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Author's Note:
Welcome back, readers! As a new writer, I am always learning and trying to improve. If you spot any errors or have suggestions, please let me know in the comments. Thank you for your continued support!
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Previous Chapter Recap:
Back in his private chambers, Su Changhe plotted his next move. The 'Son of Destiny' has officially become my junior brother. What gift should I give him? My dear junior wants to become famous... then I will help him. Staring into the empty air, he issued a chilling command to the shadows: "Spread the news of his Supreme Bone across the entire continent."
The Next Day — Ye Fan's Quarters
"...Ugh..."
Ye Fan groaned, clutching his throbbing head as he slowly sat up in bed. The memories of the previous day crashed into his mind like a physical blow. The absolute suppression. The casual, mocking glance.
I... I lost. I was completely crushed
Humiliation burned fiercely in his chest. He glared down at the ancient black ring on his finger, his face twisting into a furious, ungrateful scowl.
"Master! Master, why didn't you help me?!" Ye Fan demanded angrily, projecting his voice toward the artifact.
A wisp of spiritual energy drifted from the ring, swirling into the air before coalescing into the ethereal, breathtaking form of Su Zain. She floated before him, but unlike her usual gentle demeanor, her expression was utterly icy.
"I explicitly warned you before we even entered this Holy Land," Su Zain replied, her voice laced with a chilling detachment.
"There are countless ancient ancestors and supreme elders hidden within this sect. If I had unleashed my soul power to aid you in front of everyone, I would have been instantly discovered."
She looked down at him, her eyes flashing with a hidden, profound disgust that he was too blind to notice. "You never listen to my warnings, you act on impulse, and now you dare to direct your anger at me?"
Hearing her reprimand, Ye Fan stiffened. He realized she was right; forcing her to act under the noses of Nascent Soul and Soul Formation experts would have been suicidal. The anger in his chest slowly dissipated, but it was quickly replaced by a deep, festering resentment.
She is supposed to be my greatest cheat, my protector! What use is she if she won't even take a risk for me?
He swallowed his pride, carefully hiding the dark glint in his eyes, and bowed his head in a display of total submission. "Yes... yes, Master, you are right. I was blinded by my humiliation. I am truly sorry, Teacher."
But deep within his mind, a vile, venomous thought took root.
I still have uses for you now, you old ghost. But just wait. The moment my cultivation surpasses yours, I will make you pay for daring to speak down to me. I will strip away your arrogance, pin you beneath me, and torment you until you beg to serve me.
Unbeknownst to Ye Fan, Su Zain was watching him with a gaze as cold as the abyss. With her memories of her past life fully awakened, she could practically smell the foul, hypocritical intentions hiding behind his fake apology.
She stared at him in dead silence for a full minute, her spectral aura radiating a subtle, terrifying chill that made the temperature in the room plummet.
"Do not do anything foolish again," she finally said, her cold snort devoid of any of her former affection.
With a dismissive flick of her sleeve, she dissolved back into the ring, returning to her secluded cultivation and leaving Ye Fan alone to stew in his own dark ambitions.
Ye Fan slowly regained his senses, his mind still reeling as he stepped out of his cave dwelling. Waiting for him was an outer sect elder, who quickly explained everything that had transpired after Ye Fan's collapse before taking his leave.
"Wrong character... what did he mean by that?" Ye Fan muttered to himself, his brow furrowed in confusion.
He had officially become a disciple of the Third Peak. Rumor had it that his new master was one of the most beautiful women on the continent, yet Ye Fan felt absolutely no joy in this revelation.
"How can I leave a good impression on my future wife with Su Changhe constantly interfering?" Fury flared within his chest, turning his face a deep crimson. Storming away from his cave and the Third Peak, he angrily marched down into the outer sect grounds to clear his head.
As he walked, he noticed a strange atmosphere. Countless outer disciples were pointing at him, their voices hushed in fervent, mocking murmurs.
"No... something isn't right. What are they whispering about?" Ye Fan's eyes narrowed. Moving swiftly, he cornered a lone outer disciple against a wall, his gaze turning icy. "What is everyone saying about me?" he demanded coldly.
