"I am a dignified fourth-tier Formation Master. How could I possibly fail to outline a mere third-tier [Wind-Thunder-Frost Formation]?"

"This [Wind-Thunder-Frost Formation] is the very formation I excel at most. In the past, I could wield a brush in each hand, dividing my focus to outline two [Wind-Thunder-Frost Formations] simultaneously. What in the world is wrong with me today?"

"I refuse to believe this! I don't believe it! I don't believe it!!"

Ye Han looked as though she had suffered a devastating blow, her Dao Heart teetering on the brink of collapse.

Driven by her immense pride and unyielding confidence, Ye Han carelessly wiped the bloodstain from the corner of her mouth. Ignoring the dumbfounded Ye Ling'er beside her, she waved her hand, summoned another Formation scroll, and raised her brush to paint once more...

"Fifth Sister, stop... stop painting!!"

"If you continue, you'll fall into Qi Deviation and shatter your Dao Heart, Fifth Sister!"

As Fifth Sister Ye Han set her brush to the scroll again, the spiritual energy across the entirety of Frost Peak erupted into violent chaos once more.

Only then did Ye Ling'er snap out of her daze. She rushed forward, tightly embracing her Fifth Sister, and pleaded bitterly:

"Fifth Sister, listen to me! Listen to me!"

"I know... I know why you can't even outline a mere third-tier [Wind-Thunder-Frost Formation]. It's because... because..."

Boom!!

Before Ye Ling'er could finish her sentence, a deafening roar suddenly erupted from Clearwater Peak, adjacent to Frost Peak. A terrifying Earth Core Flame burst forth from the mountain's summit, forming a continuous sea of fire that swept across the majority of the peak.

In an instant, the terrifying Earth Core Flame incinerated all the Spirit Grass, spiritual herbs, towering ancient trees, and dense thickets on Clearwater Peak, reducing them to ash.

It was a scene of apocalyptic devastation.

"Third Sister!"

"This is bad, we must save Third Sister!!"

Ye Ling'er and Ye Han exchanged panicked glances, abandoning all else. The two women simultaneously mounted their flying swords, charging toward Clearwater Peak to search for their Third Sister, Ye Qingqing, amidst the boundless sea of fire.

Clearwater Peak was the Dao Field of Third Sister Ye Qingqing, located right next to Fifth Sister Ye Han's Frost Peak. Thus, any disturbance there would immediately draw Ye Han's attention.

Swish! Swish!!

After Ye Han and Ye Ling'er used their Dharma Treasures to cleave a path through the sea of fire, they finally found Third Sister Ye Qingqing's figure within her secret chamber.

Ye Qingqing had already fainted. If she hadn't activated a Dharma Treasure to protect herself before losing consciousness, she would have been devoured by the terrifying Earth Core Flame.

Even so, Ye Qingqing had suffered numerous burns, and the fearsome Fire Poison had forcefully invaded her body.

In stark contrast, the servants and guards on Clearwater Peak, as well as the low-status collateral disciples of the Ye family, had no time to react before being engulfed by the terrifying Earth Core Flame and turned to ash.

"Let's go!!"

Ye Han and Ye Ling'er, carrying the unconscious Ye Qingqing, mounted their flying swords, forcibly split the sea of fire, and fled from Clearwater Peak.

No sooner had the three women left than a Great Saint-level expert of the Ye family shattered the void and arrived. Manipulating spatial forces, he began to extinguish the raging mountain fire.

The rescued Ye Qingqing, after being fed a few healing Pills, slowly regained consciousness.

Seeing her two sisters, covered in soot and equally disheveled, Ye Qingqing could no longer hold back and burst into tears:

"Ah, wuwuwu~"

"Why? Why?!"

"I, Ye Qingqing, am a fifth-tier Artifact Refiner. Today, I was merely refining an ordinary fourth-tier Dharma Treasure, yet I failed, causing the Earth Core Flame to erupt and bring death to all life on my Clearwater Peak..."

Ye Ling'er and Ye Han exchanged glances, wanting to offer words of comfort. But recalling their own recent failures, they too broke down.

"Wuwuwu~"

"Wah, wah, wah~"

The three sisters couldn't help but embrace each other and sob, sharing their mutual misery.

...

After crying for a long while, once the mountain fire on Clearwater Peak was completely extinguished, the three women finally snapped out of their grief, disappointment, and confusion. They looked at each other and simultaneously lowered their heads.

"Third Sister, don't be sad. It's just a burned mountain peak, just some dead servants."

