The two, father and daughter, were wrapped in a very loving embrace that lasted for a whole minute before the father pulled himself back and placed his hands on her shoulder. 

"Look at you. You have grown so much!" He said with a smile. "You have become very beautiful and your cultivation has advanced greatly! Father is proud."

Zhou Yanling beamed at this. She had grown up as the rich and spoiled young miss of the Zhou Clan and was heavily doted upon by her father, Zhou Guan. As such, the two had a very close relationship and cared deeply for each other.

"How was the training excursion? Father, was Ling'er alright on the trip?" Zhou Guan questioned Elder Zhou. The old man laughed and replied,

"Ling'er performed extremely well in her training. Even this old man was impressed. The trials didn't really bring much harm to her, but she was able to have a real challenge from them. Her combat skills have improved greatly!"

"Really? Then I am very much pleased. We will discuss it further when you have rested. For now, your fiance is here to meet you." Zhou Yanling's eyes lit up when she heard this and she looked towards the headquarters building. At the exact same time that she did, a ray of light shot forth from it. The ray of light traveled much faster than Zhou Guan and

arrived at the gate in less than five seconds.

The figure arrived but was actually not one, but two people! The first was a middle-aged-man approximately the age of Zhou Guan. He looked elegant and had a refined appearance. He had eyes that reflected a large sense of pride within it. The pressure that he exuded was absolutely powerful and far beyond that of Zhou Guan. This was undoubtedly the City Lord of Azure Sky City as well as the clan master of the Du Gu Clan.

The figure next to him had the appearance of a sixteen year old boy with handsome and elegant features and his looks could be said to be top notch. However, when compared to people like Feng Yun, his looks were quite average. He had pale white skin and the arrogance in his eyes far surpassed that of his father. The young man held a loftiness in his posture that could not be compared to that of Zhou Yanling.

When Zhou Guan saw these people, his face was all smiles. He immediately brought Zhou Yanling forward to meet the boy that she would be marrying soon.

"Ling'er, as you may know, he is your future father in-law and the honorable City Lord, Du Gu Yang."

"Pleased to finally meet you, little miss. I hope you do take good care of my son in the future." Du Gu Yang's voice was very firm and masculine but at the same time was quite amiable. Zhou Yanling blushed slightly and replied,

"Likewise."

"And this..." Du Gu Yang motioned to the boy next to him. "...Is my son Du Gu Chen. He truly looks forward to the marriage."

Du Gu Chen stepped forward with a confident smile on his face as he grabbed Zhou Yanling's hand and kissed the top of it affectionately. Zhou Yanling was absolutely entranced by the youth before her.

"I had heard rumors that my wife would be a very beautiful maiden. I see that the rumors were wrong. You are much more than just beautiful!" Du Gu Chen said soothing words filled with chivalry and pride. Zhou Yanling's blush grew redder and she looked away. While her gaze was turned however, Du Gu Chen's lofty expression turned evil and a lecherous smile replaced it. He glanced at her butt and cleavage with lust but quickly returned his expression back to what it was before in an instant.

Feng Yun, who had been watching the scene before him with absolute disinterest, wanted to puke from disgust. He had seen everything, even the lustful expression that Du Gu Chen was giving Zhou Yanling. Du Gu Chen appeared to be a very noble person on the outside but he was actually so vile that he would outright stare and fantasize about a woman. How shameless! However, Feng Yun did not feel much pity for Zhou Yanling. The girl had made the choice to marry this boy and so easily believed in false ideals. She was much too naive! Besides, he didn't like her too much. She was just a spoiled rich brat who did not like it when she lost. Such people deserved to be taught a lesson. 

The way that Feng Yun saw it, after Du Gu Chen took Zhou Yanling's purity, he would most likely stop caring about her. After that, whether they were married or not wouldn't matter. He would find other women to prey on. Feng Yun sighed in disgust. Who knew that there were people just as disgusting, if not more, in this world as well. The sins live on no matter what world they're in, Feng Yun thought.

