Chapter 3

Chapter 3: One Out of Ten

Lin Zhao watched the first light spill over Mount Yun Ding’s peaks.

The wind was cold. The air smelled of pine and stone and lingering incense from a banquet that had turned to ash.

She opened her spatial ring, took out the marriage contract and the token of love, and sent them through the air to Immortal Venerable Ling Yao.

“At Mount Yun Ding,” Lin Zhao said, voice steady, “he left in public. Shen Yu Han wronged me first. In this marriage, he broke the vow first.”

Her fingers unclenched, as if letting go of something lodged in bone.

“I don’t want it anymore.”

A ripple ran through the crowd.

Lin Zhao didn’t look at them. She cupped her hands toward Ling Yao, formal despite the blood still faintly staining her sleeves.

“This Mount Yun Ding is not my home. I am a guest here, and I cannot stay.” Her gaze didn’t waver. “Please, Aunt Ling, help me deliver these to Shen Yu Han.”

Immortal Venerable Ling Yao stared at the contract and token, then let out a quiet sigh.

“I’ll keep them for now,” she said gently. “You know Little Han’s temper. He wouldn’t ignore you for someone else. Something must have delayed him.”

She lifted her eyes, gaze firm. “So Aunt Ling cannot agree to annul the marriage unless Little Han himself agrees.”

Lin Zhao understood: Ling Yao believed this was anger. A flare that would die once the wound cooled.

Around them, guests exchanged looks, some nodding, some smirking. In their minds, the logic was obvious: the Lin Family had declined; Lin Zhao had offended Mount Yun Ding; how could she truly dare throw away her one lifeline?

Pride was expensive.

And they thought she was too poor to afford it.

Lin Zhao set her jaw.

“In all things,” she said, “judge the deed, not the heart. Today’s fruit comes from yesterday’s cause. I have always lived by that.”

Ling Yao’s promise had given the Lin Family breathing room, but no promise could erase what had happened.

Holy Son Shen leaving on his wedding day was fact. Humiliation, witnessed by the entire continent.

Lin Zhao would not forget it.

She could not afford to forget it.

Even if she couldn’t repay it now, one day she would grind that insult back into his hands.

Seeing her family already waiting at Mount Yun Ding’s exit, Lin Zhao turned her gaze toward the direction Yun Ding and Shen Yu Han had gone.

Her voice was low, but it carried.

“Today’s shame is carved into my heart. One day, I will return it.”

She cast off the red bridal robe.

With a tap of her storage ring, a blue dress slid over her snow-white underclothes. It fit like a promise she had once been too tired to make.

In the blazing sun, the discarded wedding robe fluttered down like a fallen butterfly.

A slender, pale hand caught it.

When Shen Yu Han finally rushed back—still dressed in red, face deathly pale—he grabbed that robe as if it were the only solid thing left in the world.

After he learned the whole sequence of events from Immortal Venerable Ling Yao, the blood he had been forcing down surged up.

He spat it out, staining the red at his chest darker still.

Most of the guests had already dispersed with the Lin Family.

Only Yao Chi Sacred Land’s people and Mount Yun Ding’s people remained, lingering like crows around carrion.

One vassal of Yao Chi Sacred Land tried to curry favor, his voice oily with false comfort.

“The Holy Son doesn’t need to be so hung up on her. How could such a petty woman become the Matriarch of Yao Chi? Besides, the Lin Family has long declined. Even their legitimate daughter’s Phoenix Fortune was taken by the Ji Family. In my view, this ‘legitimate daughter’ isn’t as good as the Ji Family’s illegitimate daughter…”

Others opened their mouths to echo him.

Then they met Shen Yu Han’s gaze.

Dark. Brutal. Predatory.

Their words froze.

A heartbeat later, Shen Yu Han looked away, and the terrifying edge vanished as if it had never existed. The onlookers shivered and told themselves they’d imagined it. How could the usually carefree Holy Son look like that?

Shen Yu Han’s grip tightened on Ling Yao’s sleeve. His voice dropped into something raw, nearly pleading.

“Aunt Ling. Help me.”

Ling Yao’s brows shot up. “Now you remember she’s your not-yet-married wife. What were you doing earlier?”

Resentment flickered in her eyes, but so did heartache. She had raised him. She had indulged him. Otherwise she never would have allowed him to leave the ceremony in the first place.

“The Lin Family is weak,” Ling Yao said after a beat, tone smoothing into practicality. “Their Old Ancestor carries old injuries. To remain stable among the noble houses, allying with Yao Chi Sacred Land is their best chance.”

Her gaze sharpened. “Don’t rush. Heal first. Then we’ll go to the Lin Family together and explain. That girl is sensible. For the Old Ancestor’s sake, she will agree.”

Shen Yu Han’s shoulders loosened, hope seeping back in despite the pain in his chest.

He didn’t care how much coercion and temptation hid inside those words.

From beginning to end, no one had ever respected Lin Zhao’s will in this marriage.

…

Lin Zhao returned to the Lin Family with her people. She arranged the most urgent matters with brisk efficiency, then went alone to the ancestral shrine and knelt before the tablets.

The air inside was cool and heavy with incense.

“Unfilial daughter Lin Zhao begs forgiveness from the ancestors,” she said.

