Both of Scarface's arms were trembling, and his veins were bulging out. He had taken quite a lot of damage.
He opened his eyes wide to stare at Ye Sheng as he uttered in disbelief, "An Acquired Level Second Stage cultivator actually has so much strength?"
His strength had measured more than 10,000 units. Even though Scarface was at Acquired Level Sixth Stage, he wasn't at the same level as Ye Sheng.
This punch from Ye Sheng had clearly shocked and frightened Scarface and his subordinates. The three of them looked at one another.
"Boss, didn't our information say that he was just a useless bum?"
"Boss, the information we received was wrong. These 100 pieces of gold aren't worth it."
Scarface's expression darkened, and he clenched his teeth. "Kill this fellow first, then we'll go back and raise the price."
Ye Sheng was now trembling all over, and his pain was difficult to endure. Delivering this one punch had nearly made him collapse completely.
The force of the punch was too strong, and he couldn't take it at all. Ye Sheng felt pain all over even when he just moved a little.
He couldn't fight anymore.
Scarface had noticed Ye Sheng's state also, so, without saying anything, he picked up his saber and swung it down again.
He was an old hand at this and wasn't going to waste his time or saliva on saying anything that was pointless. Giving the opponent a chance to possibly retaliate was just like doing himself in.
HUU! HUU!
The saber had regained its earlier glory as it cut through the air powerfully. Ye Sheng's eyes narrowed, but he didn't have the strength to dodge it at all. He could only close his eyes as he felt the wild gush of murderous wind blow toward him.
CLANG!
But the saber that he'd expected to come his way never arrived. Something was standing in the way of the blade.
Ye Sheng opened his eyes and saw a jade scroll blocking the saber. The jade scroll was gleaming brilliantly, while the blade of the saber was stuck on it and couldn't move any farther forward.
Scarface's expression changed dramatically, and he quickly retreated as he asked, "Which distinguished senior is here?"
Ye Sheng looked around him, puzzled. There was nobody here.
Scarface said very cautiously, "Since a distinguished senior is around, then I will not dare to offend you. I will take my leave now."
Scarface's subordinates were also very confused. There was nobody around, so why was their boss acting so terrified?
But Scarface didn't explain anything. He turned and wanted to make a run for it.
"Did I say you could go?" A lazy-sounding voice bellowed, causing Scarface to completely stiffen up. Then a cut appeared on his neck.
PFFT!
Fresh blood immediately came spurting out from that neck wound. Scarface collapsed onto the ground and convulsed for a while before he died.
Scarface's two subordinates were so frightened that they started trembling all over. They immediately fell to their knees and started begging for mercy loudly.
But the jade scroll suddenly shook gently and sent a slight force out, causing the saber to fly right off the scroll.
THUD!
Two human heads rolled to the ground. The headless corpses trembled and collapsed, and fresh blood covered the ground.
Ye Sheng stared in shock at all of this. Who in the world had saved him?
"Hey, aren't you getting up? Is it fun to lie on the ground or something?" Ling'er's voice rang out. Her voice was as crisp as a bell and was as pleasant as a magpie's chirp.
Ye Sheng tried his best to endure the pain and climbed to his feet. He turned around to see the ever-beautiful Ling'er and a handsome, elegant man standing next to her.
The man waved his hand and the jade scroll automatically flew toward him and landed in his palm. He flipped his palm around and the jade scroll disappeared.
Ye Sheng bowed and said, "Distinguished senior, thank you so much for saving my life."
"You don't have to be so formal, this is my father. If Father hadn't happened to pass by just then, you'd probably have perished here," said Ling'er with a bright and pretty smile.
"Thank you, Uncle," said Ye Sheng, bowing in all seriousness.
"You're severely injured now, so you should go and have a good rest," said Ling'er's father in a mellow voice, as he turned to walk back to the nunnery.
Ye Sheng coughed a few times as he bore the pain and followed them back to the nunnery.
When the nun saw Ye Sheng, she frowned and asked, "Are you badly injured?"
