'Now, how should I act?'
Ye Jun had to make sure he didn't change too much from the previous Ye Jun. This was a Cultivation world, and Demonic possession arts existed too, so if he showed a completely different personality all of a sudden, he might be executed by some righteous sect.
He had decided to show the changes slowly so it didn't come off as unnatural. The training ground shenanigans he pulled were a part of this.
Who knew he would meet Ye Chen so early?
'Ye Jun and his brother have a blood feud. He would die rather than lower himself before Ye Chen. Woah!'
It created a bit of a problem for him, but Ye Jun decided to go along with it. Hating Ye Chen was pretty valid, after all.
Raising his head in confidence, he walked forward and stopped right before his younger brother.
The four young men, whom Ye Jun recognised as Ye Chen's subordinates, surrounded him from all sides as he faced Ye Chen.
"Care to tell me what this is all about?" Ye Jun asked. "Did you start patrolling roads now?"
"Still foul-mouthed as ever." Ye Chen took a step forward and said, "I hate to associate with the likes of you, so be grateful I've come to suggest something personally."
Ye Jun raised an eyebrow and said, "No thanks. I'll be grateful if you never show your ugly face before me."
Ye Chen's gaze turned cold as he clenched his fist before saying, "You really don't know your place. Delusional as always!"
"It's a fact that I'm more handsome than you," Ye Jun shrugged, not caring at all about how the men around him were getting angry. "But don't worry, there are people who like ugly things too, probably."
Well, it was simply the truth since Ye Jun seemed to have inherited all the good genes in appearance. He was taller than Ye Chen and looked way better. It was one more reason why Ye Chen hated him.
"Enough! I didn't come here to stoop to your level," Ye Chen shouted.
"Correction. Elevate!" Ye Jun smiled.
Ignoring him, Ye Chen said, "In one year, I'll become the new Young Master of the Ye Clan. That also means you'll lose your protection, and I'll finally be able to torture and kill you."
"Not the first time you've said it."
"But I'll give you a chance to save yourself," Ye Chen smiled and said. "Go and tell the Elders the truth. Tell them you know you're lowly, filthy, and unworthy of Song Liangxue, so you want to annul your engagement."
Ye Jun stared at him for a moment before he burst out in a fit of laughter. He laughed so hard that tears welled up in his eyes.
"Stop laughing, idiot!"
Ye Jun ignored the lackey, but still calmed himself and said, "You're really funny, little brother. Ever since you were born, you only knew how to take everything away from me because you know your pathetic self can't achieve anything by yourself."
"It all belonged to me! You just came first, but guess what? Even the Heavens knew the truth, so they made you a cripple. A useless cripple who can't even defend himself," Ye Chen hissed as he closed the distance between them. "I'm only taking my things back. The engagement with Song Liangxue should have been mine, not yours."
"Always so sensitive!" Ye Jun snorted. "As for the engagement, how much more will you fall, little brother?"
"What are you blabbering on about?"
"You know you can't even make her look at you, so you're using this engagement to get her attention and bind her in marriage," Ye Jun really felt like laughing at him. "Self-awareness, eh?"
Ye Chen's expression turned frostily cold as Ye Jun hit the nerve that hurt the most. He said, his voice low, "Are you throwing away this one chance? Do you really want to die that badly?"
"We'll see who dies when the time comes," Ye Jun said, his lips curling up into a wide grin. "As for your suggestion, I refuse. At least achieve one thing with your own capabilities."
"I'll make you regret taking this choice!" Ye Chen's low voice contained his suppressed anger. "Every single day, I'll make your life miserable, and you'll wish you were dead, but I won't kill you. After all, I can't kill you... yet."
"Even if you suck my dick, I'll still refuse," Ye Jun said.
"We'll see about that," Ye Chen smiled cruelly and said. "Beat him up!"
Before Ye Jun could react, he was attacked from all sides as heavy fists and kicks pushed him to the ground, and the four young men continued to assault him, punching his face, kicking his belly and chest, and everywhere else that could hurt.
He tried to fight back, but clearly he was no match for these three men. They were martial artists much stronger than him, so he couldn't fight even one-on-one, let alone when four ganged up on him.
"Stop!"
After a few minutes of thorough beating, Ye Chen stopped his subordinates and looked at his fallen older brother in contempt.
His face was black and blue, while blood leaked from the corner of his mouth. Painful groans left his mouth as he panted hard.
Smiling in satisfaction, Ye Chen kicked Ye Jun hard in the belly, making him cough up blood. Then, he put his leather boot on his face and said, "Know your place, otherwise I'll have to help you. Just like now."
Grinding his boot against his nose and mouth, Ye Chen scoffed, "I would piss on you, but lucky for you, this isn't a closed place."
Then, he turned around and said, "Since you don't have a brain, I'll help you make that choice."
With that, he walked away, leaving Ye Jun in dust and blood.
Ye Jun glanced at the retreating figure of Ye Chen with coldness in his eyes. 'Gods, I'll enjoy killing all of them.'
Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, he stood up and dusted off his hands and face. Unlike what Ye Chen thought, he wasn't that harmed, as his body had strengthened after collecting so many attributes.
He had only acted that way so his little brother didn't sense anything amiss and remained arrogant as ever. That arrogance would buy Ye Jun the time he needed.
A smile formed on his face as he looked at the glowing attribute bubbles on the ground and collected them all.
[Strength +20]
[Agility +5]
[Endurance +3]
[Qi +1]
As warmth filled his body, the wounds and bruises healed slightly, making his pain lessen. He also noticed a sudden surge of warmth afterward, which made him raise an eyebrow and turn back to look at the notifications.
'Qi? So I was right about the cultivation part of the status. I can collect Qi orbs too,' Ye Jun thought. 'Normally, it would help in increasing cultivation, but since I don't have it, all the Qi strengthened my body instead. Really interesting.'
He didn't have to guess hard about whom the Qi Attribute Orb dropped from. It was Ye Chen, who, despite being a year younger than him, had advanced to the Qi Condensation Realm.
That was also one more reason why Ye Jun was biding his time. He couldn't even best Ye Chen now, let alone his backing.
'But the day will soon come, little brother,' Ye Jun grinned. 'I hope you're ready for it.'
Shaking his thoughts off, he went back to his hut. Then, he took out a healing paste and applied it to his wounds so they would heal faster.
'This one is almost finished too,' he thought, looking down at the empty box. 'I need to earn some money as well.'
Fortunately, he didn't need to search for a job. The previous Ye Jun had already done something to earn money to sustain himself, since the clan didn't help him with that either.
Or rather, it did, but the help never reached him, so he was forced to work outside despite being the Young Master of the Ye Clan.
'Patience!'