Chapter 4

I held the spirit tiger in my arms, my fingers running through its thick fur. Pressing it closer to me, I felt it calm down and finally began to speak.

Watching their father-daughter affection made me a little nauseous.

"Fighting with your mount, destroying dozens of houses, burning down most of the forest—this warrants a year's salary deduction and ten lashes with the spirit whip. Father, you can't play favorites."

Whispers echoed around us. My father, clearly uncomfortable under their scrutiny, still couldn't bring himself to punish his youngest daughter. "Your sister is gravely injured, and you're still pushing her like this? Have you no regard for family?"

He continued, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "Your talent is exceptional, and you're in good health. Since this problem was caused by your mount, you should take responsibility. After all, you two are sisters."

The crowd fell silent.

Everyone's eyes turned to me. They didn’t care about who was really at fault. All they wanted was for someone to bear the consequences, to fix their losses. That was all that mattered to them.

It wasn’t the first time I had to clean up my sister’s mess. No matter what trouble she caused, what kind of damage she inflicted, it always ended the same way—

"She’s still young. You’re her older sister. Help her out."

I was gifted, receiving more resources than anyone else in the family.

But my father always found a way to allocate my resources to my sister. "You’re both my children," he’d say, "I have to be fair."

Fair, he called it. Yet, because my aptitude surpassed hers, I was expected to receive less.

In my past life, I accepted it—not out of fear of his authority, but because I thought maybe, just maybe, if I behaved, if I obeyed, he’d love me a little more.

I curled my lips into a faint smile. "I’m sorry, but I refuse. I have my own mount to take care of."

From the moment I was born, I never had a choice.

As the eldest daughter of the Collingwood family, it seemed I was destined to endure endless grievances.

But now, I wanted to live for myself.

Taking a deep breath, I raised my head and swore to the heavens, "By the Will of Heaven, I, Renee, willingly submit to the trial of heavenly thunder. From this moment on, I sever all ties with the Collingwood family. We share no bonds, no obligations, and no connections!"

Enduring the lightning tribulation and cutting ties with the Collingwoods.

In an instant, the sky darkened, and storm clouds gathered above.

The heavens had acknowledged my oath.

"It’s lightning tribulation! Clear the area! Everyone, run!"

The spirit tiger licked my nose, then leapt from my arms, retreating to a safe distance outside the tribulation’s range. It stood there, watching me with worry.

Bolts of heavenly lightning struck down.

Thunderous electric dragons rampaged through my meridians, shattering and rebuilding them again and again.

I endured the excruciating pain in silence. Only when the agony became unbearable did faint groans escape my lips.

Eighty-one strikes of heavenly thunder later.

I lay motionless on the ground, my body charred black, reduced to a smoldering heap. But my mind was clearer than ever.

The spirit tiger was the first to rush over, checking my condition. Warm spiritual energy flowed through my meridians, soothing the remnants of pain.

My father, Howard, stood frozen, staring at me as if seeing me for the first time. "You…"

Elena tugged at my father’s sleeve, stopping him from speaking further. Her eyes burned with resentment as she glared at me.

She let out a cold laugh. "She’s got the spirit tiger now. Why would she care about us?"

I popped a healing pill into my mouth, suppressing the soreness that coursed through my body as I slowly got to my feet.

I understood her thoughts.

In my past life, I had chosen the spirit snake, humbled myself, and bent to her will, giving her everything she wanted.

In this life, I had chosen the spirit tiger. To her, that meant I looked down on her, that I had grown arrogant, that I was even willing to sever our family ties.

But it didn’t matter anymore. I’d been reborn, and there was no need to engage with rotten people. They’d only drag me down with their stench.

I picked up the spirit tiger, ready to leave.

"You think you can just walk away?" My sister stepped in front of me, her venomous glare sharp enough to cut. "Do you think you can sever ties with the Collingwood family just like that?"

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

"Refusing to let her leave after the lightning tribulation? Isn’t that going too far?"

"No matter what happened before, Renee has always been a good sister."

"Exactly. If it weren’t for Renee, who would’ve agreed to make Elena the heiress in the first place?"

"Do you think they can strip her of the heiress title? Who picks someone lacking talent anyway?"

At the murmurs, Elena’s face twisted in rage. She shrieked, "Shut up! Shut up!"

The disdainful gazes of the crowd only fueled her fury.

It was as though she’d returned to the days when her face was marred and her abilities ridiculed. Everyone had mocked her, belittled her, and deemed her worthless while calling me the prodigy.

Even Howard was stunned. He stared at Elena’s venomous expression, as if seeing for the first time the true colors of the daughter he had doted on all these years.

In a single moment, everything had changed.

His daughters had changed. Had they really changed? Or had he never truly known them at all?

He couldn’t say.

The pill he gave Elena had healed her fractured ribs, though lingering pain remained.

She staggered in a small circle, her hateful gaze sweeping over everyone as if she wanted to devour them whole.

Finally, her eyes locked onto my face.

"You think you can leave the Collingwood family that easily? After all the resources you’ve taken over the years, you think one lightning tribulation is enough to sweep it all under the rug?"