Severing Ties: The Sect Regrets My Departure Chapter 86

"These two, do they have some private grudge going on in the shadows, deliberately looking for an opportunity to strike?"

"They're going for the kill like this... what kind of deep hatred is this?"

"Isn't the Azure Mystic Sacred Land always preaching unity and brotherhood among disciples? How can they attack each other like this?"

At this moment, watching the two Azure Mystic disciples fighting each other with lethal intent, the people from the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion couldn't help but discuss among themselves. Although they didn't understand the cause, they were greatly shocked.

"Wait, this isn't a fight between fellow disciples!" Su Rumei's eyes narrowed. As a Golden Core expert, she was the first to realize the truth. "It's... an illusion array!"

"What?"

"An illusion array?"

"Oh no, we have to stop them quickly!"

"They absolutely cannot die here!"

Everyone was startled, their initial confusion turning into worry.

The Azure Mystic Sacred Land's reputation for protecting their own was well-known; there were even stories of them slaughtering an entire third-rate sect over a single disciple. If these two were just fighting each other over a grudge, it might be one thing. But if they actually died here because of the Pavilion's illusion array... the consequences would be unthinkable!

Fortunately, they didn't need to remind her.

Su Rumei had already sprung into action. Holding the Array Stabilization Bead Gu Xiu had given her, she charged into the grand array first. This bead was essentially a key; holding it allowed one to move through the array unaffected and even control it to a certain extent.

As she rushed in, the grand array Gu Xiu had set up immediately parted for her. Not daring to delay, she promptly brought the entire formation to a complete halt. The active trapping and illusion arrays stopped immediately.

But... the frenzied Azure Mystic disciple still hadn't stopped.

Even though the illusion array had clearly ended, he continued to attack with ferocious intensity, striking with all his might toward his fellow disciple.

"Stop!" Su Rumei shouted immediately.

It had little effect. In the end, she had no choice but to knock him unconscious before things finally settled down.

Turning her head to look at the aftermath, everyone gasped.

They saw that the disciple who had been trapped by the Mystic Yang Trapping Array earlier now had shattered bones throughout his body. Several sword wounds inflicted by his fellow disciple were bleeding profusely. It was a pitiful sight.

The other frenzied disciple was also extremely weak. He had been channeling spiritual power madly for his attacks earlier, and had even started burning his life force after exhausting his reserves!

If Su Rumei hadn't intervened in time, these two would likely be ghosts by now.

"This... this array is so vicious?"

"I remember... that Feng Bugui... he seemed to have set up three arrays, right? And he hasn't even used the last one yet!"

"He's only at the ninth layer of Qi Condensation, yet his attainments in array formations are already this profound!"

"An array like this... even a Golden Core cultivator trapped within would probably face grave danger!"

At this moment, no one could remain calm.

Previously, they had harbored doubts, thinking that while Feng Bugui might have some skill, he was ultimately just a Qi Condensation cultivator; the arrays he set up shouldn't be that powerful.

But now... seeing this scene before them, they truly understood just how formidable Feng Bugui was in the Dao of Arrays!

Someone like him was simply not someone they were qualified to doubt!

"I don't know why," Shadow suddenly whispered to Su Rumei amidst the flurry of activity tending to the wounded, "but I'm starting to worry if we're getting too close to Feng Bugui."

Su Rumei found it strange. "Why?"

"Don't you think this person's origins are too mysterious?" Shadow asked.

"This..." Su Rumei nodded. Indeed.

Feng Bugui was clearly just a Qi Condensation cultivator, yet he could kill Foundation Establishment cultivators while transcending realms. He could achieve the Unity of Ten Thousand Techniques and even knew Nascent Soul-level powerhouses. More crucially, he could produce so many spirit stones and set up an array that had been in the Azure Mystic Sacred Land's hands five hundred years ago...

All of this didn't seem like something an ordinary Qi Condensation rogue cultivator could accomplish.

Su Rumei raised an eyebrow. "You mean..."

Shadow shook his head with a serious expression. "If he were just an ordinary rogue cultivator, naturally, the higher his potential, the better for us. But what he has shown so far really doesn't resemble a simple rogue cultivator."

"He seems more like a reclusive great power with extraordinary origins and a special past. Someone like that might bring immense dangers along with him in the future."

