As Ye Xian was walking through the marketplace, he noticed a man standing in front of him. The man had blonde hair that reached down to his back, and his eyes were staring directly at Ye Xian. There was about a 20-meter distance between them.
The man was holding a poster in his hand. He looked at the poster, then at Ye Xian, as if he was confirming something.
"Are you Ye Xian?" the man asked.
"No, I'm Adler," Ye Xian replied smoothly.
Hearing this answer, the blonde-haired man's eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. "Boy, don't lie to me. I have your poster right here. Don't try to fool me."
"If you have that, then why are you asking such a nonsense question?" Ye Xian could feel the hostility radiating from his gaze and decided not to be polite with the man.
Upon hearing this, the blonde-haired man started laughing coldly. "Very good, very good. You really are as arrogant as they said. I don't know who you think you are, but I'm here today to teach you a lesson you'll never forget."
"Who are you?" Ye Xian asked, though from the man's facial features, he could already guess. There was a clear resemblance to Steve - this had to be his relative.
"The person you beat up today - I'm his older brother," the man confirmed.
Ye Xian studied him carefully. The man appeared to be between 25 and 30 years old. The blonde-haired man's name was Marcus.
A ball of fire materialized in Marcus's hand, hovering and burning with intense heat.
"I'm going to teach you a good lesson today. I'm going to burn you alive and make you pay for all the harm you caused my brother. Don't worry, I won't burn you to death - that would be too merciful. Because of you, he can't get out of bed for a month. I will make sure you can't get up from bed for at least a year. Hahaha!"
As cultivators advance from the Ki Warrior Realm to the Elemental Disciple Realm, they undergo a crucial breakthrough—awakening their elemental affinity. They learn to manipulate specific elemental energies, such as fire, water, earth, air, and more, shaping their abilities to harness and wield the elements in combat.
Seeing the fireball forming in his hand, Ye Xian realized that Marcus's cultivation was at least at the Elemental Disciple Realm, and if his luck was truly bad, Marcus might even be at the Elemental Master Realm.
Ye Xian wasn't foolish enough to underestimate the situation, but he also wasn't one to back down from a fight. "Do you know who I am?" he asked calmly.
Hearing this, Marcus started laughing mockingly. "What's wrong with your brain? Just a moment ago you were denying being Ye Xian, and now you're asking if I know who you are?"
"Good," Ye Xian said with a sly smile. "Since you know that much, do you also know that I belong to the Meng Clan?"
Even though this marriage arrangement had been decided by his Elder and he hadn't initially wanted it, now that the engagement was already set, he might as well take advantage of the benefits it provided. So he decided to play this card strategically.
When Marcus heard this, his laughter suddenly stopped. He stared at Ye Xian as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Ye Xian preferred to avoid unnecessary conflicts when possible. If he could resolve this problem without violence, it would save him time and energy. Fighting without necessity was just a waste of time. However, if the person insisted on fighting, then Ye Xian would give him exactly what he wanted - even if his opponent was considerably stronger than he was. So he decided to try a different approach first - leveraging his connections.
He repeated again with calculated confidence, "Do you know about the Meng Clan?"
Marcus's expression underwent a complete transformation. The confident, aggressive demeanor from moments before was replaced by uncertainty and growing concern. The mention of the Meng Clan had clearly struck a nerve, and Marcus was now reconsidering his entire approach to this confrontation.
The marketplace around them continued its usual bustle, but the tension between the two young men was palpable. Marcus's fireball began to waver, and his earlier certainty about teaching Ye Xian a lesson was clearly wavering as well.
Marcus had indeed heard the rumors that Ye Xian was going to become the son-in-law of the Meng Clan. It wasn't common for such news to spread so quickly, but because the Meng Clan was such a prestigious family in the empire, the news had spread like wildfire through the forest. To Marcus, they were still just rumors, and he wasn't completely certain about their truth.
