Banished to the Nine Nether Blood Domain

The Heavenly Dao Oath Feng Zhuo had just sworn was like a sharp sword, cleaving the truth open and laying it bare before everyone.

Every eye turned to Su Ruanruan.

Did she dare accept the oath?

Su Ruanruan's face turned paper-white in an instant, her lips trembling. "I..."

In her mind, she frantically called for the system. System! What do I do?! Why does the cultivation world have something like this?!

But the system that usually answered whenever she called was silent now.

Finally, under everyone's gaze, she closed her eyes and "fainted" outright.

How was such a clumsy performance any different from a direct confession?

Lingxiaozi's beard trembled with rage.

He had nearly fallen out with his junior brother over this disciple, only for her to feign a faint to escape?!

More laughably, did she truly think she could fool the discerning eyes of the high-level cultivators present?

"Su Ruanruan of Crimson Firmament Peak, Supreme One Divine Sect,"

Lingxiaozi said coldly, stealing a glance at Yunxiaozi's reaction as he continued, "has violated seven sect rules in total. Rule eighteen: falsely accusing a fellow disciple; rule twenty..."

"Effective today, you are banished to the Nine Nether Blood Domain to atone through meritorious service. You may not return to the sect for ten years!"

The Nine Nether Blood Domain.

The place where the Mahayana demonic cultivator Blood Prison Old Ancestor had fallen a thousand years ago.

There, resentful Qi condensed into Sha, breeding countless Devil Creatures.

Disciples had to be sent there every year.

Ordinary disciples only had to eliminate Devils on the outskirts, but disciples who violated sect rules had to venture deep into the Blood Sha Heart-Tempering Array at the domain's core!

If Su Ruanruan went, she would lose a layer of skin even if she survived!

Chixiao was just about to plead for her when a glare from Lingxiaozi silenced him.

Next, Chu Yunfei was sentenced to twenty years, while Bai Wuxia, Xuanfeng, and Xuan Mo received two years each.

Xuan Mo knew he had misunderstood Feng Zhuo and accepted his punishment without protest.

Bai Wuxia remained as infatuated as ever, wholly devoted to Su Ruanruan.

Only Xuanfeng was caught in deep inner conflict.

On one side was the kindness Su Ruanruan had shown by giving him pills and helping him advance on his Dao Path; on the other was his conscience...

Between a debt of gratitude and morality, how was he to choose?

"Hmph!"

Yunxiaozi snorted coldly, swept his sleeve, and left with Feng Zhuo.

In the Law Enforcement Hall, only Su Ruanruan's "unconscious" figure remained amid a deathly silence.

As for Zhong Mingxuan, whom Yunxiaozi had killed with a single sword strike?

Taisu had long noticed his collusion with cultivators from another peak. Yunxiaozi's action had removed a great worry from her mind, and she could scarcely thank him enough.

Standing on the flying sword, Feng Zhuo gazed at his master's back, his thoughts churning.

He still couldn't believe the Heavenly Dao had actually acknowledged the oath.

By rights, given the Heavenly Dao's favoritism toward Su Ruanruan, it could easily have forcibly classified the Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Vine's blood-resentment Qi as "poison."

After all, in the storybook he had seen after dying in his previous life, Su Ruanruan had clearly been the Heavenly Dao's own daughter...

Yet the result had actually been...?

He thought of how, since his rebirth, his growth along the way had not exactly been smooth, yet he had gained quite a few fortuitous opportunities after enduring hardships.

Could it be...

"What are you thinking about?"

Yunxiaozi suddenly turned around, raising the hand that had wielded a sword to kill as if to knock hard on Feng Zhuo's forehead.

In the end, though, he held back and gave him only a light flick. "If you take a risk like that again, I'll have your mother take you back to the Feng Household!"

Feng Zhuo gathered his scattered thoughts, rubbed the spot on his forehead where Yunxiaozi had flicked him, and stole a glance at his master's stern profile.

Master must be angry, right?

He thought of how his mother had acted when she was angry with him as a child.

Feng Zhuo tugged at the hem of Yunxiaozi's robe and swayed it from side to side. "Master..." he said cautiously.

"You..."

Yunxiaozi let out a long sigh, his sleeves billowing loudly in the wind. "You're so grown up now, so why do you still love acting spoiled?"

"I thought you'd taken after Qingyangzi in temperament, but I didn't expect you to be like that girl Feng Qingge at heart after all."

