Severing Ties: The Sect Regrets My Departure

Chapter 245: A Two-Year Delay on the “Zha” Rune! Weaving a Wedding Dress for Another!

The “Zha” Rune. A seventh-rank divine-grade Talisman. In combat, its effects were apocalyptic—capable of suppressing souls, sealing demons, and vanquishing profound evil.

However, in the annals of the Talisman Dao, there was a strict, immutable warning recorded alongside it: It must absolutely, unequivocally, never be used for a Divine Invocation.

Forcibly invoking it guaranteed a catastrophic backlash. It would plunder the invoker’s lifespan, chain them to relentless misfortune, and, without exception, drag them into a fatal, inauspicious doom within three years.

Two years ago, frustrated by her inability to achieve a Divine Invocation, Qin Meran had secretly bypassed her Master and fellow sisters to force the process. She had summoned this exact “Zha” Rune.

Because it was the “Zha” Rune, Gu Xiu had intervened. He employed a sacrificial substitution art to absorb a massive portion of the backlash himself, shattering the rune and forcibly terminating her invocation.

Instead of gratitude, Qin Meran had harbored a venomous grudge ever since, convinced Gu Xiu had deliberately severed her path to greatness. She loved to posture to outsiders, self-righteously quoting the sages: “If one hears the Dao in the morning, one can die content in the evening!” The reality?

When Qin Meran had secretly learned what she had actually summoned that day, she had been drenched in a cold sweat. Deep down, she was agonizingly relieved that the invocation was interrupted before the curse could brand her soul. But she was a “scholar.” She was supposed to possess the fearless integrity of a sage who welcomed death for enlightenment. Unable to reconcile her cowardice with her ego, she masked her relief with arrogant, blistering resentment toward Gu Xiu.

It was a pathetic secret she had buried deep.

But at this very moment, watching Yin Wenshu’s self-destructing Nascent Soul lock the very same “Zha” Rune’s backlash onto her… the universe had finally arrived to collect its due.

Qin Meran’s facade shattered. Absolute, hysterical panic seized her.

Without a second thought, she hurled Yin Wenshu’s corpse aside and violently launched herself backward. She pushed her movement arts to the absolute limit, desperate to outrun the karmic lock.

But this was the backlash of the Heavenly Dao. Did she really think she could just jog away from it?

The moment she dodged, the descending streak of crimson light accelerated, homing in on her like a heat-seeking missile.

“Don’t come over!” Qin Meran shrieked, her voice cracking in undignified terror. “Stop! Stay away from me! I don’t want the invocation anymore! Keep away!!!”

Hearing the Dao in the morning and dying in the evening? That was just PR! Who actually wanted a cosmic curse that ruined every aspect of their life and guaranteed a gruesome death within three years?! She pumped every last drop of Spiritual Qi into her legs, fleeing like a rat in a flood.

Yet, no matter how she twisted, sprinted, or evaded, she could only watch helplessly as the blinding red harbinger of doom closed the distance.

“Senior Sister!” she screamed. “Fourth Senior Sister, save me!”

In her blind panic, she remembered Shi Siling. She bolted toward the Void Refining battlefield, where Shi Siling was currently suppressing four White Jade Tower experts single-handedly.

Hearing her Fifth Junior Sister’s frantic cries, Shi Siling turned her head. Qin Meran crashed into the space beside her.

“Fourth Senior Sister, quickly! Help me block this thing!”

“What is th—”

Before Shi Siling could finish her sentence, Qin Meran’s hand shot out, grabbing Shi Siling’s sleeve and violently yanking her a half-step sideways.

She was using Shi Siling as a human meat shield.

Never in her wildest dreams would Shi Siling have imagined that her cultured, text-quoting Fifth Junior Sister would commit such a base, treacherous act. Caught entirely off guard, Shi Siling was pulled directly into the trajectory of the curse.

Whoosh! The rainbow streak grazed Shi Siling’s shoulder. In that microscopic fraction of a second, a volatile crimson light fractured from the main streak and buried itself in Shi Siling’s body. The remaining mass of the streak—a cluster of pitch-black light—shot past her and slammed directly into Qin Meran’s chest.

The “Zha” Rune backlash had arrived. It was split perfectly between the two of them.

“Fifth Junior Sister, you…” Shi Siling gasped in shock.

Her words were choked off. The crimson light detonated inside her, unleashing a terrifying, entropic force.

In the blink of an eye, Shi Siling’s radiant, smooth skin dulled, mapping with fine, withered wrinkles. Her signature mane of lustrous, jet-black hair instantly bleached into an ashen gray.

