At the Dark Temple headquarters:

Several people wearing black robes kneel in front of a mysterious man, his eyes gleaming with sinister intelligence as he looks toward the people in front of him.

"Report, leader. Although we lost a considerable number of casualties, we successfully planted the Eye of Chaos on the dark current," one of the men said calmly.

"What about the Supreme Bone? Did you retrieve it?"

"We haven't procured the Supreme Bone yet, but it will be soon. We already planned to retrieve it next year."

"That's too long. Make it six months. That's all you can have. We have to prepare for the arrival of the Dark Lord."

"But we can't be rash. There's a Mahayana cultivator in the Jin family that protects the Supreme Bone holder."

"Don't worry about that Mahayana cultivator. I will take care of it. You just need to bring him to this predetermined location. I will kill him there. Also, set up an array so that he can't escape. It just so happens I know him very well," his eyes glinted with killing intent.

........,..........,.............,......................

Meanwhile, in the Jin family:

Jin Shen was sitting in a meditative stance as he tried to gather qi toward his body, his expression grave.

"What's happening? Why can't I gather any qi at all?"

"Could it be because of this ring?"

Jin Shen looked at the ring with a blue sky sapphire on his finger.

Ever since he helped the skinny man at the marketplace and received this ring, his cultivation speed has decreased and eventually became stagnant. At first, he thought that this was a normal thing, just like others when cultivating a higher realm, it tends to slow down. But the difference became apparent with each passing day. Eventually, he couldn't gather qi anymore, as if it had been devoured by an unknown force.

"This ring is dangerous."

As he thought that, he tried to remove the ring from his finger, but the ring did not budge at all. He tried to destroy it, but to no avail.

"Why can't it be destroyed?"

Feeling helpless, Jin Shen tried more extreme things. He tried to cut his own finger, but it did not leave even a scratch. As if the ring protected it. So he was helpless, while pondering on what to do, he sees the jewel,Within the jewel, something mysterious reflected, so he tried stroking the jewel. Suddenly, the ring reacted, and his hard-earned cultivation was rapidly deteriorating and devoured by an unknown force.

Golden Core -> Foundation Establishment -> Qi Refinement -> Mortal

His cultivation dried up, and Jin Shen's face became full of despair.

"I must tell this to Grandpa."

Feeling panicked, Jin Shen immediately ran in the direction of the Elder Palace. He stumbled along the way, his demeanor like that of a mortal.

Others seeing him began to speculate what's happening.

'Hey, isn't that Young Master Jin Shen? Why is he running frantically? Why doesn't he have any energy within him? Can't he just use his artifact to fly?'

'What happened to him? Did he already surpass us?'

'That's not possible. We are already in the Nascent Soul Realm. It takes years to transform. Isn't he just reached Golden Core Stage Three before?'

'That's only mean one thing. Someone took his cultivation, or maybe he comprehended a higher method only to fail and cripple himself.'

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'It's unlikely someone took his cultivation. It can only be he crippled himself. If so, we must tell the other master.'

'Hehehe, you are right. The master will definitely reward us for our work.'

After hours of running, Jin Shen finally arrived at the Elder Palace.

"Gramps Fan, please help me."

Shocked to see Jin Shen with no trace of cultivation, Jin Fan's face turned serious.

"What happened, Shen?"

"Help me, Grandpa. This ring, please help me remove it. For the past three months, this thing has devoured my cultivation."

"Okay, let me look at it."

Jin Fan looked at the ring before his expression turned grave.

"Jin Shen, where did you get this?"

"It was a gift by a man I saved three months ago."

"Jin Shen, this thing is cursed. Even I don't know its origin. When I try to deduce it, I receive a backlash."

Hearing that, Jin Shen's expression became despair. Even his grandpa couldn't help him.

"What should I do? I can't cultivate anymore."

"Don't worry, Grandpa will find a way."

After this, Jin Shen's life turned upside down. The people surrounding him began mocking him, even his brother came just to make trouble with him, their eyes filled with malice.

Little did he know that this was not the end of his suffering

..........,.........,.............,..........,........,

In the Yun family, Yueyin and Xi Hong were playing chess, they seemingly deep in thought.

"Hey, Xi Hong, I've been thinking lately, isn't our Yun family main house so quiet? I've just noticed it since Jinshen stopped visiting," I remark

"What do you mean? Isn't that just because you miss him?" Xi Hong said, smirking.

"As I said, it's not that. Jin Shen and I are just friends."i said while glaring at her,

"You know, I've been to the Jin family before, but there are many people there, not just servants but family members. Isn't our main house rather empty?"

"Now that I think about it, only the lord and the mistress have been around. There's no sign of your cousin or other family members normal families have."

"I wonder why that is. Anyhow, why can't you just let me win?"

"You just can't beat me, young lady, so study more," Xi Hong said with an annoying smile.

On the board, the black king was in checkmate.

Why can't I beat her in anything except fight? I am afraid I will be bested by her in a fight too. Is this how it feels to be talentless

As I lamented about my fate, suddenly, an assassin bodyguard appeared behind me.

