Within the main hall of the Qingxuan Sacred Land, the atmosphere was suffocatingly tense.

“Sect Master! Today, every single Immortal Spirit Crane on Clumsy Peak has perished. It was Gu Xiu who deliberately tainted their feed with Bone-Dissolving Powder. I saw it with my own eyes—I am a witness!”

“Master, I have also investigated. Those Immortal Spirit Cranes did indeed die from Bone-Dissolving Powder. I even found this bottle in Gu Xiu’s residence.”

The accusatory voices ringing in his ears finally pulled Gu Xiu from his dazed state.

“Gu Xiu, tell your master: is what they say true?” A stunningly beautiful woman, draped in phoenix robes and exuding an air of noble grace, sat solemnly upon the Sect Master’s throne. Her gaze pinned Gu Xiu down, cold and stern.

“Was I… just in an illusion? A dream spanning ten thousand years?” Gu Xiu muttered to himself. His eyes were filled with shock as he looked around at an environment that felt both intimately familiar and strangely alien.

Just moments ago, he had been in this very hall, vehemently arguing his case against the claim that he had poisoned the cranes. Then, he was abruptly dragged into a vision. In that illusory realm, he became a ghost-like observer, witnessing the next ten thousand years of his life unfold.

“Gu Xiu, with the evidence right here, what more is there to say? You must have felt that tending to spirit beasts was beneath you, so you vented your spite on the creatures, didn’t you? Master, I said it before—Gu Xiu has no right to stay on Clumsy Peak, let alone care for spirit beasts!” Little Senior Sister Lu Qingyao began to berate him.

Beside her, Third Senior Sister Xu Wanqing shook her head in disappointment. “Gu Xiu, five hundred years ago, you were upright and honorable. Who would have thought you’d sink this low? If you didn’t want to stay on Clumsy Peak, you could have just said so. Why resort to such cruelty?”

“I thought that after five hundred years, you had only lost your cultivation and talent. I never imagined you would lose your Dao heart as well!”

These two were Gu Xiu’s senior sisters. Lu Qingyao was a world-renowned beast tamer, and Xu Wanqing was the Chief Alchemist of the Qingxuan Sacred Land.

The woman seated on the throne was his master: Guan Xuelan, a Great Ascension Realm Supreme and the Sect Master of the Qingxuan Sacred Land. Her temperament was aloof, and she rarely smiled. At this moment, the gazes of these three women were perfectly synchronized in a single emotion: disgust.

The way they looked at Gu Xiu was not the way one looks at a sect hero who had willingly confined himself to a forbidden land for five centuries for the sake of his home, losing everything in the process. Instead, they looked at him like a piece of trash—a stain that shouldn’t be allowed to taint the sect’s Immortal aura.

These looks, which Gu Xiu had grown accustomed to over the past three years, instantly triggered the memories of the vision. In the outside world, only an instant had passed, but in his mind, he had lived ten thousand years. He had seen the truth.

The cranes’ death had been orchestrated by Xu Wanqing, with Lu Qingyao assisting. Their goal was to drive him out of his residence on Clumsy Peak so they could build a beast pen for their new favorite, the little junior brother Jiang Xun. They couldn’t simply seize a direct disciple’s home without cause, so they manufactured a crime.

In the vision, Gu Xiu had spent years desperately trying to find evidence to clear his name. When he finally succeeded and presented the proof to Guan Xuelan, he discovered the ultimate betrayal: his master had known the truth all along. In fact, she had ordered it.

The vision wasn’t a dream. It was the future.

“Master,” Lu Qingyao declared righteously. “Gu Xiu was responsible for the spirit beasts. According to sect rules, any mishap is his burden, let alone cold-blooded poisoning! He must be punished!”

Guan Xuelan frowned. “Gu Xiu, you have served the sect well in the past. If you confess now, I will show mercy.”

Gu Xiu remained silent for a long moment before looking up. “It is this disciple’s fault.”

“Oh?” Guan Xuelan was taken aback by the sudden admission. “Then tell me, why did you poison the cranes?”

“This disciple did not poison them.”

“You dare change your story now?”

“It is not changing my story.” Gu Xiu shook his head with hollow calmness. “This disciple was responsible for feeding them. They were poisoned on my watch; therefore, I am guilty of a dereliction of duty.”

Guan Xuelan’s face flushed with rage. She felt mocked. “You dare toy with me?! Since you remain obstinate, you shall learn humility in the Water Prison! Seven days of punishment! Furthermore, you are to vacate Clumsy Peak immediately! You are forbidden from residing there or approaching any spirit beast again!”

Xu Wanqing and Lu Qingyao visibly relaxed, small smiles of relief playing on their lips. Gu Xiu glanced at them, said nothing, and walked out of the hall.

There was no grievance in his heart, only a sense of the absurd. He felt like a fool for the years he had spent walking on eggshells, trying to maintain harmony with a master and sisters who had already discarded him.

He was an orphan, raised by the previous Sect Master and eventually handed to Guan Xuelan. He had been the Holy Son, the hope of the sect. But five hundred years ago, the Fated Abyss manifested, and the sect faced destruction. Someone had to enter and endure five centuries of torment to seize the fortune required for the sect to survive. Gu Xiu had stepped forward without hesitation.

He endured inhuman agony. He fought through the abyss to save his home. And he succeeded. Because of him, the Qingxuan Sect rose to become the Qingxuan Sacred Land. But the cost was his life. His soul was scarred, his talent destroyed, and every breath he took was an act of pain.

When he returned, expecting to see his family, he was greeted with: “Your talent is ruined. We have given the title of Holy Son to someone else… Jiang Xun.”

He had become a superfluous burden, a nuisance despised by everyone. And the vision showed it would only get worse. In the vision, he eventually gave his life again for them, and not a single tear was shed. They were too busy celebrating Jiang Xun’s latest breakthrough.

If that vision was the future, Gu Xiu thought, I will not be a pawn again. I will leave.

He headed toward his residence on Clumsy Peak. He needed to retrieve two items that were rightfully his—personal opportunities he had brought back from the Abyss. According to the vision, if he didn’t act now, someone would steal them today.

Disciples ignored him as he passed. By seniority, he was their “Martial Uncle,” but to these Foundation Establishment practitioners, he was just a crippled mortal.

He reached his doorstep and stopped. A frown formed on his face. He was already too late.

Standing outside his doorway was a youth in cyan robes. He was handsome, possessing a natural Daoist charm that seemed part of his very being. It was the scheming little junior brother—Jiang Xun.

“Senior Brother! Are you alright?” Jiang Xun asked, a mask of concern on his face. “I heard you were punished and felt so worried…”