Chapter 536: Don't Come Over Here, Stay Calm, Stay Calm!
"Zhang Zhiyun, what's wrong? Why the ugly expression?"
Zhang Tianen saw Zhang Zhiyun, who was happily discussing the engagement, suddenly receive a text message, and his face turned gloomy and ashen. He couldn't help but ask curiously.
A cascade of notifications flooded Shen Anyu's mind, each one a proof of the storm brewing within the Child of Destiny.
[Ding! Child of Destiny Zhang Zhiyun is enraged, plundering +9999 destiny value!]
[Ding! Child of Destiny Zhang Zhiyun is consumed by jealousy, plundering +9999 destiny value!]
[Ding! Child of Destiny Zhang Zhiyun's possessiveness has been violated, plundering +9999 destiny value!]
[Ding! Child of Destiny Zhang Zhiyun's Dao Heart is wavering, plundering +9999 destiny value!]
Zhang Zhiyun's expression was a mask of cold fury, so grim it seemed carved from ice. The air around him grew heavy, charged with a barely suppressed rage. But in the presence of Zhang Tianen, his uncle-master and a formidable Celestial Master Peak expert, he managed to choke down the inferno threatening to erupt from his chest. Still, his voice dripped with arctic frost when he spoke.
"Uncle-master, why didn't you tell me that Xiao Lin has a boyfriend?"
"What?" Zhang Tianen's demeanor snapped from relaxed to rigid in an instant. "How could Xiao Lin possibly have a boyfriend?"
The news struck him like a physical blow. He adored his daughter, his guilt over his past neglect making it impossible to even raise his voice to her. But that same guilt fueled an almost suffocating protectiveness. He was a hawk circling over his only chick, and he was hyper-vigilant about any man who dared approach Ji Xiaolin. The thought of some young punk trying to sweet-talk her was enough to make his blood boil. He had, on more than one occasion, considered discreetly "discouraging" potential suitors with a well-aimed burst of spiritual pressure. Any man who even looked at Ji Xiaolin for too long would likely find himself waking up in a ditch hours later with a splitting headache and no memory of how he got there.
He was determined to prevent his precious, meticulously raised cabbage from being devoured by some wild, unworthy boar. He had to personally vet and select a son-in-law worthy of her, worthy of the Tianshi Sect.
So how, under his ever-watchful eye, could she possibly have found a boyfriend?
"Zhang Zhiyun, what exactly is going on? Explain yourself," Zhang Tianen demanded, his voice low and dangerous.
Seeing his uncle-master's intense reaction, Zhang Zhiyun didn't waste words. He thrust his phone into Zhang Tianen's hand. Despite his secluded cultivation in the Tianshi Sect, he was no mountain savage; he used modern technology as adeptly as anyone.
Displayed on the screen was a photograph accompanying a text message. The picture showed Ji Xiaolin walking into a luxurious villa alongside a tall young man. The man's back was to the camera, his features obscured, but Ji Xiaolin's striking profile—her high ponytail swaying, her heroic bearing unmistakable—was perfectly clear.
The text itself was a Molotov cocktail of pure provocation:
"Zhang Zhiyun, Xiao Lin is my woman. Who the hell do you think you are? Her fiancé? You don't deserve her. Scram. Xiao Lin and I have already achieved a positive outcome. If you don't believe me, feel free to come see for yourself. Villa No. 27, Jinxiu Bihulake Villa area, east of Hangzhou."
Reading the message, Zhang Zhiyun felt a tremor of pure, unadulterated rage shake his body. A vein throbbed violently in his temple. He had already mentally claimed Ji Xiaolin, his fiancée, as his personal possession. She was a treasure promised to him, a perfect addition to his future. And now, out of nowhere, this faceless whelp appears, sending a message dripping with such insolent ownership.
'My woman?' The words echoed in his skull, each syllable a hammer blow to his pride. 'Achieved a positive outcome?' The implication was as subtle as a sledgehammer. Was she no longer pure? Had she already been defiled by another man?
