still need their approval?"

Sima Nong was as quiet as a cicada in winter.

Sima Li's youngest son, Sima Ling, had been sent into the Kunlun Ruins three years ago.

To the outside world, it was said he had gone abroad for further studies.

Internally... he was a trump card of the Sima Family.

Sima Nong didn't dare ask any more.

He simply bowed his head low, his forehead touching the cold floor tiles.

"This old servant understands."

Sima Li withdrew his gaze and leaned back against the chair.

"Tell Ling'er to bring people back."

"Say..."

"That his father's things have been stolen."

"And that a madman is treading on our Sima Family's face, coming to our door with threats."

Prostrate on the ground, Sima Nong's heart nearly jumped out of his throat.

He understood.

The Master didn't want his son to come back for a visit.

He wanted his son to come back to kill.

He took a deep breath and said in a heavy voice, "Yes, this old servant will see to it at once."

Sima Li said nothing more.

He simply closed his eyes, resting his blood-stained palm on the armrest.

"Ye Chen."

"Even a cornered dog will jump over a wall."

"When I am cornered..."

"I will make you, and every single person around you..."

"Die without a place for burial!!!"

...Ye Chen was woken up by the rapid vibration of his phone.

He reached for it casually.

He found that the caller ID on the phone was Xuanyuan Huo... Ye Chen helplessly pressed the answer button. "Old man, what are you doing so early in the morning?"

On the other end of the line, Xuanyuan Huo spoke huffily.

"What am I doing?"

"I wanted to ask what *you* are doing."

Ye Chen yawned and sank further into his pillow. "What am I doing? I'm sleeping!"

"Keep pretending."

Xuanyuan Huo gave a cold laugh.

"Go ahead, keep pretending."

"You slaughtered that Gongsun Long from the Black Prison. It really surprised this old man."

Ye Chen rubbed his nose, his voice sounding muffled.

"If you had stepped in, Old Man, you surely could have done it too."

"Bah!"

Xuanyuan Huo rarely used such crude language.

"I could do it? My ass!"

"In my younger days, I might have been able to trade a few blows with him, but with these old bones now, he could pin me to the ground with one hand."

"You're capable, you're really something."

As he spoke.

Xuanyuan Huo actually started laughing cheerfully, a complete 180 from his angry tone just now... Ye Chen keenly caught onto something and immediately became alert.

"Something's not right..."

"Old man, what do you mean?"

"Why do I feel like you've dug another pit for me to jump into?"

Xuanyuan Huo could no longer hold it in and burst into a robust laugh.

"Hahahahaha..."

"You guessed right."

Ye Chen: "???"

Xuanyuan Huo cleared his throat and continued triumphantly.

"It's like this: the Hidden Dragon Pavilion has a batch of students who just finished their first stage of selection. Good prospects, but they lack combat experience."

"The higher-ups mean that they need to see some blood and take some hits; they can't just train in a greenhouse."

Ye Chen's brow furrowed. "And then?"

"And then..."

Xuanyuan Huo drew out the last word, as if intentionally teasing him.

"They were supposed to go to the border for joint training with Bureau 749, but Bureau 749 suddenly had a major task and pulled everyone out."

"Isn't this perfect? Girl Yan ran off to Xiamen City, and you're also in Xiamen City, so I told her to coordinate."

Ye Chen's scalp felt numb.

"Coordinate what?"

"Coordinate for this batch of students to go to Xiamen City."

Xuanyuan Huo said matter-of-factly.

"They already set off last night and will arrive this afternoon."

"They will contact Girl Yan, and you can help the country out by training those greenhorns."

Ye Chen was stunned, then he couldn't hold back. "Wait? Old man, I don't know anything about teaching. How am I supposed to train them???"

Xuanyuan Huo's voice remained steady, even taking on a hint of kindness.

"It's fine if you don't know."

"Just let them follow you and gain some experience."

"Look, with a casual flick of your wrist, the Black Prison Hall Master was gone."

"The Soul Hall is being played like a fiddle by you, and you treat the Dark Web's hitman bounty list like a grocery list to check off for fun..."

"Isn't this better than any combat instructor?"

"Don't try to fool this old man either; your strength should be at the Celestial Master Realm, right?"

"The first person of your kind, with none before or after!"

"If those greenhorns are trained by you, they'll surely see the light!"

Ye Chen fell completely silent.

He was silent for a long time.

Then he spoke, his voice terrifyingly calm.

"Old man."

"Hmm?"

"You think my life has been too peaceful lately, don't you?"

Xuanyuan Huo laughed.

"Don't say that. Young people need to learn how to lead a team."

Ye Chen said irritably, "I only know how to kill."

"What a coincidence."

Xuanyuan Huo's skin was truly thick. "They happen to want to learn killing techniques!"

Ye Chen rubbed the bridge of his nose.

He knew... he couldn't escape this!

Resigned, he asked with a look of helplessness, "How many people?"

Xuanyuan Huo gave a mischievous laugh.

"Not many, just one hundred and twenty!"

Ye Chen: "???"

Fuck!

He's treating my place like a training institution?

Xuanyuan Huo was on a roll.

"Don't worry, they're all top-tier students from the first stage!"

"They aren't old, the youngest is nineteen and the oldest is twenty-four. They're all good kids!"

"Don't you go scaring them!"

The veins on the hand Ye Chen used to hold the phone pulsed slightly. "You're letting me, someone in his early twenties, lead a group of people in their early twenties?"

Xuanyuan Huo was perfectly justified.

"The strong are teachers, and those who have attained the way come first. Don't you understand this principle?"

Ye Chen took a deep breath and gave up the argument.

"Fine."

"Let them come."

"But let me state the unpleasant truth first..."

"If anyone causes me trouble, I'll pack them right into a box and mail them all back to the capital."

Xuanyuan Huo laughed with satisfaction. "Don't worry, Girl Yan will keep them in line... Oh right, there's one more thing."

Ye Chen became alert. "There's more?"

"The people at Bureau 749 asked me to pass on a question..."

Xuanyuan Huo's voice suddenly became a bit more serious. "Are you interested in holding a position with them?"