The recorder looked exactly like the one his father had used. It was clear on one side, while the other had two thin, delicate crystal runes of different sizes. The larger one was in the center, while the smaller one rested at the edge.
Shen left the runes pointing up and injected mana into the small one. The crystal structures shone bright, and the large rune projected a hologram into the air.
He expected to see someone, but instead, he saw floating letters and numbers constantly scrolling down, being read by a bored male voice.
It started with two law articles from the Eternal Empire.
"Article 4 of the Eternal Empire's Clan Autonomy Act: any clan can deal with internal matters however they see fit, as long as it follows all laws of the Eternal Empire.
"Article 88 of the Eternal Empire's Responsibilization Act: no one shall be responsibilized for someone else's crimes, faults, responsibilities, or obligations. This includes but is not limited to parents, guardians, mentors, spouses, consorts, concubines, siblings, offspring, cousins, friends, clan members, colleagues, and acquaintances.
"Addendum $1: responsibility can be accrued if the interested party agrees to it in the form of an explicit contract signed willingly and bore witness by a Judge Assistant.
"Item A: the contract might be signed before or after whatever action they are taking responsibility for."
Then, it became a bunch of rules from the Feng Clan.
"Feng Clan's Rule #1: No one shall be considered a member of the Feng Clan unless they explicitly agree to all its rules, regulations, and systems, including but not limited to internal laws, external constraints, daily life rules, reward systems, and punishment systems.
"Feng Clan's Rule #2: Loyalty to the Eternal Empire and its laws must come above all else, on the penalty of treason of the highest order.
"Feng Clan's Rule #3: Loyalty to the Feng Clan and its laws must come only below loyalty to the Eternal Empire and its laws, on the penalty of treason of the highest order.
"Feng Clan's Rule #711: Mortals cannot be considered valid members of the Feng Clan. They are deemed mere servants and subjected to special rules."
Then came excerpts from the Feng Clan's Punishment Book, which was separate from the rules and dictated the punishment for disobeying the rules.
"Feng Clan's Punishment Book, on treason from any member: Traitors are to be summarily executed. For failing to notice anything and stop the traitor, three generations of their family in both directions are to be summarily executed. For failing to notice anything and stop the traitor, their closest friends are to be summarily executed.
"Feng Clan's Punishment Book, on treason from a clan leader: For failing to notice anything and stop the traitor clan leader, the entire bureaucracy must be changed within ten days. Then, all elders at the time of the clan leader's ruling, even those who retired, and their spouses, concubines, and first-generation children, are to be summarily executed.
"Feng Clan's Punishment Book, on treason from a servant: If any servant betrays the clan intentionally, they are to be summarily executed. If unintentionally, they are to receive fifty lashings and be expelled."
Shen was seeing where it was going.
He didn't like it one bit.
The text turned into a bunch of short logs.
"Feng Clan's Elder Council Ruling #822273: Feng Yang, son of Feng Tapao and Feng Ai, former leader of the Feng Clan, has been deemed a traitor of the highest order. Punishment: death by beheading, to be immediately conducted.
"Feng Clan's Elder Council Ruling #822274: Feng Yang, the traitor, has no close friends in the clan and only one living family member. The Unseen Division is to identify and behead close friends from outside the clan. If detected, they are to kill themselves before capture. Feng Yang's son's situation will be debated in a separate session.
"Feng Clan's Elder Council Ruling #822275: The Feng Clan's bureaucracy members must change within ten days.
"Feng Clan's Elder Council Ruling #822276: The lastest 29 Feng Clan's elders still drawing breath enabled treason from a clan leader. Punishment: death by beheading to them and their spouses, concubines, and first-generation children, to be conducted in eleven days.
"Feng Clan's Elder Council Ruling #822277: After much deliberation, it has been ruled that Feng Shen, son of Feng Yang and Feng Jia Li, is but a mortal at the time of this session, despite Feng Yang's hopes of it changing the future, as stated on a recording left behind. Feng Shen is thus not considered a true member of the Feng Clan. Feng Shen is thus to be punished as a mortal servant who unintentionally betrayed us. Feng Shen is thus to receive fifty lashings, to be delivered by any elder or clan leader who sets their sights on him. If he gives himself willingly, he shall receive ten fewer lashings. Feng Shen is thus expelled from the Feng Clan and the core Feng Family. He is to abandon the family name Feng. Failing to do so will result in immediate execution."
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After that, the image and sound winked out.
Shen—and only Shen, no Feng—stared blankly at the empty air for a while.
He had been expelled.
He knew those rules by heart; he had memorized them. He also knew things weren't as straightforward as the quotes suggested; there were redundant and even opposing rules, exceptions, and workarounds that the elder council might've used not to punish him or expel him.
He had believed being expelled was possible but very, very unlikely. In hindsight, he should've seen this or worse.
Shen had gotten used to a clan under his father's rule. A clan that was often very, very soft when dealing with internal matters and brutal when dealing with external offenses. Now, everyone could tell it was a scheme; the man had done it to prepare the terrain for his own betrayal. Therefore, the clan would go in the opposite direction to quench his father's influence.
