Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Tsundere Young Lady

Ah...

Su Ye jolted awake from a deep sleep, his entire body seized by a bone-deep chill.

He drew in several heavy breaths, only to feel as though shards of ice were lodged in his lungs, making it hard to breathe.

“What time is it?”

He glanced at the clock beside him. It was already past three in the afternoon. On the table nearby sat some food and a bowl of soup, and he had no idea who had brought them.

But he had no appetite at all. He grabbed a bottle of mineral water, snapped the cap off with a twist, and drank it down in one go. Even after finishing the bottle, he still felt nowhere near quenched. He picked up the bowl of soup at once...

With a sharp crack, even that bowl was crushed in his grip. The entire bowl of soup spilled everywhere, soaking the whole tabletop.

“What happened to my hands?” Su Ye looked at them in confusion. Then he glanced around and saw another bottle of milk.

This time he took it more carefully, and at last did not break it.

But the moment he inserted the straw, there was another soft pop, and a hole was pierced in the bottom of the bottle. White milk gushed out at once, splashing all over his shirt and trousers.

“Why can’t I control this power?” Su Ye hurriedly snatched up some tissues from the side and began wiping the milk off his pants.

Just then, his door creaked open.

Su Ye heard the sound and turned back at once, still holding the tissues as he wiped at the milk on his trousers...

At the doorway, Jiang Liuying and the maid Xiao Die both froze.

Jiang Liuying’s face was cold, but her eyes were full of suspicion as she looked at Su Ye’s movements. She had been standing there with her arms folded, already somewhat resistant to coming here, and now her expression darkened with disgust. She shot Su Ye a fierce look of contempt.

Xiao Die, meanwhile, was holding a tray with freshly prepared dishes. Wearing oversized glasses, she saw Su Ye and her pretty face instantly flushed crimson. She lowered her head shyly, too embarrassed to look any longer.

Still red-faced and flustered, she murmured, “Young Master, y-you... you’re awake.”

Jiang Liuying glared at Xiao Die and shouted, “Don’t call him that. Take the things and go!”

With that, she turned on her heel, straightening her tall, slender figure as she strode off. Xiao Die looked left and right in uncertainty, and could only follow after the young lady.

“Hey... leaving already? Liuying, I have something to ask you.”

“Ask your sister. Shut up, you disgusting freak. Get away from me!”

Su Ye stared in astonishment. What was going on? That shouldn’t be right. Why was she cursing him so harshly? Was Jiang Liuying still angry, still unaware of the truth? Had Lord Jiang not told her yet? Or was it something else?

Su Ye glanced down at his own palm in silence. Faint black specks still had not fully faded. He let out a helpless sigh.

The dreadful thing within Jiang Ziyang’s body was, in fact, the bloodline power passed down through the Jiang family for thousands of years. If properly mastered, it could possess the might to shatter heaven and earth.

Yet throughout the Jiang family’s line, not a single warrior among the nine branches had ever been able to control it completely. In the end, all of them met with untimely deaths.

It was almost like a curse. Even their ancestor, the legendary figure who had first created that terrifying divine power, had ultimately died on the battlefield and never enjoyed a peaceful end to his life.

So at the time, Su Ye had been unable to keep sealing that force within Jiang Ziyang, and even less able to transfer it to Jiang Liuying. In the end, he had drawn it into his own body instead.

“It seems I bet right. My Yanhuang cultivation art really can suppress this bloodline power.” Su Ye sighed inwardly. He knew this must be a secret of the entire Jiang family.

But Su Ye was not foolish enough to silently shoulder so much sacrifice, take everything upon himself, and still let Jiang Liuying hate him day after day. If Jiang Liuying truly did not know, he would surely find a chance to tell her.

Su Ye closed the door, looked at himself in the mirror, and saw that he was somewhat untidy. He could only shake his head; still, nothing mattered more than filling his stomach first.

He quickly took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and went downstairs for dinner.

To his surprise, in the living room, Jiang Liuying was sitting there with an air of proud displeasure, arms crossed over her chest, her lovely face turned to one side, looking exactly like someone who was angry and impossible to appease.

“Were you waiting for me?” Su Ye saw the appetizing dishes on the table, and without standing on ceremony, he said it casually before sitting down to eat.

Jiang Liuying rolled her big eyes, flicked him a glance, and said to the ceiling, “Since you’re awake, I guess you’re fine. Go to school in the next few days.”

“What am I going to school for? I’m busy.” Su Ye ate with great bites, wolfing the food down.