Dong Fuzhen, who was near him, caught him sighing and misinterpreted the gesture. He smiled and whispered in Feng Yun's ear,

"You're too young. However, with your looks, having an entire room full of women should be easy. Someone will come along."

Feng Yun stared at him strangely and seemed slightly repulsed that the old man could spout such obscene remarks to a twelve year old. Shaking his head in disbelief, Feng Yun decided to not reply to the man and didn't speak any more.

"Ling'er, let us enter the clan so that you can rest. Everyone is waiting for you to come." Zhou Guan beckoned Zhou Yanling to enter the clan with him. Zhou Yanling smiled and did so. Just then Dong Fuzhen stepped forward and cupped his hands with respect.

"Great Clan Master Zhou. We have delivered your daughter and Elder Zhou as promised in the deal. Is it appropriate to ask for our payment now?" Zhou Guan looked behind him and only then did he notice the old man bowing towards him.

"Ah yes. You did well and honored your promise. Hm, what was the payment? 10,000 purple gold coins? Alright, here you go." Zhou Guan tossed him a sack full of coins from his interspatial ring. Dong Fuzhen received it happily and excitement spread among the mercenaries. They had finally gotten their payment. All of their hard work and suffering had truly born fruit! At the same time, they were lamenting at how easily Zhou Guan had tossed the large amount of money so easily. Ai, the rich will always be rich!

"Well then, Clan Master Zhou. We should really be going now. Many thanks for the payment."

"Are you sure that you do not wish to stay for a celebration?"

"No," Dong Fuzhen said. "We have families to get to. On another time, I would have agreed. However, I am afraid that we cannot take you up on your offer."

"I understand," Zhou Guan nodded his head. "Have a safe travel back home."

The Chief of the Death Singer Mercenaries nodded his head and turned to leave. However, as soon as he did, a voice halted his movements.

"Wait!"

The voice came from Zhou Yanling. She had a smug smile on her face and appeared as if she had come triumphant from a battle.

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"They cannot leave just yet. I have enmity with one of the members of their mercenary group."

"Really? Who?"

Dong Fuzhen was feeling extremely nervous at this point. He knew exactly who it was that had offended the young miss of the Zhou Clan. Zhou Yanling pointed to Feng Yun and sneered,

"It's him. Qiu Yun!"

Zhou Guan followed her finger until it rested on Feng Yun's figure. Then, his eyebrows raised and a slight expression of exasperation surfaced upon him.

"Ling'er. He is merely a child. What enmity would you have with a child?"

"That boy publicly humiliated me when I sparred with him. He has caused your daughter to feel embarrassment and endless humiliation!" 

"Him?" Zhou Guan seemed very surprised. He looked over at the grandfather and he nodded his head in agreement. Zhou Guan was shocked. The fact that the child could defeat his daughter in a sparring match was utterly inconceivable. However, although she was his daughter, he could not destroy a relationship as easy as that just because of some petty thing.

"Ling'er. So what if he has beaten you in a sparring match? We all grow from things like this and enmity like this will be easily solved. He is a member of the chief's mercenary group. As they are people who escorted you, I must give some degree of face towards them!"

"That is not all the sins he has committed against your daughter!" Feng Yun narrowed his eyes. He had somewhat expected this outcome to happen but it still shocked him how idiotic some people could be. This girl was trying so hard to destroy him. 

"Speak Ling'er. What else has this boy done to you?"

"The clan treasure. He is in possession of the clan treasure you bestowed upon me!"

Zhou Guan was completely flabbergasted. The clan treasure?! Naturally, she was referring to the Ensealing Cloudvine Symbol. It was an utterly peerless treasure for them. Zhou Guan had spent an innumerable amount of time to refine the object and it was a source of power for the clan. To have it taken away was absolutely detrimental to a clans power.

