Chapter 36

Time slowly passed, and at some point, Chen Fan had already left. Meng Hao was his junior brother, and although he had just entered the Inner Sect, as a senior brother, he should and had the duty to make Meng Hao understand what cultivation was, and what kind of path it was—a path where if you do not advance, you will fall behind, and it is a matter of life and death.

For once you enter the Inner Sect, it means that you have put one foot into the threshold of the cultivation world. The other foot is the Foundation Establishment stage.

Meng Hao sat alone on a large rock, looking at the night sky, the stars, and the bright moon, silent and deep in thought. His mind was a mess.

Time slowly passed, and in the dead of night, Wang Tengfei, like Meng Hao, was sitting cross-legged in his cave, staring at his right hand, which was missing a finger. His expression was blank. In front of him was a jade slip broken into two halves. This was the first thing he did upon waking up.

Not entering the Inner Sect meant he had lost the second thing he had planned to achieve, and he was almost in a state of despair. In his bitter laughter, he crushed the jade slip he had never thought he would use.

He had been defeated, utterly and completely, by a lowly ant he despised, by Meng Hao, whose cultivation was lower than his. If it weren't for He Luohua's intervention, he would have been dead.

This defeat cut off his path in the Mountain Rely Sect. Since waking up, he had not gone out, just sitting here in a daze.

He was a prodigy, his family renowned throughout the Southern Domain. He had been proud since childhood, with lofty ambitions, and had resolutely decided not to stay in his family's sect but to come to the Zhao Kingdom and the Mountain Rely Sect. The inheritance of a treasure and the flawless Foundation Establishment were things he was determined to achieve. But now, all of this had been blown away by the wind.

Wang Tengfei laughed bitterly, his laughter growing louder, echoing throughout the cave. As he laughed, he clenched his fists tightly, but without sharp claws, he could not feel the blood and pain that Meng Hao had experienced.

He was not willing to accept this. If he had been defeated by a prodigy, he could have tolerated it, but the one who took his Inner Sect qualification and trampled him underfoot was an ant he despised, whose name he hadn't even remembered. This was something he could not bear.

At this moment, the door of Wang Tengfei's cave suddenly shattered without a sound, turning to dust and falling to the ground.

A middle-aged man in a green robe stood there, his face gaunt but with a hidden pride. The moonlight seemed to tremble and distort around him, as if his presence could shake the surrounding mountains.

Beside the middle-aged man was a young woman, about eighteen or nineteen years old, with a stunning beauty, a slender and graceful figure, and a natural charm that made her seem like a fairy descended from heaven. She wore a light green robe, and in the moonlight, she exuded a transcendent aura, as if she were a celestial being.

"The Wang family is one of the three major spiritual cultivation families in the Southern Domain, surpassing many sects and existing for ten thousand years," the middle-aged man said coldly, his voice carrying an indescribable coldness and authority.

"And you, you are one of the Wang family's prodigies. From the moment you were born, you were destined for greatness, to stand above the nine heavens, and to tread the path of immortality," the middle-aged man's words fell into Wang Tengfei's ears, making him slowly raise his head, no longer looking at his broken finger.

"A small setback is nothing. This insignificant country is nothing compared to the Southern Domain, where the land is crawling with ants. A single Yuan Ying ancestor from our Wang family could wipe out this place completely," the middle-aged man said firmly, his voice leaving no room for doubt. Wang Tengfei clenched his fists, a flame appearing in his eyes.

"Your enemies are the other prodigies within the family, the descendants of the other two major families in the Southern Domain, and the current disciples of the five major sects. Only they are worthy to be your enemies. If they saw you in your current state, what right would you have to bear the name Wang?"

"Tell me, what is your surname?" the middle-aged man asked, his voice cold.

"My surname is Wang!" Wang Tengfei stood up, his eyes blazing with intense light, speaking each word clearly.

The middle-aged man looked at Wang Tengfei for a long time, his expression softening.

"You are the Wang family's Peng, and it won't be long before you reach the Foundation Establishment stage. In the future, the Purple Qi of the East technique from your fiancée's sect will help you form a Core, and even reaching the Yuan Ying stage is not impossible. When that time comes, you will realize that the person who defeated you in this small Zhao Kingdom is still at the Qi Condensation stage."

"When you look down on him, he will be an ant," the middle-aged man said meaningfully, then turned away.

"Tengfei," the beautiful woman spoke softly, her voice melodious, blending with her stunning beauty to create a sense of perfection, as if they were a perfect match, a celestial couple that would make others envious.

