The Wang Family Was Finished

A night of madness; the rain thinned, the flowers reddened.

At dawn, Wang Yuyan drifted away alone.

Zhao Sheng had never imagined that beneath Wang Yuyan's reputation for cool rationality lay a blazing fire.

And she had been so brave!

As a man, even he felt ashamed of his own inferiority!

The eighth day of the ninth month was an auspicious day, fit for weddings and funerals alike. Fragrant Swallow Valley was draped in red and festooned with color, brimming with celebration.

Among the guests and clansmen, Zhao Sheng wore a dazed, forlorn expression as he watched Wang Yuyan marry a shifty-eyed man.

That night, Wang Yuqi, already the mother of three children, suddenly flew into a rage for no reason at all. Zhao Sheng had to say countless sweet words before he finally calmed her down.

Time was like fine sand held in one's hand: the tighter one gripped it, the faster it slipped away.

As Zhao Sheng toiled tirelessly toward the goals of this life, fifteen years passed in the blink of an eye.

That day, wave after wave of pained cries came from a room in the rear residence of Zhao Family Fortress.

In the courtyard outside, Zhao Sheng paced back and forth without stopping. His face was full of anxiety as he kept peering toward the delivery room.

Just then, a tall, long-legged, handsome youth could not help complaining, "Father, could you stop pacing? You're making my head spin."

As soon as he spoke, a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girl standing beside him chimed in, "Exactly! Father, stop worrying. Mother has already given birth to seven of us. There's absolutely no way she'll be in danger."

Zhao Sheng turned to look at his eldest son, Zhao Chenggong, and eldest daughter, Zhao Chengfeng, his expression grave. "You don't understand!"

Zhao Chengfeng was bold and deliberately teased him, "Father, aside from Little Seven, which of the six of us doesn't know what you're thinking? You just want a younger brother with spiritual roots, don't you?"

"Feng'er, how can you speak to Father like that? Apologize at once!" Zhao Chenggong immediately scolded his sister.

Having suddenly been rebuked by her elder brother, Zhao Chengfeng pouted with an indignant look.

Zhao Sheng waved a hand, signaling that it was fine.

Big Feng was not wrong at all. He truly wanted to have a son with spiritual roots.

From the day they married, he had never concealed this from his wife, Wang Yuqi.

Thus, over the years, Wang Yuqi had borne him seven children in succession. Although after every birth, she would cry that she would never have another child.

Yet within less than two years, she would be pregnant again.

Zhao Sheng was deeply grateful for all his wife had given over the years. Perhaps his purpose in marrying her had been extremely utilitarian at first, but after more than a decade together, his feelings for her had grown deeper by the day, gradually changing those calculating thoughts.

Two more quarters of an hour passed when a loud baby's cry suddenly rang out from the delivery room. At that moment, Zhao Sheng's hanging heart finally settled.

The eighth had finally been born!

After a long while, just as Zhao Sheng could no longer resist rushing into the delivery room, a slender figure emerged at last, carrying a swaddled infant.

"Auntie, let me see!" The moment Zhao Chengfeng saw who it was, she happily ran over and reached for the bundle.

Wang Yuyan turned sideways to dodge Big Feng's little hand and chided, "Your father hasn't even had a look yet. When would it be your turn, you little brat?"

So many years had passed, yet Wang Yuyan remained young. Her appearance was exactly the same as it had been over a decade ago, as though time had stopped upon her.

Looking at the beautiful woman approaching him, Zhao Sheng always felt somewhat ill at ease.

Ever since the shifty-eyed man had died in an accident eight years ago, Wang Yuyan had come looking for him once more.

From that day on, the two of them often carried on their affair in secret.

Amid the thrill, Zhao Sheng inevitably felt somewhat guilty toward his wife.

Wang Yuyan stuffed the swaddled infant into the man's arms and said with an exceedingly complicated expression, "Here, look at your son. Congratulations on getting your wish!"