"If we get too close to such a person, we might suffer a backlash."

These words made Su Rumei fall silent. Shadow's concerns were not without reason.

The Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion was, after all, a merchant association. They wouldn't offend people with potential easily, but neither would they casually take sides without careful consideration. If Feng Bugui truly carried some immense calamity of slaughter with him, then the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion's attitude indeed needed careful thought.

"I know you think highly of him," Shadow reminded her again, "but you must remember you are just a manager. In a few days when the Pavilion Master arrives, their attitude towards this Feng Bugui might be different."

"So," Shadow continued seriously, "it's best you mentally prepare yourself in advance."

Su Rumei pursed her lips and finally nodded. This was indeed something that needed consideration.

"Alright," just as Su Rumei was pondering this, she saw Shadow suddenly smile wryly. "I think our most urgent matter right now isn't Feng Bugui; it's how we're going to explain things to the Azure Mystic Sacred Land next."

The Azure Mystic Sacred Land's protectiveness was notorious. Although these two disciples weren't dead, they were both severely injured. This matter could be big or small; if handled poorly, it could invite disaster.

Su Rumei felt annoyed. "These two Azure Mystic disciples are like dung beetles! If they want to die themselves, then fine! But why drag us into it!"

Cursing aside, she still needed to think of a solution...

While Su Rumei was racking her brains over how to give an explanation to the Azure Mystic Sacred Land later on...

In another place—the backyard of the Listening-to-Rain Pavilion—Gu Xiu had already activated all restrictions and sat cross-legged on the ground.

Before him stood thirty wooden puppets quietly arranged in rows. All these puppets possessed Qi Condensation fifth-layer cultivation uniformly; their bodies were carved densely with intricate yin patterns of the Puppet Dao.

These were puppets crafted using special secret methods. Although not made of bone material per se, functionally speaking, they weren't much different from skeleton warriors.

Deployed onto battlefields, such fearless puppets became lethal weapons. Because each one fought without regard for self-preservation or pain—even facing slightly higher-level cultivators—they could potentially trade injuries for kills effectively.

The key point being: they were cheap.

At least compared to training actual living, breathing Qi Condensation fifth-layer cultivators who would scream out loud upon getting wounded on the battlefield, these puppets offered great cost-effectiveness. Thus, they were always used by major powers and sects as optimal tools for attrition warfare.

However... puppets remain puppets after all. Aside from battlefield utility, these puppets usually didn't serve much purpose.

Because they were originally designed specifically for warfare, they possessed no abilities beyond killing and fighting. They required regular maintenance and oiling during peacetime.

Even on the battlefield itself, puppeteers needed to utilize Spirit Thread Manipulation techniques to control them effectively. More numbers controlled simultaneously imposed higher demands upon the puppeteer's skills.

Normally speaking, then, puppets held little use for Gu Xiu personally.

He didn't know Spirit Thread Manipulation techniques anyway, merely possessing some basic puppet crafting knowledge.

Truthfully speaking, though, puppetry originally started out precisely aiming towards controlling deceased cultivators' physical bodies. Stronger cultivators' corpses remain tougher physically; some even lasting millennia without decaying at all.

Don't let appearances deceive you. Despite appearing wooden and ordinary on the surface, these thirty puppets actually underwent special refining processes, making them functionally equivalent to actual cultivator corpses.

Having arranged these puppets properly, Gu Xiu didn't hesitate further, pulling out his talisman-making materials instead.

He intended to make talismans while conducting some experiments simultaneously.

Thus, seeing Gu Xiu sitting cross-legged and closing his eyes, he sensed the Heavenly Dao Rhyme, instantly triggering the countless-times-before-seen phenomenon once more.

Just like previous times...

The Heavenly Dao Rhyme actively manifested itself, assisting Gu Xiu in imprinting talismans.

But this time around, it differed somewhat from earlier occasions.

After creating several talismans initially, Gu Xiu suddenly opened his eyes again, stopping conscious control over the Heavenly Dao Rhyme. Instead, he turned his head, calling out to the side.

"Little Black!"

"Your turn now!"

Upon hearing these words, the long-awaited Haiji, riding atop a Soul-Tracking Puppet and looking mighty proud, immediately lit up with excitement.