At Ji Fengyan's words, the expressions of all the Lei family members underwent a change. Lei Kai deepened his frown, looking at Ji Fengyan with eyes full of displeasure.

Lei Qin's expression was likewise vexed. She stepped forward with her eyes on Ji Fengyan. "Retrieve the Tree of the Flowing Bloodshed? Ji Fengyan, have you gone mad? Or are you treating us as fools? The Tree of the Flowing Bloodshed was handed to us by your Ji family—why would we return it to you? Aren't you being too presumptuous coming here like that?"

As Lei Qin spoke, the other members of the Lei family were all scowling at Ji Fengyan, malevolence and contempt written all over their faces.

Lei Yuanxu was among the best of the Lei family's younger generation. Despite his young age, he had shown as much promise as Lei Qin. Otherwise, Lei Qin would not have brought him along to the Thirteenth Prince's birthday banquet.

But who could have foreseen that such a horrible incident would occur that night!

Lei Yuanxu had a naturally tall and athletic physique, as well as exceptional mental strength. He was one of the rare talents who could cultivate both the mind and the body. He had been primed as an archer from a young age and had just recently become the apprentice to a renowned tutor. Together with the Lei family's status and financial power, it would have taken only a few years to groom Lei Yuanxu into an elite archer.

Unfortunately…

During the Thirteenth Prince's birthday banquet, Lei Yuanxu had his arm severed by the Grand Tutor just because he had insulted Ji Fengyan!

For an archer, this was akin to a fatal blow!

The Lei family dared not raise any of their grievances to the Grand Tutor. but instead blamed Lei Yuanxu's condemned state on Ji Fengyan. The Lei family had already resented Ji Fengyan because of Lei Xu. Their hatred for her was now amplified a hundredfold.

After much effort, Lei Qin finally received news a few days ago regarding yesterday's auction of the Tree of the Flowing Bloodshed. This was the only way to save Lei Yuanxu. The Lei family had even offered their Sacred Dragon Shield—personally gifted by the Emperor of the Kingdom of the Sacred Dragon—all just to salvage Lei Yuanxu's future.

Who could have expected that Ji Fengyan would also be at yesterday's auction and then proceeded to trump the Lei family's Sacred Dragon Shield with her defensive amulet? The Lei family had decided to give up their shield only after much dilemma, only to end up still losing out on the Tree of the Flowing Bloodshed!

With this new grudge and their long-running hatred, the Lei family's hostility toward Ji Fengyan had reached a fevered peak. It had not been easy for them to negotiate with the Ji family - they had sacrificed quite a number of valuable medicines in order to get their hands on the Tree of the Flowing Bloodshed. Now, Ji Fengyan had actually turned up with the intention of taking it back?

What sort of joke was this?!

"Ji Fengyan, even though you are the Terminator, you must also be reasonable. We obtained this Tree of the Flowing Bloodshed through a rightful deal with your Ji family. Why should we return it to you? You are really pushing us to the limits!" A twenty-something year old male member of the Lei family squinted at Ji Fengyan as he gave a cold laugh.

"Ji family?" Ji Fengyan chuckled. Looking at the Lei family's attitude, she now understood clearly. Ji Qiu would never have been so kind-hearted to just hand over the Tree of the Flowing Bloodshed to the Lei family. Come to think of it… Ji Qiu had probably been clamoring after some cherished items from the Lei family?

Ji Qiu had been holding the Tree of the Flowing Bloodshed—for which she suffered damage to her inner core—in one hand, while his other hand had been demanding treasures from the Lei family.

In this world, only a shameless person like Ji Qiu could commit such a deed.

"The deal you made with the Ji family, what has that got to do with me? I was the one who won the bid on this Tree of the Flowing Bloodshed, when did they get the authority to decide?" Ji Fengyan smiled frostily.