Medical Sage

Po Rong was one of the seven leaders of Dongxing, and Dongxing was a Puppet propped up by the Ma Family. Therefore, strictly speaking, Po Rong naturally counted as one of the Ma Family’s men.

Each of Hong Kong’s Five Great Tycoon Families was a colossal power with the qualifications to secretly dominate their domain, a power that could blot out the sky. Furthermore, in the ranking of the five families, the Ma Family stood two places above the Chen Family at third, naturally possessing a more formidable underlying strength and energy that made others wary.

Moreover, the patriarch Ma Shihao, an elder from the same generation as Chen Yaoyang’s father, was a mixed-race Chinese man with Italian citizenship. He had been exceptionally talented since childhood, having awakened a legendary ability from the Western Dark World.

That’s right—it was the kind of mysterious ability people thought only existed on the big screen, allowing a mortal to control the various elements of the world: water, fire, wind, earth, thunder, and so on.

Even when Ma Shihao was a ”young” man in his fifties or sixties, he could already rely on the terrifying power of his ability to defeat a peak Second Rate Expert. It was also rumored that his family had close ties with a certain Mafia in the Italian underworld. A man and a tycoon family like that could only be described as terrifying.

This was especially true at this moment. As he looked down from his superior position, his brows radiating an air of invincibility, he regarded Chen Fei with cold disdain. Everyone present felt a strange illusion, as if they were not in a castle in the depths of Shallow Water Bay but had been struck by a devastating desert tornado. The pressure was apocalyptic and suffocating.

”Uncle Ma…” Seeing this, Chen Yaoyang’s expression turned grim.

Although he was just an ordinary person and didn’t possess a terrifying ability like Ma Shihao, he was still the eldest son of the Chen Family and its current acting head. As a result, he was always surrounded by people representing the underlying power of the Chen Family, one of Hong Kong’s Five Great Tycoon Families.

”Hmph!”

With a cold snort like muffled thunder, the towering, black-clad bodyguard standing behind Chen Yaoyang took a sudden step forward. His suit, already stretched taut over his bulging muscles, seemed to swell even larger as imperceptible currents of air spread out, causing the very air to tremble. A flicker of impatience crossed Ma Shihao’s face.

”When your elders are speaking, don’t you, a subordinate, know your place?” he grunted coldly. The towering bodyguard’s expression changed instantly. He groaned as if his chest had been struck by a heavy hammer, his face flushing an unnatural red.

It was obvious that although Chen Yaoyang’s personal bodyguard possessed extraordinary martial power, he was still somewhat powerless when facing an old monster like Ma Shihao alone.

Witnessing this, Chen Yaoyang, the eldest son of the Chen Family, looked even more humiliated. His face was as dark as water as he rebuked angrily, ”Uncle Ma, I respect you as an elder of my father’s generation. But for you to disregard your status and bully the young like this, aren’t you going too far? Are you showing our Chen Family any respect at all?”

In the rankings of Hong Kong’s Five Great Tycoon Families, their Chen Family was placed last, a full two places behind the Ma Family. Even so, the Chen Family was not so easily bullied that they would let others walk all over them.

In truth, the Five Great Tycoon Families of Hong Kong all stood on the same level, each one a colossal power in its own right.

For Ma Shihao to disregard him—the eldest son and acting head of the Chen Family—so completely, especially in such a public setting, was he not going too far?

”I was merely teaching your impudent servant a lesson on your behalf, my dear nephew. What’s so excessive about that?” Hearing this, a ruthless glint flickered in Ma Shihao’s murky old eyes, but he quickly concealed it. Donning a hypocritical smile, he spoke calmly, glossing over the entire incident.

”You… Then I thank you, Uncle Ma,” Chen Yaoyang said through clenched teeth. Though furious, he could only take a deep breath and seethe inwardly. It wasn’t just Ma Shihao’s terrifying ability, which could suppress a peak Second Rate Expert, that stayed his hand; it was the massive and dreadful Ma Family behind him. This forced him to be prudent, just as Ma Shihao had shown restraint moments before.

After all, given their statuses, there were far too many things to consider and far too many reasons for forbearance. If two of Hong Kong’s Five Great Tycoon Families were to go to war, putting aside whether outsiders would intervene, they themselves would not want to see it happen. The price would be far too great to bear.

But while Chen Yaoyang had many concerns, a certain someone else did not.

Just as the silent clash between Chen Yaoyang and Ma Shihao concluded, Chen Fei gave a noncommittal curl of his lip and said flatly, ”Alright, Mr. Chen, let’s go. It’s better than staying here and letting something foul dirty our eyes. He’s just a B-Level Ability User, yet he thinks he’s invincible? So arrogant with such meager skills. If he provokes someone he shouldn’t, he won’t even know how he died.”

