Chapter 210: New King and Old Scars
Su Liang had taken the Zhu Clan's gifts for pure selfish interest—without consent, without knowledge, without a single word to the Patriarch or the family council. The Zhu Clan were no novices. They knew the Patriarch had already refused them. They knew the Second Elder had come on his own. But he was the Patriarch's younger brother—his actions carried the weight of the family name whether he had the right to use it or not. They had chosen to exploit exactly that.
"That bastard!"
Su Tianhao's voice came out raw with anger he hadn't intended to show.
Su Liang had been a thorn in his side from the first day he stepped into the Su family. When his talent had failed to awaken last year, it was Su Liang who had personally ordered him removed from the main residence. During his match with Su Jian, Su Liang's hostility had been open and unmistakable. Even in the ancestral hall, when Su Tianhao had come with three scrolls and a genuine effort to pull the family back from crisis, Su Liang had been the only one who fought him at every turn. And when he had finally tried to leave—to simply walk away—Su Liang had come after him with killing intent. Only his Dragon Instincts, his wits, and the Phantom Cloak had kept him alive that day.
And now this.
'I have always wanted to pay him back for everything he has done,' Su Tianhao's fists clenched at his sides. 'But this—this is a whole new level of wickedness.'
Su Mei sighed at the sight of his expression. "After that incident, Zhu Yong began spreading rumours that we were engaged—openly proclaiming himself my fiancé. I managed to clear the misunderstanding within the sect, but the Zhu Clan refuses to let it go. As long as I remain within the sect boundaries, I am protected. But the moment I step outside—"
"They'll make their move," Su Tianhao said quietly, the full implications settling into place. "They'll pressure the Su family to hand you over and honour the proposal—using the Second Elder's acceptance of their gifts as legal standing."
"Exactly." Su Mei's fists tightened until her knuckles went pale. "That man practically ruined my life. I can't form any relationship without Zhu Yong's interference. I can't go home until I am strong enough to stand against the full might of the Zhu Clan on my own. Even now, Zhu Yong has eyes inside the sect watching me. The moment word reaches him that I am heading to Oakwood City, they'll move."
"Zhu Yong." Su Tianhao's eyes narrowed slowly.
He had never met this person. That didn't matter. The name had already been written.
Su Mei caught his expression and her face darkened immediately. "Please, junior brother—this is my fight. Don't approach him. Don't do anything rash. I am begging you."
Su Tianhao's expression softened slightly. He shrugged one shoulder. "Don't worry. I promise I won't do anything rash."
The words were calm and genuine.
They were also not the complete thought.
'I won't do anything rash—because Zhu Clan or not, I always come out on top. I have my ways...'
The calculations had already begun quietly behind his eyes. The Zhu Clan had no idea what they had just set in motion.
Su Mei exhaled with visible relief. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I didn't want to burden you."
"You're still apologising?" Su Tianhao frowned slightly.
"Well—I could have at least kept sending you messages after your downfall—"
"Mei'er."
His voice was firm and quiet at the same time, carrying a solemn weight that stopped her mid-sentence.
"I never held a grudge against you. You did nothing wrong—so you don't have to apologise. I have no interest in dwelling on that past. And neither should you."
Su Mei stared at him. For a moment she felt as though their ages had reversed—as though she were the younger one looking up at someone who had simply grown past the things that still held her.
She wiped the tears from her face quickly and offered a curt bow.
"Thank you, junior brother."
Su Tianhao shook his head with a wry smile. "Just call me Little Tian."
Su Mei raised her head. Her eyes were still bright with tears she hadn't fully finished crying.
"L-Little Tian..."
The name came out trembling—heavy with years of careful avoidance, with nostalgia, with the particular ache of something familiar that had been kept at a distance for too long. It was the name she had decided, without ever quite saying so, that she no longer had the right to use. Hearing herself say it now—hearing him invite it—gave her more than any formal forgiveness could have.
She exhaled slowly. Something she had been carrying for seven years, a weight so constant she had stopped noticing it was there, simply lifted.
