Chapter 58: Even cats and dogs are strolling into the Western Mansion branch these days

At a glance, Wang Zongyao could see Li Wujie’s cultivation clearly. Nine-star Elite at such a young age was indeed impressive, a genuine prodigy.

But compared to Ryan…

There was no comparison at all.

If Li Wujie was a one-star genius, then Ryan was at least a ten-star genius, perhaps more.

Did Zhu Yan truly not know Ryan’s strength?

Suppressing his doubts, Wang Zongyao understood Ryan’s hint. With Zhu Yan still present, this was not the place to clarify matters.

“Brother Zhu,” Wang Zongyao said calmly, “why don’t you attend to your duties? I’ll have a private chat with these two young men.”

“Yes, Brother Wang.” Zhu Yan nodded respectfully, though before leaving, he gave Ryan one last deep, puzzled look, then withdrew.

Once Zhu Yan was gone, Wang Zongyao finally let out a breath and turned to Ryan with a smile.

“Alright,” he said, amused. “Care to explain what’s going on?”

Ryan smiled faintly. “Uncle Wang, were you looking for me… or my younger brother here?”

“Of course, you,” Wang Zongyao laughed. “I haven’t seen you for a few days, and you’ve become even more handsome.”

Without outsiders around, his tone was relaxed and friendly, nothing like a lofty examiner.

“Thank you for the compliment, Uncle Wang,” Ryan replied. “I guessed you were looking for me. It seems Lord Zhu misunderstood.”

Wang Zongyao shook his head, chuckling. “That’s on me, too. I wasn’t clear enough, and Zhu Yan acted on his own assumptions. A classic blunder.”

“Since I couldn’t cultivate before, my strength wasn’t known outside the Li Clan,” Ryan explained. “When Uncle Wang mentioned a ’young talent,’ Lord Zhu naturally thought of Wujie.”

“No wonder,” Wang Zongyao said, pointing at Ryan with mock reproach. “You’re really too low-key.”

Then he glanced at Li Wujie. “Your friend isn’t bad at all. Nine-star Elite at his age is quite something. But compared to you…”

Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Uncle Wang, that doesn’t sound nice. He is a brother of mine.”

“Hahaha!” Wang Zongyao laughed loudly. “I didn’t mean it that way. Wujie is excellent. Among his peers, he’s more than enough to stand out. It’s just that you…”

He paused, smiling meaningfully.

“You’re simply on another level.”

Ryan and Wang Zongyao had not seen each other for several days, yet once they started talking, the atmosphere warmed instantly, like two old friends reuniting after years apart.

During the conversation, Wang Zongyao spoke again and again about his daughter, Wang Bi’er. How sensible she was, how outstanding her talent was, how her looks were “favored by heaven itself,” and how she had yet to be betrothed. The way he praised her, it was as if he were openly advertising his daughter to Ryan.

Ryan merely smiled and listened, neither agreeing nor refuting, maintaining a calm and polite demeanor throughout.

On the side, Li Wujie did not manage to say a single word.

His mood was somewhat complicated, but he did not complain. From the conversation alone, he had already understood that Wang Zongyao had never intended to see him in the first place. This entire trip had simply been a misunderstanding.

After chatting for quite some time, Wang Zongyao suddenly said, “Li Wei, for tomorrow’s qualification examination, you don’t need to participate in the first and second rounds. Just take part in the third round. I’ll make the arrangements.”

“Wouldn’t that invite gossip?” Ryan asked.

To him, whether he participated or not made little difference. Passing the qualification test was a foregone conclusion.

He already knew the format of the exam. The first round tested strength. As long as one could lift a three-hundred-pound stone, one would pass. For Ryan, who had consumed countless strength and all-attribute pills, this was laughably easy.

The second round tested perseverance, requiring candidates to withstand the pressure of an Exalt expert for five minutes. That, too, was meaningless to him.

As for the third round, actual combat, it was even more unnecessary to worry about. Most participants would be at the Warrior or Elite level. Against a nine-star Exalt, how could they possibly contend?

