After tidying up, Su Luo swept the entire cave dwelling clean of anything that could be taken, not even leaving a straw mat for whoever came next.
Finally, giving the empty dwelling one last glance, she pushed open the stone door and walked out without ever looking back.
Destination: the main peak summit.
The entire Luoxia Peak was protected by an Array, which meant that anyone below the Nascent Soul cultivator level could not use Sword Flight and had to walk all the way up.
When Su Luo found this out, she had bitterly complained, "Doesn't that mean Qingyazi is the only one who can use Sword Flight? What a pretentious way to show off again."
At that moment, looking at the distant buildings half-hidden in the clouds, she took a deep breath and strode toward the peak.
Just treat it like mountain climbing...
This casual master of hers, Qingyazi, lived in a residence that neither the original owner nor Su Luo had visited more than twice: once when Qingyazi brought her back to become his disciple, and once when he took in Qin Xiu as his disciple. Fortunately, she still had some memory of the place and wouldn't go the wrong way.
Half an hour later, panting heavily, Su Luo climbed to the summit and arrived in front of the quaint house. She cupped her fists and called out, "Master, your disciple has something to discuss with you."
The moment her voice fell, the heavy door creaked open, and a cold, emotionless voice came from within.
"Enter."
Su Luo stepped inside quickly, her eyes immediately falling upon a young man in white robes seated upright within the room, his expression cold.
He was currently looking down at an ancient book in his hands. Even upon hearing her enter, he didn't even raise his head, simply asking in a flat tone, "What brings you here?"
Su Luo stared at Qingyazi for a few extra seconds, a dark gleam flashing in her eyes.
Whether in the original owner's life or her own past life, this casual master had never cared about her. His heart belonged solely to cultivation, and his only gentleness and admiration were reserved for Ning Wanshuang. Had Ning Wanshuang not already possessed her own master, he would have undoubtedly taken her in instead.
Well, it didn't matter now. If this place wouldn't keep her, other places would, and she had no fondness for this master anyway.
With that, Su Luo quickly withdrew her gaze, dropped heavily to her knees with a loud thump, and spoke with resolute clarity.
"Your disciple requests to leave the Tianyiji Sect and sever ties with Master's sect. I humbly ask Master to grant my wish."
As soon as these words were spoken, the room fell into absolute silence, the air growing several degrees colder.
Qingyazi stopped reading his book, slowly raising his head to frown at Su Luo, his tone frigid. "What nonsense are you spouting?"
Su Luo rolled her eyes inwardly.
Nonsense your grandmother's leg! Do you think you're some kind of precious treasure that everyone is dying to stay with?
Of course, Su Luo didn't dare show any of this on her face. Instead, she kept her head lowered, putting on a look of profound sorrow and loss.
"Master, I am not talking nonsense. Being fortunate enough to receive Master's teachings is the greatest blessing of my life, but after all, my talent is lacking and my strength is poor, leaving me unable to set a good example for the other disciples. I have this self-awareness: rather than continuing to occupy this position and bring shame upon you, I would rather step down of my own accord."
Qingyazi fell silent. Wondering what had crossed his mind, he asked, "Did you come here because of what happened yesterday?"
"What?" Su Luo looked up, somewhat puzzled.
Why bring up yesterday out of nowhere?
Yet in Qingyazi's eyes, this reaction confirmed his suspicion. He put down his book and stood up, an imposing aura washing over him as his gaze fixed on Su Luo, cold as ice.
"I heard that you took the initiative to give the Spirit-Boosting Grass to Shuang'er yesterday. I thought you had finally grown sensible. Since you were unwilling, why did you give it to her? And now you regret it and come running to me. How can a person go back on their word like this?"
Su Luo blinked, finally understanding. Good grief, he thought she had come here to snitch and complain?
Instantly, a surge of anger rose from the depths of her chest, and she longed to jump right up and retort fiercely.
Even if she was just a casual disciple, it was one thing for Qingyazi to show her zero care, but the moment something happened, he didn't even stop to think before jumping to conclusions, always assuming the worst of her! How could someone like this even be called a teacher? Bah!
If not for her lacking strength, she would have loved to give them a good kick!
She couldn't stay in this damn place another second! And all these people with scrambled brains—she needed to stay far, far away from every single one of them!
However, she couldn't! If she really talked back to him right now, her only outcome would be getting blasted away by a single palm strike from Qingyazi! In her past life, because she couldn't stand Qingyazi and talked back a few times, she had been blasted away in a rage, leaving her with internal injuries that took half a month to heal.
Right now, her only goal was to leave the Tianyiji Sect; she'd better not stir up trouble, keeping a low profile was paramount.
