Days before the kidnapping...
Three guards marched in tight, disciplined formation toward Wang Zhi's private pavilion.
"Young Master Zhi, please step out," the lead guard called, coming to a halt two paces from the heavy wooden doors. "By order of the Chief Martial Instructor, we are to escort you to the Ancestral Reflection Chamber."
Silence answered him. Only the soft rustle of autumn leaves shifting across the courtyard broke the quiet.
"Young Master," the guard pressed, his voice tightening. "If you refuse to comply, we will have no choice but to break inside."
Still, no reply came. A sudden spike of unease shot through the trio.
"Forgive our rudeness, Young Master!" the lead guard muttered. Reaching into his robes, he drew a yellow paper explosive talisman and channeled a thread of Qi to ignite its crimson runes.
Before he could slap it onto the wood, the second guard smacked him hard across the back of the head.
"What in the world are you doing?!" the second guard hissed under his breath. "Blowing up the Young Master's door?! Are you insane?!"
The lead guard rubbed his head, wincing. "I... I thought a talisman was proper procedure for locked doors!"
"You just push it, you idiot!" The second guard shook his head in utter disbelief, reached out, and gave the door a light shove.
The wooden doors swung open effortlessly with a low, creaking groan. Weapons drawn, the guards rushed inside—only to freeze mid-stride.
The pavilion was entirely vacant. The bedsheets were pristine and untouched.
"He isn't here either," the lead guard whispered. "This is bad. We need to report to the Chief Martial Instructor immediately."
Unbeknownst to them, Wang Zhi had already fled to his grandfather's estate, seeking protection from the only person he believed could shield him from Wu Shan's punishment.
Meanwhile, deep within the grand, heavily guarded chambers of the Fourth Elder...
"What is wrong with you, Zhi?! Can you not exercise a single drop of patience?!"
Elder Wang Gu's booming voice echoed through the high-ceilinged hall, thick with raw frustration. He paced the polished floor, his heavy silk robes rustling with every sharp turn. "I explicitly ordered you to stay away from that boy! I told you to bide your time, yet you threw my warnings to the wind!"
"Grandfather, he ambushed me first!" Wang Zhi protested defensively, clutching his bruised wrist as his face flushed with indignation. "He insulted me to my face! He even insulted your name! How could I stand by and do nothing?! I had to teach that mortal pest some manners!"
"Silence!" Wang Gu barked, cutting his grandson off without a shred of sympathy.
Wang Zhi flinched, instantly dropping his gaze to the floor.
Wang Gu gritted his teeth so hard his jaw ached, veins bulging along his neck as anger contorted his aged features. He was not merely furious with his foolish grandson; he was incensed by the man who had used this mistake to humiliate them.
That Wu Shan... Wang Gu's eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. That arrogant Chief Martial Instructor. How dare he bypass my authority? How dare he sentence my grandson to the Ancestral Reflection Chamber like a common criminal?
With an aggressive flick of his wrist, Wang Gu snapped his long sleeves back, his latent Qi rippling violently into the surrounding air.
A chorus of rapid footsteps shattered the tense silence outside in the courtyard.
The three guards from before marched through the outer gates. Sensing the heavy, suffocating atmosphere radiating from the hall, they immediately dropped to their knees and pressed their foreheads to the stone.
"May the Fourth Elder live an eternal life!" they shouted in unison.
Wang Gu stepped out onto the pavilion balcony, looking down at them as if they were squalid insects. "What brings mere guards to my private estate?"
"Elder Gu, we were sent by the Chief Martial Instructor," the lead guard announced, keeping his eyes glued to the floor. "We are here to escort Young Master Zhi to the Ancestral Reflection Chamber to begin his seven-day punishment."
The moment the words left the guard's mouth, Wang Gu's vision burned red with absolute fury. The utter humiliation of lowly guards arriving at his doorstep to drag his flesh and blood away was an insult he could not swallow.
"Impudent dogs!" Wang Gu roared.
Without warning, he unleashed the full, crushing weight of his Foundation Establishment aura.
The air in the courtyard instantly turned as heavy as solid iron. A visible wave of golden-red spiritual pressure blasted outward from his frame, slamming directly into the three men.
The stone tiles beneath the guards' knees shattered into powder. CRACK! The monstrous weight pinned them flat against the ground, their bones creaking under the terrifying load.
Dark, thick blood spurted from their mouths, staining the courtyard dirt crimson. They choked and gasped, their eyes wide with sheer terror as their throats locked shut. Internal organs threatened to rupture under the sheer force of a Foundation Establishment cultivator's rage.
"How dare mere ants march into my presence and demand custody of my grandson?!" Wang Gu sneered, stepping down the stairs with eyes ablaze with killing intent. "Who gave you such courage?!"
As the lead guard's consciousness began to slip into darkness—
BOOM!
