2026-05-27 01:37:35The lead enforcer strode forward and grabbed Lin Feng by his collar, dragging him away from the straw bedding without a single word of explanation.
"Release me! My daughter is dying!" Lin Feng screamed, his fingers clawing desperately at the dirt floor as the guards pinned his arms behind his back. The enforcers ignored his cries, lifting his crippled body and throwing him face-first into the freezing mud of the outer courtyard.
Lin Tian stood waiting in the torrential rain, triumphantly holding a glowing, pristine orb that pulsed with an intense spiritual energy. "Father! Look what I found hidden right near the cripple's woodshed!" Lin Tian shouted toward the main pavilion, his face twisted in a malicious grin. "The Nine-Heaven Yin Core! The trash actually dared to steal the clan's ultimate heirloom!"
"You worthless thief!" Patriarch Lin bellowed, storming down the pavilion steps as his terrifying cultivation aura flared so violently it shattered the nearby stone lanterns. "That core is our clan’s entire foundation! I allowed you into this family out of pity, and you steal our future?" The old man's eyes burned with an absolute, unbridled rage.
"I didn't take it! I've never even seen that core in my life!" Lin Feng shouted back, struggling wildly against the guards who were pinning him into the freezing slush. His knuckles turned white as he tried to break free, his chest heaving with deep panic. He could see his daughter's life being stripped away if they dragged him away now.
"Save your breath, trash," Lin Tian laughed, leaning down to plant his heavy, wet boot right on Lin Feng's cheek, grinding his face into the gravel. "I personally placed it near your shed while you were busy begging upstairs," the young master whispered so only Lin Feng could hear. "My sister is finally free from a burden like you, and Father will happily approve your death now."
Lin Feng’s eyes turned entirely blood-red as he thrashed against his restraints, a primitive fury exploding within his veins. "You framed me! You're going to kill my daughter!" he shrieked, his voice tearing from the raw emotion. Above them, Lin Muyao stepped out onto the balcony, watching the entire spectacle with a completely indifferent, cold expression.
"Muyao! Tell them!" Lin Feng pleaded, looking up at his wife through the pouring rain. "You know I never went near the secret treasury! You know I've been in that shed all day!" She merely adjusted her white fox furs and looked away into the distance, completely ignoring his desperate cries as if he were already a corpse.
From the shattered doorway of the woodshed, a tiny, shivering figure crawled out into the freezing slush, coughing violently. "Daddy! Don't hurt my Daddy!" Nina cried out, her small hands scraping against the rough gravel as she tried to drag her weak body forward. She coughed up a thick splatter of black fluid, her face entirely pale.
"Grandpa! Please don't kill Daddy!" Nina begged, kneeling and bowing her tiny head toward Patriarch Lin in the freezing rain. "Take me instead! Punch me, kick me, just let my Daddy stay! I'll be good, I won't ask for medicine anymore!" The six-year-old screamed through her tears, her small body shaking from the bitter cold.
Lin Tian scoffed in disgust, delivering a brutal backhand slap that sent the small, sick girl flying across the mud. "Keep your filthy peasant mouth shut, bastard brat!" Lin Tian roared, raising his foot to stomp on her tiny chest.
"No! Touch her again and I'll tear your soul apart!" Lin Feng shrieked, his voice breaking from pure agony.
He fought with a strength that shouldn't belong to a cripple, nearly snapping the wrists of the two enforcers holding him down.
Nina weakly pushed herself up from the puddle, her face bruised and bleeding, yet her eyes remained fixed on her father. "Please... let me go with him," she whispered, crawling back toward the guards. "Don't leave Nina alone here."
"Drag the thief to the Ashen Pits!" Patriarch Lin ordered, completely unmoved by the child's desperate wailing. "Throw him into the execution canyon and let the sulfur dissolve his existence entirely." They dragged Lin Feng away across the sharp stones, his eyes locked onto the small, crying figure of his daughter until she was lost in the rain.
The journey to the Ashen Pits was a blur of excruciating physical pain and overwhelming, suffocating despair for Lin Feng. He was brought to the edge of the legendary, terrifying chasm where boiling sulfur currents roared below like a living beast. The wind inside the canyon carried razor-sharp iron storms, a localized hell that had swallowed hundreds of failed cultivators before him.
