An Agreement of One Year

Elder Xing Yun knew that it was no longer likely he could follow the original plan of crippling Su Chen's dantian and expelling him from the sect.

But he still had ways to place obstacles in Su Chen's path of cultivation, ensuring that Su Chen would 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 one. He'll have to do chores for a year, and he won't be allowed to cultivate."

"A former genius reduced to a menial disciple—the gap is not something ordinary people can bear."

"He deserves it! Who told him to hide his abilities? His cultivation advanced so quickly, and he could even refine pills, yet he never gave us fellow disciples a helping hand. Bah!"

Many disciples had long been green with envy over the exceptionally gifted Su Chen. Now that they had the chance to kick a man when he was down, they naturally did not mind giving him a push 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 with real power, one who could summon 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 Court!"

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

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 wanted to withdraw from the Orthodox Unity Sect?

A sect that countless people within a thousand li dreamed of squeezing into—yet he was leaving it as casually as if it were nothing?

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

"You went to such painstaking lengths to frame me. Wasn't it all to make me leave the Orthodox Unity Sect? As it happens, I never held the Orthodox Unity Sect in my eyes either."

"A mere Orthodox Unity Sect—I withdraw."

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

Until Su Chen had completely walked out of the hall, everyone present

remained immersed in profound shock.

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

The status of an Orthodox Unity Sect disciple, something others envied greatly, 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 the mere Orthodox Unity Sect in his eyes!

However, before everyone had fully recovered their senses, a disciple guarding the mountain hurried up from below. Holding a scroll aloft, he said, "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!"

Elder Xing Yun was in the midst of his anger. Hearing this, he casually took the scroll and unfurled it.

The words upon it nearly made Elder Xing Yun faint from rage!

On the scroll were nineteen ink-dripping, startlingly conspicuous characters:

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

Those nineteen characters left everyone present horrified beyond measure once again!

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. He was about to order someone to capture that little wretch Su Chen and bring him back.

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

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

Lu Yuan smiled with refined grace, his eyes filled with contempt as he tried to persuade him.

Elder Xing Yun quickly calmed down. He also knew that the contents of Su Chen's scroll could never come to pass.

A fifteen-year-old minor disciple, now without the support of the Orthodox Unity Sect's manuals and resources—let alone 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 mad words doomed never to come true.

After calming down, Elder Xing Yun pondered for a moment before giving a disdainful laugh. "Fine. Then this old man will wait and see just what stage he can reach one year from now!"

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

With that, no one could ever again shake Lu Yuan's position as the Orthodox Unity Sect's chief disciple.

After leaving the Orthodox Unity Sect, Su Chen began considering where he should 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 indulging in a fool's dream. 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 been in his previous life. That meant the vast ocean of cultivation methods and martial techniques he had mastered in his previous life could all be cultivated in this one.

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

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

Such 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 doting parents learned that he had suddenly left the Orthodox Unity Sect, they would surely worry.

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

Su Chen made his decision.

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

Clear River City was one of the thirty-six cities under 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 of his own will in his previous life. He had been driven out after his dantian was crippled.

One could imagine how wretched he had been then. While staying at his aunt's home, he had endured no small number of cold stares and special treatment from certain people.

But in this life, everything would be different.

"This place will be the starting point of this lifetime."

"Ye Family of Clear River City, and Wang Family—we'll settle our debts bit by bit 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 families, as famous as the Ye Family and Wang Family.

With the experiences of his previous life, Su Chen knew the way as well as a light carriage on a familiar road. By afternoon, he arrived before the gates of the Jiang Family residence.

Knock, knock—

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

Second Madam was the title Xu Yin, Su Chen's aunt, held in 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 days had been harmonious and happy.

But heaven had unpredictable storms. Six years later, Jiang Hai unexpectedly vanished 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 gossip whispered in the shadows caused her much distress.

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

"Xiao Chen!"

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

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

"Aunt."

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

His aunt was not Su Chen's blood-related aunt, but his mother's former maid. Because of her outstanding martial talent, 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 treated him with genuine sincerity.

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

Yet because his dantian had been crippled, he had spent that previous life muddleheaded and self-abandoned, repeatedly disappointing his aunt to the extreme.

In this life, nothing would repeat the same mistakes.

"Xiao Chen, weren't you at the Orthodox Unity Sect? Why did you suddenly come here?" Xu Yin's face was filled with anxiety. She knew that the Orthodox Unity Sect's rules were strict and that disciples were not easily permitted to leave the mountain.

Could it be that Su Chen had been driven out by the Orthodox Unity Sect?