Prologue:

Kingdom of Florial, Maple Town.

In the ancestral hall of the Ye family, a young girl of approximately twelve years old stood before Ye Ling, the first daughter-in-law and aunt of the child. The girl was dressed in tattered clothes, her exquisite features hidden by her disheveled black hair and tired red eyes. Dark circles under her eyes revealed her lack of sleep in recent days.

Ye Ling, with a menacing expression, firmly grasped the girl's arms.

"Ye Fei! How dare you?! Who gave you the audacity to come to this ancestral hall?"

she interrogated her niece, who was the daughter of her brother-in-law and the second son of the Ye family's head. As the one being questioned by her aunt, Ye Fei calmly looked back at her. Despite her status as a young miss within the family, she received neither the respect nor the care that she rightfully deserved as a member of her lineage.

Her position was even lower than that of the common servants in the household.

"I am not here to cause trouble. I simply wish to speak with the family head. I will wait for his arrival in the corner of this hall without disturbing anyone," Ye Fei explained to her aunt, maintaining direct eye contact with an unwavering calmness uncommon for her age.

"For what reason? Why do you wish to see him?" Every time Ye Ling observed her niece's composed demeanor, she became unreasonably annoyed. She desired nothing more than to punish the girl standing before her.

Ye Fei's father, Ye Qing, was the second son of the Ye family and a renowned genius of his time. However, he passed away before Ye Fei's birth, and she lost her mother on the same day she was born.

Despite her grandfather, the Ye family head, strongly opposing the marriage between Ye Qing and her mother, they went against his wishes. Since then, the father and son rarely interacted with each other. After the deaths of her parents, the Ye family head never once visited his granddaughter.

Instead, he entrusted the responsibility of raising the child to her uncle's family. However, they never treated her as a true member of the family.

Three years ago, the situation worsened significantly after her spiritual roots were put to the test. Once they discovered that her spiritual root was of poor quality, they began to subject her to various forms of bullying.

It has been a full week since she last had a proper sleep, and even now her stomach growls from hunger. She has finally reached her breaking point.

"All I want is to rightfully claim my father's properties, which belong to me according to the laws of our kingdom, before completely severing ties with the Ye family."

For a brief moment, the entire room fell into silence, with even the passing servants casting bewildered glances at Ye Fei.

"W-w-why? Do you even understand what you're asking for? How can you be so ungrateful?!"

Ye Ling couldn't hide her shock upon hearing Ye Fei's words. Anxiety filled her as she looked at her niece. Ye Fei took a deep breath, observing her aunt's displeasing countenance.

"Aunt... please, let's stop pretending. You have never once regarded me as family... *sigh* no, it's not just that, you have never even treated me as a human being. Why should I be grateful when I have no reason to be? You have misappropriated all the money that the family head provided for my well-being, you allowed your son to bully me without intervening, and worse, you encouraged him to harm me. You denied me proper food and a place to sleep, and you even forbade me from learning martial arts or pursuing an education. What am I supposed to do? Your behavior becomes more unreasonable with each passing day. I have had enough of this; I will take care of myself from now on. I will request the family head to reclaim my father's properties from my uncle. That's al-AHH!!"

Without allowing the girl to finish her sentence, Ye Ling proceeded to deliver a series of slaps to her face, silencing her.

As a cultivator in the fourth stage of the foundation realm with a Primal-quality spiritual root, Ye Ling's slaps left Ye Fei's face swollen and bruised. Unsatisfied with the damage inflicted, Ye Ling followed up with a forceful kick to her chest, causing her to be forcefully expelled from the ancestral hall.

The impact left Ye Ling momentarily stunned, unable to comprehend the extent of her aunt's cruelty. It was shocking to witness such behavior within the sacred ancestral hall, in the presence of the entire Ye family's servants.

*Cough*

Ye Fei, despite her injuries, mustered the strength to rise to her feet, spitting blood and coughing heavily.

Her vision slowly cleared, allowing her to focus on Ye Ling.

The servants, avoiding eye contact, stood by silently as Ye Ling mercilessly beat a defenseless 12-year-old girl. This sight only fueled Ye Fei's determination to confront the family head. She had reached her limit with this mistreatment.

Despite the brutal beating she endured, Ye Fei possessed a resilient body, enabling her to continue walking towards the ancestral hall, albeit with trembling legs.

The gasps from the surrounding servants echoed in the air as she made her way forward.

Some individuals felt their blood boil as they witnessed the unwavering resolve of this young girl, despite the cruelty she had endured at the hands of her aunt. It was disheartening to realize that they were powerless to assist her, as Ye Ling held absolute control over their fate within the Ye Family's residence.

Ye Ling's expression twisted in anger as she became even more infuriated by her niece's resilience. Without hesitation, she forcefully grabbed Ye Fei by the neck and lifted her, forcing their eyes to meet.

Helpless against her aunt's grip, the young girl could only glare at Ye Ling while struggling to breathe.

"Who do you think you are? You disgusting disgrace... Do you honestly believe that the family head would care about you? Don't overestimate yourself!... To him, your very existence is a stain on the Ye family. Even if you were to die right now, no one would bat an eye, would you like to see that?"

'It hurts... it hurts so much..'

Ye Fei desperately tried to free herself from her aunt's grasp, disregarding her aunt's words, but to no avail.

Within moments, she lost consciousness due to a lack of oxygen and the pressure on her throat.

"So, you want to be excommunicated from the Ye family, huh? Hahaha, I will make sure you realize just how worthless you are without the Ye family... Everyone cast this disgraceful individual out of our residence, and do not allow her to return until she begs like a dog..."

With a malicious expression on her face, she threw Ye Fei towards her servants.

***