Upon returning to the Marquis of Pacifying the Seas' residence, Su Chen fell into a deep coma from his severe injuries.

  Feng Huai'an never left his side. When Su Chen finally awoke, she leaned close and whispered softly, "Husband, I want our child to become the most honored person in this kingdom."

  She had made her choice. She chose her husband and her child.

  Joy surged in Su Chen's heart. He knew the moment was almost ripe.

  The Marquis of Pacifying the Seas came to visit him as well. Seeing his most cherished grandson-in-law nearly assassinated once again—if he had not taken extra precautions—he might have been looking at a corpse.

  "Damn it all! This old man is going to lead troops straight into the capital right now. In hundreds of years, the Marquis of Pacifying the Seas' residence has never suffered such humiliation!"

  The old marquis was furious. He immediately moved to don his battle armor, take up his weapon, and summon the army to march on the royal capital.

  Su Chen hurriedly stopped him. Over the past decade of cultivating the Spirit Communion method, the marquis had advanced from the seventh layer of Spirit Soul to the eighth. Yet the reason the main branch remained the main branch was simple: it sheltered an old monster at the peak of the ninth layer of Spirit Soul.

  "Grandfather, you absolutely cannot act rashly in this matter."

  If the marquis stormed the capital and made even one misstep, he would be surrounded and overwhelmed.

  The old man laughed. "This old man was only angry seeing my grandson-in-law nearly killed again. It doesn't mean I've lost all reason."

  So he had come first to comfort Su Chen. He continued, "Chen'er, do you have any thoughts on how to proceed?"

  Su Chen's expression grew solemn. "Grandfather, after this incident, I have been thinking—will there be a third attempt? A fourth? A fifth? Must every genius born to a collateral branch live in constant fear of assassination? Why can't the main branch… be us? Are kings and marquises born with noble blood?"

  The Marquis of Pacifying the Seas fell silent for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice carried an unprecedented ambition.

  "You're right, Chen'er. Kings and marquises are not born with noble blood. If Feng Tianxing can sit at the head of the main branch, why can't Feng Jinghai take that place? With the Spirit Communion method, our branch is no weaker than his. And with a heaven-defying genius like you among us, even those old fossils in the Feng clan will surely stand on your side."

  Su Chen nodded. "Grandfather, what we need to do now is build high walls, stockpile grain, and bide our time. The day you break through to half-step Profound Connection will be the day our branch becomes the true main branch."

  With Feng Huai'an and the Marquis of Pacifying the Seas as his two greatest cards, Su Chen felt the odds of success were extremely high.

  After agreeing to Su Chen's plan, the old marquis returned to seclusion. Everything in the residence was placed entirely at Su Chen's disposal.

  Su Chen wasted no time. He immediately summoned his older brothers and sisters, younger brothers and sisters. In his hand appeared a list of names. Wherever he passed, following that list, a head rolled.

  Feng Zian had never witnessed a day so terrifying. The youth before him seemed like an ice-cold demon. There was not the slightest trace of mercy in his eyes. One familiar head after another tumbled to the ground with dull thuds.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Su Chen stopped in front of Feng Zian. He still remembered how this man had once tried to drown him in vulgar distractions and ruin his cultivation.

  Sensing the murderous intent in Su Chen's gaze, Feng Zian collapsed to the floor with a thud. A yellow liquid pooled beneath him, dripping steadily.

  "Chen… Brother Chen… I really didn't take part in any plot against you. You have to believe me."

  Feng Zian trembled violently, terrified that the next moment his head would join those of his siblings on the floor.

  Su Chen nodded. "I believe Third Brother doesn't have the courage for that."

  Then he gave a soft laugh. "But Third Brother… your mother did hire two separate groups of Spirit Sea realm assassins to join the attempt."

  Feng Zian's pupils shrank to pinpricks.

  A moment later, his head rolled free.

  Shortly afterward, Su Chen casually tore the list to pieces and scattered the fragments across the ground. The list had been fabricated on the spot.

  Now, among the direct line of the Marquis of Pacifying the Seas' residence, only he remained. If he ascended to the throne, his branch would become the sole royal line. If he failed, the Feng clan would simply lose one more branch.

  …

  Twenty years passed in the blink of an eye.

  Su Chen broke through to the Spirit Soul realm. He felt a power unlike anything he had known before. A radius of several thousand meters lay entirely within his grasp; with a single thought, he could reshape mountains and rivers. He knew his efforts had not been in vain.

  "Unfortunately… this body's potential has already been completely burned away."

  Su Chen estimated that his remaining lifespan could now be measured in years rather than decades. Without the constant support of precious spiritual medicines over the past two decades, his facade would have crumbled long ago. Even after reaching Spirit Soul, he figured he had no more than five or six years left at best.

  In those twenty years, the king had grown increasingly brazen. He began systematically stripping resources from the collateral branches. Martial cultivation materials dwindled year by year, and more and more collateral descendants fell victim to silent purges. The other marquis residences suffered the same fate—grievances piled high, yet none dared speak.

  Su Chen gazed at the jade slip in his hand. He slowly carved a sentence into its surface: Cleanse the sovereign's side. Pacify the kingdom's calamity.

  He no longer had time to wait for the Marquis of Pacifying the Seas to break through. If he waited any longer, he might not live to see whether his grandfather ever reached half-step Profound Connection. He would enter the grave first. He would unite the other collateral branches and rebel. Even if he could not destroy the Heavenly Wind Kingdom outright, he would cripple it so badly that the task of finishing it could be left to his next life.

  With Feng Huai'an acting as intermediary, the alliance formed swiftly. In a single stroke, the Heavenly Wind Kingdom plunged into the most brutal civil war in its history. All eight great marquis houses rose in rebellion at the same moment.

  More than twenty Spirit Soul realm powerhouses were drawn into the conflict. Seven of the kingdom's ten legendary powerhouses—figures who usually remained hidden from the world—stepped onto the battlefield.

  Rivers ran red. Corpses blanketed the plains.

  Su Chen led his army ever higher, sweeping forward without pause.

  "Huai'an," he asked quietly as he surveyed the devastation he himself had wrought, holding her hand, "how do you think history will remember me?"

  Feng Huai'an smiled gently. "If you succeed, Husband, you will be remembered as the restorer of the dynasty—the ancestor of renewal. If you fail… then Huai'an will follow you into the nine netherworlds. Why should we care how the world judges us?"

  Su Chen's voice grew heavy. "The victor is crowned king; the defeated becomes a bandit. That truth has never changed since ancient times."

  Feng Huai'an turned and draped his great cloak carefully over his shoulders. Her voice was soft.

  "In Huai'an's heart, Husband will always be king."

  Hearing those words from his wife of so many years, Su Chen suddenly felt a strange warmth rise in his chest. He drew her into his arms. In his heart, he whispered, I'm sorry.

  From the moment he learned of the Jiang family's massacre in his childhood, there had been no path back. Everything he had done in this life—every scheme, every life taken—was to gather more Reverse Fate Points while avenging his previous existence.

  The instant he chose to burn his lifespan and accelerate his cultivation, he had locked himself onto a road of no return. He was not a genius who could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the kingdom's founding ancestor. He was not a monstrous talent comparable to Li Shenhua. He was merely a fraud who had stolen fame by consuming his own life.

  Whether it had been worth it, he did not know. Right or wrong, he had no interest in judging. He could only throw himself fully into the game and gamble for that half-chance of victory against heaven itself.