Severing Ties: The Sect Regrets My Departure

Chapter 203: White Soil Green Moss, Rogue Cultivator Gu Xiu

Yi Zhiyin’s instincts were not wrong.

Deep within the Blood-Colored Field, the crimson glow remained, but the oppressive atmosphere was rapidly fading. The refining Grand Array had failed. Its gears were grinding to a halt.

In the center of the field, Gu Xiu, who had been sitting cross-legged for hours, finally opened his eyes.

The Dao Platform… was complete.

Looking inward, the vast expanse of his Dantian Qi Sea had changed. Above the original five layers, a sixth platform had taken shape.

The White Soil Green Moss Dao Platform.

At first glance, it appeared deceptively simple—a slab of white earth covered in a layer of emerald-green moss. It looked ordinary, devoid of the flashy aura of his other platforms.

But upon closer inspection, the truth was staggering.

The white soil contained overwhelming life essence. The vitality it radiated was so intense that it made Gu Xiu’s other Dao Platforms vibrate, as if urging them to grow. Even the humble moss was saturated with boundless energy. If one looked with spiritual vision, they would see that every grain of soil and every strand of moss was etched with microscopic Dao patterns.

Life begets life endlessly, infinite and inexhaustible.

Moreover, this new platform did not stand alone; it seamlessly integrated with the foundation beneath it, completing the cycle.

Gu Xiu withdrew his consciousness and opened his hand. With a thought, he used a burst of Spiritual Qi to slice a deep gash across his palm. Blood immediately welled up.

Without hesitation, he activated the White Soil Green Moss Dao Platform.

Hum.

A cyan-green spiritual light bloomed from his body, sweeping over the wound.

The flesh knitted together instantly. In the blink of an eye, the skin was smooth and unbroken. There was not even a faint white line to mark where the cut had been. It was as if the injury had never existed.

Even Gu Xiu, whose heart was usually as still as a frozen lake, felt a ripple of shock.

“This Dao Platform… can heal.”

“But this cyan light… is it the power of Soul Formation?”

The divide between mortals and cultivators was vast, often described as the difference between heaven and earth. Yet, before the Golden Core stage, that difference was mostly in the ability to wield tools and techniques. In terms of the physical body—specifically healing—Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and even Nascent Soul cultivators were fundamentally similar.

They all relied on pills and external medicines. Spiritual Qi could suppress an injury or stop bleeding, but it could not regenerate flesh.

Spiritual Qi could not heal the body directly.

Only at the Soul Formation realm did a cultivator truly transcend the mundane. Only then could one use pure Qi and Divine Abilities to regenerate limbs and knit bones without external aid.

But now…

Gu Xiu was merely at the Foundation Establishment stage. Yet, with the aid of the White Soil Green Moss, he possessed a regenerative ability that rivaled a Soul Formation powerhouse.

“The speed…” Gu Xiu flexed his restored hand. “It might be even faster than a standard Soul Formation cultivator.”

Even for a Soul Formation expert, healing took time and effort. Regrowing a limb could take days of meditation. But this cyan light felt instant, potent, and aggressive. It was like applying a supreme immortal medicine directly to the source.

Of course, such earth-shattering power came with a cost.

“The consumption is massive,” Gu Xiu noted, checking his reserves. “Just that minor cut consumed a significant portion of ordinary Qi. If my Dantian Qi Sea weren’t so vast, I would be drained dry in seconds.”

He nodded to himself. It was a fair trade.

For Gu Xiu, whose Dantian was as vast as a sea of stars and whose Storage Ring was overflowing with Spirit Stones, energy consumption was a non-issue.

Satisfied, Gu Xiu stood up. He did not waste any more time admiring his work.

He glanced to the side. The air was thick with vengeful spirits tearing at the remnant soul of Xu Xiuyun. Faintly, he could hear her soul screaming, begging for death, begging for an end to the torture.

