Turns Out, I’m In A Villain Clan!

Chapter 258: Shattered Core, Shattered Faith

Bai Zihan and Kong Zhanghong, having slipped away from the arena to avoid the lingering crowd, wandered through the quiet corridors behind the main stands.

They hadn’t expected to encounter anyone—yet as they turned a corner, a tense scene froze them in place.

At the far end of the hall, the golden-robed Azure Sun Holy Sect elder loomed over Jin Yuanzhan, who was still visibly weakened, his breaths ragged, his body trembling from the earlier fight.

”No! Please!

”

Jin Yuanzhan gasped, his voice desperate.

”Elder, I—please uphold your promise! I swore to protect the honor of the Azure Sun Holy Sect, and I—”

The elder cut him off with a cold, disdainful laugh, the sound echoing sharply through the corridor.

”Promise?”

He spat, his tone venomous.

”Do you think you have earned anything? You have neither won the Competition nor even defeated Nie Fengzhuo. Do you think that entitles you to make demands? Ridiculous!”

Jin Yuanzhan’s face was drained of color. He sank to his knees, clutching at the elder’s robes.

”But... but I risked everything! My core—my very life—was for the Sect! You promised—”

The elder’s eyes narrowed, and he waved his hand with a flick as sharp as a blade.

”Enough! You are unworthy of my promise. You have proven nothing but being a loser, and for that, you are expelled from the sect.”

Jin Yuanzhan’s voice broke, barely above a whisper.

”Elder... I beg you... please reconsider... I—”

The elder scoffed, dismissing him entirely.

”Begging changes nothing. You should already know how much the Sect has spent on you—be grateful for that much. From this moment on, you are no longer a disciple of the Azure Sun Holy Sect!”

Bai Zihan’s eyes flicked to Kong Zhanghong, who was already pale.

While he himself couldn’t feel anything. After all, this type of thing wasn’t new anywhere.

With his core damaged, perhaps it was irreversible—and that would mean that Jin Yuanzhan couldn’t cultivate. Once a genius of Azure Sun Holy Sect was no more.

From the corner of the hall, they could see Jin Yuanzhan, utterly broken, his pleas fading into silence.

”Damn! I was angry at him and cursed because he defeated Lin Xuan, but I didn’t think that he would suffer such consequences. Is my curse too strong?”

Kong Zhanghong muttered.

Jin Yuanzhan slumped against the wall as the golden-robed elder swept away, his departure as merciless as his words.

For a moment, silence pressed heavily through the corridor—until his gaze shifted, and he caught sight of them.

Bai Zihan and Kong Zhanghong stood at the far end.

The Jin Yuanzhan of before—the arrogant youth who sneered at his peers, who carried himself like the heavens owed him their glory—was gone.

In his place was a hollow-eyed boy, broken and abandoned, trembling from wounds deeper than flesh.

Kong Zhanghong shifted uncomfortably, guilt flickering in his expression. He forced a smile, though it sat poorly on his lips.

”Uh... well, Jin Yuanzhan... next time, maybe choose carefully where you place your loyalty. Some places aren’t worth bleeding yourself dry for.”

Jin Yuanzhan said nothing.

His head lowered, shoulders trembling ever so slightly, his silence heavier than any response.

Bai Zihan, however, did not move on.

He stepped closer, his tone calm but carrying that faint edge of curiosity he could never quite hide.

”There’s one thing I don’t understand,” he said.

His eyes lingered on Jin’s pale face, on the faint flicker of ruined spiritual energy coiling weakly around him.

”Why burn your core?”

Jin Yuanzhan flinched, but Bai Zihan’s voice was steady, neither mocking nor pitying—just direct.

”Looking at you now... it doesn’t seem like victory in the Competition was what you truly wanted. You fought as if clinging to the Azure Sun Holy Sect itself, not the title. With your talent, if you had kept your core intact, any of the great sects—the Heaven Sword Sect, the Crimson Thunder Palace—would have opened their doors to you. Why stake everything on them?”

The corridor fell still again.

Bai Zihan tilted his head slightly, watching him with calm eyes.

”Well, if you don’t want to answer, then there is no need,” Bai Zihan said at last, his tone indifferent.

He was just a bit curious since he couldn’t come up with an answer. But that was it, it wasn’t like he had to know.

Jin Yuanzhan let out a ragged breath that might have been a laugh—or a sob, no one could quite tell. His lips curled into a faint, bitter smile.

”Even if I told you,” he said hoarsely, voice laced with sarcasm, ”you wouldn’t understand.”

