"Rebel? Heh!" Chu Fan sneered upon hearing this.
"Even if I’ve been stripped of my position as Saint Heir, I am still a disciple of the ’Xing’ generation in the Lingyun Sect. Even as the Saint Heir, that Ji Ling still has to address me as Grand Martial Uncle. You humiliated me a few days ago, and I didn’t hold it against you, but do you even have any regard for the sect’s rules?"
As soon as Chu Fan’s words fell, his gaze turned cold, and the edge of his sword had already broken the skin on Li Qiong’s neck.
"Give me back the Jade Pendant. Otherwise, I really will kill you. My cultivation is already ruined, and I wasn’t planning on clinging shamefully to life anyway. If you don’t want me to take you all down with me, you’d better not provoke me."
The three of them clearly felt the killing intent emanating from Chu Fan.
Begging for mercy, Li Qiong fumbled for the Jade Pendant inside his robes and tossed it to Chu Fan.
After catching the Jade Pendant, Chu Fan sheathed his sword. Unexpectedly, Ji Ling drew his own sword and slashed at him.
In terms of cultivation, Ji Ling was at the Heartbeat Realm Late Stage. Chu Fan had only just begun cultivating again, and though his progress was heaven-defying, he was still only in the Fusion Realm.
In terms of cultivation, Chu Fan was an entire Great Realm lower.
But in the Sword Dao, Chu Fan was leagues ahead of them. Moreover, he knew the Lingyun Sect’s Sword Technique like the back of his hand.
With his advantages offsetting his disadvantages, Chu Fan didn’t see the three of them as a threat.
He simply infused his legs with True Qi, and with an elusive movement, he easily dodged Ji Ling’s sword. In a backhanded motion, he viciously slapped the flat of his sword against Ji Ling’s chest.
Wincing in pain, Ji Ling retreated more than ten steps, his eyes filled with disbelief as he stared at Chu Fan.
If that hadn’t been the flat of the sword just now, if it had been the blade, he would have been severely injured, if not dead.
"Are you going to get lost now? Or do you want to keep testing the sword in my hand?" Chu Fan asked coldly, holding his sword in a reverse grip.
Ji Ling shot Chu Fan a venomous glare and said, "Let’s go!"
The three of them left Cuimei Peak, unwilling to let the matter go.
Chu Fan, of course, knew that this was far from over. Intimidating them was only a temporary solution. He certainly couldn’t kill them now, or he would be signing his own death warrant.
’In the end, my strength is still insufficient.’
For the next half-month or so, no one came to bother him, and he devoted himself completely to his cultivation.
In the first ten days, he raised his cultivation from Fusion Realm Tier One to Tier Seven. But in the following five days, his cultivation progress slowed drastically, remaining at Tier Seven with almost no perceptible improvement.
The path of cultivation wasn’t something you could conquer with hard work alone. Even with great talent, without sufficient cultivation resources to aid you, your achievements would be limited.
The Sect had already cut off all his cultivation resources and confined him to Cuimei Peak, so he needed to think of another way.
Although he knew his master had left a secret stash for him on Zao Ying Mountain, distant water couldn’t quench a present thirst. Besides, he couldn’t access the stash until he formed a Golden Core again.
"Junior Martial Uncle Chu, this is bad! This is bad, Junior Martial Uncle Chu!"
Just as Chu Fan was wracking his brains, trying to figure out how to obtain cultivation resources without a clue, a breathless shout came from the slope of the mountain.
He recognized the person’s identity just from the sound of their voice.
The person was named Chen Xiao, the Direct Disciple of Fifth Elder Yun Keji, and one of his few friends in the Sect.
Chu Fan walked out of his thatched hut and, just as he expected, saw a disheveled Chen Xiao.
"What happened?"
"The Sect Elder Council has decided to marry off Junior Sister to Shui Yuntian in exchange for an alliance with the Celestial Derivation Sect! My master has already agreed."
"What did you say?" Chu Fan asked in disbelief. After that, his heart could no longer remain calm.
The "Junior Sister" Chen Xiao spoke of was the Fifth Elder’s only daughter, Yun Xi. They were childhood sweethearts, a fact well-known throughout the Six Sects and Eight Gates of the Eastern Domain.
If not for the incident more than twenty days ago, no one would have doubted that this perfect couple would one day be united.
When Chu Fan was very young, if it hadn’t been for Yun Xi, he might not have been noticed by Supreme Elder Ling Zhexing and accepted as his Closed-door Disciple.
