"Lin Fang, by order of the Patriarch, you are hereby exiled to the Black Garden for eternity, and your Dantian shall be shattered."
The Lin family scribe announced in a flat, monotonous voice.
It was mid-autumn. Inside the vast clan hall of Lin Castle, a man sat in the center on a raised stone chair. His eyes were sharp, his long black hair tied neatly, and a grave expression rested on his stern face.
Before him knelt a twenty-year-old boy, head bowed, body perfectly still and silent.
The scribe stood off to the side, having finished his proclamation.
"Son," the man on the stone chair said, leaning slightly forward, "do you have anything to say in your defense?" His tone remained calm, almost gentle.
Lin Fang stayed silent for several long seconds before letting out a slow breath.
"Father, Lin Fang does not dare challenge your judgment," he replied quietly.
"No! Brother…!"
A high-pitched cry suddenly echoed through the hall. A young woman of about twenty rushed toward Lin Fang, tears streaming down her face, her hair disheveled.
Before she could reach him, two guards stepped forward, crossing their spears to block her path.
The girl halted abruptly. She gritted her teeth, clenched her fists, and turned her blazing gaze toward the man on the stone chair.
"Father! How can you do this?! There is no way Lin Fang killed Mother! This is a scheme!" she shouted, veins bulging on her neck.
The people in the hall looked at her with pity.
"Lijuan," a woman in her mid-thirties said softly, placing a hand on Lin Lijuan's shoulder, "you should not speak to your father in such an impolite manner. He is the Patriarch of our clan."
The woman wore luxurious red robes. Her face was heavily powdered, her lips painted a deep crimson. Though her mouth curved downward in feigned sorrow, a strange, satisfied gleam flickered in her eyes.
Lin Lijuan whipped her head toward the woman and clenched her jaw.
"You! It was you! You killed my mother and framed Little Fang! I'll kill you, you whore!"
Her hand whipped out in a vicious arc, landing a resounding slap across the woman's cheek.
Gasps rippled through the crowd. Even Lin Fang lifted his head in shock.
The Patriarch narrowed his eyes.
"Throw her into the Stone Palace," he declared coldly. "She will remain there until I find a suitable husband for her."
Lin Fang clenched his fists tightly but remained silent.
The woman in red, however, immediately began sobbing, tears cascading down her powdered face.
A chill ran through everyone present. In a single day, Patriarch Lin Zedong had punished two of his own children.
Lin Lijuan's eyes turned bloodshot. She suddenly drew a small knife from her robes, glared at the sobbing woman, wrinkled her nose in disgust, and slashed forward.
"Lijuan…" The woman's mouth fell open in shock.
The onlookers stared, wide-eyed.
"Hmph."
The Patriarch snorted. A sword flew from his waist in a flash, striking the knife from Lin Lijuan's hand and sending it clattering to the floor.
The guards immediately seized her, binding her wrists with iron chains.
"Take her to the Stone Palace," the Patriarch ordered in an icy tone.
Lin Fang watched his sister being dragged away through the hall. He gritted his teeth, fury burning in his chest, yet he remained silent.
Last night, someone had poisoned his mother. Now the blame had been placed squarely on him. He glanced at the woman in red robes and sighed inwardly.
She was his stepmother—Ye Daiyu. His father, the Patriarch, had taken two wives. The first was Lin Fang's birth mother; the second was Ye Daiyu.
Once, Ye Daiyu and his mother had been the closest of friends. But everything changed when Ye Daiyu's son, Lin Delun, displayed extraordinary cultivation talent and was selected by the prestigious Seven Heavens Sword Sect.
After that, Ye Daiyu grew distant. She stopped speaking to Lin Fang's mother, gradually won the Patriarch's favor, and now… she had killed her. And somehow, the blame had fallen on Lin Fang.
All because Ye Daiyu wanted her son to inherit the Lin Clan's legacy. Since Lin Fang was the elder brother, he stood in the way.
With one ruthless move, she had killed two birds with one stone: she eliminated Lin Fang's mother and removed the biggest obstacle between her son and the clan's future.
Lin Fang drew a deep breath as rage surged within him.
'If the heavens grant me another chance, I will definitely take revenge for you, Mother!'
A resolute expression hardened on his face.
"As for you…" Patriarch Lin Zedong's voice suddenly cut through the silence, snapping Lin Fang out of his thoughts.
"Your Dantian will be shattered."
