Chapter 105
Hu Haitian's expression changed abruptly.
In the span of just a few breaths, nearly twenty to thirty percent of his spiritual power had vanished.
What alarmed him even more was the overwhelming weakness flooding his body. His legs nearly buckled beneath him. Only by grabbing the nearby pillar did he manage to keep himself from collapsing on the spot.
Someone had plotted against him.
But who?
Rage and panic surged through Hu Haitian's chest.
He had poured enormous effort into this ancestral worship ceremony. He had invited the major powers of Baishi City to witness it, intending to use the occasion to push the Hu family's prestige to an entirely new level.
And now everything was falling apart.
An even more terrifying possibility flashed through his mind.
If the major factions present discovered that the Hu family had been weakened, would they seize the opportunity to strike?
The sudden change did not go unnoticed.
Whispers immediately spread throughout the ancestral hall as members of the Hu family exchanged uneasy glances.
Representatives of the various factions, led by the Baishi Sect Master, all wore different expressions. Beneath their seemingly calm exteriors, however, every one of them was calculating something.
At the critical moment, several Hu family elders hurried forward.
The leading elder stepped out and attempted to steady the situation.
"Everyone, please remain calm. The Family Head has likely been overworked recently and developed a minor ailment. There's no need to pani-"
His voice abruptly cut off.
The elder's face changed.
An overwhelming weakness swept through his body, causing him to stagger. He slammed a hand against a nearby pillar to keep himself upright, disbelief filling his eyes.
"My spiritual power... how is this possible...?"
Before anyone could react, the situation spiraled out of control.
One person fell.
Then another.
Then another.
It was as though some invisible signal had swept through the hall.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Members of the Hu family swayed where they stood before collapsing one after another. Those fortunate enough to be near pillars managed to support themselves. The rest crashed directly onto the floor.
Judging from the sounds echoing throughout the hall, the falls were painfully real.
Qi Qingxiong fell as well.
Not because he was putting on an act.
This time, it was completely genuine.
The spiritual power within his body was draining away like water pouring through a broken dam.
The moment he realized it, his heart sank.
The good news was that the Hu family had descended into complete chaos.
The bad news was that Qi Qingxiong hadn't escaped the disaster either.
Suppressing the weakness spreading through his body, he looked up unwillingly.
His gaze landed on Hu Ruoyan.
She stood perfectly upright.
Among the entire Hu family, she was the only one still standing.
Of course.
Qi Qingxiong had always known she would make a move eventually. In fact, he had been counting on it so he could take advantage of the chaos that followed.
What he hadn't expected was becoming part of the chaos himself.
Hu Ruoyan seemed completely unaware of his stare.
Or perhaps she simply didn't care.
At that moment, countless eyes were fixed upon her.
And that was exactly the result she wanted.
"Hu Ruoyan!" Hu Ruofeng gritted her teeth. "You did this, didn't you?!"
Shock, jealousy, and fury twisted her beautiful features into something almost unrecognizable.
Hu Ruoyan didn't even spare her a glance.
Instead, she slowly turned toward Hu Haitian.
The hatred in her eyes was no longer concealed.
It blazed openly.
Wildly.
The instant their gazes met, it struck him like a blade.
"You unfilial daughter! What are you trying to do?!" Hu Haitian roared.
His chest heaved violently with rage.
He had suspected many people.
The elders.
Outside forces.
Political rivals.
Never-not even for a moment-had he imagined that the person behind everything would be her.
A cold sneer slowly curved Hu Ruoyan's lips as she tore away the final remnants of the gentle mask she had worn for years.
"An unfilial daughter?" She laughed softly. "You're right. I am about to commit exactly that unforgivable act."
Her voice dripped with undisguised mockery.
"For the sake of comforting my mother's spirit in heaven."
The moment those words fell, Hu Ruofeng could no longer contain herself.
She opened her mouth, ready to launch into a furious tirade.
But before she could utter more than a few words, the matriarch stepped forward and placed herself protectively in front of her daughter.
"Enough." Her voice was low and stern. "Behave yourself."
