Chapter 157: The Xie Family and I Are Severed Forever

At this moment, Xie Jiuling’s face had turned deathly pale with shock. Only now did he truly grasp the extent of Lin Le’s power.

To withstand bullets with one’s bare flesh was a feat difficult even for a martial artist who had reached the peak of internal strength; even if the bullets failed to kill such a master, they would at least cause injury. Beyond that, there were martial artists who practiced rigorous external body conditioning, capable of hardening their skin against gunfire. Yet, Lin Le stood before them lean and slender, bearing no resemblance to an expert of external arts.

There was only one remaining explanation: a Grandmaster of the Transformation Realm! Only a Grandmaster, with a body that had transcended the ordinary, could withstand the barrage of modern firearms. Was this young man standing before him, his own grandson, truly a Grandmaster of the Transformation Realm?

As this realization dawned on him, Xie Jiuling gasped, a whirlwind of complex emotions roiling within him. He had to admit that, in this instant, he felt a flicker of regret. For a prominent family like the Xie clan, nothing was more vital than the presence of a Grandmaster. Wealth, power, and connections—these could be acquired through various means, and the Xie family certainly lacked none of these.

But for a great family, what mattered most? Survival. Only by staying alive could wealth and influence have any meaning; to the dead, such things were worthless. The Xie family was currently wealthy beyond measure, possessing immense power and public reverence, but if a Grandmaster decided to take their lives, what use would these worldly possessions be? Thus, the Xie family feared such terrifying figures above all else, yet they were also the very beings they most desperately needed for protection. This was why Xie Jiuling had spared no expense to provide for Gongshu Ye and his entire Cloud Dragon Sect, hiring them to ensure the safety of the Xie household.

He had invested immense effort and fortune to secure the favor of the Grandmaster Gongshu Ye. Yet, he never could have imagined that a Grandmaster had been right there in their midst all along. Moreover, this youth carried the blood of the Xie family in his veins. Once, perhaps, a mere gesture of goodwill from Xie Jiuling could have brought this Grandmaster under the Xie banner—and no one would have been more loyal than he.

But now, the situation was entirely different. They had not only missed the chance to befriend a Grandmaster, but had also deeply offended him. Xie Jiuling’s heart was filled with a thousand conflicting emotions.

"Now, is there anyone else who wants to kill me?!" Lin Le glared at the surrounding crowd. The gunmen, the bodyguards, the members of the Xie family—not a single person dared to utter a word. One man against an army; such was the might of a Grandmaster.

Even Gongshu Ye, himself a Grandmaster, was thoroughly cowed by Lin Le’s presence. Though he maintained his composed demeanor, he knew better than anyone that with the aura Lin Le projected, he could claim his life at any moment. Who would dare to step forward?

Over a hundred people in the Xie estate stood in deathly silence, trembling like cicadas in winter. Only Xie Jiuling remained relatively steady.

"What exactly do you want?" Xie Jiuling asked in a low voice.

"What do I want? I have already made myself clear: those who seek my life must pay with their own!" Lin Le locked eyes with Xie Jiuling, his expression fierce.

"You..." Xie Jiuling was choked with anger. "Fine, you want a life in return? Then take mine!"

Xie Jiuling seemed certain that Lin Le would not dare to lay a hand on him. However, to his surprise, Lin Le took a step forward, stared straight into his eyes, and said coldly, "Do you really think I wouldn't?"

A massive, crushing pressure—like Mount Tai itself—descended upon Xie Jiuling. It made his heart tremble, and he nearly lost his footing.

"You..." Xie Jiuling felt as if he were staring into a sea of blood within Lin Le’s eyes. The composure he had maintained finally shattered, replaced by raw terror.

"Hmph, it seems even the noble Xie family knows fear," Lin Le said with a sneer.

Lin Le, of course, would not harm a hair on Xie Jiuling’s head. Aside from the fact that the man was his own grandfather, harming him would break his mother Xie Qiushan’s heart. Lin Le was arrogant, but he was not so heartless as to abandon his own kin. He simply despised the way the Xie family acted with such haughty superiority despite being in the wrong. He merely wanted to tear the mask off their self-proclaimed nobility.

"Xiao Le..." Xie Qiushan, standing to the side, was stunned by her son’s murderous aura and called out to him.

Hearing his mother’s voice, Lin Le retracted his immense energy. The suffocating, oppressive air around them suddenly lifted, and Xie Jiuling drew a long, shaky breath.

"Mother, let’s go. From today on, this place has nothing to do with us," Lin Le said calmly, no longer speaking of making the Xie family pay with their lives.

The Xie family members felt as if they had been granted a pardon, their hearts finally settling. Xie Jiuling realized, belatedly, that Lin Le had never intended to make them pay with their lives; he had only been testing their reaction. He finally understood: if the Xie family had truly viewed Lin Le as one of their own, they would never have believed he would actually kill them, and there would have been no need for such hostility.

But the reaction of the Xie family had been the exact opposite. They had believed it. They believed their own grandson, nephew, and kin would truly kill them. Not a single person in the Xie family trusted Lin Le or regarded him as one of their own. That was why Lin Le had spoken those words.

From this day forward, he had no ties to the Xie family!

As this sank in, a trace of regret stirred in Xie Jiuling’s heart, but it was quickly swallowed by his pride. That their esteemed Xie family had been trampled upon by a youth they had despised was a profound humiliation for a family with a history of a thousand years.

Lin Le, completely disillusioned with the Xie family, walked over to his mother to lead her away.

"Qiushan, don't forget what you promised me!" Xie Jiuling said in a grim voice.

A look of distress crossed Xie Qiushan’s face. "Xiao Le, I... I cannot leave with you just yet," she said, her voice lacking conviction.

"What?!" Lin Le was stunned. He had not expected that even after being treated with such disdain and hostility, his mother would still insist on staying. "Mother, why?"

"As long as you want to leave, no one can stop you!" Lin Le, assuming his mother was being coerced, began to flare with anger again.

"It’s not that," Xie Qiushan shook her head. "No one is stopping me. I am choosing to stay here of my own accord."

Lin Le was even more confused, yet he realized there must be some hidden hardship, one that likely involved a promise she had made to Xie Jiuling. He turned his gaze back to the old man. Xie Jiuling no longer dared to view Lin Le as a social inferior, but as someone fully qualified to stand as his equal.

"Release my mother from her promise immediately," Lin Le commanded, his voice icy. He could solve most things with force, but this kind of moral entanglement left him at a loss.

In truth, the promise made by his daughter no longer held much significance for Xie Jiuling. But today, Lin Le had humiliated the entire family. If he yielded now, the Xie family would never be able to hold their heads high again, neither before Lin Le nor before the world.

"I can release Qiushan from her promise, but there is one condition..." Xie Jiuling said, his voice low.