Severing Ties: The Sect Regrets My Departure

Chapter 259: Little Ping’an: Is It That All Supremes Don’t Like to Talk?

“Teacher… what’s wrong?”

Back in Fufeng Alley, while Gu Xiu faced the descending Sky-Sever within the mental realm, his physical body had suddenly frozen. Little Ping’an stared at him, bewildered and alarmed. A perfectly fine, living person had abruptly turned into a statue the moment Guan Xuelan spoke, as if struck by a body-binding spell.

Yet, Guan Xuelan stood there, completely unfazed. She even condescended to explain the situation to the frightened child. “Don’t worry. Your teacher has merely been pulled into my Heart-Questioning Sword Domain.”

“Sword Domain?” Little Ping’an’s heart jolted. “What is that? Are you trying to hurt my teacher?”

“A mere Foundation Establishment Rogue Cultivator is not worthy of my schemes,” Guan Xuelan replied coldly. “On the contrary, I have gifted him a tremendous opportunity.”

“He has entered my Sword Domain and will face a single strike of my sword. If he can walk out within two hours, he will reap immense benefits on the path of the sword, elevating his cultivation to a higher level.”

Walk out within two hours. He will reap benefits? Although Little Ping’an was young, she possessed a sharp mind. She immediately caught the hidden barb in those words. “And what happens after two hours?”

“If he cannot walk out after two hours, then it proves that even when handed a supreme opportunity, he is too incompetent to break my sword technique. In that case, there is only one outcome for him.” Guan Xuelan’s voice dropped to a freezing chill. “He will never be able to pick up a sword again in this life!”

“After all, great opportunities are always accompanied by great risks.”

The blood completely drained from Little Ping’an and Little He’s faces.

Guan Xuelan remained indifferent to their terror. “There are only two kinds of people in this world: the strong and the weak. The strong remain strong forever; the weak remain weak forever.”

“If you do not wish to be bullied, if you wish to change your miserable circumstances, then you must seize every opportunity. You must claw your way up every path that leads to power, transforming yourself from the weak into the strong!”

“Your teacher is a weakling, which is why I can dictate his fate at will. In fact, I have only employed my comprehension of the Sword Dao against him. Had I used any other method… he would already be a corpse.”

Her words were laced with casual cruelty. She paused, letting the harsh reality sink in, before turning her piercing gaze back to Little Ping’an. “My arrival here today, and my willingness to take you back to Azure Mystic Sacred Land, is a monumental opportunity for you.”

“Moreover, this is likely the only such opportunity you will encounter in your entire lifetime. If you want to become a peerless powerhouse, if you don’t want to be kneaded and crushed by others like your useless teacher, then you should take my hand.”

“Otherwise, what you foolishly reject today will become the greatest regret of your life. You will bear that sorrow until the day you die.”

She still hadn’t given up on acquiring Little Ping’an as her grand-disciple.

Recently, she had traveled to Awakening Spirit Valley. She had killed a few people along the way and harvested some Creation Immortal Soil that had been corrupted by blood, but she had failed to find the pure Creation Immortal Soil she sought. She had even employed secret arts to track the Dantai bloodline, only to discover it had seemingly gone completely extinct. Even as a Supreme, she couldn’t find a single trace of it, forcing her to return empty-handed.

Passing through Cloud Firmament City, she had merely cast a casual glance down at the streets. Unexpectedly, that single glance revealed a seedling with Peerless aptitude.

Hence, this current confrontation.

The little girl named Ping’an possessed an absurdly powerful foundation! Among everyone Guan Xuelan had ever evaluated, this child’s innate talent was second only to her own closed-door disciple. She was a literal Immortal seedling!

If brought back to Azure Mystic and properly polished, her future achievements would be limitless. Even if she wasn’t actively nurtured, keeping her as an idle chess piece for the future was a flawless strategy. Her aptitude was entirely worthy of a Supreme Venerable’s personal intervention, and it warranted an extra ounce of patience.

It was just a pity…

“I don’t want to!” Little Ping’an shook her head forcefully. “My teacher said, ‘How can I bow and scrape to the powerful, denying myself a joyful heart!'”

“He also said, ‘With the clear breeze and bright moon as companions, why fear the long and distant road?'”

The little girl puffed out her cheeks, glaring at the Supreme. “I’ve noticed you really like talking about ‘opportunities’. But my teacher said that relying solely on opportunities is a sign of insecurity. A truly strong person climbs upward step by step and walks forward stride by stride, regardless of the hardships or adversity they face.”

“You are clearly a Supreme. You’re supposed to be one of the most powerful people in the world. So why don’t you understand as much as my teacher?”

Children speak without a filter. But it is precisely this unfiltered innocence that cuts the deepest.

Guan Xuelan, who had been preparing to offer a few more words of persuasion, felt her patience instantly evaporate. She shot a dark glare at Gu Xiu’s frozen body. “You open your mouth and all that spills out is ‘Teacher this, Teacher that.’ Is this teacher of yours truly that spectacular?”

“Of course he is!” Little Ping’an nodded proudly. “My teacher said, ‘Those who move others with words leave a shallow mark; those who move others with actions provoke a swift response.’ Every single principle my teacher teaches me, he can achieve himself!”

“You are a Supreme, and you have disciples of your own. Don’t you even understand a simple principle like that? I’m honestly curious—what are your students like?”

Those innocent words plunged Guan Xuelan into a suffocating silence.

