Chapter 1: Young Master Twelve, Ye ShengAt Ye Manor, the lights were all lit even though it was nighttime. Several of the house servants had gathered together in a derelict courtyard.

“Do you think Young Master Twelve will regain consciousness?”

“I have no idea. Young Master Thirteen hit him too hard. Even if he doesn’t like Young Master Twelve, he shouldn’t behave like this.”

“Tsk, Young Master Twelve is so useless. He can’t even hold up against one punch from Young Master Thirteen. You can’t blame anyone else for that.”

“Even though Young Master Twelve is famous in this Manor for being well, you know what, he’s still a child of Lord Ye and that alone makes him of higher standing than you. How could you say something like that? If the butler catches you saying such things, you’d lose your life.”

“Tsk, Master Thirteen is number one in cultivation while Master Twelve is number one in being useless. What a joke.”

“But Young Master Twelve really must not die. If he dies, then that would ruin the reputation of Young Master Thirteen and make him the murderer of his own older brother. Nobody in Great Qin will ever accept him after that. Even if he didn’t get punished severely, any future hopes of being in the government will be dashed.”

The house servants were murmuring all these things among themselves. Nobody wanted Young Master Twelve to die. But they weren’t worried about Young Master Twelve’s health. They were concerned over Young Master Thirteen’s future.

In an adjacent grand, luxuriously furnished courtyard, the youthful Young Master Thirteen was frowning with a despondent look on his face. “This b*stard is really useless. All I did was to punch him lightly, and he blacks out. Is he doing this to me on purpose?”

“You heartless fellow! It would have been fine if Number Twelve had continued being a good-for-nothing for the rest of his life. There are so many people in this household anyway, so what’s another one? Why did you purposely have to attack him? No matter how irritating he is or how poor his mother’s background is, he’s still a child of the Master. If word gets out that you’ve beaten him to death, your reputation will be ruined forever,” a beautiful lady reprimanded him angrily. Her pretty face was clearly troubled.

“Mother, you have to help me. I know what I did was wrong. You have to find an amazing doctor to heal Number Twelve. I promise I won’t make trouble for him anymore.” Number Thirteen had started to panic when he’d heard what his mother had said. Now he had started worrying about his future.

“Great Qin has ruled this nation for 60 years and uses the law to control the country and filial piety to control the family. Your father is the great and almighty Lord Ye, the general of the army, and he has tremendous power and influence, but he also has countless enemies. If this gets out, all the officials who are unhappy with your father will probably start jumping up and down, and you’ll be their first target. Even if my family helps and speaks up for you, you won’t be able to get away with this. So the most important thing right now is to make sure this b*stard child doesn’t die. As long as he doesn’t die, your responsibility will be reduced, even if he’s barely alive. After all, it’s one thing to injure your own older brother and another to have beaten him to death,” said the beautiful lady, as a cold glint flashed in her eyes.

“I’ve already arranged for someone to get some Sky Mountain Snow Lotus and bring it here. This herb can save lives, so I’m pretty sure the b*stard is going to survive,” said the beautiful lady, who sighed as she looked at her son’s worried face.

“What? Sky Mountain Snow Lotus? Wasn’t I supposed to consume that so I can break through to Inborn Level?” Number Thirteen was very reluctant to share this with his brother.

“You little jerk! If you’d been able to control your temper, do you think I would have had to take the Sky Mountain Snow Lotus out?” The beautiful lady didn’t like sharing this either, and reprimanded her son some more.

Number Thirteen pursed his lips and looked extremely crestfallen. He hated Number Twelve deeply. “Why are you so lame? You should have just been injured with that punch from me. I didn’t intend to kill you.”

…

Ye Sheng’s head felt all muddled, and he hurt all over. He felt as though he had been burned in a raging fire.

He could hear a lot of voices around him, but they weren’t very clear. This made him feel rather anxious inside.

“What’s going on?”

“Wasn’t I at work? I’m supposed to be working in the office now. What happened?”

“Did I die from sudden cardiac arrest at work…?”

“What’s going on now? Am I in h*ll?”

