Chapter 1 Heart-Wrenching Pain

East Field County, Cloud Sea City.

Inside the Qin Family Mansion, many people were gathered, but the atmosphere in the grand hall was extremely solemn.

"Bastard Qin Nian, as a bastard son, you secretly practiced cultivation and violated the family rules. Today, your cultivation will be stripped away, and you will be expelled from the Qin Family. Your mother, of the Xu Family, failed in raising you with virtue; she will be punished by being confined to the laundry room for the rest of her life, never to step out of the Qin Family Mansion again," declared Family Head Qin Yuanshan mercilessly.

After finishing his declaration, he struck Qin Nian's abdomen with a palm, and the violent Primordial Power instantly shattered Qin Nian's Dantian. Qin Nian was sent flying by this tremendous force.

"Spurt!"

Qin Nian fell heavily to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood.

A single palm had shattered his Dantian, and six years of arduous cultivation were destroyed in an instant.

Inside the Qin Family Mansion, it was deathly silent, and many felt pity for Qin Nian.

At the same time, they were perplexed. Although the Qin Family had a rule that bastards should not practice cultivation, this rule had not been mentioned for a hundred years and had effectively become obsolete. In addition, many bastards in the Qin Family had started to practice cultivation in recent years.

They did not know why Qin Yuanshan had brought it up again today, even personally crippling his own biological son.

Qin Hen stood among the crowd, watching the scene with a sneer.

He was the only one who knew why, because he had orchestrated everything.

He had always disliked Qin Nian. It was he who had encouraged Qin Nian to practice cultivation in secret and then informed their father.

He knew that their father had always disliked his brother. Therefore, he deliberately spoke of this matter before their father, even adding fuel to the fire with some malicious words about Qin Nian, solidifying Qin Yuanshan's decision to disable Qin Nian.

Now that Qin Nian's Dantian was destroyed, he was likely unable to practice cultivation for the rest of his life, which delighted Qin Hen immensely.

"Ha ha, Qin Nian, if you blame anyone, blame yourself for being so detestable, even our father dislikes you!" Qin Hen said, looking at Qin Nian, who lay on the ground like a dead dog, feeling extremely pleased with himself.

Qin Nian lay dazed on the ground, his eyes empty.

"He really is that cruel!"

He still could not believe that his own father would be so ruthless in crippling his cultivation and doing so with such finality.

Does he not feel a shred of regret?

Does he really care nothing for familial affection?

I am his own flesh and blood!

How could he bring himself to do it?

Qin Nian's heart felt as if it were being cut by a knife.

For sixteen years he had called him father, but today he had become the executioner who crippled his cultivation, a fact he could not accept no matter what.

"Ha ha, wrong, all wrong!"

Qin Nian stumbled to his feet and laughed madly, his laughter echoing throughout the Qin Family Mansion.

"Has he gone mad?"

Everyone looked at Qin Nian, thinking that the severe shock had driven him to mental collapse.

"Unfilial son, what are you laughing at?" Qin Yuanshan asked coldly.

"What am I laughing at?" Qin Nian laughed sorrowfully, his laughter filled with desolation.

"I laugh at my own foolishness. Since childhood, you have always been cold and harsh towards me. I always thought you were just being strict. Every time I saw you talking and laughing with Qin Tian and Qin Hen, I thought it was because I wasn't good enough. I kept practicing hard, hoping for a word of praise from you. But all that was just my fantasy; you truly despise me from the bottom of your heart."

Qin Nian screamed, almost going crazy, his eyes fixed intently on Qin Yuanshan, wanting to see what kind of heart of stone this so-called father had.

The cold autumn wind blew over him, making him feel a chill from his feet all the way to his head, yet his heart felt even colder.

"Hmph!"

Qin Yuanshan snorted disdainfully, utterly unmoved by Qin Nian's words.

This scene, seen by Qin Nian, seemed to envelop his heart in a layer of icy frost.

Sixteen years of father-son affection was just an illusion in his heart!

"What family rules? What rule that bastards cannot cultivate? It's all just an excuse. You simply despise my mother because she was born a maid and of low status, tarnishing the face of you, the Family Head of the Qin Family!"

Qin Nian roared crazily, his eyes burning red.

"Shut your mouth!" Qin Yuanshan bellowed, his face also flushing with anger.

"What, have I struck a nerve? Are you feeling guilty? Is Qin Yuanshan not exactly this kind of person?" Qin Nian mocked coldly.

"Unfilial son, you're seeking death!" Qin Yuanshan was furious. After he spoke, he struck another palm, knocking Qin Nian into the air again.

Qin Nian lay on the ground, his mouth full of fresh blood, looking at the furious Qin Yuanshan in front of him. He felt more than ever that his past yearning for paternal love was utterly laughable!

"From today onwards, I no longer carry the Qin surname; I take my mother's surname, Xu. From now on, I am Xu Nian, and I have nothing to do with you, Qin Yuanshan!"

