Severing Ties

"I'm sorry, if I hadn't come to find you..."

They had agreed to keep their relationship a secret, but the sect leader's mention of "fiancé" made them instantly overjoyed!

If it weren't for me, he could have been the one summoned by the sect leader, the one who was valued, and could have quietly cultivated and grown until he was strong enough to rival the Lin Family!

Instead of being blocked at the entrance of the Taiheng Palace by the fourth brother so early on, as is the case now.

Yuanxi's eyes glistened with tears, filled with reluctance and regret.

"This has nothing to do with you!" Yang Ning shook his head.

Facing Lin Tianheng, it makes little difference whether one is at the Body Refinement Tenth Layer or the Qi Refining Fifth Level.

Moreover, Southern Forest Auto's business has already expanded, and they will take immediate action as soon as they find they cannot compete with Yang Ning.

Don't assume that cultivators have no need for worldly money. The Lin Family also has a large number of ordinary people who cannot cultivate, and their food, drink, and daily necessities are also a huge expense.

Yang Ning looked at Lin Tianheng, whose face still held a hint of smugness. As inner disciple, he certainly bore some responsibility for killing an Outer Disciple, but it was definitely not a big deal.

Moreover, by using the pretext of Yang Ning interfering in the marriage alliance between the Wang and Lin families, they killed Yang Ning, and no one could find fault with that.

They would also accuse Yang Ning of being ignorant and not knowing who he was, saying he was not worthy of the noblewoman of the Lin Family.

Yang Ning didn't want to wait hundreds or thousands of years after his death for someone to exonerate him and say he was a model of pursuing free love.

All of this is meaningless.

He must save himself at this moment.

As for how to save themselves, fighting is out of the question; they have no chance of killing him with a single blow, and killing Lin Tianheng would only make things worse.

In short, you can kill, but not openly.

Yang Ning looked around again. This was such a big deal that countless people from all over the sect, including inner disciple, Artifact Forging Master, and Pill Refining Master, had gathered around.

Many Artifact Forging Master recognized Yang Ning, but no one dared to utter a sound.

After all, they understood the terrifying power of the Lin Family far better than a young man with some talent in weapon crafting.

But his silence didn't mean he wasn't emotional. Lin Tianheng's remark that a peasant's son was unworthy of marrying a noblewoman not only offended Yang Ning but also many others around them.

If we could take advantage of this sentiment...

We might not win, but we can definitely annoy Lin Tianheng.

Anyway, I Hengming Token to say that escaping is not a problem.

Wait, Lord Hengming wouldn't abandon me just because of the Lin Family's power, would he?

"No, it won't!" A gentle voice rang in Yang Ning's ear. Who else could it be but Hengming?

Yang Ning was taken aback. "Can an adult read minds?"

"Yes, but I generally don't actively try to read other people's thoughts unless those thoughts are related to me!" Hengming.

"Can you see the situation now?" Yang Ning asked, "An inner disciple is bullying me, senior, aren't you going to do anything about it?"

"This is an internal matter of the sect, and it's not appropriate for me to interfere!" Hengming, "However, I can guarantee your safety!"

Yang Ning immediately felt confident, but he was also a little curious and asked, "Why are you helping me like this, sir? I'm just a mere disciple in the Body Refinement Realm."

"You're more interesting than everyone else!" Hengming laughed. "It's such a pity that someone as interesting as you has died!"

"Uh..." Yang Ning blinked. So that's how it is!

Of course, that wasn't the main reason, but that reason was a bit far-fetched, and Hengming was too embarrassed to say it out loud.

Clearing his throat, he thought, "Since I have Hengming Tower behind me, I have nothing to fear!"

"Lin Tianheng, do you still remember what you did on Qin Mountain a year and a half ago?" Yang Ning asked coldly.

"Heh!" Lin Tianheng chuckled. "I remember, so what?"

"As everyone knows, when cultivators first embark on the path of cultivation, they can absorb Primordial Chaos Qi in the high sky. This energy can transform into innate divine abilities when breaking through the Qi Refining Stage and achieving communion with Celestial Person and Innate Divine Ability!" Yang Ning stared intently at Lin Tianheng: "Because of your own trivial matter, you shortened the time for a whole ship of people to absorb Primordial Chaos Qi by seven days, and I was one of them. I've kept this in mind ever since!"

"So what?" Lin Tianheng asked, spreading his hands.

"I met Lin Yuanxi at the Ascension Academy, and we later became lovers. I originally thought that since you are her brother, I should put this grudge aside for the time being. After all, the possibility of awakening Innate Divine Ability powers is so low, so seven more or seven less days won't make any difference. I just didn't expect that you would oppose us being together!"

"Heh, you do have some self-awareness. In all these years, not a single person in the Taiheng Sect has awakened Innate Divine Ability!" Lin Tianheng said, "But what if I don't let you two be together? Are you going to seek revenge on me?"

