Severing Ties: The Sect Regrets My Departure

Chapter 257: A Chilling Realization, The Venerable Arrives in Person!

Yes, erase her! Jiang Xun harbored a grand scheme, one of immense importance and far-reaching influence that could not tolerate the slightest deviation. And right now, Xu Wanqing was undoubtedly that deviation—a dangerous variable!

This realization struck him the moment he heard the White Jade Fan spirit’s complaint. He still couldn’t definitively prove whether the previous disappearance of his Heaven-Bestowed Ruyi or Guan Xuelan losing the Sect Leader token were the work of a hidden mastermind, but he was now absolutely certain of one thing.

Xu Wanqing was lying!

The White Jade Fan possessed an Immortal root. Even if it had been bound by blood to another, its true and rightful master was still him. It was fundamentally impossible for it to lie to its creator. Operating under this absolute truth, the reality became glaringly obvious.

She had orchestrated the entire “loss” and “recovery” of the fan. From the very beginning, she had planned to reclaim the artifact. Worse, she had clearly uncovered its hidden secrets, preemptively intercepting the vast Source of All Things he had spent a century accumulating!

Her story about a hidden great power stealing it was nothing more than a convenient excuse. Digging deeper into this horrifying line of thought, Jiang Xun’s paranoia flared. If Xu Wanqing knew the truth about the White Jade Fan, then her supposed affliction with the Void Stone Wax curse—her inability to lie or commit evil—could also be a total fabrication. Was it all just an elaborate act? A performance explicitly tailored to deceive him?

If he followed this logic to its terrifying conclusion, did it mean Xu Wanqing knew about his ultimate scheme? Had she discovered the connection between him and the White Jade Fan? Perhaps she had been playing along this entire time! Even now, as she writhed on the ground in seemingly agonizing torment… could that also be a disguise?

Some thoughts were too chilling to dwell upon.

But at this moment, Jiang Xun no longer dared to underestimate the woman convulsing before him. He could no longer treat her as a mindless chess piece to be manipulated at will. She had likely discovered the truth of the chessboard. Worse, she was actively trying to flip it!

Everything about her current state was a lie. Her performance with the Void Stone Wax curse was just a smokescreen to lull him into a false sense of security, biding her time until she could morph into a venomous viper and strike when he least expected it.

However, as Jiang Xun lost himself in his own web of paranoia, his fear and vigilance blinding his judgment, he completely overlooked one crucial possibility.

The White Jade Fan could, in fact, lie.

Common sense dictated that a Dharma Treasure bearing an Immortal root and bound to a master could never betray its creator. The penalty for such treason was the complete destruction of the artifact and the extinguishing of its spirit. Naturally, the White Jade Fan had once been bound by this absolute law. Betraying Jiang Xun should have been impossible.

But the White Jade Fan had made the fatal mistake of offending an existence backed by a Dao Platform that had lived for tens of thousands of years—an anomaly who had elevated the Qi Condensation realm to a mythical art. Furthermore, when Gu Xiu triggered the fan’s Immortal root, he hadn’t immediately claimed it. By leaving it in another’s possession, he had inadvertently caused subtle, microscopic fractures in the root’s foundational laws.

Either of these factors alone would not have been enough to break the binding. But combined, they resulted in a subtle but absolute rewrite of the artifact’s core restriction: The White Jade Fan could no longer betray Gu Xiu!

Everything else remained intact, but this single alteration meant the artifact spirit would instinctively prioritize Gu Xiu’s interests above all else. Lying to Jiang Xun to protect Gu Xiu? It didn’t even trigger a ripple of consequence.

Jiang Xun, of course, knew none of this. His absolute faith in his Immortal root blinded him to the truth. Staring down at Xu Wanqing as she writhed like a severed earthworm, he coldly formulated his countermeasures.

Should I kill her now? No, she is a prime vessel, a crucial link in a century-spanning scheme. The timing isn’t right. Erasing her prematurely would leave my grand design flawed. I must feign compliance. I will play along with her charade while secretly preparing a method to eliminate her without jeopardizing the overarching plan. Decision made, Jiang Xun finally dropped his cold detachment. Feigning sudden panic, he rushed to Xu Wanqing’s side.

“Third Senior Sister? What’s wrong?” he cried, his voice trembling with manufactured anxiety. “Please, don’t scare your Junior Brother like this! You can’t let anything happen to you!”

Qin Meran and Lu Qingyao were startled by the sudden escalation. Qin Meran remained coldly indifferent, while the feral dog grinned with savage, unadulterated glee. Jiang Xun, however, played the role of the devoted junior perfectly, frantically pressing his hand against Xu Wanqing’s back to check her condition.

Sure enough, three terrifying forces were rampaging through her body: shattering her heart, tearing at her soul, and grinding her bones to dust. It was a punishment of ultimate cruelty. Outwardly, Jiang Xun appeared frantic, desperately funneling his spiritual energy to find a way to alleviate her suffering.