Ling'er spoke up before he could reply, "Someone came and tried to kill him. An Acquired Level Sixth Stage cultivator tried to kill him."
"You're at Ye Manor all day, and you still have enemies?" asked the nun.
Ye Sheng replied quietly, "These men were probably sent by Ye Qing and his mother."
The nun laughed coldly. "That's not surprising. That Hu Mei is excellent at putting on a pretense. When she first moved into the manor, she was humble in front of every single person in the house. Then, when her family slowly started to become more powerful, she started to reveal her real ambitions. How did you offend them?"
Ye Sheng briefly described his run-in with Ye Qing.
Ling'er was speechless after she heard this story. "So because of this matter, Lord Ye made you receive 50 strokes of the army paddle?"
"Lord Ye is precisely that sort of person. There's nothing surprising about it at all," said Ling'er's father.
"Uncle, you know Lord Ye?" asked Ye Sheng curiously.
"Yes, I do. I've met him a few times," said Ling'er's father with a nod.
"Ye Sheng, do you know about the Twelve Great Immortals?" Ling'er asked suddenly.
Ye Sheng shook his head and said, "No, I don't know about them. I haven't been allowed to learn martial arts ever since I was born, so I don't know anything about high-level martial artists at all."
"The Twelve Great Immortals are the twelve people who are officially recognized as martial artists who have reached a stage where they are virtually immortal. Your father, Lord Ye, is number one on this list, Lord of Great Qin," said Ling'er.
Ye Sheng just listened quietly.
"And my father is number nine, Fox Immortal Bai Yutian," said Ling'er proudly.
Ye Sheng looked in surprise at Bai Yutian. He hadn't expected this man to be of such high standing.
"But, of course, these are just fancy names made up by people who have nothing better to do. This world is so big, and there are countless high-level martial artists. Even though Lord Ye is number one, he wouldn't dare to say that he's invincible, much less would I," said Bai Yutian as he waved his hand about.
"Elder Brother, you don't have to be so humble about it. After being reincarnated a few times, being able to reach this level of cultivation is also the fruit of your labors," said the nun in a soft voice.
Ye Sheng blinked a few times. Bai Yutian was a fox immortal, while his daughter was a white fox. If his aunt called him elder brother, did that mean that she was a fox too?
But that didn't sound right. Lord Ye was a conservative man, so he wouldn't allow himself to have a non-human wife.
"You can have this bottle of wine. It's not suitable for us to stay here anymore, and we should move on," said Bai Yutian to Ling'er after handing Ye Sheng a bottle of wine.
"But why? Auntie still needs a few more months," said Ling'er, looking puzzled.
"Lord Ye has already detected my presence. If we stay here for too long, he will eventually find his way here and that could spell trouble for us. Besides, Zhen'er's spirit has fused together into a fairly stable state. I will cast a formation to protect us, so our journey shouldn't run into any problems," said Bai Yutian.
"Then let's leave this place. Lord Ye must not know about Zhen'er's situation. If he finds out, he will smash Zhen'er's statue and destroy Zhen'er's only hope," said the nun decisively.
"Auntie, since you are going to leave, then I shall take my leave first." Ye Sheng stood up to bid farewell to them. The three of them had already been of great help to him, and he didn't want to trouble them any further.
"Certainly, please be careful on your way back. The fruit wine that Elder Brother gave to you is a wine the Fox Race concocts that's made from 100 types of special fruits. Drinking it will help to improve your constitution and will be very helpful for your injuries. When you get back to Ye Manor, you have to be very cautious, don't let anyone find out how strong you are," instructed the nun.
"Auntie, thank you for your concern. I will keep all this in mind." Ye Sheng took his leave and carried the fruit wine with him as he headed down the mountain by himself.
Ling'er suddenly shouted out as Ye Sheng walked away, "Remember, you owe me a priceless treasure! Don't forget!"
Ye Sheng broke into a smile as he waved back without turning his head to acknowledge that he had heard her.
"All right now, stop staring. He's left already," Bai Yutian teased his daughter.
Ling'er scoffed quietly, but didn't say anything in reply.