127: Fourth Generation: Overlord (Twenty-Three)

In the Capital, deep within the Wang Family mansion, inside a secret chamber protected by layers of soundproofing and Formations to block Divine Sense probing.

The lamp flickered, casting a dim and indistinct shadow over Wang Qingshan's usually dignified face.

He stood with his hands behind his back in front of the window, his back to the door, his aura as deep and heavy as an abyss.

"Creak—"

The door to the secret chamber was pushed open, and Wang Jue walked in.

His complexion was still pale; this was a hidden ailment left behind after his forced, failed attempt to break through the Foundation Establishment Bottleneck following his witnessing Xu Yuan kill the Shadow Tower assassin with a single finger. Between his brows lingered an inescapable gloom and malevolence.

"Father, did you summon me?" Wang Jue bowed, his voice relatively calm, but deep within his eyes hid a trace of undetectable irritation and unease.

Recently, his father had been busy with court affairs and supporting Xu Yuan in implementing new policies, and had not summoned him alone for a long time.

Wang Qingshan did not turn around, nor did he speak immediately. In the secret chamber, only the occasional crackle of the lamp wick remained, the atmosphere so oppressive it was stifling.

After a long time, Wang Qingshan slowly turned around. His sharp eyes stared at Wang Jue like a hawk, his voice low and cold, devoid of any emotion:

"Kneel."

Wang Jue was stunned, a flash of astonishment and defiance crossing his face.

He was a Cultivator at the 9th Layer of Qi Refining Peak, a half-step into Foundation Establishment, and the eldest legitimate son of the Family. When had he ever received such a reprimand?

But facing his father's unquestionable gaze and the pressure of Foundation Establishment Perfection, he gritted his teeth and ultimately knelt down.

"Father, I do not know what I have done wrong to provoke such anger from you?"

Wang Jue asked, suppressing his displeasure.

Wang Qingshan walked up to him, looking down at him from above, his eyes filled with disappointment, heartache, and an almost uncontrollable rage.

"What you did wrong?"

Wang Qingshan repeated, his voice suddenly rising with the fury of thunder, "Do you not know in your heart?!"

He slammed a Jade Slip in front of Wang Jue. The Jade Slip shimmered with spiritual light, revealing clear records of accounts.

"The Family treasury records show that in recent months, the resources called upon under your name have far exceeded your daily Cultivation and expenses by more than three times! A large amount of Spirit Stones and rare Materials have vanished into thin air!"

Wang Qingshan's voice was like cold ice: "At first, I thought you were preparing to break through to Foundation Establishment, or perhaps privately associating with some manpower. Although it violated rules, it was still understandable."

"But I had the Shadow Guard follow the flow of these resources to investigate..." Wang Qingshan's voice suddenly became bone-chillingly cold, "In the end, all clues pointed to one place—the Shadow Tower!"

"The assassins in Qingping County, the assassin at the Heaven Worship Ceremony..."

"Wang Jue! You have such great audacity! You dare to misappropriate Family resources, collude with the Shadow Tower, assassinate your own brother, and disregard the Family's millennium plan!"

"Do you want our Wang Family to lie dormant for another thousand years?!"

With every word Wang Qingshan spoke, Wang Jue's face turned paler, and his body trembled more violently.

He thought he had acted secretly, using multiple transfers and even utilizing some secret channels left by his mother to handle those resources, but he never expected his father to start directly from resource consumption, follow the vine to find the melon, and trace it to the Shadow Tower!

All his wishful thinking collapsed in an instant.

"It... it was me! So what?!"

After the immense fear came a complete breakdown of madness and unwillingness.

Wang Jue suddenly raised his head, his face no longer holding its usual arrogance, leaving only twisted resentment and hysteria.

"Why?! I am the eldest legitimate son of the Wang Family! I am the one with the best talent! From childhood to adulthood, all the Family's resources and expectations were poured into me!"

