The silence in the ballroom was brittle, like thin glass waiting for a hammer. Han Feng stood on the dais, the shattered neck of a vintage wine bottle still dripping in his hand. Below him, the elite of the Azure Capital looked like statues of frozen meat. Behind him, Captain Sarah remained on one knee, her head bowed in a terrifying display of absolute subservience.
Stepmother Lin was the first to move. Her initial shock was being swallowed by a cold, calculating desperation. She was a woman who had clawed her way to the top of the Han family over the corpses of her rivals; she wasn't going to let a "trash" disciple ruin her crowning night with a few parlor tricks.
"A dramatic entrance, Han Feng. I'll give you that," Lin said, her voice regaining its melodic, poisonous edge. She signaled to a waiter, who trembling, brought forward a silver tray with two crystal glasses filled with a deep, violet liquid. "But let's not forget where we are. You are a guest in my house. If you want to talk about inheritance, let's do it like civilized people. A toast? To the memory of your... dear, departed father."
Han Feng's eyes narrowed. The mention of his father was a jagged blade, meant to provoke.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
Hazard Detected: 'Spirit-Rot' Poison.
Effect: Instant paralysis of the Dantian. Permanent cultivation cripple.
System Advice: Drink it. The 'Filthy Blood' will refine the toxin into raw Virility Qi.
A dark, predatory grin played on Han Feng's lips. He reached out and took the glass. The liquid was beautiful, shimmering with a faint, oily light that smelled of almonds and death.
"To my father," Han Feng said, his voice dropping to a silken growl. "And to the legacy you've spent ten years trying to piss away."
He drained the glass in one go.
Lin watched him, her eyes wide with a sick, anticipatory glee. She waited for the cough. She waited for his knees to buckle. She waited for the blood to leak from his eyes as the Spirit-Rot dissolved his meridians.
Instead, Han Feng just exhaled. A faint, dark mist escaped his lips, and his skin began to glow with a dull, metallic bronze.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
Toxin Absorbed.
Conversion: +500 Essence Points.
Body Refinement: Iron Root (Stage 2) – Hardness +20%.
"Is that it?" Han Feng asked, tossing the empty glass over his shoulder. It shattered against a portrait of Lin herself. "Your 'best' wine tastes like gutter water, Mother. Just like the lies you told my father before you let him rot."
Lin's face twisted into a mask of pure, unadulterated rage. The mask of the elegant Matriarch finally fell off, revealing the venomous snake beneath. "You think you're invincible? You think that because you've corrupted one weak-willed Captain, you own this city?"
She stepped back, her heels clicking sharply on the marble. She raised her hand and snapped her fingers—a sharp, final sound that echoed through the hall.
"To the garden! Now!" she shrieked.
Before the guests could react, the heavy oak doors at the back of the ballroom were kicked open by a squad of armored men—Lin's private security, her "Black-Flag" executioners. They grabbed Han Feng, but he didn't resist. He let them drag him out into the rain-slicked garden, Sarah following behind with her hand on her weapon, waiting for his signal.
The garden was a labyrinth of white roses and stone statues, now illuminated by the harsh, white beams of tactical spotlights. Lin stood on the balcony above, looking down at Han Feng as he stood in the center of the killing floor.
"You wanted to know the joke, Han Feng?" Lin shouted over the roar of the rain. "The joke is that your father died thinking I loved him. The joke is that he left the 'Secret Scrolls' to a son who is about to be turned into a sieve!"
She pointed a finger at him. From the darkness of the surrounding hedges, five red laser sights converged on Han Feng's chest. The snipers were in position.
"This is the end of the line, you filthy-blooded brat," Lin sneered. "Any last words for the loser who sired you?"
Han Feng looked up at her, the rain washing the bronze glow of his skin into a terrifying, metallic sheen. He didn't look at the snipers. He looked at the shadows where their Qi was leaking.
"Just one thing, Lin," Han Feng said, his voice a low, vibrating hum that made the nearby rosebushes tremble.
He closed his eyes and let the [Iron Root] energy explode outward from his core.
"KNEEL."
He activated [Commanding Presence] at Stage 2.
It wasn't a shout; it was a psychic shockwave. The pressure was so intense that the rain itself seemed to flatten against the ground. The guests on the balcony screamed as they were forced to their knees, the weight of his aura feeling like an invisible mountain had dropped on their shoulders.
In the hedges, the snipers didn't fire. Their fingers froze on the triggers as their hearts skipped beats. One by one, they tumbled out of their hiding spots, their bodies refusing to obey them, their faces hitting the mud in a forced kowtow.
Lin gripped the stone railing of the balcony, her knuckles white, her breath coming in ragged, terrified gasps. She felt the Qi in her body—her refined, arrogant 'Matriarch Qi'—bowing down to him. Her thighs were shaking so violently she could barely stand.
"What... what is this..." she choked out.
Han Feng walked through the mud, stepping over the prone bodies of the snipers like they were trash. He reached the base of the balcony and looked up at her, his eyes glowing with a dark, golden hunger.
"The banquet isn't over yet, Mother," Han Feng whispered, his voice carrying through the storm. "We still haven't discussed the real inheritance. And I think the dining table is the perfect place to sign the contract."
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
Target Lin: 30% Corrupted.
