"Jiang Han?"

At the sound of a voice, all three members of Jiang Han’s family looked over.

They saw two men dressed in white, one middle-aged and one young, who had taken seats beside them.

After a moment of surprise, Jiang Han gave a faint smile.

"So, it’s the Patriarch of the Bai Family, Bai Xiong."

He recognized the man as Bai Xiong, the Patriarch of the Bai Family, one of the three great families of Hanwu City.

As the Patriarch of the Bai Family, Bai Xiong’s Cultivation was also at the Sixth Level of Martial Master. Although he was one level lower than Jiang Han, Bai Xiong possessed the ability to fight opponents above his rank.

He was likely on par with Jiang Han and Ximen Gong, the Patriarch of the Ximen Family.

In truth, the three great families were rivals. They were constantly, both openly and secretly, trying to trip each other up.

On the surface, however, they avoided excessive conflict when they met.

So, when the other party greeted him, he returned the gesture.

Jiang Chen looked at the two men. He also knew Bai Xiong, the Patriarch of the Bai Family.

As for the young man beside Bai Xiong, he recognized him as well—it was Bai Xiong’s son, Bai Shu.

Jiang Chen had humiliated him when they had previously met at the Treasure Elephant Pavilion.

Sure enough, Bai Shu shot Jiang Chen a hostile glare.

A strange smile appeared on his face.

He bared his teeth in a sneer and sat down right next to Jiang Chen.

Just like that, the Jiang Family and the Bai Family, Jiang Chen and Bai Shu, were sitting side by side.

Flanking them on either side were their respective Patriarchs.

It seemed Bai Xiong had deliberately arranged it this way, placing the two young men together.

Bai Shu let out a dry laugh and said to Jiang Han with a smile, "It’s been a while. I heard that Ling Xuan left your Jiang Family, but you’ve managed to hire another impressive Alchemist. Congratulations, congratulations."

But his words held not a shred of congratulatory sentiment.

It was merely a taunt, mocking the Jiang Family for being unable to even hold on to an Alchemist.

Jiang Han naturally understood the meaning hidden in the young man’s tone.

He didn’t let it bother him.

He replied nonchalantly, "Purely a stroke of luck."

"But no matter how hard our Jiang Family tries, we’re still no match for your Bai Family."

In fact, when it came to financial resources, the Bai Family was definitely the most powerful.

This was simply because the Bai Family had always had two Alchemists.

And Bai Xiong’s son, Bai Shu, had also recently become an Alchemist.

Jiang Han had been quite envious before, but he wasn’t anymore.

As he spoke, however, he turned his head slightly to glance at Bai Shu, who was sitting next to his son.

Right on cue, Bai Shu proudly touched his chest, where the badge of a First-Grade Alchemist, issued by the Alchemy Master Guild, was pinned.

It was incredibly eye-catching.

Jiang Han laughed inwardly.

’This kid,’ he thought. ’So young, and already such a show-off.’

And Bai Shu’s ostentatious display was aimed not only at Jiang Chen, but at Jiang Han as well.

Everyone could see it.

Bai Xiong seemed extremely pleased.

He, too, repeatedly glanced over at Jiang Chen.

He asked with a strange tone, "Jiang Han, I heard some unfortunate news recently. It seems someone ripped out your son’s Martial Vein. Is this true?"

Jiang Han’s expression changed slightly.

This man was shameless, deliberately poking at his sore spot.

The matter of his son Jiang Chen’s Martial Vein being ripped out had been a constant weight on Jiang Han’s heart.

Although he desperately wanted to storm Guyue City and demand an explanation from the Qin Family, he knew the matter wasn’t that simple. He was still investigating it.

To this day, he still didn’t know who exactly had taken Jiang Chen’s Martial Vein.

Bai Xiong bringing this up was clearly just to antagonize him.

"Hmph!"

Jiang Han snorted. "My son is blessed by fortune; how could something like that happen? Those are just rumors, complete and utter nonsense."

