"It wasn't like that, Chu Tian. Listen to my explanation."
Liu Yun's face was deathly pale. Terrified beyond measure, she lay limp atop the mountain peak, shouting weakly at Chu Tian's retreating back.
She truly could not understand how Chu Tian's attitude toward her—and even toward Ye Fan—had made a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.
Weren't the Ye Family and the Chu Family branches of the same tree, sharing breath and roots?
What was wrong with her helping Ye Fan?
Yet, being precocious, she understood even more clearly that she had likely caused a tremendous disaster—one that might even affect her family's survival.
The sect patrol disciples and experts hidden among the clouds were frightened out of their wits. This involved the Little Holy Son, the Chu Family, and the Liu Family. How could they dare interfere? They did not even dare help Liu Yun up before swiftly leaving.
Very soon, what had happened on the mountain peak spread through the sect at lightning speed.
The good-for-nothing Ye Fan had relied on having once saved Liu Yun, using that life-saving favor as leverage to force the Little Holy Son to steal the sect's Divine Medicine, the Sacred Vein Flower Fruit. The Little Holy Son had returned from the brink, and in a fit of rage, slapped his fiancée, ordering her to personally capture the good-for-nothing Ye Fan.
The Little Holy Son had even declared in person that Liu Yun was unworthy of becoming the Chu Family's future matriarch.
In less than half an hour.
With authorization from Heavenly King Emperor, Star Slave led the sect's Law Enforcement Team to forcibly storm into the Liu Family and arrest Ju'er, Liu Yun's personal maid.
The Sacred Heaven Sect was shaken.
Not long afterward, the Ye Family released word that Ye Fan had been captured and was being strictly interrogated. If his crimes were confirmed, he would absolutely not be forgiven. They told the Chu Family to rest assured.
Meanwhile, on the mountain peak, it was only after a long while that experts from the Liu Family arrived and brought the overly frightened eldest young lady, Liu Yun, home.
"Congratulations, Host. You suppressed the Daughter of Fortune, Liu Yun. Reward: 2,000 Destiny Points."
"Congratulations, Host. You suppressed the Son of Destiny, Ye Fan. Reward: 3,000 Destiny Points."
"Congratulations, Host. The Daughter of Fortune, Liu Yun, has developed intense fear toward you. Reward: 500 Destiny Points."
"Congratulations, Host. The Son of Destiny, Ye Fan, has developed immense hatred toward you. Reward: 1,000 Destiny Points."
"Congratulations, Host..."
On the way back to the sect, the system's gentle, pleasant notifications rang by Chu Tian's ear from time to time. In such a short span, the Destiny Points he had gained had already exceeded ten thousand.
Chu Tian was in no hurry to return to the sect. After descending the mountain peak, he had Star Slave rush back first to arrest Ju'er.
This was Sacred Heaven Sect territory. Who would dare make a move against him here, unless they were tired of living?
Chu Tian pondered the situation within the Sacred Heaven Sect.
The Sacred Heaven Sect had stood for a million years. The position of Sect Master had always rotated between the two Founding Families, who had maintained a delicate balance with each other.
But in this generation, after his father, Chu Tianwang, married his mother, a goddess of the Outer Realm Divine Clan, the Chu Family's power had surged. Though he was only the Vice Sect Master, his authority had already faintly surpassed that of the Ye Family.
Then there was the birth of Chu Tian himself, with his Chaos Demon God Body, and his marriage alliance with an Innate Dao Body. Their prestige had reached its peak, filling the Ye Family with an enormous sense of crisis.
In his memories, what Chu Tianwang had told him most often was that he had to keep a low profile. A cautious ship sailed for ten thousand years; he should not rush to compete everywhere or reveal his edge lightly.
Clearly, Chu Tianwang, the Vice Sect Master, had also sensed that something was amiss. To preserve unity within the sect, he had told Chu Tian to stay low-key, lest he provoke the already sensitive nerves of the Ye Family.
The original owner had been very obedient as well. Though he was the Holy Son, and his strength nearly rivaled that of a Primordial Giant Beast cub, he had never tried to stand out. He hid his brilliance, and though his reputation was great, his battle record was meager.
One had to know that powerful immortal Ancient Clans and top-tier sects sent their own prodigies out to train from a very young age, nurturing them from childhood and sharpening their fierce scales and horns.
An invincible mindset had to be cultivated from childhood. Only then could one temper an invincible will and contend for supremacy beneath the heavens.
For someone like Chu Tian, who possessed a Supreme Physique and an unparalleled background yet remained utterly obscure, it was simply bizarre.
The outside world had always speculated whether Chu Tian had become crippled, suffered some mishap in cultivation, or perhaps had already damaged the Chu Family's prestige.
Even in the original plot, when the conflict between the Chu and Ye Families had completely erupted and the Ye Family had finally bared its dagger after exhausting its map, Chu Tianwang still placed preserving sect unity above all else. He had not completely torn off all pretenses and had chosen to trust his sworn brother, Ye Tianxiong.
Otherwise, with the Chu Family's million-year foundation, even if everyone betrayed them and they fought back with all their strength, the Sacred Heaven Sect might not have split into four and broken into five, but it would at least have suffered grievous losses and fallen from its throne as a top-tier sect.
"If you retreat one step, where is the vast sea and open sky? There is only one step back, then step after step back, until you hand over the legacy left by your ancestors to the other side."
As a godfather of his generation, Chu Tian had always believed in striking one punch to open the way and spare oneself a hundred punches to follow.
Deterrence was fought for, not yielded through humility.
