"How did the young master fare?" asked YaoYao, Lan Feng's personal maid, as she saw him return to his courtyard.
"Quite well. In fact, I think someone wants to kill me," Lan Feng replied, sitting cross-legged. He dropped the patriarch's rewards onto the low table before him as though they were of little importance.
YaoYao poured tea with practiced grace. "Someone truly dares harbor ill will against the young master? Hmph. It seems there are still fools who don't know fear. If you permit it, I can teach them a lesson."
Lan Feng shook his head. "No. Forget it. Better to ignore it for now."
He had spent much time reflecting and had come to several unsettling conclusions.
Since awakening in this world, countless details had revealed themselves, allowing him to piece together the bigger picture.
He had a powerful background. No one—not even the patriarch—would dare move against him without a very strong reason. He lacked neither wealth nor resources. Even without the crystals he had just received, with a single request to his father he could easily obtain more violet crystals than an entire branch family could ever hope to see.
It sounded perfect, didn't it?
But it wasn't.
To his misfortune, the body's former owner had left him a legacy of shame: theft, slander, swindling, and a long list of other crimes Lan Feng didn't even want to recall. Worse still, he had stolen the fiancée of the Lan clan's most brilliant genius.
He was, without question, the very template of a villain.
And if things continued as expected, he would soon send lackeys to attack Lan Tianyu—only for them to be crushed, their resources plundered, and their defeat turned into stepping stones for the protagonist's rise… until the inevitable day of revenge arrived.
Lan Feng took a sip of tea, trying to steady his thoughts. When he looked up, he was startled to see YaoYao's eyes brimming with tears.
"What's wrong?"
"No… it's just, I never thought the young master would mature one day," she whispered.
"So little faith in me?" he teased gently.
YaoYao only smiled, though her eyes were still wet.
"Anyway," Lan Feng said, changing the subject, "I want to visit Yue Lian."
The former fiancée of Lan Tianyu… and Lan Feng's current wife.
The Yue clan was a small but ambitious family in Clear River City. They sought alliances with talented cultivators from other clans to strengthen their bloodline. Yue Lian had been engaged to Lan Tianyu under such an arrangement.
Everything would have gone smoothly, if not for Yue Lian's evaluation six months earlier—when she revealed a dazzling six-star talent. News of it spread like wildfire.
A six-star talent was far too bright to ignore.
The old Lan Feng became infatuated on the spot. He offered a massive dowry and demanded her hand.
The Yue clan didn't hesitate. Lan Tianyu might have been promising, but he was still from a branch line. Even if he were eventually absorbed into the main family, he could never compare to the only son of the great elder. Without delay, they broke the prior engagement and arranged the wedding.
Tianyu had tried to intervene but was beaten savagely by Lan Feng's thugs. Had Yue Lian not begged for mercy, Tianyu might have died that very day.
And it was that very afternoon when Lan Feng's soul crossed from another world into this body.
The damage was done. There was no undoing it.
Ashamed, he had never once visited Yue Lian since. He simply gave her a mansion adjoining his courtyard and abundant resources for cultivation.
But after seeing Lan Tianyu ignite nine stars…
If Yue Lian wished it, Lan Feng was even prepared to divorce her, to let her return to her first love. After all, they were strangers bound by politics.
YaoYao nearly jumped with excitement upon hearing his decision. For days she had tried to urge him to see his wife, only to be brushed aside again and again. "Don't worry about consequences, young master. Your esteemed father has long awaited a grandchild," she said eagerly, practically dragging him toward the neighboring mansion.
The gate opened with a soft creak. The scent of medicinal flowers mingled with the gentle murmur of a pond. Lan Feng advanced with calm steps, though inside his chest his heart was a storm.
Yue Lian sat beneath a pavilion of azure silk curtains, before a jade table. Her slender fingers guided a brush, tracing elegant characters across a scroll. The serenity of the scene made Lan Feng hesitate to disturb her.
But she raised her gaze. Her eyes—cold as ice—fell upon him. Surprise flashed for an instant, quickly replaced by hatred. She furrowed her brows, set the brush aside, and sighed. When she spoke, her voice was sharp and frosty, as though every word were tipped with thorns.
"How may I serve my husband?"
"I know I don't deserve that title. I haven't come to excuse myself—I came to speak with you."
YaoYao pressed her lips together, resisting the urge to defend him.
"Speak? About what? About how you ruined my engagement? Or about how you used your clan's power to force me into this marriage?"
Lan Feng swallowed hard. The old Lan Feng would have answered with arrogance. But he was not that man.
"YaoYao, please leave us."
"As you command." She vanished almost before he finished speaking.
Lan Feng drew out a small bead and crushed it between his fingers. A sound-sealing formation spread instantly, wrapping them in silence.
"I'll be direct. I want a divorce."
Yue Lian's flawless face froze into a tangled expression, as though she had misheard.
Lan Feng laid a separation document before her, along with a pouch of more than three hundred violet crystals.
He knew divorce in this manner could be seen as an insult. That was not his intent. Though he had never touched her and she remained pure, the stain of a broken marriage would cling to her name.
But wealth spoke loudly, and she was undeniably talented. Three hundred crystals as compensation was unheard of—double the dowry the Yue clan had once received. With her cultivation speed and such resources, reaching Core Formation would be inevitable.
And when that day came, who would dare belittle her?