As Bian Yifei’s words hung in the air, the prodigies from the four sects and two clans narrowed their eyes in calculation.

Everyone understood the play. Bian Yifei wanted to purge the anomaly. Although they all suspected this “Feng Bugui” relied on external tools, the uncertainty was a risk they preferred not to take.

Isolating him was the best strategy.

Once cut off from the herd, no matter how strong he was, he couldn’t stir up any waves. With the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion protecting him, he had numbers; but alone? Even if the Pavilion didn’t turn on him, the alliance could ensure no one lifted a finger to help him.

He would cease to be a threat.

Naturally, the other sects had no objections. They were more than happy to watch this play out.

“Impossible!”

Wan Xiaobei’s sharp refusal shattered their collective fantasy. “Elder Feng is a guest elder of my Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion. If this is your condition for an alliance, then there will be no alliance.”

Bian Yifei raised a haughty eyebrow. “Your Pavilion has entered this valley three times before without us. Even with more people this time, without our intelligence, your efforts will be futile.”

“Futile, then,” Wan Xiaobei shrugged, her tone dripping with nonchalance. “The Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion appreciates rare treasures, but there is no treasure in this world that we cannot live without.”

Her words choked the room. If anyone else had said this, it would sound like a bluff. But coming from the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion? It was just a statement of fact.

Their wealth was simply that absurd.

Bian Yifei gritted his teeth, a cold light flickering in his eyes. “So, you intend to draw a line in the sand?”

“So what if we do?”

“To draw a line is to declare yourself our enemy!”

“You claim to be a prodigy of the righteous Azure Mystic Sacred Land, yet you are this unreasonable?” Wan Xiaobei scoffed. “Refusing an alliance makes us enemies?”

“We have major plans ahead,” Bian Yifei said coldly, his voice low and dangerous. “How can one allow another to snore beside one’s own bed?”

The atmosphere instantly tightened. The disciples of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion sensed the killing intent and drew their weapons, muscles tensing.

Wan Xiaobei frowned deeply. “You intend to attack us here?”

“I warned you before you entered,” Bian Yifei sneered. “Falling Rain Valley is dangerous. A hundred may enter, but not a single one might return.”

As he spoke, he casually produced a jade slip. He didn’t activate it, merely held it between his fingers, yet it pulsed with a terrifying, heart-stopping pressure.

It was a life-saving talisman bestowed by a Void Refining powerhouse!

“Inside this,” Bian Yifei stated, “are three strikes from my Master.”

As his words fell, the nine other Azure Mystic prodigies behind him also produced their own jade slips.

Every single one contained the power of a great expert.

This display of force made even the spectators from the other sects tense up. It wasn’t unusual for elders to grant life-saving items. What was unusual—and terrifying—was that the Azure Mystic disciples weren’t treating them as last resorts for survival.

They were treating them as weapons of mass destruction, prepared specifically for slaughter.

“This is Falling Rain Valley,” Wan Xiaobei warned, her face frosty. “Unleashing power beyond Foundation Establishment will trigger the restrictive formations to bombard you!”

“That is not your concern. Since I dare to use them, I naturally have a way to circumvent the consequences,” Bian Yifei laughed contemptuously. “You should be worrying about what answer you will give me.”

The pressure slammed back onto the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.

Before they could panic or debate, however, Gu Xiu stepped forward.

“I withdraw.”

“Elder Feng…” Wan Xiaobei started anxiously.

Gu Xiu shook his head, cutting her off gently. “Coincidentally, I prefer to wander alone. You go ahead. Perhaps you’ll find some opportunities.”

“Wander around? I think not,” Bian Yifei interjected, shaking his head. “You will bind yourself here and wait until the passage opens in half a month. Only then may you leave.”

“Bind myself?” Gu Xiu smiled, a playful glint in his eyes.

“Yes.” Bian Yifei nodded and tossed a long, glowing rope onto the ground. “This is a Spirit-Binding Rope. Once bound, you cannot leave, nor can you access your cultivation.”

“This is bullying!” Wan Xiaobei exploded, stepping in front of Gu Xiu. “The Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion will never agree to such humiliation!”

“Is that so?” The energy within Bian Yifei’s jade slip surged, threatening to erupt.

Wan Xiaobei didn’t flinch. “If you want to attack, then try it!”

A cold, murderous light flashed in Bian Yifei’s eyes. He truly intended to kill them all. If he didn’t need their manpower to break the upcoming restriction, he wouldn’t be wasting his breath.

“I actually think this place is quite nice,” Gu Xiu said, breaking the standoff. His tone was breezy, as if discussing the weather. “Admiring the lotuses, listening to the rain… waiting quietly for your return sounds like a pleasant break.”

“Elder Feng, you don’t have to suffer this,” Wan Xiaobei hissed. “We can fight them!”

Gu Xiu just smiled. “It’s fine. Go.”

“But—”

“Remember what I told you?” Gu Xiu looked her in the eye. “Bravery is not recklessness.”

Wan Xiaobei froze. She looked up and saw a profound, calm light in her Elder Feng’s eyes. It was a look that brooked no argument, yet offered strange reassurance. After a moment of hesitation, she finally nodded.

“Those who understand the times are heroes,” Bian Yifei sneered, kicking the Spirit-Binding Rope toward Gu Xiu. “Please!”

Gu Xiu picked up the rope and glanced at it.

