Soon, a black Bentley sedan drove up.
A middle-aged man, the leader among the Chen family's influential figures, called out, "They're here!"
The group of Chen family members immediately straightened their backs, their expressions simultaneously humble and respectful.
Chen Zifeng, filled with curiosity, felt a touch of panic. If even these important Chen family figures were acting this way, how high must the visitor's status be?
The Bentley slowly stopped by the roadside, and then an old man emerged from the front passenger seat, reaching to open the rear door.
A young man dressed in ordinary clothes stepped out of the car. Immediately, the prominent figures of the Chen family uniformly knelt on one knee, shouting in unison, "Greetings, Young Master!"
"Boom!"
Chen Zifeng's mind felt like it had exploded. Young Master? The Chen family's Young Master?
Was this the Chen family's Young Master whom her grandparents spoke of, the one who, besides the family head, held the power of life and death over everyone in the Chen family?
"Kneel, you must kneel!" Beside Chen Zifeng, the company's general manager, already kneeling on the ground, whispered through gritted teeth.
If the important figures of the Chen family had knelt, they, as lesser individuals, had to follow suit.
Chen Zifeng then looked around and realized that everyone in the Chen family present, except for herself, was kneeling on one knee. She was the only one still standing.
An eerie atmosphere instantly permeated the air, and many people's gazes subtly fell upon her.
Chen Zifeng's face turned pale, and an overwhelming fear surged within her. She hastily tried to kneel, but the injuries inflicted by her parents caused her to cry out in pain, shifting from a one-knee kneel to collapsing onto the ground.
"..." The scene fell into a deathly silence. The faces of the leading Chen family figures turned extremely grim.
It's over!
Only these two words echoed in Chen Zifeng's mind. Her life was utterly ruined. On such a crucial occasion, she had made such a grave mistake.
She was from the lower strata, but she understood the mindset of those at the top. The highest-ranking Young Master would think the Suhang Chen family was trying to intimidate him and embarrass him.
And the people of the Suhang Chen family would believe that she, Chen Zifeng, had deliberately caused them trouble.
Regardless of their social standing, everyone would suffer because of her mistake, and she was absolutely certain that her future would be far from pleasant; she would face severe retaliation.
"Tap! Tap! Tap!"
The crisp sound of leather shoes echoed, and a voice reached Chen Zifeng's ears, "Are you alright?"
Then, her body was miraculously helped to stand up.
In Chen Zifeng's pupils was the young man dressed in ordinary clothes, looking dashing and sunny, the same Young Master that the Chen family's prominent figures had loudly hailed!
"Thank... thank you..." Chen Zifeng's mind was a blank slate, only managing to utter these two words instinctively.
Then, she saw the Young Master say calmly, "My Chen family descendant is working with injuries, and this is how you treat my Chen family's assets and my Chen family's descendant?"
The Chen family's influential figures all broke out in a cold sweat, their faces turning pale. They quickly explained and apologized, "Young Master, we have not mistreated any clan member. She is Chen Zifeng, and she is from outside the fifth degree of kinship. None of us have hit or scolded her."
"Is that so?" Chen Zifeng heard the Young Master inquire softly.
Chen Zifeng paused for a moment, then came to her senses, her face flushing. With extreme nervousness, she replied, "Reporting to the Young Master, it is indeed so. The injuries on my body were inflicted by my parents. It has nothing to do with the Chen family."
"Oh, go down and rest well to recuperate. Come back to work when you've recovered," Chen Jiuyang said indifferently. "Such a young lady is still being beaten by her parents. As her employer, you must help her resolve this issue. A thousand-mile dike can be destroyed by an ant's nest."
"Yes, yes, yes." The leading Chen family middle-aged man nodded repeatedly as if granted a great pardon. "Young Master, please rest assured, we will definitely help her resolve this matter properly."
