At this moment, Gu Xiu’s expression was placid, his aura as calm as a still lake. Yet, the words he had just spoken were utterly arrogant.

“Hmph! I have long heard of Martial Uncle’s reputation for shaking the world five hundred years ago, renowned throughout the jianghu. But as a Junior Disciple, I never witnessed Martial Uncle’s might from back then.”

The disciple from Artifact Resonance Peak snorted coldly and took a bold step forward.

“Today, let this disciple learn from you!”

He was at the late stage of Foundation Establishment. Naturally, he did not fear the mere Qi Condensation Ninth Layer loose cultivator standing before him.

Even if he had to address this person as ‘Martial Uncle’, in the cultivation world, strength was the only currency that commanded respect. Without strength, status was nothing but a flower in a mirror or the moon reflected in water—illusory and fragile.

His aura surged, violent and oppressive, as he launched his attack. He intended to use his cultivation advantage to utterly crush Gu Xiu in a single blow.

As the scene unfolded, Jing Yiwei watched with boundless anticipation.

He had once been scared out of his wits by Gu Xiu, a humiliation that had birthed an Inner Demon. Even moments ago, when Gu Xiu drew his sword, Jing Yiwei had felt a chill of fear.

But that was nothing.

As long as Gu Xiu died—as long as he could hack the corpse into pieces—that fear and those Inner Demons would vanish forever. Jing Yiwei eagerly prayed for his companion to strike true.

However…

In an instant, the grand, imposing aura of the attacking disciple suddenly stagnated. His charging figure froze in mid-motion, as if time itself had stopped.

Jing Yiwei’s heart skipped a beat.

He hadn’t seen clearly what Gu Xiu did. It seemed only a shadow had flashed past, and then his companion stood motionless.

The next second, Jing Yiwei’s pupils abruptly dilated.

A faint crimson line had appeared on his companion’s body.

No! That wasn’t a line!

That was… a sword mark!

Blood seeped out, and the disciple’s figure silently split down the middle, the two halves sliding apart with a wet thud.

Dead.

A late Foundation Establishment cultivator was dead.

Slain instantly by a Qi Condensation cultivator using a method too fast to perceive. Killed with a single, casual strike.

At that moment, Gu Xiu’s indifferent gaze turned toward Jing Yiwei.

It was the same aloofness, the same rippleless calm. Yet, it was precisely this gaze that caused the fear lurking in Jing Yiwei’s heart to explode.

Escape!

Without hesitation, Jing Yiwei spun around, intending to flee. He no longer had any thought of avenging his companion or slaying Gu Xiu for the Elders. He only wanted to live!

Memories of old rumors flooded his mind.

Five hundred years ago, Gu Xiu was a heaven-defying genius who descended like an Immortal, stepping on the bones of contemporary prodigies to ascend toward the pinnacle.

Then, he confined himself in the Forbidden Realm for five centuries. Although no one knew exactly what happened there, many speculated that those years were spent in constant slaughter. Otherwise, how could he possess such terrifying killing intent?

And now… this person had returned to the path of cultivation.

Jing Yiwei couldn’t process it. He had no time to think. He only wanted to be far away—to escape the valley, escape the Azure Mystic Sacred Land, escape the Eastern Wastelands entirely!

Terror fueled his flight. Even with his late Foundation Establishment cultivation, he couldn’t muster a shred of courage to fight back.

Suddenly, a sharp sword intent swept across his consciousness.

Jing Yiwei’s vision began to spin wildly.

He saw the valley’s wildflowers. He saw the stars in the sky.

He saw his own headless corpse sprinting forward before collapsing.

And he saw… Gu Xiu, still as indifferent as still water.

In his final moment of life, the fear that had wrapped Jing Yiwei suddenly vanished.

He felt a strange excitement.

He thought of all that the Azure Mystic Sacred Land had done to Gu Xiu. He thought of those within the sect who had never respected him.

Gu Xiu… perhaps very soon… will make those people keep me company in death.

Does that mean… I will not walk the Yellow Springs alone?

Tch!

With a light sound, Gu Xiu casually severed the talismanic seals emerging from the corpses of the two disciples.

This was a unique method of the Azure Mystic Sacred Land. When a disciple was slain, these seals would manifest, allowing the sect to glimpse the circumstances of their death and track the killer.

Gu Xiu was a loose cultivator now; he had no wish to be tracked.

As for what the disciples thought before dying—to Gu Xiu, it held no meaning whatsoever.

