A winding hallway led to a dirty, damp room where two cultivators were tied to the ground. Their arms were locked down with heavy metal chains, seemingly unbreakable by their fragile limbs. The two cultivators were a young man and girl, averaging seventeen years old - they were none other than Lei Jian and Xue Yueliang. The girl's eyes stirred as she regained consciousness and was met with Lei Jian's worried gaze.

"Yueliang, are you okay? I'm sorry to have implicated you." He said regretfully.

It seems he does not know that I was a target. She thought.

"It's not your fault. I killed Jiu Li's parents because they tried to rob me." She said to appease him, not knowing why she had even explained herself.

"How long had it been?" She asked, but before he could reply, a familiar voice sounded.

"How does the amount of days even matter? Your life is pretty limited. Just savour your last few remaining moments." Jiu Li advised, still wearing her dainty pink robes. However, something had changed from the last time they had met. A large, coarse hand, held onto her waist, feeling her up and down. His excitement had not dwindled even though the current setting was far from suitable. Displeasure appeared on Jiu Li's face, but she did not say anything to him, instead of glaring at Xue Yueliang, blaming her for her current situation. Rather than looking away, Xue Yueliang gave her a mocking smile, angering her.

"Do you not have anything to say?" She snapped, freeing herself from the man's grasp and landing a kick suddenly on Xue Yueliang's back. As it came from a weak alchemist, the strike did not have much power, and she barely felt anything.

"I do have something to say," she smiled, "Congratulations, Young Lady Jiu Li, it seems like you will not have to be a single mother no longer. Your child will even belong to the illustrious Lei Clan."

The man following behind stared at Jiu Li in shock, seemingly unable to believe she already had a child, and a faint murderous glint appeared in his eyes.

"I don't have a child," she hurriedly screamed, "She's my sister! My sister!"

The coldness in the man's eyes slightly faded away but was not gone, just barely hidden away. Xue Yueliang laughed in her head, now knowing that this Jiu Li was doomed to die. Trusting a greedy and murderous man such as him was a fatal mistake. A man like him was someone who would rather believe a stranger's words than his companion. She knew him and knew that he would rather kill his own companion than investigate her words. He felt that all woman in this world owed him their purity. "Young Lady Jiu Li, there is no need to be so frantic; otherwise, people will think you have something to hide."

Jiu Li's face paled as she stopped trying to antagonise Xue Yueliang. She turned to face the man she came with and kneeled on the dirty ground, "On my life, I swear, she is not my child, please believe me." The man finally spoke, his voice as unpleasant as his appearance, "Then isn't it okay if I kill her?" He asked, acting like it was natural for people to disregard their siblings' lives. Jiu Li's face paled as her words were stuck in her throat, unable to utter even a single syllable.

"Of course, what sort of mother could abandon her child?" The man scoffed.

"She's my sister! Sister! How can I willingly kill her?" Jiu Li cried. In her eyes, she owed her family too much. How could she kill her last remaining relative for a man? "And isn't Lei Jian my brother," he said, pointing toward the miserable Lei Jian, "I wouldn't hesitate to kill him."

"Just because you are a piece of trash, that doesn't mean others are!" Lei Jian exclaimed. Even though he knew that Jiu Li was an enemy who had taken advantage of him, he felt her current situation was extremely miserable. Xue Yueliang had killed her parents, and he could sympathise with wanting revenge; he did not believe she deserved this.

Like this, the tension in the room increased to a suffocating level, affecting everyone but Xue Yueliang, until Lei Jian's brother, Lei Chi, finally opened his mouth. "How shameless! You had even managed to seduce my younger brother," he said, laughing angrily, then smacked the side of her head, causing her to fly across the room. "A slut like you deserves to die!"

Xue Yueliang, who had her head lowered, suddenly lifted her head up and asked, "Who was that silver masked man?"

