World of Terra
Jin Empire's Capital - Gold Capital
Along the busy streets of the capital, many people halted their activities at the sight of someone sitting atop a majestic white horse.
It was a beautiful young man whose appearance put numerous women to shame. He had smooth, jade-like skin and a slender body type. He had an attractive, long jet black hair reaching to his waist and a pair of sharp, red phoenix eyes which looks captivating yet with a dangerous gleam in it.
Overall, he was so beautiful he made many women jealous, and some men question their sexuality.
"It's him."
"He's finally back!"
"It's Young Master Yun Ling."
People started murmuring as they looked at the beautiful young man in awe.
Among all the younger generations in Gold Capital, there was no one more famous than Yun Ling. Be it his background, prowess, or appearance, everything about him was top-notch. It was said that he was a genius rarely seen across the world but there were quite a few problems with him.
One, he was too arrogant!
Moreover, he was licentious. There were a handful of beautiful maidens who had lost their purity to him.
He also didn't take too kindly to insults. Especially insults regarding his appearance. Those who did were beaten really miserably.
"So that's Young Master Ling? I've been living in the capital for two years already but this is the first time I've seen him."
"That's because he rarely went out after some scandal three years ago."
"Scandal? What scandal?"
"You're too curious. You better not ask if you still want to live a peaceful life in the capital."
At the end of the street, an ignorant young man casually asked his companion silently, "Who is that chick? She's really beautiful. Too bad though, her chest is quite flat."
His companion went pale and instantly slapped him silly.
"Shut your mouth! Do you have a death wish or something?!"
The young man was dumbfounded at the sudden outburst of his companion. When he realized what happened, he immediately got angry and was about to confront him when suddenly, he felt a bone-chilling sensation in his back.
He turned around only to see the beautiful 'woman' looking at him coldly. He broke out in cold sweat. He was a powerful cultivator from a distant province yet just being stared at by this 'woman' already gave him chills. There was something unnerving behind those captivating yet intimidating eyes of 'hers'.
However, if he thought he would submit just from this, then he will show 'her' just how mistaken 'she' is.
He was just about to make his move when all of a sudden, he heard the 'woman' speak in a surprisingly manly voice, "Core Formation cultivator?"
The young man was dumbfounded once again.
"Looking at your appearance, you couldn't be any more than 20 years old right?"
The young man nodded, "I am exactly 20 years old."
"Not bad. I am in need of some capable servant, although your cultivation realm is slightly lacking, your potential is somewhat good. What do you say?" when those words left his mouth, everyone in the area revealed a look of surprise. They started murmuring as they gave a jealous glance at the young man.
Being a rare genius' servant such as Yun Ling isn't a shameful matter. In fact, some might even consider it as an achievement. Although Yun Ling was arrogant and licentious, he's also well-known to be kind to his allies. If the young man really did become his servant, he would most likely receive some protection and cultivation resources from the Yun Clan.
The young man had unintentionally offended Yun Ling but instead of being given a punishment, he was given this opportunity instead. Who wouldn't be jealous? Even his companion looked at him enviously.
However, the young man didn't share the same sentiment as them. His face went dark at the proposal.
Him, becoming a servant?
"You... are you looking down on me?" the young man sneered.
Yun Ling shook his head, "I am not looking down on you. If I did, I wouldn't have asked you to be my servant in the first place."
"You wish! Why don't you be my servant instead?"
As soon as the young man said that, he felt an enormous weight pressing down on him. His knees buckled and almost gave in but he quickly regained his bearing. Not even a second later, the weight on him significantly increased. He immediately fell down on his knees, making some cracks on the ground. He felt like there was an invisible mountain on his body trying to crush him to his death.
"Ugh!"
'What kind of supreme art is this?!' the young man was furious. He didn't even see the other party move yet he was already reduced into such a state.
"What a joke," Yun Ling scoffed.
The young man lifted his head with difficulty and glared at him.
Yun Ling slowly got off his horse and walked towards the young man. Everyone around him lowered their heads and promptly moved out of his way. They didn't dare try to meet their eyes with him.
"You are but a mere Core Formation cultivator. You want me to become your servant? You truly overestimate yourself."
He stepped on the young man's head, pressing his face against the ground. The young man was absolutely livid from the humiliation he suffered. He had never experienced anything like this before!
At this moment, the entire street was filled with silence as they looked at the young man with pity. He was too unlucky to have offended this young demon lord! They felt that what Yun Ling did was a bit too excessive but no one had the courage to voice this out in fear of being targeted next.
