Chapter 147: Grandmaster Gongshu Ye

"What?!" Hearing this from Hao Fei, Xie Xinglong, Xie Dong, and the others were all shocked.

They never would have imagined that the young man who had brought them such great humiliation shared such a relationship with them. Strictly speaking, Lin Le was their cousin, a member of the Xie family by half.

However, neither Xie Xinglong, Xie Dong, nor Xie Ziyun had ever considered Xie Qiushan to be one of their own. Furthermore, under the influence of their parents and their grandfather, Xie Jiuling, they all viewed their aunt, Xie Qiushan, as a pathetic woman who had disregarded family interests to run off with a country bumpkin. After being abandoned by that man, she had no choice but to return to the Xie family, becoming nothing more than a disgrace to their household.

Consequently, Xie Xinglong and the others held no affection for Xie Qiushan and had never treated her with the respect due an elder. Now, having been suppressed so thoroughly by Lin Le, their hatred for both him and Xie Qiushan had reached an extreme.

"Like mother, like bastard!" Xie Xinglong spat viciously.

His words caught Hao Fei off guard; he hadn't expected Xie Xinglong to insult his own aunt and cousin so harshly. Yet, the status of that eldest daughter in the Xie family was indeed low; even servants like Hao Fei generally did not hold her in high regard.

"Brother Xinglong, what should we do now?" Xie Ziyun asked.

"What else can we do? I was worried about finding him, but since he's delivered himself to our doorstep, that saves me the trouble of hunting him down!" Xie Xinglong felt a surge of excitement, believing his revenge was close at hand.

"Where is my master right now?" Xie Xinglong turned to ask Hao Fei.

"Master Gongshu should be at the training grounds. I saw him there just a moment ago," Hao Fei replied hurriedly.

"Take us there now."

Hao Fei immediately drove the Xie estate’s golf cart, carrying Xie Xinglong and the others toward the training grounds. The area was secluded, surrounded by a dense forest; outsiders would likely never notice its existence if they weren't looking carefully. This had been intentional, to ensure the training of the Xie family disciples remained undisturbed.

When they reached the entrance, they saw from a distance an old man dressed in coarse gray martial attire, his hair slightly streaked with white, sitting cross-legged on the ground. As they drew closer, they realized the man was suspended in mid-air without any support.

Although he was only three inches off the ground, such a feat seemed miraculous to ordinary people. Of course, this was no miracle—it was true martial arts. This man, over fifty years of age, was Xie Xinglong’s master, the sect leader of the inner-circle martial sect Cloud Dragon Sect, and a master of the Transformation Realm: Gongshu Ye.

Looking closely, one could see a formless, internal energy—qi—hovering between the ground and his body. This was a unique skill only a Transformation Realm master could perform: the manifestation of qi.

With his current strength at the mid-stage of the entry-level Transformation Realm, Gongshu Ye had cultivated his internal qi to its peak. He used that qi to form a cushion to support his body, thereby tempering his internal energy. The elementary level of martial arts involved tempering the exterior—the skin, flesh, tendons, and bones—known as External Strength. The advanced level involved tempering the interior—the breath and the power—known as Internal Strength. To cultivate qi to its ultimate state was the Transformation Realm. Only when qi was powerful to the extreme could it unleash strength beyond human imagination. This was the essence of "refining essence into qi, and refining qi into spirit."

Gongshu Ye had practiced this "Qi Levitation" method every day since reaching the Transformation Realm. Now, he could sit as if on a cushion for hours. Although this wasn't the first time Xie Xinglong had seen his master train this way, the sight still left him feeling deeply awestruck. *Is this the power of a Transformation Realm master? Truly not of the mundane world!*

"Xinglong, have you been in a fight?" As soon as they arrived, Gongshu Ye, eyes tightly closed, spoke. As a Transformation Realm master, his senses were far beyond those of ordinary people. Even without opening his eyes, he could clearly perceive the release of qi from Xie Xinglong’s body, the flow of his aura, and his heartbeat.

Xie Xinglong and the others, stunned by Gongshu Ye’s supernatural perception, were taken aback. Then, ignoring everything else, Xie Xinglong knelt before his master.

"Master, your disciple has been humiliated. I beg you to avenge me!" Xie Xinglong said, his voice trembling with agitation.

"We also beg Master Gongshu to avenge us!" Xie Dong and Xie Ziyun knelt as well.

"Xinglong, your Rising Dragon Fist is near perfection. To be defeated, your opponent cannot be an ordinary person. Tell me, who is he?" Gongshu Ye kept his eyes closed, his voice as steady as a mountain.

"I don't know his name, just some brat of seventeen or eighteen!" Xie Xinglong said venomously.

"Are you telling me that with your cultivation of the Rising Dragon Fist, you were no match for a nameless nobody?" There was a hint of displeasure in Gongshu Ye’s voice.

"But he... he is just like you, a Transformation Realm master!" Xie Xinglong cried out.

*Boom!* A loud noise erupted. The cushion of qi that had been supporting Gongshu Ye suddenly shattered, sending waves of white energy blasting outward. Gongshu Ye descended and sat firmly on the ground.

"Seventeen or eighteen, a Transformation Realm master?!" Gongshu Ye finally opened his eyes, looking at Xie Xinglong with a hint of shock. "Are you certain?" he asked, clearly skeptical.

"There is no mistake. Qin Zhong said so himself," Xie Xinglong replied.

"Where is Qin Zhong?"

"That brat shattered his spine; he's been turned into a cripple!" Xie Xinglong said with hatred.

"What..." Gongshu Ye found this unbelievable.

"Master Gongshu, that kid is incredibly arrogant. Look at my face—he slapped me! And Ziyun’s arm was dislocated by his force; it was only just reset!" Xie Dong complained.

"Master, because of a minor verbal disagreement, that brat bullied us and showed absolutely no regard for the Xie family. Please, you must stand up for us!" Xie Xinglong pleaded piteously.

"Such audacity, to dare bully my, Gongshu Ye’s, disciples! Rest assured, I promised Xie Jiuling that I would guard the Xie family. Now that you have been humiliated, I will not sit idly by."

"A teenage master, eh? Hmph, I’d like to see just how capable he really is," Gongshu Ye said coldly, a flash of frost in his eyes. "Where is he now? Take me to him." Without any visible effort, he rose from the ground to his feet.

"He is currently in our estate!" Xie Xinglong replied.

"Oh?" Gongshu Ye looked puzzled.

"He... he is my aunt's son..." Xie Xinglong admitted truthfully.

"What..." Gongshu Ye hesitated. "Doesn't that make him a member of your Xie family?"

"With his status, he is no member of our Xie family!" Xie Dong said spitefully.

"Whether he is or not is not for you to decide." Gongshu Ye was there to guard the Xie family, but if the boy carried half the Xie bloodline, he could not simply strike him down without cause.

"Master, what should we do then?" Xie Xinglong asked.

"Let's do this: go find your parents first and have them demand an explanation from Xie Qiushan. You are family, after all; it is best if this can be resolved through words. If it cannot be resolved, I will step in under the guise of your master to settle the score!" Gongshu Ye thought for a moment.

"Understood, Master. We'll go settle the account with that brat now!" Xie Xinglong and Xie Dong were already impatient.

"Let's go. I will accompany you. If that boy refuses to apologize or yield, then he has only himself to blame!"

A teenage master? Gongshu Ye couldn't wait to see what kind of creature this boy really was.