Severing Ties: The Sect Regrets My Departure

Chapter 211: As a Paragon of Virtue… Punishment Due! Punishment Due!

“The Clan of Sinners has rekindled its ashes. Since that is the case, the next step must be…”

“Persuade others to benevolence!”

The voice arrived without warning. It echoed within the chambers of her heart, yet simultaneously felt as though it were descending from the highest heavens to crush down upon her skull. It was elusive, impossible to trace, yet when Xu Wanqing heard it, her heart seized in her chest.

Clan of Sinners? Persuade others to benevolence?

She didn’t understand the meaning, but no matter how she looked at it, something was terribly wrong. Without hesitation, Xu Wanqing immediately scanned her internal condition.

But she would have been better off remaining ignorant.

The moment she inspected herself, Xu Wanqing’s brow furrowed deep. “What is happening?”

“I have clearly obtained the complete Void Stone Wax. I have refined the complete Heart of Stone Wax…”

“Why hasn’t the power of the Wax increased?”

Her previous Heart of Stone Wax had been formed from only half a piece of the Void Stone Wax. Yet, over the past five hundred years, Xu Wanqing had come to understand its properties thoroughly. The more she understood, the more she envied and craved its full potential.

It was a divine object. A true, bona fide divine object.

It was not something ordinary Dharma Treasures or Immortal Artifact materials could compare to. Used correctly, it was nigh omnipotent—a relic capable of reaching the heavens and earth, possessing the power of creation itself.

Her only regret had been possessing merely half of it. Every moment of every day, she had fantasized about the power she would wield once it was whole.

And now, she had succeeded. She held the complete Void Stone Wax.

Only… she found that the complete version was not fundamentally different from the fragment she had possessed before. It was stronger, certainly. But the enhancement was minute, barely worth mentioning.

“Five hundred years of anticipation. Over a century of plotting.”

“And the result is… this?”

Xu Wanqing found it hard to accept. She had expended so much effort, taken such grave risks, yet gained so little advantage. It felt like fetching water with a sieve—a complete waste of effort.

“Fine. Be that as it may, the Void Stone Wax was already miraculous. Even if the boost in power is negligible, surely the Heart-Rending Agony can now be eliminated.”

“If it solves that problem, then this venture was not in vain.”

Sighing, Xu Wanqing tried to comfort herself. Yet, resentment toward the Tantai Clan inevitably bubbled up in her heart.

“That hateful Tantai Shi. The complete Wax is hardly different from the half-piece. Why was he so miserly back then? Why refuse me the whole thing and force me to endure five hundred years of heart-shattering torture?”

“Damn him. He truly deserves death.”

“Just wait. This Seat will go and dig up your wretched grave!”

But the moment the thought flashed through her mind, a furious, mechanical roar exploded in her psyche:

“DETECTED: HOST IS A PARAGON OF VIRTUE. YET MALICE IS HARBORED.”

“PUNISHMENT DUE! PUNISHMENT DUE!”

Huh?

The voice carried absolutely no emotion. It sounded like the recitation of a cold, iron rule, leaving Xu Wanqing completely bewildered.

Before she could process it, a terrifying agony erupted from the center of her chest.

It felt as though a sledgehammer, forged for the sole purpose of shattering hearts, was slamming into her organ with violent force.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Under the heavy strikes, Xu Wanqing could physically feel cracks spreading across her heart, until finally, with a deafening crash in her mind, it shattered into fragments.

But the hammer did not stop.

It continued to pound.

It intended to grind her heart into absolute dust!

“Ahhh!”

Xu Wanqing had endured the Heart-Rending Agony countless times, but in this moment, she couldn’t suppress a wretched scream. Because this time… the pain was different.

It was far more terrifying.

This was not just pain of the heart. It was the pain of a Soul Fission. She could clearly feel her Divine Soul being sliced apart by thousands of tiny, razor-sharp scalpels.

Sliced. Shredded. Minced into meat paste.

It was a dual torture of the heart meridian and the soul!

Under such torment, Xu Wanqing lost the ability to think. She collapsed instantly, disregarding the mud and filth on the ground as she rolled and thrashed like a wild beast.

She wanted to alleviate the pain. But this agony acted like a Law of the World; it could not be mitigated.

In mere moments, the dignified Peak Master of Qingxuan, the Supreme Disciple, the Divine Physician of the Eastern Wasteland, was gone. In her place was a pathetic maggot, twisting madly in the dirt, snot and tears streaming down her face, wailing in a voice that was both shrill and desolate.

This was no ordinary backlash. This pain was at least ten times more potent than anything she had suffered before. Caught off guard, she nearly broke mentally on the spot.

“I am the Divine Physician revered by myriads! I am the Sage praised by the world! I am the only benevolence in Qingxuan! I possess the Power of Wishes! You cannot do this… you cannot torture me like this!”

Forcing the words through gritted teeth, Xu Wanqing screamed frantically mentally.

Over five hundred years, she had researched the Heart of Stone Wax thoroughly. She had discovered a special energy within it—Wish Power. The more the world praised her, the more people felt gratitude toward her, the stronger this power became. It was unique; not only could it aid her cultivation, but it could also shield her from the backlash.

