The atmosphere in the main hall of the Han residence suddenly fell silent, a type of suffocating stillness that precedes a great storm hitting the land. The announcement of Han Seo-Ah and Song Jin-Ho's engagement that had just been shouted by Han Dong-Gook seemed to freeze in the air, held back by a single presence that refused to submit.
Lin Xuan stepped down from the second-floor balcony. The sound of his dress shoes hitting the marble floor created a steady rhythm, echoing against the high walls of the hall. Each step did not just carry the weight of his body, but also radiated a wave of authority that made the invited guests unconsciously hold their breath.
"A magnificent performance, Mr. Han," Lin Xuan's voice broke the silence, not loud yet possessing a resonance capable of piercing every corner of the room. "However unfortunately, this alliance you have built does not stand on a golden foundation, but rather on quicksand that will swallow you alive."
Han Dong-Gook, the arrogant head of the family, narrowed his eyes. He released an aura of Sovereign Authority—a mental pressure technique that usually forced ordinary people to their knees in fear. The guests in the front rows began to feel short of breath, their faces turning pale. However, Lin Xuan continued to walk as if passing through a flower garden in spring, his face remaining calm and undisturbed.
"Lin Xuan! How dare you disrupt this evening!" Song Jin-Ho screamed, his face bright red with anger and shame. "Guards! Drag him out!"
Lin Xuan stopped right in the center of the hall, beneath the giant crystal chandelier. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a black folder, then tossed it onto the floor. The folder slid and opened right at Han Dong-Gook's feet.
"Do you think the Song family wants to save your business, Mr. Han?" Lin Xuan asked in a deadly flat tone. "You can build walls as high as the sky to cage others, but you can never imprison the truth once its time has arrived to be revealed. Read those documents. Song Jin-Ho does not want your daughter, he wants access rights to the Consortium's energy distribution lines that only the Han family possesses. Once the wedding is over, they will poison you slowly and take over everything."
Commotion broke out. Han Dong-Gook grabbed the documents with trembling hands. As he read the details of the secret asset transfers prepared by the Song family, the veins on his forehead tightened.
"This is slander! Those are forged documents!" Jin-Ho roared.
"Forged?" Lin Xuan smiled thinly. He flicked his fingers, and through subtle manipulation of mental energy, he hacked the hall's audio system. The sound of a recorded conversation between Song Jin-Ho and Zhang Wei from the previous night—the result of Lin Xuan's frequency interception—thundered throughout the room.
"Let the old man Han feel like he's winning. Once Seo-Ah officially becomes my wife, I will shut down the heart of his business in a single night."
Jin-Ho's voice sounded crystal clear. The hall had now turned into a public court for the Song family.
"Enough!" roared Han Dong-Gook. However, his anger was not directed at Song, but at Lin Xuan for destroying his pride in front of all the Jianghai elite. "Executor! Finish him now!"
A man in a white robe with a silver mask who had been standing silently in the shadows moved with a speed impossible for the human eye to follow. He drew his thin sword which radiated a pale blue light—a blade of pure energy.
Sring!
The sword slashed directly toward Lin Xuan's neck. The guests screamed, some women closing their eyes. However, what happened next surpassed their logic.
The sword passed through Lin Xuan's neck, yet there was no blood. Lin Xuan's body suddenly faded like smoke, then vanished. It was Space Vibration, a technique of light perception manipulation where Lin Xuan shifted his frequency of existence just a few millimeters away from the ordinary physical dimension.
"You are too slow," whispered a voice behind the Executor's ear.
The Executor startled, trying to turn around, but Lin Xuan had already placed his index finger on a primary meridian point at the back of the man's neck.
"Rest now," Lin Xuan said.
An explosion of energy that was incredibly dense and calm was released. The Executor—a top-tier assassin of the Nine Heavens—suddenly went limp and fell to his knees, his sword shattering into fragments of light before he finally lost consciousness. Lin Xuan did not even break a sweat—he had taken down his strongest opponent with just a single touch aligned with the opponent's weak point.
Lin Xuan ignored the stunned crowd and walked up the grand staircase toward the stage where Han Seo-Ah stood. Han Dong-Gook tried to block Lin Xuan's path, but he found his feet as if planted into the marble floor. He could not move, as if the weight of gravity around him had increased tenfold.
Lin Xuan stood in front of Han Seo-Ah. He reached out his open hand, a palm radiating warmth and honesty.
"Tonight, this golden cage has crumbled, Seo-Ah," Lin Xuan said, his eyes gazing softly into Seo-Ah's tearful eyes. "Not because I destroyed it, but because you finally dared to choose to be free. Your courage in giving that pin to me was the beginning of this prison's destruction. Will you step out with me?"
Han Seo-Ah looked at her frozen father, looked at Jin-Ho who was being surrounded by the contemptuous glares of the guests, then looked back at Lin Xuan. For the first time in her life, she no longer felt like a chess piece.
"Yes," Seo-Ah whispered. She placed her hand on top of Lin Xuan's.
Lin Xuan gripped that hand tightly. He turned and looked at everyone in the hall with the gaze of a calm victor. "Courage does not mean you are not afraid of the consequences, but that you are more afraid of living in a comfortable lie than dying in a harsh truth. Tonight, the Lin family and Han Seo-Ah are no longer part of your games."
Lin Xuan guided Han Seo-Ah as they walked out of the Han residence. The guards who were previously aggressive now only stood frozen, not one of them daring to approach. The aura radiated by Lin Xuan at that moment resembled an unshakable mountain—anyone who tried to attack would feel like slamming their head against a steel wall.
As they reached the outer gate facing the Jianghai valley, the night wind blew hard, fluttering their hair. In the distance, on the hilltop opposite the Han residence, Lin Xuan narrowed his eyes.
Through his sharp energy senses, he saw three silhouettes in dark red robes standing in the darkness. They were the Elders from the original Nine Heavens Consortium. They did not come down to fight, yet their gaze was full of cold evaluation.
Lin Xuan realized that what happened tonight was only a small ripple on the surface of the lake. By taking Han Seo-Ah away and humiliating the Song and Han families, he had officially declared war against a world order that had existed for hundreds of years.
"Are you afraid?" Han Seo-Ah asked softly while looking at the city lights below them.
Lin Xuan turned toward the three silhouettes in the distance, then looked back at Han Seo-Ah with a meaningful smile.
"Fear is an old frequency, Seo-Ah," Lin Xuan replied. "Tonight we have pulled in a new future. And in that future, there is no place for those who still hide behind red robes."
Lin Xuan started his car engine, taking Seo-Ah away from that hilltop toward the life he manifested himself. The porcelain sky of the Han family had collapsed, and from its ruins, a new power had been born.
Truth has its own vibration that cannot be silenced by luxury or power. When you dare to choose truth over comfort, the universe will not only give you a way, it will tear down every barrier that tries to stop you.