Marcus thought for a moment, then spoke up with forced bravado: "That's just a rumor. If you think you can escape by using that, then forget it. I won't let you go today, no matter what you do." He said this but hesitated in his actions, lowering his voice and glancing around the surroundings to ensure that no one important was watching who could cause him trouble later.
Ye Xian replied with calculated calm, "If you take action against me and my connection with the Meng Clan comes to light, think carefully about what will happen to you. Not just you, but your brother and your entire family will face the same consequences. Think again - you have two choices: either leave quietly now, or attack me. If you leave quietly, I'll forget that you tried to take action against me today. But if you attack me and cause harm, the Meng Clan will treat you very, very badly. After all, I'm going to be the husband of their beloved daughter."
Hearing this, Marcus's earlier doubts began transforming into genuine belief. Initially, he hadn't wanted to take any risks, but seeing his brother's condition had filled him with rage. That wasn't even the worst part - he had also been informed that his brother was exposed for extorting ki stones from weaker students and was now expelled from the academy. There was also a substantial debt they had to pay to the academy as compensation. All of this had happened because of Ye Xian, and Marcus desperately wanted revenge.
He had thought that this business about becoming the Meng Clan's son-in-law was just a baseless rumor - who would want to form a relationship with trash like Ye Xian? But if the rumor turned out to be true, then not only he himself, but his entire family could find themselves in serious trouble.
It would be far better not to take such a dangerous risk, because the Meng Clan was one of the most powerful clans in the Silver Moon Empire. They had deep connections and significant influence even within the imperial family. Taking on such people without proper backing would be tantamount to inviting death.
Marcus said with growing uncertainty, "You haven't actually become their son-in-law yet. That means you don't have any real connection with the Meng Clan at this moment."
At this, Ye Xian raised his hand with deliberate slowness, revealing his spatial ring. The intricate design and distinctive markings on it clearly indicated it was Earth Grade quality - a treasure of immense value. He said with quiet confidence, "Do you see this ring? The Meng Clan patriarch himself gifted this spatial ring to me as a token of our arrangement. The markings clearly show it's Earth Grade quality - do you honestly think someone like me could afford such a treasure on my own?"
Hearing this, Marcus was genuinely shocked. An Earth Grade spatial ring was incredibly valuable and extremely rare - worth more than most people in the azure sky city would see in their entire lifetimes. Could this guy be lying to save himself? But the ring was clearly authentic - the intricate markings and obvious quality were absolutely unmistakable.
Ye Xian seemed to read his thoughts perfectly and said with unwavering confidence, "I'm not lying. Either take action against me or leave. Don't waste any more of my time."
Hearing this ultimatum, Marcus gritted his teeth in anger and frustration. The evidence was too compelling to ignore, and the risk too great to take lightly.
Most cultivators relied on normal-grade spatial rings, and those users weren't considered poor by any means. These rings typically had around 1 cubic meter of storage space, which was sufficient for most cultivator needs.
The higher clans and nobles typically used earth-grade spatial rings, which offered around 10 cubic meters of space - a significant upgrade that demonstrated both wealth and status.
Heaven-grade rings were reserved for emperors and the highest echelons of power, or the most elite top clans. These extraordinary treasures provided anywhere from 50 to 100 cubic meters of storage space, making them almost impossibly valuable.
While immortal and divine-grade treasures remained little more than legend, whispered about in ancient texts and old stories. Should anyone ever come into possession of such items, they would hide them at all costs to avoid the greed-driven wrath of others.
These treasures were so expensive and rare that they were beyond what most could afford, and the crafting techniques to create them had been lost to time.
This context made Ye Xian's earth-grade spatial ring all the more impressive to Marcus. Seeing such a valuable treasure on someone he had dismissed as "trash" was concrete proof that Ye Xian's claims about his connection to the Meng Clan might actually be true. An earth-grade spatial ring wasn't something that could be faked or easily obtained - it was a clear symbol of backing from one of the empire's most powerful families.
The ten-fold increase in storage space from a normal-grade to earth-grade ring, combined with the astronomical cost difference, made it an undeniable status symbol that even Marcus couldn't dismiss as coincidence or deception.