Seeing the smirk tugging at the corner of John Lopez's lips, Alice's expression changed.
She realized she'd been fooled—and instantly flushed with both embarrassment and rage.
"Oh, so you've grown up, huh? Time to teach you a lesson!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Without hesitation, Alice launched a furious attack, chasing after John and beating him mercilessly.
From the sidelines, Bertha Carter cheered gleefully. "Yes! Hit him harder! You scolded him—now give him a proper beating too!"
She folded her arms smugly.
So what if he's a cultivator? In front of his sisters, he still has to behave!
It was truly satisfying to watch.
Just then, Tracy Linch walked into the room—and froze at the scene before her.
"Hey! What's going on here?" she shouted.
Her voice carried a stern tone, clearly unimpressed by the chaos.
Bertha didn't miss a beat. "Don't stop her, Tracy! Let Alice teach this brat a lesson!"
Tracy sighed. "That's not what I meant. Look, between men and women, there should still be some... restraint."
She shot a pointed glance at Alice.
"At the very least, could you change your clothes first? Your bathrobe's about to fall off!"
Alice glanced down—and instantly turned crimson.
That night, John got a taste of Alice's wrath. But fortunately, the storm passed quickly.
The next morning, as if nothing had happened, Alice stormed into John's room brimming with enthusiasm.
"John! Where's that cultivation manual you promised me?"
"It's in the drawer," he replied quickly, not daring to provoke her again.
He handed her the manual—meticulously written from memory the night before.
Alice grinned triumphantly and patted his head like a pet.
"Good. Once I master this, I'll give you a generous reward."
Bah!
John scoffed internally.
Who wants your reward? Do I look like someone who does this for favors?
Without further complaints, he began acupuncture on Alice—locating and stimulating a few key acupoints. Then, he injected vital energy into her body to fully clear her meridians.
"Remember the sensation of the energy flowing through you," he instructed. "Practice the pithy formula I gave you. Once you condense your own vital energy, you'll succeed."
Leaving her to meditate, John stepped outside to take a phone call.
It was from Joshua Taylor.
"Mr. Lopez… the situation isn't good," Joshua said in a low, troubled voice. "I've done everything I can to sell Weenie Group's products through our channels… but the numbers are dismal."
John narrowed his eyes. "The Yeats family?"
Joshua hesitated, then asked cautiously, "Did you… offend them?"
"There's a problem," John replied calmly. "I'll deal with it."
He ended the call without a flicker of surprise.
This was exactly what he had anticipated.
The reason he asked Joshua to handle sales for the Weenie Group was to test the Yeats family's response—and now, he had his answer.
The Yeats family was suppressing him.
But instead of panic, his eyes hardened with resolve.
The more you try to suppress me... the more I'll push back.
Without delay, John headed to the Research & Development Department of Queenie Group. There, he found the team leader, Yelena Sharp, and handed her a whitening formula.
Though John wasn't an expert in business, Queenie had made one thing clear: If the product is good enough, no amount of suppression can stop it.
And John had plenty of ways to get that product into the spotlight.
"I need you to develop this formula into 1,000 samples of facial masks. It's urgent," he instructed.
Yelena didn't hesitate.
Her R&D team had been with Queenie Yeats from the very beginning. They had remained loyal even during the company's darkest days—and had stood strong during every product crisis.
John trusted them.
Once he handed off the task, he made another call—this time to Alton Wood.
"I'm holding a charity auction in Rochester," John said. "We're auctioning ten new works from the Master of Clouds."
Alton immediately agreed to organize everything.
A smirk tugged at John's lips as he hung up.
Marcia Kelvin, he thought, I heard the Yeats family's also in the skincare industry—especially whitening and moisturizing masks. Let's see how you handle the storm that's coming.
Later, back at the villa…
Alice burst into the room, face glowing with excitement. She threw her arms around John's neck and squealed, "I did it!"
John blinked. "Did what?"
"I condensed the vital energy! I succeeded!"
"What?!"
He stared at her, stunned.
"You've only been training for a few hours! You're joking, right?"
"Why would I joke about that? If you don't believe me, I'll show you!"
Alice extended her slender finger, and a faint cyan glow swirled at her fingertip.
John's jaw dropped.
She really did it.
He stared at her as if she were something otherworldly.
"…Alice, are you… some kind of goblin?"
"Now you finally see how amazing I am!" she said proudly, puffing out her chest.
John was about to tease her again—but his expression suddenly changed.
Wait.
There was something off about the vital energy Alice had condensed…