The moment the words left his mouth, the Patriarch's sword shot forward again. In an instant, it pierced Lin Fang's abdomen.
A collective gasp of cold air filled the hall.
No one had expected the Patriarch to do it himself. His heart was truly as cold as stone toward his own son.
In the corner of the hall stood an old man with his hands clasped behind his back. Beside him was a girl about the same age as Lin Fang.
"He really did it," the old man snorted.
The girl looked at Lin Fang and sighed softly. Then she turned to the old man.
"Grandpa, I am Lin Fang's fiancée. Why didn't you save him?" she asked, brows furrowed.
The old man snorted again.
"Yun'er, his fate was sealed the moment Lin Delun was chosen by the Seven Heavens Sword Sect. There was no point in intervening."
He Yun fell silent for a moment.
"But… we grew up together. I liked him," she said, a complicated expression crossing her face.
He Fan snorted dismissively.
"Stop talking nonsense. This is a golden opportunity for our He Clan. Since Lin Zedong has abandoned his son, we can annul the engagement. Better yet, we can arrange for you to marry Lin Delun. He surpasses Lin Fang in every way."
He Yun remained quiet for a long time.
"I've met Lin Delun. He fancies me, yes… but he is extremely arrogant. I don't like him."
"Great men are always arrogant," the old man replied. "Be sensible. Please Lin Delun, and from now on, avoid Lin Fang completely. I will handle the rest."
"Yun understands, Grandpa," the girl said with a small nod.
She glanced at Lin Fang one last time. He was still kneeling on the floor, wisps of cultivation essence leaking from his shattered Dantian after five years of hard work.
'I liked you, Lin Fang… but it seems the heavens want me to marry someone better than you.'
Lin Fang, meanwhile, endured unbearable pain. He clenched his teeth and stayed completely silent—he refused to let anyone, especially his father, hear him scream.
"Give him a marrow-sealing pill and escort him to the Black Garden," Lin Zedong ordered. He rose from the stone chair and strode out of the hall with hurried steps.
Only after his father had left did Lin Fang finally lose consciousness.
Ye Daiyu followed Lin Zedong out moments later.
He Fan and He Yun also departed soon after, leaving only a handful of guards in the vast, echoing hall.
The guards exchanged glances and let out heavy sighs.
"Young Master Fang's fate is worse than ours now," one of them muttered.
The guard captain snorted. "Fate? Don't you know what the Black Garden is? It's a desolate wasteland at the very edge of the Nagron Continent, crawling with demonic beasts, demon clans, and rogue cultivators. A land of certain death… especially for someone whose Dantian has been shattered." He sighed again and looked down at the unconscious boy sprawled on the cold stone floor. "The Patriarch has truly sent his own son to die today."
The others lowered their heads in silence.
The captain took out a small porcelain bottle, shook out a single yellow pill, and gently placed it into Lin Fang's mouth. The boy swallowed reflexively even in his unconscious state.
"Pick up the young master," the captain ordered, then turned and walked out of the hall.
Two guards lifted Lin Fang as though he were a sack of grain and followed behind.
Soon they reached the outer edge of the Lin Clan's territory. Waiting there was a reinforced prison carriage, more cage than vehicle. Inside sat five men and two women. The men wore fierce, hardened expressions; the two women huddled together in the corner, arms wrapped tightly around each other.
When the guards approached, every prisoner's face turned solemn.
"Sir… please, have mercy," one of the women begged immediately, tears streaming down her face. "We'll never steal again. Please don't send us to the Black Garden!"
The men quickly joined in, pleading desperately.
The guards ignored them entirely. The captain turned instead to the driver, who had already climbed down from his seat.
"Is it true?" the driver asked in a low voice. "Young Master Fang is really being sent to the Black Garden?"
The captain gave a quiet nod and glanced at the unconscious Lin Fang now lying on the ground.
"Young Master Fang always treated us guards with kindness," the captain said, voice heavy. "I never imagined he would face such adversity."
The driver bowed deeply. "Don't worry, sir. I'll drop him at the safest spot I can find near the border of the Black Garden."
The captain remained silent for a moment, then nodded. "Thank you."
He placed a hand briefly on Lin Fang's abdomen, the wound had already closed thanks to the marrow-sealing pill. Then he took a small pouch and a sheathed sword from his belt and handed them to the driver.
"Give these to him when he wakes," the captain said. "Tell him they're a token of thanks from me… and that I hope to see him again someday."
The driver accepted the items with both hands and bowed once more.