"How many seconds can you last?"

Faced with Jiang Chen’s cold question, an icy chill spread through Qin Lie’s body, no matter how strong-willed he was. It felt as if he’d been plunged into a frozen wasteland.

It became hard for him to breathe.

"Gulp..."

Finally, Qin Lie shook his head, swallowed hard, and stammered, "I... I don’t want to die..."

"Let me go..."

’How many seconds could he last? Probably just one,’ he guessed.

At this moment, Jiang Chen was a demon—the most terrifying creature he had ever seen.

"Stop!"

At the same time, a loud shout came from the distance.

A figure was seen running over at a quick pace.

"The President."

"The President is here."

"Quick, make way for the President."

Seeing the newcomer was Master Qin, the crowd quickly made way for him, greeting him as he passed.

Many of the Senior Stewards felt helpless. Qin Lie was still in Jiang Chen’s hands, and now Chairman Qin had arrived.

It was clear the situation was getting out of control.

"Haha, my father is here."

"Jiang Chen, let me go, now!"

Seeing his father appear, Qin Lie was instantly thrilled. His father was the President; with him here, he knew he was safe.

’Jiang Chen wouldn’t dare kill me in front of my father, would he?’

Jiang Chen turned to look at the hastily approaching Master Qin.

Indeed, the only reason he was reluctant to kill Qin Lie was because of Master Qin’s status.

Otherwise, Qin Lie wouldn’t still be alive.

After all, Master Qin had invited him into the Alchemy Master Guild, so he had to give the man some face.

Of course, that was as far as it went.

"Jiang Chen, let’s talk this out calmly."

"Let my son go."

Master Qin spoke anxiously the moment he arrived.

His tone was almost pleading. When it came to Jiang Chen, Master Qin was getting a massive headache.

Not only were Jiang Chen’s methods bizarre, but his Alchemy Skill was also superior to his own.

Furthermore, he had a powerful master.

He was unwilling to provoke Jiang Chen lightly.

Now that his son had fallen into Jiang Chen’s hands, he was genuinely worried that, with Jiang Chen’s methods, he might kill his son in an instant.

That was why his first priority was to placate Jiang Chen.

"Fine."

Jiang Chen tossed Qin Lie to the ground.

As if granted a pardon, Qin Lie scrambled to his feet and scurried back to his father’s side.

"Father, you’re finally here! That bastard Jiang Chen nearly killed me."

Qin Lie wore a look of utter grievance, as if he had suffered all kinds of torture, and began to complain to his father.

Master Qin frowned deeply.

He looked his son up and down and saw that he was unharmed, merely pale with fright.

This just went to show how terrifying Jiang Chen was.

Although his son’s Cultivation was higher than Jiang Chen’s, he was no match in terms of Alchemy Skill. Jiang Chen had far more ways to suppress him, which was why his son had been defeated.

This was the terrifying aspect of an Alchemist.

"Father, you have to get revenge for me!"

"Look, that bastard Jiang Chen killed my four guards."

He said, pointing to the bodies of Mad Dragon and the other three on the ground.

Master Qin followed his son’s gaze and saw Mad Dragon and his three men lying on the ground, clearly long dead.

His brow furrowed even deeper.

At the same time, he was utterly horrified.

Mad Dragon and his men were all guards he had personally found for his son.

The one with the lowest Cultivation was at the Martial Master Fifth Heaven.

Mad Dragon himself was an expert at the Martial Master Eighth Layer Heaven.

In all of Hanwu City, very few people were a match for an expert like Mad Dragon.

Yet here they were, lying on the ground, apparently killed without a fight.

There weren’t even any signs of a struggle.

It was clear that against Jiang Chen, they didn’t even have a chance to use their martial skills.

What a terrifying method this was.

He was instantly reminded of how Jiang Chen had killed Steward Yang Tian and Elder Xiao Gu—it had been just like this.

Apparently, Mad Dragon and his three men had died the same way.

Even he himself couldn’t have killed the four of them so easily.

He waved a hand at his son. "Alright, shut up. Say no more."

"I will make my own judgment."

Afterward, Master Qin turned to Jiang Chen.

"Steward Jiang, what happened here?"

Although he suspected his son had started the trouble, Master Qin’s tone still held a hint of displeasure as he asked the question.

Jiang Chen had acted so ruthlessly, which made him increasingly wary of the man.

He even had a premonition that Jiang Chen would one day threaten his position in the Alchemy Master Guild.

Jiang Chen gave Master Qin a slight bow, showing him enough face.

He said, neither servile nor overbearing, "Your son smashed up my office. Everyone here knows it."

Master Qin froze.

He looked at his son and saw him avert his gaze, and he knew Jiang Chen was telling the truth.

Jiang Chen continued, "So I took action to teach a lesson to the people who wrecked my office." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

After hearing Jiang Chen’s explanation, Master Qin felt exasperated.

’This son of mine has really caused a disaster.’

He said to Jiang Chen in a conciliatory tone, "Steward Jiang, this is all my son’s fault. I will have the office redecorated."

"I apologize for the trouble he’s caused. I’ll have him apologize to you."

As he spoke, he snapped at Qin Lie, "Hurry up and apologize to Steward Jiang."

He hoped Jiang Chen would let the matter drop.

After all, he had his own reputation to consider.

Especially as the President of the Alchemist Guild.

Face was extremely important.

Making his son apologize to Jiang Chen was already a huge concession.

Left with no choice, Qin Lie said to Jiang Chen, "Steward Jiang, I was wrong. Please forgive me."

Though he said the words, inwardly he was grinding his teeth, wishing he could devour Jiang Chen whole.

For now, he was forced to apologize. It was safe to say he had been completely defeated by Jiang Chen this time.

But Jiang Chen remained calm and said, "Since you’ve said so, we’ll let this matter rest."

"However, Chairman Qin, I hope you’ll discipline Qin Lie properly, to prevent him from making this kind of mistake again."

"Next time, I may not be so merciful."

Jiang Chen was not one to be bullied. Although he wasn’t pursuing the matter further for now, he still gave Qin Lie a clear warning.

This made Master Qin even more furious inwardly.

’Jiang Chen actually threatened me.’

’Such arrogance!’

However, Master Qin did not let it show.

For the time being, he was unwilling to provoke Jiang Chen.

He felt as if he had let a wolf into his house.

Jiang Chen was the wolf he had invited in, and he was turning the entire Alchemy Master Guild into a chaotic mess.

Now, he was even threatening his position.

"I will discipline my son properly."

With that, Master Qin grunted under his breath and left with Qin Lie.

As for the deaths of Mad Dragon and his men, well, what was done was done. They had died for nothing.

After all, Master Qin did not want to have a falling-out with Jiang Chen right now.

Watching Master Qin leave, Jiang Chen flicked his wide sleeves and strolled outside.

He was in no mood to stay at the Alchemy Master Guild either.

The onlookers all sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.

Jiang Chen hadn’t even given Chairman Qin face, daring to tell Chairman Qin to his face that he should discipline his own son, Qin Lie.

No one else would dare do such a thing, not even if they were given a hundred times the courage.

"Jiang Chen is probably in for some big trouble."

"His days at the Alchemy Master Guild are numbered."

Several Senior Stewards shook their heads with wry smiles.

They had someone clean up the bodies on the ground.

Meanwhile, Master Qin was as good as his word, arranging for people to come and renovate Jiang Chen’s office.

The job was finished in just about a day.