Bao Gu, meditating in her room with her eyes closed, was jolted awake by a fluctuation in the aura of the Qingzhou Grand Formation. She suddenly opened her eyes and saw Zi Yunshu assume the form of a flood dragon and race out of the Cloud Sea Forest.
Qing Ying stood there, staring down in astonishment at the precious pill cradled in her arms. She then blankly glanced toward the direction Zi Yunshu had gone before turning to look at Bao Gu. Bao Gu knew Qing Ying had noticed her gaze.
She rose and slowly stepped out of the room with a soft sigh. She placed the sliced Earth Immortal meat and the prepared spiritual treasures and medicines into the cauldron. Once everything was inside, she sat down beside the table in the courtyard and let out another heavy sigh.
Qing Ying had never seen Bao Gu look so exhausted and dejected. She stared at her.
“What’s wrong?”
As soon as she spoke, a tear slipped from the corner of Bao Gu’s eye. Qing Ying was startled.
“Are you crying? Why? What happened? Don’t worry, I have the Imperial Cauldron. The Qingzhou Grand Formation can’t hurt me. Uh, well, I didn’t pick these spiritual medicines. I’m not a thief, and I didn’t steal anything…”
The more she spoke, the harder Bao Gu cried. Qing Ying was completely flustered.
“What is wrong with you?”
She thought for a moment, then said:
“Oh, I know! The Sect Master is cleaning house! Well, let him clean house. He can’t touch you anyway. Even a thousand Grandmasters couldn’t beat you.”
A haughty voice suddenly rang out from outside the Cloud Sea Forest.
“Senior Sister, Master says that if you don’t like handling sect affairs, you should stay in the Cloud Sea Forest and focus on refining artifacts. Don’t meddle with Yu Mi and the others. Master also says that we’re all disciples of the Xuantian Sect. As long as we admit our mistakes, he’ll be lenient.”
Immediately afterward, Zi Yunshu shouted:
“Are you out of your mind? Do you have a death wish?”
Another voice called out:
“Senior Sister, didn’t you say that even if we reached the Earth Immortal realm, attacked Lingyun Peak, and managed to escape alive, you would let us cut off your head and kick it around like a ball? You’re Master’s biological daughter. If your head were cut off, how heartbroken would Master be?”
Qing Ying raised her head and narrowed her eyes. She saw countless warships hovering in the sky overhead, forming a Domain-Sealing Formation that trapped the mountain where they were.
She raised a finger and counted. There were actually more than a hundred.
Only then did she understand why her bargain-bin master was crying.
“Don’t cry. I’ll wipe them out!”
Bao Gu caught Qing Ying by the arm and held her back. She gently shook her head.
“Let’s wait and see. I’ve already informed Yu Jianming and had him warn the disciples below the peak to prepare. I’m only a little sad.”
Her heart ached as though someone were cutting it apart with a blunt knife, one stroke after another, while a deep weariness spread through her.
She still clearly remembered how weak she had been when she first entered the Xuantian Sect. Whenever she was attacked, all she could do was throw the Nascent Soul talismans her Grandmaster had given her at her enemies. Without her Grandmaster, Martial Uncle Feng, Senior Sister, and the others protecting her, she would never have survived to this day.
She remembered even more clearly how much hope Grandmaster had placed in her back then. Whenever she was in danger, they had always protected her without holding anything back.
She had wanted to repay that kindness. She wanted to repay the care and cultivation they had given her. She wanted to repay them and let them live good lives.
Grandmaster had suffered poverty and hardship for so long that he placed great importance on cultivation resources. Like her, he had also wanted to revive the Xuantian Sect.
She had founded the Axe Gang and used it to support the Xuantian Sect, turning that support into a standing arrangement so that the sect would never again lack cultivation resources.
But she had forgotten that it was better to teach someone how to fish than simply give them a fish. She had forgotten that a small favor earned gratitude, while excessive charity bred resentment. She had forgotten that power was the thing in this world most likely to make people lose themselves.
She had forgotten how her Senior Sister had told her again and again that countless Dao companions, relatives, friends, fellow disciples, and elders had turned against one another over profit. That was why her Senior Sister would rather remain alone than be burdened by ties.
And today, she had driven Grandmaster to the point of taking the perilous step of using the Qingzhou Grand Formation against them!