“I’ve made the arrangements. Who would dare gossip?” Wang Zongyao said with a smile. “Besides, once you step onto the third stage and show even a little strength, who would dare refuse to accept it? Even if someone complains, you’ll silence them with your fists.”

This was precisely why Wang Zongyao did not exempt Ryan from the third round. Let others talk all they wanted in the first two rounds. In the third, Ryan could slap them all in the face.

Before absolute strength, all objections were meaningless.

“Since Uncle Wang has such confidence in me, I’ll follow your arrangements,” Ryan nodded.

“Of course, I have confidence in you,” Wang Zongyao laughed. “If I don’t believe in you, who could I believe in? With your strength, even if you fought me, I’d be the one under pressure. If it weren’t for my pride, I’d really want to spar with you.”

“Uncle Wang is too generous,” Ryan replied modestly.

That earned him a sideways glance.

“Still pretending?” Wang Zongyao snorted. “When you single-handedly wiped out a group of Exalts, including their leader, an Upper Exalt realm expert, without breaking a sweat, I knew I couldn’t compare to you. That Upper Exalt alone made me uneasy, yet you killed him outright. In your hands, I wouldn’t last a few moves.”

Ryan smiled helplessly, unable to refute the truth.

Beside them, Li Wujie was completely stunned. Hearing of Ryan’s feats, admiration rose uncontrollably in his eyes. The title of Li Clan’s number one genius was truly well deserved.

“One more thing,” Wang Zongyao added after some thought. “In the third round, pass easily, but don’t reveal too much of your strength.”

“Why?” Ryan asked, curious.

“It is so that when you go to the main headquarters, you can give certain people a big ’surprise,’” Wang Zongyao said with a crafty grin.

Ryan was momentarily speechless, then nodded. He understood perfectly.

Playing the pig to eat the tiger was something he quite enjoyed, too.

Not long after, Ryan left Wang Zongyao’s residence together with Li Wujie. On the way out, they happened to encounter four young people, two men and two women.

One of the girls was Wang Bi’er, Wang Zongyao’s daughter. Another girl was equally beautiful, only slightly inferior to Wang Bi’er and still some distance away from Li Xue or Shangguan Siyu.

Ryan felt a vague sense of familiarity toward her but could not recall where he had seen her before.

The two young men were strangers to Ryan. However, while he did not recognize them, they clearly recognized him.

One of them, a pale-faced youth with delicate features, immediately put on an exaggerated expression when he saw Ryan exit the residence. “Yo, isn’t that Li Wei? The famous waste of the Li Clan? You even dare to step outside now?”

The other young man quickly followed up, laughing. “Brother Su has sharp eyes indeed. Truly admirable.”

“Brother Fan flatters me,” the pale-faced youth replied smugly.

The two exchanged compliments while mocking Ryan.

Wang Bi’er frowned, clearly displeased. She moved away from them and walked toward Ryan instead, her eyes lighting up. “Brother Li, it’s only been a few days. You look much more handsome.”

“Miss Bi’er grows more beautiful by the day as well,” Ryan replied with a smile.

He then glanced at the two young men and asked, “Miss Bi’er, these two are…?”

“Oh,” Wang Bi’er said, pointing at them in turn, “this is Su Jian of the Su Clan, and this is Fan Chun of the Fan Clan.”

After a brief pause, as if worried Ryan might misunderstand, she added, pointing to the other girl, “This is Zhu Yin, Lord Zhu Yan’s beloved daughter.”

“I’ve only been here a short while and wasn’t familiar with the city,” Wang Bi’er continued. “So I invited Sister Zhu Yin to accompany me around Fengyue City. We happened to run into Young Master Su and Young Master Fan along the way.”

Ryan nodded slightly, his gaze calm, as if the earlier mockery had never existed at all.

“Oh, so that’s how it is,” Ryan said with a faint smile. “I was wondering why even cats and dogs can stroll into the Western Mansion branch these days.”

The meaning couldn’t have been clearer. It was a clean, elegant counterstrike aimed straight at Su Jian’s face.

“You—!” Su Jian’s expression darkened instantly.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep