"Big Brother, it's all my fault. I'm useless. If I had arrived just a moment sooner, I wouldn't have let you..."
Holding Chu Guyu in his arms, looking at his eldest brother's broken leg and his pierced dantian, two lines of scorching tears streamed from Chu Feng's eyes. He knew how important cultivation was to Chu Guyu. He knew how devastating it must be for Chu Guyu to have his cultivation destroyed.
"It's fine, don't worry. You... you are the hope of our Chu Family." Chu Guyu's face was pale, but a smile still hung on his lips. After speaking those words, he closed his eyes and passed out.
"Big Brother! Big Brother!" Chu Feng panicked, shaking Chu Guyu over and over. He was truly afraid that Chu Guyu would never wake again—that his closest relative would leave him just like that.
"Chu Feng, calm down. Don't forget—you're a gray-robed Spirit World Master." At that moment, Egg Egg's voice rang out.
"Egg Egg, is there any way to save my brother? I can't let him become a cripple. Absolutely not." Chu Feng pressed urgently. Though he was a gray-robed Spirit World Master, his knowledge of techniques was limited, so he placed all his hope on Egg Egg.
"A severed limb is nothing. With your current abilities, it can be restored easily. The real problem is the destroyed cultivation—that's harder to fix. But it's not entirely hopeless."
"The chances of success are very slim though. Right now, all we can do is try." Egg Egg said.
"What is it? Tell me, Egg Egg!" Seeing that there was still a chance, Chu Feng grew excited. Even a sliver of hope was far better than none.
"In our Asura World, there exists a forbidden barrier formation capable of stripping one person's cultivation and transferring it to another. Because this formation is far too ruthless and the success rate is extremely low—if it fails, the other party could very well lose their life—it has been banned in our Asura World. Spirit World Masters are forbidden from teaching this formation to anyone."
"However, this forbidden barrier formation is the only way to restore your brother's cultivation. It just so happens that fellow isn't dead yet. We can use him as a conduit to strip his cultivation away. If it succeeds, your brother will become a Yuan Wu Realm powerhouse. But if it fails, your brother will..." Egg Egg explained.
"Egg Egg, can the forbidden formation wait one day before we perform it?" Chu Feng asked.
"That's possible. But if it fails, your brother will lose his life too. Are you prepared for that?" Egg Egg countered.
"I know my brother well. For him, cultivation is everything. Without it—without the ability to practice martial arts—living would be more painful than death."
"I'll make this decision on my brother's behalf. But since we're doing this, we might as well go all the way." Chu Feng's gaze drifted toward the goateed old man, and a look of resolve surfaced in his eyes.
At first, Egg Egg didn't understand what Chu Feng meant. But after Chu Feng tossed one of the goateed man's personal belongings into the Lingyun Sect and an Inner Sect elder hurried to the small tavern in a panic, she finally grasped his intention.
"Die'er! Die'er! Damn it all—who did this to you?! AHHHH~"
This old man was an Inner Sect elder of the Lingyun Sect. But he was also the goateed man's biological grandfather. It was he who had orchestrated Chu Guyu's expulsion from the Lingyun Sect all those years ago.
The goateed man wasn't dead yet, but he couldn't even speak. His body had long since been reduced to a skeleton, yet his internal organs remained intact. The sight was utterly horrifying.
Seeing his grandson tormented into such a state, the old man was overcome with grief and fury. He wept in anguish, then roared in uncontrollable rage. He swore that whoever had done this to his grandson—if that person dared show their face—he would flay the skin from their body, tear out their sinews, and grind their bones to dust.
"Who is it?! Who did this?! Get out here, you wretch! I'll peel your skin and pull out your tendons! I'll crush you to pieces!" the old man bellowed in fury. His Xuan Wu First Stage aura erupted outward, shaking the very ground beneath their feet.
"How did you know I'd peel your skin and pull out your tendons, and crush you to pieces?" Just then, Chu Feng materialized before the old man like a phantom. At the same instant, a overwhelming pressure descended from the sky, forcing the old man to his knees.
"You... you... who are you? My Zhao Family has no grudge against you! Why would you do this to my grandson?"
The old man could barely breathe under Chu Feng's oppressive aura. The rage that had filled his face moments ago was instantly replaced by terror and panic, because he already sensed how powerful the young man before him was. But he couldn't fathom when he had ever made such a fearsome enemy.
To the old man's question, Chu Feng merely smiled faintly and said, "I am Chu Guyu's younger brother."
"What? You—" In that instant, the old man's eyes went wide with realization and shock. He never could have imagined that the humble, downtrodden Chu Guyu of the Lingyun Sect had such a powerful younger brother—so powerful that even he himself was utterly helpless before him.
By now, the old man's face had turned ashen. He had given up all resistance. Looking at his grandson's wretched condition, then at the bloodstains not far away, he understood that he had provoked a walking calamity this time. Pleading for mercy was useless. All he could do now was await death.
Chu Feng walked slowly toward the old man, then glanced once more at the still-breathing goateed man. He said flatly, "Remember: in your next life, keep your wits about you. There are some people you can mess with—but my family is not one of them." With a flick of his will, two arcs of fresh blood bloomed across the earth, splattering across the ground.
Several days later, a group of young people arrived in a city in Qingzhou. They were all young men and women—the eldest among them appearing no older than young adults, while many were still mere adolescents.
They purchased a mansion here, a lavish estate so grand that even the city's wealthiest locals looked on with envy. For even the so-called rich among them could not have afforded such a mansion.
In one of the rooms inside the mansion, Chu Guyu lay in bed. Beside him were Chu Yue, Chu Xue, Chu Cheng, Chu Zhen, Chu Wei, and every other junior member of the Chu Family. Even Chu Xun and Chu Hongfei were there. Practically every living junior of the Chu Family—save for Chu Feng himself—had gathered.
They were all crowded into the room, surrounding Chu Guyu's bed, their faces filled with worry as they stared at him, waiting for him to wake.
"He's awake! He's awake!" Suddenly, Chu Xue cried out. In that instant, everyone's spirits soared. Some were so excited they jumped to their feet, while the rest rushed forward to call Chu Guyu's name.
"Brother Wei. Sister Yue. Sister Xue. You're... all here? Where... where am I?" Looking at the familiar faces before him, Chu Guyu felt dazed and bewildered.
Chu Yue then explained everything to him. As it turned out, Chu Feng—fearing the junior members of the Chu Family would be endangered again—had gathered them all from their respective sects and brought them here. He had purchased this mansion and arranged for them to live here under assumed names. All of the Chu Family juniors had agreed to Chu Feng's plan and were willing to leave their sects behind to settle here in hiding.