Before the General's Mansion, that dull, thunderous boom was like an invisible sledgehammer smashing viciously into the hearts of every soldier and citizen of Chentang Pass.
He had knelt.
Li Jing, the commander of Chentang Pass and a disciple under the Chan Sect Sage, had actually fallen stiffly to his knees in full view of everyone.
The dozens of murderous household guards were all dumbfounded. Each stood frozen in place as though immobilized by a spell, barely able to grip the weapons in their hands.
Their understanding of the world was utterly overturned in that instant, then ground into dust.
Their own majestic general, who had always held himself above everyone else, had actually knelt before a young man?
That was more terrifying to them than the sky collapsing!
The surrounding citizens were even more frightened out of their wits. They stood silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to breathe, their gazes toward Qin Feng filled with primal fear and reverence.
Yet Qin Feng, the instigator of it all, showed not the slightest change in expression.
As though Li Jing kneeling before him was only natural and right.
His gaze remained indifferent, seeming to pierce through the many walls of the mansion and fall upon the lower abdomen of a mortal woman. The amused curve at his lips did not change in the slightest.
Qin Feng slowly spoke, his voice still calm, yet carrying the majesty of judgment.
"After your son is born, he will forge a deadly enmity with the Dragon Clan of the East Sea."
Those words were like a red-hot branding iron, searing Li Jing's Primordial Spirit.
Li Jing's entire body shuddered violently. He abruptly raised his head, his paper-white face filled with boundless horror and... despair.
Deadly enmity?
The Dragon Clan of the East Sea?
How could he... know such terrifying heavenly secrets concerning future fate and involving an ancient great clan of the primordial world?
This could no longer be described as merely possessing profound divine abilities.
This was Words Manifested into Law, the supreme authority to perceive destiny!
Li Jing's heart sank completely into a bottomless abyss.
Yet Qin Feng's cold, merciless voice gave him no chance to catch his breath and continued to ring beside his ears.
"According to the Heavenly Mandate, you will personally force him to his death in order to quell the Dragon Clan's wrath."
Boom!
It was as though a real sun had crashed into Li Jing's mind, instantly turning it into a blazing blank.
Personally... force... his own son to die?
Those words became the most vicious curse in the world, the sharpest blade, utterly piercing his already wavering Dao Heart and grinding it to pieces.
No!
Impossible!
Even a vicious tiger would not devour its cubs. How could I, Li Jing, do something more beastly than a beast?
Li Jing roared and howled madly within his heart, wanting to refute him, wanting to curse him.
But when he saw Qin Feng's indifferent eyes, which seemed to contain the birth and destruction of the entire cosmos, all resistance and disbelief instantly turned into the coldest despair.
He knew.
What Qin Feng had said was true.
That was the tragic fate Heaven had long written for him and his unborn child, one that could not be changed...
An indescribable grief and helplessness instantly swallowed him.
It was as though all spirit had been drained from Li Jing. He collapsed on his knees, his eyes vacant, like a walking corpse.
Just as Li Jing sank completely into despair and his heart turned to ashes, Qin Feng's incomparably domineering voice resounded across the entire scene once more.
"However, I have taken a liking to this child."
That casual remark caused a glimmer of light to suddenly erupt in Li Jing's dead eyes.
He abruptly raised his head and stared fixedly at Qin Feng, like a drowning man who had seen a lifeline hanging down from the Ninth Heaven.
Under the horrified gazes of Li Jing and everyone around them, Qin Feng's lips curved slightly upward, forming an arrogant smile that looked down upon the world.
"From this day onward, he is my, Qin Feng's, disciple."
"If the Dragon Clan dares touch him, I will slaughter the Four Seas."
"If the Chan Sect dares touch him, I will trample Kunlun flat."
"If Heaven dares touch him, I will defy Heaven itself!"
Four sentences in a row, each more arrogant than the last! Each more domineering than the last!
The voice was not loud, yet it was like the Great Dao Canon, like an edict from a divine king of myriad worlds. Every word contained a terrifying will capable of overturning heaven and earth and recreating the cosmos.
