Chapter 861: To Repay Kindness With Enmity

“I will never forgive you.” Tears streamed down Chu Xiang’s face as she stared at the live footage of the exploding shuttlecraft.

For so many years, her relationship with her second brother had been close. They had always looked after each other and trusted each other deeply. In her eyes, her second brother had always been gentle, refined, warm and kind. He had been meticulous in his actions and far-sighted in strategy. He was a man of true wisdom. She never imagined that he would resort to such despicable means.

First, he had tricked Li Xiaofei into leaving. Then, he had a Starshatter Oblivion Bomb secretly planted aboard the shuttlecraft. A Starshatter Oblivion Bomb was the strongest strategic weapon developed by the Chu Family.

Though this kind of bomb was difficult to deploy effectively against top-tier cultivators when they were prepared, it was still a terrifying fusion of advanced technology and formation power. If used properly and launched as a surprise attack, the explosion could instantly obliterate even Five Dragons Realm experts caught within a kilometer. Even Six Gods Realm cultivators would be gravely wounded.

Chu Heng could only offer a bitter smile as he tried to explain, “Xiang’er, don’t let emotions cloud your judgment. While our Chu Family may not fear the Yue Family, it’s not just them who are coming, it’s the entire Merchant Alliance. It represents the collective will of all the major clans in the Xiao Kuang Star Region. I don’t know how the Yue Family managed to unite them, but this is a force no single family, not even ours, can withstand. This is a shift in the great tide. We can’t gamble the foundation of our family for your one savior.”

“Second Brother, you’re short-sighted. You have no idea...” Chu Xiang trembled with anger.

Her second brother had no idea what Li Xiaofei truly represented. He was a legend who had survived the chaos of Heaven unscathed. Even though she didn’t know exactly what role Li Xiaofei had played in the final battle at the Thirty-Third Heaven, she was certain he had gained immensely from Heaven.

She even believed that Li Xiaofei likely had the means to travel in and out of Heaven freely, as if he held the key to the divine treasury itself. What harm was there in standing against the Merchant Alliance for someone like that?

Besides, the Merchant Alliance wasn’t a solid block of iron. The Chu Family’s years of investment and connections hadn’t been in vain. With the right strategy, dividing, drawing allies, and joining forces with the military, they could absolutely seize the initiative.

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Chu Xiang had believed she’d made everything clear to her brother. But to her disbelief, even her typically wise and farsighted second brother had made such a foolish, unforgivable decision.

Second Brother... at the most critical moment, you made the wrong choice. You underestimated Li Xiaofei.

“This was also Grandfather’s decision...” Chu Heng spoke calmly, “Father and the other uncles all agreed. It had to be done.”

Their grandfather was the current head of the Chu Family, the one with the ultimate authority.

“I’m going to find Grandfather.” Chu Xiang turned and stormed off, rage burning in her chest.

She had risked her life by venturing into the Purple Nebula Forbidden Zone, searching for the lost Heaven and placing all her hopes on finding a divine pill. It was not for glory or gain, but out of filial piety, to try to save her grandfather, whose old injuries had flared up and left him near death.

Now the divine pill had been found. Her grandfather had been saved. Yet the very moment he regained his strength, he repaid his benefactor with betrayal. Never mind the immense importance of Li Xiaofei, just the fact that Li Xiaofei had repeatedly saved her life inside Heaven, allowing her to deliver the pill to her grandfather, should have been enough.

Without Li Xiaofei, her grandfather would be dead. That made him, in no uncertain terms, her grandfather’s lifesaver. She had already explained this thoroughly. Yet, her grandfather, once a paragon of fairness, righteousness, and clarity, had chosen this path in the name of family interests. It was humiliating.

Chu Xiang couldn’t take it. She had to make a scene. She had to demand justice for Li Xiaofei. Chu Heng didn’t stop her. Instead, a faint smile surfaced on his face.

That very day, news spread throughout Mulin Base City that the Chu Family’s treasured daughter, Chu Xiang, had made a wild scene in the family ancestral hall and openly berated the patriarch and elders. The incident exploded in notoriety and everyone heard about it.

