[Thank you: That wry smile from the moment, and friends named Chen Xi for their tips! Please favorite, recommend, and tip! The third brother thanks you!]

In Yanjing, inside the Wang Family study.

An elder dressed in a Tang suit lay on a rocking chair with his eyes closed, meditating while fiddling with a pair of jade balls in his hands.

Although the elder's temples were already graying, his complexion was still ruddy and full, evidently well-maintained on a regular basis.

He was none other than the head of one of the Yanjing's Four Great Families, the Wang Family's Wang Tingxu. At this moment, beside Wang Tingxu, stood a middle-aged man in a suit, very respectfully.

"Are you saying that Young Master Luohao went to Dancheng to find that remnant of the Ding Family?" Wang Tingxu did not open his eyes, merely asking indifferently.

"Yes," the man in the suit replied respectfully. "Young Master Luohao went there personally. I advised him that the Ding Family has already declined, that Ding Fan is just a prodigal son who can't stir up much trouble. If we really need to root out the problem, there was no need for Young Master Luohao to go personally."

After hearing the man in the suit, Wang Tingxu smiled slightly. "Zhi Sen, you don't see the Ding Family matter as clearly as Luohao does."

The man addressed as Zhi Sen bowed slightly, his expression one of attentiveness.

Wang Tingxu continued, "You always thought that Luohao exterminated the Ding Family to curry favor with the Ye Family's Ye Ningbing. However, that is not the case. The Ding Family might appear as a second-rate family, but in secret, they maintain contacts with the Luo Family's people. The Ding Family still has quite a network in the Northern Sixteen Provinces.

Most importantly, the Ding Family controls a gold mine. Had it not been for their thin connections, the Ding Family could have grown into a major family comparable to the Four Great Families within a few years…

If the Luo Family's people establish contact with the Ding Family, then the Luo Family's influence would surely rise significantly.

Although we are listed alongside the Luo Family among the Four Great Families, because the Luo Family would be able to lean on the Ding family's new force, it would gradually become more difficult for us, the Wang Family, to contest the Luo Family's influence going forward…"

Zhi Sen seemed to realize something. "Does that mean that the incident of the prodigal son breaking into Ye Ningbing's dressing room was preemptively orchestrated by the Young Master?"

Wang Tingxu nodded a few times. "Luohao has always been meticulous in his thoughts; he had already seen through this chess move that's why he started with that prodigal son.

As such, even if our Wang Family exterminates the Ding Family, the Luo Family's people can only watch, given that the prodigal son had intruded into the dressing room of a precious daughter from one of the Four Great Families, the Ye Family.

Invisibly, we have already formed an alliance with the Ye Family, so how could the Luo Family dare to start a war over the Ding Family against two major families…"

"Young Master Luohao is indeed brilliant!" Zhi Sen said with a look of admiration.

Zhi Sen pondered for a moment then asked, "But since the Ding Family has already fallen, why does Young Master Luohao still want to move against that prodigal son?"

"Have you heard about the Qin Family's matter?"

Zhi Sen nodded somewhat confusedly. "The Qin Family's patriarch became a vegetative person two years ago, he's been unconscious ever since. However, there have been rumors recently that he seems to have been cured by a master."

"It was that prodigal son of the Ding Family who cured him," Wang Tingxu stated.

"What? How is that possible?" Zhi Sen said with a hint of disbelief.

Wang Tingxu slowly opened his eyes, then gradually stood up. "Besides the Qin Family's old ghost, a deputy mayor in Dancheng who had a terminal illness was also cured by Ding Fan."

"Elder, could it be that Ding Fan has taken refuge under those people?" Zhi Sen said with a somewhat uneasy expression.

The illness of the Qin Family's patriarch, which even specialists couldn't cure, and the fact that Ding Fan could treat it, could only mean one thing: he had received teachings from a master.

In Huaxia Country, there are many families with Ancient Martial Arts traditions. These people live in seclusion, uninvolved with the world, focusing only on their cultivation.

However, these people possess an immense amount of energy. To say they have the ability to connect heaven and earth might be an exaggeration, but at least, the people of the Four Great Families also do not wish to offend these Ancient Martial Family folks.

The people Zhi Sen referred to are precisely these inheritors of Ancient Martial Arts, and at this moment, his expression became grave.

"Luohao is also worried about this, so he personally decided to execute Ding Fan," Wang Tingxu spoke indifferently.

"But if killing Ding Fan angers the powerful figures behind him…"

Wang Tingxu scoffed lightly. "Our Wang Family is not so easily bullied either, and moreover, even if we don't provoke Ding Fan, he will come back looking for us. Ours is a feud of annihilation, so the enmity between us and Ding Fan is irreconcilable—it's either he dies or we perish. Instead of waiting for Ding Fan to grow stronger, we might as well nip him in the bud."

