"Mother, you called me here for that engagement?" Shen Haoran asked.
Chu Xueyu's eyes returned to their normal blue, as she nodded, "Did Qing'er already inform you about your cousin?"
Qing'er, she is the Profound Saint woman who has been kneeling at the side.
To anyone who saw her now, she was simply a loyal guardian, a Profound Saint serving the heir of the Shen Clan. But her story was far older, and far more twisted in fate.
Over three hundred years ago, she had been nothing but a nameless orphan, abandoned at birth, picked up from the streets of a collapsing kingdom.
It was Chu Xueyu herself who had noticed her potential, taking her back to the Shen Clan and raising her personally.
From the start, Qing'er was unlike the other disciples. Her body carried a rare, terrifying gift—an Origin Yin Physique.
This was no ordinary physique. It was one of the most coveted among both righteous and demonic cultivators.
With it, her very existence was a key to breaking bottlenecks.
Whoever cultivated with her through dual cultivation would find their progress soaring by leaps and bounds.
Their comprehension of martial techniques and divine arts would multiply.
Their chances of entering enlightenment increased greatly.
And if they were the one to claim her virginity, they would even gain permanent resistance to all yin-related techniques, a boon that could save lives in battle.
Because of this, her destiny had once been cruelly decided.
Chu Xueyu had originally intended to use her as a bargaining chip, to secure an alliance with some supreme sect or an ancient clan.
Qing'er herself had known it. She accepted it, because orphans had no choice. She lived to serve the one who had saved her.
But fate shifted when Shen Haoran was born.
The moment Chu Xueyu laid eyes on her son, the most dazzling talent to appear in the Shen Clan in countless eras, she rewrote Qing'er's role in the grand design.
No longer would Qing'er be used to strengthen outsiders. She would be reserved for him, and him alone.
Qing'er knew this. She had raised Shen Haoran with her own hands, watching him grow from an infant into the monstrous genius he was now.
To the world, she was his guard, his protector. In truth, her entire existence had been bound to him since before he could even walk.
And she accepted it without resistance.
Because in her heart, there was no resentment, no hatred. Only devotion.
"Hm," Shen Haoran nodded, "He wanted to take my place as the fiance to the Huo Clan heiress?"
Chu Xueyu nodded, "What do you think?"
Shen Haoran shrugged, "...It doesn't really matter. That woman had lost her talent. She is no longer of any use to me."
The heiress of the Huo Clan was originally a peerless talent, and was even able to reach the peak of Foundation Building Realm at the age of 16.
That was even faster than Shen Haoran who reached it at the age of 17.
The Shen Clan immediately tried to tie this talent to their clan through an engagement.
Even though the Huo Clan was from a lowest tier clan, who doesn't even have a Spirit Ascension guarding it, they are actually related to the Shen Clan.
Tens of thousands of years ago, the Huo Clan was at its peak, with Heavenly Saint expert managing it.
The patriarch of the Huo Clan and the then patriarch of Shen Clan were brothers in all but blood.
Unfortunately, tragedy struck, when the Huo Clan patriarch tried to break through Supreme Emperor realm and failed, they were attacked by their enemies.
If the Shen Clan didn't make a move, they would've been annihilated.
So using that relationship, they wanted to tie the genius of Huo Clan to the Shen Clan.
However, three years ago, that is to say when she reached the Peak of Foundation Building Realm, instead of advancing, her cultivation regressed to 9th Stage of Body Refinement realm.
She has never advanced after that.
The Shen Clan elders already expressed their dissatisfaction and wanted to dissolve the engagement.
Even Chu Xueyu believed that the fallen genius wasn't worthy of her son.
"But, I want to talk to that cousin of mine." Said Shen Haoran, "I want to ask why he decided to take my place."
Shen Haoran doesn't know why, but he wanted to meet that cousin of his. As if something terrible would happen to him if he didn't meet him.
"Okay," Chu Xueyu said, her voice calm, her expression unreadable. With a flick of her slender fingers, a crisp snap echoed across the grand hall. "…You can come in, now."
The towering doors creaked open. From outside stepped a young man no older than twenty.
His features were plain, neither handsome nor ugly, the kind of face that would disappear in a crowd. He wore a simple blue robe, his posture modest as he approached the dais.
He is Shen Ming, Shen Haoran's cousin.
He cupped his hands respectfully.
"Ming greets Matriarch." He then turned towards Shen Haoran, "Ming greets Cousin Haoran."
Shen Haoran's eyes narrowed the moment his cousin entered.
Something about Shen Ming unsettled him. His aura was too calm, too concealed, as though the man was deliberately hiding himself.
To the world, he looked ordinary. To Haoran, it was as if a veil covered something more.
Chu Xueyu's gaze lingered on Shen Ming, her expression giving nothing away.
"Tell him," she said flatly.
Shen Ming straightened, clasping his hands behind his back as he spoke, his voice was steady and his words were measured.
"The matter of the engagement with the Huo Clan is dangerous. If we sever it outright, our Shen Clan will be mocked as oathbreakers. Word will spread. Our reputation will weaken, and enemies will seize the chance to strike at us." He paused, letting his reasoning sink in before continuing. "That is why I have a solution. Instead of breaking it, let the engagement be transferred. From Cousin Haoran… to me."
The hall grew silent.
Chu Xueyu's expression remained tranquil, but a trace of curiosity glimmered in her eyes as she studied her average nephew.
It sounds reasonable.
That was Shen Haoran's first thought. Too reasonable.
The logic was flawless—cutting off the engagement would tarnish the Shen Clan's name, but transferring it to another branch member would preserve face.
And truth be told, the matter itself was insignificant to him.
The heiress of the Huo Clan, once brilliant, had become a cripple. She was no longer worthy of someone like him. Giving her to Shen Ming, saving the clan's reputation, should have been nothing more than a trivial affair.
And yet, Haoran's instincts screamed otherwise.
He studied Shen Ming closely. His cousin's face was plain, his posture confident, and his expression was calm.
Too calm.
The Shen Ming he knew was a stammering coward, timid to the point of embarrassment, someone who barely dared to speak in front of others.
But the man before him carried himself with unsettling composure, even a trace of arrogance, as though he grasped some hidden truth no one else could see.
Haoran's eyes sharpened, and his voice cut through the silence. "Mother. Hold him down and search his memories."
The air trembled as his words fell.
Shen Ming's expression finally cracked. Panic flooded his face as an invisible weight crushed him to the floor.
His limbs spasmed as he struggled, pinned like an insect beneath the heel of a god.
The overwhelming force was Chu Xueyu's will, it was swift, merciless, absolute.
"No! Cousin Haoran, wait!" Shen Ming's voice broke, desperation spilling out. "We are cousins, blood relatives. How can you—how can you treat me this way?!"
But Haoran stood cold and unyielding. His golden eyes glinted with disdain. "My cousin is a coward, a stuttering fool who cannot meet a man's gaze. You are calm, cunning, and too steady by half. You are not Shen Ming."
He stepped closer, his aura pressing down on the man's trembling form.
"Mother. Please."
Chu Xueyu's gaze swept over the kneeling youth, her eyes shimmering with profound light.
Without hesitation, she raised her hand, and her delicate finger pointed forward, and a ray of cold brilliance shot into Shen Ming's forehead.
This was Soul Search.
An ability reserved for those who had stepped into the Nascent Soul realm and above, an art of delving into memory and identity, tearing away disguise and deception to reveal truth.
The hall went silent, save for Shen Ming's strangled screams as his soul was pried open.