2026-05-27 01:40:39The shadow of the Lin clan's inner archive building stretched like a dark claw across the stone pavement. Lin Feng slipped through the narrow wooden window frame, his broken staff clasped tightly in his pale, trembling hand.
His heart pounded violently against his ribs, driven not by fear for his own life, but by desperation. He needed to find where they were holding Nina, to see if his little girl was still breathing.
If he could just find her secret cell and rescue her tonight, he would finally be free to tear this entire estate to the ground. He pressed his back against a cold wooden shelf, holding his breath as footsteps passed outside.
Suddenly, a freezing, razor-sharp edge made of pure, condensed starlight was pressed directly against his throat. The temperature in the dark aisle plummeted instantly, frost creeping over his tattered collar.
"Do not move a single muscle, thief," a cold, pristine voice whispered directly into his ear. Lin Feng turned his eyes slightly, meeting the gaze of a woman wearing a high-tier veil.
It was Lanying, the exiled Holy Saintess of the Zenith Empire, her silver robes shimmering faintly in the darkness. Her high-tier spiritual pupils flashed with a sudden, intense light as she looked deep into his body.
The Saintess gasped softly, her starlight blade trembling against his skin as she retreated a frantic step in shock. "You... your meridians! You possess the coiled power of the Primordial Dragon Core!"
"Who are you?" Lin Feng hissed, his voice sounding like a freezing wind from the deepest underworld as he gripped his staff. "Speak quietly, or I will collapse this entire floor onto your head."
"You're the son-in-law," Lanying whispered, her beautiful eyes wide with absolute, unyielding disbelief. "You're Lin Feng. The entire city thinks you were dissolved into liquid sludge inside the Ashen Pits five days ago."
"What I am is none of your business," Lin Feng muttered, turning his back to look for the maps. "Leave this place before I decide to test my core on your starlight magic."
"I am not your enemy, Lin Feng," Lanying said hurriedly, stepping into his path to block him. "I have been tracking the dark energy anomaly from the warehouse explosion, and it led me straight to you."
"I am looking into the regional elites who secretly funded the corrupt priesthood that stole my imperial throne," she explained. "And my investigation led me to a world-shattering truth about your past."
Lin Feng stopped dead in his tracks, his entire body freezing as a sudden, terrible premonition gripped his soul. "My past? What do you know about my past, Saintess?"
"Six years ago, during the Divine Blessing Ceremony," Lanying began, her voice turning deeply solemn and filled with pity. "The unique, magical poison that slaughtered your first wife, your parents, and your entire bloodline..."
"Do not speak of that night!" Lin Feng growled, his knuckles turning pure white as his fingernails cut into his palms. The memory of the blood-slicked ceremonial hall flashed before his eyes like a burning nightmare.
"You need to hear this, Lin Feng!" Lanying insisted, grabbing his tattered sleeve with desperate urgency. "The poison used that night was Ashen Ghost-Rot. It is a forbidden substance exclusively refined by Patriarch Lin!"
The words struck Lin Feng's mind like a physical blow, making his vision blur as his heart stopped beating. "What did you say? Patriarch Lin? The leader of this clan?"
"Yes!" Lanying cried out softly, tears of sympathy welling in her eyes. "Patriarch Lin orchestrated the total slaughter of your original family because your pure bloodline was required to initiate his forbidden immortality rituals!"
"He then played the role of a savior, forcing Muyao to marry you," she revealed, her voice shaking with deep resentment. "It was a twisted plot to keep the sole surviving child, Nina, close by until her rare Aether-Heart physique matured for harvest!"
"Her heart, which is the absolute core ingredient for his immortality potion, will be fully ripe for use at the Grand Ascension Ceremony," Lanying added urgently, her grip on his arm tightening. "And that ceremony is planned to take place in just two days."
Hearing this, Lin Feng finally understood the sudden, unnatural sickness that had plagued his daughter since the day he entered this cursed family. It was never a natural disease; her very life-force and blood essence were being systematically, cruelly drained by the man he called father-in-law.
The absolute, crushing truth shattered the final boundaries of Lin Feng's suppressed, calcified psychological limits. "Patriarch Lin..." he choked out, a raw, terrifying sound tearing from the deepest depths of his fractured soul.
A primitive, golden-dark fury exploded from his chest as he furiously raised his two hands to the heaven, strong magic hovering wildly around his palms. A terrifying dark tornado instantly manifested above the archive, tearing through the sky and causing immediate panic.
The massive, violent vortex flanged roofing tiles into the air, throwing several patrolling guards off their feet and making the entire estate shake. Lin Feng’s eyes turned entirely blood-red, his skin splitting as his god-like power threatened to erase the city.
"I will kill them all!" Lin Feng shrieked, his voice vibrating with a madness that threatened to rip the world apart. "I will turn this entire empire into a mountain of ash! Xue'er... my family... they murdered them!"
Before his power could completely alert the entire continent, Lanying lunged forward and threw her arms around him, hugging his burning, trembling body tight. A subtle, electric spark of romantic warmth rippled between them as she pressed her chest against his.
"Lin Feng, stop! Calm down, please!" Lanying screamed through the roaring wind of his aura, tears streaming down her face as her heart beat frantically against his. "If you unleash everything now, Patriarch Lin will panic and use Nina as a shield!"
"If you sacrifice your vengeful soul to bring down the heavens right now, your little daughter will not survive!" she cried out, her embrace tightening with genuine, deep emotion. "The strongest figures will shield themselves using others while she dies!"
The mention of Nina’s name acted like a bucket of freezing water, shocking his fractured mind back into reality. The terrifying dark tornado slowly receded, the black clouds in the sky outside thinning back into the winter night.
Lin Feng fell to his knees on the broken wood, gasping for air as a single tear of pure blood rolled down his pale cheek. "My family... they died because of a lie. And I brought my daughter straight into the wolf's den."
Lanying knelt beside him, her gentle hands resting on his trembling, tension-filled shoulders as she looked into his eyes. "We can make them pay, Lin Feng. But we must be smart. We must use their own greed against them."
"I offer you an ironclad alliance," the Saintess stated fiercely, her own eyes burning with a desire for justice. "I will use my high-tier medical contacts to secretly smuggle life-sustaining pills to Nina to keep her stable."
"And in return, you will act as my invisible blade," she proposed, her voice turning ice-cold. "You will help me purge the corrupt priesthood backing Patriarch Lin from the capital, stripping away his political immunity."
Lin Feng slowly looked up, his blood-red eyes fading back into a freezing, bottomless black void of absolute, calculation-driven patience. "Keep my daughter alive, Lanying. That is all I ask of you."
"And the Lin clan?" Lanying asked softly, watching him stand up and lean back on his weathered wooden staff.
"I will play the cripple a little longer," Lin Feng whispered, a dark, terrifying smile playing on his pale lips. "But when the Grand Ascension Ceremony arrives, I will ensure their path to immortality becomes their eternal execution ground."
Suddenly, the heavy footsteps of a major guard patrol echoed from the ground floor, their torches illuminating the broken stairs below. They had magically traced the sudden, intense source of the tornado directly to this exact point, their weapons drawn.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
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
You may also like
The Alchemist of the Heavens
Oleanderr016.5K viewsPaths of Extinction
TheCrow36.2K viewsSon Of The Universe
Evanscapenovel171.6K viewsDemons Battle
Princez18.7K viewsRejected By The Sect, Claimed By The Immortal Jade
Favour 174 viewsUnHonor
Erfan_Sh170 viewsThe Shattered Vortex
Emmanuel 238 viewsThe Demon Lord's Favorite Farmer
Deloonys322 views