A smile bloomed across her face—warm and unguarded, the kind that doesn't ask permission before it arrives.
Su Tianhao smiled back, his expression gentle and unhurried, like still water catching the last light of a quiet evening. "Now that smile—that's what you should carry with you. It holds warmth and hope. Tears only invite more of the same, so let them go."
Su Mei's face flooded with colour. She turned away before it could fully show, her hand coming up to her cheek.
"I—I just realised it's getting late! I should head back to the Baiyin Quarters!"
She was already moving before Su Tianhao could respond, her steps quickening rapidly—far more rapidly than the situation seemed to call for.
"See you tomorrow, Little Tian!"
And then she was gone—moving at a pace that a 7th level Martial Core Realm expert had absolutely no excuse for on a calm evening stroll.
Su Tianhao stood alone in the clearing and blinked once.
"What was that?"
He looked at the space she had vacated with genuine confusion.
"...I need to keep my aura under better control."
---
Up above, Lu Ruyi had watched the entire exchange from the clouds with an amused smile, her crystalline blue eyes bright with something closer to mischief than she would have admitted to.
Then the wind shifted behind her—and a figure appeared as though it had always been there, as though the clouds had simply decided to produce a person.
He was a handsome man in what appeared to be his mid-forties, broad-shouldered and powerfully built, dressed in black robes streaked with silver, sleeves casually rolled to the elbow to reveal forearms that looked capable of independent violence. Short dark hair, light brown eyes that carried permanent amusement—sharp features that shouldn't have looked playful but somehow always did.
Lu Ruyi didn't flinch. She turned and offered a short bow.
"Greetings, Lord Huo Changfeng."
Huo Changfeng waved it off. "Lord Huo is fine. Or Senior, if you prefer the formality."
"If I may ask, Lord Huo—what brings you here?" Lu Ruyi said, with the deliberate composure of someone who had decided they were speaking to a peer rather than a superior.
Huo Changfeng didn't mind her tone in the slightest. He pointed downward at the clearing.
"Same reason you are. To study him."
Lu Ruyi's brow lifted slightly. "What makes you think I was studying him?"
"Haha." Huo Changfeng settled himself against nothing in particular, leaning on the open air with the ease of a man in his own sitting room. "I've been watching since the match began. The intensity you were giving that boy wasn't observation—it was calculation. You were working something out."
"Hmph." Lu Ruyi clicked her tongue. "Don't you have other duties? Your new recruits should still be finishing their competition."
"They were wrapping up when I left," he said pleasantly. "They'll be arriving here shortly."
"I see." Her gaze had already drifted back to the clearing below.
Huo Changfeng followed her line of sight, his expression settling into something more thoughtful. "He's interesting, isn't he? Talented, strong—but it's the character that sets him apart. The knowledge. The restraint. He carries a maturity that has no business being on someone his age."
"Tch." Lu Ruyi clicked her tongue again. "Don't speak to me like I'm one of your drinking companions, old man. Tianhao and I are the same age."
"You certainly don't act it," Huo Changfeng said, with the smile of a man who knew exactly what he was saying. "Neither does he. You two would make quite the pair."
Lu Ruyi turned to look at him flatly. "Don't let your imagination run away with you. Tianhao is my friend."
She paused.
Then shook her head—not in denial of what Huo Changfeng had said, but in quiet correction of her own first answer.
Her mind had gone back to the moment Su Tianhao sheathed Dark Nether, stepped forward, and simply ceased to be visible to her perception for one impossible instant. The Severing Shadow. The technique she still couldn't fully account for. The gap it had just revealed between them.
Her eyes carried firm conviction when she spoke again.
"He's my rival."
---
A short while later, as the conversation wound down and Su Tianhao began making his way back through the Ironpine Woods toward the Stonehaven Grove, Lu Ruyi received permission from Huo Changfeng to remain in the sect overnight.
She didn't want her presence noticed. Su Tianhao had become the centre of attention in the span of a single afternoon—approaching him now, with the entire grove still buzzing, would turn a quiet visit into an event.
