27: Chapter 27 Kneel down and call me grandpa!

That touch of crimson flowed between Xia Yunting's fingertips, reflecting his pale face that could not hide his arrogance.

Su Man knelt to the side; those hands that had once embroidered a lotus pouch for Ye Feng were now carefully holding a cup of spiritual tea, her eyes filled with sycophancy and anticipation.

"A reward."

Xia Yunting chuckled and tilted his head back to swallow it.

The Medicinal Pill dissolved the moment it hit his throat.

In that instant, Xia Yunting felt a warm torrent explode down his esophagus, like the warm spring sun shining on a snowy field.

The yin-cold Qi that had tormented him for months collapsed before this overbearing medicinal power; his four limbs and hundred bones had never felt so comfortable.

"Good! An excellent pill!"

Xia Yunting stood up with a loud laugh, his face regaining its former ruddy color.

He looked down condescendingly at Ye Feng, who had just been escorted into the hall, as if looking at a stray dog begging for mercy.

"It seems your trash life still has some use. Lu Chen is dead, so be it. As long as you obediently serve as my Alchemy Cauldron from now on, I guarantee you will have plenty of food and clothing... ugh!"

Before he could finish, the wild laughter on Xia Yunting's face suddenly froze.

Standing in the center of the hall, facing the cold, glinting blades and axes all around, Ye Feng did not kneel. Instead, he boredly raised his right hand and snapped his fingers in mid-air.

Snap.

That crisp snap of the fingers was like the final spark that ignited a powder keg.

The previously gentle warm current in Xia Yunting's belly transformed into billions of tiny steel needles without warning.

That wasn't medicinal power; it was Sword Qi.

It was a strand of Primordial Sword Intent that Ye Feng had specifically left behind after refining Earth Fire and Poisonous Herbs with his Chaos Devouring Body.

"Argh—!"

Xia Yunting let out an inhuman scream, his hands clutching his abdomen tightly as he rolled directly off the soft couch.

Intense pain flooded his senses like a tide. This usually high-and-mighty Third Prince was now curled up on the cold floor like a cooked prawn, twitching frantically.

"Your Highness! Your Highness, what's wrong with you?!"

Su Man was so frightened her face turned pale; she wanted to help him but didn't dare.

The surrounding Black-Armored Imperial Guards instantly drew their sabers, their Killing Intent locking onto Ye Feng.

"Audacious maniac! What did you do to Your Highness? Kneel and accept your death!" the Guard Commander roared, his long saber pointing directly at Ye Feng's head.

Ye Feng didn't even lift an eyelid. His gaze bypassed the cold blades and landed on Xia Yunting, who was rolling on the ground, a cold arc curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Kneel? In the current situation, who exactly is kneeling to whom?"

Xia Yunting, on the ground, broke into a cold sweat from the pain. The Sword Qi inside him was frantically slicing his Meridians; every movement felt like being executed by a thousand cuts.

He struggled to lift his head, meeting Ye Feng's emotionless eyes.

That look was like staring at a pig or sheep waiting to be slaughtered.

"Kill... kill him! Kill him for me!" Xia Yunting shrieked.

Clang—

A flash of cold light was faster than the guards' sabers.

Su Man moved.

To show her loyalty to her master, this woman who used to follow Ye Feng around calling him "Brother Ye Feng" drew the soft sword from her waist without hesitation.

The sword took a tricky angle, thrusting straight at his throat.

This strike was extremely vicious, clearly intended to be fatal.

"Ye Feng! You shouldn't be alive. Your existence is a stain on Your Highness!" Su Man screamed, her eyes full of resentment.

Ye Feng stood where he was, unmoving.

Not until the tip of the sword was less than three inches from his Adam's apple.

He raised his hand, curled a finger, and flicked it.

Ding.

A crisp sound rang out.

Su Man felt a violent tremor in her wrist as an indescribable, terrifying force surged back along the blade.

The soft sword, forged from hundred-refined steel, shattered into pieces before Ye Feng's finger as if it were made of paper.

Shards flew in all directions, scratching Su Man's delicate cheeks.

Before she could recover from her terror, a large, iron-clamp-like hand had already seized her neck.

Ye Feng exerted force with one arm, lifting Su Man into the air. He swung her casually, throwing her in front of him like trash to block the approaching sabers of the guards.

