Chapter 4: I Heard You Have a Daughter
The air in the Heavenly Sect's Great Hall was cold enough to freeze spirit stones.
"A scoundrel?" Princess Xu Meiling, the MC's younger sister, repeated the word slowly. She didn't shout. Her voice was like a glacier grinding against a mountain. "You dare accuse a direct descendant of the Immortal Dynasty—my own brother—of being a con man?"
The Sect Leader's knees hit the floor so hard the marble cracked. "P-Princess! We didn't know! He arrived without a retinue! He said he was just a prince from a nameless..."
"The Southern Wilds?" Meiling's eyes flared with golden light. "You mean our family's private hunting grounds? If you dare insult my brother again, this entire mountain range will be reduced to dust by tomorrow. Do you have a death wish, or is your sect simply tired of existing?"
Beside her, the Original Hero, Han Cangming, stood silent. His jaw was tight. He was supposed to be the center of attention, the one being rewarded, but in the presence of an Immortal Princess, he was little more than a background decoration.
CLACK. CLACK. CLACK.
The sound of slow, rhythmic footsteps echoed from the entrance.
Xu Yanluo walked in. He wasn't wearing his traveling gear anymore. He wore the Imperial Midnight Robes, stitched with void-silk that seemed to swallow the light. His long white hair flowed behind him, and his red eyes scanned the room with bored indifference.
Behind him, his three consorts followed like a localized eclipse of beauty. Yao Qingxue, the Regent Consort, was walking closest to him, her hands reaching up to adjust the collar of his robe.
"Stay still, Yanluo," she whispered, loud enough for the trembling Sect Leader to hear. "The collar is messy. You can't meet your sister looking like you just rolled out of bed... even if you actually did."
[System Notification: "Ling"]
[Post-Dual Cultivation Report:]
[Cultivation: Dao Seeking Realm (Mid-Stage) ↑]
[Physical Strength: +15% (Chaos Physique refined)]
[Yao Qingxue Affection: 97/100 (Wants to elope immediately)]
Yanluo stopped in front of the kowtowing Sect Leader. He didn't tell the man to stand up. Instead, he let the silence stretch until the old man's forehead was soaked in cold sweat.
"So," Yanluo's voice was smooth, almost gentle. "I am a scoundrel, dear Sect Leader? A fraud from a backwater kingdom?"
"It's my mistake! My sight was poor! I am a dog who cannot see Mt. Tai!" The Sect Leader banged his head against the floor. "This old man deserves death! Please, spare the Sect! My disciples are innocent!"
Yanluo looked down at him, his expression unreadable. "You're right. You do deserve death."
The Sect Leader's world crumbled in an instant. The air left his lungs as the "Villainous" pressure of the Primordial Chaos Physique pressed down on him.
"However," Yanluo continued, a slow, predatory smirk tugging at his lips. He leaned down, his voice dropping to a whisper that felt like a death sentence and a riddle all at once. "I'm a reasonable man. You want your sect to be spared?"
"Yes! Yes, Your Highness! Anything!"
Yanluo reached out and toyed with a lock of his own white hair, his eyes shifting toward the Sect Leader's daughter, who was standing trembling behind the Hero.
"I heard you had a daughter," Yanluo said.
The hall went silent.
The Hero's hand flew to his sword hilt. The Princess raised an eyebrow. The Regent Consort's eyes narrowed with a flash of possessive jealousy.
Yanluo didn't say anything else. He just stared at the Sect Leader, waiting for the answer he already knew was coming.