Sword Aura to the Heavens
Chapter 84 - 83 Cui Lengzhou

Chapter 84: Chapter 83 Cui Lengzhou

When Li Fan returned, Li Hongyi’s eyes were still red. The mother and daughter reunited, and it was evident they had cried together.

"Xiao Fan, sit." After her grief, Cui Yushang looked at Li Fan with a gentle smile. Despite wearing simple clothes, she still appeared graceful and composed, making others feel very comfortable.

A direct descendant of the Cui Family, twenty years ago, she was also a revered daughter of the Cui Family.

"Thank you, Aunt Cui." Li Fan sat down at the pavilion by the pond.

"Although I’ve never been to Li Mountain, I’ve heard of its reputation. You’re a Li Mountain disciple, and I have nothing substantial to offer you as a gift. This kindness, dear to my heart, I’m afraid I cannot repay," Cui Yushang said softly.

"Aunt Cui, Red Yi and I have been through life and death together in Lin’an County. It’s what we should do; there’s no need for repayment," Li Fan replied.

"I know your heart, but Aunt Cui still feels ashamed," Cui Yushang said. "Back then, the Cui Family oppressed my family and now humiliate Red Yi. Red Yi said if it weren’t for you finding her, she might have met with misfortune in Chuzhou City."

Li Fan looked at Li Hongyi, only to see her beautiful eyes also resting on him. She had just recounted to her mother the experience of meeting Li Fan and coming to Chuzhou and the Cui Family.

"Aunt Cui, why does the Cui Family prevent us from seeing you, even when you’re safe?" Li Fan asked out of curiosity. He had previously worried that the Cui Family was stopping her because she had encountered some unforeseen mishap.

But it now seemed, though Cui Yushang lived a bitter life, she was at least safe, better than he had expected.

"They’re naturally afraid that you would retaliate against the Cui Family using the power of Li Mountain," Cui Yushang mentioned this with chilling eyes. "Although family disgrace is kept within, there’s no need to hide it from you. Back then, when I and Red Yi’s father came together, my parents had some concerns; however, due to their love for me, they blessed the union between me and Daoqing."

"However, this event became the trigger for a factional struggle within the Cui Family. Cui Mu’s lineage, now the leaders of the Cui Family, made a big fuss about it. My father’s personality was too rigid to take it, leading to an internal conflict within the Cui Family. My parents became targets for a purge. My father was severely injured, his foundation was broken, and he was imprisoned in the dungeon. My mother, unable to bear her injuries, died of grief..."

Cui Yushang couldn’t help but tear up, her eyes filled with a glow of hatred.

She herself was injured in that turmoil. Originally meant to become the lady of the Cui Family, Li Hongyi became stigmatized as an illegitimate child.

And Li Daoqing couldn’t even step into the Cui Family’s main gate.

"Your father doesn’t know about these internal affairs of the Cui Family. The Cui Family deliberately humiliated him and made him kneel outside the family," Cui Yushang said to Li Hongyi. "Red Yi, your grandparents, they were all well. They watched you being born and loved you tremendously."

As she spoke emotionally, Cui Yushang also remembered her parents, tears forming at the corners of her eyes as she continued, "I’m powerless. Your grandfather’s foundation was destroyed, and he’s been imprisoned in the Cui Family dungeon, suffering; I can’t even see him. If it weren’t for some of the older folks in our lineage, we would all have been killed."

Li Fan was deeply moved upon hearing this, feeling lament in his heart. Human nature indeed was complex.

The turmoil was caused by internal strife within the Cui Family.

A millennia-old family, decayed from within all the same.

"Xiao Fan, I have no right to ask you to do anything, but I still want to request a favor. I’m ashamed to face my father. Could you take Red Yi to see her grandfather, to check if he’s well?" Cui Yushang looked at Li Fan.

"Aunt Cui, I’ll take Red Yi there," Li Fan replied.

......

The Cui Family dungeon is located at the deepest part of the domain.

In the dark, damp dungeon, it typically houses the ’sinners’ of the Cui Family.

At this moment, inside the dungeon, within a specially built prison, a figure sat cross-legged. His disheveled hair and ragged clothes had chains shackling his hands and feet, with rats squeaking around.

Besides the company of rats, there seemed to be nothing else in this dungeon.

No one came to deliver meals; in fact, it had been a long time since anyone had come at all, leaving him to fend for himself.

The Cui Family had gradually forgotten his existence.

Cui Lengzhou, precisely Cui Yushang’s father and Li Hongyi’s grandfather.

Twenty years ago, he was ambitious, exceptionally talented, and with a strong foundation, he had the opportunity to advance to the Ning Dan Realm, thereby posing a threat to the Family Head’s position.

Thus, taking advantage of an incident, a storm was brewed.

During that storm, his foundation was broken, his wife severely injured and passed away, his daughter was injured, and his granddaughter was labeled a ’bastard child.’

The hatred for this is bone-deep, and Cui Lengzhou never forgets.

Twenty years, the people outside had forgotten about him.

However, he never forgot the people outside, not for a single moment...