Even when Bao Gu had been adrift in the starry sky with no hope or way out, she had never felt so desperate. Back then, she had believed that as long as she remained alive, there would still be hope.
But now, she no longer knew why she had worked and fought so hard to build this foundation.
What use was reviving the Xuantian Sect? What use was building a realm-breaking gate and opening a path to the Upper Realm?
Fellow disciples slaughtering one another, friends and teachers turning against each other!
Qing Ying had never seen Bao Gu so heartbroken. This was even worse than when they had drifted through the starry sky and Bao Gu had mentioned Yu Mi. Seeing her like this made Qing Ying want to cry too.
After a long while, Bao Gu drew a deep breath and forcibly steadied her emotions. She slowly rose and walked step by step out of the Cloud Sea Forest.
Then she moved at tremendous speed, skirting the domain formed by the hundred warships, each equipped with a Saint artifact. She lightly tapped the ground with each step, covering more than ten li at a time. After only a few steps, she appeared in Xuantian Square.
Tens of thousands of disciples in Xuantian Square were completely dumbstruck by the spectacle.
The observation platform had been sealed and locked down by the fleet formation. Several Saint artifacts, powered by the warships and fully charged, were aimed at the platform.
Everyone on it had been bound without putting up the slightest resistance, including her Senior Sister, Yu Mi.
The moment Bao Gu appeared, the warships and Saint artifacts all turned toward her and locked on.
A voice full of warning shouted:
“Bao Gu, Master says that anyone who abandons resistance and surrenders voluntarily will be treated leniently. Anyone who dares resist will be killed without exception!”
Another arrogant voice rang out from one of the warships:
“Bao Gu, aren’t you supposed to be Patriarch Xuantian’s direct disciple, with battle prowess that defies the heavens? Aren’t you supposed to be the Axe Token Lord who can wipe out an entire faction single-handedly? Show us what you can do!”
“Shut up!”
Zi Tianjun’s furious roar rang out. Immediately afterward, he descended from the sky in a purple robe and landed before the observation platform, standing there with imposing majesty.
Bao Gu looked up at Zi Tianjun.
“Grandmaster, only a few days ago, we were saying that we must not forget our true hearts or our original intentions.”
Zi Tianjun stared at her sternly.
“Then are your true feelings and original intentions to drive your Grandmaster out of the sect? Now that your wings have grown strong enough to fly, is there no room left even for your Grandmaster?”
“Father! This was all my doing! Cultivation is supposed to lead to immortality. Are you really going to give up becoming an immortal just to be Sect Master?”
Zi Tianjun shot Zi Yunshu an angry look.
“Be quiet. I’ll settle accounts with you later.”
Zi Yunshu was so angry that she wanted to extend her claws and scratch her father a few times.
Bao Gu stared at Zi Tianjun without blinking. Her eyes were bleak and desolate.
Suddenly, she felt that it was not her Grandmaster who had grown old, but she herself.
Her heart was filled with desolation. It was as if she had been thrown into late autumn; a bleak chill seeped from within her and radiated outward.
When Yu Mi saw the sorrow and isolation in Bao Gu’s eyes, her own eyes stung. She knew Bao Gu was stubborn to a fault, especially when it came to her feelings. She called out:
“Bao Gu.”
“Don’t take it to heart. Grandmaster is only dissatisfied with us because we went too far. He never intended to do anything to us. He was only warning us.”
Bao Gu looked at Yu Mi helplessly.
“Senior Sister, what am I supposed to do? What stands before me is sectmates killing one another. What am I supposed to do? Draw my sword against him? Kill him and all the disciples under him with a single stroke? He’s my Grandmaster! Or should I turn around and leave? What will happen to Xuantian Sect’s foundation?”
“For the sake of profit, Dao companions turn against each other, masters and disciples become enemies, and brothers and blood relatives fight one another to the death. Whose interests have I gotten in the way of? I only wanted to make the Xuantian Sect stronger. I only wanted to preserve the Xuantian Sect so that Patriarch Xuantian would still have an inheritance in this realm!”
She looked toward Zi Tianjun and cried:
“I can leave, can’t I? I can get the hell out of the Xuantian Sect, can’t I?”
She closed her eyes in pain.
“Grandmaster, release Senior Sister and the others. Let them go. I’ll leave with them and never set foot in the Xuantian Sect again. Isn’t that what you want?”