'I'll find a way to see him tomorrow morning,' she decided. 'Early. Before anyone else is moving.'
---
Meanwhile, Su Tianhao returned to the Stonehaven Grove. He ignored the stares and glances that followed him through the winding stone paths—there were more disciples gathered than before, drawn by the story that had apparently already spread to every corner of the grove. He didn't care. As long as no one approached him.
He arrived at his cottage unfazed, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.
The space was modest and completely unadorned—stone walls, stone floor, a low ceiling with a single spirit lamp above the entrance that flickered to life the moment he crossed the threshold, responding to the presence of its new owner. The formation seal above the door hummed faintly as it registered the blood bond transfer.
The main room was wider than it appeared from outside. A meditation mat sat at the centre of the floor—worn smooth with years of use, the fabric darkened at the edges where years of pressure had left their mark. A low writing desk occupied the far wall, surface bare and clean. Beside it stood an empty weapon rack. A single broad window faced the Ironpine Woods, its shutter open, the last of the evening light falling across the stone floor in long pale strips.
To the left, a narrow doorway led to the sleeping area—a raised platform, a firm pallet, a folded blanket. To the right, the kitchen and bathroom occupied a compact space that smelled faintly of stone and pine resin drifting in from outside.
The rear door stood directly ahead—heavy, iron-banded, slightly wider than standard. Through the gap at its base, cool forest air moved in slow and quiet, carrying the sharp scent of ancient bark and needle.
Su Tianhao stood in the centre of the room for a moment.
It wasn't much.
But it was quiet. It was his. And it backed directly onto the forest.
That was enough.
He set Dark Nether on the weapon rack, sat down on the meditation mat, and closed his eyes.
---
Just outside the Stonehaven Grove, the new recruits were filing in—escorted by Elder Xie Ning, the Silverblade Peak Elder that served as the examiner responsible for the prospects test in the entrance exam.
The recruits arrived in varying states of relief, wonder, and residual exhaustion. Most of them had already walked through the Wildbamboo Grounds, and the contrast with the Stonehaven Grove was not subtle. Several of the nobles were visibly grateful in a way they were too proud to say aloud.
Of the three hundred and ten who had passed the examination and entered the Outer Court, one hundred and fifty-two had decided to join the Jadeclaw Peak, while the other one hundred and fifty-eight had joined the Silverblade Peak. Of those numbers, only twenty had reached the Stonehaven Grove—twenty-one counting Su Tianhao. Every one of them was a genuine talent. But certain individuals stood in a category of their own. The rest were solid 1st Level Martial Adepts—some having barely crossed that threshold.
Extraordinary talents like Chen Mu had remained in the Wildbamboo Grounds. The Qingyun Sect extended no favouritism.
Of the Su family's contingent, only Su Lei had joined the Silverblade Peak and made it to the Stonehaven Grove. Su Jian and Su Ruxue had joined the Jadeclaw Peak, likely settling into a residence similar to the Wildbamboo Grounds. Su Ji and Su Gang had joined Ashenveil Peak as servant disciples.
The friendly competition had drawn its lines clearly. The top ten had been confirmed.
Su Tianhao had placed first—that had never been in question. Jin Yulong, despite his defeat, had placed second. His overwhelming talent and battle experience had carried him through every other match without difficulty. Wang Bing had placed third—remarkable given her age and lack of experience, but even her extraordinary strength had found its limit after a genuinely hard-fought match.
Fourth and fifth had surprised everyone.
Su Lei had defeated both Mo Qingxue and Xiao Fenghua despite being a 1st level Martial Adept. His Sword Sense, sharpened to a precision that belied his cultivation level, combined with the Heavenpiercing Gale Sword Scripture had allowed him to overcome Mo Qingxue—a cultivator two minor realms above him. The crowd had gone quiet for that match in the way they only do when they're watching something they don't entirely believe.
Xiao Fenghua had defied all expectations and placed fifth—defeating Mo Qingxue in their subsequent match despite being a minor realm below her, through illusion mastery and spiritual energy control so refined it bordered on unsettling. He had not appeared to be trying particularly hard, which somehow made it worse for the people he defeated.
