Upon returning to the Marquis of Pacifying the Seas' residence, Su Chen fell into a deep coma from his severe injuries.
Feng Huai'an never left his side. When Su Chen finally awoke, she leaned close and whispered softly, "Husband, I want our child to beco the most honored person in this kingdom."
She had made her choice. She chose her husband and her child.
Joy surged in Su Chen's heart. He knew the mont was almost ripe.
The Marquis of Pacifying the Seas ca to visit him as well. Seeing his most cherished grandson-in-law nearly assassinated once again—if he had not taken extra precautions—he might have been looking at a corpse.
"Damn it all! This old man is going to lead troops straight into the capital right now. In hundreds of years, the Marquis of Pacifying the Seas' residence has never suffered such humiliation!"
The old marquis was furious. He imdiately moved to don his battle armor, take up his weapon, and summon the army to march on the royal capital.
Su Chen hurriedly stopped him. Over the past decade of cultivating the Spirit Communion thod, the marquis had advanced from the seventh layer of Spirit Soul to the eighth. Yet the reason the main branch remained the main branch was simple: it sheltered an old monster at the peak of the ninth layer of Spirit Soul.
"Grandfather, you absolutely cannot act rashly in this matter."
If the marquis stord the capital and made even one misstep, he would be surrounded and overwheld.
The old man laughed. "This old man was only angry seeing my grandson-in-law nearly killed again. It doesn't an I've lost all reason."
So he had co first to comfort Su Chen. He continued, "Chen'er, do you have any thoughts on how to proceed?"
Su Chen's expression grew solemn. "Grandfather, after this incident, I have been thinking—will there be a third attempt? A fourth? A fifth? Must every genius born to a collateral branch live in constant fear of assassination? Why can't the main branch… be us? Are kings and marquises born with noble blood?"
The Marquis of Pacifying the Seas fell silent for a long mont. When he spoke again, his voice carried an unprecedented ambition.
"You're right, Chen'er. Kings and marquises are not born with noble blood. If Feng Tianxing can sit at the head of the main branch, why can't Feng Jinghai take that place? With the Spirit Communion thod, our branch is no weaker than his. And with a heaven-defying genius like you among us, even those old fossils in the Feng clan will surely stand on your side."
Su Chen nodded. "Grandfather, what we need to do now is build high walls, stockpile grain, and bide our ti. The day you break through to half-step Profound Connection will be the day our branch becos the true main branch."
With Feng Huai'an and the Marquis of Pacifying the Seas as his two greatest cards, Su Chen felt the odds of success were extrely high.
After agreeing to Su Chen's plan, the old marquis returned to seclusion. Everything in the residence was placed entirely at Su Chen's disposal.
Su Chen wasted no ti. He imdiately summoned his older brothers and sisters, younger brothers and sisters. In his hand appeared a list of nas. Wherever he passed, following that list, a head rolled.
Feng Zian had never witnessed a day so terrifying. The youth before him seed like an ice-cold demon. There was not the slightest trace of rcy in his eyes. One familiar head after another tumbled to the ground with dull thuds.
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Su Chen stopped in front of Feng Zian. He still rembered how this man had once tried to drown him in vulgar distractions and ruin his cultivation.
Sensing the murderous intent in Su Chen's gaze, Feng Zian collapsed to the floor with a thud. A yellow liquid pooled beneath him, dripping steadily.
"Chen… Brother Chen… I really didn't take part in any plot against you. You have to believe ."
Feng Zian trembled violently, terrified that the next mont his head would join those of his siblings on the floor.
Su Chen nodded. "I believe Third Brother doesn't have the courage for that."
Then he gave a soft laugh. "But Third Brother… your mother did hire two separate groups of Spirit Sea realm assassins to join the attempt."
Feng Zian's pupils shrank to pinpricks.
A mont later, his head rolled free.
Shortly afterward, Su Chen casually tore the list to pieces and scattered the fragnts across the ground. The list had been fabricated on the spot.
Now, among the direct line of the Marquis of Pacifying the Seas' residence, only he remained. If he ascended to the throne, his branch would beco the sole royal line. If he failed, the Feng clan would simply lose one more branch.
…
Twenty years passed in the blink of an eye.
Su Chen broke through to the Spirit Soul realm. He felt a power unlike anything he had known before. A radius of several thousand ters lay entirely within his grasp; with a single thought, he could reshape mountains and rivers. He knew his efforts had not been in vain.
"Unfortunately… this body's potential has already been completely burned away."
Su Chen estimated that his remaining lifespan could now be asured in years rather than decades. Without the constant support of precious spiritual dicines over the past two decades, his facade would have crumbled long ago. Even after reaching Spirit Soul, he figured he had no more than five or six years left at best.
In those twenty years, the king had grown increasingly brazen. He began systematically stripping resources from the collateral branches. Martial cultivation materials dwindled year by year, and more and more collateral descendants fell victim to silent purges. The other marquis residences suffered the sa fate—grievances piled high, yet none dared speak.
Su Chen gazed at the jade slip in his hand. He slowly carved a sentence into its surface: Cleanse the sovereign's side. Pacify the kingdom's calamity.
He no longer had ti to wait for the Marquis of Pacifying the Seas to break through. If he waited any longer, he might not live to see whether his grandfather ever reached half-step Profound Connection. He would enter the grave first. He would unite the other collateral branches and rebel. Even if he could not destroy the Heavenly Wind Kingdom outright, he would cripple it so badly that the task of finishing it could be left to his next life.
With Feng Huai'an acting as interdiary, the alliance ford swiftly. In a single stroke, the Heavenly Wind Kingdom plunged into the most brutal civil war in its history. All eight great marquis houses rose in rebellion at the sa mont.
More than twenty Spirit Soul realm powerhouses were drawn into the conflict. Seven of the kingdom's ten legendary powerhouses—figures who usually remained hidden from the world—stepped onto the battlefield.
Rivers ran red. Corpses blanketed the plains.
Su Chen led his army ever higher, sweeping forward without pause.
"Huai'an," he asked quietly as he surveyed the devastation he himself had wrought, holding her hand, "how do you think history will rember ?"
Feng Huai'an smiled gently. "If you succeed, Husband, you will be rembered as the restorer of the dynasty—the ancestor of renewal. If you fail… then Huai'an will follow you into the nine netherworlds. Why should we care how the world judges us?"
Su Chen's voice grew heavy. "The victor is crowned king; the defeated becos a bandit. That truth has never changed since ancient tis."
Feng Huai'an turned and draped his great cloak carefully over his shoulders. Her voice was soft.
"In Huai'an's heart, Husband will always be king."
Hearing those words from his wife of so many years, Su Chen suddenly felt a strange warmth rise in his chest. He drew her into his arms. In his heart, he whispered, I'm sorry.
From the mont he learned of the Jiang family's massacre in his childhood, there had been no path back. Everything he had done in this life—every sche, every life taken—was to gather more Reverse Fate Points while avenging his previous existence.
The instant he chose to burn his lifespan and accelerate his cultivation, he had locked himself onto a road of no return. He was not a genius who could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the kingdom's founding ancestor. He was not a monstrous talent comparable to Li Shenhua. He was rely a fraud who had stolen fa by consuming his own life.
Whether it had been worth it, he did not know. Right or wrong, he had no interest in judging. He could only throw himself fully into the ga and gamble for that half-chance of victory against heaven itself.
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