Xu Tianran did not give Zhang Lexuan a chance to catch her breath; he struck while the iron was hot, pressing his advantage.
He continued to use the most direct and sharpest words to pierce through that final veil:
"Back when Elder Kong saw you at the All-Continent Advanced Spirit Master Academy Competition, he felt the aura on you was familiar."
"So, Elder Kong secretly sent people to investigate your background and origin, and everything was uncovered."
"I won't beat around the bush with you, nor will I spout any empty nonsense; I will tell you the final conclusion directly."
"Your family was wiped out back then for no other reason than your background, because the blood of the Sun Moon Empire's Kong Family flows through your veins!"
"And the murderer who personally wiped out your entire family, turning you from a pampered young lady into a homeless orphan, is nine times out of ten the very Shrek Academy you revere as a holy land!"
"With your intelligence, combined with your background and the reasons behind it, I presume I don't need to say anything more, do I?"
For a clever person like Zhang Lexuan, who is discerning and quick to understand, the last thing needed is long-winded setup and explanation.
Only the simplest, most direct, and bloodiest answer is the most fatal attack.
Saying too much would only easily reveal flaws; it is better to just throw the core truth in front of her.
The remaining suspicion, pain, and internal struggle—she will continuously imagine and magnify them herself, eventually driving herself into a corner.
Hearing these heart-piercing words from Xu Tianran, Zhang Lexuan's heart trembled violently, as if struck by lightning, and her mind went instantly blank.
All her thoughts were completely disrupted; the cognition, faith, and worldview she had built up over many years collapsed in that instant.
For the entire past week, her mind had been filled with the issue of her own bloodline, sinking into endless entanglement and pain.
From childhood to adulthood, she was taught at Shrek Academy by Elder Mu, Elder Xuan, and all her teachers.
Elder Mu told her personally that her Moon Martial Soul was gifted, yet it had no relation to the Spirit of the Sun Moon Empire's royal family.
It was merely a coincidence of being from the same lineage but different sources, not inherited from the same line.
She had believed it for over a decade.
But now, Xu Tianran was telling her that she was not an orphan from some ordinary family, but a descendant of Kong Deming, a successor of the Sun Moon Empire's Kong Family bloodline!
Who was Kong Deming?
After the All-Continent Advanced Spirit Master Academy Competition ended, Elder Xuan had mentioned this name in front of her more than once, his tone full of disdain and murderous intent.
Elder Xuan told her that Kong Deming was the top powerhouse of the Sun Moon Empire, cunning, treacherous, and ruthless.
Kong Deming had a quarter of the Sun Moon Royal Family's blood flowing through him and was one of the greatest enemies of the Shrek Empire.
Elder Xuan had also instructed her that when she became stronger in the future, if she encountered that old thing Kong Deming on the battlefield, she should not have any reservations and should do everything possible to kill him, ridding the Douluo Continent of a scourge.
Those words were still vivid in her mind, and the indoctrination of hatred was still deeply engraved in her heart.
But now, Xu Tianran was telling her that this Kong Deming, whom she regarded as a mortal enemy and whom her teachers demanded she kill if given the chance, was actually her great-great-grandfather?
She was actually a direct descendant of Kong Deming, with the most noble blood of the Sun Moon Empire's Kong Family flowing in her?
For Zhang Lexuan, this information was no different from a bolt from the blue, a thunderous blow sufficient to destroy everything she had!
With her intelligence, she didn't need Xu Tianran to explain much more.
Combining his short and direct answer with her own experiences and doubts over the years.
Even if she didn't want to believe it ten thousand times over, and wanted to refute it ten thousand times, her reason kept telling her.
This, perhaps, was the cruelest truth.
Otherwise, nothing could be explained at all.
Back then, when her family was brutally wiped out, her grandmother was already a powerful Spirit Douluo, a strong expert capable of guarding a region, yet she still couldn't escape the disaster, and no one in the family survived.
And she was just a ten-year-old child back then, with low cultivation; why was she the only one who managed to escape that bloody massacre?
The Zhang Lexuan of today was no longer that ignorant little girl; her current strength and vision even far surpassed her grandmother's back then.
She knew clearly in her heart that even if she were to personally execute a mission to wipe out a family, she would absolutely never make such a low-level mistake of leaving survivors or failing to root out the weeds.
Being able to kill her grandmother, who had reached the level of a Spirit Douluo, while sparing only one child—this was not a mistake at all, but a deliberate act!
Combined with the background she now knew, and the hatred Elder Xuan had intentionally or unintentionally instilled in her ears after the All-Continent Competition, reminding her time and again to kill Kong Deming if she met him...
An incomparably terrifying and cold truth gradually became clear in her mind.
That Shrek Academy, which had raised her for over a decade, given her a place to live, taught her cultivation, taught her how to be a person, and which she regarded as her second home and a holy land of faith,
had never treated her as family, had never treated her as a disciple from the very beginning!
Instead, from beginning to end, they had treated her as a blade aimed at the Sun Moon Empire, aimed at Kong Deming!
The sharpest and cruelest blade!
In this World, what pain could compare to being hated by one's own blood relatives?
To being killed by one's own descendant?
Shrek had calculated everything; they had calculated the ruthlessness of Zhang Lexuan once she was blinded by hatred.
They wiped out Zhang Lexuan's family and cut off her roots just to raise her into a sharp blade to stab into Kong Deming's heart.
To let the Sun Moon Empire's top powerhouse die at the hands of his own descendant.
What a sinister scheme, what a vicious plot!
Zhang Lexuan slumped on the ground, her whole body ice-cold, as if her blood had frozen.
She looked at Kong Deming before her, looking at this great-great-grandfather whom she had only met once but with whom she shared a blood connection.
She then thought of those kind teachers at Shrek Academy, thought of Elder Mu's gentle instructions, and thought of Elder Xuan's stern teachings...
For a moment, Zhang Lexuan only felt waves of heart-wrenching pain in her chest, and the World before her eyes completely collapsed.
"Pfft—"
A dull and shrill sound of escaping air suddenly rang out, and a large mouthful of bright red blood sprayed from Zhang Lexuan's lips.
Her face, already pale as paper, instantly lost the last trace of color, becoming as if transparent.
Zhang Lexuan's eyes rolled back, her slender body tilted softly, and she lost all consciousness right in front of everyone, fainting dead away.
This scene happened too suddenly, yet it was within everyone's expectations.
Zhang Lexuan had just been crushed by the dual blows of the mystery of her background and the truth of the massacre; her mental defenses had also collapsed to the extreme.
At this moment, all the suspicion, pain, anger, and sense of betrayal surged into her heart together; with her mind shattered, she was overcome by extreme rage, causing damage to her Spirit.