My Ares Son-in-Law

Dozens of people stood in formation, solemn and respectful!

They wore uniform dark-colored combat uniforms, with the War God Alliance's black bird pattern engraved on their shoulder patches. Their posture was as upright as a pine tree, without a single superfluous movement.

Dozens of eyes fell on Xiao Chen simultaneously, their gazes filled with no hesitation, only a burning reverence and worship akin to faith, as if they were looking up at their god.

Yun Yuyan involuntarily tightened her grip on Xiao Chen's hand, feeling the icy touch on her fingertips.

She didn't understand martial arts, but she could clearly sense the terror of this group of people... Each of them exuded an aura of killing intent that had been condensed to the extreme, making them more than ten times more dangerous than the so-called "top masters" she had seen in the ancient city!
Just then, the middle-aged man at the front of the line moved.

He was dressed in a black, close-fitting outfit embroidered with gold trim, his face resolute. With a single step, the alloy floor beneath his feet trembled slightly! Then, he clasped his hands in a fist, bowed at a ninety-degree angle, and performed a perfectly executed gesture of submission, his voice deep and resonant:

"Welcome, Mr. Xiao!"

"Welcome, Mr. Xiao!"

A hundred people moved in unison, their fists clasped in salute, creating a sound wave like a tsunami that echoed through the empty space, making Yun Yuyan's eardrums buzz and her heart pound violently.

What an exaggerated noise!

Yun Yuyan suddenly looked at Xiao Chen beside her, her eyes filled with disbelief.

This exaggerated welcoming ceremony, this heartfelt reverence from a hundred people—is this the attitude one should show to friends? It is clearly the attitude one should show to the absolute ruler who controls their life, death, honor, and disgrace!
She turned her head and looked at Xiao Chen standing in front of the solemn sea of ​​people, his posture as upright as a mountain peak, his brows calm and undisturbed.

The lights from the dome fell on his shoulders, gilding them with a faint golden edge, blending him into the somber atmosphere around him, as if he were born to stand in this position above thousands of others.

In that instant, Yun Yuyan suddenly felt that... the person she had known in the past was perhaps only one in a million of this man. Beneath his calm exterior lay a terrifying power capable of stirring up storms and controlling the universe.

"Is this...the real you?" Her voice was so soft it was almost inaudible, carrying a hint of bewilderment, a hint of shock, and a hint of indescribable excitement.

Di Tianyan slowly straightened up, turned his gaze to Yun Yuyan, and bowed again, his attitude extremely respectful: "Welcome, Miss Yun."

"Welcome, Miss Yun!"

A second wave of cheers swept in, even more enthusiastic than before.

Yun Yuyan's fingertips trembled slightly, but no longer from fear, but from a dizzying feeling of intruding into the core of a grand narrative... She held Xiao Chen's hand tightly, as if grasping the only piece of driftwood in the world, feeling both apprehensive about the unknown and reassured and proud to be protected by him.

It turns out that she had always been carefully protected under the wing of such a truly powerful person.

"too exaggerated."

Xiao Chen spoke, his voice not loud, yet it seemed to possess an invisible penetrating power, clearly resounding throughout the entire open space, drowning out all subtle sounds.

Amidst the solemn silence of the hundred people standing in formation, his calm tone made it all the more remarkable: "I'm just bringing a friend here for a short stay of two days."

He turned to look at Di Tianyan, his gaze calm and unwavering, yet carrying an undeniable command: "She'll be staying here for the next couple of days. For safety reasons..."

“We’ll guarantee it with our lives!” Di Tianyan immediately replied in a deep voice, bowing slightly, his tone extremely firm. “In the martial arts world of the Western Region, no one can set foot in this building! Moreover…”

He paused, a cold glint in his eyes, "Even if those people turn the Western Region upside down, they would never imagine... that the person you want to protect is hiding right under their noses in the core of the War God Alliance."

"There's no need for that." Xiao Chen waved his hand, his tone calm yet warm. "Your lives matter too. Just do your best to protect her."

He then turned to Yun Yuyan beside him, his tone softening and reassuring: "If you need anything here, just tell Mr. Di Tianyan, and he'll take care of it for you." "Okay!" Yun Yuyan nodded vigorously, her eyes showing apprehension about the unknown, but even more so, complete trust in Xiao Chen. She vaguely sensed an impending storm, and at this moment, following his arrangements was the most reassuring choice.

Upon seeing this, Di Tianyan immediately waved his hand behind him, and a woman with a gentle appearance and dressed in an elegant suit stepped forward and bowed: "Miss Yun, I will take you to the rest area. Please feel free to call me if you have any requests."

Yun Yuyan glanced at Xiao Chen before following the woman away. Only after her figure disappeared at the end of the corridor did the gentleness on Xiao Chen's face slowly fade, and a cold glint appeared in his eyes.

……

At the same time, the intelligence networks of the major families in the western region received an encrypted message almost simultaneously...

[The devil's identity confirmed: Xiao Chen.]

Orders to hunt down the New Martial Arts Association's top brass flew out like snowflakes, carrying Ao Tianchen's boundless rage: "Search the entire city, kill without mercy! Any family or force that dares to harbor them will be considered to have declared war on the New Martial Arts Association, and their entire clan will be exterminated!"

The storm suddenly swept across the entire western region, and the Zhou family, who had previously crossed paths with Xiao Chen, was the first to be hit.

Late at night, the gate of the Zhou family villa was violently kicked open!

With a loud crash, the heavy solid wood door collapsed to the ground, scattering wood chips everywhere.

Six or seven black-clad warriors surged in like ghosts, their movements swift and ruthless. The leader was an old man with white hair and beard. Although he was advanced in years, his eyes were as sharp as an eagle's, and he exuded a grandmaster-level aura of pressure.

Just as the Zhou family guards were about to draw their swords to fight back, Zhou Yanhe suddenly raised his hand to stop them, his face as pale as paper and his fingertips trembling slightly.

"Search."

At the old man's command, the black-clad warriors scattered immediately. The sounds of rummaging through drawers and cabinets came from upstairs and downstairs, breaking the tranquility of the night and shattering the last vestiges of the Zhou family's dignity.

Zhou Yanhe stood frozen in the middle of the living room, looking at the mess on the floor. His mind uncontrollably flashed back to what he had said to Xiao Chen in the study that day...

"The Lü family is not someone you can afford to offend."

"Young people, you must learn to bow your heads, or you will bring about your own destruction."

Looking back now, every word felt like a resounding slap across his face, leaving a burning pain.

The white-haired old man slowly walked up to him, his cloudy eyes fixed on him with scrutiny and pressure: "Head of the Zhou family, do you know Xiao Chen?"

Zhou Yanhe's throat went dry, he swallowed hard, and his heart pounded wildly.

He knows more than just people.

That young man once sat in his living room, drinking his tea, and said with a smile, "The Lü family and the common people are no different."

At the time, he only thought it was youthful arrogance and conceit.

But now, as the New Martial Arts Association relentlessly pursues him, as the name "Devil" spreads throughout the martial arts world, as the Qingyang Sword Sect and Grandmaster Tie Xuan both fall victim to his blade... he suddenly awakens to the truth:
That's not arrogance at all.

That was nothing more than a mundane statement of fact between the strong and the weak. (End of Chapter)