Almost as important as getting rid of Feng Yang's influence was sending a message to outsiders: the clan had changed. It was now ruthless to internal corruption and softer when dealing with external organizations. That would be perceived as an act of good faith at a time the clan's creditors would be smelling blood on the water.
Sacrificing 29 elders, likely the strongest ones, right after losing their clan leader—and strongest warrior—would be tantamount to giving credence to that image. It was probably done after signing agreements to gain the clan time to repay the debts instead of being attacked at once, even if the clan would be incredibly weakened for a while.
Unfortunately, things making sense didn't make it easy on Shen.
Loyalty to the Eternal Empire, and then loyalty to the Feng Clan.
He had lived those rules. He believed in them.
In fact, he was ready to behead himself right now if they had deemed him a traitor—or rather, a cultivator traitor.
They... they probably knew that, too. He had been a "good boy" back in the clan. They knew and wanted to be as cruel to him as possible.
Being expelled was the worst thing that might happen to someone born in a clan, especially when they belonged to the core family like he did. The most humiliating thing.
A clan was everything to its members.
It was their source of protection, nourishment, and support. It had the people who set them straight when they walked the wrong path and the people they were supposed to protect. It made them part of something bigger than mere individuals.
Now, he had been cut from that structure.
Shen could've rebuilt the clan if it had been gone. He would still have had his identity. He would still have belonged to a set of beliefs and be capable of honoring his ancestors.
Not now, though. Not anymore. Now, he had no ancestors, no family name. He had been cut from the tree.
He was the first of his line of nothing.
Even if he entered a new clan, it wouldn't be his first. He would be an artificial addition. Just an outsider they had taken pity on.
Shen had control over his emotions, and it prevented him from crying, but the shock was still great enough that he kept frozen for almost a full minute.
Then, he took a deep breath and kowtowed to the recorder.
"As ordered, this one shall obey. This one is now named Shen. This one shall accept the lashings whenever the Feng Clan sees fit."
| Name updated: Feng Shen → Shen
He kept himself prostrated for a few hours, then stood up as Shen.
The world felt different. Sadder, colorless. Yet, Shen was surprised to find he also felt...
...lighter.
There were no expectations of him anymore. No responsibilities. He was his own person; he was free in a way he had never felt before.
He also found a few bits of guilty that he crushed at once. Yes, his father had caused the death of many people for Shen. But Shen hadn't made that choice, nor would he have if asked. That was on Feng Yang only.
Shen suddenly realized he had become a wandering cultivator. The clan he had started building on Earth was immediately dissolved because he had no authority to rebuild his clan in the first place. You had to be allowed to do so by showing power, wisdom, and loyalty to the Eternal Empire. He had no such permission.
He would have to tell his people about that. They could still join him, but as companions or direct subordinates, not part of a grander structure.
As for starting a mere Alliance organization? He wouldn't. He was a cultivator, and cultivators grouped in clans, sects, temples, or nations for good reasons. He couldn't found any of those things.
Shen thought he should feel worst, despite his emotional control. He did feel bad. But then again, he had been living a life separate from the Feng Clan for a while now. He didn't even use their techniques anymore—which he was now forbidden to do—but an adaptation based on his own Path. They couldn't take that from him.
Was he even still part of the Eternal Empire? He guessed so. The Immortal Emperor certainly believed it since he had contacted him with a decree. At the very least, Shen knew he was not part of modern humanity. That would suffice for now.
Speaking of the Immortal Emperor, Shen turned to the still-floating antidron.
The recording proved the object hadn't come from the Feng Clan. They wouldn't waste so many resources on the expelled son of a traitor, and the cosmetic change he just noticed was the final proof of that.
The Feng character in it had also changed without his aura detecting anything. It now showed just a circle. It also evidenced the thing was directed at him and not just any member of the Feng Clan.
Shen sent a drop of blood to it.
This time, there was no special visual effect upon contact. Instead, Shen felt something trying to connect with his mind. It wasn't a delicate link like his spatial ring's, but a much thicker and more robust structure.
He wasn't sure how his willpower compared to the artificial sentience's. The thing had some understanding of Laws, while he was still limited to Concepts. It was astonishing and humbling. However, he guessed there were cheaper and easier ways for someone to attack his mind. He also felt confident in using his domain to cut the connection, even if it might bring other consequences.
And maybe as important as all those safety considerations, he was curious.
Shen let the antidron connect to him.
The thick link was established at once, but no data came. Instead, Shen felt thin and delicate tendrils of qi drill into his brain. They were so fragile he could snap those with a twist of his will just because they were inside him. He would need no aura or qi.
The tendrils moved softly until they found the parts of his brain that dealt with vision and hearing. Then, they sent very subtle and weak electric signals to make him see and hear what they wanted him to.
Thus, the Immortal Emperor seemed to materialize right in front of him.