On the Wudong River, a luxurious painted boat drifted with the current.
Tang Yurou sat inside the cabin, her face dark and pale. One hand clutched her injured shoulder, and her eyes burned with venomous hatred.
"Yang Cheng! Tang Xingyu!"
She ground out the names between clenched teeth, her voice low and cold. If she didn't avenge this humiliation, she knew she would never swallow this rage.
A moment later, she took out an ancient jade talisman from her void ring. The talisman was engraved with mysterious runes that shimmered faintly, giving off a ripple of strange spatial energy.
Tang Yurou pricked her fingertip and let a drop of fresh blood fall onto the talisman.
In an instant, the talisman glowed with a dazzling brilliance. A blurred figure gradually condensed within the light, and a lazy male voice echoed out.
"Yurou? What's this about? You suddenly remembered me?"
Tang Yurou let out a cold laugh. Through the talisman, not only the man's voice could be heard—there were also soft giggles and the sound of fluttering silk beside him. It didn't take much to imagine what he was doing.
"Meng Zhaoran," she said icily, "your wife's been humiliated, and you still have the mood to fool around with other women?"
The man froze for a moment before his tone hardened.
This man was none other than her husband—Meng Zhaoran of the Meng Clan from the Divine Realm.
"What?" Meng Zhaoran's lazy voice sharpened with anger. "Who? Who dared humiliate you?"
"Who said I was humiliated?" Tang Yurou snapped furiously. "It's your precious niece, Tang Xingyu. That little brat actually dared to strike me—she wounded me!"
"Tang Xingyu?" Meng Zhaoran was taken aback, then chuckled in disbelief. "You must be joking. That girl's meridians were destroyed years ago. Even if she's recovered a bit these past years, she's only fourteen—what strength could she possibly have? How could she hurt you?"
In his mind, Tang Xingyu was nothing but a discarded failure of the Tang Clan, hardly worth mentioning.
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Tang Yurou hissed. "That girl's a monster now. Her cultivation has reached the Insight God Realm! I couldn't even fight back! If she hadn't held back, I'd already be dead!"
Meng Zhaoran's expression shifted. His tone grew more serious.
"So it's true? Then her talent… far exceeds what we expected. If that's the case, you shouldn't be thinking about revenge—you should be winning her over."
Tang Yurou sneered. "Do you think I'm stupid? Of course I know that. But the more brilliant she becomes, the tighter our Tang Clan must hold her. Yet now, some dirt-born insect from the Wasteland Realm has gotten close to her. She's completely bewitched by him. I mocked him a little, and she attacked me without hesitation!"
Meng Zhaoran fell silent for a few breaths before asking, "So what are you suggesting?"
"That dirt-born's name is Yang Cheng," Tang Yurou said coldly. "He's a teacher at the Myriad Phenomena Dao Academy."
Her eyes glinted with icy malice. "I want him dead."
Meng Zhaoran sounded slightly taken aback. "You want to kill him? Wouldn't that cause trouble with Xingyu?"
"Trouble?" Tang Yurou let out a scornful laugh. "He's just a lowly native from a backwater realm. If he dies, he dies. Xingyu might be sad for a while, but she'll forget soon enough. Once that happens, we'll talk her around. She's still Tang Clan blood—do you really think she'll fight the entire clan for the sake of a dead man?"
She paused, then added with a hint of persuasion in her tone, "Besides, her talent is terrifying. If we can make her return to the family willingly, it'll benefit not only our Tang Clan but also your Meng Clan. Imagine what she'll achieve in the future if properly guided."
Meng Zhaoran stayed silent for a while. Clearly, her words were sinking in.
Finally, he asked, "So what do you want me to do?"
"I can't make a move myself—it would alert Xingyu," Tang Yurou replied coldly. "You, however, can send someone reliable to the Wasteland Realm. Have them deal with Yang Cheng quietly. Make it clean. Leave no traces."
Meng Zhaoran chuckled faintly, his voice calm and confident. "That's all? Such a small matter doesn't need reminding."
