Chapter 1

"Disciple Ye Chen, due to the rupture of his dantian, has no further chance of cultivating as an immortal. He is now expelled from the Zhengyang Sect and must never set foot on the Zhengyang Spirit Mountain again."

In the grand hall, the cold voice echoed like a divine judgment, filled with an unchallengeable authority.

Below, Ye Chen stood quietly in the hall, his face as pale as paper. Listening to the merciless judgment, his fists clenched tightly. Perhaps due to the excessive force, his nails dug into his palms, drawing blood.

Dantian ruptured, no chance of cultivation.

Ye Chen smiled, but his eyes were filled with sorrow.

Three days ago, he went down the mountain to fetch medicinal herbs for the sect but was ambushed by experts from a rival sect. He fought to the death to protect the herbs, barely returning to the sect alive, only to find his dantian shattered, rendering him a complete waste.

However, he never expected that his loyalty would be deemed worthless by these high-ranking figures, who were so eager to expel him, treating him like useless trash.

"Still not leaving?" Seeing that Ye Chen remained standing, a voice from the hall sounded, filled with impatience.

"With your dantian ruptured, what's the point of lingering here? The Zhengyang Sect never keeps useless people."

"We've already been kind enough to keep you for three days."

The disdainful voices in the hall were particularly harsh, piercing Ye Chen's ears like steel needles in his heart.

"Such a sect truly makes my heart cold!"

His hoarse voice carried a hint of sorrow and anger as Ye Chen silently turned around.

Outside the hall, the spirit mountains were covered with ancient towering trees, the air filled with a misty aura, and clouds drifted around. Immortal cranes danced with branches in their beaks, creating a peaceful and serene scene, like a paradise on earth.

This was the Zhengyang Sect, a cultivation sect in southern Da Chu.

However, now, everything in Ye Chen's eyes seemed cold, making him shiver uncontrollably.

"I told you! You've been expelled from the sect!"

As soon as Ye Chen came out, sect disciples began to point and comment, some mocking, others sighing.

"Brother Ye is quite pitiful. He was always good to us. Should we go and see him off?"

"What to see off? We are immortals; what is he?"

"Things are different now."

The surrounding ridicule and sighs made Ye Chen lower his head, wanting to say something but unable to, feeling like a criminal being paraded through the streets, despised by the world.

Yes! He is no longer the Ye Chen of the past.

Now, he is no longer a cultivator but a waste with a ruptured dantian. His former pride has long vanished, and he can only silently endure the coldness of the world.

Ha ha ha!

A mocking laugh came from ahead, and a disciple in white, holding a folding fan, approached, looking at Ye Chen with a mocking eye. "Who's this? Isn't this our Brother Ye?"

Ye Chen slightly raised his head, seeing the person through the gaps in his hair. He had a fair complexion, thin lips that revealed his cruelty, and a rather handsome face with phoenix eyes.

"Zhao Kang." Ye Chen recalled the name from his memory. At that time, Zhao Kang was not as sarcastic as he is now; he was very respectful to him, Brother Ye.

Tsk tsk tsk!

His thoughts were interrupted as Zhao Kang circled around Ye Chen, examining him from head to toe, his mouth full of tsking sounds. "Brother Ye, how have you become so pitiful? It really makes me, your junior brother, feel heartbroken!"

Knowing it was mockery, Ye Chen did not intend to say more and immediately took a step forward.

"Don't go!" Zhao Kang stepped across and blocked Ye Chen's path, gently waving his folding fan, looking at him with a playful expression.

"Move aside."

"You're still so stubborn even as a waste." Suddenly closing the fan, Zhao Kang's smile vanished. "Do you really think you're still the Ye Chen of the past?"

Ye Chen's body trembled, wanting to refute but unable to speak.

"Want to leave? Fine." Zhao Kang spoke again, spreading his legs and looking at Ye Chen mockingly. "Crawl under me. Maybe I'll give you a few spirit stones as travel expenses."

"Zhao Kang." Suddenly, Ye Chen raised his head, a cold glint flashing in his dim eyes.

"Brother Zhao Kang, is this...?" A disciple in the crowd whispered, trying to speak up for Ye Chen, but his weak cultivation made him lack confidence.

"Looking for death?" Zhao Kang turned and shouted, glaring at the disciple. The scene instantly fell silent, as if everyone was intimidated by Zhao Kang's strength, not daring to make a sound.

Having intimidated the surrounding disciples, Zhao Kang looked at Ye Chen again, sneering. "Ye Chen, are you going to crawl or not? I..."

He stopped mid-sentence because he saw a graceful figure approaching from a distance.

The person's clothes fluttered, her long black hair flowed like a stream, and her face was so beautiful that it took one's breath away. She truly looked like a celestial being descended from heaven, completely free from the dust of the mortal world.

"It's Senior Sister Ji Ningshuang." The surrounding disciples' eyes lit up.

Especially the male disciples, whose eyes were filled with fiery desire and admiration, openly coveting and adoring her. She was the flawless beauty of the Zhengyang Sect's outer sect, the object of all male disciples' admiration.

In the Zhengyang Sect, everyone knew that Ji Ningshuang was cold and distant to all disciples, except for Ye Chen, to whom she would show a charming smile. They were the recognized golden boy and jade girl of the Zhengyang Sect.

Naturally, such a scene was limited to the past.

Now that Ye Chen had fallen so low, the proud Ji Ningshuang would no longer show him a charming smile as she used to.

"Ji Ningshuang." Ye Chen's voice was hoarse, almost inaudible. He did not turn around, but his eyes showed a complex expression.

She was the one he had once vowed to protect with his life, but since his dantian ruptured and his cultivation was lost, the Ji Ningshuang who used to smile at him every day had become exceptionally cold.

From that moment on, Ye Chen understood that so-called love and vows had all vanished like smoke.

"Senior Sister Ningshuang." Zhao Kang quickly opened his folding fan and greeted her with a smile, a stark contrast to his previous ferocity.

Ji Ningshuang only nodded politely at Zhao Kang's smile, her expression still cold, as if nothing in the world could stir a ripple in her beautiful eyes.

Gently approaching Ye Chen, Ji Ningshuang's heart held a sigh and a tinge of regret, but her eyes showed only coldness, as if saying: We are no longer on the same path.

"May you have a safe journey." The four words, though beautiful like heavenly music, could not hide the coldness in Ji Ningshuang's tone.

"What kind of expression is that, pity?" Without looking at Ji Ningshuang, Ye Chen bent down to pick up his backpack from the ground, his words devoid of the warmth of the past, making the farewell even more painful.

Ji Ningshuang remained silent, her thoughts lingering for a moment on their past.

"Go, go." Gently dusting off the backpack, Ye Chen slowly turned around, his weary steps making his thin figure appear particularly lonely under the moonlight.