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Join the Server“Take her away.”
Xuanweizi closed his eyes, waving a weary hand.
“Strip her of her cultivation, cast her into the Ice Caverns of Reflection in the back mountains, and imprison her for life.”
Two enforcement disciples stepped forward, dragging Li Wuxia, who had collapsed like a heap of mud, away.
From beginning to end, Gu Chang’an remained motionless, not even glancing at her.
“Sect Master, as for the Penglai Immortal Palace…”
An elder cautiously began to speak.
Snap!
Before his words could fully form, a crisp shattering sound abruptly cut him off. Everyone turned to look, only to see that the Three Pure Jade Talisman, which Gu Chang’an had held in her hand the entire time, was now covered in countless cracks.
At that very moment, it finally gave way, shattering completely into dust that sifted silently through her fingers.
She finally moved.
Slowly, she lifted her head.
“Gu Chang’an.”
She spoke, “From this day forward, I renounce the Qingyun Sect.”
Her single declaration struck like a thunderclap.
“Chang’an, have you lost your mind?!” Xuanweizi sprang from his seat, his face a mask of disbelief. “Renounce the sect?!”
“Senior Sister Gu, you…”
A wave of uproar swept through the great hall. Yet, Gu Chang’an remained oblivious to their exclamations, her gaze calmly sweeping over her master and the elders who had once held her in high esteem.
“Master, esteemed elders.”
“I once wielded my body as a sword, defending the sect and eradicating all evil across the land, all for the sake of peace.”
“Yet, in the end, I couldn’t even protect a single soul beneath my own blade.”
She let out a soft laugh, a sound steeped in boundless self-mockery and sorrow.
“Such a sword Dao, what use is it to me?”
She unfastened Frostbright Sword, the blade that had been her constant companion, from her back and held it level before her chest. The immortal treasure, once gleaming with spiritual light and ringing with a clear resonance, now appeared dull and lifeless, like mere mortal iron.
“This sword is named Frostbright.”
She joined her fingers like a blade, and as everyone watched in utter horror, she pressed a finger onto the sword’s body. A crack instantly spread from the point of her touch, fracturing the entire blade.
“From this day forward, there is no longer a Gu Chang’an of the Qingyun Sect.”
With these words, she turned and walked, step by deliberate step, out of the hall.
“Stop!” Xuanweizi roared, his Void Return Realm Grand Completion aura erupting with explosive force, attempting to bind her in place.
Gu Chang’an stood firm, her body held rigidly upright.
“Master, you cannot stop someone who only wishes to seek death.”
“Besides, I already owe the Qingyun Sect too much. This matter is mine alone.”
Xuanweizi’s outstretched hand froze in mid-air before finally falling in defeat. He stared at the empty doorway of the hall, a look of bewilderment and powerlessness etched onto his aged face.
His most gifted disciple, the future hope of the Qingyun Sect, the next leader of the Three Pure Dao Alliance…
How utterly absurd.
How utterly… tragic.
****
On the shores of the East Sea, amidst the overseas immortal mountains.
Unlike the war-torn Qingzhou Continent, which lay in ruins and awaited rebuilding, Penglai Immortal Palace remained as ever: suffused with immortal aura, a realm where time flowed serenely.
Spiritual mist, unbroken for millennia, wreathed each floating immortal island like a delicate veil. Rainbow bridges connected the islands, spanning a boundless azure sea. Occasionally, immortal birds with vibrant wings would dart across the sky, their clear, melodious calls only enhancing the pure and ethereal tranquility of the place.
This was, in the eyes of the world, a sacred land of immortals, the ancestral home of medical Dao. It was also the most exquisite of cages.
Within Yaoguang Hall, brilliant light shimmered and flowed. Instead of ordinary luminous pearls, the hall’s ceiling was inlaid with hundreds of ‘Mermaid Tears,’ harvested from ten thousand fathoms beneath the deep sea.
