Upon hearing that the contract was a letter of divorce, Lu Feng’s expression darkened.
Letters of divorce were typically written by a husband to cast off a wife, yet Liu Yuxin had turned the tables to present him with one. This was a blatant humiliation.
Seeing his gloomy face, Liu Mei'er sneered, "Lu Feng, do you still think you're an inner sect true successor of the Tianling Sect? Do you still think you're some lofty favored son of heaven?"
"Just look at what you've become! You're nothing more than a stray dog, completely unworthy of being mentioned in the same breath as my young miss!"
"I advise you to honestly sign this letter of divorce and stop acting like you don't want a face you clearly don't deserve!"
Liu Mei'er's words grew increasingly harsh. Lu Feng gritted his teeth as he stared at Liu Yuxin, demanding word by word, "Liu Yuxin, is this your doing?"
"Heh, is 'Liu Yuxin' a name a piece of trash like you is allowed to spit out?" Chen Zihao, standing off to the side, sneered mockingly. "Lu Feng, you might as well give up that pipe dream. Don't think you can use this engagement to threaten Yuxin. The two of you are no longer people from the same world."
Lu Feng paid no heed to their insults; his gaze remained fixed entirely on Liu Yuxin.
The two of them had known each other since entering the sect, and their relationship had once been exceptionally close. In his subconscious, Lu Feng had truly regarded Liu Yuxin as his future wife.
Standing not far away, Liu Yuxin shook her head with a helpless sigh. "Lu Feng, the ties between us are broken; you should just forget the past. The contents of this storage bag will serve as my compensation to you. Take it, sign this letter of divorce, and go live the life of a wealthy commoner."
At these words, Lu Feng wore a bitter smile, which abruptly morphed into a wild laugh. "Hahaha! Good, very good!"
He snatched the letter of divorce from Liu Mei'er's hand, bit his finger to sign his name in blood, and tossed it back.
"Starting today, I, Lu Feng, completely sever all ties with you, Liu Yuxin. We shall be strangers until death, and may heaven strike me with five thunderbolts if I ever break this oath!"
Seeing him sign the document, the trio all wore smug smiles of triumph.
Listening to Lu Feng's vow, Liu Yuxin shook her head slightly, then turned and flew away.
Seeing Liu Yuxin leave, Chen Zihao immediately gave chase, leaving only Liu Mei'er and Lu Feng behind at the scene.
"Hmph, you know what's good for you! Here, take this as your reward, and hurry up and get lost beyond the sphere of influence of the Tianling Sect!" Liu Mei'er put on an air of supreme arrogance.
Without even glancing at the storage bag, Lu Feng waved his hand dismissively. "You can leave now. I won't take a single copper of your Liu family's things."
"Pfft! Still acting high and mighty? If you don't want it, fine—at least it saves the young miss a bit of expense."
With that, Liu Mei'er boarded her flying boat and sped away.
Returning inside his hut, Lu Feng closed his eyes in pure fury.
No matter what, he and Liu Yuxin had shared four years of affection, yet now they were completely done for.
As he looked at the sunlight streaming in through the window, a sudden sense of relief washed over him. It felt as though a heavy layer of chains had been completely shattered.
Taking a deep breath, Lu Feng slowly regained his composure.
"What's done is done. Let the past remain in the past."
"But how did Liu Yuxin and the others find out I was here? Could the Tianling Sect have been keeping tabs on me all this time?"
Cold sweat instantly beaded on Lu Feng's forehead. If that were truly the case, he would have to exercise even greater caution from now on. Once his cultivation improved, he had to get as far away from the Tianling Sect as possible.
The mere thought of the Tianling Sect stirred a churning hatred within his heart. Yet, if he wanted revenge, he had to continually elevate his cultivation and strength. Having figured this out, Lu Feng felt his drive return.
After a quick bowl of spirit rice porridge, he picked up his spirit hoe and walked over to his spirit field.
"Once I finish today, this mu of spirit field should be fully restored."
With that, he began channeling the Spirit Rain Spell. Wisps of spiritual energy gradually condensed into dark clouds overhead, and the spirit rain began to patter down.