Unlike Hu Ruofeng, she could see the situation clearly.
Hu Ruoyan had obviously been preparing for this day for a very long time. Crippling so many people at once was no ordinary feat.
The matriarch wasn't concerned about the insults Hu Ruofeng had thrown at her moments ago.
Compared to that, Hu Ruoyan's greatest hatred was clearly directed at Hu Haitian.
For the first time, the matriarch felt a sense of relief.
Fortunately, Hu Haitian had attracted the bulk of that hatred.
As long as Feng'er survived, everything else could be dealt with afterward.
Hu Ruofeng was still trying to curse when her mother casually sealed her mouth.
"Mmph! Mmph!"
She struggled furiously, glaring in protest.
The matriarch noticed, of course. But now was hardly the time for explanations.
Survival came first.
Hu Ruoyan hated Hu Haitian most.
The second person she hated was almost certainly either herself or Feng'er.
After all, it had been the matriarch who secretly arranged for someone to tamper with Hu Ruoyan's cultivation, preventing her progress and gradually causing Hu Haitian to abandon her.
Looking back now...
That decision might have been a grave mistake.
Meanwhile, the crowd listened to Hu Ruoyan's words, and a chill quietly spread through the ancestral hall.
An unforgivable act?
Could she really be talking about patricide?
"Excellent. As expected of that woman's daughter."
Hu Haitian laughed from sheer fury, but Hu Ruoyan only let out a cold, mocking laugh.
"You're mistaken. If there had only been my mother, I wouldn't exist."
The meaning behind those words was impossible to miss.
Without Xue Lian, there would have been no Hu Ruoyan.
But without Hu Haitian, there wouldn't have been one either.
Hu Haitian stared at her, his gaze turning colder and colder. By now, he understood perfectly. Whatever happened today, there would be no peaceful resolution.
A moment later, he suddenly shifted his attention to the Baishi Sect Master and the other influential figures present.
"Are you all planning to stand there and watch?" he demanded. "Or are you waiting to be wiped out along with the rest of us?"
The gathered cultivators exchanged glances.
After a brief silence, an elder from one of the major factions spoke up.
"Patriarch Hu, this is a dispute between father and daughter-a family matter. Why drag the rest of us into it?"
Many immediately nodded in agreement.
Hu Haitian's expression darkened.
The Hu family had only just shown signs of weakness, and these people were already eager to distance themselves.
Did they think he couldn't see through them?
Unfortunately, his current position left him little room to negotiate.
For the first time in many years, Hu Haitian found himself cornered.
Then his eyes narrowed.
Secretly, he transmitted his voice to the Baishi Sect Master.
"Others may choose to stay out of this, but you don't have that luxury. This rebellious girl must have discovered the truth about what happened back then."
His voice turned icy.
"You bear responsibility for Xue Lian's death as well."
The Baishi Sect Master's eyes flickered faintly.
"I know that." His tone remained calm. "I simply wanted to see what other tricks the girl still had hidden."
After a brief pause, he added, "Very well. Since Brother Hu is in such a hurry, I'll lend a hand."
The exchange ended there.
From his position on the floor, Qi Qingxiong watched everything unfold in silence.
The moment his spiritual energy had dropped below one percent, he had abandoned all thoughts of seizing the Snow Lotus.
At this point, staying alive was far more important.
Now all of his attention was focused on the Baishi Sect Master, searching for an opportunity amid the chaos.
As expected, the subtle exchange between the Baishi Sect Master and Hu Haitian hadn't escaped his notice.
The two had definitely reached some sort of agreement.
The next moment, the Baishi Sect Master stepped forward.
"Fellow Daoists, hear me out."
His voice carried clearly through the ancestral hall, instantly drawing everyone's attention.
"This woman has attacked the Hu Family Head and poisoned the entire Hu family. At this point, this is no longer a private family dispute-it has become a public matter."
His gaze swept across the crowd before settling on the City Lord.
"As the guardian sect of this region, how can Baishi Sect stand by and watch such lawlessness unfold? City Lord, wouldn't you agree?"
The City Lord's expression stiffened slightly.