A second wave of spiritual energy, equally staggering, crashed down from the sky like a falling star. It slammed directly into Wang Gu's domain, neutralizing the crushing pressure in a violent crackle of spiritual arcs.
The sudden release of weight allowed the three guards to gasp frantically for air, clutching their bloody chests as they rolled away.
"Wang Gu! When did you become so utterly pathetic?!"
A deep, resonant voice echoed across the estate, vibrating the leaves on every tree.
From the sky, a figure descended like a sudden gale, landing weightlessly on the cracked stone. It was Wu Shan, the Chief Martial Instructor. His arms were folded behind his back, his dark eyes burning with cold disdain.
"You are an elder of the Crimson Clan, yet you release your full Foundation Establishment pressure on our own loyal guards?" Wu Shan hissed, stepping between the wounded men and the furious elder. "Not only are you breaking clan law by shielding a guilty culprit, but you are acting like a petulant, short-sighted fool!"
"How dare you, Wu Shan!" Wang Gu spat, his face contorting into a demonic scowl as he surged forward, his Qi flaring back to life.
The two powerful auras clashed in the center of the courtyard, causing the space between them to warp and distort.
"Have you forgotten your place?!" Wang Gu raged. "You were nothing but a penniless, begging orphan when you first crawled into this clan! I was already an elder while you were still scavenging for scraps! Do not think a mere title makes you my equal!"
"I care nothing for what I was in the past, Wang Gu," Wu Shan replied coldly, his voice dropping an octave, eyes narrowing to razor-sharp points. "Right now, I am the law of the training grounds. Your grandson violated clan law, and he will serve his sentence. If you stand in my path, I will treat you as an accomplice to his crimes."
"You—"
"Shh," Wu Shan cut him off, raising a single finger to silence the elder. "The Clan Leader may be far away, but that does not mean he is blind to what transpires within these walls."
The raw anger in Wang Gu's eyes froze, instantly replaced by an icy, sobering dread.
"You are far too eager to see your grandson become the next heir of the Crimson Clan," Wu Shan continued smoothly, his voice dripping with absolute authority. "Do not let your blind ambition cloud your judgment."
Wang Gu's expression shifted, a rigid, emotionless mask forced over his features. Though a tempest of venomous thoughts swirled in his mind, he could not deflect the mention of the Clan Leader. It was a political blade that cornered him completely.
Turning back toward the pavilion, Wang Gu drew a long, heavy breath. "Zhi'er," he called out, his voice tight.
"Y-yes, Grandfather..." Wang Zhi stepped out from the shadow of the doorway, his voice small and trembling.
The three guards, still coughing up blood, forced themselves to their feet. At Wu Shan's silent nod, they stepped forward to restrain the young master.
"Grandfather! They're taking me!" Wang Zhi panicked, tearing himself away from the guards' grip and scrambling toward the old man, clutching at the edge of his grand robes. "Help me!"
Wang Gu could not bring himself to meet the boy's eyes. He slowly turned his back, his jaw clenching until it ached. "It is for the best."
"No! Grandfather, please! I don't want to go to that place!" Wang Zhi's heart hammered frantically against his ribs, sheer terror painting his young face as the guards seized his arms once more.
They dragged the struggling youth directly before the Chief Martial Instructor.
"Now, you shall pay for your arrogance," Wu Shan said coldly.
Before Wang Zhi could scream, Wu Shan's right hand blurred in a blinding sequence of hand seals. He was executing a high-grade technique designed specifically to seal a cultivator's foundation.
With every snap and flick of his fingers, sharp arcs of silver Qi hissed through the air. In seconds, an intricate silver formation woven from condensed spiritual energy hovered over Wu Shan's open palm. The array split into three distinct, pulsing pathways, each targeting a key pillar of power: the Meridians, the Dantian, and the Foundation.
With a swift, ruthless strike, Wu Shan drove his palm into Wang Zhi's forehead.
VMMM.
At first, no physical explosion shook the courtyard. But inside Wang Zhi, his entire world collapsed.
The vibrant, warm currents of spiritual energy that usually flowed through his body went pitch-black and dead silent. He tried frantically to pull forth even a single thread of Qi, but his core was completely frozen. For the first time since embarking on the path of cultivation, he felt utterly naked, helpless, and reduced back to a mortal.
"Take him to the Ancestral Reflection Chamber," Wu Shan commanded without a trace of pity. "Guard the perimeter with your lives."
"Yes, Instructor!" The three guards bowed deeply, their tone filled with solemn respect.
They hoisted the powerless Wang Zhi up and marched him away, his desperate, terrified screams fading down the winding stone path.
Left alone in the ruined courtyard with the silent, trembling elder, Wu Shan allowed a cold, mocking curve to touch his lips. He turned away, casting a final glance over his shoulder.
"You should have taught him discipline earlier," Wu Shan said softly.
Before Wang Gu could answer, Wu Shan's body dissolved into a gust of wind, leaving the Fourth Elder standing alone amidst the shattered stone of his own courtyard.