"Just make sure you move quickly," Tang Yurou said coldly.
Meng Zhaoran, however, didn't rush to act.
Even a fly needs to strike with precision when hunting a rabbit.
No matter how weak the target, he would always investigate thoroughly before taking action.
After all, the Meng Clan's power was far beneath that of the Tang Clan.
The only reason Meng Zhaoran had managed to surpass so many rivals and ultimately marry Tang Yurou was because of his extreme caution.
Back then, every man who had tried to pursue Tang Yurou had been meticulously investigated by him—then eliminated through various subtle means.
Now, he immediately activated the Meng Clan's intelligence network to dig into every possible detail about this so-called Yang Cheng.
But as the reports began to arrive one by one, Meng Zhaoran's expression grew darker with every line he read.
"Crown Prince of Great Zhou in the Wasteland Realm? Not just some ordinary native?"
"Two years ago, he killed Su Lingchen."
"A year and a half ago, he killed Qin Mingcheng and annihilated the entire Ouyang Clan?"
"Recently, he single-handedly killed Kong Shen and eight Insight God experts?"
"And when the Ning Clan tried to capture his mother, Yun Liyue, the entire force was wiped out?"
Each line of information struck Meng Zhaoran's chest like a hammer.
He finally realized that the so-called 'lowly native' Tang Yurou had spoken of was actually a terrifying existence far beyond what she could comprehend.
With such monstrous talent and a string of achievements like this, even within the Primordial God Realm, Yang Cheng would stand among the absolute top-tier prodigies.
"She's insane… Tang Yurou has completely lost her mind!" Meng Zhaoran muttered under his breath, cold sweat forming on his forehead. "Someone like this—forget killing him—even offending him is suicide!"
At once, he dismissed the idea of helping Tang Yurou deal with Yang Cheng.
But he couldn't outright refuse her orders either. The power of the Tang Clan was something he dared not provoke.
And truthfully, Tang Yurou's domineering personality had long been a thorn in his side.
Over the years, she had ruined countless opportunities for him—killing several women he cared for and even the illegitimate children he had secretly fathered.
Now, though he had secured his position within the Meng Clan largely through her influence, Tang Yurou's existence had long since shifted from an advantage to a chain around his neck.
"Use another's blade to kill…" Meng Zhaoran's eyes gleamed with malice. "If you want Yang Cheng dead, then I'll give you exactly what you want. I'll tell Yang Cheng you're planning to assassinate him."
He sneered. "If Yang Cheng is truly as ruthless and vengeful as these reports say, he'll never let Tang Yurou live. She'll die at his hands, and I won't even have to lift a finger. I won't offend the Tang Clan, I'll get rid of that poisonous woman, and I might even earn Yang Cheng's favor. Perfect."
As the idea took root, a sinister smile curled across his lips.
He immediately contacted one of his secret agents embedded in the Myriad Phenomena Dao Academy—a man in the Sword Academy named Instructor Yu.
"Instructor Yu," Meng Zhaoran ordered coldly, "pass a message to Yang Cheng. Tell him that Tang Yurou has hired killers to go after him. She's still in the Wasteland Realm right now, on a painted boat along the Wudong River."
Instructor Yu bowed his head quickly, not daring to delay. "Yes, understood."
—
Within the Myriad Phenomena Dao Academy's Pill Academy, the atmosphere was calm and fragrant with the scent of herbs.
Yang Cheng stood before a cauldron, patiently guiding several academy disciples as they refined a pill.
Just then, Instructor Yu hurried over, his expression tense.
"Master Yang," he said quickly, "a mutual acquaintance asked me to bring you an urgent message."
Yang Cheng gestured for the disciples to continue practicing, then followed Instructor Yu to the side corridor.
Without hesitation, Instructor Yu spoke in a low voice, "Master Yang, you're in serious danger. I've received word that Tang Yurou of the Tang Clan intends to kill you…"
Following Meng Zhaoran's instructions, he relayed the entire fabricated story—embellishing every detail with just enough fear and urgency to make it convincing.