Ding!
A crisp, mechanical chime echoed in Lu Chen's mind like a whisper from the heavens.
[Chen Fan's Luck -100 Points]
[Host Gains +1000 Points]
Lu Chen's eyes narrowed slightly, a glint of amusement flashing within them. So this method worked too—shattering engagements, severing fake ties… even that could harvest points. And not just any points—it came with the added bonus of draining someone else's luck.
Chen Fan… he thought with a smirk. Seems your fortune was tied to this engagement as well. How pitiful.
No one around him noticed the subtle change. To them, he was just a man walking away from a broken promise. But within, a storm of power was slowly building, quiet and unstoppable.
And Lu Chen? He wasn't just severing a bond—he was rising, step by step, above them all.
---
Lu Chen turned, his robes fluttering as he paused at the threshold of the hall. His voice rang out, calm but commanding.
"The engagement is now officially cancelled," he said, his eyes scanning the silent room. "Return the dowry — one hundred drops of eighth-grade spirit elixir and the seventh-level sword we provided."
A heavy silence fell. Chu Fu's face stiffened, his expression frozen as if struck.
He forced a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Young Master Lu… surely there's a misunderstanding. That elixir was gifted by your parents to honor the relationship between our two families, not as part of a dowry."
Lu Chen's smile was cold, his eyes sharp as a blade.
"Chu Fu," he said flatly, "my Lu family doesn't need to build a 'relationship' with a third-rate clan like yours. That elixir and sword were given as dowry, not some act of goodwill. Now that the engagement is broken, return what was ours."
Chu Fu's face darkened completely, and his hands trembled with barely contained rage. But faced with Lu Chen's unwavering gaze — and the crushing truth behind his words — he found himself unable to refute.
In that moment, it became clear to all: the Chu family had overreached, and now they were being dragged down from their pedestal, piece by piece.
---
Hearing Lu Chen's demand, Chu Fu's face twisted with reluctance. After a long pause, he finally spoke, his voice heavy.
"I will return the seventh-level sword," he said through clenched teeth, "but the elixir… I cannot give it back. That was our Chu family's last hope. With it, I may yet break through to the eighth level."
A cold light flickered in Lu Chen's eyes. He stepped forward slowly, each stride carrying the weight of dominance.
"Chu Fu," he said calmly, "I didn't come here to negotiate. I came to reclaim what belongs to me. Since I'm standing here, I won't leave without it."
The atmosphere in the hall shifted. Tension crackled in the air as the members of the Chu family stood up one after another, anger burning in their eyes. Their pride had been wounded, their dignity trampled.
"How arrogant!"
"Does he think he can just take whatever he wants?"
The murmurs grew louder, the hostility in the room rising like a tide.
Chu Fu raised his hand, signaling for silence. His eyes never left Lu Chen as he stepped forward, placing a long, sheathed sword onto the table. The blade pulsed faintly with dormant power — a genuine seventh-level weapon.
"Here is your sword, Young Master Lu," Chu Fu said coldly.
But in the next breath, his aura surged.
Boom!
A wave of force rippled out from his body as he released the pressure of a mid-stage seventh-level warrior. The entire hall trembled, and many of the younger Chu family members staggered from the shock.
"This is still the Chu family's domain," Chu Fu said, his tone laced with warning. "Do not overstep, Lu Chen."
But Lu Chen stood unfazed, his robes fluttering in the lingering aura. A faint smirk played at his lips — not of fear, but amusement.