He had been perfectly content to remain uninvolved, but the Baishi Sect Master had dragged him into the spotlight with a single sentence.
With every eye in the hall now fixed on him, there was no room to retreat.
After a brief pause, he forced a smile.
"The Sect Master is correct. Maintaining order within the region is indeed my responsibility."
The answer clearly satisfied the Baishi Sect Master. Ignoring the faint displeasure in the City Lord's eyes, he turned toward the representatives of the other factions.
"And what about the rest of you?"
What else could they possibly say?
The Baishi Sect was the dominant power in the region. Everyone survived beneath its shadow. No one was willing to offend its master over a matter that had nothing to do with them.
Those who had initially interpreted the Sect Master's silence as a sign of dissatisfaction toward the Hu family immediately changed their stance.
"Since the Sect Master has spoken, we naturally agree."
"This matter has already gone beyond a simple family dispute."
"Such actions cannot be ignored."
One after another, voices rose in support.
Only then did some of the pressure weighing on Hu Haitian finally ease.
Outwardly, his expression remained unchanged, but inwardly he was already memorizing every face in the crowd.
Once this crisis was over, he would settle accounts with each of them.
At that moment, Hu Ruoyan suddenly spoke.
"Today, I seek justice for my mother's wrongful death."
Her cold voice cut through the hall like a blade.
"The guilty are Hu Haitian and those who aided him. The innocent will not be implicated."
As she spoke, her gaze swept slowly across the gathered cultivators.
"Do you fellow Daoists still intend to interfere?"
The instant the words fell, a terrifying killing intent erupted from her body.
The temperature in the hall seemed to plummet.
Her eyes were icy and merciless, carrying the unmistakable warning that anyone who stepped forward would be treated as an enemy.
The crowd's hearts skipped a beat.
Then came the pressure.
A vast aura spread outward, crashing over everyone present like an invisible tide. Faces changed one after another as disbelief flashed through their eyes.
That pressure... it was comparable to a Golden Core cultivator.
Near Baishi City, there had only ever been one Golden Core cultivator-the Baishi Sect Master. His cultivation was the very foundation of the sect's dominance and the reason the entire region remained under its control.
Could it be...
Had Hu Ruoyan become the second Golden Core cultivator?
Among the crowd, Xie Wenheng stared blankly at the woman standing in the center of the hall.
For years, he had been captivated by her beauty. Even when she rejected the marriage proposal, he had merely assumed she was playing hard to get.
Sooner or later, he had believed, she would become his.
Only now did he realize how absurd that thought had been.
The woman before him was not some delicate beauty waiting to be possessed.
The pressure radiating from her alone was enough to make him feel insignificant.
Just as hesitation began spreading through the crowd, the Baishi Sect Master suddenly let out a cold laugh.
"A mere False Core cultivator dares act arrogantly before this Sect Master?"
The next instant, the pressure of a true Golden Core cultivator erupted from him like a tidal wave.
The immense aura crashed directly into Hu Ruoyan's, overwhelming it with absolute force.
"Suppress her!"
The words struck the crowd like a wake-up call.
False Core.
Only half a step away from Golden Core. Yet that half-step was an almost insurmountable gulf.
Realizing this, everyone finally relaxed.
So that was all.
There was nothing to fear.
Under the Baishi Sect Master's pressure, Hu Ruoyan was forced steadily backward.
The space around her shrank inch by inch as her aura was compressed, leaving her seemingly unable to resist.
Seeing this, the last traces of uncertainty vanished from the crowd's minds.
The outcome was already decided.
No matter how shocking Hu Ruoyan's strength was, she was still only a False Core cultivator. Against a true Golden Core expert, defeat was inevitable.
Yet Hu Ruoyan showed no sign of panic. Instead, a faint smile slowly curved her lips.
The sight sent an inexplicable chill through several people's hearts.
"Since all of you insist on becoming my enemies," she said softly, her voice carrying clearly through the hall, "then don't blame me for being impolite."
For a brief moment, confusion flashed across countless faces.
Nobody understood what she meant.
Then-everything changed.
