The entire sect gathered in front of Li Feng, their gazes heavy with judgment. Mei Lan and Tian Hao stood nearby, while Li Wei and his family positioned themselves on the other side. Everyone had come for this gathering, but the atmosphere was tense.
The Sect Leader stepped forward, his voice commanding.
"Who did this? Who is responsible?"
Li Feng raised his head, his voice steady despite the anger boiling within.
"It wasn't me, Sect Leader… someone has framed me."
The sect hall fell into a suffocating silence.
At the center stood Li Feng—bloodied, bruised, yet unbowed.
The Sect Leader sat high above, his gaze sharp and merciless.
"I'll ask you one last time," he said coldly.
"Did you kill those junior disciples?"
Li Feng raised his head slowly. Blood ran down the corner of his lips.
"No," he answered. "I didn't."
A wave of anger rippled through the hall.
The Sect Leader slammed his hand on the armrest.
"Lies!"
"If it wasn't you, then who was it?"
Li Feng clenched his teeth.
"Someone framed me," he said hoarsely. "I was set up."
The Sect Leader laughed—low and dangerous.
"Framed?"
"You dare stand here and lie even now?"
Before Li Feng could say another word, the Sect Leader appeared in front of him in a blur.
BOOM—
A violent strike slammed into Li Feng's chest.
Blood sprayed across the stone floor.
Li Feng was sent flying, crashing hard against a pillar. He coughed violently, his vision blurring.
Still, he struggled to stand.
"I didn't… do it…" he said, forcing the words out.
The Sect Leader's eyes burned with fury.
"So stubborn," he sneered.
"You refuse to admit guilt even when faced with death?"
Another strike.
Then another.
Each blow heavier than the last.
Crack—
Crack—
A sharp, horrifying sound echoed through the hall.
Li Feng's eyes widened.
Pain unlike anything he had ever felt tore through his body.
His dantian shattered.
Cultivation energy leaked out of him like mist, vanishing into nothingness.
He screamed—silent, broken.
Someone in the crowd whispered,
"His cultivation… it's destroyed…"
Li Feng collapsed to his knees, blood pooling beneath him.
Still, he did not bow.
"I won't admit… to something I didn't do," he whispered.
The Sect Leader stared down at him with disgust.
His words fell on deaf ears. No one believed him. Sect Leader's eyes burned with fury as he struck Li Feng hard, shattering his dantian. Pain exploded through his body as he collapsed to the ground.
"Enough."
He turned his back.
"From this moment on, Li Feng is expelled from this sect.
He is no longer one of us."
Even his family abandoned him. His father's cold words cut deeper than any sword:
"I have no son like you. Even if you were my biological child, Li Wei surpasses you in every way."
His own sister, who he once protected, turned her back on him, leaving him to the merciless world outside. Li Feng felt a deep, burning pain in his chest—not from the wounds, but from the betrayal of everyone he trusted.
As he was cast out through the sect gate, he saw Mei Lan and Tian Hao waiting. But instead of solace, they attacked him without hesitation.
"Someone as useless as you does not deserve to live here. I only liked you for the spirit stones you gave me… my heart belongs to Tian Hao. You will never return to this place," Mei Lan said coldly, her words stabbing him worse than any blade.
"My… my love… why… why would you do this?"
Li Feng could barely utter the words, his voice thick with pain. He could barely stand under the weight of betrayal.
Tian Hao, with a swift strike, sent Li Feng flying toward the cliffside, leaving him broken and battered.
Guards stepped forward.
They grabbed Li Feng by the arms and dragged him toward the massive sect gates, his blood leaving a long trail behind.
No one stopped them.
No one spoke for him.
As they reached the gate, Tian Hao approached.
He leaned close, his lips brushing Li Feng's ear.
His voice was soft—triumphant.
"Yes… we did it," Tian Hao whispered.
"Mei Lan. Su Yan. Me."
Li Feng's breath hitched.
"All of it," Tian Hao continued calmly.
"Every lie. Every piece of evidence."
Li Feng's eyes trembled.
"Mei Lan chose me in the end," Tian Hao said with a smile Li Feng couldn't see.
"You were just an obstacle."
Li Feng's fingers twitched.
"If you ever stood in my way," Tian Hao went on, voice turning cold,
"I'd kill you without hesitation."
The guards threw Li Feng forward.
His body hit the ground outside the sect gates.
The gates slammed shut behind him.
BOOM.
Li Feng lay there, broken and bleeding.
His cultivation gone.
His sect gone.
His love gone.
Above him, laughter echoed faintly from within the walls.
And deep within his shattered heart, something dark was born.
Not despair.
Not sorrow.
But a vow—
Everyone who betrayed me… will pay.
Using the last trace of strength left in his body, Li Feng staggered away from the sect gates.
Every step felt unbearably heavy, as if his body might collapse at any moment.
He didn't even know where he was going.
There was no destination—only instinct pushing him forward.
After walking a short distance, his vision blurred.
The world spun violently as he reached the edge of a forest.
His legs finally gave out.
Li Feng collapsed to the ground, unconscious, swallowed by the shadows of the woods.
But even in this darkest moment, a new presence appeared—ominous, commanding, and otherworldly. The Demon Lord had arrived.