But what could he do?

Yunxiaozi looked toward the distant sea of clouds. Feng Zhuo was his disciple, after all.

A hundred years had been enough time for the youngsters to grow up.

It was time to let the world see the Carefree Sword Immortal who had commanded the wind and clouds two thousand years ago-!

Yunxiaozi used his spiritual power to shield Feng Zhuo from every gust of the howling wind.

He had escaped a calamity.

Relieved, Feng Zhuo turned the red jade bracelet on his wrist and fell quiet again.

His thoughts just now had been far too shocking.

The second-tier Yi Wood Broken Branch had taught him a sufficient lesson. How could Feng Zhuo still dare imagine that he was the one favored by this world's Heavenly Dao?

Unable to resolve his doubts, Feng Zhuo turned his thoughts to his plans for the future instead.

A ten-year sentence...

For a cultivator, that was merely the time it took to go from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core.

For Feng Zhuo, it should be enough to resolve the crises that had led to his senior brothers' and sisters' deaths in his previous life.

But he knew full well that, given how Chixiao had treated Su Ruanruan so well for no reason at all in his previous life, that old bastard would never let her stay in the Nine Nether Blood Domain for the full ten years.

He might not even let Su Ruanruan stay there for a full year.

Feng Zhuo's fingertips unconsciously rubbed the sword tassel on the Awakening of Insects peachwood sword as he went over his plan again.

First, he would accept a long-term sect mission and use the opportunity to return to the Feng Household and obtain that spirit treasure capable of detecting Devil Qi.

Then...

He would expose Devil Venerable Li Tianxing's disguise and completely eliminate the direct cause of his master's death!

The back mountain of Carefree Peak.

In the evening, the green bamboo rustled in the breeze, and the tea in the cups on the bluestone table had long since gone cold.

"Why isn't Master back yet...?"

Ling Shuanghua irritably drained the cold tea in her cup, her usually cheerful features now full of worry.

For the fifth time, she picked up the roast chicken in front of her and put it down again. Even the food she usually loved had lost its flavor.

Ye Wuhen silently refilled her cup.

Although he had known Feng Zhuo for only half a year, this junior brother who had joined the peak not long ago had already become family to him, as irreplaceable as his master, junior sister, and Junior Brother Cang.

"They should be back soon."

His voice was low, as though he were trying to convince himself.

Suddenly, Cang Wuya sprang to his feet.

At the end of the bamboo-lined path, Yunxiaozi's figure finally appeared.

"Master-"

Ling Shuanghua rushed forward joyfully, only to fall abruptly silent when she saw Feng Zhuo in his arms.

What happened to Junior Brother?

She stood rooted to the spot, at a loss, the worry in her eyes almost overflowing.

Cang Wuya approached silently, his fingertips gently brushing the stray locks from Feng Zhuo's forehead.

Suppressed anger churned in his usually indifferent eyes.

"Master, Junior Brother, he...?"

Ye Wuhen had reached Golden Core after coming out of seclusion, and he asked through voice transmission.

Yunxiaozi's voice rang out in all three of their seas of consciousness at once. "He's fine. He's only asleep."

He looked down at the youth's tired sleeping face in his arms. "He fought fifty opponents alone in the secret realm, then came out and fought a Golden Core cultivator above his level with only Foundation Establishment cultivation..."

"He must be tired."

Hearing the details of what had happened in the secret realm from their master, the three burned with rage, just as Yunxiaozi had before.

Ye Wuhen's usual gentleness vanished, and the teacup crumbled to powder in his palm. "How dare they-!"

Ling Shuanghua opened her mouth to curse, but when she saw Feng Zhuo's slight frown in his sleep, she forcibly swallowed the words.

She could only glare with eyes that were about to spit fire, her fists clenched so tightly that they creaked.

Cang Wuya silently turned around, his sword sliding three inches from its sheath with a clang.

In the moonlight, the blade reflected the icy killing intent in his eyes-

[System No. 158 reporting: the protagonist of world No. 158 is suspected to be a reincarnator. Requesting instructions on whether to continue the mission.]

[Bzz... bzz bzz... bzz bzz bzz-the mission... continues...]

Heads-up: Su will officially exit the story soon, and the reason Chixiao treats Su so well will also be explained in that chapter.

Also, as long as Zhuozhuo gets the chance, he'll settle matters on the spot with everyone who bears a grudge against him.