"Young lady, the lord has called. It's urgent. You must go to the front gate as fast as possible."

Father has called me again? What for? I hope it's not a bad thing again, I thought to myself.

So I urgently headed toward the front gate. There I saw my father with a stern expression, and beside him, a big sword floating in the air.

"Yueyin, come up right now. We need to go to the Jin family. Papa will explain on the way."

So without further ado, I immediately rode the big sword as we flew in the direction of the Jin family.

"So, what happened, Papa?" I asked cautiously.

"Jin Fan told me your fiancé's Supreme Bone has been dug out, and he was chasing the perpetrator right now. Luckily, there's Saintess Ziyin beside Jin Shen right now, or else he would be dead long ago," my father explained.

I unknowingly raised my hand to cover my mouth, feeling shocked.

So Jin Shen is the protagonist after all. His tragedy did happen, but why did it take so long? No, I mustn't think about this. Someone is dying there, and that someone was my friend,

As I thought about that, we arrived at the Jin family. There was commotion there as we hurriedly headed to Jin Shen's room. As we arrived, there was a strong voice calling my father.

"Yun Bao, come in immediately. I need your help," The Saintess lady called my father

My father immediately rushed in, saying, "You stay outside with Chao Yao. Papa will be back soon."

With that, the door closed. I sat beside Chao Yao, her eyes swollen from crying.

"Jin Shen is... he is...," she burst into tears.

I tried to comfort her, my face filled with pity. She must love Jin Shen so much.

"He will be alright. Jin Shen is a strong man. Let's believe in him," I said, trying to reassure her.

She looked at me and then hugged me tightly. I was a bit shocked, but I let her be. She must be tired from crying so much. I would let her rest.

.......,........,........,......,.......,............,..

Meanwhile, in Jin Shen's room, Saintess Ziyin was trying to heal Jin Shen from his injuries. Jin Shen was covered in blood, his eyes unfocused, hanging by a thread called life.

" what's happening? Why can't I heal him?" she lamented, feeling helpless as her healing Qi couldn't reach Jin Shen.

She kept pouring her Qi toward Jin Shen, but it was gone, as if it was sucked by an unknown force. As she was about to give up, she sensed Yun Family Patriarch's arrival and immediately remembered that Yun Bao had an Elixir of Life, so she called him in.

"Yun Bao, come in immediately. I need your help," she pleaded.

Yun Bao entered immediately, saying something to his daughter before closing the door.

"Why haven't you healed him yet?" He asked.

"I don't know. My Qi cannot reach him. Yun Bao, give him an Elixir of Life. You have one," she requested urgently.

"Why should I give it to him?" Yun Bao questioned.

"Hurry up. He will die at this rate. At least think about your daughter. What happens if her lover dies in front of her eyes?" she reasoned with him.

Yun Bao suddenly thought about his daughter her image that always smile cheerfully become devoid of emotion flashed before his eyes, He realized he couldn't bear to see her in pain.

"I definitely can't bear it," he thought to himself.

Yun Bao sighed then took out a golden pill from his storage ring, its golden light enveloping the entire room. Not wanting to waste more time, He opened Jin Shen's mouth and forced him to consume it.

Jin Shen's body reconstructed itself, but the healing process was too slow. At this rate, Jin Shen would die.

"Yun Bao, channel your Qi to me. I will try my best to help him,"

Yun Bao nodded, channeling his Qi toward her while she tried to send it to Jin Shen. But it was useless; the Qi kept disappearing due to an unknown force. Not wanting to give up, they tried to increase the output. When they felt like they had used half of their maximum Qi, the unknown force enveloping Jin Shen disappeared. Finally, the Qi could touch Jin Shen's body, and the process of healing became fast. Life returned to Jin Shen's face once again.

"What was that? It looks like the perpetrator has cursed him," Saintess Ziyin remarked.

"Fortunately, we can save him. Let him rest for now. I will talk to him about this situation tomorrow,"

"Okay, then I will leave it to you. I will rest too. It seems I've overexerted myself," Saintess Ziyin agreed.

.............,...........,...........,..................

My father and the saintess lady came out of Jin Shen's room.

"Did you guys save him?" I asked cautiously.

I didn't want to be burdened by guilt for not telling him what I knew, so atleast I wanted to know his fate.

"Yes, he's safe for now. Let him rest for a bit," my father confirmed.

Knowing that he lived brought me great relief.

It seems like he was really the protagonist. His journey has just begun. But what about the engagement then?

As I felt panicked, father suddenly called me.

"Yueyin, follow me. I want to talk about something," he said, wants me to follow him.

I immediately comply as I walk beside him. My father says,

"Yueyin, I want the engagement between you and Jinshen to be broken."

I was shocked. I unconsciously covered my mouth.

So it comes to this after all. But isn't it a bit cruel? Jinshen just recovered, after all.

As I want to convey my thoughts to my father, he suddenly says,

"I will be the one to tell him. Don't make a sad face like that. This is for your own good," my father says, as if comforting me.