After settling his karma with Master Xueyue, Ling Yun felt a great sense of relief, and even his steps grew lighter. Now, all that remained was for Master Xueyue to approve his request to leave the mountain, and he would truly be like a fish leaping in the vast sea or a bird soaring in the boundless sky.
Faintly, Ling Yun’s aura dropped once again, this time directly falling to the Internal Qi Realm. Yet strangely, his movements became even faster and more fluid than before.
The next day, when Master Xueyue learned that Ling Yun’s intent to leave the mountain had already spread throughout the entire Heavenly Dao Sect, a trace of astonishment appeared in her eyes. She had just begun to feel overjoyed at her ability to control the rampant Mysterious Yin energy in her body, only to be disrupted by such disheartening news. Even the normally indifferent Peak Master of Pill Peak had come to her to ask about it.
Originally, this matter could have been quietly handled within Snow Moon Peak. Who would have thought it would erupt into such widespread attention, known by all?
This left Master Xueyue feeling increasingly irritated. As the Chief Disciple of Snow Moon Peak, Ling Yun’s failure to reach the Origin Spirit Realm already made her feel embarrassed. Now, even the fact that he wanted to leave due to his damaged foundation had been exposed—it was a complete loss of face.
When Master Xueyue asked Ling Yun about it, he, though already knowing who was stirring things from behind the scenes, put on a confused expression and claimed he hadn’t left Snow Moon Peak due to his injuries and knew nothing about it. Master Xueyue understood Ling Yun’s condition and had only asked casually, but her gaze then swept over the other three disciples.
Feeling her stare, Yan Shan and the others lowered their heads with guilt, especially Huangfu Ying and Song Yushu. Neither of them had expected that casually hinting a few words to others would cause the situation to spiral so wildly.
“Strange… why would the Peak Master of Pill Peak take an interest in something like this?” Master Xueyue frowned.
Ling Yun simply smiled and said nothing. Perhaps Master Xueyue had always been too neglectful of her Chief Disciple to realize that all low- and mid-grade spiritual herb procurement at Pill Peak was managed solely by Ling Yun.
While Pill Peak was skilled in alchemy and herb cultivation, its Spiritual Peak was limited in size, and the disciples’ energy was finite. They couldn’t grow everything themselves. At present, Pill Peak mainly cultivated high-grade herbs, while the majority of low- and mid-grade herbs were sourced from herb farmers outside the Heavenly Dao Sect. This story is hosted at novelping dot com.
Ling Yun had invested tremendous effort into establishing this network, not only to ensure the lower-ranking disciples had enough pills but also to gain a steady stream of wealth for himself. Such a channel naturally yielded enormous profit and attracted envy. Many at Pill Peak had long resented that someone else held control over it, and now that Ling Yun intended to leave, the Peak Master naturally wished to reclaim it.
“Disciple, your cultivation?” Master Xueyue suddenly noticed that Ling Yun’s cultivation had dropped again, now regressed to merely the Internal Qi Realm.
“Master, there’s no need for concern. Even with Internal Qi, it’s more than enough for life outside the mountain,” Ling Yun said calmly.
“Very well… since you’ve made up your mind, I won’t stop you.” Master Xueyue sighed, then pulled a jade token from her sleeve.
After becoming an inner sect disciple, everyone received a jade token containing a drop of their Essence Blood, used to track their life and death. Returning this token meant the disciple was formally leaving the Heavenly Dao Sect.
Every year, many disciples left the sect, including inner sect disciples. However, for someone like Ling Yun, the Chief Disciple of a Spiritual Peak, to leave at such a young age was a rare occurrence.
“Remember this—once you leave the sect, you are no longer a disciple of the Heavenly Dao Sect, and certainly not the Chief Disciple of Snow Moon Peak. But likewise, you must never bring shame to the Heavenly Dao Sect or to Snow Moon Peak!” Master Xueyue said sternly. “If you do, not only will the sect’s Enforcement Hall act, I myself may take action to cleanse the sect.”
At the side, Yun Xi couldn’t help but twitch her lips. Ling Yun was leaving the sect with what was essentially a half-abandoned status, and yet he was still given such a demand. If he violated it, Master Xueyue would personally take action? It was truly unbelievable.
Ling Yun accepted the jade token from Master Xueyue and nodded, “Disciple understands.”
He didn’t care much about this matter. After today, there would no longer be any such person as the Chief Disciple of Snow Moon Peak in the world. Whatever he chose to do in the future had nothing to do with the Heavenly Dao Sect or Snow Moon Peak.
The moment Ling Yun took the jade token, Master Xueyue’s hand instinctively tightened. A subtle feeling in her heart warned her that something irreversible would happen if she let it go. This chapter was taken from novelping . com without permission.
But it was too late. Ling Yun had already taken the jade token from her hand. Because she was momentarily distracted, Master Xueyue didn’t even realize how someone with only Internal Qi cultivation could so easily take the token from her grasp.
“Disciple bids farewell to Master. May Master take care.” Ling Yun cupped his fists respectfully, then turned and left the main hall.
Master Xueyue seemed like she wanted to call out and stop him, but found herself at a loss for words. In the end, she could only give up and turned her gaze toward her remaining three disciples.
“Your senior brother has left. He is no longer part of Snow Moon Peak. Yan Shan, from today onward, you are the Chief Disciple of Snow Moon Peak. You must remember to bring glory to our peak.”
“Yes, Master! Disciple will not let you down!” Yan Shan’s voice trembled slightly. Such immense fortune had finally landed upon him.
“Now that you’re the Chief Disciple, five days from now, disciples from the Flying Immortal Sect will visit our sect for an exchange event. It will also serve as a warm-up for the upcoming Ten Sects Grand Competition. You will take your two junior sisters and represent our peak. Make sure everyone sees the might of Snow Moon Peak!”
“Understood!” Yan Shan nodded vigorously.
The Flying Immortal Sect was a sect as renowned as the Heavenly Dao Sect. If he could perform well during the exchange, wouldn’t that prove he was far superior to Ling Yun?
At that moment, Yan Shan was brimming with confidence. He believed his time had finally come.