"Get out!"
As Yun Xi hugged him tightly, pounding on his chest, Chu Fan listened to her sobs and felt his own heart shatter. He turned his head and shot a piercing glare at Qiu Yihan.
In the past, if Qiu Yihan had dared to treat Yun Xi this way, Chu Fan would have struck her down long ago.
Qiu Yihan flinched at the intensity of his gaze and actually left the room.
Perhaps it was because the old Chu Fan had been so intimidating. It wasn’t until she was outside the room that Qiu Yihan remembered the man he was now was no match for her at all.
Though anger flared in her heart, she didn’t go back in. She had overheard the conversation in the courtyard earlier; Wu Xiuzhen had gone to fetch the Sect Leader and the Elders. ’I might as well wait for them to arrive and handle this!’ she thought.
Back in the room, Chu Fan waited for Yun Xi to calm down a little before speaking softly. "Don’t worry. The Sect Leader sent me to Dingfeng Slope to retrieve the Founder’s Biyun Sword, and I’ve brought it back. What’s more, my Dantian and meridians have recovered. It’s just that my cultivation has only returned to the Heartbeat Realm. It’ll still take some time to reach the Golden Core Realm."
"Really?" Hearing this, Yun Xi’s head snapped up. She gazed at Chu Fan, her tear-filled eyes burning with intensity. "Your Dantian and meridians... they’re really healed?"
Chu Fan nodded. "It’s true. When have I ever lied to you? When the Sect Leader and the others arrive, don’t worry about anything, no matter what happens. Even if they go back on their word, it doesn’t matter. There’s still plenty of time before the eighth of the twelfth month. You have to believe me. I will never let you marry a scoundrel like Shui Yuntian."
"Yes!" Yun Xi nodded vigorously, her gaze fixed on Chu Fan’s face, her expression full of love.
She reached out and caressed his cheek. "Do you know? When I heard the Supreme Elder and the others had died in battle, and that your Golden Core was shattered... I was so, so scared. I wanted to go to Cuimei Peak to take care of you, but my father and mother forbade me from leaving. I missed you so much. I’m so glad you’re all right. Otherwise..."
Chu Fan gently pressed his fingers to her lips. "Silly girl. No matter what happens, don’t let your mind wander to dark places, and don’t even think about doing anything foolish."
Just then, a commotion arose in the courtyard. Clearly, Yu Zongding and the others had arrived.
"Wait for me here. Don’t worry about what happens outside, no matter what it is. You just need to remember this: as long as I, Chu Fan, am alive, I will never allow you to marry someone you don’t love. No one can force you to do anything you don’t want to do."
"Okay!" Yun Xi nodded firmly.
Chu Fan released Yun Xi, strode out, and closed the door behind him.
The courtyard was now crowded with people. In addition to those who were there before, the Sect Leader and the nine Elders were present, along with Yun Xi’s mother from the Chen Clan and an Elder from the Celestial Derivation Sect.
Before Chu Fan could even speak, Yu Zongding launched a preemptive accusation. "Chu Fan, how dare you go back on your word?"
Chu Fan laughed, incensed by the man’s shamelessness. "And what reason might the Sect Leader have for saying I’ve gone back on my word?"
"Did we not agree to a three-month deadline for you to retrieve the item I wanted from Dingfeng Slope?"
"And what makes the Sect Leader think I haven’t brought it back?"
"Talk is cheap. Where is it?" Yu Zongding demanded.
Chu Fan gave a cold laugh. He didn’t produce the Biyun Sword. Instead, he asked Yu Zongding, "Is the three-month deadline up yet?"
"No!"
"Then would you be so kind as to state the terms of our agreement again?"
"What? Are you questioning me?" Yu Zongding’s expression hardened, and his voice was laced with anger.
Chu Fan pointed toward Shui Yuntian and the Elder from the Celestial Derivation Sect. "And why are they here?"
"That is none of your concern!"
"’None of my concern,’ he says. Hahaha!" Chu Fan laughed, a bleak and desolate sound.
He had always known that people were fickle, but he never imagined that the place where he had grown up, the sect he had once considered more important than his own life, could be so utterly despicable.
He longed to tell his departed master and senior brothers that their sacrifices had been for nothing. Utterly for nothing.
