Xi Fu watched as a crazed look overtook the bloodied noble's eyes. Ji Ran desperately clutched at the necklace around his neck. Then a sudden pressure exploded forth. It was unmistakably power at the level of the Nascent Soul Realm.

Space warped as violet Soul-Fire poured from Ji Ran. Power at the Nascent Soul Level could crack the spatial laws of the Bid Talon Continent. Compared to the jump between the Second and Third Realms, and even the Fourth and Fifth Realms, the difference between Core Formation and Nascent Soul was far more severe. Generally speaking, against power that could break space itself, no one under the Nascent Soul Realm had any chance of survival except for true anomalies such as Chosen of Heaven.

Cracks began to spread across the noble's body as the heat and pressure increased. Within each crack, mysterious purple light gleamed and glimmered. Not only was Ji Ran unleashing the power of the talisman, but he was also sacrificing his very Essence Blood to push its power to the absolute limit.

"Perish and die, Xi Fu!" the noble screamed.

An orb of purple flame gathered in his mouth as he readied an attack. The cracks across his body grew wider and wider and the purple colors of the fire deepened and twisted.

'He's burning his Essence Blood. He doesn't plan to survive this...' the spearman realized, narrowing his eyes.

"I wasn't going to kill you but... I can see I was far too merciful. You don't get to die on your own terms," Xi Fu declared.

His ebony-hafted spear appeared in his palm, pulsing with a raging desire to overturn the heavens. Spear Intent roared to the sky, as Xi Fu stabbed the weapon forward.

"Sky-Erasing Spear!"

A thin beam of flame-like white qi shot forward from the speartip. At that moment, everything else seemed to turn monochrome as brilliant white light illuminated the manor. It was as if before the Sky Erasing Spear, every other colour and radiance was not worthy of existence. It was an attack that seized control of the world itself.

The beam of Spear Intent pierced through the orb of purple flames and slammed into Ji Ran. For a moment the world seemed to blink - as if reality itself had skipped a beat.

Then the heat and pressure and power emanating from the crazed man simply... vanished.

The change was almost dizzying. One moment, floating high in the sky and ready to die to kill his enemy, swelling with the power of one who could stand above the laws of space. The next, collapsed to the ground in a puddle of his own blood, gasping for breath. Xi Fu would almost feel pity at the sight if he did not know who Ji Ran was.

Not just that. Even the hazy red fire Qi that had previously surrounded Ji Ran, marking him as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, had totally vanished. Every drop of qi in his system. Every Dao platform he had painstakingly refined in the Second Realm. Every aperture and meridian channel, and even his Dantian itself. Xi Fu's Heaven Defying Spear Intent had erased the very meridians within him.

With a blink, Ji Ran became nothing more than a mere mortal. In fact, even less than a mortal. At least a mortal had the chance to cultivate. Ji Ran had been forcefully reverted to a less evolved form of the human race. Before the gifts of the Sword-Father had granted mankind inborn Meridian systems. It was the most humiliating thing Xi Fu could possibly imagine for the proud and noble descendant of a cultivator clan like Ji Ran.

The wide-eyed nobleman collapsed to his knees, as massive jets of blood erupted from his mangled arm and face and from the numerous cracks across his skin. Perhaps a talented and determined Foundation Establishment cultivator could survive and suppress such wounds where an ordinary human would die of blood loss. Ji Ran was not a Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator anymore.

The dying man flopped on the ground in a pool of his own blood, like a fish out of water. He did not have long to live. Then Xi Fu turned to the frozen Madam Fang.

She had hidden in the corner of the room, behind a flickering protective talisman. It was enough to defend her from the sheer pressure of a Nascent Soul's mere presence. However, it would shatter like tissue paper if Ji Ran's full attack had been unleashed. No doubt she knew this was well - her face was as pale as the dead, and fat tears poured down at the corner of her eyes, causing long runny lines across her makeup-laden face. It was the face of someone who had truly thought they were going to die.

"If you kill him now, everyone will think I did it," Xi Fu said.

The woman blinked in surprise, her hand coming up to cover her mouth in shock. Then she began to laugh. A crazed, choking laugh that was half mirth and half desperate sobbing. Madam Fang stood and dispelled the shaky barrier. Each step she took was slow and hesitant. A dreamlike expression overtook her face as if she herself did not fully believe what she was about to do.

The mother finally stepped over to the gasping, flopping nobleman. She lifted one dainty high heel and slammed it down as hard as she could directly on his testicles, malicious glee written across her face. The heel pierced through its target, and Ji Ran let loose a sound like a shuddering squeak - not even able to scream properly. Yet the wide bulge of his eyes let Xi Fu know of the unimaginable pain and humiliation he was now experiencing.

Madam Fang was only in Qi Condensation but Ji Ran was just a mortal. The sight of that one step alone was enough to make Xi Fu have to turn away from the sight. He did not want to see or even imagine the results of what had just happened to the man's family jewels. He might hate Ji Ran but there were some things a man just could not watch!

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"How does it feel, Ji Ran?" the woman screamed shrilly . "You are going to die like the dog you are! And by the way, I was the one who had Xi Fu sleep with Xue Xiang! Remember when you slept with my niece? For that, I made you raise another man's child. And she's not the only one. You were nothing but a pathetic cuck! That is all anyone will remember you for!"

