Chapter 6: The Quinny Family Is Under My Protection

By dusk, Carlos Yale had finished arranging everything for tomorrow morning, when he would put Wilson Zimmerman in his place. He then took the $2,000,000 Angelo had wired him and spent all of it on jade, called his mother, and headed for a riverside on Jenden's outskirts. Trees stood lush on both banks, the air was crisp, and the quiet scenery made it a perfect place to cultivate. But spiritual energy on Earth was far too thin, which was why Carlos had splurged that $2,000,000 on jade for cultivation. Jade contained spiritual energy; the finer the quality, the denser the energy it held. Even so, that kind of money, while not small, did not buy much-just a few small pieces of Hetian jade. Carlos chose a spot and laid out a simple Spirit Gathering Array. He sat cross-legged within it and began to cultivate. A Spirit Gathering Array could dissolve jade into usable energy and draw in the thin aura nearby; it was one of the most common arrays for cultivators. Meanwhile, upstream at a luxurious manor, it was dinner time. A Bentley rolled through the gates and stopped in the lot. A woman got out-tall at about five seven, white blouse, skinny jeans, a head of soft waves, around twenty-three or twenty-four. Her features were flawlessly delicate, her skin was like creamy jade, and the generous swell of her chest made for a striking silhouette. In both figure and face, she was no worse than Angelababy at her peak a few years back. If a perfect beauty scored one hundred, she could easily claim ninety-eight. She was the goddess who drove countless princelings in Jenden mad-Emery Quinny. "Grandpa, your health is poor. Why are you out practicing again?" Emery walked toward the elderly man, mouth quirking, helpless. "It's Snow back?" Jeremiah Quinny, dressed in training clothes, stopped and pressed a hand to his chest, coughing dryly a few times. Emery stepped up to loop her arm through his, then shot a glare at the middle-aged man beside him. "Uncle Hai, you know Grandpa coughs badly when he trains, and you still let him?" Simon Lyson sighed. "The situation changed. The old master couldn't sit still." Emery's brows pinched. "Grandpa, what happened?" "Let's go inside and look in on Jonas first," Jeremiah said, and walked with Emery into a sleek, high-end villa. "You… you're Jonas?" In the villa's hall, Emery stared at the pig-headed young man slumped on the sofa, barely believing her eyes. "Sis, it hurts… wuu…" Jonas Quinny started to cry, face swollen black and purple, puffed up far worse than right after the beating. "Who hit you?" Emery drew a long breath. "A bastard named Carlos Yale. He kept forcing me to call him 'Big Brother-in-law.' I wouldn't, so he kept slapping me. He only stopped after I called him 'Brother-in-law.' Otherwise, he said he'd slap me to death." Jonas rattled it out in one go. "Damn it! Damn it!" Emery's fists tightened, her chest heaved. Big Brother-in-law? Didn't that make him my husband? He dared to claim me-he couldn't be let off! "Did you find where he lives? I'm going to go reason with him!" Emery snapped. "Even if you did, it would be useless. Let it go," Jeremiah said. "Grandpa, we're just going to swallow it?" Emery refused to accept it. Whether for her brother or herself, she had to demand justice. Jeremiah sighed long. "That Carlos Yale is Angelo's man. Bennett Lawne knew Jonas was beaten by him and still stood by and watched. You should understand what that meant." Emery froze. "You're saying Angelo and the other three families are siding together to isolate the Quinny family?" Jeremiah nodded. "The Quinny family is a big cake. They all know I have only a few years left. They can't wait to distance themselves, and after I die, they'll divide that cake. Our hundred-year foundation will be ruined." "The family will fall… I've failed our ancestors…" His emotions spiked and he began coughing violently, speckling the floor with blood. "Father!" "Grandpa!" "Old Master!" Panic swept through the household. "Grandpa, I'll take you to the hospital." Eyes reddening, Emery moved to help him up, but he stopped her. Jeremiah gripped her hand, his voice heavy. "Your father's generation accomplished nothing. They can't shoulder the burden. In your generation, there's only Jonas as a male, and you know what he's like." "This illness has no cure. At most I have a year or two; at least, a few months. I'd hoped if Jonas showed promise, I'd hand the Quinny family to him and marry you into a powerful house in the Imperial Capital to steady our century-old foundation. But he disappointed me." "Now I have to make a decision. Don't blame me. From here on, you will carry the Quinny family. So I must choose a worthy husband to marry into our Quinny family and help you guard it." "In the next two days, I will publish your marriage offer