At those words, Zhao Sheng's entire body jolted violently. His hands shook, and he nearly failed to catch the child.

"You mean..."

"Mhm. I've already tested him. He has Four Spiritual Roots." Wang Yuyan nodded in confirmation.

Good, good, wonderful!

At that moment, Zhao Sheng was incomparably excited. After striving for so many years, Heaven had finally opened its eyes.

"Haha, the eighth shall be called Zhao Chengle!" he declared with booming laughter.

That very night, Zhao Family Fortress was suddenly sealed off under tight security. Immediately afterward, carrier pigeons bearing tremendous good news flew in every direction.

Before long, people from the Wang Family of Fragrant Swallow Valley arrived, while important Zhao Family members away from Zhao Family Fortress hurried back without pause.

There was no questioning what the birth of the eighth child meant to the Zhao Family. Yet this time, the Zhao Family did not hold a grand celebration. Instead, they kept things exceptionally low-key.

Apart from certain informed people in the Zhao Family and Wang Family, no outsiders knew that the Nanyang Zhao Family had finally produced a child with spiritual roots.

Time flowed on, and a year later—

The summer heat blazed, cicadas chirped and frogs croaked. In a reception room within Zhao Family Fortress, Zhao Sheng sat beside a table, slowly polishing an ancient bronze sword three inches long.

This was a trophy he had only just acquired: a First-Rank Mid-Grade Flying Sword.

That year, Zhao Sheng's cultivation had reached the Great Perfection of Innate. His true Combat Strength far surpassed his realm, and his lightness skill in particular had reached an unimaginable level.

Name: Zhao Zhiqin (Zhao Sheng)

Lifespan: 38/120

Realm: Great Perfection of Innate

Physique: Hundred-Year Body (Mortal Grade), Light as a Swallow (Mortal Grade)

Talent: Dynamic Vision (Mortal Grade)

Skills: Floating Light Swordplay (Unprecedented), Azure Sea Tide Rising Art (Peak Mastery), Cloud Dragon Nine Transformations (Unprecedented), Wind Chasing Archery (Peak Mastery), Iron Body Tempering (Great Completion)

Looking at the data on the pages of the Hundred Lifetimes Book, Zhao Sheng wore a very pleased expression.

Not because of his cultivation, but because he had left the Zhao Family descendants an extraordinary, peerless lightness skill.

The Cloud Dragon Nine Transformations had been derived from the Cloud Dragon Three Transformations. Zhao Sheng had spent eight years and poured immense effort into deducing it.

Once cultivated to Great Completion, one only needed to draw a full breath of true qi to step through the air nine times in succession. Each step covered ten zhang, and clouds rose beneath every stride.

To test this peerless lightness skill, Zhao Sheng had traversed all seven provinces of the Liang Kingdom over half a year, visiting twelve major martial sects and challenging more than twenty Innate Grandmasters in succession. Yet not one of them had been able to touch even his clothes.

Two days ago, he had personally ambushed and killed an immortal cultivator at Qi Refining Level Four.

Suddenly—

Bang!

The reception room doors were slammed open from outside. Interrupted, Zhao Sheng looked toward the entrance with displeasure, only to see his wife, Wang Yuqi, rush in with tears streaking her face and panic written across her features.

"Husband, something terrible has happened! Our Wang Family—wah!"

Wang Yuqi crashed into Zhao Sheng's arms. After uttering just one sentence, she burst into loud sobs.

Zhao Sheng's expression changed at once. He hurriedly comforted his wife as he asked, "Don't panic. What exactly happened? What could make Qi Mei so grief-stricken? Tell your husband quickly. I'm here; everything will be handled."

"Wuwu!"

Wang Yuqi was sobbing so hard she could not speak. Her right hand trembled as she passed the Thousand Mile Talisman clenched in her palm to her husband.

Zhao Sheng took it and opened it. His expression grew uglier and uglier, until his face was livid.

"How is that possible?!"

At that moment, he was both shocked and enraged.

The Wang Family was finished!