She kicked and kicked and kicked. Stamping down on his chest, caving in his lungs and shattering his ribs. On his face and on his legs. Kick after kick after kick. The sounds of flesh tearing, blood gushing and bone snapping resounded out like a macabre orchestra.

It was to that sound Xi Fu finally began to turn and leave. He did not even care to see Ji Ran's last moments. The man was not worthy of such an honour, not worthy of being remembered. He would die behind Xi Fu's back, hated and despised by everyone around him. A fitting end.

—

The next morning, a weary Xi Fu floated in the sky, directly above Xue Xiang's house. Through his spiritual sense, he could see his daughter had locked herself in her room and was curled into a ball, sobbing. It was an understandable reaction to learning her mother had cheated on who she thought was her father, and that she was an illegitimate child. A shameful reputation that would follow her for the rest of her life, deserved or not.

Xi Fu had no clue how to console a crying child. His presence would probably only make her cry more, given he was the one at fault. Despite that, he desperately wanted to. He wanted to hug her and tell her that everything was going to be alright, that he was here for her.

But... he wasn't. Why wasn't he?

For a long time, Xi Fu had run away from his problems. He was pretty good at it. He'd run all the way to being a Private in the continent's top sect after all. It turned out he was not as talented when it came to facing them head on.

'I don't know what to do...' he admitted to himself silently.

As he stared down at his crying daughter, the sight tore at him like a dozen jagged, serrated knives were slicing his heart. It was sharper and more painful than any injury he'd ever had in battle, or any 'training' Bing Mielu had hoisted upon him.

'Are these the so-called protective instincts of a parent? That I would rather die than let my offspring suffer?'

With that thought, his gaze turned towards the city's residential district. To what most would consider a random and unassuming library. After a moment, Xi Fu shot towards it in flight.

—

Life at the Feng Long Library of Poetry was simple and repetitive. She would mark down visitors and make sure they paid their entrance fee. When she was not doing that, she was copying books and scrolls, and brewing pots of tea for her supervisor.

Compared to the life of a brothel prostitute, it seemed like paradise. No angry clients shouting or hitting her or asking her to do disgusting things. No having to drink bitter medicine every morning to prevent another child she could not afford to raise.

Sure, every now and then her supervisor would peek at her ass when he thought she was not looking-but she honestly did not mind. It was a small price to pay for a warm place to sleep at night.

Xi Huang sat upon a desk, humming a lullaby to herself as she scribbled down notes on a piece of paper. She blinked and there was suddenly a man standing before her. A tall, slim figure with a clean shaved boyish face. He wore a white, blood-splattered robe and had long black hair and piercing amber eyes that seemed almost like golden stars as they peered down at her.

It was a face she recognized immediately. It was her son, Xi Fu.

"Mom...I need some advice," he whispered.

Xi Huang stared at the blood-covered man before her, before sighing. In her life, she had borne four children who survived to adulthood. Her son, Xi Fu, and his three sisters, Xi Xilei, Xi Hafu, and Xi Meng. Out of all of them, her only boy was by far the most troublesome. It was a little ironic, given she had named him Fu, which meant fortune and good luck.

"What is it this time?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and adjusting her glasses. "Don't tell me you got charged with a crime again?"

Her son slowly slumped over on a nearby chair and then he began to slowly explain the situation. At first, he spoke short, clipped sentences, before the words started to spill from him like a freshly unblocked dam of panic and hypertension.

The former prostitute listened in silence, offering the occasional sound of acknowledgement. A skill well practiced from her younger days. Many men and even a few women, would pay just for a sympathetic ear to rant to.

Xi Huang considered herself well-educated for a peasant. Still, a lot of her son's complex words about 'Core Formations' this, and 'Foundation Establishment' that, such flew completely over her head. She did however feel that she had the jist of what he was saying.

"The simple fact is, your daughter has no reason to trust or love you," Xi Huang eventually said.

Her son flinched at that but did not dispute her words.

"You're also hardly the type of Dad a child would dream about having," she continued. "A wanted criminal, a deadbeat, a philanderer..."

Her son nodded. He too was fatherless, and like many often daydreamed about who his dad might be. A wealthy noble, or skilled adventurer, a boat captain or an immortal. In none of those childish fantasies had he imagined someone like himself. It was a sobering thought.

The mother sighed.

"There are no secret magic words you can say to just… fix things. All you can do is be there for her. Consistently. Pick her up when she falls. Be by her side when she needs you and out of her way when she doesn't. Eventually, she will come to accept your presence in her life. Show her your sincerity through your conduct. Actions speak louder than words. If you want to reach her heart and show her your intentions, that is the only way."

Xi Fu looked at her silently before slowly nodding. He stood up, and walked over to her, before pulling her into a hug.

"Don't get blood on my dress-It will stain!" she scolded him.

He snorted and clicked his fingers. All the blood and viscera vanished from him.

"How convenient," Xi Huang's eyebrows raised. "I could save so much money on laundry!"

A chuckle escaped from her son's lips, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Thank you, Mom," he whispered, before vanishing in a flash of light.

"Honestly, that boy," the woman sighed in exasperation, a gentle smile slowly growing on her lips.