Cough... cough cough...

"Don't move."

Ye Feng's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a heart-palpitating chill. "One more step forward, and this woman dies. In three more breaths, your master's Meridians will completely rupture, and he will die."

The guards, afraid of harming the hostage, froze in place.

Xia Yunting on the ground was already rolling his eyes from the pain, white foam seeping from his mouth.

"Anti... antidote..." Xia Yunting reached out a trembling hand, no longer possessing any of a prince's dignity.

"This isn't poison; it's Sword Intent."

Ye Feng's fingers tightened slightly, making Su Man roll her eyes. "In this world, no one but me can resolve it. If you want to live, tell your people to get out."

Xia Yunting felt as if his intestines were being ground to pieces. The fear of death completely overwhelmed his pride.

"Retreat! All of you... get the hell out!"

The guards looked at each other and finally had to sheathe their sabers through gritted teeth, retreating from the hall like a receding tide.

The hall doors closed.

Ye Feng casually tossed Su Man aside. The woman slumped on the ground like a pile of mud, gasping for air, her eyes finally filled with deep terror as she looked at Ye Feng.

Ye Feng walked up to Xia Yunting, crouched down, and held out a hand.

"I want to enter the Library Pavilion."

No nonsense.

Xia Yunting was convulsing in pain. He tremblingly fumbled a golden, glittering token from his robe.

golden dragon token.

The highest-level pass of the Great Xia Imperial Family; seeing the token was like seeing the Emperor himself.

Ye Feng grabbed the token and tapped Xia Yunting's forehead with a fingertip.

The Sword Qi that had been rampaging inside Xia Yunting instantly quieted down. Although it remained latent deep within his Dantian, the heart-piercing pain receded like a tide.

"Your life is saved, but the Sword Qi is still there."

Ye Feng stood up, tossing the golden dragon token in his hand. He looked down coldly at the prince, who was limp as mud. "Every seven days, I will come to collect interest. If one day I am unhappy, or if I die..."

Boom.

Ye Feng made an explosion gesture.

Xia Yunting shuddered, his eyes full of resentment, yet he didn't dare to utter a single word of protest.

Ye Feng turned and left without sparing another glance at the pathetic master and servant.

Since they had already dropped all pretenses, there was no need to act honest and kind anymore.

This was also part of his plan.

Rather than being a blind man at the bottom, it was better to directly seize the enemy's lifeline to investigate the nightmare that had troubled him for over a decade.

Fifteen minutes later.

The Royal Library Pavilion, the restricted area on the top floor.

This place had been sealed for years; only successive emperors and those holding the golden dragon token could enter.

The air was thick with the smell of old, decaying paper.

Ye Feng ignored the rare Cultivation Techniques and Secret Manuals, heading straight for the dusty black iron bookshelf in the corner.

Those were the "Top Secret Archives" of the Great Xia.

The Chaos Devouring Sword Body had a natural sensitivity to blood Qi. Ye Feng almost instinctively pulled a dark red volume from the bottom shelf.

"The Third Year of Qingli: Purge Volume."

Turning to the first page, a waft of bloody air made Ye Feng's pupils contract sharply.

It was densely packed with the names of families secretly executed by the Imperial Family that year.

And on the third to last page, two shocking words were written—

[Ye Family].

They didn't die from Jianghu vendettas or bandits.

At the end of the record column, there was a bright red, eye-piercing seal.

The dragon pattern on the seal was ferocious, as if about to fly, exuding a supreme majesty and coldness.

The Great Xia Emperor, the Seal of the Xia Emperor.

So that was it.

It turned out that the so-called extermination of his entire Family and his status as an orphan was a massacre orchestrated by the Imperial Family from start to finish.

Ye Feng felt the blood in his body boil completely at this moment—not from excitement, but from rage.

It was a towering hatred that wanted to punch a hole through the very heavens.

"What a Great Xia Imperial Family... What a Xia Emperor!"

Ye Feng's mouth split open, revealing pearly white teeth; his smile looked more painful than crying.

Since you gave the Ye Family no way to live, I will devour the Luck of this Great Xia and sever your roots.

His five fingers suddenly clenched.

The iron volume recording the Ye Family's blood feud let out a groan of being overwhelmed in his palm.