She had been carefully thinking of how she had gotten here and could not discern that man's origin. She thought that he did not belong to the Lei family, they were an aboveboard group and did not usually rely on underhanded tactics, nor did they cover their faces - of course, the current situation was not a good example. There were honestly too many odd things about the current situation.

Lei Chi turned his malicious gaze to her and barked, "What's the use of a dead man knowing such things?"

"Since I'm dead either way, it does not matter what I know," she turned her gaze to Jiu Li and continued, "I even helped you clean the unfaithful ones from your house." Jiu Li continued sobbing in her corner, vehemently denying her words, but no one paid her any heed.

"Fair enough. I can't say much, but I can say the country will have a new head on its roof."

A rebellion, she smiled. Things were better for her this way since if they were planning a rebellion, that man could not possibly be here for too long as it would draw too much suspicion. She did not believe that she could not take Lei Chi and his subordinates when her power was unsealed. She just had to last half a day.

"Thank you for satisfying my curiosity." She thanked him and began to focus on her inner thoughts, but Lei Chi still stared at her intently, causing light goosebumps to appear on her skin. "I know you!" He exclaimed, a look of realisation on his face. He felt that her face was familiar, but her purple-tinted hair and having grown up made it hard for him to discern where he had met her.

"You are Qin Yao, the Qin Clan's youngest daughter. What are you doing here?"

Xue Yueliang had an odd expression on her face as she answered, "Qin Yao is long dead; my name is Xue Yueliang, and as for what I am doing here." She paused, smiling. "A silver masked man kidnapped me, by your orders, I assume."

"Don't act smart-mouthed with me. What are you doing in the eastern province with my brother?" He bellowed. Lei Chi had previously asked for her hand in marriage, but she had refused, and since she was the Qin Clan's direct descendent, there was no way he could force her. Although her father was heartless, he would not allow strangers to humiliate his family.

"Eloping," she smiled, frustrated as to why he questioned her. Was the most important thing about her in his eyes her relationship with Lei Jian?

"You refused me and hung out with the like of him? Without even having a proper relationship with him?"

Lei Jian's expression changed as this was nothing short of sullying his reputation; he believed himself to be a gentleman to the core but could not bring himself to call her a liar. Xue Yueliang smiled at Lei Chi's twisted face as she spoke every word slowly and clearly, "Lei Jian is a true gentleman. He would not believe the words of strangers over my own, nor would he sleep with every woman he sees, human or not. Why would I want you over him."

"Why you...!" Lei Chi tried to swing his arm at her. Lei Jian had always been his point of insecurity. Although he had always had a higher cultivation level than him and was considered talented, he had lost to his brother in temperament, looks and charisma. Seeing another person he regarded inevitably belong to him prefer his brother angered him. Rage clouded his mind as he said, "Why don't I just take you now!"

He was met with metallic chains rather than her soft flesh. Xue Yueliang had gotten off the dirty ground, and the chains that restrained her before were pulled off the ground by her, looking more like weapons than fetters. A bright red aura surrounded her body as she stared at him with murderous intent.

A strong smell of blood wafted through the room as she got up, suffocating the three others in the room.

"Y-you really are the Qin Clan's daughter!" Jiu Li exclaimed from her corner, her face turning even paler than before. She felt despair coarse through her body as she knew she would die regardless of whether she managed to escape today's predicament or not. Hiding from one of the most influential clans was possible. However, when a second was added, her chances were almost nonexistent. She leaned onto the wall and apologised to her sister and her dead family, asking them for forgiveness as she let her dismay overwhelm her. Her despair, however, was unheeded by the other three.

Xue Yueliang smiled at Lei Chi and asked, "Did you know my father only ever spoke to me once."

Her long purplish hair danced behind her, making her appear more mesmerising. She broke off the chains on her arms and whipped them toward Lei Chi.

"He told me that a daughter of a Qin Clan can be killed but not humiliated." She flashed a sweet smile toward him; but behind her smile, there was a lot of hatred and anger.

"He taught me this method of boiling your own blood and lifespan to increase your strength momentarily." She swung the chains again, causing Lei Chi to hurriedly dodge, unsure where her strength was coming from.

