Chapter 7
The world did not go black. Instead, it was a blinding, agonizing white.
The spiritual energy of the Foundation Establishment master, fueled by malice and rage, slammed into Ye-Liyun's back. It was a brutal, bone-shattering force, enough to instantly kill a boy with a shattered foundation. Ye-Liyun's body was thrown forward, slamming him into the ancient rock formation, the taste of blood and dirt filling his mouth. He was dying.
But the Crimson Sun Grass was already working.
The moment he had swallowed the herb, its potent, fiery spiritual energy had erupted in his stomach. It was a chaotic, violent force, but it was instantly captured by the Emperor's desperate, mental command.
"Liyun! The herb is active! It will destroy you! You must circulate the Supreme Immortal Body Refinement Art now! Now!" The Emperor's voice, though strained and weak, screamed inside his mind.
Ye-Liyun couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He was pinned by the pain and the spiritual pressure, but the primal fear of death and the burning hatred for his brother forced his mind to obey. He focused on the complex, esoteric diagrams the Emperor had flashed into his consciousness. He began to circulate the Supreme Immortal Body Refinement Art.
The Art was not a Qi technique; it was a physical transformation. It used the body's own life force and the external spiritual energy as fuel. The fiery energy of the Crimson Sun Grass, which should have burned him alive, was instantly captured and channeled. The pain was unimaginable—the pain of his bones being melted and reforged, his muscles being shredded and rewoven. His skin turned a deep, angry red, and steam began to pour off his body.
The Clan Head, his father, stood frozen at the edge of the clearing. He saw his eldest son, Ye-Feng, standing over the prone, convulsing body of his youngest, and the air was thick with the chaotic, raw energy of the spiritual herb.
"Ye-Feng! What have you done?!" the Clan Head roared, his voice shaking with a mixture of fury and terror.
Ye-Feng, seeing his father arrive, immediately dropped his aggressive stance and adopted a look of righteous horror. He pointed a trembling finger at Ye-Liyun. "Father! I caught him! He was stealing the Crimson Sun Grass—a resource reserved only for your personal use! He was attempting to use it to force a breakthrough! I had to stop him before he could usurp your authority and bring ruin upon the clan!"
The Clan Head rushed forward, his eyes fixed on the chaotic, red energy swirling around Ye-Liyun. He didn't see a son; he saw a violation of the clan's most sacred hierarchy. The theft of a Clan Head-level resource was an act of treason.
"Liyun! Stop the circulation! You are stable! You must survive the interrogation!" the Emperor whispered urgently.
Ye-Liyun forced the circulation to halt. The golden light faded, leaving him exhausted, but his body was no longer broken. It was whole, powerful, and radiating a faint, golden sheen. He had broken through the Physical Refining Phase in a single, agonizing moment.
The Clan Head reached him, not with a comforting hand, but with a binding spiritual cord. He lifted Ye-Liyun, who was too weak to resist, and dragged him back toward the main estate.
The interrogation took place in the Grand Hall, under the cold, judging eyes of the Clan Elders. Ye-Liyun was still covered in dirt and blood, his new, powerful body hidden beneath his torn robes.
Ye-Feng stood before the Elders, weaving a masterful tapestry of lies. He claimed Ye-Liyun had been in league with external enemies, that he had stolen the herb to practice a forbidden technique, and that the strange spiritual fluctuations were proof of his corruption. He even produced a small, tarnished jade pendant—a fake artifact he had planted—claiming Ye-Liyun had stolen it from the clan treasury.
The Elders, a council of old men who valued tradition and reputation above all else, listened intently.
"The evidence is clear," stated Elder Wei, the most influential of the council, his voice cold and final. Elder Wei, along with Elder Zhou, had long feared the return of Ye-Liyun's genius, knowing a powerful, unpredictable prodigy would eventually challenge their authority. They knew the Crimson Sun Grass was not demonic, but they saw the theft as the perfect, legal pretext. "The boy was found stealing a resource reserved for the Clan Head, displaying chaotic energy, and is implicated in the theft of a clan heirloom. He has violated the Clan's most sacred laws and challenged the Clan Head's authority."
The majority of the Elders voiced their support for Ye-Feng, their voices a chorus of condemnation. They saw a chance to consolidate power and eliminate the unpredictable factor of the former genius.
"But Father," Ye-Liyun managed to gasp, his voice hoarse. "It's a lie! Ye-Feng attacked me! He has always hated me! The ring is my mother's gift!"
The Clan Head, seated on the throne, looked down at his son, his face a mask of internal conflict. He saw the hatred in Ye-Liyun's eyes, the desperation in his plea, but he also saw the evidence: the stolen herb, the chaotic energy, the planted pendant, and the unanimous support of the Elders. He was a Clan Head, and the law was absolute.
