Outside the Clan Chief's Manor, Shen Junce and five other traitors stood like leaders of a protest, waiting for Shen Lijian to come out.
Behind them were their families.
Other clan members kept their distance and waited patiently despite the winter cold biting at them.
Everyone knew that Shen Junce had come to seize the Clan Chief's position and the Clan Chief's Manor itself.
"It makes sense since Shen Junce is now the strongest cultivator and hunter."
"Yes…"
"I still feel sad about Chief Lijian…"
Clan members whispered to each other, and their words reached Shen Junce.
He kept smiling without changing his expression.
Then the winter seemed to grow even colder.
Shen Lijian stepped out of the manor and stopped at the entrance, neither approaching his brother nor showing him respect or affection.
His stare was like daggers, shocking the clan.
Shen Lijian no longer hid the truth from others.
He made it clear there was bad blood between him and Shen Junce.
But no one knew exactly what had happened between them.
Qi around him cracked the air and made him seem as if he had ascended, not like a man with a broken Dantian.
Shen Lijian said, "Don't even bother with your foolish offer, Junce."
Shen Junce asked, "Why?
"My offer still stands.
"Break your marriage oath with Shen Lexi.
"In exchange, I will let you remain in the Chief's seat and lead the clan."
The audience drew a sharp breath at those words, while younger clan members had no idea what they meant.
In simple terms, Shen Junce wanted to steal his brother's wife.
The older generation remembered their battle over Shen Lexi, so no one doubted that this was his final goal.
Tension rose among the clan members.
A few began to believe that Shen Lijian had lost his Dantian because of his brother and the hunters who now stood firmly behind him.
If that were true, it would be bad news.
Even so, what could common folks do?
Shen Lijian drew his sword and pointed it at his brother.
"I will never betray the love of my family and the trust of my clan.
"Your schemes have worked on me alone, but they will never work on my family as a whole.
"Our bonds will never be broken until death parts us."
His declaration left countless cultivators of the Shen Clan breathless.
He had just confirmed that Shen Junce plotted against him and broke his Dantian.
Against all odds, he stood his ground and faced his brother.
I don't have much time.
Qian'er, Lexi… I'll go first.
Forgive me.
I will finish off those five traitors and leave my brother to you!
Shen Lijian traced the traitors' faces with a sharp gaze and forced them to step past Shen Junce.
All of them drew their weapons and waited for his first move, sweat trickling down their temples.
Fear nestled in their hearts as Shen Lijian seemed somehow stronger.
But they knew his Qi would deplete fast given his crippled Dantian.
Shen Lijian ran forward, his sword tracing the snow and his Qi pushing snowflakes away.
He slashed wide at the first traitor, meeting the man's blade.
The other two rushed in to strike from the sides.
But then deep lacerations opened from their shoulders down to their stomachs, spilling blood.
The pain was so great they thought their bones had been severed along with their spirits.
They collapsed into the snow at Shen Lijian's feet like sore losers.
Shen Junce smiled.
"You have become so much stronger in your last act of desperation, brother."
Then Shen Lexi shouted.
"Lijian!"
She rushed out and charged the remaining traitors with her fists clenched.
Shen Junce's expression shifted from shock to disbelief to worry.
He shouted, "Quo!
"Stop her!
"Don't hurt her!"
His second-oldest son stepped from the crowd and ran toward Shen Lexi.
His mother, Shen Yan, had ordered him to obey his father no matter how strange the orders.
He brandished his sword and held it at a diagonal as he ran at Shen Lexi.
Before he could make any proper move, an arrow whistled through the wind and lodged deep in his head.
Shen Quo slowed until he was barely moving.
He then fell face-first, dead.
The thud was small, and the silence was larger.
"Quo'er!" his mother, Shen Yan, shouted.
She was completely unaware of the tall shadow behind her.
Because everyone recognized who it was, no one thought anything bad would happen.
As the shadow loomed over her, a long spear pierced her heart and came out the other side.
