Chapter eight:cang ming older brother
While everyone was still frozen in disbelief, Xiao Chen slowly stepped out of his servant quarters.
The broken wooden door hung crookedly on its hinges, creaking softly as it swayed in the wind. Dust still floated in the air, illuminated by thin rays of sunlight. The scene looked unreal—like the aftermath of a violent storm that had struck a quiet place meant only for exhaustion and silence.
Xiao Chen's gaze moved calmly across the area.
Then he saw it.
The human-shaped hole blasted into the wall beside his door.
For a moment, he simply stared.
Then his expression darkened.
A faint but terrifying pressure spread from his body, subtle enough that even he didn't notice it—but the surrounding servants felt their hearts tighten. Xiao Chen raised a finger and pointed at the ruined wall, his voice cold and sharp.
"You came to my place," he said slowly, each word filled with restrained anger, "destroyed my door…"
His eyes narrowed.
"And even left this behind."
His lips curled into a sneer.
"So shameless."
The servants standing around felt chills crawl up their spines.
"So… so shameless."
No one dared speak.
Their eyes were wide, their mouths slightly open, as if they were looking at a monster wearing human skin rather than a fellow servant they had ignored for years.
Only then did Xiao Chen seem to notice them.
He turned his head and looked at the stunned crowd. For a brief moment, silence hung heavy in the air.
"…Hi," he said casually.
That single word shattered what little composure they had left.
Before anyone could react, Xiao Chen turned around and walked back into his servant quarters, stepping over broken wood as if it were nothing more than fallen leaves.
A moment later, his calm voice echoed from inside.
"Carry him away."
There was a pause.
"…Dump him somewhere else."
The servants jolted as if struck by lightning.
Several of them rushed forward, dragging Cang Ming's unconscious body away in a hurry. None of them dared complain. None dared hesitate. And more importantly—none dared look back at Xiao Chen's quarters.
Not even once.
Inside the dim room, Xiao Chen leaned against the wall and finally exhaled.
Only now did his breathing grow uneven.
His fists clenched slowly.
I did it.
A First Stage Body Strengthening cultivator… defeating a Third Stage cultivator.
With a single exchange.
He replayed the scene in his mind.
Cang Ming's first punch.
That strike had only carried a fraction of its strength—but even twenty percent was enough to kill an ordinary person. Especially a fourteen-year-old servant with no cultivation.
There had been no mercy in that blow.
Cang Ming hadn't come to discipline him.
He had come to destroy him.
The second strike was even clearer in Xiao Chen's mind.
Qi-coated.
Fast.
Lethal.
Xiao Chen's eyes darkened.
He had heard whispers before—quiet rumors shared only at night, when fear loosened tongues. Servants who disappeared. Investigations that ended quickly. Answers that never came.
In the sect's eyes, servants were expendable.
Even if the truth were exposed, the punishment for an outer disciple would be light. A warning. A temporary confinement. Nothing more.
That would have been me, Xiao Chen thought coldly.
If I hadn't broken through… I would already be dead.
A deep chill passed through his heart.
Then, slowly, it hardened into steel.
Power.
Only power could change everything.
He straightened his back.
"First," he murmured to himself, "I'll become an outer disciple."
His gaze drifted to the ruined wall again, and he sighed softly.
"…This is going to be troublesome."
Only then did exhaustion finally catch up to him.
His eyelids grew heavy, his limbs sluggish.
Five days.
He hadn't slept for five whole days.
Even cultivators weren't made of iron.
Xiao Chen lay down on the thin mattress without bothering to remove his clothes.
"If it's already tomorrow," he muttered quietly, "then tomorrow… I'll change my fate."
Sleep swallowed him instantly.
When Xiao Chen woke up, sunlight filtered through the cracks in the wooden walls, warming his face.
He opened his eyes slowly.
Clear.
Focused.
His body felt different—lighter, stronger, more balanced. Even breathing felt smoother, deeper.
After washing up, he stepped outside.
The servant quarters were unusually quiet.
Too quiet.
As he walked, servants who noticed him stiffened instantly. Some lowered their heads. Others hurriedly changed direction, pretending not to see him at all.
Fear.
Pity.
Unease.
He caught fragments of whispered conversations.
"He injured Cang Ming…" "I heard Cang Ming has an elder brother…" "Seventh Stage Body Strengthening…" "He's doomed…"
Their eyes lingered on Xiao Chen with complicated expressions.
In their minds, Xiao Chen was already a dead man.
Someone who had gone too far.
Someone who didn't know his place.
Xiao Chen noticed everything.
And ignored it all.
Fear exists because of weakness, he thought calmly.
If I'm strong enough, no one will dare whisper behind my back.
He didn't even know Cang Ming had an elder brother.
But if he did—
His gaze sharpened.
He would still have thrown that punch.
Without regret.
Without hesitation.
Because once someone stepped onto the path of cultivation, there was no room for submission.
Only forward.
And Xiao Chen had already taken his first step.