After taking a few deep breaths and silently repeating "Don't get angry" to herself several times, Su Luo hurriedly explained.
"Master has misunderstood. I gave the Spirit-Boosting Grass to Junior Sister Ning of my own free will; she truly needs it much more than I do! And I am not here to complain or whine! I simply went back and reflected on my own actions, realizing that I genuinely lack any talent for cultivation. Rather than lingering in the Tianyiji Sect for a lifetime without making the slightest progress and causing everyone dissatisfaction, I would rather go out and take a look. Perhaps a change of state of mind will help improve my cultivation..."
As she spoke, Su Luo raised a hand to cover her face, using her index finger to discreetly rub at her eyes, instantly summoning crystal-clear tears.
She closed her eyes, her tone heavy with grief.
"Master, cultivation relies on talent and destiny. I have stayed in the Tianyiji Sect for so long, yet my cultivation progresses slowly and my temperament is poor. I always feel that... I have no destiny with the Tianyiji Sect."
Qingyazi stared at Su Luo as she lowered her head and wept, looking thoroughly pitiful. He remained silent for a long time, the coldness in his eyes gradually fading to be replaced by a hint of realization.
He had only taken her in as a disciple to settle a karmic debt, but since her talent was insufficient, he hadn't paid her much mind. Over the years, he had heard some gossipy rumors about her, but couldn't be bothered to inquire further. To him, Su Luo's minor issues weren't worth mentioning.
He was busy—busy with cultivation, busy making breakthroughs. As the youngest Nascent Soul cultivator in the Cultivation World, too many people were hot on his heels. How could he spare the energy for anything else?
Yet never in his wildest dreams had he expected this casual disciple to take the initiative and request to leave the Tianyiji Sect.
At first, he thought she was just throwing a fit of temper, but seeing her now earnestly dissecting her inner thoughts, weeping bitterly from the depths of her heart with no hint of falsehood, Qingyazi finally took the matter seriously.
It seemed this disciple of his was genuinely planning to leave.
After a moment of thought, Qingyazi still offered a token retention: "Are you certain you want to leave the Tianyiji Sect? Even if your cultivation is low, I would not drive you away. After all, your relative was my benefactor."
Su Luo nodded firmly, wearing a heartbroken expression before sniffing softly.
"I want to go home and take a look. Although practitioners are supposed to cut ties with the mortal world, I still miss my family. It has been over ten years since I left my parents, and I have no idea how they are doing..."
Good grief, the wild onions of this Cultivation World were truly much more pungent than the ones back home...
Seeing Su Luo looking so heartbroken and speaking with such firm resolve, Qingyazi naturally dropped any further attempt to persuade her.
"Since your mind is made up, I will not insist further. From today onward, our master-disciple bond is severed. Later, I will send someone to notify the Sect Master to grant you a generous amount of High-grade Spirit Stone as compensation. Even after leaving the sect, you will be able to live out your days without worry."
Su Luo quickly kowtowed to Qingyazi. "Thank you, Master."
With this kowtow, she severed her master-disciple ties with Qingyazi, and from this moment on, she had no further connection to the Tianyiji Sect!
Thinking this to herself, Su Luo slowly stood back up, ready to leave.
"Wait."
Seeing the young girl turn and walk away without a backward glance, Qingyazi thought for a moment and called out to her.
Su Luo's expression stiffened. The guy wasn't going back on his word, was he?
She quickly adjusted her face into a sorrowful expression and turned back. "...Master?"
Qingyazi opened his right hand, and a silver bracelet-like object materialized out of thin air, which he then held out to Su Luo.
"This is a Protection Ring. It can serve as a defensive magic tool; wearing it on your body allows you to withstand three full-force strikes from a Golden Core cultivator. At the very least, we were master and disciple once, so I give this to you."
Su Luo's eyes lit up, and she hurried over to take it.
Magic tools like this didn't come along every day—it could actually block three strikes from a Golden Core cultivator! Between spirit stones and magic tools, Qingyazi wasn't entirely stingy after all~
"Thank you."
Su Luo offered a soft expression of gratitude to Qingyazi, then turned and left without a single second of hesitation.
Qingyazi: "..."
Why did she seem so eager to leave? Oh well, why waste time thinking about it? Their master-disciple relationship was broken, and they would likely never meet again in this lifetime.
Qingyazi shook his head to banish the thoughts and sat back down to read his book.
Meanwhile, Su Luo tucked the Protection Ring into her Storage Bag as she walked away from the house. Only after walking a good distance did she pull out a handkerchief to wipe the corners of her eyes.
Those wild onions she found along the path were truly formidable; they had smoked her eyes into such a watering frenzy she couldn't make them stop.