Wang Tingxu slowly walked to the study's window. "The foundation of the Wang Family is never to permit any threat to exist; hence, Ding Fan must die!"

…

Ding Fan walked out all night before finally arriving at a small town. Once there, Ding Fan found an inn to rest, as he had not yet reached the "embryonic breathing" stage, so staying up all night was still quite exhausting for him.

After sleeping the entire morning and having lunch, Ding Fan decided to find a car and head to the Immortal Peak Primeval Forest.

Walking was too time-consuming, and now that Ding Fan had money, a mere car fare was affordable. He looked around the market, but while he was searching for a car, he felt that he was being followed.

Although he hadn't reached the Third Level of Qi Cultivation and lacked Divine Sense, his experiences in the bloody battles of the Cultivation World had honed his sense of danger.

What unsettled Ding Fan was that the pursuer possessed a strong aura. Judging from this aura, he would likely be no match for them.

Even though he didn't know why he was being followed, his current strength was too weak to take any risks. In response, Ding Fan hailed a taxi and, after offering three times the fare, the taxi didn't hesitate to take him away immediately.

"Driver, I've paid to reserve this entire car, and now you're picking someone else up. How can you do that!"

When Ding Fan had gotten into the taxi, a woman was already seated inside. Due to his urgent need to evade his follower, he hadn't noticed her initially. It was this woman who complained to the driver instead of saying anything to Ding Fan.

The woman sat in the passenger seat. Although Ding Fan had only glanced briefly at her profile, he could confirm that she was a stunning beauty, certainly no less attractive than Lin Qingqing.

This beautiful woman, no older than twenty, dressed in sportswear, appeared to be an outdoor sports enthusiast.

"Little sister, this handsome guy is paying well, so take care of me. I will earn a bit more from this trip, and I can buy more milk powder for the kids," the driver said ingratiatingly with a smile to the beautiful woman.

The beautiful woman pursed her lips. Though displeased, she didn't say anything, simply put on her headphones and looked out of the car window.

At this moment, Ding Fan wasn't paying attention to the beautiful woman; he turned his head to look behind. The dangerous aura had vanished, so it was apparent he had shaken off his pursuer.

Even though he was out of danger for now, Ding Fan frowned as he pondered who might be tracking him and who wanted to harm him.

After much thought, he couldn't figure it out. However, he decided he needed to acquire some self-defense weapons. He somewhat regretted burning all the handguns, along with the bodies in the cave back on the mountain, fearing they'd cause trouble. If he had a gun now, it might have been helpful.

The car had been on the road for over an hour when someone on the roadside flagged it down.

"Master, can you take me along?" The man who stopped the taxi was middle-aged. After catching the taxi, he glanced at Ding Fan and the beautiful woman inside and casually asked the driver.

At that moment, Ding Fan's expression became solemn. The middle-aged man exuded a killing aura that only he could sense. Moreover, although this man was talking to the driver, Ding Fan could clearly feel that he was paying attention to him. The sensation of danger began to rise again.

This person must be associated with the one who had followed him...

"I've already got two passengers..."

The driver hadn't finished speaking when the middle-aged man casually pulled out a few red bills. "I'm in a hurry, master, please help me out."

The driver, who had been stern before, changed his tone after taking the money. "Everyone faces difficulties. Come on borther, hop in."

The woman in the passenger seat rolled her eyes at the driver, then continued to gaze outside. She didn't say anything this time, as the driver had already made an exception for Ding Fan; picking up another person didn't make much difference anymore.

The middle-aged man opened the rear door and immediately sat down next to Ding Fan.

"Little beauty... I haven't asked for your name yet," Ding Fan said to the woman in the passenger seat as the car started moving.

"Do I need to tell you my name?" The woman gave Ding Fan a cold glance. She knew the ignoble thoughts of many men who tried to strike up conversations with her.

When Ding Fan had boarded the car, he had been quite serious, and the woman had thought he might be decent. But now, he could no longer keep up the act.

"Being in the same car is fate. If it weren't for fate, why would we two, out of so many people in the world, end up in the same car?" Ding Fan said with a smile.

"As if I have any fate with you!" The woman glared fiercely at Ding Fan and then turned to look outside.

"Out of courtesy, let me introduce myself. I am the young master of the Ding Family; my name is Ding Fan!" Ding Fan said in a carefree manner.

The woman in front appeared to ignore Ding Fan's words. However, when Ding Fan disclosed his name, the middle-aged man sitting next to him subtly changed his expression.