The middle-aged man winked at the company's general manager. The general manager's face showed a fawning expression, "Chen Zifeng, aren't you going to thank the Young Master for his concern? Your salary will be doubled, you'll have paid leave, and you can come back to work whenever you've recovered."
"Ah?" There's such a good thing?
This was the first time Chen Zifeng had encountered such good fortune in her life. Her face then broke into an irrepressible smile, "Thank you, Young Master, thank you, Young Master."
Chen Jiuyang nodded slowly, "Lead the way."
The Chen family middle-aged man wiped away his cold sweat and led Chen Jiuyang into the company. A large group of Chen family members followed them inside.
Chen Jiuyang took the elevator to the top-floor office. A group of Chen family members, who usually considered themselves elites, stood before Chen Jiuyang like elementary school students, not daring to show the slightest disrespect.
Fang Bahua and the Eighth Elder stood on either side of Chen Jiuyang, to his left and right respectively.
Chen Jiuyang said, "Show me the asset report from here."
"Yes, Young Master." The person in charge of the Suhang branch of the Chen family presented a prepared document to Chen Jiuyang and then stood respectfully to the side.
Chen Jiuyang took the document and glanced at it. The industries in Suhang were mainly focused on foreign trade. Shu Mountain was a major grain-producing province, a significant source of medicinal herbs, and a province with very cheap labor. The Suhang Chen family primarily exported medicinal herbs for overseas sales.
Chen Jiuyang put down the document after a cursory look, "Not bad, quite satisfactory. I will be staying in Suhang for a while. If there are matters you find inconvenient to handle, you can come to me."
"Yes, Young Master." The person in charge in Suhang immediately understood that the Young Master was referring to situations where other forces might suppress them in the martial arts realm, and Chen Jiuyang could step in to handle it.
"I'm a bit tired," Chen Jiuyang stated.
"Young Master must be mentally exhausted from your journey from Shu Mountain. Please come, your accommodation has already been prepared," said a Chen family Huang realm martial artist. When it came to such matters, it was the martial artists' turn to speak.
Chen Jiuyang nodded slowly and left the Chen family's trading company. After walking for about ten minutes, he arrived at the self-built villa area behind the trading company.
The Chen family's self-built villa area was quite nice, featuring an artificial lake with a villa in the center. Chen Jiuyang's lodging was here. If anyone appeared nearby or was secretly monitoring, they would be discovered by the Chen family.
"This place is quite good," Chen Jiuyang thought to himself. It wasn't a wasted trip, and the villa was fully equipped with everything a martial artist would need.
Fang Bahua immediately took out the medicinal herbs from the two suitcases and placed them into the medicinal cauldron. Then, Chen Jiuyang sat inside and began to cultivate.
The interior was filled with waves of heat, and his qi and blood were as vast and powerful as an ocean. Fang Bahua and the Eighth Elder stood guard diligently outside the villa.
Approximately four hours later.
"Pfft..."
Chen Jiuyang spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with confusion. His internal true qi and blood were too powerful, and his physical body was unable to contain such terrifying qi and blood.
"How is this possible? I've been cultivating according to the inheritance, and I've never encountered any problems before."
Chen Jiuyang frowned, unsure where the issue lay.
However, he ultimately possessed the inheritance of the Immortal Doctor. Since his physical body's strength was insufficient, he would first improve his physical body's strength before considering breaking through the twelve major acupoints.
But he needed to cultivate another body-refining technique now. This would slow down his progress in the Xuan realm cultivation, but without resolving the physical body issue, he wouldn't be able to break through the twelve major acupoints.
Chen Jiuyang rubbed his temples. Time was already tight, and now it was troublesome.
Originally, if he had stayed in Shu Mountain, the medicinal herbs from the Shu Mountain Chen family would have been sufficient to solve the cultivation problems he encountered, but now...
Not only had he failed to break through the twelfth major acupoint, but the two boxes of medicinal herbs he brought had also been depleted.
Could this be fate?