The Lin Family Old Ancestor stood beside her, his breathing faintly uneven.

Lin Mang, the Lin Family head, stared down at his daughter. Sword-like brows, star-bright eyes, features that resembled Lin Zhao by three or four parts—yet his expression was worn to the bone.

Seeing her slim shoulders beneath the blue dress, seeing the faint pallor that no cosmetics could hide, Lin Mang clenched his fist until his knuckles whitened.

“If I weren’t so useless,” he said hoarsely, “the Lin Family’s bloodline wouldn’t have fallen this far. Even Zhao Zhao’s Phoenix Fortune was taken by the Ji Family…”

Lin Zhao lifted her gaze, steady despite the ache in her chest.

“Father,” she asked quietly, “at the wedding, some people said I carry Phoenix Fortune. What is Phoenix Fortune?”

The Old Ancestor’s voice rumbled low, weighted with years.

“This matter… is my fault.” He paused, as if swallowing old bitterness. “Let me explain.”

He looked toward the ancestral tablets, eyes dim.

“Our Heavenly Phoenix Continent was created as a plane by one of the ancient Five Gods—the ancient Heavenly Phoenix Primogenitor.”

His fingers tightened around his cane.

“Before the Ancestral Phoenix fell, it transformed into countless strands of Fate Luck. The most dominant among them is the Heavenly Phoenix Fortune. Those chosen by it are born with Phoenix Fortune and gain many benefits.”

His gaze slid to Lin Zhao.

“When you were born, a vision of a hundred birds paying homage appeared. After careful examination, we confirmed you carried Phoenix Fortune. It wasn’t the Heavenly Phoenix Fortune itself, but it was still powerful.”

He exhaled slowly. “Unfortunately, the Lin Family was weak. When I fought the Old Ancestor of the Ji Family, I fell into his trap and was suppressed.”

Lin Zhao drew in a sharp breath.

The Lin Family remained among the noble houses only because they had a Spirit Transformation Old Ancestor. If he was suppressed, the Lin Family’s fall was inevitable—and the resources and opportunities that came with noble-house status would vanish overnight.

“After the Ji Family used a sacred artifact to suppress me,” the Old Ancestor continued, “they proposed that if we transferred your Phoenix Fortune to their Young Lord, they would release me.”

Lin Zhao’s voice came out tight. “Can Fate Luck be transferred?”

“Normally, no.” The Old Ancestor’s eyes darkened. “But that Ji Family Young Lord—Ji Wan Tang—also carries Phoenix Fortune. A kind that can devour others’ Phoenix Fortune and grow stronger. They hid that far too deeply.”

Lin Mang’s jaw clenched. “The Old Ancestor cannot be allowed to fall, or the Lin Family collapses. So we agreed. To avoid harming your life, your Phoenix Fortune was divided into ten parts. Ji Wan Tang took six.”

The Lin Family Matriarch closed her eyes, pain tightening her face. “The remaining four parts should have returned to you… but an illegitimate daughter of the Ji Family barged in and stole three parts.”

Her voice broke, then steadied again with effort. “That year you had just entered Mount Yun Ding. After your Phoenix Fortune was taken, you spent a year recovering at home. You seemed to remember nothing. We didn’t want to tear the wound open again.”

She looked at Lin Zhao as if she were seeing the child she couldn’t protect.

“In the end, it was our failure as elders that harmed you.”

Lin Zhao let out a long breath, slow and controlled.

So that was why everything had shifted. Why Yun Ding’s attitude had changed after taking her in. Why Chen Luo Luo had been so eager to climb over her bones.

Phoenix Fortune.

She bowed her head once.

“Father, Mother—you did nothing wrong,” Lin Zhao said. “The Old Ancestor cannot be allowed to fall.”

Her eyes lifted, bright and cold.

“As for Phoenix Fortune… what is mine, I will take back with my own hands.”

The Old Ancestor’s shoulders loosened, as if speaking the truth had eased something lodged in his chest.

“After this,” he said, “for the long term, I plan to give the Lin Family’s admission slot to South Sea Academy to Zhao Zhao.”

The shrine went still.

South Sea Academy stood above even Yao Chi Sacred Land and Ten Thousand Swords Sect. An admission slot wasn’t just opportunity—it was protection, prestige, and a future carved in stone.

Lin Mang’s brows drew tight. “That slot is too precious. The elders may not agree.”

“I’ll speak to them,” the Old Ancestor said with a wave, already sounding tired.

Lin Zhao studied the old man’s lined face, the faint tremor in his breathing.

She understood what he was doing.

At the wedding, she had directly or indirectly offended both Mount Yun Ding and Yao Chi Sacred Land. Sending her to South Sea Academy would place her somewhere neither force could touch easily.

But it would push the Old Ancestor—and the Lin Family—into the storm’s center.

And his body… his body could not endure another storm.

“Let the slot follow the clan’s normal process,” Lin Zhao said quietly. “Let everyone compete for it fairly.”

She bowed deeply.

“Thank you for looking after me, Old Ancestor.”

The Old Ancestor’s gaze softened with complicated emotion. “Such a clear-minded child…”

He sighed, voice barely above a whisper.

“Old man of Yao Chi… back then, this marriage was our mistake.”