Volume One, Chapter Six: Kindness Exploited, Like a Gentle Horse Saddled and Ridden

"Mu Liancheng!"

Only then did the crowd recognize the newcomer. He was Mu Tiangong’s grandson, the new heir of the Mu family, who had awakened the Grand Dao Azure Heaven Saint Body—Mu Liancheng.

"Mu Yi, with me here, I will not allow you to act so recklessly."

With a single palm strike, he forced Mu Yi back. It was merely a light test of his strength, yet the effect was highly satisfying to him. A smile curled at the corners of his mouth—a look of superiority, as if everything were firmly within his grasp.

"You have indeed grown stronger than you were five days ago. However, I wonder if our agreement still holds. If you wish to decide our fates ahead of schedule, I can satisfy your request."

Though Mu Yi had been pushed back by that blow, he had not yet resorted to his final trump cards. Standing tall with his hands behind his back, he resembled a flagpole, upright and unyielding. The sharpness emanating from him seemed capable of piercing the very heavens, exuding an unmatched, domineering aura.

"Words spoken are like water spilled; I will let you live for five more days."

Mu Liancheng had already turned away. "But Mu Yi, do you realize that now that my Grand Dao Azure Heaven Saint Body has been completely mastered, your current strength is nothing more than that of an ant before me?"

"Hmph, we shall see."

Mu Yi, having no patience for further banter, left with the medicinal pills. He needed to treat Ye Yuwei immediately and had neither the time nor the inclination to waste words with Mu Liancheng here. After all, only the one who survived five days from now would be the one to continue writing history.

"Liancheng, why didn't you kill him immediately? He was so arrogant, killing Mu Shan right before everyone's eyes—how can we swallow this humiliation?"

Once Mu Yi had departed, Mu Tiangong vented his frustration to his grandson. In his eyes, Mu Liancheng had clearly demonstrated the power to slay Mu Yi with that single move.

"Grandfather, for me, Mu Yi is nothing more than fish on a chopping block. Whether I choose to kill him now or later is entirely up to me."

"The moment I awakened the Grand Dao Azure Heaven Saint Body, Mu Yi was already a dead man. But he must die in a way that serves a purpose. Therefore, killing him in five days, in front of the recruitment elders of the Great Qian Academy and the patriarchs of the other three great families, will be far more valuable."

Mu Liancheng looked up at the sky, his eyes deep and profound, as if he were gazing into a much more distant future.

"Very well, let the wretch live for five more days." Although Mu Tiangong was incensed, he had no other choice. After the previous battle, he realized that even at the fifth level of the Tiangang Realm, he was no match for Mu Yi. Now, within the entire Mu family, only the patriarch and his grandson were capable of killing him.

"Grandfather, for these remaining five days, notify the people of the Mu family not to provoke Mu Yi further. Since I have promised him five days, I cannot break my word." With that instruction, Mu Liancheng departed.

In truth, even without his order, no one in the Mu estate would have dared to provoke Mu Yi again. Everyone had been deeply shaken by the battle. Mu Shan, the third-strongest member of the Mu family and a master at the third level of the Tiangang Realm, had been killed by Mu Yi in an instant. Furthermore, the second-strongest, Grand Elder Mu Tiangong, had been consistently outmatched by Mu Yi; had Mu Liancheng not arrived in time, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

If in the past people feared Mu Yi partly because he was the heir, they now feared him because of his ruthless, thunderous methods. Violence was the most effective way to strike terror into hearts. People are bullied if they are kind, and horses are ridden if they are docile. Mu Yi had fully demonstrated this truth before everyone's eyes.

"Mm..."

After taking the Nine-Yang Pill, Ye Yuwei finally stirred and woke up.

"Young Master..." She opened her beautiful eyes slowly to see Mu Yi before her.

"You fool, when Mu Shan failed to provide your Nine-Yang Pill on time, why didn't you tell me? If I had discovered your condition a few hours later, the consequences would have been unthinkable." Mu Yi’s tone was filled with reproach.

"Young Master, I knew you had been stripped of your status as heir and that your situation was dire. I didn't want you to be distracted by my affairs..."

"Your affairs are my affairs. With Mother's whereabouts unknown, you are my only family left." Mu Yi continued, "And I told you long ago, I have always looked at you as my sister. Just call me Brother; don't call me Young Master. In my eyes, you have never been a servant."

As he spoke, Mu Yi’s gaze became hazy, as if he were crossing the currents of time to return to ten years ago. He was only eight years old then, and he would never forget that snowy day outside the Mu estate.

"Mother! Mother..."

The world was draped in silver, a vast expanse of white. Large, goose-feather snowflakes continued to fall. Eight-year-old Mu Yi chased after the receding figure in the snow. She wore a white dress; her figure was slender and graceful, her skin as crystalline as snow, and her hair flowed like a waterfall. It was his mother, Gu Jingyi.

Hearing his hoarse cries behind her, she finally stopped.

"Mother! Why must you leave?" Mu Yi caught up and threw himself into her arms. Mother and son wept together.

"My Lady, you must leave. You know well that if that great figure were to unleash their wrath, this small Great Qian Dynasty—let alone the entire Xuanhuang Continent—would instantly be reduced to cosmic dust..." A space beside Gu Jingyi suddenly tore open like a black hole, and an old woman stepped out.

"Yi'er, take care of yourself. One day, I will come back for you..."

After saying this, Gu Jingyi turned away, tears streaming down her face, and walked into the black hole with the old woman. They vanished. The space healed, and it was as if everything had been an illusion, never having existed at all.

"Mother! Mother..."

Snow whirled, and the world was silent. Only Mu Yi’s cries echoed, soon to be buried by the heavy snow.

Mu Yi could never forget that scene. Ten years had passed, yet it felt like yesterday. Since birth, he had never known who his father was, and his mother was even more of a mystery. At eight, he had not understood the old woman's words—why his mother would turn away in tears because of them.

Ten years later, as Mu Yi recalled those words, his entire body trembled. He finally understood what they meant. The Great Qian Dynasty where he resided was located in a corner of the southwest of the Xuanhuang Continent. Beyond the seven nations of the Eastern Territory, how vast the world was, he did not know, as the ancient records of the Great Qian Dynasty rarely documented it.

But the one thing he knew was that it was immense. Boundless, vast, and endless—that was how ancient texts described the entire Xuanhuang Continent. If that great figure mentioned by the old woman were to fly into a rage, not only would the mere Great Qian Dynasty be destroyed, but the entire Xuanhuang Continent would be reduced to cosmic dust in an instant. How powerful, how terrifying was that? Mu Yi dared not imagine.

He finally understood why his mother was forced to leave him. From that day on, he practiced with desperate intensity. At sixteen, he became the top prodigy of Lieshan City; at seventeen, he joined the Great Qian Academy, becoming the foremost among ten thousand outer disciples within a single year. Coupled with his awakened True Dragon bloodline, Mu Yi had glimpsed a sliver of hope that he might one day find his mother.

Yet, all of this had been destroyed by Qin Wanqing, the woman he had loved. Unexpectedly, however, he had gained something better in his loss: the awakening of the Dragon-Elephant God-Demon Tower within him, which had turned his misfortune into a blessing.