"It was you, and your bastard father, who made the daughter I placed such high hopes upon raise her hand against her own father."
"It was you two — father and son — who destroyed everything I had."
Rage blazed in Jie Tianran's eyes as he let out a snarling roar through gritted teeth.
"That was my mother's doing?" Chu Feng asked.
Based on his observations, that wound did not appear to be something Jie Tianran had simply neglected to treat. It was something he could not treat — not a matter of will, but of inability.
Whoever had inflicted it, their strength must have surpassed Jie Tianran's.
If it truly was his mother's doing, that meant his mother could not possibly be trapped by Jie Tianran.
But when those words left his lips, Jie Tianran suddenly burst into laughter.
"Heh heh heh heh…"
It was a laugh that chilled the bones. A laugh through clenched teeth, drenched in boundless fury.
He laughed for a long while before his gaze settled on Chu Feng once more.
"What excellent judgment I showed."
"Ranqing's strength could have reached a truly unmatched level."
"Had she still been here, the power of this Divine Era would belong to her and no one else."
"The ancient races would all be mere ants. Who could threaten my Seven Realms Sacred Palace? Who would even be worthy of threatening it?"
Hearing this, Long Zhuoyan couldn't help but glance at Chu Feng, her expression clearly asking — what exactly is going on with your mother?
Jie Tian's mouth hung slightly open, his eyes wide with shock.
Because anyone could tell that Jie Tianran's wound had been dealt by Chu Feng's mother.
Chu Feng's mother was absolutely above Jie Tianran — perhaps far above him.
"My Seven Realms Sacred Palace could have long since unified the entire Cultivation World."
"And all of that was ruined by the two of you — father and son."
"It was your father's appearance that made my daughter, who once obeyed my every command, defy my orders."
"And it was your appearance that made my own daughter draw her sword against me. All I said was that if you inherited her bloodline, I would reclaim that bloodline and put it to proper use."
"To protect you, she was willing to risk the very exhaustion of her life just to awaken the Bloodline of Kings."
"At her age, she should never have been able to achieve it. But she did."
"Yet I never could have imagined that the very first sword she swung after awakening that bloodline would be aimed at the father who loved her most."
"Chu Feng, you wretched beast — this is all because of you!!!"
Jie Tianran glared at Chu Feng with vicious hatred, laying bare the entire sequence of events.
To him, it was the ultimate humiliation.
These things had been bottled up inside him for years, festering in agony. Now, at last, he could speak them aloud.
Telling Chu Feng the truth brought him a sense of release. After all, Chu Feng had worried so about his mother, when in truth no one could hurt her. All that worry had been for nothing.
"Where exactly is my mother?" Chu Feng asked in a grave tone.
He couldn't have cared less about Jie Tianran's rage. He only saw before him a control-obsessed lunatic.
All he wanted to know was his mother's whereabouts.
"Do you remember what I once told you?"
"I was never afraid of you coming to seek revenge against me. The only thing I feared was you going to the Ninth Heavenly River."
When those words left Jie Tianran's mouth, Chu Feng suddenly understood everything.
"My mother went to the Ninth Heavenly River?" Chu Feng asked.
"Yes. Once your mother's bloodline awakened, I knew that as long as she remained, I could pose no threat to the two of you."
"So I used certain means to cloud your mother's eyes, making her believe that you and your father had entered the Ninth Heavenly River — which drove her to enter it herself."
"Once I obtain the power of this Divine Era, I too will enter the Ninth Heavenly River. With you in my grasp, Ranqing will serve my purposes as well."
"Chu Feng, now do you understand just how foolish you are?"
Jie Tianran stared at Chu Feng with a kind of unprecedented satisfaction.
Because he still remembered, to this day, the unwavering resolve in Jie Ranqing's eyes the moment she pointed that sword at him.