A Dish Best Served Cold (The Man In Rage)
Chapter 1503 Love for One's Country

Curiosity piqued, Ye Qing-Tian pulled the bag open.

He was greeted with eight exquisitelooking wooden boxes.

He picked one up and inspected it.

"There's something strange about the box. Such well-sealed boxes aren't commonly seen," exclaimed the man. "Stop wasting time and open it," urged Ye Fan, who clearly wasn't interested in wasting time on more talk.

Without any hesitation, Ye Qing-Tian tightened his palms around the box slightly.

There was a loud click. Then, the box opened.

The rich smell of vitality escaped the box and hit Ye Qing-Tian in the face.

Ye Qing-Tian trembled as soon as he got a whiff of the natural energies of the heaven and earth. His pupils contracted. "Is this... is this a spirit energy fruit? Did you really manage to get your hands on a spirit energy fruit?"

Ye Qing-Tian trembled as he opened the second and third boxes.

A spirit energy fruit rested in every one of those boxes.

Even though Ye Fan had plucked these fruits nearly a year ago, they remained fresh and continued to brim with spiritual energy.

The rich energies of the natural world rippled in the air. Ye Qing-Tian could see them with his eyes.

"These are all spirit energy fruits. Heavens, how many fruits did you manage to get, Ye Fan? Why are you still left with so many after so long? How did you manage to preserve them so well?" Ye Qing-Tian was dumbstruck.

He had not expected Ye Fan to be in possession of so many spirit energy fruits.

He had thought Ye Fan lucky to be able to walk out of the Amazon rainforest alive.

Who would have expected that he had not only returned alive but that he had done with so many spirit energy fruits in tow?

The number of spirit energy fruits that the Chinese teams had gotten over the years couldn't compare with the number of spirit energy fruits that Ye Fan had just given him.

Ye Fan seemed unruffled by how stunned Ye Qing-Tian was.

"Take them all," he said with a casual wave of his hand. "This is my modest contribution to the Chinese martial arts circle. I told you that China is my homeland. Even though I'm not interested in joining War God Castle, I don't mind doing something for the Chinese martial arts circle and for the country."

Having said that, Ye Fan turned and headed back to his room.

He left Ye Qing-Tian standing stupidly in

the courtyard.

The words that Ye Fan had just said filled his head.

He stared at the young man's retreating back, then smiled. "I was right about him."

He realized the growing admiration and regard that he held for the young man.

He might be hotblooded, impulsive and driven by youthful passions, but he was also loyal to his country and homeland.

That was the patriotism that Ye Qing-Tian had wanted to see.

"Ye Fan!" Ye Qing-Tian shouted at Ye Fan. When he spoke next, it was slowly and with great earnestness. "I'll ask you one last time. Can you not storm the Chu family? On behalf of War God Castle and the Chinese martial arts circle, I implore you to give up your desire for revenge. Do it for your country and for the future of the Chinese martial arts circle. Do it for the hundreds of millions of fellow Chinese citizens. This nation needs you. Its future

depends on you."

He sounded like a parent trying to persuade his wanderer of a son to cease his roaming and stay.

Ye Fan did not say anything for a very long time.

"Stay, Ye Fan," Ye Qing-Tian urged the young man tirelessly. "Do it for your country. I'm asking on behalf of the 1.4 billion Chinese citizens that you stay. Don't head for the Chu family."

Ye Qing-Tian's voice rang out ceaselessly in the courtyard and drifted out of the mansion and across the lands with the wind.

The world seemed to have fallen silent.

All one could hear was the whispered murmuring of the gentle breeze and the ripples disturbing the mirrored surface of the lake.

Ye Fan shook his head in the end.

He had his back to the God of War as he laughed softly. "You don't have to use that as an excuse to make me stay. I'm not you. In your eyes, the interest of the Chinese martial arts circle triumphs your personal safety. You would sacrifice everything, including your life, for the country and its interests. Not me. There is something that's even more important than the interest of the nation and that's the one desire that has been driving me for the past ten years. It triumphs everything else. Stop trying to change my mind. I won't stop even if the entire Chinese population begs me to. Honestly, there are probably more Chinese martial artists out there who hate me and prefer that I'm gone."

Without saying another word, Ye Fan returned to his room.

Ye Qing-Tian stood dumbly in the courtyard for a long time before he finally sighed.

The most powerful man in China left with the gifts that Ye Fan had given the Chinese martial arts circle and departed from Jiangdong.

He sent Ye Fan his regards before he left.

They knew that this might be the last time they were going to see each other.

"Yu-Yan, we should head off soon," Ye Fan told Ye Yu-Yan after the God of War was gone and got ready to leave for Yanjing.

He had planned to spend the next few days in Yanjing, where he would set up another formation in the city to protect the Xu family.

With the primary formation and two secondary formations set up, the Greater Invoke the Celestial Sky Formation would finally be complete.

Upon receiving Ye Fan's instruction, Ye Yu-Yan drove Ye Fan to Jianghai International Airport.

They were going to take a direct flight to Yanjing.

"Stop the car, Yu-Yan," Ye Fan yelled seconds after Ye Yu-Yan had started driving.

The car screeched to a stop as Ye Yu-Yan slammed on the brakes. She thought they were under an attack.

"What's wrong, Fan? Have those men from Jiangbei come seeking revenge?"

Ye Yu-Yan tensed up instantly. Because of the recent spate of incidents, she instinctively thought of the Jiangbei martial arts circle.

Ye Fan didn't say anything as he got out of the car hurriedly.

He stood in front of the car and surveyed the surrounding area. Suspicion lined his wrinkled brow.

"Did I make a mistake?"

He looked around him for a long time. Besides the cars and pedestrians streaming down the streets around him, nothing seemed out of place.

Finally, he shook his head and got back into the car.

They did not make any further unexpected stops and instead sped into the night, eventually disappearing from the streets of Jingzhou.

No one noticed the beautiful woman who appeared outside the gates of the Ye family home and stared into the distance after Ye Fan and Ye Yu-Yan were long gone.

No one knew whom she was, where she had come from and why she was here.

Her eyes glimmered brightly with uncertainty.

While Ye Fan was headed for Yanjing, the King of Fighters had sent his son Mo Wu-Ya to China's neighboring country, Korea, to investigate the sudden appearance of foreign supreme grandmasters. Korea had been in utter chaos for the past few days.

The most powerful family clans in Korea, the Jeong family and the Choi family, had undergone a catastrophic upheaval.

Within a single night, the upper echelons of their family clans had been massacred.

The businesses under their names had been bought over by other family clans.

The most powerful family in Korea, the Lee family, had gotten a new patriarch too.

Chaos swept across the nation while the lives of the rich and powerful in Korea hung in the balance.

The Lee family mansion was located in Seoul, the capital city of Korea. Its halls were filled with people presently.

Anyone familiar with the Lee family would recognize the men and women standing in the halls. They were the elders of the Lee family.

These were the men and women who controlled the Lee family's businesses and who had built an empire out of their family business within the borders of their nation.

These powerful men and women appeared cowed as they stared into the distance, where a man and a woman were seated. They were drinking tea leisurely.

"Have you decided? Are you going to choose to remain loyal to the Chu family or to remain alive?"