Ye Han, unable to bear seeing Ye Qingqing's tear-streaked face, spoke up to comfort her:

"Third Sister, our Ye family is an Immortal Aristocratic Clan, governing the ninety-nine Spiritual Veins of the world. Just have Father open another Dao Field for you and bestow more servants. After all, you are a future Artifact Refining Grandmaster, the hope of our Ye family's rise!!"

At the mention of the words 'Artifact Refining Grandmaster', the three sisters' brows filled with pride and complacency. This was their innate talent, a glory no one could ever take away.

In a glimpse of the future revealed by the Ye family's Ultimate Emperor Weapon, the Heaven-Reaching Mirror, every member of the younger generation of the Ye family was a dragon among mortals, possessing limitless Potential.

Eldest Sister Ye Lingyue excelled in divination and the Eight Trigrams arts, possessing the potential to become a Talisman Grandmaster.

Third Sister Ye Qingqing excelled in forging Dharma Treasures, possessing the potential to become an Artifact Refining Grandmaster.

Fifth Sister Ye Han excelled in the Dao of Formations, possessing the potential to become a Formation Grandmaster.

Little Sister Ye Ling'er excelled in the Dao of Alchemy, possessing the potential to become an Alchemy Grandmaster.

...

As for the Second, Fourth, and Sixth Sisters, they also possessed heaven-defying potential and talent in other fields, allowing them to look down upon their peers among the younger generation.

However, the Second, Fourth, and Sixth Sisters were not currently in the Ye family. They had been accepted into other Holy Lands, Sects, and Immortal Lineages, and rarely returned.

"Ye Han, I am not sad because my Clearwater Peak was burned, nor am I grieving because some servants died. I..."

Comforted by her two younger sisters, Ye Qingqing slowly calmed down. She let out a faint sigh and spoke:

"I just can't understand. I, Ye Qingqing, have the potential to become an Artifact Refining Grandmaster, a future existence capable of refining an Ultimate Emperor Weapon, yet..."

"Yet these past few days, I don't know what's wrong. I, a dignified fifth-tier Artifact Refiner, cannot even refine an ordinary fourth-tier Dharma Treasure."

"These past few days, I've felt as though I'm suffering from Qi Deviation. No matter how I refine or how hard I try, I simply cannot inscribe the Great Dao onto the forged Dharma Treasure. The Dao Rhyme, once so clear to me, has now become extremely obscure and difficult to comprehend. I..."

"Wuwuwu~"

As she spoke, Ye Qingqing buried her face in Ye Han's arms and began to cry again.

Ye Han and Ye Ling'er exchanged glances. They wanted to offer words of comfort, but recalling their own failures in outlining Formations and refining Pills, how could they possibly speak such words?

For geniuses born with glory and a halo, the greatest harm was not killing them, but stripping away their glory and halo, robbing them of their talent, and reducing them to ordinary mortals.

Falling from the clouds into the mortal dust, they would lose not only their pride and self-esteem but also suffer a complete mental collapse, living each day in self-doubt until their Dao Heart shattered and they fell into Qi Deviation.

"But Third Sister, you were just refining artifacts. How... how did you cause such a massive mountain fire?"

Ye Ling'er, always straightforward, looked at the now barren Clearwater Peak and asked in confusion:

"Third Sister, you have the potential to become an Artifact Refining Grandmaster. Even if you failed to refine a Dharma Treasure, it shouldn't have..."

Before Ye Ling'er could finish, Ye Qingqing let out a faint sigh and slowly explained:

"Artifact Refining is different from Alchemy and outlining Formation scrolls. Artifact Refining requires various types of hard, rare ores, and the flame temperature needed is extremely high."

"Relying solely on the flames I control would be too time-consuming and labor-intensive, so I had to borrow the Earth Core Flame, which I haven't fully mastered."

Upon hearing this, Ye Ling'er and Ye Han exchanged glances, filled with absolute admiration for their Third Sister, Ye Qingqing.

The temperature of the Earth Core Flame was terrifyingly high. Let alone Ye Qingqing, a fifth-tier Artifact Refiner, even sixth or seventh-tier Alchemists might not be able to control it.

But all three women overlooked one crucial point: Ye Qingqing using the Earth Core Flame, which she hadn't fully mastered, to refine artifacts was...

It was an extremely irresponsible act toward the hundreds of servants on Clearwater Peak. Once the Earth Core Flame went out of control, the entire Clearwater Peak would turn into a sea of fire in an instant, causing widespread death and destruction.

Ye Qingqing had a Dharma Treasure to protect herself, so she was naturally safe. But what about those servants?

However, who cared?

...

"Third Sister, to be honest with you, I, a dignified fourth-tier Formation Master, have recently... have been unable to outline even a mere third-tier Formation scroll."