"My son is perfectly fine," he said furiously.

The atmosphere instantly grew tense, thick with the smell of gunpowder.

"Haha, it seems I was too quick to believe rumors."

Bai Xiong didn’t believe a word Jiang Han said. However, since no one had witnessed Jiang Chen losing his Martial Vein, he couldn’t be certain it had actually been ripped out.

This was especially true since he had observed Jiang Chen several times and detected fluctuations of Cultivation from him, which clearly indicated the presence of a Martial Vein.

He was a little surprised.

But he didn’t say anything more about it.

"That’s good, then."

As he spoke, Bai Xiong’s pride was palpable—his son was a First-Grade Alchemist.

He immediately said in a showy manner, "A while ago, my son became a First-Grade Alchemist. I’m thinking of finding an opportunity to celebrate. I’ll invite you then, and I hope you’ll be sure to come."

Jiang Han replied unhappily, "We’ll see. It depends on my mood."

Bai Xiong clearly didn’t mind Jiang Han’s tone. He said with a beaming smile, "Jiang Han, you don’t mind if my son and your son... have a little exchange, do you?"

A strange glint flashed in his eyes.

"Exchange" was a subtle way of putting it. What Bai Xiong really hoped for was that his son, Bai Shu, would teach Jiang Chen a harsh lesson.

Harboring such malicious intent, Bai Xiong looked at Jiang Han meaningfully, awaiting his response.

"No problem at all. I love exchanges,"

Without even waiting for his father to respond, Jiang Chen had already put on a pristine, innocent smile.

How could he not understand the meaning behind Bai Xiong’s words?

It was all about smugness and showing off—he even wanted his son to humiliate him right in front of his parents.

How could Jiang Chen possibly disappoint them?

Especially now, with Bai Shu looking at him with an expression of utter contempt.

After all, Jiang Chen was concealing his Cultivation, so Bai Shu couldn’t see his true level.

But no matter how Bai Shu tried to hide it, Jiang Chen could see his Cultivation level—he was still at the Warrior Third Heaven.

The same as him.

However, the Jiang Chen of today couldn’t be judged by normal standards.

He was a complete monster.

With a single sword strike, he could instantly kill three experts from the Ximen Family at the Warrior Fifth Heaven.

This Bai Shu before him was a mere Warrior Third Heaven. Jiang Chen conservatively estimated he could take down a dozen of them without a problem.

Both Jiang Han and Xiao Yun looked at Jiang Chen with a sense of urgency.

Xiao Yun, in particular, looked like she wanted to say something but held back, as if she didn’t want Jiang Chen to get involved.

After all, she was still worried that her son, Jiang Chen, would be no match for his opponent.

But Jiang Chen was the first to speak.

"Father, Mother, don’t worry. Bai Shu and I know each other. It’s just a little exchange."

"You really don’t need to worry."

As he spoke, he blinked reassuringly at his parents.

Jiang Han and Xiao Yun were both left speechless.

The two of them were worried sick, but this kid of theirs actually seemed eager for it.

In truth, the couple both knew Bai Xiong’s objective was certainly to harm their son.

Seeing Jiang Chen act this way, they were still uneasy but felt they couldn’t say anything more.

Bai Xiong also laughed and said, "Your son is a sensible one."

"It’s fine. Just let them have a good exchange," he said again, laughing heartily.

He looked quite pleased with himself.

The two Patriarchs fell silent.

A strange tension filled the air between Jiang Chen and Bai Shu.

The auction hadn’t even started, yet the two of them were already staring each other down.

Bai Shu recalled how Jiang Chen had cursed him out at the Treasure Elephant Pavilion. He had wanted to cause trouble for Jiang Chen then, but had been delayed by other matters.

Now was the perfect opportunity.

Once again, he ostentatiously touched the First-Grade Alchemist badge on his chest, the one issued by the Alchemy Master Guild.

Bai Shu extended his hand with a malicious smile.

"Hello, Jiang Chen."

"Shall we shake on it?"