In reality, the moment he sensed the terrifying state of her internal energies, his vigilance skyrocketed.

This vicious bitch, he thought, utterly appalled. To make me believe her, she actually used some unknown method to inflict this level of torment upon herself! She is far more ruthless than I ever imagined. I must tread carefully. Once the seed of doubt is sown, it only ever yields one harvest. It grows, festering and expanding in the dark, until the day blades are finally drawn.

While the Venerable’s personal disciples of Azure Mystic were embroiled in their own chaotic turmoil, miles away in Cloud Firmament City, Gu Xiu stepped out of the Lingbao Pavilion’s courtyard.

He had just concluded another meeting with Shang Zhongqing, the Second Prince of the Golden Feather Divine Dynasty, who remained bound to the city. During this period, Gu Xiu had been relentlessly cultivating, while Shang Zhongqing had been ceaselessly scheming. Both men shared a grim premonition: the individual who vehemently opposed Shang Zhongqing’s return to the capital would soon arrive. Their time was running out.

In his hand, Gu Xiu idly twirled the Hidden Abyss Spirit Carp. Forged from Shattered Star, the artifact held a vast, churning reservoir of the Source of All Things. Lately, Gu Xiu had dedicated his time to unraveling its profound mysteries.

Unfortunately, the path of Origin Dao Rhyme was an esoteric one, heavily reliant on innate talent. Those blessed with it could simply push open the door and walk through; those without could stare at the door for a lifetime and never find the handle.

Just then, a procession of cultivators clad in pristine white Confucian robes marched past him.

Murmurs rippled through the nearby crowds of Rogue Cultivators.

“Are those cultivators from the Bai Clan of Ziyang City?”

“Indeed. Look at the one leading them—that’s Bai Songyang, the young clan leader who cultivates the Righteous Qi of Heaven and Earth!”

“Infinite Heavenly Venerable, even the Bai Clan is here? Didn’t a contingent from the Dragon Ridge Pass in the Eastern Barrenlands arrive just yesterday? What massive event is brewing in Cloud Firmament City?”

“Hard to say. I heard a fleet of warships from Fish Harbor is sailing in from the east, expected to make landfall in a matter of days.”

“That’s not all. The undefeated Buddha statue from the West Desert—the one that seeks to ‘salvage all living beings’—is drawing closer. It might pass right through Cloud Firmament City. Heaven knows if it will decide to take action.”

“Troubled times are upon us. Who knows if this is a blessing or a curse? How should we navigate this?”

“What do we Rogue Cultivators have to fear? If the sky falls, the Holy Lands and ancient clans will be the ones to prop it up. We just need to keep our heads down and survive. If the city becomes a warzone, we pack up and move.”

Gu Xiu listened to the idle chatter, his gaze briefly sweeping over the leader of the white-robed scholars. A moment later, he withdrew his attention and continued down the street.

He understood the situation far better than the local Rogue Cultivators. The factions that had overtly arrived in Cloud Firmament City over the past few days were merely the tip of the iceberg. Countless undercurrents surged in the shadows. Their goals varied, and their intentions were wildly different, but without exception, every single one of them was looking for him.

Gu Xiu knew this, yet he chose to remain in the shadows. He frowned, casting a fleeting glance toward the suffocating density of the clouds above, before lowering his eyes. His grip on the Hidden Abyss Spirit Carp tightened just a fraction.

Some of these arrivals were former friends desperately trying to confirm his safety and offer their protection. He understood their sentiments perfectly. But he couldn’t step into the light just yet. Revealing himself now wouldn’t grant his old friends peace; it would only drag them into an unmitigated disaster.

“The ninth-level Dao Platform,” he murmured softly. “Golden Core.”

With purposeful strides, he navigated toward a dilapidated alleyway nestled deep within the city. This was Fufeng Alley, a territory controlled by the local Xingsheng Gang. The gang was comprised mostly of Qi Condensation cultivators who made a meager living running errands and escorting goods for the major merchant guilds. In the grand, turbulent chessboard that Cloud Firmament City had become, they were utterly insignificant—invisible.

And it was here that Gu Xiu had chosen to hide. Following the clash outside the Listening-to-Rain Pavilion, his former residence had become a focal point for countless powerful entities. Continuing to stay there would have been a death sentence by exposure.

Gu Xiu reached Fufeng Alley and walked toward its deepest recesses, his eyes fixed on a rundown courtyard at the very end. However, before he reached the door, his footsteps faltered. His brow furrowed in mild surprise.

Standing before his humble gate was a figure he had not anticipated.

“Paying respects to the Venerable!”

“Greetings to the Venerable!”

Xiao He stood stiffly by the entrance, her hand gripping Little Ping’an’s tightly, her voice trembling as she bowed deeply to the imposing woman before her.

The woman possessed an aura that demanded absolute subservience. Who else could it be but Guan Xuelan?

The Azure Mystic Venerable had personally arrived in Cloud Firmament City!