"Consider the bigger picture?"

Then what the hell was there left to consider?!

After publicly slapping the unreasonable, domineering Ye Ling'er straight across the face.

Watching her picturesque, city-topplingly beautiful face...

visibly swell and turn red, blooming with a bright red handprint in an instant...

Ye Chuchen laughed.

He laughed with absolute, unbridled abandon.

Spanning two lifetimes, the crushing grievances and hatred buried in his heart for over a decade detonated in that single instant.

Even if it was only a fraction.

That exhilarating rush of immediate vengeance deeply intoxicated Ye Chuchen.

So.

Refusing to swallow his own suffering.

Was actually this joyful.

In his previous life.

Stripped of his cultivation, Ye Chuchen was slowly iced out by his father, his sisters, and eventually the entire Ye Family.

Desperate to claw his way back into their graces, he bled himself dry for every member of the clan, throwing away his very dignity to appease his sisters, even groveling before that pure white lotus, Ye Xuan, all to stitch together a shattered illusion of family...

And the result?

He still died a humiliated dog, his body rotting and his Dao erased.

If he was a cripple, then so be it.

Since he was destined to die anyway.

What did he, Ye Chuchen, have left to fear?

He would drag them down with him!

"YE! CHU! CHEN!!"

"You dare strike me? You actually dare strike me?!"

Her cheek throbbing, Ye Ling'er's eyes bulged like copper bells, staring at Ye Chuchen in sheer disbelief as her entire worldview collapsed.

In truth, with her cultivation in the Spirit Communication Realm, she could have effortlessly dodged that slap.

After all, Ye Chuchen's cultivation was ruined; devoid of even a shred of Spiritual Qi, he was an absolute waste.

But Ye Ling'er never once fathomed that she would be hit, let alone that this crippled brother of hers possessed the gall to strike her.

When Ye Chuchen first raised his hand, Ye Ling'er was even sneering in contempt.

She...

She genuinely believed that, crushed under the reprimands of their father and sisters, this cripple had realized his sins, raising his hand to slap his own face in apology to appease Xiao Xuan.

But the result!!

Not only was Ye Ling'er blindsided, but Ye Han, Ye Qingqing, and Ye Xuan also stood with jaws slack, staring in utter disbelief at Ye Chuchen.

Had... had the pressure finally broken this cripple?

Had he lost his damn mind??

How dare he strike Ye Ling'er? How dare he?

Did he still hallucinate that he was the Desolate Ancient Continent's youngest Great Saint? A supreme Heaven's Chosen? The Ye Family's Holy Son???

Recovering from his brief shock, Ye Xuan was the first to snap out of his daze, the corners of his mouth curling into a sneer entirely unsuited for his age...

Now this is a good show!

"Ye Chuchen, you are Courting death!!"

Right on cue, the moment Ye Ling'er regained her senses, her face twisted in grief and rage as she drew Spiritual Qi into her palm without a second thought.

As milky-white ice-attribute Spiritual Qi surged, a terrifying glacial current formed in a flash, and with overflowing Killing Intent, Ye Ling'er ruthlessly slammed her palm toward Ye Chuchen's chest.

Facing such a lethal strike, Ye Chuchen did not dodge, receiving it with calm indifference.

Ye Chuchen was not stupid.

Nor did he harbor an ounce of guilt.

But facing the wrathful blow of a Spirit Communication expert, a waste with shattered Meridians and zero cultivation simply could not evade.

BOOM!!

With an earth-shaking blast, the terrifying glacial current smashed directly into Ye Chuchen's chest, blasting his body backward through the air.

"Pfft!!"

Ye Chuchen struggled up from the cold stone floor, violently coughing up a puddle of crimson blood. Under the invasion of the glacial aura, his robes froze solid, and a thick layer of frost coated his skin. Stripped of body heat, he trembled uncontrollably.

Utterly miserable.

"Heh... I thought you were actually going to kill me."

Ye Chuchen wiped the bloody froth from his lips, his gaze locking onto Ye Ling'er with unprecedented freezing mockery:

"Turns out you're nothing but a coward! A pathetic wretch!"

If a Spirit Communication expert struck in true fury without holding back, Ye Chuchen would be a corpse.

But Ye Chuchen knew Ye Ling'er wouldn't kill him.

Not because she didn't want to, but because she didn't dare!!

Let alone one slap, even if he slapped her ten times! Even if he crippled her cultivation!

Ye Ling'er, Ye Ding, and the entire Ye Family would absolutely not kill him.