Only three Elders—Elder Lin, Elder Su, and Elder Mu—remained silent, their eyes troubled. Elder Lin, a master of medicinal arts, knew the Crimson Sun Grass was not inherently demonic, and Elder Su, a long-time friend of Ye-Liyun's mother, felt a deep unease. But their voices were too weak to challenge the majority.
"Silence!" the Clan Head roared, his voice echoing through the hall. "The evidence is undeniable! You have brought shame upon the Ye Clan!"
Elder Wei stepped forward, his voice cold and final. "Clan Head, the punishment must be severe. We must strip him of his name, his inheritance, and his cultivation base. He must be banished."
The Clan Head flinched at the mention of shattering his son's cultivation, but he knew he could not defy the entire council. He closed his eyes, a single tear tracing a path through the dust on his cheek.
"Ye-Liyun," the Clan Head announced, his voice broken. "By the decree of the Ye Clan Elders, you are hereby stripped of your name, your inheritance, and all clan resources. You are banished from the Ye Clan forever. You will leave before dawn. Your cultivation base… will remain intact, but you are forbidden from ever returning."
The compromise was a small act of mercy. He couldn't shatter his son's foundation, but he had to banish him.
Ye-Liyun was thrown back into his small room. The door was barred, and a guard was posted outside. He lay on the mat, his body aching, but his mind was clear. He was no longer Ye-Liyun of the Ye Clan. He was nothing.
"The fool," the Emperor's voice echoed in his mind. "He chose the clan's reputation over his own blood. But his mercy is our chance. Your foundation is intact, and your body is forged. We can leave."
Ye-Liyun spent the next few hours circulating the Supreme Immortal Body Refinement Art, using the residual energy of the Crimson Sun Grass to stabilize his new body. He was no longer a trash cultivator. He was a weapon.
Just before the first light of dawn, a small, muffled knock came at the window.
Ye-Liyun cautiously opened it. Standing outside was a trusted, elderly servant who had served his mother for years.
"Young Master Liyun," the servant whispered, his eyes red. "The Clan Head… he cannot face you. But he told me to give you this."
The servant handed him a small, heavy pouch. It was filled with gold coins and a few low-grade spiritual stones—enough to survive in the city for several months.
"He said… he said to go far away. To never look back. And he said to tell you… that he is sorry. He is a weak man, Young Master, but he is still your father."
Ye-Liyun stared at the pouch, a bitter, cold laugh catching in his throat. Sorry? His father had allowed his own son to be stripped, slandered, and banished, and his apology was a handful of coins. It was a final, pathetic act of a weak man.
"Tell him I received it," Ye-Liyun said, his voice devoid of emotion. "And tell him I will never forget this day. Tell him I will return one day, not as his son, but as his judge."
The servant nodded sadly and disappeared into the pre-dawn gloom.
Ye-Liyun quickly gathered the few possessions he had left. He was a free man, a banished outcast, and a genius reborn. He had a contract with an Immortal Emperor, a body forged in fire, and a debt of humiliation to repay.
He slipped out the window, moving silently through the shadows of the estate that was no longer his home. He vaulted the outer wall, landing lightly on the road outside the Ye Clan gates. He didn't look back.
"Where to, Emperor?" Ye-Liyun asked mentally, his eyes fixed on the horizon.
"To the city, Liyun. We need resources, and you need power. We will start your training immediately. But first, we must secure a safe place. The Clan Head will send people to track you."
Ye-Liyun began to walk, his pace quickening into a run. The sun was just beginning to rise, painting the sky in hues of orange and gold. He was leaving his past behind, but the future was a vast, dangerous unknown.
He ran for an hour, putting distance between himself and the clan. He was deep in the forest outside the city walls when the Emperor's voice suddenly returned, sharp and urgent.
"Stop! Liyun! We have a problem! A big problem!"
Ye-Liyun skidded to a halt, his heart pounding. "What is it? Is it my father?"
"Worse! The Supreme Immortal Body Refinement Art… it requires a constant, massive influx of spiritual energy to maintain the new body! The Crimson Sun Grass was only a temporary catalyst! If you don't find a new, powerful source of Qi within the next few hours, your new meridians will collapse, and the backlash will not only shatter your foundation but kill you instantly! We are out of time, Liyun! You are dying!"
Ye-Liyun looked around at the dense, ordinary forest. There were no spiritual herbs, no hidden springs, only trees and dirt. He was a fugitive, broke, and now facing a ticking clock that would end his life before his journey even began.