Each tear emitted a soft, bright glow, illuminating the entire hall as if it were day, yet without the slightest hint of heat, only a cool, clear radiance. A peculiar fragrance permeated the air—the scent of countless rare spiritual plants blended together.
Even an ordinary cultivator, taking a single breath, would feel their mind clear and their meridians flow freely.
At the head of the hall, Holy Master Yaoguang, the Princess of Penglai, reclined languidly on a throne carved from a single piece of ten-thousand-year-old warm jade. Though her posture was relaxed, a hint of unconcealed satisfaction gleamed in her eyes.
Her gaze was fixed intently on the silent figure standing below.
Shen Zhaoqing.
Or rather, an exquisitely beautiful porcelain doll possessing Shen Zhaoqing’s appearance.
She wore a simple, white cloud-patterned gauze dress, the most common attire for inner disciples of Penglai Immortal Palace. Yet, on her, it took on an ethereal grace.
Her long black hair cascaded like a waterfall, unbound by any coiffure, accentuating the paleness of her small, delicate face. Her skin appeared almost transparent, as if the faint blue veins beneath could be seen.
Those eyes, once holding a hint of indolence and mischief, were now hollow, like two unfathomable ancient wells. The faint, scattered golden flecks deep within her pupils had faded, utterly devoid of their former brilliance.
She simply stood there, silent and still, like a meticulously carved piece of art awaiting placement in a display case.
Perfect.
Truly… too perfect.
Holy Master Yaoguang gazed at her, not seeing a person, but rather a crucial ‘item’ capable of fulfilling her lifelong ambition.
“Zhileng.”
Holy Master Yaoguang finally shifted her gaze from Shen Zhaoqing to the woman beside her, also clad in white, her voice filled with unreserved praise.
“You have done exceptionally well.”
Bai Zhileng lowered her eyes slightly, her soft black hair reaching her waist. A few strands of dazzling silver mingled within, the cost of performing the Severing Sorrow Sealing Heart Seal art.
By sacrificing a century of her own lifespan as a lock, she had forcibly dragged Shen Zhaoqing’s rapidly fading vitality back from the brink of death.
To Holy Master Yaoguang, this trade was an absolute boon. A mere century of lifespan for a complete, living Dao Source Body, for the possibility of refining the Nine Revolutions Soul-Returning Pill, for an opportunity to defy fate and achieve eternal life in this era of crumbling Dao…
“…Worth it,” Holy Master Yaoguang softly uttered two words.
Worth it.
Upon hearing those words, Bai Zhileng’s shoulders trembled almost imperceptibly. Her hand, hidden beneath her wide sleeve, clenched tightly, her fingernails digging deep into her palm, yet she felt no pain.
She did not respond to her master’s praise, nor did she lift her head. She dared not look.
She dared not witness the fervent, determined glint in her master’s eyes, and even less dared to look at Shen Zhaoqing beside her, whom she had personally transformed into a ‘living dead.’
Holy Master Yaoguang seemed to pay no mind to her silence. In her view, Bai Zhileng’s minor emotions were nothing more than a childish, womanly sentimentality, harmless and insignificant. Once her grand endeavor was complete, Bai Zhileng would naturally understand how trivial all the sacrifices made today truly were.
“Now that she has been brought back, there can be no further mistakes,” Holy Master Yaoguang slowly rose from her throne, her tone growing serious. “Before she is placed into the Longevity Cauldron, this peerless great medicine must be absolutely flawless.”
She paced before Bai Zhileng, her gaze sweeping over the silver strand at her temple. She said faintly, “You have expended too much, and your state of mind is unstable. You are no longer suitable to oversee her.”
Bai Zhileng abruptly looked up. “Master, I…”
“Hmm?” Holy Master Yaoguang merely hummed a soft question from her nose, and that gentle gaze instantly carried an undeniable pressure.
Bai Zhileng instantly fell silent. She knew her master had made her decision.
You think this chapter was thrilling? Wait until you read The Moon Reflected In The Water! Click here to discover the next big twist!
Read : The Moon Reflected In The Water
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