Bai Zihan regarded him in silence for a moment before giving the faintest of nods.

He was probably right.

Bai Zihan would never understand throwing away one’s life and future for anything.

Not a sect, not a promise, not even for family.

Kong Zhanghong burst out, bristling with indignation.

”That’s nonsense! Young Master Bai is the most generous and understanding person in the world! The virtue of good itself! You—Jin Yuanzhan—you don’t deserve to speak like that in front of him. Keep your twisted logic to yourself!”

Jin Yuanzhan gave a broken laugh, sharp and hollow.

”Hmph! What would you know? You’ve lived your life under the shadow of a great clan, bowing and smiling while your Young Master enjoys everything. Don’t pretend you understand them. These Young Masters of great clans don’t care about anyone. They only want power, and for that, they’re willing to sacrifice everything—even the people closest to them.”

”That’s not true!”

Kong Zhanghong shot back, his voice cracking with emotion.

”Young Master Bai Zihan isn’t like that! He would help others—even someone like me—without hesitation.”

Jin’s lip curled in scorn, though his eyes burned with something deeper than anger.

”Help? Don’t make me laugh. You’re still too naïve. When the time comes, you’ll see what your so-called Young Master is. You’ll be abandoned—just like me.”

Kong faltered at that, his mouth opening only to close again.

”That’s... not true!”

Jin Yuanzhan snorted.

”Believe what you like. But since you want to know why I fought for them, why I burned my own core for a sect that has now thrown me away... fine. I’ll tell you.”

He lifted his head, his hollow eyes reflecting a pain that no arrogance could mask.

”It wasn’t for glory. It wasn’t even for myself. It was because of money.”

Both Bai Zihan and Kong Zhanghong stiffened at the word.

”Money?”

Kong Zhanghong repeated, confused.

After all, with him being such a genius and a Soul Formation Realm cultivator, that should be the least of his worries.

Of course, unless it was in the millions. Then even geniuses like him would struggle. But there shouldn’t be a need because a Sect wouldn’t hold back to nurture genius like Jin Yuanzhan.

Jin Yuanzhan’s lips twisted, part bitter smile, part grimace.

”Yes! Money. Azure Sun Holy Sect has been providing resources to keep my younger sister alive. She’s been sick since birth, her body frail, her life hanging by a thread. Every pill, every herb, every elixir that sustains her... comes at a cost. And the Sect has been paying it. That was the price of my loyalty. Without them, she...”

His voice trembled for the first time, raw and unguarded.

”...without them, she won’t live much longer.”

Kong Zhanghong went speechless, his face frozen mid-retort.

He opened his mouth but no words came, only silence.

He had never imagined Jin Yuanzhan’s arrogance and desperation hid something like this.

While Bai Zihan only opened his eyes slightly, surprised by the reason but didn’t find it uncommon. After all, many do risk their life for their family.

(Family, huh?)

Thinking about his own sister, he couldn’t help but feel awkward about it.

Would he have done the same as Jin Yuanzhan if it was his sister?

He doubted it.

He knew himself too well.

”Couldn’t you have gone to another sect or even a great clan? With your talent, any of them would have been willing to take you in. And pay the price?”

Kong Zhanghong asked.

At that, Jin Yuanzhan let out a hollow laugh, the sound scraping from his throat like dry glass.

Jin Yuanzhan let out a low, bitter laugh, his head leaning weakly against the wall.

”You think I could’ve gone anywhere else? Even the Imperial Doctors were helpless. They couldn’t even recognize what it was, couldn’t cure it. All they said was that her body produces a poisonous Yin energy, one that eats away at her life every single day. Without Yang’s energy to suppress it, she wouldn’t last a month.”

His fists trembled in his lap, veins bulging against skin drained of color.

”That’s why I begged the sect. That’s why I chained myself to them. As long as they gave her what she needed—pills, treasures, herbs—I didn’t care what I had to give up. Even if it meant burning my core, destroying my path as a cultivator... as long as she could keep living, it was worth it.”

He drew in a ragged breath, his lips twisting into a smile more pained than any wound.

”But now, with me cast aside like this... they are no longer willing to support her.”

Silence thickened in the corridor, pressing down like a weight.

Kong Zhanghong looked stricken, his lips parting but no words coming out.

Treasures that contained Yang energy weren’t cheap, and his sister needed a constant supply of them. No wonder he could only rely on Azure Sun Holy Sect.

Others wouldn’t really be willing to spend that much even for a genius of his caliber. Now, it was another wonder why Azure Sun Holy Sect even did that.

Was Jin Yuanzhan Worth that Much?