The lifespan-draining curse of the “Zha” Rune!

Her life essence was being violently pumped out of her body. Shi Siling desperately tried to suppress it, but this was a curse governed by the laws of heaven and earth. It could not be easily blocked by mortal means. Reacting with seasoned battle instincts, she rapidly tapped her heart Meridian and Dantian, utilizing sealing arts to staunch the hemorrhaging of her years.

However, her four opponents were not blind. They were initially stunned by the absurd friendly fire, but their predatory instincts kicked in a second later.

“She’s wounded! Kill her now!”

“Strike!”

Led by Ji Qinghan, the four Void Refining experts unleashed their ultimate techniques, intending to eradicate the weakened Shi Siling on the spot.

“Junior Sister!” Shi Siling shouted. Despite the betrayal, her tactical mind remained ice-cold. She formed a seal and pointed at Qin Meran, channeling a torrent of power into her limbs and meridians. “Fifth Junior Sister, I’ve used the Divine Source Borrowing Technique. You can temporarily wield power beyond your realm. Hold them off for a moment! I need to stabilize my injuries!”

She was a woman of extreme composure. Even after being backstabbed by her own Junior Sister, even in this dire crisis, she instantly formulated the optimal strategy. If Qin Meran could buy her just a few moments to suppress the life-draining curse, she could still crush these four opponents. She had that confidence. As for Qin Meran’s treachery… that could wait.

Unfortunately, Shi Siling had overestimated her Junior Sister’s character.

“Damn you! Damn you! You deserve to die!” Qin Meran, now brimming with borrowed power, did not turn to face the attackers. Instead, she whirled on Shi Siling, screaming hysterically. “Why didn’t you block it all?! Why did you leave a portion of the curse for me?!”

Ah? For the first time, Shi Siling’s expression faltered in utter disbelief.

“You wretched bitch! A bitch who wants to drag me down with you!” Qin Meran shrieked again, then abruptly raised her palm. “You deserve to die!”

With that, she slammed her palm directly into Shi Siling’s defenseless back.

She did not help her Senior Sister fend off the incoming attacks. Instead, she delivered a solid, devastating blow to Shi Siling herself.

The impact sent Shi Siling flying, blood erupting from her mouth. Her already rapidly depleting lifespan gushed out even faster.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

“Has she… gone mad?”

“Isn’t Qin Meran a scholar of the sages?”

“Killing her own sect sister! And at a time like this! My heavens, what kind of demonic nest is Qingxuan?!”

A chorus of shocked exclamations erupted. Qin Meran ignored them all. She scrambled frantically toward Yin Wenshu’s corpse, muttering incessantly: “I’ve been cursed… I’ve been cursed… Misfortune will cling to me… I’ll meet an ill fate within three years!”

“The Divine Invocations! I can’t lose the Divine Invocations!”

She was already under the backlash, its full effects still unknown. She dared not dwell on it. She needed to seize the two Divine Invocations immediately and flee to find a way to break the curse.

It must be said, Shi Siling’s Divine Source Borrowing Technique was indeed formidable. Qin Meran’s power had skyrocketed. With her enhanced strength, her efficiency in attracting the Divine Invocations increased hundreds of times over.

In an instant, the two divine-grade Dao Rhymes—the “Mi” Character Rune and the “Zha” Rune, which were already on the verge of arrival—were violently yanked toward her, shooting straight into her Sea of Consciousness.

At that moment, Qin Meran’s eyes shone with brilliant, radiant light.

Though that bitch Shi Siling hadn’t blocked all the backlash for her, at least she could now officially complete the Divine Invocation! Divine-grade Dao Rhymes were about to take root in her Sea of Consciousness!

She had waited over 500 years for this day!

And now… success…

Her triumphant smile had barely begun to form when it froze on her face. The two divine-grade Dao Rhymes, which had just settled into her Sea of Consciousness, suddenly and simultaneously shot back out!

They streaked toward the heavens—or rather, toward the last wisp of the vanishing Origin Dao Rhyme!

This was…

“Attraction by the Origin!”

“The Origin Dao Rhyme is the mother of all Dao Rhymes! Damn it, that person succeeded in his Divine Invocation and is naturally absorbing the surrounding Dao Rhymes, sucking away these two unstable divine-grade ones as well!”

“Qin Meran drew water with a bamboo basket—all for nothing! She took the backlash of the Divine Invocation, but the Invocations were taken by someone else?!”

“In other words…”

“She wove a wedding dress for another!”