Because he remained the Ye Family's absolute greatest contributor, bar none!

He had pulverized his Chaos God Physique, shattered his Meridians, and sacrificed his cultivation to suppress the Demon Empress Lin Shuwang, seizing victory for the righteous factions and elevating the Ye Family to an immortal clan...

Such monumental, epoch-shaking merit.

If the Ye Family repaid that grace with murder, how could they ever face the continent's Sacred Lands and immortal clans?

Suppressing the Demon Empress and repelling the demonic coalition wasn't just a favor to the Ye Family; it was a life debt owed by numerous Sacred Lands!

The Ye Family could bully him, humiliate him.

They could even lock him away to rot in torment, slowly dying from illness and old injuries.

But they absolutely dared not commit the universally despised taboo of fratricide and biting the hand that fed them.

Even if Ye Ling'er dared, his father Ye Ding-currently watching the play from the patriarch's throne-would never permit it!

"Ye Chuchen, you... you are just exploiting my kind heart, aren't you?!"

Humiliated into a frenzy, Ye Ling'er gathered Spiritual Qi into her palm once more, condensing a razor-sharp blade of solid ice.

Her Killing Intent bled out openly.

"Since a crippled dog like you is Courting death, then I, Ye Ling'er, will grant your wish!!"

With a flick of her wrist, the razor-sharp ice blade shot from her hand, guided by spiritual power, tearing straight toward Ye Chuchen's heart at blinding speed.

His two sisters, Ye Han and Ye Qingqing, merely crossed their arms and watched the spectacle, utterly indifferent to their blood brother's life or death.

"Hmph!!"

Seeing Ye Ling'er cross the line into genuine murder, Patriarch Ye Ding let out a frigid snort from his throne, his terrifying Saint Pressure primed to erupt.

As the Patriarch, he could not let Ye Ling'er truly butcher Ye Chuchen. A minor beating to teach this disappointing son a lesson was sufficient.

"Sister Ling'er, no!"

Yet, the instant before Ye Ding could act, Ye Xuan-who had been standing beside Ye Chuchen-suddenly painted a look of frantic panic across his face. Before the stunned eyes of Ye Ding and his sisters, he threw himself in front of Ye Chuchen, spreading his arms and squeezing his eyes shut to physically block the brutally sharp, freezing ice blade.

"Xiao Xuan, you-"

No one anticipated Ye Xuan throwing his life away for Ye Chuchen. Ye Ling'er plunged into absolute panic, violently wrenching her spiritual power to divert the ice blade, terrified of scratching even a hair on Ye Xuan's head:

"Move! Hurry and dodge!!"

But the ice blade was too fast, the distance too short. Even with Ye Ling'er desperately trying to pull back, it was too late.

As the razor-sharp frost prepared to pierce Ye Xuan's chest...

Bang! Bang! Bang!!

A catastrophic wave of Saint Pressure crashed down from the heavens, instantly crushing the lethal ice blade into fine powder that vanished into the wind.

The crisis evaporated.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!

The three sisters-Ye Ling'er, Ye Han, and Ye Qingqing-blurred into motion, instantly surrounding Ye Xuan. Faces pale with distress, they frantically inspected his body, terrified he had been harmed.

To them, even a scratched knuckle on his hand would be a catastrophe.

It wasn't just the sisters. Even Ye Ding, a mighty Saint-level expert, violently shot up from the patriarch's throne, staring at Ye Xuan with agonizing worry, his heart aching enough to bleed.

"Xiao Xuan, how could you be so foolish?"

"Why would you block a blade for Ye Chuchen? This crippled waste isn't worth your blood!"

"Xiao Xuan, are you hurt? I have a healing Pill here, swallow it quickly!"

"I have Earth Core Fire Lotus Seeds! They can purge the frost from your body. Hush now, eat them."

...

The three sisters swarmed Ye Xuan, chattering frantically, practically shoving an entire treasury of healing Pills down his throat, terrified the slightest cold had touched him.

"Sisters, please... I am unharmed."

Soaking in his sisters' suffocating affection, Ye Xuan cast a deeply worried gaze toward Ye Chuchen, who was still coughing up blood, and whispered softly:

"I only thought... Brother Chuchen has bled for our Ye Family. It pains me to see him injured."

"I never meant to cause a panic... but if Brother Chuchen truly died by Sister Ling'er's hand, those unaware of the truth might slander her reputation."

Plop!

Plop!!

Upon hearing this, Ye Ling'er's eyes instantly burned red, heavy tears the size of pearls cascading down her cheeks.