His imagination, fueled by jealousy, ran wild. He saw it all: Ji Xiaolin leaving the airport, rushing to meet this secret lover, confessing the news of her engagement. And this boyfriend, this arrogant bastard, reacting not with despair but with a sneer, tapping out this message to mock him, to declare his victory. He could even picture them now, tangled together in that villa, laughing at him.
The moment that image solidified in his mind, a wave of nausea washed over him. Zhang Zhiyun's face turned a ghastly shade of green. He felt like he'd swallowed a mouthful of filth.
Zhang Tianen's expression was no better. It twisted into a thunderous scowl. After all his meticulous precautions, all his obsessive surveillance, had his perfect daughter truly been stolen away by some unknown, low-life punk?
Impossible. He was a Celestial Master Peak expert. His spiritual sense could cover half the city. How could something so significant happen without him knowing?
His sharp eyes scanned the photo again, then his gaze turned inward, focusing his senses. A moment later, a sliver of relief cut through his anger. Zhang Tianen could see it as clearly as day—the faint, pure aura at his daughter's glabella, the mark of her untainted primal essence, was still intact and undisturbed. She was still a virgin. It was absolutely impossible that she had "achieved a positive outcome" with anyone.
"Calm yourself," Zhang Tianen said, his voice regaining its authority. "I can tell you with certainty that Xiao Lin is still pure. Her primal essence has not dispersed. This message is a lie."
Hearing his uncle-master's definitive statement, the green tint on Zhang Zhiyun's face began to recede. The confirmation that Ji Xiaolin's virginity was intact was like a balm on his savaged pride. They had just seen her at Hangzhou Airport a short while ago; the timeline supported it. The rage cooled, replaced by a simmering suspicion.
But then... why send such a message? What was the point of this elaborate charade?
Zhang Zhiyun's mind, sharp and accustomed to discerning plots, began to churn. He considered the possibilities, and then, suddenly, his eyes lit up with insight. A slow, knowing smile spread across his face.
"Uncle-master, I know what this is!" he declared, his tone shifting from fury to amused condescension. "Xiao Lin must be unhappy with our arranged marriage. This is her little rebellion. She found some random guy to pose as a fake boyfriend just to provoke us."
The more he considered this theory, the more plausible it seemed. His mood brightened considerably, the storm within him clearing as if it had never been. He was, after all, deeply satisfied with his fiancée. Ji Xiaolin, with her long legs, slender waist, and that signature high ponytail that gave her a heroic, radiant beauty, was a top-tier prize. He had been smitten at first sight.
So, this was just a childish tantrum. Finding a shield, a fake boyfriend to make a point. It was nothing. A trivial matter, really. A small problem.
He didn't mind. He could forgive her this minor willfulness. It was a fake, after all. Not real. Forgivable. Completely forgivable. In fact, it was almost endearing.
Zhang Tianen's eyes widened in sudden understanding. He nodded, agreeing with Zhang Zhiyun's conjecture. A heavy, helpless sigh escaped his lips.
"Zhiyun, you have to understand," he began, his expression softening with a familiar guilt. "Back then, for the sake of my cultivation, I abandoned my wife and daughter. I was in seclusion when Xiao Lin's mother fell gravely ill... I couldn't even make it back to see her one last time before she passed. Xiao Lin has always held a deep resentment towards me for that. It's made her personality a bit rebellious, a bit eccentric. But she's a good child at heart. I hope... I hope you can take good care of her. Be tolerant of her moods, and try to understand her."
Zhang Zhiyun straightened his back, his chest puffing out with magnanimity.
"Don't you worry, Uncle-master," he promised with utter sincerity. "I, Zhang Zhiyun, swear on my honor that I will take the best care of Xiao Lin. These little games, this small rebelliousness... I can be tolerant. I can be understanding. It's no problem at all."
'A top-tier beauty like her is allowed a few quirks,' Zhang Zhiyun thought to himself, a smug grin touching his lips. 'It adds to her charm. I'll simply have to show her. I will let her know, beyond any doubt, that there is no man in this world more outstanding than I am.'