Gu Xiu’s expression remained indifferent. He turned and walked away.

The Dao Fruit of the Blood-Colored Field, nurtured by Xu Wanqing for a hundred years, was gone—consumed to build his Dao Platform. However, the physical resources remained. The field was still littered with rare longevity herbs and the blood-soaked soil itself was a treasure for demonic cultivators.

Gu Xiu took none of it.

Instead, he snapped his fingers.

Crack.

The remnants of the Grand Array shattered completely. The mechanism that drained the life force of intruders was permanently disabled.

Stepping out of the Blood-Colored Field, he saw a crowd of Awakening Spirit Valley disciples gathered at the perimeter. They stared at the now-unguarded field with greedy, bloodshot eyes, ready to loot the scraps.

Gu Xiu ignored them. They were insects fighting over carrion.

His gaze lifted toward the Sect Main Hall.

In the distance, a terrifying pillar of crimson light pierced the clouds, dyeing the sky the color of a fresh bruise. Silhouettes of powerful cultivators flickered in the air above the hall, their intent murderous.

Whoosh!

A streak of light tore through the air. Gu Xiu raised his hand, and the Crossing Immortal Sword settled into his grip.

A stream of consciousness flowed from the blade into his mind.

Wan Xiaobei has arrived. She brought a coalition of experts. They entered the tunnel, fought Yi Zhiyin, and are now trapped in an Immortal Array. Yi Zhiyin intends to refine them all.

The news was slightly unexpected. Gu Xiu raised an eyebrow.

But soon, his brow smoothed. He looked at the burning sky over the Main Hall and took a step forward.

Step.

With that single stride, the disguise he had worn for so long melted away. The features of the Three-Body Mask faded. His face returned to its original, cold sharpness. His hair turned white as snow.

Xu Wanqing wanted to lure him here? She wanted to kill him?

Fine.

Let it be as she wishes.

Awakening Spirit Valley, Sect Main Hall

The once-majestic hall was in ruins. The roof had collapsed, and the floor was torn asunder, exposing the dark tunnel beneath to the light of day.

The battle had been catastrophic.

When Yi Zhiyin realized his explanations were falling on deaf ears, he stopped talking and started killing. He summoned every expert in the sect—including the hidden elites from the Azure Mystic Sacred Land who wore no sect insignia.

The power Awakening Spirit Valley displayed was terrifying. If Wan Xiaobei hadn’t brought her own legion of veterans from the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, they would have been slaughtered in the first charge.

But even with their numbers, they were on enemy soil. And in the cultivation world, failing to crush your enemy instantly meant you were walking into a trap.

And the trap had sprung.

A massive, blood-colored ring of light now confined Wan Xiaobei and her coalition to a corner of the ruined hall.

It wasn’t just a cage; it was a grinder.

From the earth beneath them, dragons made of blood-colored energy erupted without warning. These dragons were lethal. A glancing blow turned ordinary cultivators to ash. Even the Golden Core experts were forced to vomit blood and retreat.

“What kind of formation is this? I’ve never seen it before!”

“The dragons aren’t the worst part,” an elder shouted, his face pale. “The array itself is refining us! It’s draining our Qi constantly. We can hold on for now, but as we get weaker… we will be melted down!”

“We were careless. We underestimated them,” another cultivator gritted his teeth, parrying a strike. “Awakening Spirit Valley is supposed to be a third-rate sect! Where did all these experts come from? Who are these people?”

“There is a great secret here!”

The people trapped in the array weren’t fools. They realized they had stumbled into something massive.

“Hold the line! Do not give up!” Wan Xiaobei’s voice cut through the panic. She stood at the front, her artifact glowing. “My battleship is parked outside with the Elders on board. If I don’t return in three hours, they have orders to activate the main cannons and level this mountain!”

Her words were a lifeline. The panic subsided slightly.

“The Tantai Clan… Tantai Shi… wait, I remember now!”

