I did not want to meet anyone from the Yu family but I had to meet the patriarch who betrayed my parents. Or at least find out if he really betrayed my parents. I was not about to trust an evil immortal blindly.

Uncle Huai spied on them and told me that, at first, they were doing well as they used my increased reputation and to gain favors. That was until he made sure everyone in that city knew what the Yu family did to me and how I broke ties with them. They were still somehow fine thanks to their cultivations as the low level city had so few cultivators and most were low level. 

Between the head of the chicken and the tail of the phoenix, they chose the former¹Head of the chicken : The strongest among a weak group. Tail of the phoenix: weakest among a strong group. With their current circumstances, I understood that choice.

This time, I chose to simply let my guards spread news that I was in the city. I was planning to spend the night there anyway and do some shopping. At dinner time, I was at the best restaurant that was buzzing thanks to my arrival. The local city lord invited me to dine there and the Yu patriarch tried to meet me at that time. I was relieved when he came as I just rejected the wine and the daughter offered by the city lord. 

I was 17! I could live for centuries if not millennia, I did not wish to marry early. Especially not with a girl with fake gentleness.  

“My lord, the Yu patriarch would like a word” said one of the city guards to his lord. He said it out loud to make sure I heard. For a second, I wondered how much money did he get from my former grandfather to make that announcement. Then, I dismissed that thought. At least, it made me refrain from turning my annoyance to anger at the city lord's generous offer to be my father-in-law. 

“Heu…” replied city lord Shu awkwardly while looking at me. 

“I will go back to the inn to rest, lord Shu” I said relieved while standing up

“Master Bai, he is downstairs and you might meet him” warned another city guard who was smart enough to know what was happening

“I don’t mind, I have to tell him something anyway” I said with a reassuring smile

“Let me guide you!” offered the city lord Shu and I, generously, let him. We found grandfather Yu waiting at the bottom of the stairs

As soon as he saw me, patriarch Yu smiled then shouted “Bai Yu Shin, my grandson! I am happy to meet you again” He silenced the restaurant instantly. Diners and workers were looking our way

Show on!

“I am not your grandson” I replied with a serious face

“At best, I am the grand nephew that you removed from the Yu family tree at my request” I continued while going down the stairs slowly 

“At worse, you are the traitor who sold my parents' whereabouts to those who killed my maternal family” I could have added my spiritual pressure with those words but it would have hurt innocents around us. However, my voice and facial expression seemed to be enough.

The Yu patriarch paled and took a step back. That confirmed that Hein Ling did not entirely lie to me. 

“Don’t worry, Yu patriarch. I will not touch you for now. I plan to let my parents, who are still alive, take care of you when they come back. In the meanwhile, live well and in fear” I said the last 3 words in a lower voice that was still enough for people around us to hear. This time his froze in fright as I was only 3 steps away from him 

I took more steady and slow steps to walk past him. Just before I reached the exit, I turned “And no need to contact those who paid you, I made sure none of them was left with anything to be bury” 

Technically, I didn't lie. Those who paid him were Hei Ling’s fragments and they all dispersed at his death without leaving a corpse.

No corpse meant no burying needed. 

With that, I finally left for the inn. There would be no reason to ever meet the patriarch or any member of the Yu family ever again. With my speech, no one would dare to favor nor hurt them. I will let their fate be at the hands of my parents.

Now that I made sure everyone knew where I stood, part of my errant in this city was done. The other part was, of course, shopping!

This city was known for its good quality talisman paper and my bulk pre-order should be ready tomorrow. Talisman making was my new hobby since I got hold of some interesting books on the subject and I was planning to practice it on my way to the Sun family.

I had a quiet night and I woke up early the next morning. Since I reached Nascent soul and grew up more, there was no need to sleep for long - and be awakened with cold water - but it was still one of my favorite pastimes so I did it in my bracelet everyday. Thanks to its 15 time speed, I was awake and refreshed less than an hour later. I still didn’t understand those who slept less than 10 hou…Ahem… I mean 8 hours a day²Author: Too late Bai YuShin, we already knew of your lazy side.

After checking out from the inn, no other members of the Yu family dared to contact me and even Lord Shu chose to not bother me. I must have scared him with my - enemies not being able to be buried after death - talk. I collected a truckload of talisman papers then resumed my trip.

...

With my amazing magic ship, it would take about 3 months to arrive on the Golden Tree continent. A month of that time would be spent gliding through the ocean. Knowing my luck, I started my trip 6 months earlier. It was a good calculation as I met a lot of situations.

Some were brought by overzealous families who thought I was too weak or young or inexperienced to deal with them - sometimes all 3 at the same time - and some were thieves or kidnappers who thought I was a 2nd generation wealthy boy with little power.

Thanks to those experiences, my martial art and cunning skills increased by leaps and bounds. I did not understand them, some of those cannon fodders knew my name and I already had a banquet for my middle stage Nascent Soul breakthrough. Why were they attacking me with their late stage of Core Formations? 

AnJiu, the chief of my bodyguard crew, had to answer when I asked out loud after taking care of the latest wave “Who would believe a 17 year old reaching Nascent Soul? For them, your current cultivation is simply fake... and don’t forget you are known for your brain not brawn” 

“My brain has stopped almost everyone who attacked us so far!” I used an illusion array and drugs on the latest group and my guards easily subdued them for me.

“Master Bai, this one is still conscious” informed one of the guards

“Ah yes, he was a talker so I only used a paralytic drug on him. A group like them should have a den and I am in the mood to plunder the plunderers. I want to interrogate him to find its location” I replied arrogantly. I have been playing Robinhood these days; stealing from thieves and giving money to affected villagers nearby. Well, this was not what Robinhood really did but the goal was the same. 

Since leaving the city of lord Shu, I researched a way to use my spiritual pressure on specific targets to avoid hurting innocents. I was not there yet but I could at least send my pressure upward so no one behind me could be affected. I used it this time when the bandit refused to answer our questions. Figuring out I could easily turn him into minced meat, the bandit started talking quickly and I let the guards take care of the rest. Their den was in a cave, it was huge and had many hidden doors. I used my senses to check what was behind them to avoid traps. One by one, we found spiritual stones, artifacts they could not identify and so on. 

I was analyzing some artifacts when AnJiu came to me. “We found prisoners. It seems they were kidnapped to be ransomed or auctioned out”

“There is an auction nearby that sold slaves?” I asked. The Greenwood continent, our continent, forbad slavery in all forms. This was not for righteousness, there were too many 2nd generation sons and daughters mistakenly sold as slaves and taken advantage of. Their families and loved ones would decimate cities with no laws forbidding slavery as a retaliation. The root problem was the laws, not the traffickers and buyers who could be killed easily. For everyone’s safety, or maybe because those cities ceased to exist, there were strict punitions for those who sold and bought slaves. 

“The ocean is nearby, maybe they were planning to sell them elsewhere?” replied AnJiu

I sighed, this was another delay “Let’s heal them then send them to the nearest city” I ordered

I went to meet the prisoners. There were 12 so far and I paused when I recognized some of them; Wu ChengLiu and 2 of his wives were behind bars with dirty bloody clothes. Behind him were 2 of his friends with various injuries.

What a f*cking luck do I have to meet AND save them?

What luck do they have to be saved every f*cking time they were in danger?!?

Fullname82

Hello everyone!

Did you expect the meeting with the original protagonist and his crew? How could I end the story without them?!?

Editing this chapter was haaaaard. I hope the next one would be easier so the cliffhanger would not be long