During this period, Qin Moran’s state was very poor. She couldn’t enter a cultivation state, nor could she concentrate on studying the path of talismans. Her mind was unsettled; she kept thinking of Gu Xiu.

She thought of his past, wondered if something had happened to him after being away from the sect for so long. She detested this feeling intensely. Yet, she couldn’t shake it off no matter what. Even when she tried to do nothing and just sleep, she would still dream of him. This tormented her greatly.

She was filled with resentment towards Gu Xiu. At least, that’s what she believed. But now, facing the inquiries of her two fellow disciples, she didn’t know how to answer.

“Fifth Senior Sister?”

“Moran?”

Everyone asked curiously, only to see Qin Moran shake her head. “I haven’t been feeling well lately. Let Junior Sister explain it to you.”

“I’ll do it! I’ll do it!”

“I know this matter best! Let me tell you, Senior Sisters!”

Lu Qingyao was quite willing and immediately spoke up. “Gu Xiu is a scheming, petty person who holds grudges…”

She began recounting the whole story from beginning to end. Of course, her perception of Gu Xiu was extremely poor. Even though she had once seen scenes of his past on Nian Zhaoxi’s Heavenly Secrets Reincarnation Mirror and felt a momentary pang of pity, after these past few days, she had recovered her original stance. Now, as she spoke, it was inevitable that she added her own embellishments and biases.

In her account, Gu Xiu became a narrow-minded, calculating, and sinister villain who, out of jealousy towards Jiang Xun and hatred for them, tried to cleverly use the Spirit Contract of Sect Abandonment to threaten their master and the sect. As a result, he was directly expelled by Guan Xuelan.

Finally, Lu Qingyao concluded, “In short, Gu Xiu got exactly what he deserved! How dare he try to play tricks on Master? His leaving is actually a good thing for our Qingxuan Sacred Land!”

“I just didn’t expect that even after he left, he still used some method to bewitch Eldest Senior Sister. It’s utterly despicable!”

No one refuted these words.

Hearing this, Shi Siling and He Mengyun couldn’t help but frown slightly. Gu Xiu using the Spirit Contract to leave, Eldest Senior Sister searching for him and defying orders… These things were somewhat unbelievable.

However…

“If Gu Xiu left, then he left. Why does he have to come back and harm Junior Brother!”

“At a time like this, shouldn’t Eldest Senior Sister understand what’s more important? What if something goes wrong with Junior Brother’s Dao Sword without Eldest Senior Sister’s support?”

“Since Gu Xiu has already left the sect, it should be a clean break. There’s no need for further entanglement. If Junior Brother’s matters are delayed because of Gu Xiu, Gu Xiu cannot escape blame!”

The two showed not a hint of regret over Gu Xiu’s departure; instead, they expressed their displeasure with full disgust.

After all, Gu Xiu was merely an insignificant cripple. His leaving was surprising, but now was not the time for surprise. Now was the critical moment when Junior Brother Jiang Xun’s Dao Sword was about to be forged, requiring their full support!

“Exactly! That Gu Xiu is nothing but a troublemaker who brings harm wherever he goes. Someone like that should just die quickly and stop causing trouble!” Lu Qingyao cursed indignantly.

Hearing this, Qin Moran’s expression changed drastically.

But when she looked around, she realized that in response to Lu Qingyao’s words, her other fellow disciples merely frowned slightly and remained unmoved. Even Master Guan Xuelan showed no expression.

As if… they didn’t see any problem with these words at all.

This…

What… what was going on???

Qin Moran was stunned. In her heart, she suddenly felt that this shouldn’t be the case; the people before her seemed somewhat unfamiliar.

Just then, Master Guan Xuelan’s gaze swept over. “Moran, what’s wrong with you?”

“This disciple…” Qin Moran opened her mouth.

Lu Qingyao giggled. “Fifth Junior Sister must be thinking if there’s any talisman that could make Gu Xiu run into bad luck and die soon, right?”

This…

Qin Moran pursed her lips, wanting to deny it. But under the gaze of her fellow disciples, she didn’t know how to deny it for a moment and could only nod. “I… this disciple was indeed thinking that.”

“Don’t bother with that Gu Xiu anymore.” It was Guan Xuelan who frowned and chided. “Since he has already left the sect, he will naturally suffer his due hardships. If you really take action to kill him outright, how would our Qingxuan Sacred Land maintain its standing?”

Though it was a reprimand, there wasn’t a trace of anger in it.

Before, Qin Moran might have thought all this was normal. But now, for some reason, no matter how she thought about it, it felt wrong.

It seemed… everyone originally shouldn’t have been like this.

BOOM!

Right at that moment, a thunderous roar echoed, causing everyone in the hall to immediately brighten up. Walking out and looking up, they saw rolling thunderclouds converging towards a crimson spiritual peak within the Qingxuan Sacred Land.

“It’s Second Senior Sister’s Forging Peak!”

“Second Senior Sister’s divine weapon forging is complete! It has attracted a heavenly tribulation!”

“This tribulation doesn’t look ordinary! What Second Senior Sister forged this time is probably at least an Earth-grade spiritual artifact!”

“With Second Senior Sister’s skill and all the resources we provided, it might even be more than just an Earth-grade spiritual artifact!”

Everyone’s eyes lit up. They immediately rushed eagerly towards Forging Peak to see what kind of divine weapon Second Senior Sister had forged for Jiang Xun.

Only… compared to everyone else rushing ahead, Qin Moran lagged behind a step, her brows tightly furrowed.

