Severing Ties: The Sect Regrets My Departure

Chapter 198: Wan Xiaobei’s High-Stakes Gamble, She Didn’t Intend to Let Anyone Go

The deck of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion warship was teeming with life.

Aside from the Pavilion’s own elite guards, nearly a third of the passengers were renowned experts from various clans and sects across Tianqi and the Eastern Wastelands.

As Wan Xiaobei lowered her hand from her salute, the guest cultivators hastened to return the courtesy. They knew better than to be arrogant in front of a wealthy patron.

“Pavilion Master Wan is too kind,” one elder said, bowing slightly. “Giving us this opportunity to earn Spirit Stones is a favor in itself. We should be the ones thanking you.”

“Rest assured, Pavilion Master,” another added, patting his chest. “We will do our utmost to ensure the safety of this trip to Awakening Spirit Valley.”

“Indeed! You treat us like outsiders with such polite words,” a burly man laughed. “This isn’t our first collaboration. We are just here to provide backup and suppress any trouble. A simple command is all we need.”

These experts had been hired at a premium.

The reason was simple: Wan Xiaobei was personally attending the ceremony at Awakening Spirit Valley. To minimize risk, she had “invited” these external experts as a security detail.

It was a common practice. Given Wan Xiaobei’s reputation for generosity, no one refused. Moreover, they viewed this mission as easy money. Awakening Spirit Valley was a minor, obscure location. The Pavilion’s own forces—led by Wan Xiaobei, who was now a Golden Core cultivator—were already overkill. Bringing them along felt like charity.

Seeing their relaxed confidence, Wan Xiaobei exhaled a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. The knot of tension in her chest loosened slightly.

She had created this spectacle for one person: Gu Xiu.

Even now, she wasn’t entirely certain if the rumors coming from the valley were truly related to him. But she knew the cultivation world well. If this was a trap designed for Gu Xiu, then looming behind it… might be the colossal shadow of the Azure Mystic Sacred Land.

“Killing the donkey after it has ground the grain.” “Borrowing a knife to kill a man.”

These were not uncommon tactics in the great sects.

Logically, Azure Mystic shouldn’t be so ruthless toward a former hero like Gu Xiu. But Wan Xiaobei refused to gamble with logic. She preferred to gamble with Spirit Stones.

She paid for these mercenaries not to fight, but to witness.

If she was wrong, it was just a waste of money—a happy outcome.

But if she was right… these external eyes would be Gu Xiu’s shield. She didn’t expect them to fight Azure Mystic; she wasn’t that naive. She only needed their presence to force Azure Mystic to care about its reputation. They wouldn’t dare tear off the mask and attack Gu Xiu openly in front of the entire Eastern Wastelands’ elite.

It was a high-risk move. For a merchant house, offending a Sacred Land was bad business. One misstep could burn the Pavilion to the ground.

But Wan Xiaobei was all in.

While Wan Xiaobei plotted in silence, urging the ship to greater speeds, the bored disciples on deck turned to the hottest topic in the cultivation world: Gu Xiu abandoning his sect.

“Speaking of which,” a young cultivator asked, leaning against the railing, “is it true? Did the Azure Mystic Sword Immortal really leave?”

“Fake,” another replied dismissively. “I asked my Master. He said anyone might leave Azure Mystic, but never Gu Xiu. His loyalty is legendary. Five hundred years ago, he rejected an invitation from an ancient Sacred Land just to stay with his sect. Why would he leave now?”

“But I heard he lost his cultivation,” a third voice whispered. “They say he became jealous of his Junior Brother’s talent and left in a fit of rage.”

“I heard that too! Apparently, it’s an open secret within Azure Mystic. Someone finally leaked it.”

Opinions were divided. Some called it slander, others found it plausible. The debate grew heated until a sharp voice cut through the noise.

“Pure nonsense!”

A man stepped out from the crowd, his face flushed with indignation.

“You can say the Sword Immortal lost his cultivation. You can even say he left the sect. But to say he acted out of jealousy toward a Junior Brother? That is absolute dog fart!”

“Hu Erxi, I didn’t make it up!” the scolded cultivator retorted, defensive. “I heard it directly from an Azure Mystic disciple!”

“Then that disciple is a liar!” Hu Erxi snapped without hesitation. “Immortal Venerable Gu Xiu is the creator of the Threefold Cloud Cutting. A man capable of such a technique cannot possibly be narrow-minded!”

Threefold Cloud Cutting?

The name caused a ripple of confusion, but a few knowledgeable cultivators gasped, their eyes lighting up.

“Wait… are you talking about the invincible sword technique? The one that allows a cultivator to slay enemies across realm gaps?”

“Of course!” Hu Erxi nodded vigorously. “One sword transforms into three, each strike severing the clouds!”

He spoke with the reverence of a fanatic.

“It stands equal to the Sword Immortal’s ‘Startling Swan’ and ‘Wandering Dragon’ forms! But unlike the elusive ‘Wandering Dragon,’ this technique is pure, brutal Sword Riding. It forces the flying sword to undergo three explosive accelerations in mid-flight.”

“Each acceleration doubles the power. If all three folds are completed, it can slay a Golden Core as a Foundation Establishment! That is the Threefold Cloud Cutting!”

Hu Erxi was a disciple of the Everlasting Joy Sect. It wasn’t a powerful sect, but five centuries ago, their leader had been saved by Gu Xiu, who then gifted them this very sword manual. To them, Gu Xiu was a god. Slandering him was blasphemy.

“So what if the technique is strong?” someone argued. “Strength doesn’t equal character.”