He stood at the slippery precipice, his body shivering violently from the bitter cold and the sheer weight of the frost-iron chains. The freezing metal bit into his raw wrists, but he could barely feel it over the absolute horror paralyzing his chest. He was completely terrified, his soul fractured by the nightmare of leaving his sick daughter alone with those monsters.
Why did the Patriarch force Muyao to marry me three years ago if they hated me this much? Lin Feng thought, his mind spinning in chaotic, broken loops. Why are they so absolutely bent on separating me from my only remaining family? He was completely powerless against their overwhelming cultivation, a fragile mortal standing before gods who viewed him as trash.
Patriarch Lin stepped up to the edge, looking down at Lin Feng like an annoying, insignificant insect. "An ungrateful thief deserves the deepest, most agonizing burial our clan can offer," the Patriarch stated with absolute finality. "Push him over," Lin Tian commanded, a maniacal, joyous grin spreading across his aristocratic face as the enforcers stepped forward.
The enforcers violently shoved Lin Feng backward, sending him plummeting directly into the dark, jagged depths of the canyon.
"Nina!" Lin Feng screamed into the roaring wind, his voice swallowed by the sheer force of the sulfur gale. As he plummeted, his mind couldn't process a single possible path out of this terrifying nightmare.
He only felt the crushing, unbearable weight of leaving his helpless, abused daughter entirely at the mercy of the Lin clan. His soul screamed out in raw, unadulterated resentment against the unfairness of the heavens and the cruelty of men. The jagged iron storms instantly tore into his flesh, shredding his clothes and slicing deep into his limbs.
The scalding sulfur currents boiled his skin, pushing his consciousness to the absolute brink. Yet, as flesh tore from bone, the agonizing pain suddenly went numb, replaced by a strange, vacuum-like silence. The roaring wind faded entirely, and the jagged iron shards hovering around him slowed to a complete, unnatural standstill in mid-air.
Through the swirling gray ash, a soft, ethereal silver light manifested in front of his failing vision. The light coalesced into the gentle silhouette of a woman clad in a blood-stained ritual robe. Lin Feng’s heart gave a violent thud as he recognized the beautiful, compassionate face of his deceased first wife, Xue'er.
"Xue'er..." Lin Feng sobbed internally, a wave of profound, agonizing emotion crashing through his shattered soul. "Is it really you? I... I missed you so much. The pain has been so unbearable, Xue'er. I'm coming to join you now. I can finally rest with you."
Xue'er floated closer, her phantom hands gently cradling his burning, blistered face with a warmth that completely neutralized the stinging sulfur. Tears of pure spiritual light rolled down her pale cheeks as she looked into his broken eyes with deep sorrow and unyielding love. "No, my love, you cannot rest yet," her voice echoed softly, vibrating with a heavy, heartbreaking weight.
"You cannot come to me while our little Nina is still up there, crying out your name in the dark," she whispered, her expression turning fiercely desperate. "Those cruel monsters have broken you, but the heavens have not forsaken our grief. They have granted you an ultimate power to rewrite this injustice, to protect our daughter, and to destroy those who slaughtered our family."
"Hold on, Lin Feng! Live, seek justice, and exact our revenge!" she cried out as her ethereal form began to fracture into brilliant silver particles. Lin Feng reached out with his shredded fingers, screaming silently as she dissolved into the dark, leaving him with a roaring, calcified willpower. As the last silver spark vanished, an ancient, colossal dark structure vibrated violently at the absolute foundation of his dying consciousness.
[Ding! Deep calcified grief and ancestral mandate detected. Activating the Forbidden Sovereign Trainer System.]
[System Protocol: Forcible Empowerment initialized. Accessing the Hall of the Fallen Transcendents.]