"Xiao Xuan, so..."

"So you risked your life... entirely for my sake."

"Sob... Xiao Xuan, you are just too gentle. You only ever think of others!!"

Ye Ling'er squeezed Ye Xuan's hand desperately, so overwhelmed with emotion she nearly collapsed:

"Xiao Xuan, hearing you say that makes it all clear. Ye Chuchen deliberately provoked me! He wanted me to murder him just so I would bear the eternal blame."

"Ye Chuchen, how can your heart be so venomous?! If you possessed even a tenth-no, a ten-thousandth!-of Xiao Xuan's kindness, you wouldn't be the rotting filth you are today..."

Ignited by her words, Ye Han and Ye Qingqing eagerly joined the crusade, effortlessly spitting the most vile, venomous curses at their own blood brother.

"Urgk-"

Ye Chuchen clutched his chest and violently dry-heaved.

He was physically nauseated.

Utterly hollowed of any hope for the Ye Family, he didn't even possess the microscopic desire required to explain himself to these fools.

With a Saint-level expert like Ye Ding sitting right there, could Ye Ling'er actually have killed him??

Furthermore, a split second before Ye Xuan dramatically threw himself forward, Ye Ding had already unleashed his Saint Pressure...

The only reason Ye Xuan played the martyr was because his sharp senses had already detected Ye Ding stepping in. He was deliberately putting on a theatrical white lotus act.

Sadly, the brainless fools-Ye Ling'er, Ye Han, Ye Qingqing, and even Ye Ding-had long been stripped of basic rationality, entirely blind to black and white.

Explain?

Heh!

Once prejudice takes root in the soul, it is harder to shatter than divine iron.

No matter how much blood you pour out!

"Chuchen, have you made enough of a scene?!"

The Patriarch, Ye Ding, sat with a face black as iron. He issued a freezing snort, and his apocalyptic Saint Pressure crashed down upon Ye Chuchen, intent on shattering his knees and forcing him to bow.

Yet, even as veins violently bulged across his forehead and fresh blood poured from his lips, Ye Chuchen rigidly locked his spine, standing straight as a spear. He absolutely refused to kneel.

Even after experiencing two lifetimes, Ye Chuchen still could not fathom why his father, Ye Ding, blindly favored this adopted dog, Ye Xuan.

He, Ye Chuchen, was Ye Ding's blood son! Their blood brother! The Holy Son of the Ye Family!!

"Father, you clearly saw everyth-"

"Do not call me Father! Address me as Patriarch!!"

Before Ye Chuchen could even finish half a sentence, Ye Ding violently cut him down:

"Why did you strike Ling'er? Have you forgotten she is your blood sister?!"

"How can your nature be so cold and reptilian? How did I, Ye Ding, sire such a heartless, ungrateful bastard!!"

"..."

Ye Chuchen paused, then let out a hollow, mocking laugh.

I slapped Ye Ling'er, and you brand me a heartless, ungrateful bastard.

She hurled a blade of ice to carve out my heart, and you turn completely blind, pretending you saw nothing!

Fine!

Perfect!!

"By the laws of the Ye Clan, whoever disrespects the Holy Son shall be struck across the mouth!!"

With the final, pathetic shred of hope for the Ye Family ground into dust, Ye Chuchen straightened his back. He stared directly into the eyes of Patriarch Ye Ding and spoke with eerie calm:

"I, Ye Chuchen, may be crippled, but I am still the Holy Son of the Ye Family!!"

Whoosh-

The moment those words fell, Ye Ling'er and the others exchanged stunned glances, their aggressive momentum instantly choking out.

The Ye Clan indeed strictly enforced this ancestral law. Moreover, Ye Ling'er hadn't merely disrespected Ye Chuchen; she had physically wounded him and openly unleashed Killing Intent against him.

By clan law, a single slap was supreme mercy.

Outright execution would not be excessive!

"Hmph! Ye Chuchen, you hide behind the title of Holy Son to act as a lawless tyrant!"

Against all logic, Ye Ding snorted in disgust. Utterly trampling his own clan's laws, he violently turned the blame back onto his son:

"Ye Chuchen, apologize to Ling'er! Kneel and apologize to Xiao Xuan!"

"Defy me, and I will strip you of your Holy Son title this very second, and I will-"

Before Ye Ding could finish his threat, Ye Chuchen brutally cut him off:

"Patriarch, do not bother stripping my title."

"I ask Fath... Patriarch to formally expel me, Ye Chuchen, from the Ye Clan! From this second onward, our blood ties are severed!"

"..."