As the voice faded, Li Yun saw a young man dressed in luxurious silk robes stride in with broad steps.

It was none other than Zhang Ruohan's fiancé, Zhao Chuanfeng.

The moment Li Yun laid eyes on this man, he got a bad feeling.

He felt that although the man was tall, handsome, and dashing, an indelible gloom lingered between his brows, revealing at a glance that he harbored a rather sinister nature.

People like him shared a common affliction: petty, jealous, calculative, and prone to going to extremes.

Such people were both difficult to get along with and perilous to offend.

In his past life, he had encountered several such individuals in the workplace, and they had caused him no shortage of grief, leaving him no choice but to keep them at arm's length.

However, keeping a polite distance was not an option here.

This era was a martial world.

Even with strict sect rules on the surface, they still could not entirely conceal the lingering stench of blood from the Iron Blood Law of the jungle beneath the tranquil exterior.

In his past life, offending someone meant suffering some hardships or getting sabotaged behind his back at worst, but rarely did it cost him his life.

Here, however, if one crossed the wrong person, the likelihood of losing one's life increased by at least tenfold exponentially.

Although Li Yun believed that having the System meant the future was his, the System still could not let him reach the heavens in a single bound and instantly become an invincible supreme Expert.

He was still in his growth phase, so he needed to keep as low a profile as possible.

Because of this—

Li Yun directly made up his mind that leaving was the best course of action, avoiding any dealings with Zhang Ruohan's fiancé Zhao Chuanfeng as much as possible.

"Um, Senior Sister Zhang, since you have a guest, we'll take our leave."

Li Yun cupped his hands to Zhang Ruohan while quickly shooting a meaningful look at Zhang Chu. Zhang Chu caught on immediately, "Ah, right, right, right... Since my future brother-in-Law is here, you two must have things to discuss. Sis, we'll head back first."

"Oh... So it's Zhang Chu!"

"What's going on? You want to leave the moment I arrive. Do you see me as some fierce beast or something?"

Before Zhang Ruohan could nod, Zhao Chuanfeng had already arrived before them, speaking in a joking tone. But this fellow was far too gloomy; though he claimed to be joking, he gave off a sinister, forced smile that sent chills down one's spine.

It made one's hair stand on end.

Li Yun finally understood somewhat why Zhang Chu had grown so nervous the moment he heard Zhao Chuanfeng had arrived.

Truth be told, if he were in Zhang Chu's shoes, he wouldn't want to deal with Zhao Chuanfeng either. Not just a future brother-in-Law—even if he were already an actual brother-in-Law, he would stay as far away as possible.

Yet there was something he couldn't quite fathom.

From their brief interaction, he had gained some impression of Zhang Ruohan. Although she was not someone of profound schemes, she was certainly not a simple-minded, ordinary woman whose life revolved solely around romance.

How could she agree to enter a marriage engagement with Zhao Chuanfeng?

Furthermore, when they heard Zhao Chuanfeng's voice just now, he had noticed that Zhang Ruohan's expression carried a hint of displeasure, perhaps even a trace of disgust.

If she felt disgust, why agree to a marriage?

Could there be something fishy going on here?

While Li Yun pondered in secret, Zhang Chu had already grown overwhelmingly nervous upon hearing Zhao Chuanfeng's words, stammering, "Senior... Senior Brother Zhao, that's not what I meant. We've been here for quite a while, and..."

Before he could finish.

Zhao Chuanfeng pulled a long face. "What 'Senior Brother Zhao'? Call me Brother Feng!"

"Ah, yes... yes, Brother Feng!"

"Enough!"

Zhang Ruohan spoke up in discontent, shooting Zhang Chu a harsh glare, clearly displeased that he was acting so timid and trembling before Zhao Chuanfeng.

"Xiao Chu, you and your classmate have been here for quite a while. It's time to go. Return to the Outer Sect on your own; I won't see you out."

"Yes..."

Overjoyed at her words, Zhang Chu tugged at Li Yun's sleeve and prepared to bolt out as though granted an amnesty.

"Halt!"

Zhao Chuanfeng suddenly barked.

Li Yun and Zhang Chu couldn't walk straight out of Clear Shadow Residence and had no choice but to stop in their tracks.

Zhao Chuanfeng glanced at them, then shifted his gaze back to Zhang Ruohan, snorting in great dissatisfaction, "What is going on? The moment I heard you brought Outer Sect Disciples here, I came over to check, yet just as I arrived, Zhang Chu wants to leave, and you want to send them away too. What is the meaning of this?"

"Are you avoiding me?"

"Zhang Ruohan, you've always treated me like an outsider!"

Zhang Ruohan's expression shifted slightly. "No, you're overthinking it. We have a marriage contract; how could I treat you like an outsider? I simply don't want to stir up needless trouble."

"Stir up needless trouble?"

Hearing those words, Zhao Chuanfeng's face flushed crimson instantly, fury boiling in his eyes. "My coming here is stirring up trouble? Zhang Ruohan, and you still say you don't treat me like an outsider?"

"Not only do you treat me like an outsider, you treat me like a monster."

Zhang Ruohan said coldly, "Zhao Chuanfeng, can you speak properly? What are you shouting for in front of two Outer Sect Disciples?"

"Don't think I don't know why you came here."

"Didn't you run over here specifically because that fellow Liu Ningkong was wagging his tongue?"

"I..."

Zhao Chuanfeng's expression froze immediately.

Zhang Ruohan said, "What kind of dog is Liu Ningkong? Don't you know? Just because he gossiped a bit, you ran all the way from the Azure Dragon Courtyard. Tell me, do you have even an ounce of trust in me?"

"I, Zhang Ruohan, am at least an Inner Sect Disciple of the Vermilion Bird Courtyard. Even if Xiao Chu isn't my biological brother, what harm is there in bringing two Outer Sect Disciples over to visit?"

"Ah... yes, yes, yes... I was wrong."

Rebuked to speechlessness by Zhang Ruohan, Zhao Chuanfeng hastily reined in his fury, turning into a simp and whispering soothing words.

Li Yun was left completely speechless watching this.

He finally understood: this Zhao Chuanfeng looked dignified and handsome on the surface, but in truth, he was a petty, jealous simp.

And that Liu Ningkong they had run into at the entrance of the Vermilion Bird Courtyard was an insidious, cunning piece of work. He hadn't said anything at the time, but went behind their backs to deliberately instigate Zhao Chuanfeng.

Wasn't the purpose behind doing this plain to see?

Not only did he steal Huang Yiyi, but he also intentionally wanted to use Zhao Chuanfeng's hand to deal with him. This Liu Ningkong was rotten to the core, pure scum.

Sooner or later, I'll take him down!

As for Liu Ningkong having a powerful background, what did that have to do with him?

Whether in his past life or this one, Li Yun always adhered to one principle: I will not attack unless attacked; but if someone attacks me, even if they were the Heavenly King himself, I will take them down given the chance!

As long as his strength was sufficient, he would find an opportunity to slaughter Liu Ningkong. Once a person was dead, what damn use was a powerful background?

However, that was a matter for later.

All forms of acting at will were built on the foundation of formidable strength.

For now, Li Yun felt it was best to keep a low profile and silently harvest more cognition points!

Right now, for him.

cognition points were everything; all else was trivial.

Therefore, Li Yun still didn't say a word.

Under Zhao Chuanfeng's stream of coaxing words, Zhang Ruohan's expression softened slightly.

Zhao Chuanfeng seized the opportunity to propose, "How about this: it's rare for Xiao Chu to come to the Inner Sect, so why don't I take Xiao Chu and his friend on a stroll around the Azure Dragon Courtyard?"