As everyone knew, the former Young Master of the Rong Family had crippled his own cultivation base in the course of slaying demons and purging evil. His legs too had been left crippled, and he had spent over ten years confined to a wheelchair. Later, when Rong Huanxuan revealed herself to be exceptionally gifted, the Rong Family patriarch had transferred the investiture to her instead.

But now Rong Huanxuan was deposed, and the long-crippled fourth son of the Rong Family had found his footing again, seizing control once more. People could not help but mentally sketch out a tale of ethical intrigue and a power struggle.

And now, watching Wu Youzi appear in a Daoist robe that was nearly white, embroidered with the sun, moon, and stars, his hair bundled up neatly, his face deliberately made up so as to shed his former air of dissipation — many spectators quietly nodded their approval.

In truth, Wu Youzi, in the prime of his years, was indeed far better suited to inherit the Rong Family’s mantle.

Though, for the investiture of a new Young Master, could the Rong Family not even manage a formal ceremonial robe?

Lang Jiuchuan looked at the deliberately made-up face of Wu Youzi, through which shone an uncanny, barely-suppressed flush of feverish excitement. She sighed softly, a slight heaviness settling in her chest.

“To have sought and found what one wished for — some people have simply decided they no longer wish to live. No need to hold such people back.” A’Piao crossed his arms, and said it plainly.

Lang Jiuchuan understood. She simply felt a lingering wistfulness — especially upon seeing the flame burning deep in his eyes, suppressed to its uttermost, yet blazing with a wild and frenzied light. It was a fire of destruction.

The Imperial Princess Tantai cast Wu Youzi a brief glance and her brow furrowed. “This fourth son of the Rong Family — his aura and condition are somewhat off. Elder, please keep watch. See to it that no innocent bystanders are harmed.”

Elder Bafang’s grey-white eyes turned toward her direction, his brows tilting upward. His fingers worked through a rapid calculation. “A sign of great misfortune. The Rong Family fears ill luck ahead.”

No sooner had the Imperial Princess Tantai heard this than she looked over at Lang Jiuchuan. Their eyes met briefly — the latter returned her gaze with composure, and even let the corner of her lips curl up slightly. The Princess looked away, her expression cold.

The Rong Family elders and the others, at the sight of that troublemaker making his appearance, immediately directed people to rush to the forbidden grounds — even if they had to batter it down, they would smash open the patriarch’s seclusion chamber and beg him to emerge from isolation. Because if they waited for him to come out on his own, whether the Rong Family would still be the Rong Family was very much in doubt.

Wu Youzi naturally caught their small movements, but paid them no mind. He stood upon the elevated platform and looked out over the assembled crowd below, a faint curve at his lips, his eyes alight with an excited gleam. He raised a hand.

“Fellow Daoist friends.”

The crowd of guests seated and standing in the square, who had been in the midst of lively discussion, fell quiet, all turning to look at him. Something felt off.

Lang Jiuchuan lowered her gaze. It begins.

“We are grateful that all of you have come in person to bear witness for the Rong Family.” Wu Youzi’s voice suddenly rose, sharp and piercing: “But let us be clear — this is no grand occasion to share in celebration. Let all of you bear witness instead to how I, personally, tear away the Rong Family’s last shred of face.”

The clan elders, hearing this, immediately changed color and surged forward to stop him. Their voices were low and warning: “Qingcang — do not forget that you bear the surname Rong. The ancestors of the Rong Family are watching you.”

Wu Youzi swept the sleeve of his pale robe wide and gave a cold laugh. “With the ancestors as my witnesses on high — I have long since made a blood-severing contract, cutting all ties of lineage. I refuse to be lumped together with this den of thieves and wantons that the Rong Family has become.”

The entire square erupted in uproar.

“Outrageous!” One of the clan elders slammed the table and shot to his feet, his voice sharp with fury: “Rong Qingcang, have you gone mad? What gibberish are you spouting here!”

“How would you know I’ve gone mad — unless you know full well that the Rong Family drove me to madness?” He swept a disdainful look at that elder, then turned to face the gathered guests in the square. “As everyone is aware, the former Young Master Rong Huanxuan — who was only recently disposed of by the patriarch in what was called an act of righteous severance — is in fact the patriarch’s own daughter. His publicly offered explanation, of course, was that she was an illegitimate daughter. In truth, that is entirely false. The patriarch violated his daughter-in-law on the very day of my marriage to Xi Yun, and the child conceived from that violation is Rong Huanxuan. To conceal his own filthy, depraved act, he raised his daughter as his granddaughter. If this is not theft and wantonness, then what is?”