For most people in the capital, this wasn't the first time they saw something like this happen. In fact, this was a regular occurrence especially when it involves Yun Ling. Actually, many youngsters from powerful families had made fun of his appearance before. Needless to say, he beat every single one of them into submission every time until no one dared to go against him anymore.
However, those things happened years ago since everyone in the capital now knew just how overbearing Yun Ling is.
CLAP! CLAP!
Two resounding claps echoed across the street. The silence was broken and the heavy atmosphere around the area disappeared.
Everyone turned towards the source of disturbance and sighed in relief when they saw a handsome young man with a heroic disposition coming towards them. It's like there was a huge load being taken off their shoulders.
"Alright, that's enough. Yun Ling, you should end things here and let bygones be bygones," the handsome young man said with a smile on his face.
Very few people among the younger generation in the capital dared to call Yun Ling by his name and they were all outstanding individuals. It can be said that this handsome young man was one of them.
Yun Ling raised a brow at the newcomer, "I didn't know you were such a busybody, Yu Shan."
"I'm not." Yu Shan shook his head. "Normally, I wouldn't care and just let you do your own thing but it's a bit different this month. The Golden Dragon Election is going to start soon. Many extraordinary individuals all over the empire have come here to take part in it and compete. As a cultivator raised here in the Capital, I don't want others to have a bad impression of our place…" Yu Shan gave him a look and through his divine sense, he spoke the rest, "and you, bullying a cultivator with an inferior realm isn't helping."
Yun Ling smiled. It was easy to figure out Yu Shan's intention when he said the last sentence through his divine sense. It was an attempt to save his face. Although he already had a bad reputation, it would only worsen if Yu Shan outright said that he was bullying a cultivator several realms below his even though everyone already saw this.
Though he didn't care much about his reputation, he was going to give him face for this gesture of goodwill.
"What you said makes sense. Okay, let's end things here," Yun Ling took his foot away from the young man's head.
Surprisingly, the young man had already passed out. Although he made the young man suffer from his ability, it wasn't enough to knock him out. He probably fainted from anger or something.
Yun Ling turned towards the young man's companion and gave him a pouch. "These are Gold Dragon Coins, take him away, and treat his injuries."
The young man's companion was astounded but he regained his composure and nodded. He quickly left the place bringing the young man away with him.
Yu Shan sighed in relief. He had originally thought that it would take much more than that to convince Yun Ling. He's pretty glad everything went well. He waved his hands towards the crowd, gesturing them to leave.
"It seems like you've made a breakthrough," Yun Ling stated after inspecting Yu Shan's state for a bit.
Yu Shan was surprised for a second before a look of understanding dawned on his face. He had taken measures to hide his true cultivation realm so he can have some edge for the upcoming Golden Dragon Election.
He wanted his fellow competitors to underestimate him or at least get his opponent unaware so he can surprise them at a crucial moment but Yun Ling actually saw through him! Even the elders in his clan still have no idea that he had already broken through!
"Your eyes are as good as always," Yu Shan replied with a peculiar smile.
Yun Ling snorted.
"Young Master! You're finally here!"
Yun Ling was about to straddle his horse when he heard a familiar voice. He looked ahead and saw a frail-looking guy rushing towards their direction.
"Yun Yi?" Yu Shan muttered, and then took a glance at Yun Ling.
Yun Yi was Yun Ling's cousin and his most trusted aide. He was a smart man who was very good at his job. He had never once failed in executing tasks that Yun Ling assigned to him. In fact, he did every task spectacularly. Even the clan master of the Yun Clan delegated some important tasks to him and wasn't the least bit disappointed in his performance.
"Young Master! You must go home now! Something big happened!" Yun Yi immediately said after he got to Yun Ling.
"Is there something wrong in the clan? Tell me what happened," Yun Ling narrowed his eyes. He had only been gone in the capital for four months. What could have happened inside the clan to make Yun Yi flustered like this?
"Ehh, this…" Yun Yi looked around, worried that this information might get leaked out.
Yun Ling knew about his worries so he spread out his divine sense to check if there was anyone paying attention or trying to listen to them. With his divine sense, even cultivators with higher cultivation than him won't get past his notice. Besides, surely those higher realm cultivators won't be so bored so as to listen to some lower realm cultivators' conversation right?
"Speak."
"Young Master, it turns out that…" Yun Yi started and then hesitated. He wasn't sure how to properly deliver this information without surprising his master.
"What?"
He gritted his teeth and said it as it is. "You have a daughter!"
"What?!"