Ye Fan's blade froze at Luo Fu's throat. He lifted his gaze to the three figures rushing in—
Ye Feng. Ye Xing. Lin Mucheng.
A frown creased Ye Fan's brow. Lin Mucheng? His sister is my betrothed. And Ye Xing—my 'sworn brother'? Since when do they side with Ye Feng?
Before his crippling, these three had never mingled.
"Audacious, Ye Fan! You dare murder clansmen on Ye grounds? Drop your blade!"
Ye Feng's voice boomed, though confusion flickered in his eyes.
Ye Fan didn't lower the weapon. His tone remained icy:
"This is my courtyard, Ye Feng. What I do here is my affair."
As he spoke, memories crystallized. No past grudges... He's main lineage, I was branch. But my talent eclipsed his. We barely crossed paths. Yet now, the truth blazed: Ye Feng and Ye Linglong had orchestrated his fall.
And the catalyst? Lin Muxue.
Why else would she marry Ye Feng weeks after my 'accident'?
Cold rage sharpened in Ye Fan's eyes.
"Your courtyard? The family granted it! Release Luo Fu! Surrender to the Disciplinary Hall! Defy clan law again, and face annihilation!"
Ye Feng's voice hardened, though inwardly he seethed. I shattered his dantian myself! How is he standing? Yet Ye Fan's aura felt fractured, weak. No matter. The Hall will finish him.
Lin Muxue's beauty belongs to no cripple.
"Clan law?"
Ye Fan's laugh was jagged ice. Once, those words were sacred. His lifeblood. Now?
"Worthless."
"And if I refuse?"
He met Ye Feng's stare, a predator's smile curling his lips.
"Refuse? Do you grasp your insolence? I'll execute you here!"
Ye Feng's hand flew to his sword hilt.
"Listen to him, Ye Fan! Defying Third Young Master is treason!"
Ye Xing chimed in, masking disdain behind false concern. The fool always yielded to my 'advice.'
"Release me! Kill me, and your mother burns with you!"
Luo Fu spat, emboldened by Ye Feng's presence. He wouldn't dare—
"You think he shields you?"
Ye Fan's voice cut like a scalpel. Centuries of rebirth honed his vision. "Ye Feng—you're filth unfit to judge me. Watch."
SWISH!
The blade flashed. Luo Fu's head thudded to the ground, eyes wide in eternal shock.
Silence. Then—
"YOU DARE?!"
Ye Feng's roar shattered the stillness. Rage contorted his features. "I'll bury your entire bloodline!"
Ye Fan tossed the bloody blade aside. Nine Phantom Steps ignited.
FWOOM!
He materialized before Lin Mucheng. A whip-kick snapped toward the youth's temple.
Lin Mucheng—Qi Refining Tier 4—flinched. Too late.
CRUNCH.
Ye Fan's palm, blazing with Shattering Stone Palm force, caved his skull.
"MONSTER!"
Ye Xing lunged, fists radiating killing intent. Since when did he move like a demon?
Ye Fan dissolved into mist. Reappeared behind him.
"Your turn."
Ye Xing spun, unleashing a Shattering Stone Palm of his own.
It tore through empty air.
THOOM!
Ye Fan's fist—wreathed in a phantom Loong's roar—exploded through Ye Xing's chest.
"Loong's Roar Fist? How...?"
Blood bubbled on Ye Xing's lips as he collapsed.
Only Ye Feng remained, dantian leaking energy, face ashen.
"Madman... You slaughtered them... Doomed us all..."
Ye Fan knelt, pressing a palm to Ye Feng's forehead. A chilling whisper:
"Hear your epitaph? Third Young Master Ye Feng coveted the Lin Clan's secret art—Loong's Roar Fist. He ambushed Lin Mucheng in Ye Fan's courtyard..."
"...but Lin Mucheng saw through him. Fought back. Mutual destruction. Neat, yes?"
Ye Feng choked on bloody laughter.
"Absurd! The elders will dissect your lies!"
"Let them." Ye Fan shrugged. "I'm the 'hero' who saved Ye Linglong. Exile is my worst fate. Public execution? Unlikely."
"Exile?" Ye Feng's eyes bulged. "My father is Patriarch! He'll hunt you to the abyss! Your roots are here! Clan honor—"
"Honor?"
Ye Fan's fist plunged downward. Bone splintered.
"—is ash."