As the most brilliant successor the Tianshi Sect had produced in a thousand years, a man who had reached the Half-Step Celestial Master realm at such a young age and was proficient in the arts of the Artificer True Person, Zhang Zhiyun possessed an unshakeable confidence in his own superiority.
"Uncle-master, let's go to the villa address from the message," he suggested, a new resolve in his eyes. "We should resolve this quickly. I worry that if we let this go on, Xiao Lin might get drawn further astray."
He paused, a proud, competitive gleam in his eyes.
"I will personally let Xiao Lin see that the fake boyfriend she found as a shield is nothing but dust compared to me, Zhang Zhiyun!"
Zhang Tianen nodded in firm agreement. The boy was right. If they didn't address this head-on, his stubborn daughter might dig her heels in and make things worse.
And so, the two of them set off for the address provided in the text.
Villa No. 27, Jinxiu Bihulake Villa area, east of Hangzhou.
"Not good!" The moment Zhang Tianen's hand touched the ornate villa gate, pushing it open, his expression underwent a dramatic, violent shift. He had been preparing a stern but loving speech for his daughter, ready to tell her to stop being so willful. But in that split second, every instinct, honed by a lifetime of combat and cultivation, screamed danger.
Zhang Zhiyun sensed the lethal threat a microsecond later, his own Half-Step Celestial Master senses flaring to life, but it was already far, far too late.
Boom! Boom! CRACK! FWOOSH!
An apocalypse erupted from the villa's courtyard. A sky-rending tsunami of destructive power blasted towards them. Blazing fireballs the size of carriages, crackling chains of violet lightning, swirling clouds of black, corrosive mist, razor-sharp wind blades that shrieked through the air, crystalline ice thorns that promised a frozen death, and a literal storm of shimmering Dharma swords and glowing paper talismans... every imaginable form of attack converged on their position. It was a dense, inescapable torrent of annihilation, a maelstrom of elemental fury.
Just inside the gate, standing amidst the chaos they had unleashed, were the elites of the Wan Fa Sect. The Master of Myriad Dharma Sect stood at their center, his face a cold mask of contempt. Flanking him were his Left and Right Protectors, and behind them, dozens of the sect's most powerful experts, all of them Artificer True Persons or stronger. Their eyes blazed with a unified, chilling killing intent.
The Wan Fa Sect was not playing games. They weren't fools who would send their minions to die one by one. The instant they learned that Zhang Zhiyun, the last remnant of the exterminated Hangzhou Zhang Family, was not only alive but had become the prized Young Master of the Tianshi Sect—a Half-Step Celestial Master with the potential to reach Celestial Master before thirty and even touch the legendary Land Immortal realm—they knew they were facing an existential threat.
A threat of that magnitude could not be allowed to fester. You don't wait for the dragon hatchling to grow its wings and breathe fire. You crush the egg.
Upon receiving the intelligence, every high-ranking member of the Wan Fa Sect across the country had immediately dropped what they were doing and converged on Hangzhou. They set this ambush with one singular, ruthless purpose: to utterly obliterate Zhang Zhiyun. That fool Du Zhao from Emei Peak had done them a favor, his panicked reports painting Zhang Zhiyun as an unparalleled, demonic prodigy who could seemingly break through to the Land Immortal realm at any moment and wipe their entire sect from existence.
Faced with such a terrifying prospect, how could the Wan Fa Sect possibly dare to be complacent?
The Master of Myriad Dharma Sect, a full-fledged Celestial Master himself, two Half-Step Celestial Master Protectors, and dozens of their most seasoned Artificer True Person elders had lain in wait for this very moment.
When they were still, they were invisible. But when they moved, they brought forth thunder and lightning that could shake the heavens and the earth!
At that very same moment.
Deep in the secret underground room of the villa, Shen Anyu watched as Ji Xiaolin, her eyes glazed over with a strange light, lunged towards him. He threw his hands up, his face a perfect picture of feigned panic.
"Don't come over! Resolve, maintain your resolve!"
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