in the Imperial Capital and Shenton, and see if any heirs from the great houses there fancy you and are willing to marry into us." "If there are many candidates, I'll gather them and choose the best in all respects to be your husband. No matter whom I choose, I hope you will not refuse. For the Quinny family, I can only sacrifice you." Emery fell silent. What girl didn't want to marry for love? In the end, she still nodded. For her grandfather, for the Quinny family, she could only sacrifice her lifetime of happiness. Heaven made people equal, in its way. A poor girl might have little money, but she had the right to love freely. A rich girl had money, but lost that freedom. Gain and loss always came as a pair-an ancient truth that never changed. Early the next morning, as dawn edged pale across the sky, Carlos snapped his eyes open. Two beams shot from his gaze, struck the river's surface, and sent water pluming more than ten meters high. Anyone who saw that would have thought he was a monster. Whose eyes could fire energy with the force of a bomb? "Not bad. In just one night, my cultivation reached Great Completion in Energy Refining. Seems that as someone who's done this before, even on Earth, my speed could skyrocket," Carlos said, satisfied. Cultivation had nine major realms: Energy Refining, Spirit Linking, Godsea, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, Union, Heavenly Profound, Tribulation Stage. Each realm had five phases: Entry, Minor Completion, Great Completion, Peak, and Perfected. Carlos had once been a major cultivator at Perfected Tribulation Stage. He had mastered countless cultivation techniques, which was why his progress ran so fast. It was still early, no rush to go put Wilson Zimmerman in his place. Carlos caught a few palm-sized fish and lit a fire to grill them. When the fish were almost done, a voice came by his ear. "I was wondering who was grilling fish. Turns out it's Divine Doctor Yale." Carlos looked over. Angelo approached in training clothes, hands clasped behind his back, with Bennett Lawne at his side. "Yo, if it isn't Old Angelo. Come on-share the spoils. Try my grilled fish," Carlos called, smiling. "Taste it? I must give Divine Doctor Yale face." Angelo smiled back. Bennett soon lugged over two big stones, and the two sat around the fire. "Two fish to a skewer. I grilled three-one each." Carlos passed out the fish and started eating first. Angelo had looked down on the fish-charred black like that, edible? But to give Carlos face, he tore off a piece and popped it in his mouth. The moment he chewed, his eyes lit up and he blurted, "My god! Delicious! Too delicious!" He went to town. Bennett frowned. Was it really that good? He tried a piece, and his eating looked even more unsightly than Angelo's as he demolished it. "Divine Doctor, how did you grill this? It's incredible-even the bones are crisp," Angelo said, crunching through fish bones. "Yeah, too good. Best fish I've ever had." Bennett finished and even licked the stick clean. Carlos only smiled. He couldn't very well tell them he'd used urine as salt. If he did, they would have puked all over the place. "By the way, Old Angelo, I heard you're at Great Completion in Inner Strength. Show me a hand," Carlos said. He'd heard of martial arts-External Strength, Inner Strength, Transformation, Divine-but hadn't really seen it. He wanted to compare his Great Completion in Energy Refining against Great Completion in Inner Strength. "A mouth that eats owes a favor, so I'll show Divine Doctor Yale a hand." Angelo picked up a palm-sized river pebble, set it in his palm, and squeezed. The pebble crumbled to gravel. "How's that, Divine Doctor?" Angelo asked, proud. "Impressive. Can you crush it to powder?" Carlos asked. "Turning it to powder takes Peak Inner Strength," Angelo said. "Oh. Then you're still very impressive." Carlos smiled. He couldn't very well call the man a hack. "Of course. If Angelo weren't this strong, how could he have punched out an empire in Jenden's underworld?" Bennett boasted. "Respect." Carlos cupped his fist, humoring their vanity. Sure enough, Angelo laughed loud. "Divine Doctor, these days, to cement your position, you need iron fists. Truth be told, it won't take long before I beat the Quinny family's helmsman, Jeremiah Quinny, and let the Good family replace them, ranking among Jenden's Four Great Families." Carlos's brows drew together, then he thinned a smile. "No one can replace the Quinny family's standing in Jenden." "Why?" Angelo asked, surprised. "Because Emery Quinny is my future wife. The Quinny family is under my protection. No one can shake their place in Jenden." As soon as he said it, Angelo and Bennett's faces dropped. This guy really took himself for something. He wanted to block the Good family's rise? Then he couldn't be allowed to walk away.