Compared to the God-Sealing Chains he had dragged into the Forbidden Realm five hundred years ago, this thing was a piece of trash. It was sufficient to bind an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, sure.

But to bind him?

He shook his head internally but kept his face impassive. With practiced movements, he began to tie himself up. His technique was so fluid and professional that the onlookers looked on in bewilderment.

The members of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion watched with grief and indignation, their hands trembling on their weapons.

Gu Xiu couldn’t let them act impulsively. He shared Bian Yifei’s sentiment—he wanted them gone so he could work. He quickly persuaded them to leave, even refusing Wan Xiaobei’s offer to leave a guard behind.

“Elder Feng, we will return as soon as possible. Please be careful!” Wan Xiaobei whispered, secretly stuffing a jade slip into his bound hands.

Gu Xiu smiled but didn’t accept it. Instead, he slipped a few talismans into her hand.

“Fellow Daoist, do take care,” Bian Yifei sneered, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Though dangers are rare in the valley, accidents happen.”

“Whether there is danger on this broken bridge remains to be seen,” Gu Xiu replied calmly. “But the place you are going… that might be truly perilous. Look after yourselves.”

“Hmph!”

Bian Yifei turned and led his people away, a cold smirk playing on his lips.

He didn’t see the corner of Gu Xiu’s mouth curl up in a mirror image of his own sneer.

Gu Xiu knew this place better than anyone. He knew the restriction ahead couldn’t be broken by one faction alone. He had been wondering how to herd the cats to work together.

Now, Bian Yifei had done the work for him.

Excellent.

With everyone gone, Gu Xiu sat comfortably on the broken bridge.

He ignored the Spirit-Binding Rope loosely draped around him and turned his attention inward to his Dantian, continuing to transcribe the unfinished Divine Record of Artifact Forging.

He was waiting for someone.

He waited for three full hours.

Just as he finished the final strokes of the text, footsteps echoed on the bridge.

Gu Xiu looked up.

A prodigy in Azure Mystic robes approached. Gu Xiu recognized him instantly. Ding Daoan, a direct disciple of Ink Scroll Peak—Qin Meran’s student. Ranked third in strength among the Azure Mystic delegation. A true talent.

“You don’t seem surprised to see me,” Ding Daoan observed, stopping a few paces away.

“I am the biggest threat. Merely binding myself is hardly reassuring,” Gu Xiu replied lazily. “If I were Bian Yifei, I would want to eliminate the problem permanently.”

“Oh?” Ding Daoan raised an eyebrow. “I originally thought Senior Brother Bian was overreacting by sending me to kill you. Now, it seems he was right.”

Gu Xiu didn’t answer.

“Do you have any last words?” Ding Daoan asked, his tone solemn.

Gu Xiu remained silent.

Ding Daoan sighed, shaking his head as if burdened by a great moral weight. “I know you are resentful. I, too, disdain such underhanded methods. But you can only blame yourself for shining too brightly. Although I respect your courage in sacrificing yourself for your companions, I still have my duty.”

He took a step closer. “If you have any unfulfilled wishes, tell me. Perhaps…”

“That’s enough,” Gu Xiu interrupted.

“What?”

“This habit of cloaking yourself in righteousness while doing dirty work,” Gu Xiu said, tilting his head. “Did Qin Meran teach you that?”

Ding Daoan froze. “You… what are you saying?”

“It’s unnecessary.”

“Huh?”

“They say ‘A gentleman follows reason, and thus is often at ease,'” Gu Xiu said, his voice flat. “But when you commit evil, you still scramble to find a moral justification for yourself. Don’t you find it hypocritical?”

“I…” Ding Daoan flushed red, anger rising in his chest.

He opened his mouth to refute, but his pupils suddenly dilated in shock.

“You… how can you…”

“How can I break free from the rope?” Gu Xiu finished for him, standing up. The Spirit-Binding Rope fell from his body like dead snakes.

Ding Daoan nodded instinctively, then the realization hit him like a bucket of ice water.

This man could break the rope easily. He knew someone would come to kill him. Yet he stayed.

That meant…

Panic exploded in Ding Daoan’s chest. His hand flew to his spatial ring, instantly pulling out a jade slip imbued with Qin Meran’s power. He tried to crush it.

But the moment the jade slip appeared, his body stiffened.

He looked down.

Blood was seeping through his chest robes. But this time, the wound wasn’t an inch below the heart.

It was directly through the heart meridian.

This person… he actually dared to kill me! I am an Azure Mystic prodigy!

As his consciousness began to fade, Ding Daoan looked up, and his terror reached its peak.

The face of the man standing before him rippled and changed. It shifted twice.

The final face was Ding Daoan’s own.

But that wasn’t what terrified him.

It was the first face that appeared during the transformation.

A face etched into the memory of every Azure Mystic disciple.

He wasn’t some Elder Feng.

He was Gu Xiu!

The Gu Xiu!

The Azure Mystic disciples in Falling Rain Valley…

The thought flashed through his dying mind with dazzling clarity.

I’m afraid… they all must die!

They say when a person dies, their soul lamp extinguishes.

As a direct disciple of Ink Scroll Peak in the prestigious Azure Mystic Sacred Land, Ding Daoan naturally had a soul lamp displayed in the sect’s hall. Under normal circumstances, its extinguishing would have been noticed immediately by the disciples on duty.

Unfortunately.

Ding Daoan’s death went unnoticed.

Because at this very moment, Ink Scroll Peak—and the rest of the sect—had been plunged into unprecedented chaos…