Mo Qingxue had claimed sixth—dispatching every opponent after her matches against Su Lei and Xiao Fenghua with cold efficiency. She was not satisfied. It showed.
Seventh and eighth belonged to the two rogue sisters. The younger had surprised nearly everyone by placing above her elder sibling—her raw instincts and unconventional combat approach proving more adaptable than expected.
Ninth and tenth had gone to the two young men tested among the last few. The lean one with the quiet noble bearing had edged out the broader, defeating heftier one through superior hand-to-hand combat and composure under pressure. The difference between them was clear. Both knew it.
In the end, the first through sixth rankers had surprised many by choosing the Silverblade Peak. The seventh through tenth had gone to the Jadeclaw Peak instead—where they could shine without living permanently in the shadow of their peers.
---
Elder Xie Ning explained the rules of the Stonehaven Grove carefully—the challenge system, the three permitted challenges per month, the written note requirement, the protections the cottage offered. Eyes lit up across the group at the prospect of claiming a cottage through direct challenge. Elder Xie Ning offered a firm warning.
"Be careful how you choose. You are new here. Do not underestimate your seniors."
When they finally crossed into the Stonehaven Grove proper, they were met with information that stopped several of them mid-step.
"Su Tianhao defeated Torin?"
Elder Xie Ning's voice came out sharper than she had intended. She recovered quickly, but the disbelief had already shown. She knew exactly how powerful Torin was—had watched him develop over four years into something that operated at a level most Outer Court Disciples couldn't fully account for. Yet Su Tianhao had somehow defeated him on his first day inside the sect.
The story came in pieces from the surrounding disciples—the challenge note, Torin's immediate acceptance, the clearing in the Ironpine Woods. The explosive opening exchange. The ten minutes of a battle that looked like two people enjoying themselves while casually demolishing the concept of a fair fight. Torin being pushed to his absolute limit by an opponent who hadn't yet used any technique. And the finish—Su Tianhao sheathing Dark Nether, stepping forward, and passing through the full force of the Selvak Ruination without anyone in the clearing understanding how.
To the newer recruits, it sounded like an exaggeration. The kind of story that grows in the retelling.
To the top talents—who had stood beside Su Tianhao at the examination, who had felt his aura and watched him catch Jin Yulong's finishing strike bare-handed—it was entirely plausible. And the implications were staggering.
Mo Qingxue clicked her tongue, arms folded, her bearing as composed as ever. "I knew he was dangerous, but I never expected this." Her eyes, however, told a different story—carrying envy, curiosity, and the particular irritation of someone who has just been reminded that the ceiling they were reaching for has other people standing on top of it.
Xiao Fenghua's hazel eyes lit with genuine appreciation, his smile wide and knowing. "I said it the moment I saw him—that brother is not ordinary." He laughed softly to himself. "This Outer Court just got considerably more interesting."
Su Lei went still when he heard. His brows drew together slowly, and he stared at nothing in particular for a long moment, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. The expression on his face was one he hadn't entirely planned to show.
'Tianhao... how far ahead have you gone? Am I destined never to catch up?'
He said nothing aloud. But his grip on the hilt tightened slightly before he released it and walked on.
Wang Bing's amber-gold eyes gleamed with delight and something warmer underneath it. She clasped her hands together, barely containing the smile pushing at the corners of her mouth.
'Brother Tianhao truly is something else. I'm glad he's on my side.'
Jin Yulong's reaction was unlike any of the others.
Where the rest of them carried surprise, admiration, envy, complicated pride, or quiet awe—his carried none of those things.
His jaw was set. His green eyes had gone very still.
"Su Tianhao." The name came out low and controlled, the way a person speaks when they are working very hard to keep something contained. "You have taken my place as king—again."
His eyes didn't move from the direction of the Stonehaven Grove.
"Sit on that throne as long as you like."
Something cold and certain settled behind his gaze.
"It won't be for long."