Status: Mental Fortitude Breaking / BioThe silence in the ballroom was brittle, like thin glass waiting for a hammer. Han Feng stood on the dais, the shattered neck of a vintage wine bottle still dripping in his hand. Below him, the elite of the Azure Capital looked like statues of frozen meat. Behind him, Captain Sarah remained on one knee, her head bowed in a terrifying display of absolute subservience.
Stepmother Lin was the first to move. Her initial shock was being swallowed by a cold, calculating desperation. She was a woman who had clawed her way to the top of the Han family over the corpses of her rivals; she wasn't going to let a "trash" disciple ruin her crowning night with a few parlor tricks.
"A dramatic entrance, Han Feng. I'll give you that," Lin said, her voice regaining its melodic, poisonous edge. She signaled to a waiter, who trembling, brought forward a silver tray with two crystal glasses filled with a deep, violet liquid. "But let's not forget where we are. You are a guest in my house. If you want to talk about inheritance, let's do it like civilized people. A toast? To the memory of your... dear, departed father."
Han Feng's eyes narrowed. The mention of his father was a jagged blade, meant to provoke.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
Hazard Detected: 'Spirit-Rot' Poison.
Effect: Instant paralysis of the Dantian. Permanent cultivation cripple.
System Advice: Drink it. The 'Filthy Blood' will refine the toxin into raw Virility Qi.
A dark, predatory grin played on Han Feng's lips. He reached out and took the glass. The liquid was beautiful, shimmering with a faint, oily light that smelled of almonds and death.
"To my father," Han Feng said, his voice dropping to a silken growl. "And to the legacy you've spent ten years trying to piss away."
He drained the glass in one go.
Lin watched him, her eyes wide with a sick, anticipatory glee. She waited for the cough. She waited for his knees to buckle. She waited for the blood to leak from his eyes as the Spirit-Rot dissolved his meridians.
Instead, Han Feng just exhaled. A faint, dark mist escaped his lips, and his skin began to glow with a dull, metallic bronze.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
Toxin Absorbed.
Conversion: +500 Essence Points.
Body Refinement: Iron Root (Stage 2) – Hardness +20%.
"Is that it?" Han Feng asked, tossing the empty glass over his shoulder. It shattered against a portrait of Lin herself. "Your 'best' wine tastes like gutter water, Mother. Just like the lies you told my father before you let him rot."
Lin's face twisted into a mask of pure, unadulterated rage. The mask of the elegant Matriarch finally fell off, revealing the venomous snake beneath. "You think you're invincible? You think that because you've corrupted one weak-willed Captain, you own this city?"
She stepped back, her heels clicking sharply on the marble. She raised her hand and snapped her fingers—a sharp, final sound that echoed through the hall.
"To the garden! Now!" she shrieked.
Before the guests could react, the heavy oak doors at the back of the ballroom were kicked open by a squad of armored men—Lin's private security, her "Black-Flag" executioners. They grabbed Han Feng, but he didn't resist. He let them drag him out into the rain-slicked garden, Sarah following behind with her hand on her weapon, waiting for his signal.
The garden was a labyrinth of white roses and stone statues, now illuminated by the harsh, white beams of tactical spotlights. Lin stood on the balcony above, looking down at Han Feng as he stood in the center of the killing floor.
"You wanted to know the joke, Han Feng?" Lin shouted over the roar of the rain. "The joke is that your father died thinking I loved him. The joke is that he left the 'Secret Scrolls' to a son who is about to be turned into a sieve!"
She pointed a finger at him. From the darkness of the surrounding hedges, five red laser sights converged on Han Feng's chest. The snipers were in position.
"This is the end of the line, you filthy-blooded brat," Lin sneered. "Any last words for the loser who sired you?"
Han Feng looked up at her, the rain washing the bronze glow of his skin into a terrifying, metallic sheen. He didn't look at the snipers. He looked at the shadows where their Qi was leaking.
"Just one thing, Lin," Han Feng said, his voice a low, vibrating hum that made the nearby rosebushes tremble.
He closed his eyes and let the [Iron Root] energy explode outward from his core.
"KNEEL."
He activated [Commanding Presence] at Stage 2.
It wasn't a shout; it was a psychic shockwave. The pressure was so intense that the rain itself seemed to flatten against the ground. The guests on the balcony screamed as they were forced to their knees, the weight of his aura feeling like an invisible mountain had dropped on their shoulders.
In the hedges, the snipers didn't fire. Their fingers froze on the triggers as their hearts skipped beats. One by one, they tumbled out of their hiding spots, their bodies refusing to obey them, their faces hitting the mud in a forced kowtow.
Lin gripped the stone railing of the balcony, her knuckles white, her breath coming in ragged, terrified gasps. She felt the Qi in her body—her refined, arrogant 'Matriarch Qi'—bowing down to him. Her thighs were shaking so violently she could barely stand.
"What... what is this..." she choked out.
Han Feng walked through the mud, stepping over the prone bodies of the snipers like they were trash. He reached the base of the balcony and looked up at her, his eyes glowing with a dark, golden hunger.
"The banquet isn't over yet, Mother," Han Feng whispered, his voice carrying through the storm. "We still haven't discussed the real inheritance. And I think the dining table is the perfect place to sign the contract."
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
Target Lin: 30% Corrupted.
Status: Mental Fortitude Breaking / Biological Fear-Arousal.
Quest Updated:
The 'Breaking of the Matriarch' Begins.logical Fear-Arousal.
Quest Updated:
The 'Breaking of the Matriarch' Begins.