The fifth item was a newspaper photograph. It showed an old man in a black tunic suit, leaning on a Wisteria Spirit Staff. The headline read: "Lu Yun, Daxia New Country’s First Grandmaster of Divine Intent."
Yuan Datong’s eyes instantly reddened. Daxia’s first Grandmaster of Divine Intent wasn’t him—it was Lu Yun.
’It was him. The man at the banquet who accepted my toast while remaining seated. The one who humiliated me.’
Yuan Datong’s complexion shifted from ashen to ghastly white, then to a deathly gray before he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Finally, his body swayed, and he fell backward, stiff as a board.
"Father!" Yuan Mu Fei lunged forward in terror, trying to catch him.
But it was too late. Yuan Datong slammed onto the floor, his eyes wide and unblinking as blood continued to trickle from the corners of his mouth.
His once jet-black hair turned salt-and-pepper at a visible rate, then completely white.
In mere seconds, the once-vibrant Grandmaster of Divine Intent had become a white-haired, dying old man.
"Father! Father!"
Yuan Mu Fei knelt on the floor, shaking Yuan Datong’s body desperately, his voice filled with terror and despair.
Yuan Datong’s newly achieved Realm had not yet stabilized. When his martial heart shattered, the backlash was instantaneous. He plummeted from the Grandmaster of Divine Intent Realm all the way back to Huajin, leaving him even weaker than before.
The primary reason, however, was that his ambition to become an emperor had been crushed by cold, hard reality.
Once a Martial Dao Will develops a flaw—especially an imperious will bent on conquering the world—the entire foundation collapses.
"Borrowed power always comes at a price... Mu Fei, take the appointment letter for Governor of Yun Port City and give it to Lu Yun."
Yuan Datong’s voice was hoarse and weary, as if he had aged twenty years in an instant.
Yuan Mu Fei, his face streaked with tears, knelt beside him. Hearing this, he looked up in confusion. "Father?"
"Go," Yuan Datong said, closing his eyes. He leaned back against the sofa and fell silent.
Yuan Mu Fei staggered out of the living room. Behind him, Yuan Datong remained motionless, his eyes still closed. He knew that with things as they were, he had no choice but to find a different path.
Lu Yun was a Grandmaster of Divine Intent. Yuan Datong could not go back on his promise.
To do so would only make an enemy of a Grandmaster of Divine Intent. Besides, the Yuan Family was already at the end of its rope.
Jiangze Province was lost, Wei Ting was dead, the Governor of Yun Port City was dead, the Western Countries were displeased, and a tide of opposition from across the land was rising ever higher.
’Offend a Grandmaster of Divine Intent at a time like this? That would be suicide.’
Yuan Datong slowly opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling. His hair was now completely white.
’One wrong step, and every step after was wrong.’
In the backyard of the Lu Family estate in Yun Port City, the sun shone brightly amidst the songs of birds and the fragrance of flowers. There stood an exquisite, artfully arranged rockery, surrounded by several stalks of green bamboo that rustled in the wind. A cobblestone path wound across the ground. The area was usually deserted, save for a servant who came by occasionally to sweep up fallen leaves.
At that moment, a large, simple-looking man was sweeping the area with a broom.
His name was Zhou Daniu, a servant the Lu Family had hired last year. True to his name, he was big and brawny, with a guileless face and a diligent work ethic.
His daily routine consisted of sweeping, watering the flowers, and other odd jobs. He never said much and never caused trouble.
Zhou Daniu was bent over, methodically sweeping away the leaves and dust.
Then, his eyes landed on a corner of the rockery. About half a meter up, something black was... pulsating?
Zhou Daniu froze. He rubbed his eyes, trying to confirm if he was seeing things.
He wasn’t mistaken. It was a pulsating black object, about the size of a brick, stuck fast to the rockery. It rose and fell, rose and fell, just like a living, beating heart.
At the sight, Zhou Daniu’s pupils dilated, and he instinctively stumbled a step backward.
’Wh-what the hell is this thing?’
’A black chunk of flesh? It’s moving? What the fuck is this thing?’
In his thirty-plus years of life, Zhou Daniu had never seen anything so bizarre.
His instincts screamed at him to call for help, to run, to get as far away from the object as possible. But after retreating just two steps, his legs buckled and he sat down hard on the ground.
Terrified, Zhou Daniu kicked his legs wildly, scrambling to scoot himself backward.
Thankfully, it was broad daylight with the sun high overhead. If he had stumbled upon this at night, he would have surely died of fright.
Zhou Daniu sat on the ground, panting heavily. He stared at the still-pulsating black flesh, his mind in a total jumble.
Then, suddenly, his fear vanished. It wasn’t that he truly wasn’t afraid anymore, but rather that a new thought had abruptly surfaced in his mind.
It was a bizarre and uncontrollable thought. ’Eat it. Eat it.’
The thought was like a whisper in his ear, yet it also felt as if it had sprung from the deepest corners of his own mind.
It was an insistent thought, impossible to dismiss. Zhou Daniu’s expression grew vacant.
He stared at the black flesh, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly. ’Eat it... Eat it...’
He slowly stood up and walked toward the rockery, step by step.
When he reached the black flesh, Zhou Daniu stopped and stared at it for a long time.
Then, Zhou Daniu glanced around. He was alone in the empty courtyard.
After taking a deep breath, Zhou Daniu shrugged off his outer tunic. He reached out, pried the black flesh from the rock, then wrapped it tightly in the tunic and clutched it to his chest.
The next moment, he turned and hurried toward his room.
Inside the villa, Lu Yun, having returned from Longyuan Bay Pier, sat at the dining table. He had not slept.
Lu Yun had been up since early morning, leisurely drinking soup. He drank bowl after bowl of nourishing broth, completely at ease.

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