Suddenly, an old cultivator in the crowd exclaimed, his eyes widening in horror. “Tantai Shi! That was the name of the Divine Doctor who saved Xu Wanqing five hundred years ago! He cured her and passed on his medical arts to her!”

The revelation struck the crowd like a thunderbolt.

“So that’s why they are so secretive!” someone shouted. “They are targeting the benefactor of the Azure Mystic Sacred Land! If the Sacred Land knew their ‘Saintess’ Xu’s savior was being tortured here, they would raze this valley to the ground!”

“It makes sense. Divine Doctor Xu is known for her compassion. She would never allow this.”

“We’ve stumbled upon a conspiracy. They are going to silence us to keep this from the Azure Mystic Sacred Land.”

Most of the crowd nodded, clinging to this narrative. It made sense. A rogue sect hiding a dark secret from the righteous Holy Land.

However… there were others who thought deeper. And the deeper they thought, the colder they felt.

“I heard… Divine Doctor Xu has always ‘looked after’ the Tantai descendants,” a scholar murmured, his voice trembling. “She protected them for centuries. If they ended up like this… how could the Azure Mystic Sacred Land not know?”

“And those experts attacking us…” another whispered. “Their techniques look familiar. They look… like Azure Mystic techniques.”

“Have you noticed the herbs?” a merchant from the Pavilion added, wiping sweat from his brow. “Awakening Spirit Valley rarely sells herbs, yet their fields are full of supreme-grade plants. Where does it all go? Who consumes it?”

The implications hung in the air, heavy and suffocating.

The array fell silent. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

“What are you saying?” someone asked, their voice cracking. “Are you implying… that the Azure Mystic Sacred Land set this up? That they are using this valley as a farm… and using Xu Wanqing’s own savior as livestock?”

“To repay kindness with enmity?”

“That… that’s impossible.”

“Divine Doctor Xu is a saint. She cries when she sees a wilting flower. How could she do this?”

“Impossible… right?”

They denied it out loud, but the seed of fear had been planted. And it was growing fast.

Outside the barrier, Yi Zhiyin heard their deductions. He didn’t care. Let them guess. Dead men tell no tales.

He scanned the trapped crowd, his eyes sharp as a hawk’s.

“Do you see him?” he asked the Azure Mystic experts beside him. “Is the sect abandoner in there?”

The masked elites shook their heads. “He’s not there.”

“I don’t sense that waste Elder’s aura.”

“He likely lost his cultivation and fled. He wouldn’t dare come here.”

“We should go outside and destroy the battleship,” one of the elites suggested impatiently. “They are making a mountain out of a molehill.”

“No.” Yi Zhiyin shook his head. “Wait.”

He turned his gaze away from the trap and looked toward the tunnel entrance leading to the Blood-Colored Field.

“If my prediction is correct… he is coming.”

The Azure Mystic experts exchanged annoyed glances. They thought Yi Zhiyin was paranoid. Why waste time on a crippled exile?

But Yi Zhiyin ignored them. His heart was pounding.

The Dao Fruit was gone. Someone had taken it. And since Gu Xiu wasn’t in the trap, he had to be the one who took it.

He will come, Yi Zhiyin told himself. He has to come for the Tantai family.

As if summoned by his thoughts, a figure appeared in the distance.

A man in gray robes. White hair cascading over his shoulders. He walked slowly, step by step, toward the ruined hall. His presence was faint, almost nonexistent, yet he moved with an undeniable gravity.

The man looked up. His gaze met Yi Zhiyin’s.

It was a look as calm as stagnant water. Cool as the autumn wind.

Yi Zhiyin felt a shiver run down his spine. His scalp went numb.

He gritted his teeth and stepped forward, his voice booming over the battlefield.

“Who goes there!”

The figure did not stop walking. His voice drifted over the wind, soft yet piercing enough to be heard by every soul present.

“Rogue Cultivator. Gu Xiu.”