The Supreme Cultivator's Return
Chapter 6: The Brother's Ambush (Approx. 700 Words)
The Emperor's eyes suddenly widened, his serene expression replaced by a look of profound alarm. He shot a hand out, grabbing Ye-Liyun's arm with surprising strength.
"Wait! Something is wrong! A powerful spiritual fluctuation just swept over the clan grounds! It's your brother, Ye-Feng! He's using his spiritual sense to search the estate! He's looking for the ring!"
Ye-Liyun froze, his blood turning to ice. His brother?
"He knows about the artifact!" the Emperor hissed, his voice strained. "He must have sensed the spiritual energy when you returned! He's coming for you now! I can only sustain this form outside the ring for an hour at most! You must move!"
The Emperor shoved Ye-Liyun violently, and the world dissolved into a blinding flash of white light.
Ye-Liyun slammed back onto his mat, the pain of his injuries instantly returning. He scrambled to his feet, his heart hammering against his ribs. He heard it then—a faint, rhythmic thump-thump-thump echoing from the main courtyard. It was the sound of a powerful cultivator moving with speed and purpose. It was the sound of his brother.
He slipped out the back door of the servants' quarters, moving like a shadow toward the high wall that separated the main estate from the forbidden medicinal garden. He could hear the thump-thump-thump getting closer, closer to his room.
He reached the wall, pulled himself up, and dropped down the other side, landing hard on the soft, damp earth of the forbidden garden. The air here was heavy with the scent of spiritual herbs, but also with danger.
He heard a roar of rage from the other side of the wall, followed by the sound of stone crumbling as Ye-Feng breached the barrier.
Ye-Liyun ran, plunging deeper into the dark, overgrown garden. He rounded a massive, ancient rock formation and stopped dead. Before him, in a small, moonlit clearing, was the single, low-growing plant: the Crimson Sun Grass.
He dropped to his knees, his hands reaching for the herb. He had to get it. He had to live.
Just as his fingers brushed the cold, damp leaves, a voice boomed from behind him, shaking the very earth.
"STOP, THIEF! DROP THE ARTIFACT!"
Ye-Liyun froze. He didn't need to turn around. The sheer, crushing spiritual pressure of a Foundation Establishment master—amplified by rage—was enough to paralyze him. It was Ye-Feng.
He heard the heavy footsteps right behind him. He knew the next sound would be the end.
With a final, desperate surge of defiance, he snatched the Crimson Sun Grass from the earth and shoved it into his mouth, chewing frantically.
A wave of powerful spiritual energy slammed into his back. It was not the killing blow of a Core Formation master, but the full-force attack of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, enough to shatter his already broken body.
Ye-Liyun screamed as his body was thrown forward.
Then, a second, far more terrifying sound boomed from the garden entrance.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?! YE-FENG! STOP!"
It was the Clan Head, his father, arriving on the scene.
Ye-Liyun lay broken, the Crimson Sun Grass dissolving in his mouth, the spiritual energy of the herb and the force of his brother's attack tearing him apart. He looked up, seeing his father's horrified face in the distance, and his brother's triumphant, vicious sneer right above him.
He was trapped between the two most powerful forces in his life, and he was dying.