The entire room fell into a deathly silence.
Only Hu Chen's agonized screams echoed faintly, mixed with the sharp, metallic stench of blood spreading through the air.
Yang Cheng stood calmly, his face unchanged, as if he had merely swatted an insect.
He didn't even spare Hu Chen another glance.
Without pause, he began walking straight toward Jiang Li.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Each step was crisp and steady. Every sound landed like a hammer against Jiang Li's heart, and she could feel her soul trembling harder with each one.
Yang Cheng stopped exactly three steps away from her. His tone was faint and even. "A melon forced off the vine is never sweet."
"The engagement between you and Dongfang Sheng ends here."
"How about it?"
Jiang Li's heartbeat thudded wildly, nearly bursting from her chest under that deep, unfathomable gaze.
A wave of cold fear seized her, so strong it made her skin prickle—but beneath that terror, a strange thrill stirred deep within her, making her lick her red lips almost unconsciously.
"Sir, what you're saying makes no sense."
Suppressing the tremor in her voice, Jiang Li forced herself to look calm, even a little pitiful. "This engagement—it's not me who's desperate to continue it, nor is it my Jiang Clan. It's the White Fish Society. It's Dongfang Sheng's father.
They were the ones begging to form this alliance, hoping to use the Jiang Clan's influence to fight off their enemies. It's them who can't afford to lose this marriage. What fault have I committed?"
Aunt Liang immediately reacted. She bowed deeply to Yang Cheng, her tone anxious and respectful. "Please, calm your anger, sir. What Miss Jiang says is entirely true. The White Fish Society faces destruction and desperately needs the Jiang Clan's protection."
Dongfang Sheng stood silently to the side. The spark of hope that had lit in his chest when Yang Cheng acted on his behalf was now drowned once again by cruel reality. His face darkened with helpless bitterness.
He looked at Aunt Liang, who was still explaining desperately, and his eyes filled with pain.
After a long pause, he took a deep breath and said quietly, "Master, thank you for standing up for me. But they're right—it's my fault for being selfish. Born into the White Fish Society, I've enjoyed wealth, comfort, and every privilege as the Young Master, yet I never took on the burden that came with it."
He turned toward Ma Ruoruo, his voice strained and hoarse. "Ruoruo, I'm sorry. It's my failure. Whatever fate we had ends here. From now on, we'll live our own lives."
When Jiang Li saw Dongfang Sheng admit defeat, a faint, nearly imperceptible smile flickered across her eyes.
She quickly turned back to Yang Cheng, forcing a mix of grievance and poise onto her face. "Sir, you heard him yourself. This matter truly isn't my fault—it was the White Fish Society that begged for it."
But before she could say another word, Yang Cheng's gaze had already shifted away from her, landing instead on Aunt Liang.
"The White Fish Society wanted Dongfang Sheng to marry," he said, his voice calm and indifferent, "because of the threat from Lingxi Sect—especially Xu Mingye?"
Aunt Liang froze, surprised that he had pinpointed it so precisely. Then she nodded quickly. "Exactly. Lingxi Sect has always been stronger than us, and now that 'Heaven-Breaking Sword' Xu Mingye himself has arrived, the White Fish Society is on the brink of collapse. Without outside help, we won't last. The Young Master's marriage into the Jiang Clan was our only hope to survive."
Yang Cheng listened quietly and nodded slightly, as though merely confirming a trivial matter.
Then his gaze swept once more over Jiang Li and Aunt Liang. His tone was flat, almost casual. "If that's the case, then I'll deal with Lingxi Sect myself."
He paused. His eyes fixed coldly on Aunt Liang.
"Your White Fish Society… won't need a marriage alliance anymore."
"What?"
Aunt Liang's mind went blank. For a moment, she thought she had misheard him. The respectful composure on her face shattered, replaced by sheer disbelief and a feeling of absurdity.
She couldn't stop herself from blurting out, "Sir, your strength is indeed unfathomable—we all acknowledge that—but matters between great sects, with power struggles and territorial balances, are far from as simple as you think."
Her tone carried the patient condescension of someone lecturing a reckless youth. "Lingxi Sect is no ordinary faction. They have over ten renowned Yin God cultivators, and now the monstrous Xu Mingye himself is overseeing everything.
With his power alone, he makes our entire White Fish Society tremble in fear and walk on thin ice. How could you possibly 'settle' such a thing? What could you rely on to 'settle' it? That's just…"
She didn't finish the last sentence—but her tone and expression made her meaning crystal clear. She thought Yang Cheng was dreaming.
Yang Cheng's face didn't change at all.
He let her words hang in the air. Only when she finished speaking did he finally open his mouth and say, slowly, "Because…"
"I am Yang Cheng."
Those few words were clear and brief, stripped of all embellishment.
They sounded like a simple statement of identity.
But the instant those words fell, Aunt Liang's expression froze completely.
The disbelief, doubt, and faint trace of hidden disdain on her face all solidified, as though someone had cast a petrifying spell on her.
When Yang Cheng had first appeared, his overwhelming aura had indeed shaken everyone present. But because of Dongfang Sheng's connection with him—and because Yang Cheng had never introduced himself—Aunt Liang hadn't realized who he truly was.
After all, she hadn't returned to the Horn Constellation Realm in a long time. Recently, her entire focus had been on arranging the marriage alliance, so although she had vaguely heard of Yang Cheng's shocking feats in the realm, she hadn't known about Yu Zhongxu standing up for him.
She could never have imagined that someone of that level… would come forward for Dongfang Sheng.
Only now, upon hearing that name with her own ears, did she feel as if she'd been struck by a thunderbolt of a million tons.
In an instant, every question and bit of confusion she'd had suddenly made sense.
No wonder. No wonder he could sever Hu Chen's arm, a peak Insight God cultivator, with such ease. Of course—he was Yang Cheng.
"You… you're Lord Yang Cheng?"
Her voice changed completely, trembling with respect. Her posture unconsciously lowered, and all traces of her earlier arrogance vanished.
A faint look of surprise flickered in Yang Cheng's eyes.
He remembered that he had once passed this same Aunt Liang at the Myriad Phenomena Dao Academy's residence. At that time, she had walked right by him without so much as a glance.
Now it was clear—she hadn't intentionally ignored him. She simply hadn't recognized who he was.
"So it really is you, Lord Yang Cheng."
Jiang Li's eyes lit up, her pupils burning with a strange mix of awe, excitement, and something almost feverish.
But before the tension in the air could ease—
"Ahhh! You little bastard! I'll tear you into a thousand pieces!"
A roar full of boundless rage exploded from the doorway.
It was Hu Chen.
The agony and humiliation of his severed arm had shattered his sanity completely. He didn't care who Yang Cheng was or what had happened—his world had shrunk to a single, blinding flame of vengeance.
Gritting his teeth through the pain, eyes bloodshot and deranged, he charged into the room like a maddened beast.
"Hu Chen, stop!"
Jiang Li's face paled in horror.
"No, Miss—he must die!"
Hu Chen thought she was trying to save the youth, and that only made him angrier. His reason was gone, his mind drowned in fury. Ignoring Jiang Li's orders entirely, he gathered all his hatred and remaining strength into his sword and thrust it fiercely toward Yang Cheng.
Yang Cheng didn't even turn around.
His gaze stayed calm, his expression as still as water.
To him, the full-force strike of a peak Insight God was no more than a passing breeze.
He simply raised his right hand, almost lazily, as the sword light came screaming toward his back.