Patriarch Chu Zhongtian, enraged, reprimanded Chu Xiang and stripped her of all household privileges and status. She was confined within the ancestral hall to reflect on her behavior in isolation.

That same afternoon, the fleet of the Xiao Kuang Star Region Merchant Alliance's Revered Protector Corps landed at the auxiliary airport outside Mulin Base City.

The corps commander, Blazing Flame Grand Venerable, along with over a dozen elite enforcer cultivators and other important figures, were welcomed into the city with full honors by Chu Heng and his father.

Immediately after, a grand banquet was held in the city’s most prestigious restaurant to mark the occasion. After the formal greetings and polite exchanges were done with, the banquet finally turned to its true purpose.

Blazing Flame Grand Venerable slowly raised his cup and said, “Elder Chu, we have come to Chu Planet under direct orders from the Alliance Master. Our objective is to apprehend a criminal named Li Xiaofei. The wanted notice has already been issued. May I ask where this individual is currently located?”

The atmosphere at the banquet instantly tensed. Everyone present was informed enough to know that Li Xiaofei was the one who had saved Chu Xiang’s life. Given the Chu Family’s well-known reputation for upholding loyalty and protecting their own, many had expected the family to stand firmly behind him.

Now that the question had been raised, it signaled the beginning of an inevitable confrontation between the Revered Protector Corps and the Chu Family. At the very least, some verbal sparring would be unavoidable. The Chu family held considerable influence within the Merchant Alliance. If things escalated, even a physical conflict was not out of the question.

All eyes turned sharply toward the patriarch of the Chu family. Old Patriarch Chu Zhongtian sat calmly at the head seat.

He was a retired war general who was over four hundred years old. Once a famed butcher on the Star Battlefield, and a god of slaughter in his time, he had earned glory and terror in equal measure. However, his strength had waned from accumulating injuries, and his life expectancy had been shortened. The senior officers of the Xiao Kuang Legion had ordered his retirement so he could live out his remaining years in peace.

Despite his age, the old man looked no older than fifty. His bearing was imposing, and his spirit sharp. There was nothing in his demeanor to suggest he was on the brink of death.

Chu Zhongtian spoke indifferently, “There’s no need to trouble yourselves further. That criminal is already dead.”

“Hm?” Blazing Flame Grand Venerable stiffened, startled. He asked, “Dead? How did he die?”

Chu Zhongtian sighed and said, “After receiving the alliance’s order, our Chu Family made swift arrangements. We set a trap and used a Starshatter Oblivion Bomb to annihilate him in the vacuum of space, just outside Chu Planet.”

As he finished, he gestured for all the corresponding evidence and reports to be distributed. Each member of the Revered Protector Corps received a copy. The documentation was thorough and precise.

As Blazing Flame Grand Venerable and the others reviewed the data, they were met with the recorded footage of the shuttlecraft exploding in space. There was an enormous, blinding flare, as if a miniature sun had erupted in the void. For a long while, no one spoke.

None of them had expected the Chu Family to go so far.

From his seat at the center of the right-hand row, Yue Zhuoran couldn’t help but speak up. “Patriarch Chu, the Alliance Master ordered this Li Xiaofei to be taken alive. His case is of grave importance. Why did the Chu Family kill him outright instead of capturing him alive?”

“What are you trying to say?” Chu Heng immediately rose from his seat. He glared at Yue Zhuoran, voice sharp as a blade, “Are you accusing my grandfather of lying? Or are you implying that the Chu Family deliberately shielded Li Xiaofei?”

Yue Zhuoran’s expression shifted subtly and said, “That’s not what I meant. I only meant to say—”

“Meant to say what?” Chu Heng’s voice turned colder. “Hmph. If it weren’t for you, Yue Zhuoran, abusing your power for personal gain, targeting Li Xiaofei out of spite, and manipulating the Alliance Master through the Yue Family’s influence to pursue this man,. would my Chu Family have had to disgrace ourselves by committing such an ungrateful act? Would my poor younger sister have ended up punished and confined? Hmph!”