The so-called B-Level Ability User was a rank within the classification system of the Western Dark World. C-Level was equivalent to a Third Tier Ancient Martial Artist, B-Level to a Second Rate Ancient Martial Artist, A-Level to a First-Class Ancient Martial Artist, and S-Level to an Innate Expert.

To put it bluntly, Ma Shihao, this peak B-Level Ability User who seemed so terrifying to the Chen Family, was merely a second-rater in Chen Fei’s eyes. At most, his different style of attack gave him a slight advantage over lower-level Ancient Martial Artists. That was all there was to it.

So I really can’t understand what gives him the right to be so arrogant, so supremely self-important in front of me. If this old fool is really that brainless, then I don’t mind waking you up and sending you on your way! Hmph!

Of course, these were only Chen Fei’s private thoughts. Chen Yaoyang, Dong Shuxian, and the others had no idea how terrifyingly strong Chen Fei was, or how much confidence he had to so completely disregard his opponent.

They only knew that Ma Shihao’s ability was extremely formidable, capable of defeating peak Second Rate Experts from the Inland. Even the black market showed him considerable respect, tolerating minor issues for the sake of peace. Furthermore, a Mafia from the Italian underworld had an intricate and complex relationship with the Ma Family he controlled. How could a young man like Chen Fei dare to provoke such a fearsome figure?

”Mr. Chen, don’t…” A chill ran up Chen Yaoyang’s spine, and he shot a warning glance at Chen Fei.

BOOM!

But at that exact moment, a shocking and almost tangible aura erupted from Ma Shihao’s withered, elderly body. His turbid eyes, filled with a cold light and murderous intent, locked onto Chen Fei. He let out a cold laugh. ”Good, good, good! It’s been a long time since anyone dared to speak to Ma Shihao like this. And from you, an arrogant whelp no less. Good. Very good!”

As the head of the Ma Family, one of Hong Kong’s Five Great Tycoon Families, Ma Shihao not only possessed a ”terrifying” ability but also had intricate connections with an Italian Mafia Family. He had long considered himself to be just a hair’s breadth away from the pinnacle of this world, if not already there.

And now? He was being ridiculed by a young man barely in his twenties. Was it youthful ignorance? Or reckless overconfidence? In any case, his heart was now filled with a cold resolve to teach the junior who dared offend him a lesson he would never forget.

”Hehe, my apologies, Uncle Ma. Forgive my spontaneous laughter. But you people of Huaxia are truly interesting. Do they all learn to talk so big at such a young age?” Just then, a light, dismissive laugh sounded from the blond foreigner who had been standing behind Ma Shihao.

He was a very handsome and charismatic white man, like a prince from a movie. With his dazzling blond hair, high-bridged nose, unusual azure eyes, and sharply defined features, perhaps his only flaw was his exceedingly pale skin. That, and his grating tone of voice.

Chen Fei looked up at him, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes.

Interesting. It seems I’m a natural magnet for every strange character to throw themselves at me!

”Heh, my apologies for the display, Stuvia,” Ma Shihao said with a strained, elegant chuckle. ”It’s embarrassing to admit, but we people of Huaxia do have this failing—arrogance and a tendency to overestimate our own abilities!” As he finished, his murky eyes swept toward Chen Fei, a cold, icy chill swirling within them.

”Hehe.”

The young foreigner named Stuvia gracefully tucked a strand of golden hair behind his ear. He looked at Chen Fei as if observing a circus clown and said with a smirk, ”My apologies, I haven’t introduced myself. But for you to hear this surname in your lifetime should be an honor, should it not? My name is Stuvia Brad. From Italy!”

”Italy… the Brad Family!?” Before Chen Fei could even respond, Chen Yaoyang gasped in shock beside him.

As the eldest son and acting head of the Chen Family, one of Hong Kong’s Five Great Tycoon Families, he certainly knew what the name ”Brad” meant in Italy and across Europe.

As the birthplace of the world’s original dark underground organization—the Mafia—Europe had a total of eleven Mafia Families, and Italy alone was home to five, a terrifyingly high proportion.

Furthermore, these eleven Mafia Families were not all equal. They were divided according to their power into ordinary Mafia Families and Mafia Great Families. And clearly, the Brad Family, from which Stuvia hailed, was one of only three Mafia Great Families among the eleven in Europe.

Otherwise, Chen Yaoyang would not have been so stunned.

”Brad Family? Sorry, I don’t believe I’ve heard of it, and I have no interest in finding out,” Chen Fei said, his expression having already turned cold and impassive. ”However, Stuvia, was it? This is Huaxia. Didn’t your elders teach you to keep a low profile when visiting this ancient country? Otherwise, you might get your wings clipped.”

An Italian Mafia Family? So what?