Qin Nian's eyes instantly grew cold, as he struggled to stand using one arm against the ground, uttering each word decisively.

From the moment Qin Yuanshan struck his Dantian, his familial ties with him had dissolved into smoke.

"Beast, you dare to disrespect your father!" Qin Hen also shouted angrily from the side.

As Qin Nian was about to leave, his eyes caught Qin Hen amidst the crowd, and a cold smile appeared on his lips once more.

"You didn't speak, and I almost forgot about you, my dear second brother. Everything today is thanks to you; someday, your younger brother will surely repay you."

The cultivation technique Qin Nian practiced in those days was given to him by Qin Hen, originally thought to be out of kindness.

Yet, all of it was a scheme he had crafted, starting by having him cultivate, then using the family rules to have Qin Yuanshan revoke his cultivation, such craftiness was utterly ruthless.

How had he still called such a person second brother for sixteen years? He must have been blind!

Self-mockery covered Qin Nian's face, and at that moment, his heart was filled with nothing but hatred.

Hatred for Qin Hen's ruthlessness.

Hatred for Qin Yuanshan's heartlessness.

Hatred for his own blindness.

And even more hatred for his own helplessness that had implicated his mother.

But now he was powerless to do anything; all he could do was continue to live, as this time there was hope to save his mother.

Qin Nian slowly turned around and walked towards the exit of the Qin Family Mansion, knowing if he didn't leave now, he probably wouldn't be able to get away today, because his words just now had already enraged Qin Yuanshan and Qin Hen.

"Hmph, you think you can leave?" Qin Hen coldly snorted.

After speaking, he immediately flashed in front of Qin Nian, landing a merciless heavy punch on Qin Nian's chest.

"Thud!"

Qin Nian vomited blood recklessly, his ribs instantly breaking, and his body was flung back into the courtyard.

Now that Qin Nian's cultivation had been destroyed, and Qin Hen, being a Nine-star Warrior, could shatter even rocks with his punch, how could Qin Nian withstand it?

After seriously injuring Qin Nian with one punch, Qin Hen appeared not yet ready to stop as he directly stomped on Qin Nian's legs.

With great momentum and force, Qin Hen used all his strength on this stomp.

"Ah..."

Qin Nian immediately let out a heart-wrenching scream; his two femurs were brutally crushed.

"Ha ha, how dare you be so arrogant? You wanted revenge? Get up and fight me! A waste, just a waste!" Qin Hen mercilessly stomped on Qin Nian's thigh, laughing wildly, his expression utterly ferocious.

Qin Yuanshan just watched by the side, with no intention of intervening.

The Qin Family also watched indifferently, only a few showing fleeting moments of sympathy, yet no one stepped forward to stop it.

What a cold and pitiless family.

Qin Nian's heart was as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice.

At this moment, the pain in his body was beyond measure, yet he still clenched his teeth and persisted.

His only belief was to stay alive; his mother was still waiting for him to save her, and his vengeance must be avenged.

He also vowed in his heart, as long as he didn't die today, all of today's events, he would doubly repay to the Qin Family someday.

"Enough!"

Just then, an old voice came from deep within the grounds of the Qin Family.

"Ancestor!"

Everyone in the Qin Family was startled, promptly turning to salute towards the direction of the voice.

Qin Hen also hurriedly stopped torturing Qin Nian.

The Ancestor had spoken, he dared not defy, for even his father could not save him.

"He is still one of us in the Qin Family; since the punishment has been dealt, just drive him out of the house; there's no need for overkill." That majestic old voice spoke again, commanding and irresistible.

"Yes!" Qin Yuanshan immediately responded, then commanded the servants, "Someone, carry this beast out, let him fend for himself."

By the side, the already dazed Qin Nian only felt himself being carried out of the Qin Family, then dumped inside a decrepit temple at the eastern end of Cloud Sea City.

That place was a gathering spot for beggars, dirty and disheveled.

However, Qin Nian knew that his life was saved, and with that, his obsessive thoughts relaxed.

Once his obsession relaxed, he completely lost consciousness.

...

As the night slowly descended, a few stars began to emerge in the sky.

On the small path outside the broken temple, a middle-aged man was walking this way.

Strangely, despite the absence of major Republic events since 1912 that led to※ Martial Law, the middle-aged man's movements were very slow, yet his figure was incredibly elusive, almost ghost-like, covering dozens of meters in one step, quickly appearing inside the temple.

He scanned the temple, and his gaze finally rested on the seriously injured Qin Nian.

Seeing the severely wounded Qin Nian, a hint of excitement appeared on his face.

"What a strong Divine Demon bloodline, I, Bai Tianhan, have searched the mortal realms for hundreds of years and have finally found a suitable disciple. From today onwards, you are Bai Tianhan's apprentice, ha ha!" The middle-aged man laughed loudly.

He picked up Qin Nian and swiftly disappeared into the night.