Meng Hao sat alone on a boulder, gazing at the night sky, at the twinkling stars and the moonlight, silent and still.
He had been thinking of many things, and his mind was currently in turmoil.
The night deepened.
At the same time, much like Meng Hao, Wang Tengfei sat cross-legged in his cave dwelling. He stared blankly at his right hand, which was now missing its index finger.
Before him lay a jade slip snapped into two halves—the very first thing he had done upon waking.
Failing to enter the Inner Sect was his second loss, a shattered plan that had stripped away almost all of his courage. That was why he had laughed so miserably before crushing the jade slip, an item he once believed he would never have to use.
He had lost. He had utterly lost. He had lost to an ant he despised, defeated by the sword of Meng Hao, a cultivator whose cultivation base was inferior to his own.
Had He Luohua not intervened, he would have lost his life as well.
This defeat had severed his path within the Reliance Sect. He had not stepped foot outside his cave dwelling since waking, choosing instead to sit alone in silent, brooding contemplation.
He was a Chosen, and his clan's reputation reverberated throughout the entire Southern Domain.
Arrogant since childhood, his heart harbored the soaring ambitions of a great roc. This was why he had resolutely chosen to leave his clan and travel to the State of Zhao, to this Reliance Sect, all for the sake of its legacy and a Flawless Foundation Establishment. These were two things he was absolutely determined to obtain.
But today, all of those dreams had been scattered to the wind.
Wang Tengfei laughed miserably, his laughter growing louder and more frenzied until it echoed throughout the entire cave dwelling.
He laughed, clenching his hand into a tight fist. Yet, lacking long fingernails, he could not feel the blood and pain that Meng Hao had experienced earlier.
He refused to accept this. Had he lost to another Chosen, he could have endured the humiliation.
But the one who had snatched away his qualification to enter the Inner Sect, who had trampled his pride into the dirt, was the very ant he despised—a person whose name he had not even bothered to remember. This, he absolutely could not accept.
Just then, the entrance to Wang Tengfei's cave dwelling shattered soundlessly. Without making a single noise, the entire stone door crumbled into fine dust, scattering across the ground.
A middle-aged man in a green robe stood there, his hands clasped behind his back. He had a gaunt face, yet it carried an innate, deep-seated arrogance.
The moonlight falling upon him seemed to warp and distort, as if his mere presence caused the surrounding mountains to tremble.
Beside the middle-aged man stood a young woman.
The young woman, around eighteen or nineteen years of age, possessed breathtaking beauty. Tall and slender, her makeup-free complexion was as pure as morning light reflecting off fresh snow.
She wore a swallowtail hairpin, her elegant, jade-like figure clad in a light green robe.
Under the moonlight, she exuded an ethereal aura, calm and serene. Her transcendent elegance was like that of a celestial maiden descended to the mortal realm, untouched by the dust of the world.
"The Wang Clan is one of the three great Cultivator Clans of the Southern Domain, dominating numerous sects, and has stood tall in this Southern Domain for ten thousand years."
The middle-aged man spoke indifferently, his voice carrying an innate coldness and majesty.
"And you, as one of the Wang Clan's Chosen, are destined for an extraordinary life from the moment of your birth. Your entire life is certain to soar to the ninth heaven, and you are destined to step onto the path of contending for immortality."
The middle-aged man's words poured into Wang Tengfei's ears, causing him to slowly raise his head, no longer looking at his severed finger.
"What is a minor setback?"
"A remote, minor state like this is far inferior to the Southern Domain in prosperity. Everywhere here, there are only ants and insects."
"Our Wang Clan needs but a single Nascent Soul uncle to wipe this place clean."
The middle-aged man spoke firmly and unequivocally, leaving no room for doubt.
Wang Tengfei clenched his fists tightly, and a flicker of fire seemed to dance in his eyes.
"Your enemies are the Chosen of other clans, the successors of the two other great clans in the Southern Domain, and the current disciples of the Five Great Sects of the Southern Domain. Only they are worthy of being your rivals. If they see you disheartened and dispirited like this, what right do you have to bear the Wang surname?!"
"Tell this old man, what is your surname?!" The middle-aged man flicked his sleeve and barked coldly.
"My surname is Wang!" Wang Tengfei shot to his feet, a fierce light flashing in his eyes as he spat out each word.
The middle-aged man stared at Wang Tengfei for a long moment before a gentle expression finally appeared on his face.
"You are the Kunpeng of our Wang Clan; it won't take many years for you to reach Foundation Establishment. Later, for the great path of Core Formation, there is the Purple Qi from the East technique from your fiancee's sect. After Core Formation, even the Nascent Soul stage is not impossible to achieve. By then, you will find that the one who defeated you in this tiny Zhao Kingdom will still only be at the Qi Condensation stage. When you look down at him, he will be nothing more than an ant." The middle-aged man gave Wang Tengfei a meaningful look, then turned away, no longer looking at him.
"Tengfei." At this moment, the exquisitely beautiful woman spoke. Her voice was incredibly pleasant to the ear, and paired with a face that made hearts race, she exuded a sense of perfection. Much like Wang Tengfei, it was as if, standing together, they would become an enviable pair of immortal Dao companions.
Wang Tengfei fell silent for a moment, looking at the woman. This was his fiancee, Chu Yuyan, the daughter of the Violet Fate Sect's Sect Leader, a Chosen of the Violet Fate Sect, and one of the four great beauties of the entire Southern Domain.
"Let's go back," the woman said softly, her eyes filled with tenderness as she looked at Wang Tengfei.
Wang Tengfei nodded. As he walked out of the cave abode, the woman followed by his side. The two followed the middle-aged man. As the three took a step, a heaven-shaking roar immediately echoed across the night sky. A massive bolt of lightning struck down, and unexpectedly, a warship roughly a hundred zhang long appeared before them. The ship was entirely black, exuding an oppressive aura of killing intent. Especially prominent was the great banner standing upright on it, fluttering in the wind, embroidered with a blood-red character "Wang". On the ship stood quite a few people with expressionless faces, all motionless like puppets, emitting an icy aura. The booming sound and this warship immediately shook all the disciples of the Reliance Sect to their cores. They hastily looked up, each revealing an expression of disbelief. At this moment, Meng Hao, on the peak of the East Mountain, also awoke from his thoughts. He looked up and immediately saw the terrifying black warship and the blood-red Wang banner, his mind shaken.
"I disagreed with you coming to this desolate place before. Even if rumors say many treasures appeared here, that was hundreds of years ago." The three stepped onto the warship, and the middle-aged man spoke again.
Wang Tengfei stood there, looking at the Reliance Sect. Memories of the past few years flashed through his mind, but quickly vanished completely. His gaze no longer held gentleness, his smile was no longer warm, but had become as cold as ice. Especially his eyes, which revealed a maliciousness that made him completely different from the Senior Brother Wang everyone knew. At the same time, he also saw Meng Hao on the mountaintop.
The two stood far apart, yet their eyes met for an instant. Wang Tengfei quickly looked away, his expression still one of familiar contempt.
In his eyes, Meng Hao remained nothing more than an ant. He was arrogant, and he was a Wang.