A silent thunderclap struck.

The entire square fell dead quiet. Everyone was struck dumb by this earth-shaking scandal, staring in open-mouthed astonishment at Wu Youzi, who had descended into a kind of madness!

This Wu Youzi, in his day, had been a wayward and dissolute figure with a rebellious streak — but that was youth. Ten years of silence had seemed to temper him into a steady man. And yet this conduct — was this the conduct of a steady man?

To open with something this enormous — this unhinged?

Those who had known the inside story exchanged a glance, sharing a silent and knowing look. See, as we thought — Rong Huanxuan truly was the product of that act of defilement.

While those who had not known wore expressions of disgust and disbelief.

Cultivators were not bound by social convention in most matters, but they frequently read the Daoist classics in their hearts. Could any human being actually commit an act of such moral depravity?

One upright Daoist of the old school spat on the spot and flounced away in a sweep of robes, the very picture of a man too ashamed to stand in the Rong Family’s territory a moment longer. They didn’t think Wu Youzi was joking, either — after all, this matter also touched upon a man’s dignity, and for an act of such moral inversion, who would air such shameful laundry in public without good cause?

To expose one’s own shame was not something everyone could bring themselves to do — especially the shame of being betrayed by one’s own father in such a manner.

The Imperial Princess Tantai’s brow creased. An unmistakable flash of surprise crossed her face, followed by a brief flicker of revulsion.

The Rong Family members had also not anticipated that Wu Youzi’s rebellious streak had hardened to this degree — that he would actually give voice to such a stunning piece of scandal. Shock and fury hit them all at once, and the color drained from their faces.

It was over. The Rong Family’s reputation had just been dragged through the filth.

This wretched lunatic had truly gone insane — they just had not imagined he would go quite this far.

“You — you villain — you are speaking slander!” The elder’s finger, pointing at him, was trembling uncontrollably.

“Slander? There is a line of blood karma between Rong Huanxuan and the patriarch — witnessed by the elders serving the imperial family, as well as those of the other two Mystic Clans. And that Xi Yun was Rong Huanxuan’s mother — you can try to argue that, too. Feel free. See who will believe you.” Wu Youzi gave a cold laugh. “As for why Xi Yun died so suddenly — wasn’t it precisely because this matter was about to come to light, leaving no way out, and she was silenced?”

The clan elders: “…”

Wasn’t it you who arranged for Xi Yun to be dealt with?

Patriarch, patriarch — how did he not foresee this? How are we to come out of this now?

Wu Youzi looked at their flustered, panic-stricken faces, and a sliver of fierce satisfaction crossed his own. He continued: “That is the first offense of the Rong Family patriarch. As for the second — Rong Huanxuan went wayward and corrupt in her cultivation, causing her spiritual roots to collapse and her cultivation base to crumble. To help her repair her spiritual roots, he chose to cultivate forbidden and evil arts, devouring living souls, and fell into the paths of darkness. When this was discovered, the patriarch, pressured by the righteous orders of the cultivation world, had no choice but to carry out what was called an act of righteous severance against his own kin, clearing house by purging her — but this was nothing more than a strategic retreat to preserve himself.”

The assembled crowd was somewhat puzzled. However the patriarch’s motivations were cast, whether or not he was forced into it — to have gone through with it was still something a member of the righteous path would do.

A savage smile twisted Wu Youzi’s features. “But what you do not know is this: in order to repair Rong Huanxuan’s cultivation base, they went so far as to brutally murder a child — severing its sinews and bones, drawing upon its blood and meridians, devouring its living soul, causing that child to die in agony. This is an act of extreme offense against heaven’s principles, a violation of all human bonds and morality — no different in kind from the most deviant of dark paths.”

The expressions of the clan elders shifted drastically. “Quickly — go up there and stop him!”

The clan’s elders and disciples rushed forward en masse, only to be driven back by an invisible, formless wave of pressure erupting from Wu Youzi — a frenzied, ferocious aura that repelled them all.

“And that child who was murdered — was in truth my own blood daughter. For over ten years, the patriarch kept her hidden away and raised her as a living blood reserve for his own use. To murder one’s own blood and kin, to discard all human bonds — Rong Yiming, that beast — his wickedness is manifest for all the heavens to see, and he deserves to be struck down by divine retribution!” Wu Youzi stamped his foot violently, and his murderous energy surged skyward.