"Ling'er. How is he in possession of the Ensealing Cloudvine Symbol?!"

"Father," Zhou Yanling said while the hint of a tear materialized in her eyes. "This boy shamelessly stole it from me in the middle of our sparring battle and even after I had pleaded for it, he still would not give it."

Feng Yun's eyes flashed with fury and unpleasantness. He never would have thought that this girl could actually scheme. Most of hat she said had been lies just now. She was trying to get him killed by riling up her father. What a shameless bitch!

Zhou Guan's eyes narrowed and he looked at Feng Yun with a cold light in them. A faint killing intent arose from his body. As a father, he would naturally not doubt his own daughter's words. Therefore, he had come to view Feng Yun as an absolutely shameless person.

"Junior, I will give you one chance. Hand over the Ensealing Cloudvine Symbol to me now. Otherwise, consequences may happen."

Dong Fuzhen immediately tried to calm the man down. Frantically moving about he tried to cut into the conversation by saying,

"Wait, this is not true. It did not happen this wa----"

"SILENCE!"

Dong Fuzhen was immediately shut up and found that he could not utter even a single word. A dominating presence had appeared and spread all over the people there. The Du Gu father and son duo were watching with interest as the events unfolded. 

"Do you mean to say that my daughter is lying?!"

"No..sir. I didn't mean to----"

"Then stop talking."

Dong Fuzhen looked like he wanted to try to continue pleading on Feng Yun's part but then an arm stretched out in front of him, gesturing to him that he didn't need to speak. It was obviously Feng Yun and he currently had a very dazzling smile and a calm expression. When Du Gu Chen saw the boy's looks, jealousy arose from within his heart and he thought, how could there be anyone that handsome?!

"Clan Leader Zhou. I honestly have no idea of what you're talking about. What is this 'Ensealing Cloudvine Symbol'?" Zhou Guan was getting quite furious. Inwardly he thought, this brat really is too impetuous!

"Qiu Yun...I believe that was your name? Do not play dumb. Produce the artifact or suffer the wrath of my Zhou Clan!"

"Oh, I just remembered. There was something in my belongings that went by that name. But it was an absolute trash so I didn't use it."

Out of thin air, symbol appeared and landed upon Feng Yun's palm. It no longer exuded the power that it had before but it's appearance was still the same. He tossed it over to Zhou Guan, who caught it and began inspecting it. He was thinking, why would this boy call my Truth Artifact a piece of trash? To him, who had painstakingly spent years to forge it, fury was the least of what came out. However, he soon found the reason why.

The symbol had no ripples of power whatsoever. No power. No energy. Even the runes didn't glow anymore. His previously mighty Truth Artifact, had become an absolutely normal object! Zhou Guan became shocked to the limit and he immediately shouted at Feng Yun,

"You bastard! What did you do to my artifact?!"

"Honestly sir, I did nothing to it. I assumed that it was something only almighty people like yourself could use it and as such, this little one had no qualifications. I think that someone as intelligent as yourself should be able to figure that out. However, is an almighty existence such as yourself, actually accusing me of playing around with your precious tools?"

Zhou Guan grew much more furious than before but he could do nothing as his face would not permit it. If he was to heavily interrogate a child that is comparatively weaker than him, then it would undoubtedly bring about a large loss of face to him. Shit, he thought. There's no way that the elemental energy within the symbol would just vanish! That brat had to have done something to it. However, this brat really is quite cunning! Well two can play at that game.

"Of course not. No one is accusing anyone of anything. However, I would like to ask you a few questions inside the clan headquarters. Nothing much. Just questions. I'm sure that junior Qiu here wouldn't be opposed to such a thing right?" Zhou Guan smiled brightly, concealing his evil intentions.

Feng Yun's expression didn't change and he still had a calm and lovely smile. The two looked at each other and if one looked deeply into the conversation, they would see that sparks were flying and whoever had bigger ones, would undoubtedly win this confrontation.