After being escorted into the Lin Family's best guest room, Lin Chunhua gestured for them to take a seat at the luxurious couches.
"I will make some tea for us." Lin Chunhua said after they sat down.
But Yuan waved his hand and said, "There's no need. Let's get straight to the point. Your Lin Family had hired assassins— the Silent Rippers to assassinate me. The proof is over there."
He pointed at the half-dead man in Tian Yanyu's grasp.
Lin Chunhua looked at Zhan Shichai with a deep frown on his face.
"Why do you think my Lin Family hired them? While I admit that we sometimes go overboard, we would never ask assassins for help, especially not the Silent Rippers."
"They said so themselves, and it's too much of a coincidence for this to happen after what we did to the Stone Bandits."
"If what you say is true, then I will investigate this situation and bring out the perpetrator and compensate you for the trouble. However, before I do that, I must notify the current Patriarch of the Lin Family about the situation and see what he has to say."
Lin Chunhua retrieved a communication jade slip and mumbled into it.
"While we wait for him to show up, I have a few questions, if you don't mind."
"Go ahead."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"You're a member of the esteemed Celestial Overlords— a Captain at that. Am I correct?"
"Indeed." Yuan nodded.
'Celestial Overlords? What is that? A sect?' Tian Yanyu wondered inwardly, as she has never heard of such a place before in her entire life.
"What is someone of your prestigious stature doing down here in the Third Heaven? If you don't feel comfortable telling me, I completely understand."
"My ancestor owed a debt to the Tian Family, but he is no longer able to repay that debt, hence why I am here." Yuan explained.
"Is that so… The Tian Family, huh?" The old man turned to look at Tian Yanyu, who was quite nervous at this moment.
"To be honest with you, I usually spend most of my time in seclusion trying to break through to Spirit Emperor, so I don't know much about the situation outside the Lin Family, and even the situation within the family isn't very clear to me, as it has been over a hundred years since I last left seclusion." Lin Chunhua explained.
And he continued, "If my Lin Family has done anything wrong while I was away, I will personally step in to fix it. I swear."
"That's good to hear." Yuan calmly said.
A few minutes later, the door slammed open when a middle-aged man rushed into the room.
"Father! What happened?! What's the emergency?! For you to come out unannounced and so suddenly—"
"Shut up!" Lin Chunhua suddenly roared.
"You useless son, get your ass over here!"
The middle-aged man was speechless. How could his father treat him in such a manner before guests? His father was someone who valued face more than anything, yet he was doing something that would lower the Lin Family's face.
However, he could tell that his father was enraged, so he didn't dare to question it.
After closing the door, the Patriarch of the Lin Family walked to stand beside Lin Chunhua.
"I will ask you a question and you will answer me truthfully. If you dare lie before my face, I will have you replaced." Lin Chunhua said, causing Patriarch Lin to swallow nervously.
As the strongest cultivator in the Lin Family and being the previous Patriarch, Lin Chunhua still had immense authority within the Lin Family, so he could very well do what he threatened to do.
"Did you— the Lin Family hire assassins to assassinate this Young Master here? The Silent Rippers, no less."
"What?! That's outrageous! We would never do such a thing!"
"Then how do you explain that?" Lin Chunhua pointed at the half-dead Zhan Shichai.
Patriarch Lin turned to look at Zhan Shichai.
Although he didn't recognize Zhan Shichai at first due to his swollen face and overall bad condition, he would eventually recognize him.
"I-Isn't that the leader of the Silent Rippers, Zhan Shichai?! What is he doing here?!"
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"According to the Young Master, he raided the Tian Family at the request of the Lin Family. However, he was subdued and the Silent Rippers were exterminated by the Young Master instead." Lin Chunhua said.
"Young Master…?" Patriarch Lin was utterly gobsmacked when he realized how respectful his father was to this young man.
This is the first time Lin Chunhua has shown such respect for a junior like Yuan.
"I apologize for the late introduction. I am Lin Xingmy, the current Patriarch of the Lin Family." Patriarch Lin said to Yuan, but he clearly wasn't taking Yuan as seriously as his father.
"Xiao Yang. This is who I am." Yuan showed the Celestial Overlord's symbol for a second time.
Patriarch Lin raised his eyebrows in a puzzled manner when he saw Yuan's action.
"What is—" He suddenly halted his words midway through his sentence, and his eyes widened with shock.
"T-That's… Are you from the Celestial Overlords?!" Patriarch Lin exclaimed when he remembered reading about it.
"I am." He calmly nodded.
Patriarch Lin finally understood why his father came out of seclusion so suddenly and why he was being so respectful to Yuan.
Although the Lin Family is one of Seven Legacy Families and incredibly influential within their world, their family's influence actually becomes weaker the higher they go in the Nine Heavens, and above the 5th heavens, they are no different than a middle-class family.
Meanwhile, the Celestial Overlords are a peak faction in the Supreme Heaven, which is the peak of the Nine Heavens. The difference between the Celestial Overlords and the Seven Legacy Families was akin to heaven and earth— they were simply incomparable.
"Please forgive me for not recognizing your identity sooner, Young Master!" Patriarch Lin began addressing him as Young Master as well.
'No way…' Tian Yanyu muttered inwardly.
Not in a million years could she have imagined such a situation would occur.