"It was after you proposed to me." Xue Yueliang threw off her chains and retrieved Blood Moon, ready to fight him seriously. Her spiritual Qi was unsealed, so she limited the amount she burnt as she kept her current state. She had no reason to continue burning her life but if she stopped now the backlash would hit and leave her immeasurably weak. She was in a lose-lose situation and felt it was better to take Lei Chi along with her.

Although she had been able to cause Lei Chi to retreat, that was because she had surprised him. He was a genuine powerhouse at the 5th level of Foundation Establishment Realm; killing him would not be easy.

"Do you think I care about your life, wretch?" He yelled, his face contorting with rage as he felt humiliated by her. His ring flashed as a spiked maul appeared in his arm, twisting it and aiming at her head.

"You do not need to care. You only need to know." She said, scoffing at his attack as she docked, aiming her weapon at his stomach.

Lei Chi fell back, and Xue Yueliang continued to talk, "He knew this day would come." She stated chillingly. Her blazing Berserks Dragon Flame appeared in her hand, embuing her attacks with fiery power.

"You have one of the legendary flames?" Lei Chi exclaimed as he formed a white transparent seal around him, protecting himself from being burnt to a crisp.

"You are missing the point," Xue Yueliang grumbled, "How did he know this would happen? If I had followed my original path, I would have been forever in the Qin Clan until I was inevitably married. I would have never come across you."

The flame in Xue Yueliang's hand increased proportionally with her anger, almost filling up the entire room until she recalled there were others here. Compressing the fire into her hand, she shot it as a concentrated beam toward him, burning a hole into his shield and the smell of charred flesh filled the room.

"You dare!" Lei Chi's face twisted as his spiked maul increased in size, and due to the cramped space, Xue Yueliang could not dodge. The giant spiked maul landed on her right hand, bending it to an unholy degree, but Xue Yueliang's expression remained indifferent.

"The question is not whether I dare or not. It's how did he know?" At this point, Lei Chi felt a chill up his spine. He did not understand how she could shake off this pain, nor did he get her fixation. If she could fight against him while distracted, he did not dare imagine what it would be like when she began to concentrate. He did not know that Xue Yueliang was the most concentrated she had ever been at this moment.

"Guards!" He yelled, his voice betraying the slight fear he did not wish to show.

Three armoured men entered the room, all at the sixth level, causing Xue Yueliang to clench her teeth. She prepared to burn more of her blood essence, but her master appeared in front of her and shouted, "Enough!" As soon as this word had sounded, the armoured men and Lei Chi collapsed onto the ground, dead.

He looked at Xue Yueliang and sighed worriedly, "Are you okay?" The bloody aura around Xue Yueliang disappeared as she collapsed onto her knees, vomiting two mouthfuls of blood. She looked up toward Yao Ming and opened her mouth as if trying to say something. However, before any words could come out, she fainted. Yao Ming looked at her faintly and stopped her from falling onto the ground. "You will be okay," he smiled and guided weak streams of energy into her body.

After feeling that her condition had stabilised, he handed over to Lei Jian, "Take good care of her." Lei Jian then carried Xue Yueliang on his back and made eye contact with Jiu Li, who was trying to escape.

"Your fate will be decided by Yueliang." He stated, a complicated feeling surging through his heart as he was sure she would kill her. Nevertheless, hatred and gratitude should be decided by the people concerned. He did not wish to involve himself in this and potentially offend Xue Yueliang. He then knocked her out and carried both women to the upper floors. Since they were planning a rebellion, there should be no more people here as they could not attract too much attention. He gently placed Xue Yueliang on some bedding and sat down to cultivate.

In this fight, he was so weak, and he could not provide any help at all, causing Xue Yueliang to burn her own lifeforce to save both of them.

As a man, I should be powerful enough to protect her. But as he recalled her earlier words, he corrected his thoughts. I should be strong enough to stand beside her.