4: Don't be afraid, my disciple. Take this imperial weapon and use it to cut fruit.

"Bang!"

The two rickety wooden doors, already on the verge of collapse, finally succumbed to the burden and fell heroically to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Within the dust, several figures walked in against the light.

The leading girl wore a moon-white cloud-patterned dress with a jade belt cinched at her waist, outlining a graceful figure that was beginning to take shape. Her face was indeed exceptionally beautiful, with skin like congealed fat and eyes like autumn water, but at this moment, those beautiful eyes were filled with undisguised disdain.

Nalan Yanran.

The personal Disciple of the Yunlan Sect's Sect Master, and the goddess dreamed of by countless youths in the Eastern Wasteland.

She covered her nose and mouth with an embroidered handkerchief, waving away the dust in front of her, her brow furrowed so tightly it could crush a fly.

"This is the Hidden God Sect?"

"If I didn't know better, I'd think I walked into a beggars' den."

Following behind her was a middle-aged man in a brocade robe, possessing a thick aura and sharp eyes. He was an Elder Nalan and the 'Dao Protector' for this engagement annulment.

This group of people looked glamorous and exuded wealth and status.

Compared to this dilapidated hall that let in the wind from all sides and even leaked rain, they seemed to belong to two different worlds.

Xiao Chen stared fixedly at Nalan Yanran, his fingernails digging into his palms until blood seeped out.

Once, this girl used to follow behind him, sweetly calling him 'Brother Xiao Chen.'

Now, she stood on high, looking at him with eyes that treated him like trash.

"Nalan Yanran, what are you doing here?" Xiao Chen's voice was hoarse, suppressing his fury.

Nalan Yanran glanced at him, her gaze lingering for a second on his patched, coarse hemp clothes, the contempt in her eyes deepening.

She did not speak.

Instead, she lightly raised her fair hand, and a gold-stamped paper covered in writing flew out weightlessly.

"Slap."

The paper landed on the muddy ground by Xiao Chen's feet.

On it were written two glaringly large words—**Divorce Letter**.

"Sign it."

Nalan Yanran's voice was cold and clear, carrying a sense of high-and-mighty charity.

"Xiao Chen, recognize reality."

"I am the future hope of the Yunlan Sect; my journey is the sea of stars and the Holy Land of the Central Province. And you are just a cripple hiding in the deep mountains and old forests, unable to even maintain Foundation Establishment."

"We are no longer people of the same world."

Xiao Chen trembled all over, his eyes instantly turning bloodshot.

The stinging pain of being publicly humiliated gouged at his heart like a knife.

Elder Nalan sneered from the side and added, "Young Master Xiao, one must have self-knowledge. This Hidden God Sect is so broken, I doubt you can even fill your bellies. If you sign it readily, my Nalan Family can still bestow a few hundred taels of silver upon you, enough for you to live out the rest of your life as a wealthy man."

"Otherwise..."

The aura of a Perfect Foundation Establishment cultivator suddenly erupted from the Elder, making the surrounding broken windows rattle loudly.

"Hmph, there are consequences that you cannot bear."

It was a blatant threat.

Xiao Chen's breathing was rapid, his chest heaving violently. He bent down, wanting to pick up the rusty iron sword his Master had just bestowed upon him to fight to the death.

Just then.

A lazy voice abruptly rang out from above the hall.

"So noisy."

"Barging into someone else's home to shout and scream—is this the upbringing of your Nalan Family?"

The voice wasn't loud, yet it clearly entered everyone's ears.

Only then did everyone notice that in the shadows directly above the hall, a person was sitting.

Li Daoxuan held a bright red spirit fruit (actually a wild apple picked from the mountains) and took a bite with a 'crunch,' juice splashing everywhere.

He sat with his legs crossed, looking down at the group of people as if they were idiots.

Nalan Yanran was stunned.

This excessively young man was the Sect Master of the Hidden God Sect?

He was indeed extremely good-looking, but unfortunately, he was a fraud.

Elder Nalan stepped forward and snorted coldly, "You are the Sect Master who took in this trash? I advise you to mind your own business. The Yunlan Sect is conducting affairs; if you don't want to die, get lost."

Li Daoxuan chewed the apple and said indistinctly, "Yunlan Sect? Is it very powerful?"

"Never heard of it."

"Is it that Yunlan Sect where, two years ago, because the Sect Master was constipated, the entire sect went around begging for medicine?"

