A useless person with five spiritual roots? I sacrificed the proud daughter of heaven.

His throat had been slashed by Zhao Yanran, leaving him only able to make a hoarse, gritty sound. As soon as he spoke, he instinctively covered his entire body, but couldn't help but peek at Xuanxiao and Zhao Yanran from the corner.

Xuanxiao paused, glanced at the tattered cloth peeking out from the corner, and looked away in disgust.

“Yanran, Chu Heng has committed heinous crimes and harmed his fellow disciples. He has been expelled from the Qingyun Sect and is no longer my disciple. You must never come to this Cliff of Repentance again, lest he corrupt you!”

Zhao Yanran raised her head and looked at Xuanxiao with admiration: "Master, I understand."

Chu Heng stood there, stunned. He watched Zhao Yanran and Xuan Xiao's departing figures, then looked down at his own broken body.

He always thought that his master punished him so severely to protect his junior sister, but he still cared about him as a disciple.

But it turned out that they didn't want her anymore.

Master...

Yanran...

Chu Heng curled up into a ball, his whole body trembling uncontrollably. He kept banging his head against the protruding rocks on the cliff, as if this could alleviate some of the pain in his heart.

"You haven't finished eating the mermaid meat from before, have you?"

"Not yet! Master, if I just come out of the Cliff of Repentance like this, won't the sect and the elders blame you?"

"Of course not. With me here, those old guys won't dare say anything even if they're unhappy."

Xuanxiao looked at Zhao Yanran's cultivation level at the early stage of the Golden Core realm and handed the storage bag to her with satisfaction.

"Keep eating the mermaid meat. In the end, it's because your cultivation is inferior to Sheng He's. Otherwise, how could she dare to bully you again and again? This time you missed the trip to Wuling Valley, so I'm afraid your cultivation will fall far behind."

Zhao Yanran clenched her fist, a trace of unwillingness flashing in her eyes. She had forgotten that the Wuling Valley was opening during this period, and it would be sixty years before it opened again. If Sheng He obtained the Golden Stone this time, wouldn't the difference in their cultivation levels be even greater?

Xuanxiao observed Zhao Yanran's changing expression, gently curled his lips, patted Zhao Yanran's shoulder, and comforted her, "Don't be afraid, your master is here. If this mermaid is finished, your master will go to the Eastern Sea to catch a few more for you."

Why go to the eastern seas?

"Master, isn't there a ready-made one right here?"

Zhao Yanran narrowed her eyes, staring at A Yuan in the distance. If she remembered correctly, this mermaid was the one next to Sheng He on Dragon Island.

"Yes, I will get you whatever you want, so you must not slack off."

Xuanxiao stared greedily at Zhao Yanran, like a starving man seeing a piece of fat meat in front of him, making no attempt to hide the desire in his eyes.

……

On the tenth day, Tianyu staggered back to the Qingyun Sect. He collapsed in front of the medicine garden, still clutching the roots of several dark blue plants tightly in his hand.

As Jinglan helped Tianyu up, he was still muttering to himself, "Xiaolan, Luoling and I have no relation. It was only because Master said she was my junior sister that I took extra care of her. Xiaolan, please don't be angry with me anymore."

Jinglan paused in supporting Tianyu, then looked down at Tianyu, whose eyes were tightly closed and whose body was covered in blood. Upon closer inspection, the bloodstains did not seem to be on Tianyu's body, but rather applied later.

So Jinglan let go of his hand without hesitation.

With a thud, Tianyu fell to the ground. Jinglan didn't even glance at him. She snatched the several high-quality sandalwood plants from his hand, kicked him a few times, and then gracefully walked into the herb garden.

Tianyu, peeking out with one eye, thought: Huh? Something's not right! Shouldn't she feel sorry for me, pity me, and then forgive me? Why isn't Jinglan following the script?!

After taking the Nine-Bend Purple Essence Pill, Sheng He stayed in the herb garden for a full month before she felt that her injuries had completely healed. Perhaps because all three of her spiritual roots had been tempered, although her cultivation level had almost dropped to the Foundation Establishment stage this time, it quickly recovered after refining the gold and stone.

Just as her injuries were healing, Sheng He heard that Zhao Yanran had been secretly taken out of the Cliff of Contemplation by Xuan Xiao.

Along with this news came the news that Chu Heng had committed suicide at the Cliff of Contemplation, but this news did not cause much of a stir and quietly disappeared amidst the envious voices of Zhao Yanran breaking through to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm.

Sheng He touched the sword wound on her arm. For more than a month, she had deliberately left the wound untreated, and now it had become festering and looked particularly gruesome.

Without hesitation, Sheng He took Mu Yao, Yun Qianshan, and Shen Ci to the Discipline Department.

Sheng He dared not hesitate, fearing that if she hesitated even a moment longer, Xuan Xiao would find an opportunity to kill her again.

Only when Xuanxiao is preoccupied with his own problems can she seize the opportunity to go to the Boundless Sea and obtain the Azure Flame True Fire; otherwise... she fears she will live in Xuanxiao's shadow for the rest of her life.

Inside the Discipline Department, Sheng He recounted everything that had happened on Xiaoxiang Terrace. She showed the sword wound on her arm and specifically mentioned that Xuan Xiao had left a ring on Xiaoxiang Terrace—a water-green ring.

Xuanxiao never showed that ring to anyone, keeping it close to his body. The sect leader had only seen it once by chance, and immediately believed Sheng He's words to a large extent.

He looked at Shen Ci, who was lying on the ground, half-dead and with lifeless eyes, and then at Sheng He, who was standing straight in the center of the Discipline Department. He wearily pinched the bridge of his nose.

Why is it that the Xuanxiao lineage is always at odds with Shenghe?

First there were two apprentices, and when those two apprentices failed, they changed masters.

They are both disciples of the Qingyun Sect and both outstanding talents of their generation, so why must they fight to the death?

The sect leader sighed and glanced around discreetly. Fortunately, the elder of the Discipline Department had only invited him.

There was hardly anyone in the Discipline Department at the moment. Apart from him, the three elders of the Discipline Department, Sheng He and the other two, and Shen Ci, there was no one else.

The sect leader approached Sheng He and said earnestly, "Sheng He, I know you have been wronged. Xuan Xiao's actions were indeed improper, but at least you are still standing here safely."

"What does the sect leader mean by this? If Elder Tianyu hadn't risked his life to retrieve the sandwood foot from the depths of the desert, Xiaohe would still be unconscious!"

"That's right, Sect Master. Immortal Venerable Xuanxiao almost strangled me to death. Don't you want to care anymore?"

Yun Qianshan and Mu Yao became excited instantly, but the sect leader still gently comforted them.

“You are still young and do not yet know what this matter means. If I punish Xuanxiao for this, once the news gets out, not only will the Qingyun Sect lose face, but Xuanxiao will also be despised by everyone.”

“Xuanxiao has been emotionally unstable lately. If he were to be provoked into demonic possession... the consequences would be unimaginable for the entire righteous path! On the contrary, Xuanxiao is the number one swordsman in the world. As long as he is alive, Qingyun Sect will always be the number one sect in the world, which will also benefit you!”