Young Lord Zichen, Han Clan’s Hidden Agenda

The young patriarch of the Sacred Cloud School.

He had lived up to everyone's expectations.

It was well known that Liu Ming had an unmatched, immortal beauty.

In many cases, a person's level of beauty was closely linked to their cultivation potential.

A general rule of cultivation was that it made one more beautiful over time.

Men from the Liu family had a natural talent for cultivating, which also gave them an immortal beauty.

Liu Ming, being the greatest talent the Liu family had ever produced, was the personification of this rule.

He wore snow-white robes that perfectly matched his slender yet strong figure.

His expression was unlike anyone else of his generation, with a face as calm as a flowing stream──this fully highlighted his excellent temperament.

His skin shone like jade, his hair roots glowed, and his body was surrounded by a peaceful aura.

He had a masculine face of peerless beauty, one majestic enough to make the maids bite their lower lips in anticipation and their legs quiver with excitement.

"Mmm~ I almost want to eat the young lord. Ahnn~"

"Eat him? I'd do anything for him to eat me~~"

"We should be composed... and yet..."

"Is my heart beating this fast because of the young lord?"

They felt their undergarments soaking by the second.

This was unusual for women as trained as they were!

Even some manservants were swooned by his beauty, their bearded cheeks turning red, and perverted smiles staining their once-composed expressions.

...

Presently.

Liu Ming and his female disciples were being led through the inner parts of the Chen Family Estate by the young lord and lady of the Chen household.

The Chen Family Estate was bustling with merchants.

They had shops of all sizes, scattered across the vast estate. Each merchant ran their business here by paying a fixed amount of gold coins as rent to the family head at the end of each month.

These merchants, along with the paying customers, all stared at Liu Ming and the beauties behind him with wide eyes.

"Wow, is that really the Liu family head?"

"Oh, you mean the one at the Core Spirit stage who defeated a Foundation Spirit expert from the Sword God School with just one stroke of his sword? I can't believe I left my house today just to see him. Amazing."

"He looks very handsome!"

"If I can't marry him myself, I'd wish for my daughter to marry him, haha!"

"Hah! You say that as if the Liu family head would even give you any consideration. People like him will set their sights on top-tier beauties like his cousin, Chen Ruyi. I'm certain they'll marry to strengthen the martial pact between their noble families."

"True enough. We can only dream, right?"

"Indeed, my friend."

None of them could believe they would see a man even more handsome than the young lord, Chen Fan.

They concluded that if Chen Fan was like candy, then Liu Ming was an entire barrel of it.

Hrmm...

Liu Ming's eyes darted from side to side.

Both Chen Ruyi and Su Yan saw the displeased look on Liu Ming's face. Just as Su Yan was about to speak up and ask, she hesitated. This gave Chen Ruyi the chance to step closer until their shoulders were touching and then ask.

"Is everything alright, brother?"

Chen Ruyi was smiling widely, showing off her row of bright white teeth.

Su Yan had a small frown and looked down──she felt a bit sad and didn't know why.

At the same moment, Liu Ming quickly hid his displeasure with a half-hearted smile and said, "Oh, uh, don't worry, it's fine."

This made Chen Ruyi smile even more as she maintained intense eye contact with him. "Oh really~?"

They could see each other's eyes clearly──Liu Ming's crystal blue ones and Chen Ruyi's clear green ones.

Liu Ming glanced around at the numerous young ladies, all looking at him with heart-shaped eyes.

He then turned back to Chen Fan and Chen Ruyi.

"So, has anyone from the other sects or families arrived in Immortal Cloud City before me? I unfortunately had to end my closed-door cultivation to get here ahead of them."

With half a week left before the Disciple Market Auction, Liu Ming could've waited, but he knew it was better to be the early bird and get a head start. It only cost him a few extra days of cultivation.

Chen Fan looked at Liu Ming and then ahead.

"Hmm, I heard that representatives from the San Jie Institute will arrive from the Ancient World State tomorrow. Surprisingly, although I expected you to be the earliest besides us, it turns out that the hallmasters from the Sword God School and the Han Clan's young master got here first."

This piqued Liu Ming's interest. "When you say hallmasters, do you mean all of them?"

"Yes, it's quite unusual for an upper-class sect."