The overwhelming pressure released by the Baishi Sect Master suddenly collapsed without warning, as though some invisible force had shattered it from within.
His expression changed dramatically.
Before anyone could react, Hu Ruoyan's figure blurred.
A palm strike landed squarely against his chest.
"Pfft-!"
The Baishi Sect Master spat out a mouthful of blood and staggered backward several steps.
The entire hall froze.
Then chaos erupted.
"Father!"
"Sect Master!"
Shocked cries rang out from every direction as countless eyes widened in disbelief.
No one had expected the person standing at the pinnacle of Baishi City to be injured by Hu Ruoyan in a single exchange.
For a moment, the entire hall fell silent.
A Golden Core cultivator had been wounded by someone only at the False Core stage.
The sight was so absurd that many people could hardly believe their own eyes.
The Baishi Sect Master himself was no less shocked. Yet before he could dwell on it, his expression suddenly changed.
His spiritual power was disappearing.
Not slowly.
Not steadily.
It was pouring out of him like water from a shattered dam, draining away at a terrifying rate.
Ignoring the injuries in his chest, he immediately sat down and examined his condition.
A moment later, the expressions of the other cultivators throughout the hall began changing one after another.
The same symptoms had appeared.
Weakness.
Powerlessness.
Rapidly dissipating spiritual energy.
Some were still able to brace themselves against pillars and walls. Others lacked even that strength and collapsed directly onto the floor.
Before long, only a single figure remained standing in the entire ancestral hall.
Hu Ruoyan.
Hu Haitian stared at the scene before him, his expression growing darker with every passing moment.
The rich fragrance of sandalwood still lingered heavily in the air.
Then realization struck.
His eyes widened.
"You rebellious daughter!" His voice shook with fury. "You tampered with the incense!"
Hu Ruoyan raised an eyebrow and admitted it without hesitation.
"Yes."
A proud smile appeared on her face.
"But it's too late now. I replaced one of the auxiliary ingredients with Spirit-Deficiency Flower. Once mixed into the incense, the fragrance remains exactly the same."
She slowly swept her gaze across the hall.
"The only difference is that it drains spiritual power."
Then she tilted her head slightly.
"Are you angry? So angry you want to kill me?"
The veins on Hu Haitian's neck bulged violently. His face twisted into something almost unrecognizable.
"I should have strangled you the moment that bitch gave birth to you!"
The atmosphere instantly changed.
Bitch.
That single word struck directly at the deepest scar in Hu Ruoyan's heart.
Until now, she had intended to savor his despair and enjoy watching him struggle.
But any desire to toy with him vanished.
The smile faded from her lips, her expression turning icy as blood slowly crept into her eyes.
"Hu Haitian."
Her voice was calm enough to send chills down everyone's spine.
"You and the Baishi Sect Master caused my mother's tragic death. Today, I will slaughter the entire Hu family."
Her bloodshot eyes swept across the hall.
"I will kill every person here and use their blood to comfort my mother's soul."
A wave of despair swept through the crowd. With their spiritual power nearly exhausted and their bodies weakened, they were little more than fish on a chopping block.
Nearby, Qi Qingxiong suddenly heard quiet sobbing.
Turning his head, he discovered his sickly elder brother was crying.
Qi Qingxiong: ...
To be honest, he felt like crying too.
"You rebellious daughter! How dare you!"
Hu Haitian roared, his bloodshot eyes bulging with such fury that the veins within them looked ready to burst.
Hu Ruoyan ignored him completely.
Instead, she suddenly raised her voice.
"All clansmen!"
Her words echoed throughout the ancestral hall.
"Come out! It is time to take revenge!"
The last traces of hope disappeared from many faces.
It was over.
Not only had she poisoned everyone present, she still had reinforcements waiting outside.
"Are you talking about them?"
A voice suddenly sounded from the entrance of the ancestral hall.
Countless heads snapped toward the doorway.
Standing in the doorway were Lou Yuqing and Ling Yunxiao.
And floating around them, clustered together like drifting clouds, were dozens upon dozens of snow-white lotus flowers.
For the first time, Hu Ruoyan's expression changed.