The Zhou Family's Final Rampage

After agreeing to help Li Jiuchuan, Ye Tian instructed Chen Jian to gather medicinal herbs from several pharmacies under his command.

As a family with a history of several hundred years, the Li family was considered the wealthiest, openly, along the East Sea coast.

Since this opportunity had presented itself, Ye Tian was determined to make a huge profit.

After giving his orders to Chen Jian, Ye Tian turned his attention back to preparing the rustic stove.

Earlier in the morning, he had promised his sister and Nana that he would make roasted Fire Spirit Chicken.

A promise made could not be broken.

Li Jiuchuan, standing by, eagerly stepped forward to help, completely disregarding the manners expected of a young lady from a prestigious family.

This earned her a bit of respect from Ye Tian.

After all, unlike him, Li Jiuchuan hadn't grown up in hardship. Yet she didn't mind getting dirt on herself.

Since the moment she was born, there had always been servants and maids to tend to her every need.

In recent years, Ye Tian had encountered many young ladies and gentlemen from noble families.

They spent their days admiring flowers and strolling about, always appearing untainted by the mundane world, never touched by a speck of dust.

Li Jiuchuan's disregard for such things was admirable.

On the other hand, Hu Liena couldn't stand watching any longer.

She was becoming more convinced that Li Jiuchuan had ulterior motives in getting close to Ye Tian.

"Miss Jiuchuan, I can handle these little things," Hu Liena said as she approached, smoothly taking the firewood from Li Jiuchuan and expertly starting the fire in the stove.

At the Spirit Hall Academy, students were not only taught the rules of cultivation but also survival skills for the wilderness.

For a soul master, cultivation was just a small part of growth. Only through battle could one quickly sharpen their skills.

So, for Hu Liena, who had learned survival techniques, starting a fire was a breeze.

Having been pushed aside by Hu Liena, Li Jiuchuan was momentarily at a loss.

She could see how much Hu Liena cared about Ye Tian.

She hadn't expected her presence to threaten the young girl in front of her.

This realization made Li Jiuchuan feel both disappointed and secretly relieved.

Disappointed because boys like Ye Tian were never lacking in exceptional beauties around them, making it difficult to win his heart.

Relieved because the fact that Hu Liena was on guard showed that she wasn't entirely without hope.

Just then, a sturdy, middle-aged man with white hair approached from the distance.

Hearing footsteps, Ye Tian turned around, locking eyes with Zhou Long.

With a resolute expression, Zhou Long bowed and said, "Greetings, young master."

Ye Tian could guess that Zhou Long's visit had something to do with the situation in East Sea City.

He clapped his hands and stood up, smiling at the two girls beside him. "I have some business to attend to. You two carry on; I'll be back shortly."

"Alright," Hu Liena obediently replied, casting a wary glance at Li Jiuchuan.

Li Jiuchuan gave an awkward smile. As a guest, she couldn't overstep her bounds.

After waving goodbye to his sister, Ye Tian led Zhou Long to a secluded spot beneath a grapevine.

Plucking a fresh grape leaf, Ye Tian asked, "Has the Zhou family shown any signs of remorse?"

Following his usual principle of keeping a low profile, he was still willing to give the Zhou family one last chance.

Last night's decision had been made out of anger.

Zhou Long bowed and replied, "None at all. Several physicians in East Sea City were executed by the furious Zhou family patriarch because they couldn't treat Zhou Wu's injuries!"

"The Zhou family has now fully mobilized and has allied with three other major families. They're distributing weapons as we speak."

Upon hearing this, Ye Tian's expression turned cold.

Several of the physicians in East Sea City had been personally trained by him.

He never imagined that the Zhou family would execute them all just because their treatment failed.

Since that was the case, there was no need to show mercy anymore.

It was better that these families had banded together, saving him the trouble of having to send people to eliminate the stragglers.

Crushing the grape leaf in his hand into a ball, he tossed it aside and said coldly, "The plan remains unchanged. At midnight tonight, wipe out all four major families of East Sea City."

"Yes!" Zhou Long bowed.

Ye Tian continued, "You don't need to intervene. Let the Polaris Squad handle it alone. We've trained them for so long, it's time to test their results."

Given Zhou Long's strength as a Titled Douluo, annihilating the four families would be a piece of cake.

But since he had decided to wipe them out, it would be a shame to waste this combat opportunity.

The Polaris Squad was an elite special forces unit of the Heavenly Strategy Army.

Each member was an exceptionally gifted soul master.

Ye Tian had invested a significant amount of heavenly materials and earthly treasures to train them, refining them into pills for the squad to consume.

The weakest member of the Polaris Squad was at the level of a Soul Sage.

Each member was also equipped with the most advanced weaponry, capable of killing without leaving a trace.

In terms of raw strength, these members might not even be a match for a regular soul master of the same level.

But when it came to assassination, even a powerful Titled Douluo would have a hard time escaping once targeted by the Polaris Squad.

After all, combat was about honor and strength.

But the Polaris Squad operated in the shadows, where the only result that mattered was the enemy's death. Whether the methods were righteous or not was irrelevant to them.

"Also, tomorrow night, I'll be heading to Golden Turtle Island. You'll be my bodyguard."

"Understood," Zhou Long responded with a slight bow.

As a subordinate, he understood that there was no need to ask questions.

He only needed to follow orders.

Even as a 94th-level Titled Douluo, Zhou Long had never been arrogant in front of Ye Tian.

On one hand, it was out of gratitude for Ye Tian's life-saving grace years ago, and for the countless pills Ye Tian had provided over the years, which gave him a chance to ascend to the rank of Titled Douluo.

On the other hand, as someone close to Ye Tian, Zhou Long knew all too well how terrifying Ye Tian's power was.

Ordinary Titled Douluos were no match for him. Even if dozens of Super Douluos came together, if Ye Tian willed it, they'd be wiped out with a flip of his hand.

It was this mix of respect for his strength and gratitude for his kindness that made Zhou Long completely loyal to Ye Tian.

Zhou Long knew that there were hardly any people on the Douluo Continent as extraordinary as Ye Tian.

Staying by his side offered far more rewards than risks.

...

After finishing his discussion with Zhou Long, Ye Tian returned to the small courtyard.

Hu Liena and Li Jiuchuan had already started the fire, slowly feeding bamboo sticks into the stove.

The bamboo crackled and popped as it burned fiercely in the fire.

Seeing this, Ye Tian covered his face and walked over, exasperated. "Girls, we're not making a bonfire here. If you keep burning the bamboo one by one, the fire will be out before we even get to cooking."

"Put all the bamboo in at once. Once it burns down to charcoal, we can start grilling."

Hearing this, Hu Liena looked at Ye Tian like a child who had done something wrong.

"Brother, I'm sorry," she said, then shot a smug glance at Li Jiuchuan beside her.

Clearly, apologizing wasn't her main goal.

It was more about showing off her closeness to Ye Tian.

Li Jiuchuan's face flushed with embarrassment. She stood up awkwardly, taking a step back. "Haha, this is my first time grilling, after all."

"Let me do it myself," Ye Tian said, rolling up his sleeves and squatting down to handle the charcoal.

Getting the charcoal right was crucial for roasting the Fire Spirit Chicken.

If he left it to the two girls, they'd probably be left eating air today.

(End of Chapter)