As the trembling disciple spilled the rumors, Ye Fan's expression darkened like a thundercloud. Releasing the boy without another word, he turned on his heel and headed straight for the Mission Hall. He needed to accept a task and leave the sect immediately.
"The story of my utter humiliation, and the secret of digging out my brother's Dao bone... it's spread throughout the entire sect!" Ye Fan gritted his teeth, his fists clenched so tight his knuckles turned white as he emerged from the Mission Hall. "Who? Who could have done this? I don't even have any other enemies here..."
Then, realization struck him like a physical blow.
"No. I just had a clash with Su Changhe. He's already trying to ruin me!"
"Teacher, do you see this? Su Changhe is nothing but a cheap, despicable villain!" Ye Fan transmitted his furious thoughts into the ancient black ring on his finger. "How can such a petty bastard be named the Holy Son? How can he possibly share the same master as me?"
Without waiting for a reply, he channeled his qi and bounded down the mountain, rushing toward his mission location outside the sect boundaries.
After two grueling days of travel, Ye Fan finally arrived at his destination. Exhausted, he sat down beneath a towering tree to catch his breath.
Suddenly, the rustling of leaves betrayed a deadly trap. Ten hostile figures stepped out from the surrounding shadows, cutting off every route of escape.
Ye Fan swept his gaze over the group, his blood running cold. "Ten people... five at the second level of Qi Refining, three at the peak of Qi Refining, and two at the fourth level of the Golden Core realm."
He slowly rose to his feet, summoning his spiritual energy. "And they are all here for me."
The clash was brutal and instantly one-sided. Despite his fierce resistance, the sheer gap in cultivation realms was an insurmountable chasm. The two Golden Core experts moved like phantoms, their devastating strikes landing with the force of collapsing mountains.
Ye Fan was beaten mercilessly. Blood sprayed from his mouth as a palm strike sent him crashing into the earth, fracturing his ribs and tearing his robes to bloody shreds. Gasping for air, his vision blurred as the assassins closed in to deliver the finishing blow.
Cornered and teetering on the edge of death, a feral madness flashed in Ye Fan's eyes.
"If I die, I'm taking you all with me!"
Ignoring the tearing agony in his meridians, he forcefully reversed his qi and activated a forbidden martial art. His skin flushed a violent, glowing crimson, and his aura erupted with chaotic, destructive energy. Bursting from the crater with unnatural, ghost-like speed, Ye Fan became a god of slaughter. His rusty iron sword swept out in a terrifying arc of blood-red light. In a matter of seconds, seven of the Qi Refining cultivators were violently decapitated, their headless bodies collapsing into the dirt before they even realized they were dead.
But the forbidden skill took a massive toll, and his momentum faltered. Seeing an opening, the remaining Golden Core cultivator and the final Qi Refining expert lunged forward to execute him.
Left with absolutely no choice, Ye Fan gritted his teeth and did the unthinkable—he burned a drop of his primordial bloodline essence.
A searing, tyrannical heat exploded from his very soul. His spiritual pressure skyrocketed, temporarily defying the laws of cultivation and bridging the massive gap in realms. With a heaven-shattering roar, he thrust his sword forward. The blazing blade pierced instantly through the final Qi Refining cultivator, turning him to ash, before continuing its deadly trajectory straight through the dantian of the first Golden Core expert. The man's eyes widened in absolute disbelief as his core shattered and his life force was extinguished in an instant.
The clearing fell deathly silent, save for the crackle of residual energy and Ye Fan's heavy, ragged breathing.
Standing amidst a sea of corpses and drenched in gore, Ye Fan looked like a demon crawling out of the abyss. He dragged his feet slowly toward the final enemy—the scarred leader of the group. The remaining Golden Core cultivator was slumped against a shattered tree, his meridians destroyed and his body half-dead from the explosive shockwave of Ye Fan's bloodline strike.
Ye Fan planted his dripping sword into the earth inches from the man's throat. Staring down with eyes utterly devoid of warmth, he asked coldly, "Did Su Changhe send you here?"
The scarred man trembled violently, his earlier arrogance completely shattered by sheer, unadulterated terror.
"No... no..." he gasped, coughing up a mouthful of dark blood. "We... we are from..."
..to be continued....