“Little Martial Aunt!”
Bao Gu closed her eyes and shook her head, her thoughts in complete turmoil.
“What else can I do if I don’t leave? Kill them?”
Several of the disciples under Zi Tianjun could not hide their delight.
One disciple called out:
“You may leave, but you are not allowed to take anything belonging to the Xuantian Sect. The Xuantian Library, the mountain-protecting formation, and the Xuantian Sword must remain.”
Yu Jianming shouted furiously:
“You fucking bastard! Keep dreaming!”
Another disciple called out:
“Bao Gu, you plotted rebellion and intended to depose the Sect Master. Why shouldn’t the Xuantian Sect take back everything it bestowed on you? Isn’t that right, everyone?”
As he spoke, he summoned a treasured sword and walked toward Yu Mi with it in hand. He was just about to press it against Yu Mi’s neck when Zi Tianjun swept out a sleeve.
A powerful force lashed through the air and sent him flying. The disciple crashed heavily to the ground and rolled several times before regaining his balance. Looking up at Zi Tianjun, he cried:
“Master!”
Another of the Sect Master’s disciples stepped forward.
“Grandmaster, don’t listen to Bao Gu. Yu Mi and Yu Jianming are in our hands. Bao Gu is holding back because of them. Otherwise, hmph, she would have attacked already.”
Zi Yunshu looked at Zi Tianjun and shouted:
“Father, don’t you know what kind of person Bao Gu is? Take another look at the sort of people under your command!”
Then she raised her voice.
“Fine. Today, your daughter is going to ask you one thing. Even if Bao Gu couldn’t bear to fight and was willing to hand over everything, even if she gave up the Xuantian Sword, the Xuantian Library, and the mountain-protecting formation, how are you going to answer to the Founding Ancestress?”
She gave a mocking laugh.
“If we all leave, what are you going to do? Are you counting on this group of Sect Master’s disciples, who know nothing but sowing discord, to shoulder the Xuantian Sect’s foundation and future?”
“Father, look at the people surrounding you. Now look at the people you’ve tied up! Martial Uncle Chen has withdrawn from the world and no longer appears. Martial Uncle Feng no longer speaks. Feng Menglong, Yu Mi, Wen Zixuan, and the other second-generation disciples have long grown accustomed to silence. You’ve chilled Bao Gu’s heart to the core!”
“Father, with your Void Tearing cultivation and a group of Deity Transformation disciples, do you really think you can establish a foothold in the cultivation world? Leave the Xuantian Sword behind? It stood in the Bamboo Sea Forbidden Land for countless tens of thousands of years. Who ever drew it? If Bao Gu had not pulled out that sword, would the Xuantian Sect still exist? It would have been crushed long ago by the Taiyin Gate, that no-account little cultivation sect!”
“You’ve grown accustomed to throwing your weight around. You hold a lofty position and great authority, and a crowd of disciples flatter and fawn over you. What are they after? The position of Young Sect Master!”
“Yu Mi can give up that position. We can walk away right now. A-Sheng and I are demon cultivators anyway. We can seek refuge in the Demon Domain and ascend through a ready-made realm-breaking gate.”
“Bao Gu, if it hadn’t been for Yu Mi, you would never have needed to break through the boundary and return. Wouldn’t it have been better to remain in the Savage Realm, where cultivation is easier, a ready-made realm-breaking gate is available, and there is an inheritance from the Upper Realm’s War King Manor?”
“Yu Mi has never had the patience to deal with this kind of nonsense. If it weren’t for you and Bao Gu, she would have left long ago. The world outside is vast and carefree. She wouldn’t have to use the things she fought tooth and nail to obtain to feed a pack of ungrateful wolves while suffering this humiliation here!”
“And in return, this is how you treat everyone!”
She shook her head in utter disappointment and said to Bao Gu:
“What are you waiting for? Rescue them yourself. We’re leaving!”
Zi Yunshu’s shout jolted Bao Gu back to herself. Her mind cleared, and she immediately acted.
She raised a hand and made a grabbing motion. A surge of energy swept out, and everyone who had been bound on the observation platform was instantly pulled before her.
She crooked a finger, sending a sheet of sword intent swirling out and shredding every Immortal-Binding Cord around them.
Zi Tianjun snapped back to reality.