"Third Sister, me too!"

"I don't know what's wrong either. I am a third-tier Alchemist. Logically, I should be able to refine Yellow Grade High Grade Pills."

"But recently, I can't even refine Yellow Grade Low Grade Pills, and I've blown up several cauldrons."

...

Ye Han and Ye Ling'er didn't hide anything and told Ye Qingqing the truth.

Hearing this, the three women simultaneously let out a faint sigh. Then, involuntarily, they looked up at the sky above the Ye family, their expressions sorrowful and full of confusion.

What they didn't know was that ten days had passed since Chu Chen left. The Ye family's Providence had dissipated even further. In fact, a thick, dark aura of misfortune had already blanketed the entire sky above the Ye family, affecting the Providence of every single Ye family member.

This was the principle of:

When ethics and norms are perverted, destruction follows immediately.

When virtue does not match one's position, calamity is inevitable.

"By the way, Ling'er! Earlier, after I failed to outline the [Wind-Thunder-Frost Formation], I remember you telling me..."

Ye Han suddenly remembered something. She tightly grabbed Ye Ling'er's arm and asked anxiously:

"You said you knew why I couldn't outline the [Wind-Thunder-Frost Formation]. Tell me quickly! Quickly!!"

It wasn't that Ye Han was simply impatient. If she couldn't become a legendary Formation Grandmaster, it would be a fate worse than death.

Moreover, Ye Han was engaged. Wang Teng, the Young Master of the Immortal Aristocratic Clan Wang family, had only proposed marriage because he valued Ye Han's potential to become a Formation Grandmaster.

With their wedding date approaching, if Ye Han couldn't recover her Formation Dao cultivation, even if the marriage wasn't annulled, she would be despised by her husband's family. How could she bear that...

"I... I..."

Ye Ling'er took a deep breath, unsure of how to begin.

Rumble!

"Ye Han, Ye Qingqing, Ye Ling'er, come to the main hall immediately!"

Just as Ye Ling'er was about to reveal the truth, the voice of Patriarch Ye Ding suddenly pierced through the boundless void, ringing in the ears of the three women.

The three women dared not delay. They immediately mounted their Dharma Treasures and flew toward the Ye family's main hall.

"Father, you... what happened to you?"

As soon as the three women arrived at the Ye family's main hall, they found Patriarch Ye Ding with a withered aura, a weary expression, and traces of fresh blood at the corner of his mouth...

A terrible premonition struck the three women's minds.

Could it be that Father also...

"It's... it's nothing. I just..."

Ye Ding's old face flushed slightly. Under the questioning gaze of his three daughters, and for the sake of his so-called face, he intended to brush it off casually:

"I merely failed to break through a realm during my Secluded Cultivation. The path of cultivation is inherently a defiance of the heavens. Failing to break through is normal! Completely normal!"

Normal?

Of course, it wasn't normal!

Ye Ding was already a Great Saint, having mastered the Dao of Space. He was merely attempting to break through to the seventh level of the Great Saint realm, not the Saint King realm.

Even if he couldn't break through, he shouldn't be...

In such a sorry state.

"I called you here to ask how Clearwater Peak suddenly caught fire."

To change the subject and save face, Ye Ding cleared his throat twice and continued:

"Also, I haven't seen Xiao Xuan or your Eldest Sister, Ye Lingyue, these past few days. I wonder how those two..."

But before Ye Ding could finish, he was interrupted by Ye Ling'er's tearful voice:

"Father, your failure to break through the realm was no accident!"

"Third Sister failed to forge a Dharma Treasure, causing a mountain fire."

"Fifth Sister failed to outline a Formation scroll, nearly shattering her Dao Heart."

"Even I... even I failed to refine a mere Yellow Grade Low Grade Pill, and I blew up four or five cauldrons!"

"With so many coincidences happening all at once, do you still think they are just coincidences? Do you still think it's because we didn't work hard enough? That it's our own problem?!"

"..."

"..."

Looking at the grief-stricken, hoarse Ye Ling'er, Ye Ding and the others exchanged bewildered glances.

"Then... then why is this happening?"

Ye Ling'er took a deep breath, turned around, and pointed outside the palace gates, declaring:

"Do you know what day it is today?"

"Today is the seventh day since the death of that waste, Chu Chen!"

"Our failures in Alchemy, in Artifact Refining, in outlining Formations, in breaking through realms..."

"All of this, all of it, is Chu Chen's doing!"

Before the others could speak, Ye Ling'er ground her teeth and spat:

"His malevolent spirit lingers!"

"He can't forget us. He's haunting us."

"Even as a ghost, he refuses to leave us alone!!"

...