“You fools!” Hu Erxi roared. “If it were a standard spell, maybe. But the Threefold Cloud Cutting requires a Dao Heart of absolute fearlessness! It demands an ‘Invincible Will’ that marches forward without hesitation!”

“If there is even a sliver of timidity, jealousy, or doubt in the heart, the technique fails. A petty man could never master it, let alone create it!”

“Such a man might fall from grace, he might suffer misfortune, but he would never—absolutely never—deign to be jealous of another’s talent!”

Meanwhile. Awakening Spirit Valley, the Blood-Colored Field.

The Old Farmer spat a mouthful of thick blood onto the red soil. He stared at the young man before him, his eyes bulging with horror.

“You are just a disciple… you cannot know the Threefold Cloud Cutting! And you certainly couldn’t execute it so perfectly!”

He gasped for air, clutching his bleeding side.

“You are in disguise. You aren’t a disciple of this valley.”

“Who… who are you?”

The Blood Field was a ruin. The disciples were either dried husks or unconscious. The Shepherd lay in a coma, missing three limbs. The Woodcutter was a cooling corpse, his heart meridian severed.

And the Old Farmer? He had just tested Gu Xiu with a sneak attack and had nearly been bisected for his trouble. Even avoiding the fatal blow, his intestines were currently threatening to spill out of a horrific gash in his waist.

Yet, he didn’t look at his wound. He stared at Gu Xiu, desperate for an answer he already knew but feared to admit.

“Why does Xu Wanqing not fear Heavenly Retribution?”

Gu Xiu didn’t answer the question about his identity. He simply repeated the query he had asked from the start.

The repetition shattered the Old Farmer’s denial.

“It really is you!”

“You are Uncle-Master Gu!”

“You… didn’t you lose your cultivation? Wasn’t your lifespan near its end?” The Old Farmer’s voice cracked. “How did you become strong again so quickly? And how… how can you still use the Threefold Cloud Cutting?”

It defied all logic.

The Old Farmer had been stationed here for a hundred years, but he knew the news. Gu Xiu had returned crippled. He had left the sect.

But the man standing before him was not a cripple.

Suddenly, the Old Farmer’s eyes went wide with a terrifying realization.

“You can still use the Threefold Cloud Cutting… That means your Dao Heart is flawless. If you were jealous of the Little Uncle-Master, you couldn’t use this sword! The Peak Master lied to me! We were deceived!”

Gu Xiu frowned. He raised his hand, forming a sword seal. He had no interest in listening to the ravings of a dying man.

“Uncle-Master Gu! Don’t kill me!”

Seeing the killing intent, the Old Farmer screamed, “I came here for you! I did this for you, Uncle-Master!”

“For me?” Gu Xiu paused, his eyes narrowing into a cold, mirthless smile.

“It’s the truth!” The Old Farmer babbled frantically. “I am a disciple of Azure Mystic! I would never practice Demonic Arts willingly! A hundred years ago, Peak Master Xu told me that you would return with severe injuries and a damaged foundation. She sent the three of us here to establish the Blood Field to create a medicine to save you!”

“Oh? Is that so?” Gu Xiu asked, his tone dry.

“I know you don’t believe me, but it’s true!” The Old Farmer dragged his broken body into a kneeling position, kowtowing in the bloody mud. “At least… when I first came here, I believed it! I thought I was saving the sect’s hero!”

“But later… she started saying bad things about you. That you changed. That you were jealous. I see now that we were used by Xu Wanqing!”

“Please, Uncle-Master! Spare this disciple! I will serve you like a dog or a horse! I will testify against her!”

The Old Farmer was a survivor. He pleaded with tears and snot running down his face, hoping for a shred of mercy.

But Gu Xiu just watched him, the sword intent hovering in the air, undiminished.

Seeing that begging wasn’t working, the Old Farmer gritted his teeth. “I truly don’t know why she doesn’t fear retribution. I only know she found an Immortal Opportunity years ago. This soil came from there. She also learned secrets about the Forbidden Realm. She predicted you would lose your cultivation… she predicted everything!”

Gu Xiu frowned deeply. Xu Wanqing knew?

While Gu Xiu was momentarily lost in thought, a flash of venomous spite flickered in the Old Farmer’s eyes.

Die!

With a roar, he summoned his rake artifact, swinging it violently at Gu Xiu’s exposed neck.

It was a desperate, suicidal strike.

But as he lunged, he saw Gu Xiu looking back at him. Calm. Unsurprised. As if he had been waiting for this exact moment.

The Old Farmer’s heart seized. He knew?

But before the rake could connect, a terrifying change occurred.

The rake in his hands suddenly shuddered. Instead of attacking Gu Xiu, it erupted with a vacuum force—locking onto the Old Farmer’s own body.

“What?!”

It began to drain him. His Qi, his blood essence, his very lifespan—sucked out instantly, just like the artifacts the disciples had held.

My Dharma Treasure… turned on me?

“No! This is the treasure Peak Master Xu gave me! I refined it with my own lifeblood!”

Before his mind could process the betrayal, the ground beneath them roared.

BOOM!

A pillar of blood-red light shot into the sky, blotting out the sun.

The Bone-Melting Formation had activated.

The array didn’t distinguish between friend or foe. It was designed to melt all living beings in the valley into medicinal fertilizer. Usually, the guardians’ treasures protected them from the array.

But now?

The rake was accelerating the process.

The Old Farmer turned his head in horror. He saw the Woodcutter’s corpse dissolving. He saw the unconscious Shepherd withering away as his own whip consumed him.

At that moment, even the dull-witted Old Farmer finally understood the full scope of the scheme.

“Xu Wanqing!” he shrieked, his voice curdling with despair.

“She never intended to let any of us survive!”