Chapter 300: Cassian Regrets Too Late

Cassian’s gaze remained fixed on Cassandra. After a few moments, he turned slightly toward Aldren. "Patriarch Valehart, let me handle this. After all, she is my daughter."

Aldren’s bloodshot eyes lingered on Cassandra for a moment before he finally nodded. "Fine. But make it as painful as possible."

Cassian nodded and stepped forward. He wanted the same thing. After all, Cassandra was also one of the reasons his family had fallen to such a miserable state.

Without hesitation, he unleashed his aura, revealing his cultivation at the second stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.

The sheer pressure caused several weaker cultivators to immediately stagger backward.

Cassian turned toward Cassandra and raised his sword. "Cassandra, you’ve gone far enough. Not only did you dare to return and disturb us, but you even killed Ravion, the future of our family."

Hearing his words, Cassandra merely sighed. Without saying anything, she released her own aura.

To everyone’s surprise, Cassandra’s cultivation had actually reached the peak of the Golden Core Realm.

Cassian was so shocked that his hand trembled. A trace of regret began to appear in his eyes.

After all, if things had gone differently, if Cassandra had remained with the family, with talent like hers, the Valeria Family could have risen to even greater heights.

They might not have even needed to cooperate with the Valehart Family in the first place.

Cassandra immediately noticed the change in his expression and let out a soft chuckle. "Hehe... regretting it already, Father? Unfortunately, regret always comes too late."

Cassian’s expression darkened, but the regret in his eyes quickly gave way to greed.

His gaze swept over Cassandra as if she were no longer his daughter but a treasure waiting to be claimed.

His qi surged violently around him. "No matter. There’s no way you reached this level through your own ability alone. You must have obtained some kind of secret technique, inheritance, or treasure."

A greedy light flashed in his eyes as his grip tightened around his sword. "If I take it from you, then everything you gained will belong to the Valeria Family. With such a secret in our hands, our family will rise even higher than before!"

Cassandra’s eyes turned cold. "There it is... the truth of who you really are, Father."

Her voice carried a trace of bitter mockery. "No, Cassian. Even now, you’re still thinking about what you can take from me."

Cassandra didn’t care. She simply moved.

In the next instant, a figure appeared directly above her, bringing down a terrifying sword strike aimed straight at Cassandra.

At the same time, the crushing pressure of a Nascent Soul descended upon her mind, attempting to suppress her consciousness before the blade could even reach her.

Cassandra watched the attack approach without moving, and only at the final second did she act.

Her sword swept upward in a single sharp motion, knocking Cassian’s blade aside.

At the same time, Cassandra’s sword intent surged outward like a tidal wave. The spiritual pressure bearing down on her shattered instantly.

Cassian’s expression changed as he had never expected her to crush both his attack and his pressure so effortlessly.

Cassandra didn’t hesitate. She stepped forward and struck Cassian squarely in the chest with the flat of her blade.

Cassian was forced backward several meters.

For a moment, silence filled the arena. No one had expected a Nascent Soul cultivator to be the one losing so decisively.

Cassandra casually lowered her sword to her side, her expression completely calm. "Second-stage Nascent Soul, huh? Is that all?"

Cassian’s face twisted with anger at the humiliation. "You arrogant little bitch!"

His Nascent Soul aura erupted once more. This time, he stopped holding back, so in the next instant, his figure vanished.

[Silver Phantom Sword Step]

Several silver afterimages appeared around Cassandra from every direction, each one seemingly identical to the real Cassian, and they then raised their sword at the same time.

[Metal River Severing Sword]

Dozens of metallic sword arcs tore through the air, descending simultaneously from every afterimage and converging directly on Cassandra at the center.

Faced with the overwhelming assault, Cassandra merely sighed before she moved her sword.

With a few light, effortless motions, she deflected every sword arc that reached her, one after another.

Cassian frowned.

This time, he instantly appeared behind Cassandra, his sword blazing with a brilliant metallic light.

[Heaven-Piercing Valeria Sword]

A concentrated beam of Metal Sword Qi erupted from his blade and shot directly toward Cassandra’s back.

Cassandra simply turned and slashed downward, and the concentrated beam was split cleanly in half before it could even reach her, causing Cassian’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Without waiting for Cassian to make another move, Cassandra stared him down. "You know, Cassian... my life has become quite fucking miserable because of all of you."

Cassian watched Cassandra talk, hoping to use her distraction as a chance to attack, but Cassandra easily countered him again without even stopping her complaints.

"You controlled everything I did, decided who I should marry, and even called it ’familial duty,’ something I was obligated to do, so I wasn’t even allowed to complain. Do you have any idea who I am? I’m the fucking genius of this clan."

She drove a kick straight into Cassian’s chest, knocking him back and making it difficult for him to move. "Without me, this clan would crumble. And just like I thought... it did."

Cassian roared in anger and lunged at her again. "What the fuck are you even talking about? You’re merely my daughter. You follow whatever I tell you to do. That’s how it’s always been."

Cassandra sighed, almost tiredly, as she casually slipped past the edge of his sword. Despite the fury burning inside her, his words hardly surprised her anymore.

"Yeah. That’s the same fucking attitude that dragged this family lower and lower. You never listened to us. You never cared what the younger generation wanted because you were always so damn convinced that you knew better."

Cassian scoffed. "And look at you now, whining like a spoiled child because you didn’t get what you wanted."

Cassandra froze, as for the first time since their fight began, the rage on her face cracked, replaced by sadness.

Her fists trembled at her sides, and when she spoke again, her voice was quieter. "And do you know why I despise you the most?"

Cassian merely sneered at her.

Cassandra’s eyes burned as she stared at him. "Because of you. Because of all of you..."

Her voice suddenly rose, years of anger and grief finally spilling out at once. "When I finally found someone I truly loved, for the first fucking time in my life, he died before I could even tell him properly!"

For a moment, her voice broke and her grief disappeared beneath fury once more. "And now you stand there acting like none of it matters."

Cassian gave a cold laugh. "So that’s what this is about? Some dead man, and you dare to provoke us, the great Valeria family?"

Cassandra’s expression went still.

Her sadness remained in her eyes, but something much colder settled over her face. "Yeah, and now for that very reason, you’re going to die as the price for his death."

Cassian frowned and simply continued his attack, unwilling to listen to any more of Cassandra’s rambling.

But suddenly, Cassandra disappeared, surprising Cassian, and a heartbeat later, she reappeared several meters behind him.

Cassandra calmly slid her sword back into its sheath. But the moment the blade was fully sheathed...

CLANG!

A thin red line appeared across Cassian’s neck, and for a brief second, nothing happened.

But in the next second, as he was about to move his head, he slipped from his shoulders and struck the floor.

A second-stage Ascendant Soul cultivator, Cassian, the head of the clan, had been beheaded by his own daughter, and just like that, he was dead.

Cassandra stood silently over his corpse, and there was no satisfaction on her face... only exhaustion.

After a moment, she lifted her gaze toward the sky. "Goodbye, Cassian."

Her eyes softened slightly. "And Damian... I hope you can finally rest in peace."