The shadow, Shen Yiren, raised his spear, his dying aunt's body flailing.
Gasps cracked like ice.
She reached toward her husband and tilted her head to him, yet his stare never left Shen Lexi.
Her heart was gone, but her chest still throbbed.
Shen Yiren's voice was the last she heard, not her husband's.
"See.
"He is not even concerned about you, just like no one in the clan thought I would kill you.
"You may have entered his heart for a little with your schemes.
"But all it amounted to is this scar on my face.
"You have failed otherwise.
"Die."
He wrenched the spear free.
Shen Yan's lips moved as she tried to speak.
No strength came, and she stared ahead until the light in her eyes went out.
Her limbs lost their strength and sagged.
Two deaths.
The clan seemed to tilt.
And the ones behind them were Shen Jixian and Shen Yiren: Shen Liqian's vassals.
The entire Shen Clan couldn't believe it.
The winter no longer felt as cold.
Instead, the loss of a promising hunter and a clanswoman weighed more on them.
Questions rose in their minds.
But then two of their best hunters screamed their last words before Shen Lijian severed their heads and half-buried them in the snow under his boot.
Two… out of five…
He had so much Qi, yet it flooded out of him so fast that he could only claim two lives.
He felt considerably weaker now.
His meridians ached as he spent so much Qi in a short time.
His Dantian was gone, so Qi circulation hurt like hell.
Shen Junce then strode toward his brother.
He hadn't drawn his sword yet.
Out of nowhere, he picked up his pace and appeared before Shen Lijian in a flash, his sword already drawn and cutting through him.
Shen Lijian swallowed back blood and pain and took a few weak steps back.
"I never wanted this to happen…" Shen Junce said.
He raised his sword.
An arrow flew at him.
Shen Junce, however, effortlessly cut through it.
In the shadows, Shen Jixian clicked his tongue.
He's too strong.
Shen Junce only glanced toward Shen Jixian before looking back at his brother.
Nonchalantly, he raised his sword again.
"Stop!" Shen Lexi shouted.
She squeezed herself between her husband and Shen Junce, but Shen Lijian pushed her away.
He looked into his brother's eyes with conviction and loyalty.
"I will die here.
"But you will never achieve your goals."
Those words fell on deaf ears.
Shen Junce brought his sword down.
"Noooooooo!"
BANG!
Its blade stopped halfway down, caught between two palms pressed together.
Those hands belonged to none other than Shen Liqian.
"You did well, Father, Mother, and my vassals."
"Vassals?" Shen Junce asked, smiling.
As he tried to pull his sword back, his smile trembled.
Shen Liqian looked at him, then spun and whipped a kick into Shen Junce's stomach, sending him flying.
The man flew back several meters and crashed into a pile of snow.
The entire Shen Clan froze, mouths agape and eyes wide.
Did Shen Liqian just completely dominate Shen Junce, a Ninth Stage Qi Attunement cultivator?
Someone dropped to their knees.
Shen Liqian turned to his parents.
"Go back to the mansion and watch me."
He then turned to the elders, struck his right fist against his left palm, and bowed slightly.
"I pay my humble respect to the elders of the Shen Clan.
"Today, I will weed out traitors of our Clan and become the next Chief of the Shen Clan.
"I implore you and the other clan members to serve as witnesses."
His words fell heavier into the snow than Shen Junce's had.
For some reason, the diligent, hard-working Shen Liqian, despite his youth, sounded more like a Clan Chief than the heinous Shen Junce.
Though no one voiced it, the clan secretly supported Shen Liqian, hoping he could make a miracle come true.
The elders curtly nodded.
"It has been a tradition for several generations that the strongest cultivators are all eligible to be the Clan Chief.
"We shall bear witness to your competence and prowess.
"Should you prove yourself worthy, we will gladly name you the next Chief of the Shen Clan and offer our knowledge and experience to you, Shen Liqian."
Shen Liqian nodded.
"Thank you."