Severing Ties: The Sect Regrets My Departure

Chapter 213: Third Senior Aunt is Kind… Too Kind!

Azure Mystic Sacred Land, Spirit Beast Peak.

Today, every disciple of Spirit Beast Peak had been summoned, standing in orderly phalanxes before the Peak Master’s Grand Hall.

Lu Qingyao stood at the forefront, her expression grave as she issued her commands.

“This Peak Master will now devote all energy to assaulting the bottleneck of the Nascent Soul realm. Effective immediately, Spirit Beast Peak is sealed. All of you are to descend the mountain at once and stand guard at the foot.”

“Remember this: during my breakthrough, no one is permitted to set foot on Spirit Beast Peak. Furthermore, no matter what occurs within, or what strange phenomena you may witness, you are not to interfere. Is that clear?”

Upon hearing these words, the disciples of Spirit Beast Peak revealed looks of unconcealed joy.

As a Personal Disciple of the Azure Mystic Supreme, Lu Qingyao held a high status, yet she was frequently the subject of ridicule among the other peaks.

“Seventh Martial Aunt’s aptitude is simply too poor,” they would whisper. “Among all the Peak Masters, her cultivation base is the weakest. Compared to Little Martial Uncle Gu, the difference is like heaven and earth.”

“If not for the Sect Leader’s favoritism, she would never have become a Peak Master. Rumor has it she’s been stuck at the Golden Core stage for centuries.”

“Forget the other peaks—even within our own Spirit Beast Peak, there are disciples who have surpassed her in cultivation. It’s a wonder she has the face to hold the title. It’s humiliating to be led by such a weakling.”

Such remarks were commonplace.

Of course, no one dared to say these things to Lu Qingyao’s face, but the private mockery was relentless. The disciples of Spirit Beast Peak heard it often, and the more they heard, the more indignant they felt.

They knew the truth—that their Peak Master’s strength lay not in raw cultivation, but in her mysterious beast-taming arts. Although she was only at the Grand Perfection of the Golden Core, her actual combat power surpassed ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators.

But they couldn’t explain this to outsiders, nor would anyone believe them. It was a stifling grievance they had borne for years.

But today, that would change.

After centuries of stagnation, Lu Qingyao had finally decided to break through the Golden Core and advance to the Nascent Soul realm! For Spirit Beast Peak, this was a monumental occasion.

Under Lu Qingyao’s orders, the entire Awakening Spirit Valley mobilized rapidly. The human disciples began their exodus down the mountain.

However, a strange detail did not go unnoticed.

While the humans were driven out, the spirit beasts—the most numerous residents of the peak—were all kept behind. Not a single beast was sent away. In fact, large shipments of high-grade spirit beasts were being transported up the mountain in cages.

Though curious, the disciples dared not question the order.

One of the managing disciples, eager to impress, drew his beast-taming whip and shouted at the laggards. “Hurry up! Move! Do not delay the Peak Master’s great event! If you dawdle any longer, my whip will make you wish you were dead!”

To emphasize his point, the manager lashed his whip through the air with a vicious crack.

Snap!

However, the moment the whip finished its arc, the manager felt a peculiar resistance. He turned his head and nearly died of fright.

Standing right behind him was the Peak Master of Jade Pill Peak, Xu Wanqing.

She had appeared silently, seemingly in a rush, her mind so preoccupied that she hadn’t noticed the whip lashing through the air. The leather thong had struck her squarely across the face, leaving a clearly visible red welt on her porcelain skin.

“Th… Third Martial Aunt!”

The manager’s knees turned to jelly. He collapsed to the ground, kowtowing frantically, his forehead smashing against the stone.

“This disciple is guilty! This disciple deserves death!”

“I didn’t know Third Martial Aunt was here! It was unintentional! I beg Third Martial Aunt to punish me!”

Striking a Peak Master—whether accidental or not—was an act of supreme treason. A light punishment would be years of confinement at the Reflection Cliff; a heavy one would be execution on the spot.

The manager was trembling so violently his teeth chattered.

But… contrary to all expectation, Xu Wanqing did not rage. She didn’t even seem to care about the insult. Instead, she grabbed his shoulder, her eyes wide with anxiety.

“Where is your Peak Master?”

“Peak… Peak Master is entering secluded cultivation… preparing to break through…” the manager stammered.

Before he could finish, Xu Wanqing’s figure blurred, shooting toward the summit.

The manager slumped against the ground, letting out a long, shuddering breath. Safe. I’m safe. Thank the heavens he had struck the Bodhisattva-hearted Physician Xu. Had it been anyone else, he would have lost a layer of skin at the very least.

But just as his heart rate began to slow—

Whoosh.

Xu Wanqing flew back.

The manager yelped, scrambled to his feet, and immediately tried to kneel again, his internal monologue screaming It’s over! She came back to kill me!

But before his knees could hit the dirt, a gentle force lifted him up.