"Pfft—"

Xiao Chen, who was originally enraged to the extreme, almost lost his composure upon hearing this.

Nalan Yanran's face instantly turned the color of pig liver: "You! You're talking nonsense!"

Elder Nalan's beard trembled with rage: "Arrogant brat! How dare you insult my Yunlan Sect!"

Li Daoxuan swallowed the apple and casually threw the core at Elder Nalan's feet.

"Alright, stop the act."

"If it's an annulment, then it's an annulment. You're making it like a stage play."

He stood up, clapped his hands, and slowly walked down the steps.

With every step, his aura shifted slightly.

That laziness vanished.

It was replaced by an unfathomable depth, like an abyss.

He walked to Xiao Chen's side, looked at his trembling Disciple, and shook his head.

"Disciple, what did Master teach you?"

"When you encounter a barking dog, don't bark back at it. That would make you look very low-class."

Xiao Chen's eyes were red: "Master, but they..."

"It's just a scrap of paper; is it worth getting this angry over?"

Li Daoxuan casually felt around on the nearby table.

The next second.

A small knife appeared in his hand.

It was a fruit knife only a palm's length, with a pitch-black sheath. It looked unremarkable, even a bit like a cheap street-stall item.

But only Li Daoxuan knew.

This thing was a leftover scrap included when the system issued the 'immortal slaying sword' gift pack earlier.

Even if it was just a scrap, it was still forged from the 'Galaxy Divine Iron' left over from refining an extreme dao imperial weapon!

"Here, take it."

Li Daoxuan handed the small knife to Xiao Chen, his tone as if he were handing over a chopstick.

"That paper is an eyesore. Go, shred it."

"And while you're at it, peel an apple for these guests to help them cool down and sober up."

Xiao Chen was stunned.

Nalan Yanran was stunned.

Even Elder Nalan was stunned.

A few seconds later, the hall erupted in boisterous laughter.

"Hahahaha! A fruit knife?"

"This pathetic sect is too hilarious. What do they want to do with a fruit knife? Prepare a fruit platter for us?"

Nalan Yanran even covered her mouth and chuckled, the disdain in her eyes almost overflowing: "Xiao Chen, is this the Master you bowed to? Truly, birds of a feather flock together. You want to scare us with a broken knife?"

Elder Nalan laughed until tears almost came out: "Good, good, good. This old man wants to see what kind of tricks this apple-peeling knife can perform!"

Facing the widespread ridicule, Li Daoxuan's expression remained unchanged.

He just lightly patted Xiao Chen's back.

He whispered: "Draw it."

"Show them what a... surprise looks like."

Xiao Chen took a deep breath.

He had blind trust in his Master.

Since Master said it was a surprise, then this was absolutely not an ordinary fruit knife!

He reached out his trembling hand and gripped the cold black hilt.

It felt extremely heavy!

As if he were holding a mountain!

Xiao Chen gritted his teeth and exerted sudden force.

"Qiang—"

An extremely clear dragon's roar suddenly exploded within the hall!

The knife was unsheathed by an inch.

Just one inch.

Elder Nalan, who had been laughing wildly, stopped abruptly, as if his throat were being squeezed by an invisible giant hand.

A sword intent so terrifying it was beyond description gushed out from that small fruit knife like a volcanic eruption!

That was not blade qi.

That was a Law that could destroy heaven and earth!

That was a supreme killing intent that had once slashed down stars and slaughtered gods and demons!

"Rumble!"

Under the impact of this aura, the long-dilapidated roof of the hall didn't last even a second; it was instantly blown away like it was made of paper!

Tiles, beams, dust... were directly turned into powder in mid-air!

Sunlight poured down without obstruction, illuminating Nalan Yanran's face, which was as pale as paper.

She looked in horror at the 'fruit knife' in Xiao Chen's hand, which was still vibrating slightly.

How was that a knife?

That was clearly an ancient ferocious beast that had just awakened, opening its bloody maw and baring its fangs at them!

Xiao Chen himself was dumbfounded.

He only felt as if the knife in his hand had come alive, leading the hot blood in his body to burn wildly.

He subconsciously looked at his Master.

Li Daoxuan stood amidst the swirling dust, his white clothes as pure as snow, his hair flying in the wind.

A faint smile curled at the corners of his mouth as he pointed at the Divorce Letter on the ground, then at Elder Nalan, who was already paralyzed on the floor in fear.

"Disciple, what are you dazing for?"

"Cut it."

"Do I still need to teach you which end of the apple to start peeling from?"