Jiang Family's outer reception room.

Qiu Boyuan and two others quietly waited. This time Qiu Boyuan visited mainly for the Martial Alliance conference matters. The two young men with him were: one was his nephew, Qiu Liang; the other was the somewhat acquainted chubby Li Fenglin, who had certain ties with Jiang Chen.

"Li Fenglin," Qiu Liang warned sternly, "ugly words first: if Mr. Jiang arrives later and really has forgotten about you, don't you say anything out of turn. If you upset Mr. Jiang, that will be trouble, and you'd better not drag my uncle and me into it."

Li Fenglin nodded with a somber expression, revealing a trace of complexity in his eyes.

Li Fenglin was the same chubby man Jiang Chen had encountered during his first visit to the Martial Alliance. Later, Jiang Chen agreed to consider taking him as a disciple, allowing him to help out at Su Qingqing's clinic.

As a result, Li Fenglin stayed at Qingyun Clinic for almost half a year. This time, due to some reasons, he really couldn't wait any longer. He went to Qiu Boyuan to inquire about Jiang Chen's whereabouts, and since Qiu Boyuan was going to meet Jiang Chen for the Martial Alliance conference, he brought Li Fenglin along for the visit.

Thump thump thump!

A series of footsteps could be heard. Qiu Boyuan and the others turned to look towards the entrance of the reception room.

"Chairman Qiu, it's been a while!" Yan Hu entered and smiled at Qiu Boyuan, "Sorry, the Young Master was held up by some matters and will come over in a while."

"Alright, alright, no problem. The Martial Alliance conference doesn't start until the afternoon, so we still have time," Qiu Boyuan politely responded, subtly hinting at the final deadline of his wait.

Yan Hu nodded in understanding.

Yan Hu stayed and chatted casually with Qiu Boyuan and the others.

Thump thump thump!

Shortly after, another set of footsteps approached, and everyone once again looked towards the door.

"Mr. Jiang!"

"Mr. Jiang!"

The one entering was Jiang Chen himself. Qiu Boyuan and the others stood up to greet him.

"Chairman Qiu, Qiu Liang, I really..."

Jiang Chen began to exchange pleasantries, but his gaze fell on Li Fenglin and he paused for a moment. Quickly realizing his mistake, he said with a full face of apology, "I'm sorry, Fenglin. I'm really sorry. I've been so busy lately that I got dizzy and forgot about you. My apologies!"

Li Fenglin was momentarily stunned, glancing at Jiang Chen in surprise, and quickly waved his hands, "No, no, no, Mr. Jiang, you don't need to apologize."

Li Fenglin had contemplated many outcomes upon arrival. He thought that perhaps Jiang Chen might not remember him, or that after becoming the Family Head of the Jiang Family, he felt that Li Fenglin wasn't worthy of being his disciple anymore, or maybe...

He had thought of many possibilities, but he never anticipated that not only would Jiang Chen recognize him immediately, but he would also so candidly offer an apology. All of Li Fenglin's preparations unexpectedly turned out to be in vain!

"No, no, no, it's indeed my fault!" Jiang Chen shook his head and reached out to place his hand directly on Li Fenglin's wrist.

Li Fenglin was taken aback for a moment, then quickly realized what was happening, looking at Jiang Chen full of anticipation.

Jiang Chen's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise as he took a deep look at Li Fenglin, his expression turning solemn, "Feng Lin, with your talent, you probably don't need me as your mentor. Are you sure you still want to continue taking me as your mentor?"

"I'm sure!" Li Fenglin nodded without hesitation, a deep meaning visible in his eyes.

Meeting Li Fenglin's gaze, Jiang Chen felt a flicker of confusion, but he didn't continue the topic. Instead, he turned to Qiu Boyuan, "President Qiu, when does the martial arts conference start?"

"It starts at two in the afternoon, at the Martial Alliance Headquarters in the eastern suburbs of Jincheng," Qiu Boyuan spoke softly.

"Alright, then, it's getting late. You all have lunch here, and then we'll go together," Jiang Chen invited in a gentle voice.

"No, thank you, we still have some things to prepare. Now that we've confirmed that Mr. Jiang will be attending, we'll take our leave first," Qiu Boyuan declined politely.

"That's fine. Hu Zi, see President Qiu out for me," Jiang Chen said without insisting, still in a soft voice.

Qiu Boyuan and his nephew's visit had two main purposes: first, to show their respect for Jiang Chen, and second, to probe his intentions. If Jiang Chen was willing to attend, that would be best. But if Jiang Chen chose not to attend, they would need to consider other options.

Once Yan Hu had escorted Qiu Boyuan and the other away, Jiang Chen turned with a puzzled look to Li Fenglin, "Feng Lin, with your strength, why do you want me as your master? The abilities you demonstrated back in Dingjing were fake, weren't they?"

"Yes, when I first encountered Mr. Jiang, I was at the peak of the Innate Grandmaster realm!" Li Fenglin nodded slightly.

When Jiang Chen had probed Li Fenglin earlier, Li Fenglin had not concealed anything, revealing his peak Innate Grandmaster strength to Jiang Chen, and this was what puzzled Jiang Chen!

If you were able to conceal your real strength from me back then without detection, there is only one explanation: Li Fenglin is also an Ancient Martial Artist, and one who is far more powerful than Jiang Chen, leading Jiang Chen to guess that Li Fenglin's current realm of strength is the same as it was back then.

"But back then, your strength was much greater than mine. Why would you want to..." Jiang Chen was utterly baffled.

Hearing this, Li Fenglin gave a bitter smile and said with a slightly somber expression, "Mr. Jiang, that's a long story!"

"Sit down, and we can talk about it slowly," Jiang Chen gestured to the chair beside him.

The two seated themselves, and Li Fenglin organized his thoughts before speaking softly.

Li Fenglin came from an ancient martial arts family hidden away in the mountains, a family that seldom interacted with the secular world.

Li Fenglin was a collateral member of this family and had displayed exceptional innate talent from a young age. He was able to practice the family's ancestral Ancient Martial Arts, and one of the family elders esteemed him and focused on cultivating his abilities.

However, last year, the elder who had always looked after Li Fenglin passed away when his time had come, and certain direct descendants of the family began to trouble Li Fenglin, claiming that his ability to practice the family's Ancient Martial Arts was because the deceased elder had secretly aided him, despite knowing full well that it was Li Fenglin's own talent.

This ultimately led to an enraged Li Fenglin leaving the family.

Once alone, Li Fenglin, having heard of the existence of the Martial Alliance in the secular world, decided to seek them out and subsequently encountered Jiang Chen.

His previous request to take Jiang Chen as his mentor was because he recognized Jiang Chen as an Ancient Martial Artist. He wanted to get close to Jiang Chen in order to find the person who taught him Ancient Martial Arts, because it was the deceased elder who had always instructed him in his practice. With the elder's death, the rest of the family opposed him and no one else would teach him!

After listening to Li Fenglin's candid explanation, Jiang Chen was still somewhat puzzled, "So you're saying you just want to find the person who teaches me Ancient Martial Arts? But I've been practicing on my own! Having stayed in Dingjing for so long, you couldn't be unaware of that, right?"

"I've heard about that. In fact, at one point I followed Mr. Jiang for quite some time, hoping to find your master. However, to my surprise, I confirmed that you were self-taught!" Li Fenglin said with a slight apologetic tone.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.