A Dish Best Served Cold (The Man In Rage)
Chapter 1687

"No!"

"Please don't. I don't want to die!"

"No! I haven't lived my life to the fullest! I don't even have children yet!"

As the Earthshaking Palm descended upon them, the anguished cries of the Chu family pierced the stillness of the forbidden grounds, their voices filled with hopelessness and desperation. Worried for their clan, the elders of Chu Sect frantically ordered Ye Fan to stop.

Alas, it was to no avail.

Wails and sobs rose around him, but Ye Fan remained unfazed.

This was the consequence of their own actions.

The Chu family had forced him and his mother to endure a great deal of suffering over the years, yet they felt no remorse nor guilt for their actions.

Ye Fan had no qualms about returning the sentiment to the people who had shown him no compassion.

"The legend of the Chu family will end here, once and for all."

Ye Fan watched as the Earthshaking Palm hurtled toward the Chu family. His gaze was cold and unfeeling as if he were staring at a corpse. However, just as everyone thought that the Chu family would meet their end, a surge of energy burst out from the depths of the forbidden grounds. The pulsing energy that filled the atmosphere felt like the awakening of a beast.

In the next moment, the crowd felt the power of a thousand seas blast down from the skies.

With a bolt of lightning, a humongous fist materialized in the sky and slammed into Ye Fan's Earthshaking Palm with a deafening crash.

The collision created a sonic boom that swept through the area.

Soon after, a lean figure plummeted from the sky and landed on the ground. The person staggered backward to find his footing.

With every step he took, a deep footprint was left in the soil.

The person continued to stumble backward until he slammed into a boulder. Depleted of energy, he collapsed to the ground.

"I-1 s that Chu Tianfan?"

"Chu Tianfan was defeated?"

"Oh my God! The legendary youth of China lost in a head-to-head battle?"

Fear seized the onlookers as the incredible scene unfolded before them.

The fact that the invincible Ye Fan got overpowered left them flabbergasted.

"Who is it?"

"Could it be the spirits of the Chu family ancestors?"

The crowd was thrown into a frenzy by the unexpected turn of events. They peered into the distance, filled with anticipation and awe.

Sword Saint marveled over how powerful the Chu

family was.

They were far more capable than they appeared.

First, it was the Cloud Sun Immortal Army, then came the Demonic Duo.

Each warrior that decided to reveal their abilities was a force to be reckoned with.

The masses thought that the Chu family would have been crushed under Ye Fan's foot after he had dismantled the protective rune with the help of the Dragon Slayers and struck down the Demonic Duo by invoking the Celestial Sky, but it seemed like the Chu family had more tricks up their sleeve.

We've been too ignorant! The Chu family is more powerful than we thought. I can't believe that the Chu family still has trump cards that have not been played.

While Sword Saint and the rest were dumbfounded, the Chu family was equally perplexed.

They, too, had no idea who had unleashed the fist.

As murmurs of bewilderment and confusion spread through the crowd, a burly figure emerged silently from the forbidden grounds.

The man's grey robes billowed out behind him as he strode. Despite the silvery hair that signified his age, the man looked spry and healthy.

The old man's attire was plain, and his features were nondescript. Even his aura was unremarkable.

From the distance, he seemed no different from the average Joe.

Had this elder appeared in the market, he would have blended in perfectly with the crowd. No one would have noticed his presence.

However, knowing that the newcomer had come from the depths of Chu Sect's forbidden grounds, the group regarded him with reverence and a hint of wariness. "W-Who are you?"

The tentative question hung in the air as silence ensued.

Everyone held their breaths, their eyes riveted on the old man.

At that moment, the same questions rang in everyone's minds.

Who is he?Whyis he here?Is he a human or a ghost? Could he be the spirit of a Chu family ancestor?

The puzzlement was not limited to the outsiders; the Chu family was also baffled.

Although the old man's face rang a bell, they could not put a name to it.

Meanwhile, Ye Fan had collected himself. His frosty gaze skipped over the hordes of people and settled upon the old man.

The old man appeared harmless on the surface, but Ye Fan's intuition told him that immense power lurked beneath the innocuous facade.

Ye Fan could not sense the hum of elemental force from the man. It was as if he was not a martial expert but an average human.

Simplicity was proof of ultimate proficiency, and true power hid behind the cover of mediocrity.

Perhaps the old man's martial prowess had reached such a height that it became imperceptible to those below his level. "Are you Chu Yuan?" Ye Fan blurted out, breaking the

tense silence.

His question was like a stone thrown into a pond, creating ripples of astounded remarks.

"C-Chu Yuan?"

"He's Chu Yuan?"

"The former head of the Chu family and Chu Sect, the top of the Sky Ranking, and the strongest warrior on earth?"

"The man who nearly unified all the martial art styles in the world?"

"Oh my God!"

"He's still alive? Didn't he already die?"

"How is he still alive?"

The crowd was petrified.

All color drained from Gaius's face.

Sword Saint's and Tang Hao's expressions became grim as they realized the gravity of the situation.

An inexplicable sense of foreboding bubbled up within all the martial arts leaders at the mention of Chu Yuan.

Back when Chu Yuan had taken the world by storm, most of the martial experts present were still nobodies. Even so, veneration for Chu Yuan was engraved in their bones.

It felt like they had gone a few decades back in time.

Crippling fear gripped the martial experts' hearts as they were reminded of Chu Yuan's eminence.

"Patriarch Chu?"

"Y-You're Patriarch Chu?"

"Are you r-really Patriarch Chu?"

Dumbstruck, the Chu family members turned to gape at the ordinary old man.

Their eyes bore into the old man, disbelief apparent on their faces.

Ten years.

Chu Yuan had been missing for ten years.

Back then, Patriarch Chu was nearing his end. After chasing Ye Fan and his mother out of the family, Chu Yuan entered the forbidden grounds of the Chu residence and never returned.

As the years passed, the Chu family assumed that Patriarch Chu had found eternal rest in the forbidden grounds.

They never would have thought that he could come out unscathed.

"Even an outsider knows my name, yet my own family can't recognize me? It seems like the Chu family has deteriorated over the generations," the old man muttered, his eyebrows furrowed in displeasure. Upon hearing his words, the Chu family members fell to their knees with a thump.

"Almighty Patriarch Chu, please accept my obeisance!"

"Patriarch Chu, it's wonderful to see you alive!" "Please save the Chu family. Save us!"

"If you had been a second late, the Chu family would have been exterminated and wiped off the face of the earth!"

Their fervent pleas rose to a clamor once the Chu family realized that the old man was indeed Chu Yuan.

Chu Shen, too, groveled at Chu Yuan's feet despite being on the brink of death after receiving a severe beating from Ye Fan.

Even Chu Zhengliang, who had been tending to his wounds at home, felt his father's presence and rushed to the scene.

"Dad! I can't believe it's really you! The past ten years had been rough without you."

Chu Zhengliang, the current head of the Chu family and a formidable warrior, broke down at the sight of his father.

The intensity of his emotions stemmed not only from missing his father but also from seeing a ray of hope that could save the entire Chu family from misery.

"C-Chu Yuan?"

"Is that actually Chu Yuan?" "B-But how does he look youngerthan when he disappeared ten years ago?" the elders of Chu Sect voiced out unwittingly, unable to wrap their heads around Chu Yuan's reappearance.