A One-Year Pact

Elder Xing Yun knew that it was no longer very likely that he could follow the original plan, cripple Su Chen's dantian, and drive him out of the sect.

But he still had ways to place some obstacles in Su Chen's path of cultivation, ensuring that Su Chen could not surpass his beloved disciple, Lu Yuan.

"Although Su Chen escaped the fate of having his dantian crippled, the punishment of becoming a menial disciple is no light matter. He must do chores for a year and cannot cultivate."

"A former genius reduced to a menial servant—ordinary people could never bear such a fall."

"He deserves it! Who told him to hide his secrets? His cultivation improved so quickly, and he even knew alchemy, yet he never gave us fellow disciples a helping hand. Pah!"

Many disciples had long been green with envy over the exceptionally gifted Su Chen. Now that they had a chance to kick a man when he was down, they naturally had no qualms about giving him another shove from behind.

Su Chen gave a cold laugh. He had long expected that Elder Xing Yun could not be brought down so easily by a minor disciple with no background like him.

If an elder wielding real power and capable of summoning wind and rain could be toppled so easily, then the Orthodox Unity Sect would not be the greatest sect within three thousand li.

"Enough, Su Chen. Pack your things and go down the mountain to the Menial Academy!"

Elder Xing Yun spoke with a sneer. As a powerful elder of the Orthodox Unity Sect, so long as he had a suitable excuse, suppressing a minor disciple like Su Chen was no difficult matter.

Su Chen wanted to fight him? He was still far too green!

Yet just as Elder Xing Yun was feeling smug and pleased with himself—

Su Chen's calm voice rang out once more, and what he said again left everyone utterly stunned.

"From today onward, I withdraw from the Orthodox Unity Sect."

What!

No one could believe their ears.

Su Chen was leaving the Orthodox Unity Sect?

So many people within a thousand li dreamed of squeezing their way into this sect, yet he could simply say he was leaving as though it were nothing?

Elder Xing Yun was also stunned. He snapped angrily, "Su Chen, what did you say?"

"You went to such lengths to frame me. Was it not all to make me leave the Orthodox Unity Sect? As it happens, I never held the Orthodox Unity Sect in my eyes anyway."

"A mere Orthodox Unity Sect—I withdraw."

Su Chen cast one final icy glance over the people in the great hall, put away the Qi-Gathering Pills he had refined, then turned and left without another word.

Even after Su Chen had completely walked out of the great hall, everyone present—

was still steeped in profound shock.

Today, they had not only witnessed Su Chen's long-hidden skill in alchemy, but also watched him withdraw from the Orthodox Unity Sect!

The status of an Orthodox Unity Sect disciple, so envied in the eyes of others, seemed to Su Chen like a pile of trash that could be discarded at any moment.

Just as he had said, he did not hold a mere Orthodox Unity Sect in his eyes!

Yet before the crowd had fully recovered their senses, a mountain-guarding disciple hurried up from below the mountain, holding a scroll high in his hand. "Reporting to Elder, this is the last thing Su Chen left behind before departing the sect. He asked this disciple to deliver it to you!"

Still burning with rage, Elder Xing Yun casually accepted the scroll and unfurled it.

The words on the scroll nearly made Elder Xing Yun faint from anger!

Nineteen startling characters were written upon it in dripping ink:

"One year from now, I shall return, flatten the Orthodox Unity Sect, and kill Elder Xing Yun and Lu Yuan!"

Those nineteen characters once again filled everyone present with boundless horror!

It had to be said that Su Chen's nerve was truly enormous.

"Outrageous!"

Elder Xing Yun slammed his palm heavily onto the table before him, sending wood chips flying everywhere. He was about to order someone to capture that little wretch Su Chen and drag him back.

But by then, Su Chen had already left the sect and vanished without a trace.

"Master, this is merely the pitiful clamor of a loser. Why should you take it to heart?"

Lu Yuan smiled with refined elegance, his gaze brimming with contempt as he tried to persuade him.

Elder Xing Yun quickly calmed down. He also knew that the words on Su Chen's scroll could never come true.

A fifteen-year-old minor disciple, now without the secret manuals and resources of the Orthodox Unity Sect—never mind one year, even ten years would never be enough for him to grow to the point where he could stand on equal footing with the Orthodox Unity Sect.

His clamor could only be the mad ravings of someone doomed never to fulfill them.

After calming down, Elder Xing Yun pondered for a moment, then sneered. "Fine. Then this old man shall wait and see just how far he can get in one year!"