"Of course!" Yang Ning nodded. "Moreover, not as the lovers of Yuanxi. Since you say I'm the son of a peasant, then I'll stand on the peasant's side and recount the sins of your Lin Family!"

"Sin?" Lin Tianheng was taken aback, then burst into laughter. "What a sin! Tell me, what sins has our Lin Family committed!"

Yang Ning snorted coldly and said, "Southern Forest has 12 million square kilometers of land, with 1.38 billion mu of arable land. This land is enough to feed 1 billion people, but Southern Forest's total population is only 300 million. Even after deducting your Lin Family's 42 million people, it's still more than enough to feed the remaining 258 million people. Yet, only a little over 30 million of these 258 million people own their Ji Earth! Every year, tens of millions of people in Southern Forest die from cold and hunger!"

"Last winter, a snow disaster killed 1.3 million civilians who froze and starved to death. They died less than 20 miles outside the capital of Southern Forest, while Southern Forest capital itself contained tens of millions of tons of grain and countless leather and cotton clothing, yet disaster victims were forbidden from approaching the capital!"

"What's even more unbelievable is that countless people in our country are freezing and starving to death, yet you disregard the disaster situation at home and still manage to export grain to the South China Sea!"

Lin Tianheng remained unfazed, his tone indifferent. "What do these lowly commoners, stupid and clumsy, who don't even try, have to do? They'll freeze and starve to death. What does that have to do with my Lin Family?"

"They're not stupid or dumb. Eight or nine out of ten of these 1.38 billion mu of land were reclaimed by farmers, yet you've seized them all through various means!" Yang Ning pointed at Lin Tianheng, his voice filled with indignation and righteous indignation. "Because the number of people who die in your Lin Family every year is more than the number of people killed by the Myriad Saints Alliance practicing Devil Cultivation Method. Compared to you, they wouldn't even deserve to call themselves demonic!"

"Nonsense!" Lin Tianheng angrily flung his sleeve.

"Tell me where I'm talking nonsense, where I'm spouting rubbish? Is it that the number of acres is wrong, or that I'm saying too many people have starved to death?" Yang Ning asked sternly. "Furthermore, I invented the Curved Shaft Plow ten years ago. If this thing could be popularized in Southern Forest, your arable land area could double, and the population you could support could double again!"

"But what have you done? You'd rather raise cattle to be slaughtered for meat than use them for harvesting land; you'd rather forge iron into swords than make farm tools! You'd rather take away the wives and daughters of farmers than give them a single penny or grain to help them through the winter!"

"I only hate myself for being weak. I should have spoken up sooner, instead of waiting until I was wronged before I spoke up!"

Lin Tianheng remained calm. "And then?"

Yang Ning remained silent. He glanced at the onlookers, all of whom wore the same indifferent expression. Even Yuanxi was equally calm, as if they didn't realize how great a sin this was.

Yes, of everyone present, only Yang Ning came from a peasant background; the others were either princes or second-generation immortals or martial artists.

Aren't they doing the same things as the Lin Family?

When the world is corrupt, innocence becomes a sin.

When everyone does it, it's naturally not wrong to do it.

Yang Ning was well aware of this, so he wasn't discouraged at all. He just wanted to speak out, and felt that he should!

"You think I'm unworthy of Yuanxi because I'm the son of a peasant, but you don't know that your current status and prestige are all thanks to those peasants you look down on. You were just born into a good family. But what have you contributed to this sect or to this world?" Yang Ning continued, "Even if things were different, a hundred years from now, a thousand years from now, the person people will remember is me, not you!"

"If I were born into the Lin Family, with the Lin Family resources and a privileged environment, I would have broken through to the Spiritual Law Realm by your age. Why would I be stuck at the Golden Core Stage like you, unable to even obtain the status of a Dao Daozi of the Taiheng Sect? If I were you, I would be ashamed to live in this world. Yet you seem quite proud of it?"

Lin Tianheng wasn't angry when he was accused of oppressing the people and annexing land, because everyone had been doing it for 300,000 years and no one thought it was a sin.

Even if no one remembers the insults a thousand years later, Lin Tianheng isn't angry. As long as he kills Yang Ning, what does it matter if someone remembers him a thousand years later? The person is dead, and a little bit of empty fame doesn't matter.

But when he said he was trash and hadn't obtained the Daozi status, Lin Tianheng was genuinely furious.

"How old is Tian Dao Yi, and how old am I?" Lin Tianheng said angrily, "Give me a little more time, and the identity of Daozi is still uncertain!"

"That's the problem!" Yang Ning spread his hands. "You want him to give you time, but why are you unwilling to give me time? You keep saying I'm a peasant's child, but have you ever thought that 300,000 years ago, you, me, and even the ancestors of all the elders and the Immortal Venerable were all slaves?"

"You just left a little early, so what gives you the right to look down on those who are chasing you?"

"You!" Lin Tianheng was immediately enraged. "You want time? Fine, I'll give you that, eh?"

Wang Jue pressed down on his shoulder, and Lin Tianheng immediately calmed down.