"Where is Yun Xi?" Chu Fan grabbed Chen Xiao’s shoulders.
Ignoring the pain in his shoulders from Chu Fan’s grip, Chen Xiao said, "Ever since the day you returned heavily injured, Junior Sister has been grounded by my master. Aside from my master and his wife, no one can get near her."
’No wonder Yun Xi hasn’t come to see me all this time!’
If he were truly crippled and could never cultivate again, as long as Yun Xi could be happy and marry someone who would treat her well, Chu Fan would accept it.
Now, not only had his body recovered, but even if Yun Xi were to marry someone else, it should at least be of her own free will.
And that’s to say nothing of marrying a scumbag like Shui Yuntian.
Without a second thought, Chu Fan grabbed his personal sword from his hut and headed for Cuiyun Peak.
Chen Xiao hurried after him. "Junior Martial Uncle, where are you going? Don’t do anything foolish!"
"You go back first using Sword Flight. I’ll handle this myself. I will not let Yun Xi marry that scumbag Shui Yuntian," Chu Fan said, quickening his pace.
Chen Xiao glanced at Chu Fan, wanting to persuade him otherwise, but he didn’t know what to say. So, he simply left first via Sword Flight.
Chu Fan’s current cultivation was at Fusion Realm Tier Seven, so he was also capable of Sword Flight. However, he didn’t want anyone to know that his Dantian had recovered just yet.
Instead of going to Lingyun Hall, he went directly to the Fifth Elder’s residence.
Unexpectedly, the Sect Leader, the Great Elder, and the Sixth Elder were all there.
"Chu Fan, didn’t the Sect Leader order you not to leave Cuimei Peak?" the Sixth Elder demanded sternly the moment he saw Chu Fan.
Chu Fan ignored Sixth Elder Li Mosheng and turned his gaze to Fifth Elder Yun Keji. He asked, "Fifth Elder, everyone in the Six Sects and Eight Gates of the Eastern Domain knows what kind of person Shui Yuntian is. How is marrying Yun Xi to a beast like him any different from pushing her into a pit of fire with your own hands?"
"Insolence!" Li Mosheng barked. "This is a major affair for the Sect! Where did you get the nerve to question the Sect’s decision? Besides, who she marries is none of your business, you piece of trash!"
Chu Fan still ignored him, his burning gaze fixed on Yun Keji as he asked again, "Fifth Elder, why is this happening?"
Li Mosheng sneered, "Why? Isn’t it because of the trouble you and your master brought upon the Sect? The Red Blood Mansion will be going to war with our Lingyun Sect any day now. If we don’t find an ally, how are we supposed to fend off their invasion?"
Hearing Li Mosheng’s words, Chu Fan was left utterly dumbfounded. He scanned the faces of these Lingyun Sect decision-makers.
He couldn’t believe they would actually say such a thing.
All seven members of his lineage fought for the Sect—six died, and one was crippled. And now, they were blaming him and his master for causing this disaster.
’Aren’t they taking this ’burning the bridge after crossing it’ a bit too far?’
"So, even if I present the Jade Pendant my master left me today, it will be useless?" Chu Fan asked, filled with immense disappointment.
"Jade Pendant? What Jade Pendant?"
Chu Fan took out the Jade Pendant he had taken back from Li Qiong more than half a month ago.
Sect Leader Yu Zongding glanced at the Jade Pendant, his expression shifting for a moment. He coughed, stopping Li Mosheng, who was about to speak.
Yu Zongding said, "Presenting this Jade Pendant obligates the Sect to grant you one request. Are you sure you want to use this opportunity?"
Chu Fan sneered and said, "That’s right!"
"I can make the decision to temporarily postpone the marriage negotiations with the Celestial Derivation Sect," Yu Zongding said.
"Postpone? What do you mean?"
"With your master’s passing, the Lingyun Sect has lost half its strength. If we truly go to war with the Red Blood Mansion, it could be a cataclysmic disaster for us. Do you know of Dingfeng Slope?" Yu Zongding said.
Chu Fan no longer wanted to try and understand the logic in their words. Ever since he had woken up from his coma after being severely injured, the things these people said and did had repeatedly shattered his understanding of the world.
Right now, as long as he could stop Yun Xi from marrying Shui Yuntian, he was ready to risk everything.
How could he not know of Dingfeng Slope? It was a Desolate Land within Yunmeng Mountain.
He just didn’t understand why Yu Zongding would bring up Dingfeng Slope at a time like this.