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141
The giant gray bird circled low through the freezing mountain mist above the high stone wall. Its massive wings beat the air with a sharp, ragged whistle that cut through the morning silence. A dark trail of blood dripped from its tail feathers, staining the pale pear blossoms below.Lin Feng moved instantly, stepping between the falling shadow and the little girl in the grass. He swept his wide wool coat forward, pulling Nina safely behind his strong, steady legs. His dark golden eyes looked up into the clouds, watching the wounded beast falter in the wind."Take Granny Wan inside the house right now, Uncle Lu," Lin Feng ordered in a low voice. The old servant did not hesitate for a second, grabbing the midwife's trembling elbow with care. Together, the two elders hurried up the wooden porch steps and pulled the heavy screen shut.The great bird gave another long, painful shriek that echoed off the cold granite cliffs. It tilted sideways in the freezing air, its heavy head drooping a
140
The golden light inside the little glass bottle pulsed like a warm, tiny heart. Lin Feng looked down at the soft glow, resting his steady hand on his daughter's shoulder. Beneath the blooming pear tree, the subterranean chime of the valley grew louder with every breath. But just as peace settled over the quiet garden, Granny Wan let out a sharp cry of pure terror."Look at the third seed!" the old midwife screamed, her shaking finger pointing straight at the glass. "Oh heaven, look what is happening to Lian'er's seed!" Lin Feng dropped to one knee instantly, his dark golden eyes turning as sharp as winter iron. Inside the bottle, two of the seeds burned with bright gold fire, but the last one was turning cold.A thin, ugly gray crack was spreading across the smooth shell of the third seed. The warm golden light was leaking out of the tiny wound like melted spring snow. The shell shivered in the dark glass, losing its color and turning the dull gray of lead. Granny Wan fell to her knee
139
The heavy black box sat quietly on the damp grass between their boots. Its dark surface caught the morning light, showing a carved white lotus ringed by seven stars. Lin Feng stared down at the mark, his chest growing cold as old memories rushed back. Beside his knee, Nina held the tiny red baby shoes tightly against her warm quilted coat."Daddy," Nina whispered softly, looking up at him with wide, tearful eyes. "Is my Mama hiding inside this dark wooden box?" Lin Feng felt an ache in his throat that hurt worse than any battlefield wound. He knelt in the dirt, wrapped his strong arms around her, and pulled her close."No, my little bird," Lin Feng whispered, his voice trembling with deep love. "Your Mama is not inside, but she left a special gift for us before she went to sleep." Granny Wan wiped her wet cheeks with the rough sleeve of her patched blue coat. The old midwife sat on the grass, her tired legs shaking after the long mountain road."Lian'er never wanted you to know the tr
138
The black stone sang softly through the night.Its deep music made the valley feel safe. Everyone slept well, but Lin Feng woke up before the sun came out.He sat quietly on the edge of Nina's small wooden bed.The room was warm and smelled like dried pears. Nina was curled up under her thick quilt, holding her ash rattle tight against her chest.Suddenly, her small eyelids fluttered. A tiny tear ran down her pink cheek."Mama..." Nina whispered in her sleep. "Where did you go?"Lin Feng felt a sharp pain in his chest. It hurt more than any wound he had ever suffered.He reached out his large, rough hand. He gently wiped the wet tear from her soft cheek.He had beaten the kings of the sky. He had broken all their bad rules. But he could never bring back the mother she never saw.The door slid open with a tiny creak.Lanying walked into the room, carrying a bowl of hot water and a clean white cloth.She stopped beside the bed. Her silver eyes looked at the little girl, then turned to L
137
Grandmother Yan-Yu sat upon a three-legged stool by the ditch, her birch staff resting between her knees. She spat into the wet gravel with ancient, grandmotherly disgust."A monument is an arrogance," the old herbalist rasped, her milky eyes turned toward the sky. "Whether you carve a king's name or a beggar's name, the stone stands there like an old tooth sticking out of the dirt, pretending that human beings are more important than the trees. Drag the cursed thing into the deep swamp! Let the water-moss cover it; let the eels make their nests in the cracks; let the earth swallow what the Archons stole from its belly!"The four elders argued back and forth, their voices rising and falling like the wind through a pine canyon, each proposal carrying a fragment of truth, each solution carrying the seed of a future failure.Lin Feng did not speak.He sat upon an overturned cedar crate three paces from the great black stone, Nina resting quietly in his lap. The child had her arms wra
136
The crossroads of the valley was crowded before the sun had reached the height of a man’s head.Four hundred villagers, weavers, and orphans from the Warm Basin stood along the stone banks of the main canal, their weeding tools and pruning knives held loosely at their sides. They did not shout; they did not raise alarms. They stood in the eerie, breathless silence of people witnessing an apparition from an age that had ceased to exist.Coming down the switchback road from the northern granite bluffs was an immense timber sledge.It was constructed of eight parallel trunks of mountain oak, each three feet thick, lashed together with iron-banded cables of braided rawhide that were kept slick with melted beef tallow.Hauling the sledge were twelve pairs of black mountain yaks, their shaggy winter coats matted with red road clay, their breath rising from their nostrils in great, rhythmic fountains of steam that dissolved into the spring sun. Between the teams walked thirty men in coats of
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