"I must admit, you not only have a high talent for cultivation, but you're also very eloquent!" Lin Tianheng laughed. "Unfortunately, I'm not stupid, why should I give you time?"

"No, Fourth Brother, you've been very merciful, letting him live so long!" Wang Jue said with a smile, then looked at Yuanxi: "Yuanxi Xi, don't stand so close to him, be careful that his blood won't splatter on your skirt when he dies!"

"Fourth Brother!" Yuanxi immediately stood up and stood in front of Yang Ning, her gaze firm and her eyes resolute. "I understand, we can't be together because my surname is Lin, right?"

"More or less!" Lin Tianheng nodded. Although the reasons behind it were complicated, there was no need to explain too much to his silly sister.

"What if I choose to give up my surname?" Yuanxi suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Lin Tianheng was taken aback. "What did you say?"

The onlookers' eyes lit up; this gossip had taken an even bigger turn!

"I mean, I'm giving up the surname Lin, and I'm giving up my identity as a member of the Lin family of Nanlin!" Lin Yuanxi took out a jade pendant from her person and threw it heavily on the ground. "From now on, I am no longer a noble lady of the Lin family, and you are no longer my brother!"

"You bastard, what are you saying?" Lin Tianheng was completely dumbfounded. "You think you can just throw away your identity like that? Besides, everything you've had since you were a child, from food and clothing to cultivation resources, and even your ability to enter Taiheng now, is all thanks to your surname. What right do you have to say you don't want it!"

"The Lin Family has done so much for you, it's only right that you Lin Family. How can you be so silent when you're enjoying it, and then refuse to marry?"

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement; that made perfect sense!

"Nonsense!" a sweet voice rang out. "My young lady didn't use any of your Lin Family's resources. Those were all part of the mistress's dowry! Besides, when my mistress married into the family, she brought a grand dowry that stretched for miles. Only a tenth or a twelfth of that was used on my young lady. The bulk of it was taken by your Lin Family. It's not that my young lady owes your Lin Family, it's that your Lin Family owes my young lady!"

"Huh? Is that so?"

"Damn it!" Lin Tianheng kicked out, unleashing a surge of spiritual Spiritual Qi. A girl sitting on a crane screamed, but how could a mere Body Refinement Realm cultivator and a crane possibly withstand the attack of Pill Cultivator?

"Xiao Huan!" Yuanxi screamed. Who else could the girl on the crane be but Xiao Huan?

She was slow; many Qi Refining cultivators had arrived long ago, but she was only just arriving now, huffing and puffing on her crane. She happened to overhear Lin Tianheng's words and immediately retorted.

What's the point of calling out to Xiao Huan? Xiao Huan won't transform into a Saiyan.

Therefore, Yang Ning called out, "Senior Hengming!"

In an instant, a golden light swept by, blocking the attack and pulling Xiao Huan to Yang Ning's side as well.

Lin Tianheng's face darkened. The reason he had said so much but not attacked was precisely because he was wary of the Taiheng Palace and Hengming Tower behind Yang Ning!

I thought that after listening for so long, Senior Hengming would have understood the situation, but I didn't expect him to still take action!

"Senior Hengming!" Lin Tianheng roared, "This is a family matter of our Lin Family. It's inappropriate for you to interfere like this!"

Hengming him completely, as if he hadn't heard a thing!

"Good, good, good, very good!" Lin Tianheng angrily pointed at Yang Ning: "From now on, if you have the guts, stay hidden in the Taiheng Palace and don't come out!"

After saying that, he flicked his sleeve and turned to leave.

If you can't kill anyone and you can't win an argument, what are you still doing here? Are you just going to continue embarrassing yourself in front of everyone?

But then Yuanxi called out from behind, "Fourth Brother!"

Lin Tianheng continued flying, pretending not to hear.

Yuanxi didn't care whether he heard her or not; there were so many people around, so many people streaming on their phones, he could see the screen recording anyway.

"From this day forward, I, Yuanxi, sever all ties with the Lin family of Nanlin. From this day forward, there is only Yang Yuanxi, and no more Lin Yuanxi!"

Lin Tianheng paused for a moment, then sped away!

Everyone silently filmed the scene with their phones. They all knew that Yang Ning and Lin Tianheng, or rather, Yang Ning and his wife, had become irreconcilable enemies with the Lin family of Nanlin.

No one felt like they were witnessing history, because one side was Lineage that had been passed down for hundreds of thousands of years, and the other side consisted of a Body Refinement Tenth Layer and a person at the Qi Refining Fifth Level.

Even with Hengming Tower's bias, the disparity in strength between the two sides remains significant.

This kind of battle, with such a disparity in strength, will likely end in less than six months.

They had anticipated the outcome of the battle.

Yang Ning died and his clan was wiped out; Yuanxi was imprisoned and taken back to Southern Forest.

"They're overestimating themselves!" someone remarked.

"But your courage is commendable!"