"But what about that Wang Yuan? By what right? A piece of trash who only reached the 4th Level of Qi Condensation after ten years of hard work! Just because he got that damn Cultivation Technique, he has to take away all the resources that originally belonged to me? He has to make you, Father, and all the Elders revolve around him?!"

"What qualifications does he have to be the master of this Great Shang?! Why should he step on my head?!"

Wang Jue roared, his eyes red.

"What is wrong with me killing him?! If he doesn't die, I, Wang Jue, will never have a day of success! In his hands, the Wang Family will only become a laughingstock!"

"You bastard!"

Wang Qingshan was trembling with rage. He suddenly raised his palm, dense spiritual energy condensing in his palm, carrying a terrifying aura of destruction, wishing he could kill this rebellious son with one blow!

If this palm were to fall, with Wang Jue's mere 9th Layer of Qi Refining cultivation, there would be no possibility of survival.

Wang Jue looked at his father's palm containing murderous intent. A trace of despair flashed in his eyes, but more of it was a broken-pot-and-sink-it-all kind of madness. He stuck out his neck and glared at Wang Qingshan without flinching.

However, Wang Qingshan's palm, which had condensed terrifying spiritual energy, ultimately did not fall.

He looked at the eldest son kneeling before him, the one he had once placed high hopes on and poured countless efforts into cultivating. Looking at the twisted resentment and unwillingness on his face, his heart felt as if it were being pierced by thousands of needles.

This was his son!

The son he was once most proud of, his most outstanding son!

If not... if it were not his own son, just based on any of his crimes—misappropriating Family resources, colluding with the Shadow Tower, assassinating a clansman, disregarding the Family's survival—he would have killed him with one palm and purged the sect long ago!

But... he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Thick disappointment, anger, heartache, and a trace of affection that he could not cut off as a father intertwined and tore violently in his heart, making his raised hand feel as if it were bound by invisible chains, too heavy to swing down.

In the secret chamber, only Wang Jue's heavy breathing and Wang Qingshan's body, trembling from extreme restraint, remained.

After a long while, Wang Qingshan slowly lowered his palm, and the terrifying spiritual energy that had condensed dissipated along with it.

He seemed to have aged significantly in an instant, his back no longer straight, his voice carrying a deep sense of exhaustion and hoarseness:

"You... have disappointed me too much."

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened them again, only cold determination remained in his eyes.

"From this day forth, your status as the eldest legitimate son is revoked, and all Family resource supplies are cut off."

"Imprisoned at the bottom of the 'Cold Silence Cave.' Without my order, you shall never... take half a step out for all eternity!"

The Cold Silence Cave was the place where the Wang Family imprisoned clansmen who had committed serious crimes. It was deep underground, where Spiritual Qi was thin and the cold was bone-piercing; it was a true dead land.

Hearing this, Wang Jue's body went completely limp, his face devoid of any blood color, leaving only dead gray in his eyes.

He knew that his father had spared his life after all, but his life was completely over.

Wang Qingshan did not look at him anymore, turned around, and walked towards the door of the secret chamber with a stumbling gait, his back appearing extremely desolate.

Just as his hand was about to touch the stone door.

"Creak—"

The door of the secret chamber was slowly pushed open from the outside.

An old yet upright figure stood silently at the entrance, blocking the way.

It was the Grand Elder, Wang Zheng Yuan.

Wang Qingshan paused, looking at the Grand Elder with a heavy expression, his brows slightly furrowed: "Grand Elder? You..."

The Grand Elder's gaze passed over Wang Qingshan and landed on Wang Jue, who was limp on the ground with a face like dead ash. In those eyes that had seen through all the vicissitudes of life, a complex and unreadable light flashed, but in the end, all emotions turned into a long and heavy sigh.

"Sigh..."

The sigh echoed in the silent secret chamber, carrying a heart-stopping chill.

"Family Head," the Grand Elder's voice was calm and waveless, but every word was like a hammer, striking Wang Qingshan's heart, "You... are still too soft-hearted."