Ye Sheng’s thoughts started running wild. He was very confused. However, all of a sudden, a large pair of hands pried his mouth open and an icy, stinging liquid that was filled with energy was poured into his mouth. Ye Sheng could feel a sensation spreading from his mouth to his throat to his stomach, then the energy spread throughout his entire body from his stomach. Within a short time, the aches and pains in his body stopped completely.

He opened his eyes blearily to see an old man with deep wrinkles and white-and-gray hair.

The old man breathed a huge sigh of relief when he saw Ye Sheng regain consciousness, and he said, “Young Master Twelve’s life is no longer in danger. The effects of the Sky Mountain Snow Lotus are very powerful indeed.”

The moment everyone heard that Ye Sheng’s life was out of danger, everybody outside started cheering.

Ye Sheng was touched to hear their cheers. “I can’t believe I’ve actually survived. This family is a really closely knit one. It’s wonderful to hear so many of them cheering when they heard that I’m okay. They even used a Sky Mountain Snow Lotus to save my life. We must be really close.”

Just then, a young man barged into the room and stared at Ye Sheng with a malicious expression. His eyes were filled with rage, his fists were clenched, and his veins were bulging.

The doctor saw him and held him back immediately as he said, “Young Master Thirteen, don’t act rashly now. Young Master Twelve’s body is very weak, so even though he’s consumed the Sky Mountain Snow Lotus, his life is still hanging by a thread. If you punch him again, then there will be nothing I can do to salvage this.”

“That Sky Mountain Snow Lotus was meant for me to use to break through to Inborn Level, and he ended up getting it instead!” Young Master Thirteen furiously grit his teeth. He couldn’t wait to skin Ye Sheng alive.

Ye Sheng lay on the bed and blinked a few times. This person was most likely his younger brother. Why was he so unhappy that Ye Sheng had regained consciousness?

“You little piece of trash, you’d better remember this well. Do not provoke me ever again, because I have a million and one ways to make you vanish from the face of this world.” Young Master Thirteen left those words behind him as he exited the room with a livid expression on his face.

The doctor shook his head and said, “Young Master Twelve, your body is still very weak. Here is a prescription for medicine that can help to build up your strength, remember to take it.”

Ye Sheng nodded and didn’t say anything. He was very confused because it seemed like the situation was quite complicated.

After the doctor left, a beautiful lady walked in. Her charming eyes glared straight at Ye Sheng without any emotion in them and she said, “When Master comes back and asks you what happened, you know what to say, right?”

Ye Sheng blinked his eyes in confusion.

“Tsk, I hope you know what’s good for you. Ye Qing might have been the one who hit you, but I’ve used a Sky Mountain Snow Lotus to save your life, so we’re even. In fact, you’ve even benefitted from this, because I’m sure you would never have had a chance to get to taste a Sky Mountain Snow Lotus in your lifetime. Remember this: when Master comes back and asks about this, tell him that you wanted to learn martial arts and Ye Qing was just trying to teach you. He didn’t realize how much strength he was using, and he wasn’t doing this on purpose. If you dare to spout any nonsense, then you’d better watch out,” threatened the beautiful lady icily before getting up to leave.

Ye Sheng lay on the bed with no strength at all. His expression grew grim. “It seems as if they can’t wait for me to die, but they can’t just let me die like this because I wasn’t hurt in an accident. I was beaten up by that Young Master Thirteen, Ye Qing.”

OOOH!

The moment Ye Sheng thought too hard about all this, a terrible pain overwhelmed him and he curled up in the bed.

After a long period of time, Ye Sheng finally opened his eyes again and understood what was going on.

This was the period of the Great Qin Dynasty, and he was in Ye Manor. He was the Young Master Twelve who nobody wanted to see. The guy who beat him up was Young Master Thirteen, who was spoiled and arrogant. His father, Lord Ye, was also around somewhere, a man he had seen only a few times in his life.

This was a secular kingdom, but it was also a world with endless possibilities. There was martial arts, demons, ghosts, cultivation sects, aristocratic families, and more.

His father, Lord Ye, was the most highly skilled martial artist in Great Qin and the general of the country’s army. A large majority of the troops were under his command, so he was certainly a man who was beneath one man, the emperor, but above tens of thousands of others.

Ye Sheng, however, was the child who was the most poorly regarded in the entire household, and it was all because his mother had come from an improper background.