"I didn't do it, so I didn't do it. You can blame me for embarrassing you, but I never even wanted to participate in that competition."

"You're still trying to argue even now? I'll beat you to death today, you bastard."

"Junior brother!" The sect leader stopped Qin Taiming, but even he could not withstand Qin Taiming's full-force attack. Qin Chi was sent flying backward and crashed into the door panel again.

Qin Chi wiped away the blood expressionlessly, his eyes completely dimming. His father had finally gone all out; it was for the best, lest he still harbor any illusions.

"Junior Brother Qin, you should apologize to the Sword Master right away!" Xiang Chengyuan rushed to his side.

Seeing that he remained silent, she turned to Qin Xiuyang and said, "Junior Brother Xiuyang, can't you say something in support?"

Qin Xiuyang coldly refused: "This disciple dares not interfere with Master's decision."

“You…” Xiang Chengyuan sighed heavily, looking at Qin Chi with pity, as if he were standing up for him.

Qin Chi slowly got up and looked directly at Qin Taiming: "Since you don't want to acknowledge me as your son, fine, I don't want you as my father either. From today onwards, we have no relationship whatsoever."

"Junior brother! Why are you doing this!"

Qin Taiming sneered: "Do you think you can just refuse to acknowledge it if you don't want to? Let's talk about returning your half of the bloodline first. Without me, do you think you could have grown up safely in the Tianyuan Sect?"

"Without him, you wouldn't be where you are today." Suddenly, a female voice rang out, startling everyone in the hall. Who was this person? Why had no one noticed her arrival?

Qin Xiuyang had once obtained a supernatural power in the secret realm. Upon seeing Song Xia enter, he immediately recognized her as a demon. Therefore, he raised his sword and roared, "Demoness, how dare you trespass into the Tianyuan Sect! Today is your death day!"

"Demon race?" Xiang Chengyuan and the others also became wary, but Qin Chi remained frozen in place.

Song Xia ignored them, not even glancing at Qin Xiuyang, and said to Qin Taiming, "Xiao Chi doesn't owe you anything. It's not that he's unworthy to be your son, it's that you're unworthy to be his father."

Qin Taiming's demeanor grew even colder upon seeing her: "What are you doing at the Tianyuan Sect?"

“Of course you’re taking my son away. If I hadn’t come, I wouldn’t have known that Xiao Chi had been bullied like this by you.”

"Are you Junior Brother Qin's mother?"

"Mother?" Qin Chi was even more stunned, staring blankly at Song Xia. He had imagined this person a thousand times, but he never expected her to be like this. He had also resented her, but just like with Qin Taiming, he had long since given up and become disheartened.

But why, why did he appear when he had already decided to give up completely?

Song Xia looked at Qin Chi with affection, as if she wanted to touch his head, but dared not: "I'm sorry, Xiao Chi, I'm late. I thought it would be better for you to follow Qin Taiming, after all, he is the Sword Master and will give you better guidance, but I didn't expect him to be so unethical."

"You insignificant demon, spouting such arrogant words and trespassing into the Tianyuan Sect, I hereby decree your death today." Qin Taiming drew his natal spirit sword, truly not wanting to give Song Xia any way out.

Song Xia grabbed Qin Chi and left, her voice loud enough for the entire Tianyuan Sect to hear: "Qin Taiming, I am no match for you today, but that doesn't mean you are right. You know how Qin Chi was born. You don't want to acknowledge my son and even want to kill me. Are you afraid that we will affect your state of mind and become your inner demon? Qin Taiming, your Dao heart is not pure. You can forget about ascending in this lifetime."

After saying this, she whispered to Qin Chi, "Don't be afraid, your mother is here."

"Qin Taiming, today my son will sever all ties with you. His birth helped you break through, so he owes you nothing. From now on, he will no longer have you as his biological father."

"What exactly is going on?" Upon hearing the commotion, the disciples of the Tianyuan Sect came out and discussed the matter.

"What is the connection between Qin Chi's birth and the Sword Master's breakthrough?"

"Forming ranks, these are the demon race."

"How dare you tarnish the reputation of our Sword Master! This is utterly outrageous!"

"The Sword Master and the Sect Master have also come out, so did this demoness escape right under their noses?"

"She even brought Qin Chi with her. Could she be Qin Chi's biological mother?"

"I never expected Qin Chi's mother to be so amazing."

"So what if she's powerful? The Sword Master won't let her escape. Besides, no matter how powerful she is, isn't Qin Chi just a piece of trash?"

Qin Chi looked at the sword energy that was right in front of him and pursed his lips anxiously. At the critical moment, Song Xia stood behind him and blocked the attack for him.

"Don't look back, let's go. Mother is no match for him now, but there will be plenty of time in the future."

Song Xia revealed his vine form, using part of it to wrap around Qin Chi as he moved forward, and the other part to fight Qin Taiming.

Qin Chi was also learning for the first time that his biological mother was actually a vine demon, which explained the green mark on his wrist.

The green vines spread rapidly, covering the entire forest almost instantly, making it impossible to tell where Qin Chi had gone.

"A mere trick." Qin Taiming's eyes turned cold as he cleaved the forest in two with a single sword stroke, scattering the green vines and leaving broken, withered branches everywhere.

However, the people of Tianyuan Sect searched the entire forest but could not find Song Xia and Qin Chi.

"Master, they escaped." Qin Xiuyang's face was just as ugly as Qin Taiming's. This was the first time he had ever seen anyone escape from his master's clutches.

Some junior disciples of the Tianyuan Sect began to wonder: "Has the Sword Master's abilities regressed, or did he deliberately let these two go?"

"Could it be that the Sword Master truly has an inner demon?"

"Don't talk nonsense, are you out of your mind?"

"Sword Master wouldn't be so stingy, would he?"

Qin Taiming's face was extremely ugly. Apart from the birth of Qin Chi, he had never been so humiliated.

"I've ordered a bounty on their heads. I want to see where they can run to."

The sect leader kindly advised, "Junior brother, there's no need for that. Anyway, Xiao Chi isn't happy in our Tianyuan Sect. Let his mother take him away; maybe things will be better for him."

“I said I would offer a reward, and I will offer one. Whoever can bring back their bodies will be richly rewarded.”

He left as soon as he finished speaking, along with Qin Xiuyang. Naturally, the orders he gave were left to the sect leader and his son Xiang Chengyuan to carry out.

The father and son both looked rather grim. The sect leader, having seen many big occasions, was able to hold back, but Xiang Chengyuan didn't have his father's patience.

“Father, even if our martial uncle has the highest cultivation, he still doesn’t respect you enough. And that Qin Xiuyang, just because he’s the number one among his peers, he puts on airs. Anyone who doesn’t know better would think that they are the ones in charge of the Tianyuan Sect.”

"Who can blame them for their high cultivation level? Yuan'er, we have to admit that with Qin Taiming around, our Tianyuan Sect dares to call itself the number one sect."

"But no matter how high their cultivation level is, they still use the sect's resources to cultivate. Protecting the sect is their duty. Qin Chi is too disappointing."

"Since he's gone, there's no need to say anything more. He's just naturally gifted, and we can't force him to change anything."

"If only someone could curb the arrogance of that master and disciple. Now everyone in the Tianyuan Sect only recognizes them. Even though you, Father, handle so many miscellaneous matters, no one understands your hard work."

"It's not just within the sect?" The sect leader said in a low voice, his face grim. "There's no need to suppress what just happened."

Xiang Chengyuan nodded: "Yes, even outsiders should know that the Sword Master is not perfect."