The Sixth Senior Sister beside her, He Mengyun, had a rather solitary personality and also fell behind. Seeing Qin Moran’s distracted appearance, she felt somewhat strange. “Senior Sister, what are you thinking about?”

“No… nothing.” Qin Moran shook her head repeatedly.

But seeing He Mengyun still staring at her, Qin Moran lightly bit her lip and finally couldn’t help but say, “I just suddenly remembered… five hundred years ago… Second Senior Sister seemed to have forged a sword for Gu Xiu too…”

“Senior Sister means the Crimson Sky Sword?” He Mengyun found it odd. “That did happen. At that time, Qingxuan Sect wasn’t as prosperous as it is now, and Second Senior Sister’s skills weren’t as strong either. In the end, it was only a Yellow-grade magic tool.”

“Yes… a Yellow-grade magic tool… I remember when Gu Xiu returned three years ago… that sword was already broken… right?” Qin Moran couldn’t help but ask.

“It seems so.” He Mengyun nodded. “Why?”

“No reason…”

“I… I just suddenly remembered…”

“Ever since the Crimson Sky Sword broke… Gu Xiu doesn’t seem to have had any new magic tools either… right?” Qin Moran murmured involuntarily.

He Mengyun didn’t understand. “He’s just a mortal. What does he need magic tools for? Spending effort forging tools for him would be a waste.”

Waste…

Two very plain words, but when they reached Qin Moran’s ears, they made her heart tremble involuntarily.

“Junior Brother!”

“Junior Brother!”

Just then, calls came from ahead. Looking sideways, they saw several fellow disciples had already arrived at Forging Peak. And Jiang Xun, who had been in seclusion consolidating his realm, had also been drawn out by the thunderclouds.

Seeing this Junior Brother, a rare smile appeared on He Mengyun’s face as well, and she quickened her pace.

Even Qin Moran instantly cast aside those strange feelings about Gu Xiu. No matter what happened with Gu Xiu, compared to Junior Brother Jiang, he was still as different as clouds from mud!

A rare lively scene unfolded in Qingxuan Sacred Land. A group of senior sisters surrounded Jiang Xun, and Jiang Xun remained courteous and exceedingly likable.

This scene made even Guan Xuelan unable to help but reveal a smile.

Only soon, the smile faded. She thought of her eldest disciple Nian Zhaoxi defying orders, and her good mood was ruined.

That wretched girl! When she returns, she must be properly punished!

And that Gu Xiu too! If he really returns to the sect with nowhere else to go, see if I don’t punish him with three years of reflection on Repentance Cliff!

No! Thirty years!!!

Just as she was thinking this, bolts of heavenly tribulation lightning began striking down one after another. And within this tribulation lightning, a sword with an extremely ornate design, accompanied by dragon roars, bathed in the lightning as it soared into the sky, radiating an overwhelmingly powerful aura!

“This is… The Seven Luminosities Thunder Tribulation! It’s actually The Seven Luminosities Thunder Tribulation!”

“The Seven Luminosities Thunder Tribulation! Although not reaching the legendary Nine Luminosities level… what Second Senior Sister forged this time is already a Heaven-grade treasure! It should be a Heaven-grade magic tool!”

“Incredible! With such a Heaven-grade magic tool sword… Junior Brother… your future combat power will reach new heights!”

“If we all give our support… this sword will become even stronger!”

Everyone spoke up one after another. Jiang Xun’s face was even more filled with unconcealable joy.

Magic tools were categorized into Heaven-grade, Earth-grade, Mystic-grade, Yellow-grade, and the unattainable Immortal-grade. Within these grades were further subdivisions into Divine, Dao, Spiritual, and Magic sub-levels.

Heaven-grade!

Just these two words alone destined this sword’s might. Although it was only at Heaven-grade Magic level, this was still a sword! And with Master’s and senior sisters’ support… this sword would become an unparalleled divine weapon that would make the world tremble!

Just as they were thinking this, The Seven Luminosities Thunder Tribulation ended. Vast amounts of spiritual energy instantly converged upon that dragon-roaring sword.

Tribulation passage complete! Heaven-grade magic tool—success!!!

Right at that moment, they saw the blacksmith Second Senior Sister throw out the long sword. “Junior Brother! Hurry up and perform blood recognition!”

“Thank you so much, Second Senior Sister!” Jiang Xun quickly took it over.

Knowing this was the critical moment, he immediately began performing blood recognition. Once blood recognition succeeded and he gave this sword to Master and senior sisters for support… then it would become his own unparalleled divine weapon!

The process went smoothly. After all, it was an ownerless divine weapon freshly forged; blood recognition naturally went smoothly without issue.

In just moments, Jiang Xun established a connection with this Dragon’s Roar Sword.

But… just as recognition completed and Jiang Xun along with his senior sisters all revealed smiles simultaneously…

From within those tribulation clouds where The Seven Luminosities Thunder Tribulation had already ended… suddenly descended another terrifying black lightning bolt that struck fear into everyone’s hearts—aimed straight at Jiang Xun!

“Junior Brother!”

“Jiang Xun!”

Guan Xuelan and all the senior sisters were startled. Jiang Xun himself felt his hair stand on end; almost subconsciously—he threw away the Dragon’s Roar Sword from his hand!

They saw that black lightning bolt strike with extreme speed—instantly hitting the Dragon’s Roar Sword which had just finished forging!

The next instant—the Dragon’s Roar Sword suddenly erupted with mournful wails…