Wang Tengfei was silent for a moment, then looked at the woman. She was his fiancée, Chu Yanyan, the daughter of the Purple Luck Sect's leader and one of the four renowned prodigies of the Southern Domain.

"Let's go back," the woman said gently, looking at Wang Tengfei with affection.

Wang Tengfei nodded and walked out of the cave, with the woman following him. As they stepped forward with the middle-aged man, a loud rumble echoed in the night sky, and a massive, hundred-zhang-long warship appeared, its body black and exuding a menacing aura. A large flag stood on the ship, fluttering in the wind, with a blood-red "Wang" character embroidered on it.

On the ship, there were many expressionless figures, standing like puppets, emitting a cold aura.

This scene and the warship immediately stunned all the disciples of the Mountain Rely Sect, who looked up in disbelief.

Meng Hao, on the peak of the Eastern Summit, also woke from his thoughts and, upon raising his head, saw the shocking black warship and the blood-red "Wang" flag, his heart trembling.

"Back then, I shouldn't have agreed to let you come here. This remote place, even if it was rumored that the Great Spirit Scripture appeared here, was hundreds of years ago," the middle-aged man said as they stepped onto the ship. Wang Tengfei stood there, looking at the Mountain Rely Sect, memories of the past few years flashing through his mind but quickly dissipating.

His gaze was no longer gentle, his smile no longer kind, but cold, and the fierce look in his eyes made him seem different from the Wang senior brother everyone once knew.

He also saw Meng Hao on the peak, their gazes meeting for a moment, but Wang Tengfei quickly turned away, still treating Meng Hao as an ant, because he was proud and because he bore the name Wang!

At the same time, the middle-aged man casually glanced at Meng Hao on the peak. Despite not revealing his cultivation, his gaze alone was enough to cause a loud rumble, shaking the entire Eastern Summit. His gaze, like a sharp sword, instantly targeted Meng Hao.

Meng Hao's face changed, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. His body felt as if it were in an ancient, icy coldness, and a sense of life and death, more intense than ever before, surged in his heart, making him lose his ability to think, fragile and vulnerable.

He felt death for the first time, his body withering, his soul's flame about to extinguish, and a blood mark appearing on his forehead.

Loneliness, helplessness, and death formed a large hand that pressed down on Meng Hao, threatening to crush him and send him to a place of no return.

At this moment, a cold snort echoed throughout the Mountain Rely Sect.

"Core Formation cultivators, who have formed not a mixed Core but a Red Core, second only to a Purple Core, bullying a mere Qi Condensation cultivator. Is this how the third-generation guardian of the Wang family in the Southern Domain, Wang Xifan, behaves?"

A blue figure appeared instantly, standing in the air in front of Meng Hao. It was the sect leader, He Luohua. He raised his right hand and waved it forward, causing a deafening boom that shook the heavens and the earth.

The surrounding void seemed to shatter, forming layers of ripples that spread out. An indescribable powerful aura burst from He Luohua, making him stand there like the only figure in the world, coldly looking at the middle-aged man on the warship, Wang Xifan.

"Forgive me, Brother He. I have come to take Tengfei away. Thank you for your care over the years," Wang Xifan smiled warmly, but his expression carried an indescribable pride. He waved his sleeve, and the warship hummed, transforming into a rainbow that vanished into the starry sky, leaving only the twinkling stars behind.

Meng Hao spat out more blood but raised his head, staring at the departing warship with a fierce gaze.

He Luohua looked back at Meng Hao, silent for a moment, then sighed and left. Only Meng Hao's gaze followed the warship, stretching endlessly.

"This is a Core Formation cultivator, whose single glance can crush me to pieces. This is just Core Formation; above it are the Yuan Ying, the Spirit Severing, and other realms... the Southern Domain, the Wang family!" Meng Hao clenched his teeth, his eyes burning with fire.

"If you are not strong, you have no right to live. If you are not strong, you have no right to cultivate. If you are not strong, you have no right to survive, and can only be a pawn for others. Is this the kind of life you want?" Chen Fan's words echoed in Meng Hao's mind, growing stronger and stronger, deeply etched in his heart, his bones, and his soul, indelible.

"I do not want this!" Meng Hao clenched his fists, his voice weak in the world but thunderous in his heart.

"I do not want to be a pawn!"

"I do not want to be weak!"

"I do not want to lack the right to fight back!"

"I want to be strong, I want to become strong!!" Meng Hao's original goal was to become rich and go to the Tang Dynasty in the East, but now, while that goal still exists, he has a more determined belief: to become strong, because on this path of cultivation, if you are not strong, you will surely die!

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Three chapters, ten thousand words. Please recommend, click, and collect!