Those who wish to kill me, I kill them.

This was Gu Xiu’s Dao.

Whether his enemies felt fear or regret in their final moments was none of his concern.

However, not long after the Shadow Chasing Sword shattered the seals, they began to restore themselves. The methods of a Sacred Land were stubborn; ordinary means couldn’t easily erase them.

Fortunately, Gu Xiu had once been a Sacred Land disciple. He understood these seals well. If one continuously wore them down and refined them, they could eventually be eradicated.

It just so happened that this place already had isolation arrays set up.

Gu Xiu wasn’t in a hurry. He sat down cross-legged, summoned a stream of his own talismans, and began to bombard the seals relentlessly.

As he worked, his gaze drifted toward the direction of the Azure Mystic Sacred Land.

“Xu Wanqing.”

“I have already signed the Sect Severance Treaty; our grievances should have ended there. But since you still move against me…”

“Then, in this lifetime…”

“I will surely kill you!”

Meanwhile, at the Azure Mystic Sacred Land.

On Jade Pill Peak, where countless spiritual herbs filled the air with fragrance, Third Senior Sister Xu Wanqing was unusually absent from her refining chambers.

Instead, she sat before a small earthen mound in the back mountain of the peak, silently carving a wooden board in her hands.

She carved with great seriousness, her eyes revealing a trace of grim determination.

Finally, the carving was complete. Xu Wanqing looked at the characters upon it.

Her face showed reluctance, and her eyes held a pained compassion, as if she were tormented to the extreme.

But in the end, she took a deep breath, picked up the wooden board, and erected it before the mound.

It was a tombstone.

Upon it, eight large characters stood stark and cold:

Sect-Abandoner Gu Xiu’s Tomb

The moment the tombstone was erected, the heavens responded.

Auras suppressed to their limit began to gather in the sky above. Streaks of thunder dragons wove through the clouds, bringing with them low rumbles that sounded like the whispers of doom.

It felt as if at any moment, thunder dragons would descend to annihilate the Azure Mystic Sacred Land.

Facing this overwhelming pressure, Xu Wanqing’s face turned deathly pale. However, the compassion and reluctance in her eyes instantly transformed into cold severity.

“What I did is not wrong!” she declared firmly to the empty air.

“His death…”

“Is simply the best outcome!”

The moment those words left her mouth, the heavenly thunder dragon seemed thoroughly enraged.

It no longer hid within the dense clouds. Instead, it transformed into countless bolts of lightning, striking directly toward Xu Wanqing!

This bolt carried force enough to move mountains.

It carried… world-annihilating power!

The Azure Mystic Sacred Land being struck by lightning wasn’t unprecedented, but such terrifying thunderous might was absolutely unheard of in history.

These thunder dragons were immensely thick, carrying a soul-shattering pressure that incited panic throughout the entire sect.

“Thunder annihilates worlds! Thunder annihilates worlds!”

“Is Heaven going to destroy our Azure Mystic?”

“Our Sacred Land has always been righteous! Why would such a terrifying heavenly tribulation appear?”

“What is happening?”

“It’s over! We’re all going to die!”

Countless disciples prostrated themselves on the ground, trembling uncontrollably, panic-stricken to the extreme.

A soaring rainbow radiance instantly appeared within the sect—dazzling, brilliant, impossible to look at directly. It was the strongest person of the Azure Mystic Sacred Land.

Guan Xuelan!

However, upon seeing the countless bolts of lightning, even Guan Xuelan’s face instantly revealed horror.

That was… Jade Pill Peak!

Without hesitation, Guan Xuelan’s figure flickered, instantly arriving before Jade Pill Peak. But just as she was about to step forward to intervene, a stray flash of lightning struck toward her.

Guan Xuelan immediately retreated, severing her connection to the heavenly thunder.

She stood aside, her face filled with shock.

This majestic heavenly might made her heart tremble with fear!

Even Guan Xuelan had a terrifying premonition: If I get too deeply involved, my own Ascension Immortal Tribulation will be triggered. If that happens, not only will I be lost…

The entire Azure Mystic Sacred Land will be annihilated.

Where did such a tribulation come from?

And within such a storm… was Xu Wanqing still alive?

Guan Xuelan didn’t know. But in that moment, fear was birthed in her heart.

Because during her brief entanglement with the heavenly tribulation, she had a momentary enlightenment.

The Azure Mystic Sacred Land… will ultimately be destroyed by our own hands!