While Gu Xiu was immersing himself in arduous cultivation, a heavy silence hung over the main hall of the Qingxuan Sacred Land. Sect Master Guan Xuelan sat upon the high throne, her expression darkening with every passing second.

“Still no news of Gu Xiu?”

“Reporting to the Sect Master, we have heard nothing yet.”

“What about Qingxuan City?”

“We have conducted a thorough investigation. Gu Xiu did not enter the city at any point over the last five days.”

“And the neighboring cities?”

“Cuishi and Datan have both confirmed that there is no trace of him.”

“Where could a mortal with a shattered cultivation possibly go after leaving the sect?” Guan Xuelan rebuked them sharply.

Her words caused the deacon elders to bow their heads in a tense silence. Agitation flared in her chest. “What about Nian Zhaoxi? How is she?”

“Peak Master Xu just sent word. Although Pavilion Master Nian suffered a severe backlash from the heavenly secrets, she received timely treatment. She is still unconscious, but she is out of danger.” The reporting elder hesitated. “It’s just…”

“Just what?”

“Peak Master Xu said that even in her stupor, Pavilion Master Nian keeps calling out for Junior Brother Gu Xiu…”

“Hmph!” Guan Xuelan’s fury erupted instantly.

Five days had passed since Gu Xiu signed the Sect Abandonment Oath. For the first two days, Guan Xuelan hadn’t given it a second thought. She had even forbidden the disciples from helping him. In her eyes, Gu Xiu’s move was merely a desperate ploy to force her to yield; he could never truly wish to leave. She believed that once he tasted the hardships of the world, he would come crawling back in obedience.

But two days after his departure, Nian Zhaoxi had nearly died. She had been desperately searching for Gu Xiu and had probed too many heavenly secrets, triggering a devastating backlash. Only the timely intervention of Xu Wanqing had saved her life.

This forced Guan Xuelan to reconsider. She decided that the lesson was over; it was time to allow him to return. She planned to bring him back, annul the oath, and confine him to Reflection Cliff for three years as his final punishment.

However, she hadn’t expected the search to fail. For the first time in five hundred years, Guan Xuelan felt a situation slipping from her control. It was an intolerable sensation.

“Where is Qin Moran? I know she is in the sect. Bring her to me!”

Qin Moran was the fifth disciple. Though her cultivation was not the highest, she was the sect’s chief authority on talisman arts. Dressed in a plain gray-white dress, she moved with the grace of a scholar from a classic poem. She arrived before the throne and performed a perfect salute.

“Master, you summoned me?”

“Do you have any news of Gu Xiu?”

“Gu Xiu?” Qin Moran looked surprised. “I have heard nothing.”

“Truly?”

“Absolutely. Besides, I have had no interaction with him recently. You know this, Master.”

Guan Xuelan stared intently at her. “I remember you used to admire his talent and calligraphy. You followed him like a shadow back then.”

“That was merely the naivety of a young girl five hundred years ago,” Qin Moran replied forthrightly, shaking her head. “After he returned from the forbidden land, he was filled with a fierce, baleful aura. He lost his grace and his talent. I have avoided him like the plague ever since; why would I contact him now?”

“When he left, did you give him any talismans? Concealment or disguise charms to hide him from my searchers?”

“In the three years since his return, he once ruined a week’s worth of my talisman-making. I find him utterly detestable. Why would I ever help him?”

Guan Xuelan’s frown deepened. If Qin Moran hadn’t helped him, who had?

“Are you worried about his safety, Master?” Qin Moran asked.

“Why would I worry about a cripple who abandoned his family?” Guan Xuelan lied. “It is merely a matter of reputation. He was once a prodigy. If we ignore him entirely, the world will accuse the Qingxuan Sacred Land of heartlessness.”

Qin Moran shook her head slightly. “I have a different opinion.”

“Oh? Let’s hear it.”

“It is true he was once a hero, but he is now a mortal burden. The sect has fulfilled its duty by feeding him for three years. As for the fortune he supposedly brought back…” Qin Moran paused. “Forgive my bluntness, but that fortune is an abstract concept. Our prosperity is due to your leadership and our hard work. Calling him a hero for something invisible seems hasty.”

Guan Xuelan hesitated. This sentiment had been growing within the sect for some time. “Then what do you suggest?”

Qin Moran pondered for a moment before speaking leisurely. “Draw a circle as a prison to separate two paths; sever ties and cut off contact, never to meet again.”

“Is that not too cruel?” Guan Xuelan asked.

“He is a mortal now,” Qin Moran replied. “He belongs to a different world. Whether he lives or dies is his own fate. Besides, he threatened the sect with that oath. That is a betrayal. Let him go. He will eventually realize he cannot survive without us and come begging.”

Guan Xuelan’s pride flared. “You are right. He brought this on himself. If he crawls back, I will teach him a lesson he won’t forget. Recall the searchers. We waste no more resources on him.”

“Gu Xiu!”

At Alchemy Peak, Nian Zhaoxi bolted upright in bed, drenched in a cold sweat.

“Senior Sister, you’re awake!” Xu Wanqing hurried to her side. “Your injuries are healed, but you must rest. No more divination!”

“Where is Gu Xiu? Has he returned?”

“Why do you still care about him?” Xu Wanqing sighed. “He left half a month ago. Master has called off the search. He is gone.”

“Half a month? I was out for thirteen days?” Nian Zhaoxi turned cold. “Why did she stop looking? I told you we must bring him back!”

She pushed past her sister and sprinted toward the main hall to confront Guan Xuelan.

“Zhaoxi, you are awake,” Guan Xuelan said with a rare smile.

“Master, why have we abandoned the search for Gu Xiu?”

Guan Xuelan’s smile vanished. “When he has suffered enough, he will return. There is no need to hunt him down.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“Then he is gone,” Guan Xuelan replied dismissively. “He was a drain on our resources anyway.”

Nian Zhaoxi stared at her master in horror. She knew her master had become aloof, but she never imagined she would speak of Gu Xiu like a line item on a ledger.

“Master… he is Gu Xiu!” Nian Zhaoxi cried. “Five hundred years ago, for us—”

“Do not speak of the past,” Guan Xuelan interrupted. “The path of cultivation looks only to the present and the future. He is a cripple who consumed massive amounts of our resources. His departure is a blessing.”

“A massive amount of resources?” Nian Zhaoxi mustered her courage. “He nearly died for this sect! Does his survival ‘chill the hearts’ of our disciples?”

“You think it was a small amount?” Guan Xuelan gestured to the deacon elder. “Elder Chen, tell her. What was Gu Xiu’s monthly stipend?”

Elder Chen hesitated, looking between the two women. “Sect Master… are you sure?”

“Speak!”

Elder Chen lowered his head. “Gu Xiu’s monthly stipend… was ten low-grade spirit stones.”

“Hear that?” Guan Xuelan began, then froze. She blinked, her brain struggling to process the number. “What did you say?”

“Ten… ten low-grade spirit stones,” Elder Chen repeated, shrinking back. “And sometimes… he only received three.”

Guan Xuelan stood like a statue. Nian Zhaoxi gasped, her voice trembling with disbelief.

“A common inner disciple receives two hundred a month,” Nian Zhaoxi whispered. “A deacon receives thousands. A direct disciple receives ten thousand. How… how could he have received ten?”