Faced with this boundless agony, Xu Wanqing did not hesitate to burn the Wish Power stored within the Wax Heart.

It worked.

After burning through a full twenty percent of her accumulated Wish Power, the tide of agony finally receded. It left Xu Wanqing lying there, hair disheveled, robes stained with muck, trembling in lingering terror.

“What is happening?”

“Why?”

“I have the complete Void Stone Wax. Why is the backlash worse than before? Why is it tearing my soul apart?”

Xu Wanqing was utterly lost. She frantically grabbed a handful of pills and shoved them into her mouth. Not to heal injuries—her heart and soul had already regenerated the moment the torture stopped—but to dull the phantom pains that still racked her nerves.

Only after swallowing half a bottle did she manage to suppress the tremors. A wave of fury rose in her chest.

“Is someone plotting against This Seat?”

“Did some rat take advantage of my absorption trance? Or did the remnants of the Tantai Clan leave a trap?”

“Whoever it is… This Seat will flay your skin, slaughter your entire clan, and refine your bloodline into fertilizer for my garden!”

She was no fool; she knew she had been calculated. Her resentment was a physical weight, her hatred boundless.

But… just as the flames of her rage reached their peak, that cold, indifferent voice returned.

“DETECTED: HOST IS A PARAGON OF VIRTUE. YET MALICE IS HARBORED.”

“PUNISHMENT DUE! PUNISHMENT DUE!”

The same voice.

The same timing.

And instantly, the same horrific pain arrived as promised.

A new round of torture commenced.

Despite having just survived it, Xu Wanqing collapsed again. Her hands spasmed, scattering the remaining precious pills across the muddy ground.

She had no choice. She burned another twenty percent of her Wish Power.

The pain vanished.

But… just as she clawed her way back from hell, she turned her head and saw a field mouse—a low-level spirit beast—happily gnawing on the high-grade pills she had dropped.

“Vile beast!”

Xu Wanqing exploded with rage.

Those pills were priceless! This insignificant vermin dared to steal from her while she was injured? It deserved death!

Without a second thought, she struck out with her palm.

Squeak—!

With a miserable cry, the spirit rat was instantly flattened into meat paste.

But the moment the deed was done, the voice echoed in the depths of her soul, colder than ever:

“RULE VIOLATION: A PARAGON OF VIRTUE MUST POSSESS TOLERANCE. HAGGLING OVER MERE PILLS AND COMMITTING MURDER IS FORBIDDEN.”

“PUNISHMENT DUE! PUNISHMENT DUE!”

What?!

Xu Wanqing’s heart sank.

The next instant, the pain hit. And this time, it wasn’t limited to the heart and soul. It expanded.

The sensation of fingernails being ripped out. The agony of Lingchi—death by a thousand cuts. The scraping of bone marrow.

Xu Wanqing screamed silently, burning her Wish Power frantically.

But this time, she burned a full fifty percent, yet the pain did not vanish completely. She was forced to endure the residual torture for a full hour before it finally faded.

When silence returned, Xu Wanqing lay in the mud like a pile of rotting sludge.

She gasped for air, her chest heaving violently.

Her eyes were no longer filled with anger. They were filled with terror.

She didn’t know the specifics, but a horrifying realization was dawning on her.

She… was in serious trouble.

Squeak, squeak, squeak…

The sound of chattering reached her ears.

Then, she felt a small claw scratch her face.

Xu Wanqing turned her head, and the flames of fury ignited once more. The scattered pills had attracted a pack of spirit rats. They were feasting on her treasures. One of them, apparently finding her prone body an obstacle to its meal, had actually slapped her face with its paw.

She was the Peak Master of Qingxuan. The personal disciple of the Supreme. When had she ever been humiliated by rodents?

Instinctively, she raised her hand to strike.

But the hand froze in mid-air. Trembling, she slowly, painfully lowered it.

She remembered the voice.

She didn’t dare move.

In this short span of time, ninety percent of the Wish Power in the Void Stone Wax Heart was gone. If the torture came again… she might not have enough fuel to stop it.

True, with her reputation as Divine Physician Xu, Wish Power was a renewable resource. A half-day of meditation would replenish it.

But… that required time!

Glaring daggers at the rats, Xu Wanqing gritted her teeth and decided to retreat. Her situation was too bizarre; she couldn’t risk another infraction.

However… just as she began to crawl backward, she saw one of the rats stagger. It had eaten too many high-grade pills. The massive medicinal energy swelled its belly like a balloon, and then—

Bang!

It exploded.

Xu Wanqing watched the gory spectacle with a rush of pure, vindictive satisfaction. Serves you right!

But before the smile could fully form on her lips, the voice—that mechanical arbiter of her nightmares—sounded again.

“DETECTED: HOST IS A PARAGON OF VIRTUE. WITNESSING A LIFE IN PERIL WITHIN ONE’S ABILITY TO SAVE, YET REMAINING A COLD BYSTANDER.”

“INDIFFERENCE TO LIFE DETECTED.”

“PUNISHMENT DUE. PUNISHMENT DUE!”

Ah???

You… you have to be kidding me…!