In any case, although reality had deviated somewhat from their plan, they had still achieved part of their goal—making Su Chen leave the Orthodox Unity Sect!

With that, Lu Yuan's position as the Orthodox Unity Sect's chief disciple could no longer be shaken by anyone.

After leaving the Orthodox Unity Sect, Su Chen began considering where to go next.

His short-term goal was simple: within one year, flatten the Orthodox Unity Sect and personally kill Elder Xing Yun and Lu Yuan, the two enemies from his previous life.

If others learned of this, they would likely think he was talking in his sleep. But Su Chen knew that one year might even be more than enough.

In this life, his dantian had not been crippled as it had in his previous life. That meant all the vast, ocean-like collection of cultivation techniques and martial skills he had mastered in his previous life could be cultivated again in this one.

In this life, he was no longer a cripple of the martial path.

In this life, he would surely live a hundred times more brilliantly than before.

That was Su Chen's confidence!

Su Chen's most urgent task now was to find a place to settle down.

He could not return to his Lineage in Duyang City for the time being. If his parents, who loved him dearly, learned that he had suddenly left the Orthodox Unity Sect, they would surely worry.

"Just as in my previous life, I'll go to my aunt's home in Clear River City."

Su Chen made his decision.

Using what little money he had left, he hired a carriage. In less than half a day, he arrived at Clear River City on the outskirts of the Profound Clear Mountains at noon.

Clear River City was one of the thirty-six cities under the rule of the Cloud Abyss Empire. Su Chen's mother's younger sister, Xu Yin, lived there.

In his previous life, after leaving the Orthodox Unity Sect, Su Chen had likewise come to Clear River City to seek refuge with his aunt.

However, he had not left the Orthodox Unity Sect willingly in his previous life. His dantian had been crippled, and he had been driven out.

One could imagine how destitute he had been then. While staying at his aunt's home, he had suffered no small number of cold stares and special treatment.

But in this life, everything would be different.

"This place will be the starting point of my life."

"Ye Family of Clear River City, Wang Family—we'll settle our accounts slowly in this life!"

Su Chen murmured softly as he walked into Clear River City.

The Jiang Family of Clear River City was one of the three great Lineages, standing alongside the Ye Family and Wang Family.

With the experiences of his previous life, Su Chen knew the way like the back of his hand. By afternoon, he arrived before the gates of the Jiang Family estate.

Knock, knock—

Su Chen knocked on the door knocker and said to the Jiang Family guard who came in response, "I am Su Chen. I'm here to see the Second Madam."

Second Madam was the title Xu Yin, Su Chen's aunt, held within the Jiang Family.

Sixteen years ago, Xu Yin had married Jiang Hai, the Jiang Family's Second Master. The following year, she gave birth to a daughter.

Jiang Hai was a pillar of the Jiang Family and treated the mother and daughter very well. Their life had been peaceful and happy.

But the heavens had unforeseen storms. Six years later, Jiang Hai had accidentally disappeared during a Lineage mission, and whether he was alive or dead remained unknown.

After that, although Xu Yin retained her former status in the Jiang Family, the rumors whispered in secret caused her no end of distress.

Before long, the Jiang Family guard led Su Chen into the estate and brought him to the familiar courtyard from his memories.

"Little Chen!"

A woman with familiar brows and eyes had long been waiting in the courtyard.

The Xu Yin before him was far younger than the one in Su Chen's memories.

"Aunt."

Even with the state of mind of a ten-thousand-year-old alchemy monster, Su Chen could not stop his nose from stinging at that moment.

His aunt was not his blood-related aunt, but had once been his mother's maidservant. Because of her outstanding talent in martial cultivation, Su Chen's maternal grandfather had taken her in as an adopted daughter, making her Su Chen's mother's adopted younger sister.

She and Su Chen's mother had been like true sisters. She had also treated Su Chen as her own son, and aside from his parents, she was one of the few relatives who had sincerely cared for him.

In his previous life, after Su Chen's dantian had been crippled and he had been expelled from the Orthodox Unity Sect, he had come to the Jiang Family in utter misery. His aunt had taken him in without a word and cared for him in every possible way.

Yet because his dantian had been crippled, he had spent his previous life muddleheaded and self-destructive, disappointing his aunt again and again.

In this life, none of it would repeat itself.

"Little Chen, weren't you in the Orthodox Unity Sect? Why have you suddenly come here?" Xu Yin's face was full of anxiety. She knew that the Orthodox Unity Sect's rules were strict and that disciples were not casually permitted to descend the mountain.

Could Su Chen have been driven out of the Orthodox Unity Sect?