“Shu’er!”
The sudden turn of events drained the color from the faces of all the Sect Master’s disciples. One of them shouted:
“Not good!”
Another shouted an order:
“Quick! Use the warships to bombard them!”
Zi Tianjun struck the disciple who had given the order with a palm, sending him tumbling away.
“None of you move!”
He shouted:
“Shu’er—”
But a Sect Master’s disciple aboard one of the warships directly took control of it and fired its Saint artifact at Bao Gu and the others.
When Zi Tianjun saw what was happening, he was consumed by rage.
“How dare you! Stop—”
Seeing the power of the Saint artifact bearing down on them, Bao Gu summoned the Xuantian Sword and slashed at the incoming blast.
At the same time, she unleashed the power throughout her body and formed a Sword Domain that sealed Xuantian Square completely. Otherwise, who knew how many disciples would have perished if that attack had struck the square?
Zi Yunshu, Yu Mi, Yu Jianming, and the other disciples were all enraged. They had already decided to leave, yet these people were still using a warship to blast them to death, without caring in the slightest whether the low-level disciples nearby lived or died!
The attack had come too suddenly. In their fury, they had only had time to protect the disciples in Xuantian Square first.
But just as they moved, they discovered that an even more powerful, overwhelming force had already shielded the square.
At the same time, the warship above the square that had fired the Saint artifact was torn apart by a mighty sword intent with irresistible force.
The enormous hundred-zhang warship was reduced in an instant to countless fragments that rained down through the air. The Saint artifact aboard it was blasted into powder.
As for the people on the hundred-zhang warship, every one of them was pulverized.
The spectacle left everyone in Xuantian Square stunned.
Was that the power of a single sword strike? Was she even human?
Yu Mi and Zi Yunshu recovered quickly. They had personally witnessed the Archaic Mountain Range being shattered. For the Xuantian Sword to split apart a Saint artifact and an ordinary hundred-zhang warship in one stroke was nothing remarkable.
But aside from Yu Mi, Zi Yunshu, and a few others, many of the disciples present had never seen anything like this. A Saint artifact was, in their eyes, an invincible and unbeatable existence.
In an instant, everyone looked at Bao Gu as if they had seen a ghost.
Zi Yunshu recovered and secretly sent a voice transmission to those beside her:
“My dad was incited by others, and then my rambling made it impossible for him to save face, so he did this foolish thing. Let’s just scare him a little and leave it at that, all right? Are we really going to leave? Wouldn’t that be exactly what certain people want?”
Yu Mi said:
“As you said, Grandmaster’s actions have indeed chilled our hearts.”
Zi Tianjun’s face was livid. He looked at Bao Gu, Yu Mi, Zi Yunshu, and his many granddisciples standing in the center of the Sword Domain, and suddenly tasted the bitterness of being abandoned by everyone.
Bao Gu stood in Xuantian Square and gazed at Zi Tianjun from afar.
“These are the disciples under your command. They can disregard the lives of their fellow sect members, disregard the lives of all the low-level disciples around us, and fire without a thought simply to wipe us out.”
“Grandmaster, how can you face the fellow disciples who died defending the Xuantian Sect all those years ago? How can you face the Xuantian Sect? Can you truly claim to have a clear conscience?”
“Grandmaster, I have wronged you. I should never have given you so many cultivation resources. I should never have let the Xuantian Sect settle near the Axe Gang’s headquarters, sheltered by the Gang and free from the slightest threat. My consideration was inadequate and my arrangements were too careless. That is what brought us to this point.”
“From now on, the Xuantian Sect is in your hands. The Axe Gang will no longer provide the slightest assistance. The sect has to walk its own path; only then can it stand steadily and securely.”
“As for Patriarch Xuantian’s inheritance, you need not worry. Even if the Xuantian Sect were completely wiped out, even if the inheritance in this realm were severed, the Patriarch’s legacy would never be lost.”
“I am taking the Xuantian Sword and the Xuantian Library with me. They were left to me by my Master, not to the Xuantian Sect.”
She raised a hand, and the Xuantian Library, shrinking to the size of a small seal, flew over from the air and landed in her palm. She let out a heavy sigh.
“Go ahead and set up a mountain-protecting formation. I will separate the territory occupied by the Xuantian Sect from the Qingzhou Grand Formation.”
