Ye Qingtian and the Elders seethed with fury, but the glacial aura radiating from the blade at Ye Linglong's throat was palpable, a tangible promise of death. After a tense moment of hesitation, they obeyed. Led by Ye Qingtian, they retreated five hundred meters.
Ye Fan motioned for Su Xi to follow closely. Then, holding Ye Linglong firmly, he walked out of the Ye Manor openly, his hostage a stark shield. Their pace was deliberate. Twice, when Ye Qingtian or others ventured too close within sight, Ye Fan's blade flicked. Two fresh, thin cuts appeared on Ye Linglong's skin. After the second warning, the pursuers vanished from view.
Exiting the manor grounds, Ye Fan swiftly commandeered a spirit-horse carriage. He bundled Ye Linglong inside with Su Xi, climbed onto the driver's seat, and cracked the reins. The carriage surged forward.
Ye Qingtian and the Elders erupted from the manor gates moments later, mounting their own spirit-horses in pursuit. Their frantic chase through the Imperial Capital streets drew stares and murmurs from the citizens, bewildered by the sight of the prestigious Ye Clan Patriarch and Elders pursuing a lone carriage.
The carriage raced towards the Heavenly Beast Mountain Range. Guided by memories of a past life, Ye Fan steered unerringly towards the Windscar Gorge, a notoriously labyrinthine region within the mountains. Without intimate knowledge, one could wander lost for days.
Inside the carriage, Ye Linglong sat rigidly beside Ye Fan. To an outside observer, they might have seemed a noble couple – the man strikingly handsome, the woman breathtakingly beautiful – were it not for the cold steel pressed against her neck and the palpable tension. Many mercenary teams and adventurers recognized Ye Linglong, the celebrated genius of the Ye Clan and the Imperial Court. Ye Fan, though not the main lineage heir, was also known – famed in his youth for his astonishing talent and, like his father, for his open-handed camaraderie with warriors. His sacrifice crippling his cultivation to save Ye Linglong had been widely discussed. Seeing him now, fleeing with her as a hostage into the perilous Heavenly Beast Mountains, left everyone stunned.
Windscar Gorge lived up to its name, a confusing maze of twisting paths and echoing canyons. While Ye Fan navigated it with unerring confidence born of past experience, Ye Qingtian and his party, unfamiliar with the terrain, quickly lost sight of the carriage amidst the winding rock formations.
Inside the now-slowing carriage, Ye Fan sheathed the Voidstep Sword. Before Ye Linglong could react, his right hand shot out like lightning, palm striking squarely at her lower abdomen – her Dantian.
A surge of potent vital energy invaded her body. There was a sickening, internal crunch.
Her eyes flew wide, filled with utter disbelief and dawning horror. She felt it – the core of her cultivation, her Qi Refining Level Eight foundation – shattering. The familiar, potent flow of energy within her began to drain away like water through broken fingers.
"Ye Linglong," Ye Fan's voice was icy, devoid of mercy. "Now you get to taste the life of a cripple."
Without pause, his other hand slammed into her chest. The force hurled her bodily out of the moving carriage. She tumbled onto the rough ground, rolling to a stop in a cloud of dust as the carriage sped away without a backward glance, leaving only a fading rumble and the broken figure behind.
Ye Linglong lay gasping, clutching her ruined abdomen. The terrifying emptiness where her power once resided was a void more profound than any physical pain. Her vibrant eyes turned dull, lifeless. The descent from genius to utter, powerless waste in a single moment was a crushing reality she could never have imagined. A sliver of understanding – the sheer, soul-rending hatred Ye Fan must have carried – pierced through her despair. Only someone who had truly plummeted from the heavens to the abyss could comprehend such bitterness.
Fate, it seemed, had a cruel sense of irony. A rustling sound came from nearby bushes. Several rough-looking men emerged, their eyes instantly locking onto the disheveled, beautiful woman on the ground. Recognition dawned, swiftly followed by predatory lust.
"Well, well… isn't this the Ye Clan's precious jewel?" the leader chuckled, unable to hide his excitement. "Did a lover's tryst go sour, my lady? Left you high and dry?"
His companions grinned knowingly. They were hardened men of the wilds; her shattered Dantian aura and vulnerable state screamed opportunity.
"Maybe her lover couldn't satisfy her, boss!" a wiry, rat-faced man leered. "Shall we give her a proper… service? Hahaha!"