She desperately wanted to boast about the magnificence of her personal disciples. But…

When she actually thought about it: her eldest disciple was obstinate and uncompromising; the second was utterly foolish; the third was honey-mouthed but dagger-hearted; the fourth was arrogantly blind to his own flaws; the fifth was hopelessly selfish; the sixth was aloof to the point of isolation; and the seventh was wildly undisciplined…

After racking her brain, the only one she could present without profound embarrassment was Jiang Xun. And yet, her youngest disciple’s very first venture into the mortal world had ended in absolute failure…

Guan Xuelan felt physically ill.

She, a majestic Supreme Venerable, the Sect Leader of the Azure Mystic Sacred Land, had just been rendered completely speechless by the logic of a three-year-old child.

It was uncomfortable. It was deeply infuriating!

“Why isn’t the Supreme speaking anymore?” Little Ping’an asked, genuinely puzzled. “Is it that all Supremes naturally don’t like to talk?”

“Hmph!” Guan Xuelan sneered, her voice trembling with suppressed rage. “There are tens of thousands of profound principles in this world, but the ultimate principle is absolute strength! Your teacher might sound wise, but he is nothing more than a Foundation Establishment ant. What use are his pretty words?”

She raised a single finger, pointing it directly at the spot between Gu Xiu’s eyebrows. “This world respects power above all else. The strong can choose to reason with you… or they can choose to shatter all your ‘reasoning’ with overwhelming force!”

She was a Supreme. She couldn’t win a philosophical debate against a glib toddler. Fine. She wouldn’t debate. She would simply obliterate the girl’s revered teacher right in front of her eyes.

Once his head burst like a ripe melon, the child would finally understand the true, bloody principles of this world!

However…

Just as lethal energy gathered at her fingertip, Guan Xuelan’s expression warped. The immense power swirling around her finger violently destabilized.

Astonished, she snapped her gaze back to Gu Xiu.

The man who had been paralyzed within the Heart-Questioning Sword Domain suddenly blinked. The dull, lifeless glaze over his eyes vanished, replaced instantly by a sharp, transcendent clarity. He had returned.

He… he escaped already?

How much time had passed? Had it even been half the time it takes to brew a cup of tea?

True, the Sword Domain was an esoteric technique that completely bypassed physical cultivation, spiritual realms, and combat power, solely testing the purity and strength of one’s Sword Heart. As long as a cultivator’s comprehension of the Sword Dao was profound enough, they had nothing to fear from the domain.

But… she was a majestic Supreme! The Azure Mystic Supreme!

Her personally manifested Heart-Questioning Sword Domain had failed to trap a lowly Foundation Establishment cultivator for even a fraction of a tea-brewing session?!

No! He didn’t escape!

Guan Xuelan’s Divine Sense frantically scanned the residual energies, and her blood ran cold. He hadn’t just navigated the trials of her domain and walked out.

He had violently, brutally shattered the Sword Domain from the inside out!

He had relied purely on the overwhelming magnitude of his Sword Heart to crush her domain into dust!

What did that mean? It meant that this man’s Sword Heart—his absolute comprehension of the Dao of the Sword—was vastly superior to hers!

How is that possible?!

“An ordinary Foundation Establishment Rogue Cultivator could never possess such ability!” A terrifying, apocalyptic aura erupted from Guan Xuelan’s body, warping the space in the alleyway as she glared at Gu Xiu. “Who are you?!”

In that moment, the terrifying reality finally dawned on her. She had severely, catastrophically underestimated the man standing before her.

No ordinary cultivator could accomplish this. A Foundation Establishment insect possessing a Sword Heart capable of crushing a Supreme’s domain was a logical impossibility!

The Sword Heart was a realm entirely independent of physical cultivation. It measured one’s attunement to the Sword Dao. A higher Sword Heart didn’t magically grant boundless spiritual energy, but it absolutely guaranteed invincibility against peers of the same cultivation level!

The path of the Sword Dao was divided into distinct realms: Budding Sword Intent, Clear Sword Heart, Sword Heart Resonance, and No-Self Sword Dao!

These realms didn’t rely on spiritual roots or physical aptitude; they relied entirely on unadulterated enlightenment. For most, reaching even the lowest tier required centuries of ascetic meditation. Guan Xuelan, despite her status as a Supreme Venerable, had only recently touched the threshold of the No-Self Sword Dao.

It was considered the absolute pinnacle of the Sword Heart. To completely forget oneself, leaving only the Dao of the Sword in one’s soul. Techniques were no longer confined to rigid forms; the cultivator became one with all creation. With a single casual swing, they could sever mountains and part oceans.

Yet, her supreme domain, forged from her No-Self Sword Dao, had been effortlessly obliterated.

That meant this man had transcended the ‘pinnacle’. He had reached the legendary, mythical realm of the Illuminated Sword Heart!

A realm that even Guan Xuelan couldn’t begin to comprehend. How could a Foundation Establishment nobody achieve such a divine state?

Shaking her head to dispel the encroaching dread, a ferocious, murderous light exploded in Guan Xuelan’s eyes. She abandoned all pretense of testing him. Her extended finger thrust forward with lethal intent, aiming directly for his skull.

She had no interest in hearing him speak. She would extract his secrets in the most brutal, efficient way possible.

Soul Search!

But the very instant her finger moved, a catastrophic, suffocating sense of mortal peril erupted from the deepest recesses of her soul…