[You cast the Spirit Rain Spell once, Proficiency +1]
[You cast the Spirit Rain Spell once, Proficiency +1]
......
Lu Feng resumed his busy daily routine. Meanwhile, back at her quarters, Liu Mei'er reported to Liu Yuxin about the storage bag, but upon hearing it, Liu Yuxin merely shook her head and dismissed the matter entirely.
However, Chen Zihao, who had accompanied Liu Yuxin, was brewing some malicious schemes of his own.
The tenant contract that Lu Feng had signed actually belonged to the Chen family. Eager to completely eradicate Lu Feng as a potential threat, Chen Zihao made his way directly to the Chen Clan Grain Shop.
Upon seeing Chen Zihao arrive in person, Chen Donglai immediately stepped forward with a smiling face. "Ah, Young Master Zihao! Please, come right in!"
Once the two had seated themselves in a private room, Chen Zihao directly inquired about Lu Feng's situation. The shopkeeper recounted the details of Lu Feng's contracted agreement point by point.
"Young Master Zihao, are you asking me to look after that Lu Shan?" Chen Donglai asked, glancing at him.
Chen Zihao sneered, "Heh, what nonsense Lu Shan! His name is Lu Feng, and he used to be an inner sect true successor of the Tianling Sect. But now his cultivation has been crippled, and he's been expelled from the sect. I asked about him because I want you to deal with this fellow."
"So that's how it is! I understand Young Master Zihao's intent."
"That Lu Feng has already signed a tenant contract with our Chen Clan, and I originally intended to keep him under my thumb, so I purposely assigned him a plot of barren spirit land."
"As long as he fails to pay his taxes on time, he will become a slave of the Chen family. Whether he lives or dies will be entirely up to us."
Hearing this, a look of delighted surprise crossed Chen Zihao's face. "Oh?! If that's the case, we can let him live for another year. I'd love to experience what it feels like to torment an inner sect true successor."
......
Time flew, and soon evening arrived. Lu Feng, who had been toiling away in the spirit field all day, wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Whew! One more cast of the Spirit Rain Spell and my proficiency will max out. I wonder what changes will follow."
With that thought, another Spirit Rain Spell was cast from Lu Feng's hands.
[You cast the Spirit Rain Spell once, Proficiency +1]
[Your proficiency in the Spirit Rain Spell has reached 100. The spell grade has advanced from Novice to Proficient.]
Seeing the two notifications pop up on the Proficiency Panel, Lu Feng felt a jolt of surprise.
"The Spirit Rain Spell has reached Proficient just like that?"
He remembered that it had taken him over a year of practice to push his Vine Wood Spell from Novice to Proficient, and that was under conditions where his internal spiritual energy was fully adequate. Yet for the Spirit Rain Spell, it had taken him a mere three days to bridge that gap.
An overwhelming wave of excitement surged within him—this made him even happier than breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage.
With the Spirit Rain Spell advancing to the Proficient grade, his understanding and manipulation of the spell had grown vastly superior.
Previously, the Novice-grade Spirit Rain Spell could only condense dark clouds three meters in diameter and sustain rainfall for five minutes. But now, things were different: the Proficient-grade spell created dark clouds nine meters wide, and the duration of the rainfall had extended to a full quarter of an hour.
Casting the Proficient-grade Spirit Rain Spell once now was equivalent to casting the old version three times. Such a massive leap forward was simply incomparable.
The only drawback was that the Proficient-grade spell consumed fifty percent more spiritual energy. In other words, at his current full capacity, he could only cast the Spirit Rain Spell three times.
Lu Feng then checked his Proficiency Panel, and sure enough, the information on it had undergone some changes.
[Name: Lu Feng]
[Age: 20/50]
[Cultivation: Qi Condensation Layer 1 (1/100)]
[Technique: Azure Wood Formula (Minor Accomplishment 19/300)]
[Spells: Vine Wood Spell (Proficient 1/200), Spirit Rain Spell (Proficient 0/200)]
[Hundred Arts of Immortality: None]
"Haha, the master is back in business!"
Lu Feng laughed out loud in sheer excitement.