Hundred Sects Tournament · Golden Core (1)

The Golden Core division's matches finally began amid the resounding bells atop Spirit Sword Peak and the focused gazes of countless spectators.

These past few days, Shen Yuxi had lived quite fully, though that fullness carried a trace of soft helplessness. He had expected Shen Yucheng to come, but when the man truly stood before him, smiling openly and without the slightest reservation, Shen Yuxi still felt faintly lost.

He truly did not know how to face Shen Yucheng.

Within the Shen Family's cold residence, Shen Yucheng had been the only person besides his mother and that maidservant who had ever given him genuine warmth.

As the heir into whom Shen Wei had poured his heart and pinned his greatest hopes, this elder brother's character and abilities were beyond reproach. As a child, Shen Yuxi had instinctively longed to draw close to that light. Yet the other man had simply been too busy, always coming and going in haste, rarely appearing at home.

In truth, Shen Yuxi had never hated the Shen Family as a whole. From beginning to end, the ones he hated were only the madam who had caused his mother's death, Shen Wei in his role as "his father," and perhaps Shen Liangxian as well.

Setting aside that personal grudge and judging with the impartial eyes of the world, Shen Wei could even be called a model—he managed his household well, governed strictly, treated his wife with the respect of guests raising trays together, carefully cultivated his legitimate sons, and made considerable achievements for both his lineage and the cultivation world.

Shen Yuxi would not go against his heart to deny any of that. Shen Wei was a good family head, a good husband, and to Shen Yucheng and Shen Liangxian, a good father as well. Those