Squeak... a rat crawled to the old man’s feet. Suddenly, he extended his hand to grab it, then stuffed the rat into his mouth, chewing it raw, blood staining the corners of his mouth as he kept his eyes closed.

Although he no longer needed to eat, he lived this way for a long time in the past.

This made his hatred even more unforgettable.

Just then, a sound came from outside, the old man’s ears twitching, quickly hearing footsteps approach.

Amidst the darkness, a figure holding a torch stepped one stride at a time in this direction.

Soon he reached the chains, placing the torch in front, seeing the old man quietly sitting there.

"Still not dead, you old wretch?" the visitor cursed lowly; if it weren’t for an incident within the Cui Family, he wouldn’t have come to this eerie dungeon; he despised it. If it weren’t for orders from above, he’d be reluctant to run here.

But, this old geezer, a waste, even if that person from Li Mountain wanted him, what could come of it?

"Your daughter once seduced a man outside and bore a bastard. Didn’t expect that bastard to be the same kind, also seducing wild men, even daring to storm the Cui Family with one, disgraceful spawn," the person muttered lowly.

Just as his voice fell, light suddenly shone ahead, startling him to step back, realizing those beams of light were actually eyes.

"This unkillable old..." he cursed, feeling a chill down his spine. In the next instant, a terrifying aura suddenly descended upon him, like an invisible force pulling him forward.

"What’s happening?" his expression changed drastically, bursting forth with aura but still unable to block that force.

"Bang..." His body crashed against the cell door, seeing the old man’s eyes fixed like a beast in the dark, now noticing blood at the corner of the old man’s mouth.

"Are you human or ghost?" his heart spasmed with an inexplicable fear surging quickly to the forefront of his mind.

This old unkillable had long been deprived of his foundation; what was happening?

Could he have died and turned into a ghost?

"What were you just talking about? Who stormed the Cui Family?" the old man asked, watching him.

"Not a ghost?" the person was taken aback; if not a ghost, how did the other restore his cultivation?

The chains clanged as the figure stood up, his height even taller, reaching out and pinning the man’s head with a slight force, causing him to scream, "Spare me."

"Speak." The old man uttered one word coldly.

"It’s Li Hongyi, your granddaughter; she and a man stormed the Cui Family to find her mother," the person said in panic, "I’m just following orders, have mercy."

"Crack..." His head was directly crushed, blood flowing down the old man’s hand.

With a bang, the chains binding the old man broke. He placed his hands on the prison bars, forcefully prying them apart, striding out.

With each step he took, his aura climbed, moving step by step toward the exit of the dungeon.

Twenty years, he had stayed here for twenty years; his foundation had been destroyed, but vengeance had given him an incomparably strong willpower, driving him to keep moving forward.

He initially intended to endure a bit longer, but upon hearing of his granddaughter’s arrival, he couldn’t wait any longer.

He would not allow his granddaughter to repeat the same mistake.

Outside, the ground suddenly roared. From deep underground, a figure strode out, it was Cui Lengzhou.

His figure was extremely tall, with disheveled hair and tattered clothing. His body even carried an unusual odor, with bare feet remarkably large. Storm clouds hovered above him, lightning flashed, and rain fell on him, scouring his body.

With each step, his aura grew stronger. The thunder in the sky struck his body, yet failed to harm him, seemingly absorbed, merging with him.

A far-off group rushed swiftly towards him, brandishing spears and charging as they saw the old man appear, intending to kill him.

Spearheads jabbed into the old man’s body but felt like hitting something solid. Their expressions changed, thunderbolts crashed down, striking them as the scent of scorched flesh permeated, and they all fell in an instant.

The rest paused, frozen, watching the old man in horror.

Still, he moved forward. An intense vortex seemed to form, devouring the surrounding nature’s spiritual energy. Lightning and thunder wildly descended upon him, merging into his body like being absorbed entirely, as his body crazily drew power.

"Foundation Establishment, he’s reconstructing his foundation..."

The surrounding people were aghast; how could it be?

The old man’s foundation was destroyed twenty years ago, he was imprisoned for twenty years in the dungeon, how could he be rebuilding it upon emergence?

Continuing forward, the old man emitted intense vibrations from within, louder and louder, seemingly echoing the sky’s thunder.

His large, bare feet stepped forward, each stride huge; his giant figure imposing a mighty pressure, forcing people back from his path.

Clenching his fists, a thunderous clap echoed. The surrounding people hadn’t even time to scream before they were killed; a storm of thunder clouding above the old man’s head.

At this moment, in the Cui Family, figures leaped into the air, landing on rooftops or hovering in the void, gazing towards the direction of the phenomenon.

"What is that?"

"What’s happening?" Cui Family members were puzzled.

"Seems like it’s coming from the dungeon’s direction."

"The dungeon?" the family head Cui Mu stared coldly at that side.

Someone is about to achieve Ning Dan.

Recently, no one in the Cui Family was advancing to Ning Dan.

Who?

A sense of foreboding rose in his heart, his divine sense extending in that direction.

Cui Lengzhou kept moving forward, his momentum still climbing.

He’s not only establishing his foundation, but also reaching for Ning Dan!

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