“Busy, my foot—you look like you were reborn from starving to death. Just what exactly are you busy with? How long has it been since you last went to school? You haven’t gone once since the graduation challenge, and there are only a few days left before the exams. This time it decides whether you can get into university. Go if you want to go; don’t if you don’t.” Jiang Liuying said angrily.

“University?” Su Ye shook his head.

In the past, he had indeed wanted to attend university. But in these few months, he had experienced too much. The tranquil life of a campus now felt somewhat alien to him.

Besides, he truly still had far too many things waiting for him.

He still needed to continue listening to thunder and cultivating that heavenly art to uncover the complete contents of the cultivation method on the Heaven-Shaking Stele. At present, he had merely glimpsed the line that read, “The myriad obscurities of Yanhuang, the gate of the mysterious womb!” As for the profound and wondrous great path hidden within it, he had yet to comprehend it. That was the top priority.

Nine thunder veins had been dug out from him. He had only recovered three, while the remaining six had been taken away by an old woman of the Yu family in search of the legendary Thunder City. Such hatred had to be repaid, even if it meant chasing them to the ends of the earth.

The bloodline power he had absorbed from Jiang Ziyang had already fused into his body, but whether it carried any terrible consequences was still something he needed to guard against day and night. He had to figure out exactly what that power was, and that was an urgent matter.

After what happened at the Pill Residence, he had realized that he had too many enemies: the Yu family, the Zhou family, the remnants of the Ou family, and the internal struggles within the Martial Alliance. All of it had already entangled him. Even a servant from the Jiang family named Xiao Liu had been bought over. He was far too dangerous now, and he had to seize every moment to cultivate, seeking only self-preservation.

Then there was the matter of the Pill Residence again. He had clearly offended Night Cloud, and after killing that old woman Wen, he had also offended the Phantom Sea Sect. Those people could come knocking at any time, intent on killing him. Especially Night Cloud—if someone of his standing discovered that one treasure was missing, what measures would he take in response?

Thinking of Night Cloud made Su Ye remember the pearl he had obtained from the eyes of the stone lion. He had seen strange sights within that pearl, but what exactly had they been? That still required investigation.

Various unseen pressures also left Su Ye unable to breathe. He still needed to grow stronger, at the very least strong enough to protect the Jiang family and deter the great clans. This was not only urgent, but also an undertaking that would demand enormous time and effort, and one wrong step would leave him buried without a grave.

To accumulate power, Su Ye suddenly thought of the Spirit Cultivation Hall. Under the identity of Azure Thunder, he had already uploaded the first volume of True Person Severed Veins there, causing a sensation throughout all of China. So many days had passed, and he had not had the time to go back and see how things stood.

Back then, on that island, he had met Qian Liluo of the Sea Clan, an incomparably mysterious existence. Banishment from one’s own family, forced to leave and cast out—that was a thorn in the heart. How he longed for the day when he could return in full glory.

If no power on the mainland of China could contend with that family, then what about the ocean—might there be one there?

“So many things are waiting for me to do!” Su Ye only gave it a passing thought, yet countless matters immediately came to mind.

Jiang Liuying suddenly stood up from her chair. With all the arrogance of a proud young miss, she planted both hands on the dining table and leaned toward Su Ye, glaring at him fiercely. Her breathtaking face was filled with anger, and her soft pink lips pouted as she said, “Hmph. If my dad hadn’t forced me to come, I wouldn’t even bother talking to you. A man with no ambition at all.”

Su Ye was sitting directly opposite her. When he lifted his head slightly, from that angle he immediately saw the low neckline of her blouse. What met his eyes was a stretch of pale, enticing skin, along with a nearly shocking deep valley. He had not expected this little girl to be so well endowed...

Hmm? Wait. Was there something tucked between those curves? Why did it look like a card?

“Hey, Jiang Liuying, did you steal my two-million card? I can’t find it.”

Jiang Liuying’s pretty face instantly turned red. She straightened up at once, and her fair little hand even instinctively covered that spot in guilty panic as she retreated two steps, exclaiming, “W-who stole your card? Huh? Don’t you slander me.”

“So it was you... you little thief.” Su Ye cried out.

“Don’t go accusing people! If it’s missing, go search my room. If you can’t find it, then don’t accuse me.”

The two of them were practically about to start brawling over the dining table.

At that moment, Xiao Die hurried in and said, “Miss, Young Master, what are you doing? Stop fighting. Night Cloud is here. He says he wants to see the two of you.”