Only ordinary people had room to keep a low profile, because they had no capital to flaunt in the first place. Yet the Chu Family stood at such a height, with such enormous power and terrifying strength, and still wanted to quietly develop in obscurity. That was an exceedingly strange thing.
Though Chu Tianwang was invincible across the land and possessed towering strength, he clearly did not understand how brutal a struggle involving a family's survival could be.
From Ju'er alone, it was obvious that the Ye Family had definitely begun laying out its plans.
It was even highly possible that Ye Tianxiong had arranged everything from behind the scenes, personally setting this trap.
Otherwise, how could a Ye Family good-for-nothing repeatedly come into contact with the Liu Family's treasured jewel and the Chu Family's future matriarch, using her to interfere with the cultivation of the Chu Family's young master? It was simply beyond all common sense.
"System Quest issued: Villain No Longer Low-Key." The gentle female voice rang by Chu Tian's ear.
"As a super villain and the future sole Son of Destiny, you should naturally shine like the stars and awe the myriad heavens."
"This is a continuous storyline quest."
"First stage: Obtain first place in the Hengtian Ranking's Body Tempering Realm. Suppress all prodigies of the same realm, and you will receive generous system rewards."
"Even you, System, understand it. As a prodigious monster among geniuses, I should naturally awe the myriad heavens and ride the winds and clouds. Yet my old man does not understand. Blindly keeping a low profile and retreating will only make outsiders think the Chu Family has declined. They will all want to pounce on us for a bite and step on us."
Hearing the system issue the quest, Chu Tian smiled faintly. A cold glint flashed through his eyes as he raised his head to look ahead.
At the sect entrance stood a golden boulder over a hundred meters tall.
The three great golden characters, Hengtian Ranking, shone brilliantly at the top of the boulder.
The Hengtian Ranking had been jointly created by the many top-tier sects of Hengtian Continent. It had endured through endless ages, with a history even longer than that of the Sacred Heaven Sect. A stone like this stood at the entrance of every top-tier sect and great family on Hengtian Continent.
The Hengtian Ranking was further divided into the Heaven Ranking, the Earth Ranking, and the Realm Ranking.
The Heaven Ranking recorded the rankings of Hengtian Continent's strongest experts.
The Earth Ranking gathered prodigious monsters under thirty years old, ranking them according to potential.
The Realm Ranking listed those whose combat strength stood at the forefront within a certain realm. It was also one of the important criteria for evaluating the Heaven Ranking and Earth Ranking.
To ascend the ranking meant one could leave one's name through the ages. It was the highest honor on Hengtian Continent.
The boulder bore countless small golden characters, each one a name. All of them were prodigies who had left their names on the ranking throughout Hengtian Continent's endless years.
First on the Heaven Ranking: Hengtian Divine Venerable, the strongest expert in Hengtian Continent's history, who had blocked the invasion of the Outer Realm Demon God Clan and protected billions upon billions of living beings.
Ninety-sixth on the Heaven Ranking: Heavenly King Emperor, Vice Sect Master of the Sacred Heaven Sect. He had occupied the Earth Ranking's top three for twenty-seven years, ranked second in the Bone Forging Realm, first in the Spirit Refining Realm, third in the Body Integration Realm... first in the Heavenly God Realm...
Ninety-seventh on the Heaven Ranking: Heavenly Xiong Emperor, Sect Master of the Sacred Heaven Sect. He had occupied the Earth Ranking's top three for twenty-seven years, ranked first in the Bone Forging Realm, second in the Spirit Refining Realm...
It had to be said that the Hengtian Ranking alone showed just how fiercely Chu Tianwang and Ye Tianxiong, those sworn brothers, had competed. They had loved and fought each other for decades, struggling and contending, each with victories and defeats.
Behind this also lay the ruthless, hidden struggle between the Sacred Heaven Sect's two Founding Families.
And that balance had suddenly been broken after Chu Tianwang married Jian Kongzhu, the Broken Sword Goddess of the Ancient Sword God Clan, and had three daughters and one son with her.
Chu Tian looked upward. Twenty-eighth on the Heaven Ranking: wife of Heavenly King Emperor of the Sacred Heaven Sect; slew the Desert Demon Lord of the Heavenly Demon Forbidden Land with a single sword strike.
That was right. Jian Kongzhu not only stood head and shoulders above the Sacred Heaven Sect's two leaders, but her entry contained only a single short line, without any past battle records. By relying solely on killing a forbidden land Demon Lord with one strike, she had directly surged into twenty-eighth place on the Heaven Ranking.
That was because the Hengtian Ranking only recorded experts from Hengtian Continent.
Jian Kongzhu had only begun appearing on the ranking after marrying Chu Tianwang, and she had completely cemented the Sacred Heaven Sect's status as Hengtian Continent's number one sect.
She had charged into the top thirty of the Heaven Ranking with a single sword strike. One could well imagine how fierce his mother, Great Hatred Demon Lord, was.
With such an excellent hand of cards, the Chu Family's prestige had reached an unprecedented peak, yet it had plummeted a thousand miles and been destroyed in less than thirty years. In Chu Tian's eyes as a godfather, whenever things were abnormal, there had to be a monster at work.
And the greatest monsters were his father, Chu Tianwang, and his three elder sisters.
After all, one need not fear godlike opponents; one only feared pig-like teammates.
In Chu Tian's eyes, external enemies such as the Son of Destiny Ye Fan and the so-called Sacred Heaven Goddess Liu Yun had never been the key.
Fortresses had always begun collapsing from within.
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