Previously, the Chu Family only had an office in the Ji Family’s city.

Now, this office of the Chu Family has grown to resemble a concession.

A clan elder like Ji Shentong holds a very high status in the Ji Family, being several hundred years old, and many of the famous figures in the Ji Family are his descendants.

For such a person, in the city of the Ji Family, to wait at the doorstep to meet a junior, Ji Liuying couldn’t help but sigh.

Chu Hongwu didn’t come out personally to greet them; instead, he had a guard bring them inside.

And it wasn’t in the reception hall, but rather in Chu Hongwu’s personal courtyard.

When Elder Ji Shentong and Ji Liuying entered the courtyard, they saw Chu Hongwu standing on a small arched bridge, feeding fish with fish food.

The fish raised here were, of course, not ordinary, but Ji Liuying had no mood to admire them.

"Elder Tong, why have you come here personally?" Chu Hongwu asked in apparent surprise, as if only realizing Ji Shentong’s presence at that moment.

"Young Master Chu, there was a minor conflict between Liuying and you before. It was her lack of etiquette in receiving guests, and I brought her to apologize to you." Ji Shentong said and gave Ji Liuying a meaningful look, clearly indicating that she should apologize.

Before Ji Liuying could speak, Chu Hongwu replied somewhat cynically, "To ask this young lady of the Ji Family to apologize, how could I possibly accept that? This is your Ji Family’s city, and it’s your Ji Family’s Great Cave Heaven; I’m just an outsider visiting here. Even if I’ve been wronged, I can only swallow my anger, how dare I ask your Ji Family’s young lady to apologize?"

"Young Master Chu, you’re joking. Our Ji Family has always acted fairly, and if a mistake is made, an apology must be given," Ji Shentong said.

"Elder Tong, what you said is somewhat problematic. If making a mistake only requires an apology, then is it fine to make mistakes at will as long as you apologize afterwards? If I were to hit someone from your Ji Family and then apologize, would your Ji Family not hold it against me?" Chu Hongwu said with a half-smile.

Ji Shentong’s face showed difficulty, wanting to say something more, but Ji Liuying spoke first.

"If Young Master Chu has the skill to hit our Ji Family’s people, we wouldn’t need you to apologize. We would only blame ourselves for not being skillful enough, and at that time I would even commend you, Young Master Chu, for a good job."

"Liuying!" Ji Shentong shouted angrily.

"Well said, that’s exactly what I want to hear. Then today, I’ll let you say ’good job’." With that, Chu Hongwu struck directly at Ji Liuying with his palm.

He harbored a suppressed anger; if he didn’t strike back, this anger would never be vented.

The Chu Family is filled with geniuses, but only a few achieve the Great Cave Heaven state before thirty.

For someone like Chu Hongwu to ascend to the Great Cave Heaven at twenty-six is an exception.

He had never suffered such a loss before, and at that time, while he was engaged in a struggle with someone else, Ji Liuying intervened, causing him to lose, which he naturally couldn’t accept.

Ji Liuying didn’t back down and met the strike with her own palm.

Their palms collided, and the result was an evenly matched situation.

"Liuying, stop quickly." Ji Shentong wanted to halt them, but not only did Ji Liuying ignore him, even if she was willing to listen, Chu Hongwu wouldn’t stop either. Surely, he couldn’t let Ji Liuying stand there to be hit?

As they began to fight, Ji Shentong thought to himself: "This might be for the better. That Chu Hongwu is currently the youngest in the Chu Family to reach the Great Cave Heaven, and his cultivation ranks among the best of the young generation in the Chu Family. Given they are both of seven senses, Liuying is certainly not his match. Letting him have his vent might settle the matter."

With that in mind, Ji Shentong decided to say no more, retreating to the side to prepare to intervene to prevent the aftermath of their battle from damaging the courtyard.

Ji Shentong assumed Ji Liuying wouldn’t be Chu Hongwu’s match, as did Chu Hongwu himself.

But in the real fight, Chu Hongwu found that no matter how fierce his offense was, Ji Liuying could match him evenly.

This made Chu Hongwu’s expression very sour because he clearly felt Ji Liuying was behind him counteracting all his tactics effortlessly.

This was not simply an equal match; only someone with superior strength, markedly exceeding him, could achieve such an effect.

Even if Chu Hongwu were willing to acknowledge this, once more the combat flared, he meant to act in earnest.

Ji Shentong had never expected the current situation.

Among the Ji Family’s younger generation, Ji Liuying was considered merely above average, with some distance from the top tier, and sometimes not even reaching that level.

However, Chu Hongwu was a character who could contend with the Ji Family’s top young talents, supposed to be vastly superior to Ji Liuying.

Yet the current scenario suggests that Chu Hongwu was exerting his full strength, while Ji Liuying seemed to handle him with ease, even protecting the courtyard from damage amid their clash.

In this light, Ji Liuying appeared significantly stronger than Chu Hongwu.

"How can this be possible? How does Ji Liuying possess such strength?" Ji Shentong was incredulous.

But the fact stood before him: Ji Liuying used legitimate Innate Divine Skill and the Innate Eight Techniques, ones Ji Shentong mastered too.

Yet the prowess in Ji Liuying’s execution contained certain ingenious subtleties even Ji Shentong found astonishing. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"Does Ji Liuying truly possess such extraordinary talent? I must have underestimated her before," Ji Shentong’s expression grew increasingly baffled, as his incredulity deepened.

By then, he began to regret—had he known of Ji Liuying’s potential and abilities, he might not have pressured her to apologize, an act possibly detrimental to her path of cultivation, injuring her Dao heart, potentially stunting her future achievements.

Ji Shentong felt increasingly thankful the apology hadn’t yet been made.

Previously, Ji Shentong didn’t care much for Ji Liuying, thinking it trivial to ask her to apologize.

But now, Ji Liuying’s performance compelled Ji Shentong to acknowledge her significance.

For someone as compromising as Ji Shentong, he understood clearly that the Ji Family’s strength was the true solution to problems.

Ji Liuying’s performance equaled that of the Ji Family’s top young talents, possibly even surpassing them.

Should the best of the Ji Family’s youths duel with Chu Hongwu, they might not outperform Ji Liuying’s seamless balance.

In fact, even Ji Liuying herself hadn’t anticipated being able to contend with Chu Hongwu at this level.

Initially, she believed that even with progress, against someone like Chu Hongwu—a top contender within their age bracket—she’d have to exert her utmost to be his match.

She even considered delving into the Secret Realm to possibly suppress Chu Hongwu.

Yet when the actual battle commenced, Ji Liuying realized it unnecessary; relying on Secret Techniques and Skills learned from Chen Guan, she effortlessly dominated Chu Hongwu without using her full strength.

"A true Master is indeed an existence akin to the Celestial Beings, worthy of teaching a Celestial King." Ji Liuying’s admiration for Chen Guan grew profoundly in her heart.