Tan Fang suddenly couldn't sit still, feeling as if thousands of needles were piercing his skin and stabbing into his bones.

"I..." He stood up abruptly, feeling a bit lost and determined to escape from this place, unwilling to listen any further. "I have some matters to attend to. Shi Fu, please sit here, and if you need anything, just call for someone..."

"Sit down."

Tao Mian's command halted his steps.

Tan Fang stiffly sat back in his original position.

"You're all grown up now, yet still running off halfway through my words like when you were a child."

Tao Mian grumbled, sounding like a complaint.

He pressed down on his disciple's shoulder, as if trying to calm the turbulent emotions within him.

"Listen to me finish. Back then, I did indeed only intend to take Chu Liuxue as my disciple, but I couldn't just watch you end up on the streets."

"Then why didn't Shi Fu send me away," Tan Fang's inherent stubbornness flared up, "Didn't you send Shopkeeper Xue to the mortal realm back then?"

"You know quite a bit. Where did you hear that from..."

Tao Mian coughed, then spoke seriously—

"Xue Han had the conditions back then. I was close with the master of the Xue residence, so I dared to send the child to their couple."

"And me..."

"But Shi Fu's connections are limited. When it came to you, there was no such opportunity. You could only follow Shi Fu into the mountains and endure hardships, far from wealth and glory."

Tao Mian said earnestly.

Tan Fang lowered his head, appearing dejected but actually feeling relieved.

Unaware of his disciple's thoughts, Tao Mian continued with his previous words.

"You two siblings really gave me a headache for a while. Liuxue is destined for Peach Blossom Mountain, but she has no interest in cultivation. You, on the other hand, have exceptional talent, yet you weren't meant to be under my tutelage at Peach Blossom Mountain. I'm a rather lazy Shi Fu, not very attentive. Suiyan, I considered other paths for you, fearing I might hold you back."

These were Tao Mian's true feelings. The two cultivation techniques sent by the Golden Finger were tailored for Chu Liuxue's constitution. Although Chu Suiyan learned them, were they truly suitable for him? Tao Mian had been troubled by this for a long time.

He wasn't wealthy, having taken in three batches of disciples and knowing only six cultivation techniques.

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The first four were exclusive to the First Disciple and the Second Disciple, and Tao Mian had a sentimental attachment, unwilling to pass them on to others.

As for the latter two, he had privately consulted Chu Liuxue and obtained her permission before teaching them to Chu Suiyan.

"Suiyan, ask yourself, in the path of cultivation, Shi Fu has been unfair to you."

Tao Mian's fingers played with the remaining flowers on the branch.

"Shi Fu, don't say that..."

Tan Fang had been listening silently until Tao Mian uttered the word "unfair," prompting him to protest.

Shi Fu was a very good Shi Fu.

No matter how cold-hearted he might be, he would never forget how Tao Mian watched over him when he was sick at Peach Blossom Mountain, staying up night after night to care for him.

Tao Mian never owed anything to his two disciples.

The Immortal, hearing his once-sad disciple now comforting him, couldn't help but smile.

"You're already upset yourself, yet you still defend me... Suiyan, Shi Fu won't hide it from you. The destined one for Peach Blossom Mountain is indeed only Liuxue. But as Tao Mian's disciples, you both are."

No matter how the Golden Finger defined it, Tao Mian's Fourth Disciple would always bear the name Chu Suiyan.

Tan Fang blinked slowly, then smiled with relief.

"As long as I have Shi Fu's words, that's enough."

The master and disciple finally opened up, gradually able to talk.

Tao Mian noticed that when discussing the past, the Fourth Disciple's responses were not quick.

It was as if he was searching for past memories, picking up the fragments bit by bit.

It was evident that over the years, he had been forcibly suppressing and repressing his past.

During his years at the Netherworld Hall, Tan Fang deliberately forgot everything from the past, refusing to recall or reminisce.

He had many things to do; he had to gain the trust of the branch hall leaders, establish his foothold, and finally, seek revenge against his father.

Someone had taught him to recognize the reality: you are too weak now; even maintaining the status quo is impossible for the weak, let alone pursuing what you desire.

Only by climbing higher, continuously moving upward, could he attain freedom.

Tan Fang followed this advice. Within a year, he mastered the eighteen cultivation techniques of the Netherworld Hall. He spent another year gaining the recognition of more than half of the branch hall leaders regarding his lineage, and then another year to silence all opposing voices.

Then he began his revenge against his father.

Tan Yuan was already old. When he abandoned his mother to seek new pleasures, he must have been full of vigor.

But now, he was just an old man bedridden with illness.

His cloudy eyes stared intently at the young man by the bed, laughing and repeatedly saying "good."

Heaven did not forsake Tan Yuan; he lost one son, but another was sent to him.

Moreover, the younger son resembled him more in his youth—proud, ruthless, and self-centered.

The young man remained indifferent to his father's final moments, only speaking after the old man rambled incoherently, saying they were nothing alike.

They were different people.

But Tan Yuan seemed to regain clarity suddenly, as if hearing a joke, sneering with a cold gaze.

He said, "You're wrong. We are the same."

Without Tan Yuan, there would be no Tan Fang in this position.

They were both leaders of the Netherworld Hall, and they had only two tasks—to prosper the Netherworld and destroy Sky's End.

At that time, Tan Fang still wondered how he could ever raise a sword against Liuxue.

Tan Yuan saw through his obsession and gave him a bronze key, telling him to see for himself how Sky's End Valley and the Netherworld Hall came to be.

Not long after Tan Yuan's death, Tan Fang used the key to open the door that had long been prepared for him.

What pain he endured behind that door, what psychological torment he suffered, no one knew.

But when he emerged from that door, he had completely abandoned the identity of Chu Suiyan. From then on, he could only be Tan Fang, the leader of the Netherworld Hall.

Even if he wouldn't forget old feelings, even if he softened, he understood that Chu Liuxue would never spare the Netherworld Hall, nor would she spare him.

The hatred of a broken family could never be erased by the blooming of flowers at Peach Blossom Mountain.

Now he finally understood why, when he clamored to leave the mountain as a child, Liuxue had spoken such heartless words to him.

Perhaps Chu Liuxue had made a promise to herself before ascending the mountain. As long as Tan Yuan's son did not return to the Demonic Realm, did not assume the position of leader of the Netherworld Hall, she would continue as if nothing had happened, guarding the brother she saved, who had no blood ties and had never harmed the Dou family, Chu Suiyan.

She tried so hard to deceive herself, but ultimately, it was all in vain.

Tan Fang took over the Netherworld Hall, and she returned to Sky's End Valley.

Thus, it was a fight to the death.

"I know why Shi Fu accepted my invitation to come to the Demonic Realm," Tan Fang stood up, looking up as the moon in the sky was gradually obscured by a cloud drifting from nowhere. "Shi Fu surely wants to persuade us siblings not to fight to the death, so you're here waiting for Liuxue and me.

But Shi Fu, I'm sorry. I'm afraid to say these four words, but I must.

Things have changed.

I am already the leader of the Netherworld Hall."

Because of his back, Tao Mian couldn't see the expression on his Fourth Disciple's face at that moment. But no matter how many years passed, he could always remember the tone when he spoke those words.

It was as if he was cursed, resolutely walking towards his destiny.