But his master and senior brothers were dead and gone, never to return.
"Then let me ask you, does our agreement still stand? If I have retrieved the Biyun Sword, are Yun Xi and I free to leave the Lingyun Sect?"
Yu Zongding was stunned. In truth, when Wu Xiuzhen had first come to report Chu Fan’s return, he had found it hard to believe.
"If you have truly retrieved the Biyun Sword, then of course, the promise we made still stands."
"Good. I hope you are a man of your word, and that you won’t force me to discard the last shred of attachment I have left for the Lingyun Sect."
As he spoke, Chu Fan extended his hand, and the Biyun Sword materialized out of thin air. He then tossed it forward.
A Top Class Masterwork sword was priceless, but Chu Fan had two Storage Rings filled to the brim with blades. He truly didn’t care about losing this one.
Yu Zongding caught the Biyun Sword. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes the moment his hand closed around the hilt, but his expression quickly returned to normal.
He roared, "Chu Fan, are you trying to pass off this ordinary sword as the real thing and swindle me?"
Although Chu Fan had expected this outcome, he was still stunned by the man’s utter shamelessness.
"Yu Zongding... Sect Leader Yu," Chu Fan said, "are you really sure you want to do this?"
"Chu Fan, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have tolerated your insolence time and again, purely out of respect for your former status as our Lingyun Sect’s Saint Heir and the Supreme Elder’s Closed-door Disciple. Do you really think I won’t kill you?"
In a way, this whole affair had been Chu Fan’s way of giving the Lingyun Sect one last chance.
At this moment, the last wisp of sentiment he held for the Lingyun Sect was utterly extinguished.
From this day forward, he had nothing more to do with the Lingyun Sect.
"Good. Good. Good!" Chu Fan said, repeating the word three times. He then turned his gaze to the Great Elder, the Fifth Elder, and the Sixth Elder. "I take it you all agree with what Yu Zongding has said?"
The Sixth Elder, Li Mosheng, gave Chu Fan a look of utter disdain. "Chu Fan, you truly don’t know what’s good for you. You’re a cripple now, yet you don’t have a shred of self-awareness? You just took a little trip and came back claiming you went to Dingfeng Slope to deceive the Sect Leader. He hasn’t even punished you for it, yet you still don’t know when to back down? If it weren’t for the fact that you were the Supreme Elder’s Closed-door Disciple, I would have killed you with a single palm strike myself."
"Very good!"
Chu Fan sneered. "Since that’s the case, I no longer owe anyone anything. My Golden Core is shattered, my meridians are destroyed, and I no longer practice any Lingyun Sect cultivation techniques. Therefore, as of today, I, Chu Fan, am no longer a disciple of the Lingyun Sect. From this moment on, all ties between myself and the Lingyun Sect are hereby severed!"
"Hahaha!"
Li Mosheng burst out laughing. "Chu Fan, are you joking? The Lingyun Sect raised you. Even with your cultivation destroyed, do you have any idea how many of our Sect’s Secret Martial Arts Manuals you’ve read? You think you can sever ties just by saying so? It’s not impossible... if you gouge out your eyes and cut out your tongue. That would ensure you can’t pass on the Lingyun Sect’s secrets."
"Men! Seize him!" Li Mosheng ordered, waving a hand at the Precepts Hall disciples behind him.
Two disciples from the Precepts Hall cried out in assent and charged toward Chu Fan.
Chu Fan stood his ground, observing everyone’s reactions. Wu Xiuzhen and Chen Xiao looked nervous. Yun Keji and his wife turned their heads away. Sect Leader Yu stared fixedly at him. The rest were all gloating over his misfortune.
But just as the two disciples’ hands were about to touch him, Chu Fan twisted on his feet and his body seemed to float, landing ten feet away in an instant.
Then, the Lingyun Sword appeared in his hand.
"Chu Fan, you dare resist the Precepts Hall’s enforcement of the rules?" Li Mosheng demanded angrily.
Chu Fan’s voice was cold. "Since there is no justice to be found in the Lingyun Sect today, I will return another day to take it for myself."
With that, he leaped into the air to leave. But while the crowd was still stunned, Li Mosheng shot up to block his path. "Trying to leave?"