With coarse laughter, they lunged. Ye Linglong screamed, thrashing wildly with the desperate strength of terror, but her ruined cultivation offered no resistance. Fingers tore at her clothes. Fabric ripped. Her shrieks of pure terror mingled with the men's coarse grunts and laughter.
Thwip!
A sound like silk tearing the air. A flash of cold light.
Splurt! Splurt! Splurt!
Arterial blood sprayed crimson in the fading light.
Guiding the carriage through the deceptive turns of Windscar Gorge with practiced ease, Ye Fan headed unerringly for the northern exit. For one who knew its secrets, the gorge was small. Within a quarter-hour, they emerged onto the slopes of the Celestial Glow Mountains bordering the gorge's north.
He reined in the spirit-horses and helped Su Xi down from the carriage. She looked around at the towering peaks and dense, unfamiliar forest, a flicker of unease crossing her gentle features. Confined within the Ye Manor walls since her marriage to Ye Songyuan, the vast wilderness was daunting.
"Son… where is this place?" she asked softly, finding reassurance in his presence.
"Mother, this is the Heavenly Beast Mountain Range," Ye Fan replied, his voice gentler now. "I must ask you to bear with staying here for a few days. But don't worry, I promise you. Within four days at most, I will take you to a better, safer place to live."
He secured the carriage and drew the Voidstep Sword. With swift, efficient strokes, he began felling young trees and cutting strong vines. Su Xi rested nearby, watching her son work. A soft, proud smile touched her lips as she observed his competence. A strange sense of peace settled over her. Perhaps this harsh freedom was better than the constant dread she endured every time he left the Ye Manor on missions.
Ye Fan worked with remarkable speed. Within two hours, the skeleton of a sturdy, simple cabin stood amongst the trees. He gathered broad leaves and thick mosses – materials known for shedding rain – and wove them tightly over the frame with vines, creating a waterproof roof. He hacked sections of logs into rough stools for seating. Inside, he piled thick layers of soft, fragrant Rú grass into two comfortable sleeping pallets.
As dusk painted the sky in hues of purple and orange, Su Xi gratefully entered the finished shelter. Ye Fan closed the crude wooden door securely behind her. His figure blurred – the Nine Void Mirage Steps carrying him silently into the deepening shadows of the forest.
He returned minutes later, dragging the carcass of a large, dog-like beast – a Houndbeast. In his other hand, he carried a cloth bundle emitting a pungent, musky odor. Unwrapping it revealed a heap of dark, pungent dung – Grade-Two Spirit Beast scat.
On the Tianwu Continent, Spirit Beasts were classified into Seven Grades, each corresponding roughly to a human cultivation stage. A Grade-One Beast matched a Qi Refining cultivator. A Grade-Two Beast, like the source of this dung, possessed power equivalent to a Foundation Establishment expert. In the outer regions of the Heavenly Beast Mountains, a Grade-Two Beast was a territorial apex predator. Its scent-markings, carried in this dung, would warn lesser beasts away, providing a potent, natural barrier around their camp.
Satisfied with the perimeter defense, Ye Fan built a fire pit near the cabin, conveniently close to a small, clear stream yet well-hidden by rocks and foliage. He expertly skinned and cleaned the Houndbeast, then set the meat roasting over the crackling flames. The savory aroma soon filled the clearing.
Su Xi emerged from the cabin and settled on a log stool beside him. Her eyes, filled with maternal care and profound pride, watched him tend the fire and the meat.
"Son," she said softly, the firelight warming her face. "You are just like your father… someone people can truly rely on. Any young woman fortunate enough to marry you someday will be truly blessed."
"Father?" The word caused Ye Fan to pause. The image of Ye Songyuan – a tall, imposing figure radiating quiet authority – flashed vividly in his mind. Memories surfaced: a young boy exploring these very mountains alongside that towering presence. It was during that trip he'd found the mysterious Stellar Aperture Stone. Most of his formidable wilderness skills – the shelter-building, the tracking, the hunting – had been imparted by his father during those adventures.
Back then, his father had been his idol, his unwavering hero. A man who held the Ye Clan's honor above his own life – a value Ye Fan, in his past life, had inherited completely. Later, his father vanished without a trace during a solitary journey. Even after Ye Fan reached the pinnacle of power in his previous life, his searches yielded nothing.
He met Su Xi's gaze across the fire, the flames reflecting in his determined eyes. "Mother, Father is gone… but you still have me. As long as I draw breath, no one will ever humiliate you again." His voice was low, but the vow within it was unbreakable steel.