Li Ming was Su Chen's closest friend, a partner in crime. His family, the Li Family, held a fair bit of influence within Lingyun City.

Investigating someone was a simple matter.

In less than a day, information on the young man he suspected was the son of an old foe was laid out before Su Chen.

The unreliable Li Ming had proven to be quite dependable when it mattered most.

"Just as I thought!"

A cold smile touched Su Chen's lips, his expression turning vicious.

His lone wolf's intuition that day had been right.

The young man he suspected was the son of an old foe truly was the son of an old foe!

The son of Xu Changzhi—the young man who had stood behind Xu Ba all those years ago, the most outstanding of the Xu Family's younger generation two decades prior!

His name was Xu Sheng.

He was also a disciple of Lingyun Academy. Three years Su Chen's senior, he was still at the ninth level of Spirit Awakening at twenty years old.

Perhaps he was on the verge of a breakthrough.

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But he would never get the chance.

"Xu Ba, you old bastard, if I can't kill you, can't I at least start by eliminating your clansmen one by one?"

Su Chen was filled with hatred. If he had simply died, he would have accepted his loss. That would have been fine.

The problem was, he was now alive again.

The scene of his children's and old friends' heads rolling to his feet, their wide eyes staring up at him—it was a memory that haunted Su Chen even in his dreams.

He wouldn't be able to quell the hatred in his heart until he had annihilated the Xu Family, down to the very last ant.

Besides, the Xu Family possessed the legacy of a Spirit Sea Realm expert. That was a great opportunity. In the Tianfeng Kingdom, a Spirit Sea Realm cultivator was considered an absolute powerhouse. His former fiancée, Li Qingyue, who had broken off their engagement, was now merely at the Spirit Sea Realm herself.

Such talent was already considered dazzling in the Tianfeng Kingdom. No wonder she had wanted to annul their marriage back then.

She truly had the right to say they were not people of the same world.

But Su Chen held a grudge.

He never forgot.

And now, they truly weren't on the same path.

Li Qingyue was already old, while he was still just seventeen.

He wouldn't marry an old woman even if it killed him.

This wasn't a matter of marrying into wealth anymore.

Su Chen contemplated how to kill a disciple of Lingyun Academy without anyone knowing.

Fighting among academy disciples had always been a serious crime. The light punishment was solitary confinement; the severe one was expulsion.

Naturally, Su Chen couldn't kill him openly.

But what if Xu Sheng, while on a mission, encountered some vicious thugs who happened to have a grudge against the Xu Family?

And then got killed.

That's a perfectly normal scenario, isn't it?

The academy wouldn't raise a huge fuss for Xu Sheng, and the Xu Family, having just obtained the legacy of a Spirit Sea expert, would want to lie low. How could they possibly make a big scene for Xu Sheng?

In the end, three months later, Xu Sheng accepted a mission with a generous reward.

"Who are you?"

Xu Sheng, dressed in his academy uniform, watched warily as three mysterious, cloaked figures suddenly appeared before him.

"The ones who are here to take your life!"

The three attacked in unison, forcing Xu Sheng into a steady retreat. At the last moment, facing a life-or-death crisis, Xu Sheng unleashed a fierce punch. The faint roar of a white tiger could be heard as he turned the tables and killed all three.

Gasping for breath, Xu Sheng couldn't understand why he had been ambushed. He reached out to remove their cloaks and see their faces.

In the next instant, a sharp sword pierced straight through his chest.

"What a bunch of useless trash, couldn't even kill one person!"

"Good thing I was cautious enough to follow them secretly."

The day before, Su Chen had drunk with wild abandon, getting everyone else drunk before slipping away.

Sprinkling a few drops of Corpse-Dissolving Water to destroy the bodies and erase all traces, Su Chen departed. They were just a group of desperate thugs; no one would suspect him.

Even if Xu Sheng's death was discovered, it didn't matter.

In this life, his name was Jiang Chen. What did this have to do with Su Chen?

Su Chen snuck back into Lingyun City. By the time anyone found him, he was still fast asleep in his bed.

.......

A month later.

Xu Sheng's death was finally discovered.

Just as Su Chen had predicted, the academy handled the matter perfunctorily, concluding that Xu Sheng had provoked an enemy and been killed for it.

This was the world of martial arts; if an ordinary disciple died, they died.

Most people didn't even know that someone had died at all.

The Xu Family knew, but they didn't dare make a fuss.

Only the head of the Xu Family, Xu Changzhi, was filled with hatred.

But he couldn't find any clues.

In the end, the matter was dropped.

Only Su Chen knew that this was just the beginning. A single life was far from enough to repay the debt of his clan's extermination.

With his enemy in the light and himself in the shadows, Su Chen was in no hurry for revenge. He continued his cultivation at Lingyun Academy.

......

A year later, Su Chen, who had just turned eighteen, was summoned home by Jiang Li.

Upon returning home, Su Chen saw an old man sitting next to his father. He looked somewhat familiar.

He wasn't from the Xu Family; reality wasn't that dramatic.

The old man was the old master of the Wang Family of Beifeng City, a man of great prestige. Su Chen had seen him a few times.

Beifeng City was much larger than Chongchuan City. Jiang Li was a Spirit Mark Realm expert, and naturally, the old master of the Wang Family was as well.

Old Master Wang looked at the handsome and talented Su Chen, whose cultivation was impressive, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Nephew Jiang, I have a granddaughter as beautiful as a heavenly immortal. She has been training at the Spirit Sword Sect for a long time and just returned to Beifeng City today. I hope you can show my granddaughter around Beifeng City for a few days."

Su Chen understood. Damn it, wasn't this just a matchmaking session?

Su Chen glanced at his father, and Jiang Li nodded.

He got it. The girl must be as beautiful as a heavenly immortal with decent talent, which had greatly pleased his father, hence why he was summoned home.

Political marriages were very common among large families. In his first life, his Su Family had been allied with the Li Family through marriage, and his fiancée had been Li Qingyue.

Unexpectedly, Li Qingyue had caught the eye of a passing Elder from the Tianlan Sect and was taken to cultivate there.

In the end, Su Chen agreed to meet her.

He had to live each life to the fullest, leaving his mark on the world to obtain Fate Reversal Points.

Su Chen easily met the granddaughter Old Master Wang had spoken of.

Dressed in white robes like snow, a three-foot sword on her back, she leaned against a pavilion as a light rain drizzled down. She wore no makeup, yet her beauty was fresh and transcendent.

This was the first meeting between Su Chen and Wang Bailu.

Wang Bailu raised her head, her gaze as direct and proud as a winter plum blossom braving the snow, and looked straight at Su Chen.

Su Chen was also sizing up Wang Bailu.

"She's pretty, alright, it's just... she can see her toes when she looks down," Su Chen mused to himself.

His old man's taste wasn't bad, but there was still a small imperfection.

Wang Bailu didn't know what Su Chen was thinking, but he was handsome, and for a beautiful woman, that made for a good first impression.

This time, there was no drama about breaking off the engagement.

Both parties were very satisfied.

Su Chen showed Wang Bailu around Beifeng City, and for the next three days, they were inseparable.

After three days, they parted, agreeing to meet again at the Tianfeng Kingdom's decennial tournament for the younger generation.

Su Chen returned to Lingyun Academy. His mischievous friend, Li Ming, looked at him curiously, feeling that his buddy had changed somehow since coming back.

Of course, Su Chen wouldn't tell him, "We're different now. I'm a taken man, and you're still a single mutt."

---

Proofreader: Peter Pan