Slaughter the Four Seas!
Trample Kunlun flat!
Defy Heaven itself!
Every mortal present had completely short-circuited.
They could not comprehend the meaning behind those words at all. They only felt their souls trembling madly before that terrifying declaration, as if they could be crushed into ash by that supreme domineering aura at any moment.
Li Jing, meanwhile, was struck dumb as though by lightning.
He stared blankly at Qin Feng, his eyes filled with extreme shock and disbelief.
That was the Dragon Clan! An ancient great clan that ruled the Four Seas, with unfathomable foundations!
That was Kunlun! The Chan Sect Sage's sacred ground, the supreme holy land in the hearts of all Chan Sect disciples!
That was Heaven! The supreme existence that governed the workings of the primordial world and regarded even Sages as chess pieces!
And this man before him actually declared that he would make enemies of these three colossal powers for the sake of Li Jing's unborn son?
This... what arrogance! What dominance!
And what... responsibility and protection!
Li Jing's heart convulsed wildly at that moment, half in fear and half in... burning hope!
It was as though he saw a brand-new path before him, one filled with endless thorns and bloodshed, yet leading toward supreme radiance.
Standing behind Qin Feng, Shi Ji's beautiful phoenix eyes were already shining with brilliance. She was so captivated that she nearly melted into a pool of spring water.
This was her man!
He regarded Heaven as nothing and Sages as ants!
For a single promise, he dared make an enemy of the entire world!
At that moment, the feelings in her heart had long surpassed affection and transformed into the most devout, fervent faith!
Just as Li Jing was locked in a fierce internal struggle, his heart repeatedly torn between fear and hope until he was nearly driven mad, a woman's voice filled with tears, urgency, and expectation came from within the mansion.
"General!"
Everyone followed the sound and saw a haggard woman whose elegance could still not be concealed, supported by two maidservants as she hurried out of the residence.
She carried an exaggeratedly large belly, walking unsteadily, her face filled with worry and unease.
She was none other than Li Jing's wife, Lady Yin.
The moment Lady Yin stepped outside, she saw her husband kneeling on the ground, along with the tense, eerie, deathly silent scene. Her face instantly turned pale.
But when she heard Qin Feng's final, incomparably domineering declaration, she froze completely.
"His life is under my protection!"
Those five short words were like a dawn ray piercing endless darkness, instantly illuminating Lady Yin's inner world, which had been shrouded in worry and fear for over three years.
As a mother, she did not understand the Chan Sect or Heaven.
But she understood this.
This immortal-like figure before her wanted to save her child!
He wanted to preserve her child's life!
That was enough!
There was no hesitation, no weighing of gains and losses.
Under everyone's astonished gazes, Lady Yin actually shoved aside the maidservants beside her, took several quick steps forward, then, despite her heavy body, fell to her knees before Qin Feng with a thud.
Her forehead struck the cold bluestone slab heavily, producing a dull sound.
"Please show mercy, Senior, and save my child's life!"
Lady Yin raised her head. Tears already streamed down her beautiful face, and her voice was hoarse, filled with the humblest plea.
"My husband and I are willing to serve Senior as oxen and horses, to attend you for all eternity without complaint!"
A mother's choice was always the purest and most direct.
Lady Yin's kneel and those words became the final straw that broke the dam named "pride" and "reason" in Li Jing's heart.
That was right. Compared to his child's life, what did the Chan Sect's dignity or a Sage's majesty matter?
What was more, the other party was a terrifying existence who even dared defy Heaven!
Other than clinging tightly to this impossibly thick thigh, did he have any other choice?
The answer was obvious.
All struggle and hesitation in Li Jing's eyes faded away at that moment, replaced by resolve and determination.
He hesitated no longer. Toward Qin Feng, he deeply and heavily lowered his head to the ground.
"Disciple Li Jing greets Master!"
"I entrust my son Nezha to Master's care! I beg Master to save his life!"
This bow was not merely an act of taking a master.
It was also the complete "sale" of his own life and fortune, the future of all Chentang Pass, and even his unborn son, to the man before him.
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