"Unusual indeed..."

It all came down to the Protocol of Representation.

For an upper-class sect, it wasn't typical for a patriarch to attend events where other patriarchs of the same rank weren't present. Instead, they would send the sect master, who would then delegate an elder.

That's what the Sword God School had done.

However, they had sent all their hallmasters to an event that only required one, and they had also sent the young lord of their clan.

To someone as observant as Liu Ming, this seemed too suspicious.

"And who is this Han Clan's young master?" Liu Ming asked.

Ugh...

Chen Ruyi let out a small groan, as if the question personally offended her.

It was hard not to notice.

"Hmm? Is something wrong?" Liu Ming wanted to know.

Chen Ruyi smiled bitterly and said, "Oh no, everything's absolutely splendid."

Clearly, things were not so splendid, which only made Liu Ming more curious.

Instead of asking again, he turned to Chen Fan.

The young lord smiled awkwardly but answered nonetheless.

"Young Lord Zichen is the young master of the Han Clan, and he has quite an impressive background. He's the only son of Han Wu, one of the four hallmasters recently promoted in the Sword God School. His cultivation potential is astonishing, and he's even more popular than some hallmasters.

"When he was at the Heavenly Grotto-Spirit stage, he spent most of his time cultivating in the Sword Ancestor Hidden Realm, and it's believed he had a breakthrough to the Foundation Spirit stage during that time, making his progress one of the fastest ever.

"I think he only came out of seclusion because of you."

Liu Ming stayed silent, letting Chen Fan continue to provide him with important information.

"You see, defeating the Ling Clan's head and disgracing his son across the Central World State is like slapping the Han Clan in the face.

"The Han Clan is one of the three ruling clans in the Sword God School, and since the Ling Clan is a vassal of the Han Clan, any humiliation or defeat the Ling Clan suffers also reflects poorly on the Han Clan.

"It makes it look like their subordinate is weak or insignificant, which undermines the Han Clan's own standing and authority. Whether you meant to or not, they likely see your actions as a deliberate insult."

"Then why is Sister Ruyi so bitter about them?" Liu Ming asked, now even more interested.

Chen Ruyi waved her hands with a dismissive gesture and laughed nervously. "It's not important!"

"He's our brother, Ruyi."

After Chen Ruyi heard her brother's brief but valid explanation, she sighed deeply and decided she would give a short answer.

"After Uncle Changsheng vanished, the Sword God School wanted to spite the Liu family even more. So, the Han Clan visited us and asked us to dissolve our martial pact with the Liu family and form a new one with them. This new pact would be sealed through matrimony──between Han Zichen and me.

"Of course, we didn't accept their offer, and they took it as an insult. Since then, Han Zichen has been sending his Dao protectors to check on me, bombarding me with gifts and very questionable letters.

"Sigh~ I'm just going to stop talking about this."

There was a lot more to it, but she didn't feel comfortable sharing the details.

Just thinking about Han Zichen made her grit her teeth and cringe all the way to her spine.

Liu Ming closed his gently eyes.

"Hm, you don't need to worry about that now. As long as I'm here with you in Immortal Cloud City, I can guarantee that Han Zichen won't be sending you any questionable letters without first answering to me. I'll make sure to teach him a lesson or two for your sake."

The smile on his face was calm and thoughtful, showing that Han Zichen didn't bother him at all. To him, that young lord was nothing more than an ant.

Chen Ruyi's cheeks reddened.

"Th-, thank you, Brother Ming."

She lowered her head with a gentle and tender look on her lovely, milky jade face.

'I didn't expect him to understand me so well, especially since we're only speaking for the first time. Most times, not even Brother Fan gets me. He just thinks I'm overthinking things and worrying for no reason.'

Now, she felt safer.

Liu Ming's expression turned dark and sinister.

He smiled like a devil ready to claim a sinner's soul.

He glanced sideways and his eyes cut through the crowd of people, buildings, and massive structures.

These cold, blue eyes of his landed on a young man observing them from a vast distance with a special spying artifact.

'There you are...'

The wicked smile on Liu Ming's face widened.

The young man froze and the artifact slipped from his hand.

'Impossible. H-, he saw me...?'

Cold sweat ran down his neck.