Xu Wanqing stood before him, sweat beading on her forehead, a look of desperate sincerity on her face. She produced two bottles of high-grade pills and thrust them into his hands with trembling urgency.

“Just now, I was rude and didn’t listen to you finish your sentence. That was a grave breach of etiquette. This bottle of pills is my apology. I hope you can forgive me.”

“And this second bottle… is compensation. I was careless and walked into the path of your whip. It was entirely my fault for hurting your hand with my face. Please, forgive me.”

Huh???

The manager stood frozen, staring blankly at Xu Wanqing. His brain short-circuited.

What is happening?

I whipped her face. And she’s apologizing to me? Because her face hurt my hand?

“Is it not enough?”

Seeing the manager’s dazed silence, panic flared in Xu Wanqing’s eyes. She frantically dug out a third bottle.

“Is it too little? Just say the word! I’ll give you whatever you want! Just don’t hold a grudge!”

“Enough! Enough!” The manager snapped out of it, waving his hands in terror. “Third Martial Aunt, the fact that you don’t blame me is already a supreme blessing! I cannot accept—”

“Take it!” Xu Wanqing shoved the bottles into his robes. Seeing him accept them, the terrifying tension in her shoulders finally uncoiled.

“That’s good. That’s good. You all continue your work. I will find your master.”

With that, Xu Wanqing leaped into the air and vanished toward the peak.

Behind her, the disciples of Spirit Beast Peak erupted into a fervor of admiration.

“Third Martial Aunt truly lives up to her title as the Living Bodhisattva of Azure Mystic!”

“Such kindness… such benevolence! To have such an elder is our greatest fortune!”

“Manager Zhou has dog-shit luck! He whips a Peak Master and gets three bottles of Spirit Pills instead of a death sentence? I’m envious!”

“It’s just that Third Martial Aunt is too good a person.”

“Kind. She is truly too kind!”

Xu Wanqing had once again solidified her reputation as a saint. But high above in the air, the “Living Bodhisattva” wanted nothing more than to scream.

She wanted to cry, but her tears had long since dried up.

In just a few short days, she had endured hell. The journey back to Azure Mystic had been a gauntlet of absurdist torture.

She stepped on an ant? “Penalty Due!”

She blocked a spirit beast’s path, causing it to trip? “Penalty Due!”

Bandits tried to rob her, and she refused to hand over her treasures? “Penalty Due!” (Greed is a sin, apparently.)

The Heart-Shattering Pain and Soul-Rending Agony had nearly broken her mind. If not for the constant replenishment of Faith Power within the Void Stone Wax Heart, she doubted she would have made it back alive.

She still didn’t understand why the artifact had turned on her, but she knew one thing for certain: The Void Stone Wax was cursed.

And she was helpless against it.

She was forced to follow a deranged code of conduct. No evil deeds. No evil thoughts. If someone slaps her left cheek, she must offer the right. If someone whips her, she must compensate them for the effort.

It was a curse she couldn’t shake.

The only saving grace was her massive reserve of Faith Power, earned from centuries of (calculated) medical service. It allowed her to dampen the pain, turning agonizing torture into manageable suffering.

But it wasn’t enough.

Faith Power took time to regenerate. If she ran out, the torture would be raw and unfiltered. And worse—the “evil deeds” she had committed in the past… the system hadn’t flagged them yet. But if it ever did? If it decided to punish her retroactively for five hundred years of schemes?

She shuddered. She needed a solution.

She had tried everything on the road. Even the White Jade Fan, a treasure with heaven-reaching power, had failed to suppress the voice in her head.

Desperate, she had thought of one last resort.

Junior Sister, Lu Qingyao.

…

“Eh? Senior Sister? You’re back?”

At the summit of Spirit Beast Peak, Lu Qingyao was just about to activate the protective array. Seeing Xu Wanqing descend, she broke into a bright smile. “I was just planning to visit you to ask for some pills for my secluded cultivation, but I heard you were away.”

Hearing this, Xu Wanqing didn’t dare hesitate for a split second. She immediately unloaded bottle after bottle of top-tier Spirit Pills, shoving them into Lu Qingyao’s arms.

“Junior Sister is breaking through! You absolutely cannot lack resources! Here, take them! Take them all!”

“Third Senior Sister is really the best!” Lu Qingyao beamed, pocketing the fortune without a shred of guilt.

Xu Wanqing forced a smile, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then cut to the chase.

“Junior Sister, I actually came here to borrow something from you.”

“Borrow something?” Lu Qingyao looked puzzled. “What does Senior Sister need?”

Xu Wanqing pursed her lips, her expression turning deadly serious.

“I need to borrow the Fated Chance that Gu Xiu helped you seize back then.”

“The Fated Chance Gu Xiu helped me obtain?” Lu Qingyao blinked.

“Yes.”

“Senior Sister, you mean…?”

“The Mountain River Remnant World!”