The Qiankun Sect was located at the center of the North Region, a place where six spiritual veins converged.
Surrounding the sect, eight mountain peaks were arranged according to the Eight Trigrams, forming a natural mountain-protecting array.
This place was so abundant in spiritual energy that a thin mist of essence constantly shrouded the mountaintops, creating an atmosphere fit for immortals.
The Qiankun Sect itself was built according to a specific array specification.
The entire sect was a massive, living array that utilized the world’s spiritual veins to operate ceaselessly.
In terms of the quality of its territory, the Qiankun Sect was second to none in the entire North Region.
At this moment, inside a solemn hall within the sect, the light was somewhat dim.
This was because few people ever visited this hall on ordinary days.
At the center of the hall, on a high platform, dozens of jade tablets of the same design were neatly arranged.
These were the soul tablets of the Sect Master, the elders, the consecrated experts, and the genius disciples.
Each soul tablet emitted a faint spiritual light, representing that the corresponding cultivator was still alive.
*Crack — *
Suddenly, a slight but exceptionally crisp sound of fracturing rang out abruptly in the silent Soul Jade Hall.
A young disciple wearing a grey Taoist robe, holding a broom while cleaning the dust in the hall, subconsciously looked up at the sound.
His gaze swept over the soul tablets on the high platform.
After a cursory glance, he paid it no mind and lowered his head to continue sweeping the floor.
But a moment later, the young disciple’s head snapped up again.
His pupils shrank suddenly, and an expression of unbelievable horror appeared on his face.
On the highest level of the platform, the soul tablet belonging to Great Elder Dragon Zhizheng — one of the sect’s highest combat powers — had split down the middle.
The once warm and lustrous jade had turned dull and lifeless, and the spiritual light it once contained had completely vanished.
“The… the Great Elder’s soul tablet!”
The young disciple’s voice trembled, almost unable to believe his eyes.
“It’s shattered! The Great Elder’s soul tablet has shattered!”
The young disciple cried out in alarm, ignoring the rule forbidding loud noises in the hall as he scrambled and crawled out of the Soul Jade Hall.
The commotion immediately alerted Third Elder Liu Da, who happened to be passing by.
Liu Da was a Stage 8 Integration Realm cultivator and the Master of the Law Enforcement Hall.
He was usually very strict about rules and etiquette.
Seeing the disciple in such a state of panic, he frowned and scolded him harshly, “Why are you so flustered? Where is your decorum? You don’t have a single bit of the composure you should possess!”
Seeing Liu Da and hearing the scolding, the young disciple’s face turned pale.
He flopped onto his knees, his voice filled with sobbing and terror.
“Third Elder! Something terrible has happened! In the… the Soul Jade Hall… the Great Elder’s soul tablet… it just shattered!”
“What?!”
Liu Da felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
A flare of violent rage appeared on his face as he grabbed the disciple’s collar, lifting him off the ground.
He roared, “Say that again! What shattered?!”
The disciple trembled under the pressure of the aura, but he managed to repeat with a shaking voice, “It’s… it’s the Great Elder… Great Elder Dragon Zhizheng’s soul tablet! Just now, in the Soul Jade Hall, I saw it crack with my own eyes! The spiritual light has also vanished!”
Liu Da’s heart sank heavily, and his face instantly turned ashen.
Great Elder Dragon Zhizheng was one of the only three Mahayana cultivators in the sect and one of the pillars of the Qiankun Sect.
Looking at the entire North Region, there were very few people who could even injure him, let alone kill him.
“Impossible! That’s absolutely impossible!”
Liu Da shoved the disciple away, his eyes filled with suspicion and uncertainty.
However, looking at the terrified expression on the disciple’s face, it didn’t seem like a lie.
Taking a deep breath, Liu Da forced himself to calm down.
The priority was to go and confirm it for himself!
“Lead the way! To the Soul Jade Hall!”
Liu Da ordered, but even he didn’t realize that his own voice carried a faint, imperceptible tremble.
The disciple did not dare to delay.
He scrambled up from the ground and led the way.
Liu Da followed closely behind and soon arrived at the entrance of the Soul Jade Hall.
Upon entering the hall, Liu Da’s gaze quickly shot toward the highest level of the high platform where the soul tablets were enshrined.
With a single glance, he clearly saw that the soul tablet belonging to Great Elder Dragon Zhizheng was lying there quietly.
A crack ran through it, and the spiritual light on the jade tablet had completely dissipated, leaving behind only a piece of lifeless waste jade.
“It really… shattered…”
Liu Da stumbled back a step, the color draining from his face, and his eyes filled with horror and confusion.
He stared intently at the broken soul tablet, feeling as if his mind had gone blank for a moment.
The Great Elder… had actually fallen?
“Who? Exactly who did this!”
After several breaths, Liu Da finally snapped out of it.
The spiritual energy around his body surged uncontrollably as he questioned in a furious voice.
The young disciple on the side trembled under the pressure of the aura, not daring to make a sound.
Liu Da took several more deep breaths, trying his best to suppress the stormy waves surging in his heart.
The fall of the Great Elder was no small matter.
If this news spread, it would not be a good thing for the entire Qiankun Sect.
“The Demonic Cult! It must be those monsters from the Demonic Cult!”
A look of ruthlessness flashed in Liu Da’s eyes.
“There was news a while ago that the Demonic Cult sacrificed dozens of villages. They must have secretly set a trap and used such poisonous methods against the Great Elder!”
The more he thought about it, the more Liu Da felt it was possible.
Other than the secretive and unpredictably powerful Demonic Cult, he could not think of anyone else who had the ability and the audacity to attack a Great Elder of the Qiankun Sect.
“No, this matter is too significant. I must report it to the Sect Master immediately!”
Liu Da turned abruptly and said sternly to the disciple still kneeling on the ground, “You stay here and guard this place. Without my order, no one is allowed to come within half a step of the Soul Jade Hall, nor are you allowed to spread a single word of this! If anything goes wrong, you will be held accountable!”
“Yes, your disciple obeys!” the disciple quickly replied, kowtowing.
Liu Da ignored the disciple.
His body leaped, turning into a streak of light as he sped toward the Xuanji Hall where the Sect Master resided.
The Xuanji Hall was located at the summit of the Qiankun Sect’s main peak, hidden within the mist of spiritual energy.
It appeared and disappeared fitfully, solemn and majestic.
Furthermore, sect rules stated that one could not fly over the main hall.
But at this moment, Liu Da was burning with anxiety and had no time to worry about the rules.
He flew directly into the Xuanji Hall.
“Sect Master! Something terrible has happened!”
Liu Da arrived in the hall and immediately cupped his hands toward the main seat.
At the center of the hall, on a high seat, a majestic middle-aged man wearing a purple Taoist robe with an Eight Trigrams pattern was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, circulating his energy.
He was the current Sect Master of the Qiankun Sect, Mo Chen.
Hearing Liu Da’s voice, Mo Chen slowly opened his eyes.
Looking at Liu Da’s disordered breathing and panicked expression, Mo Chen couldn’t help but frown slightly.
“Elder Liu, what is so urgent that you would barge into the Xuanji Hall?”
Liu Da immediately bowed, then said with a choking voice, “Sect Master! The Great Elder… the Great Elder, he…”
Mo Chen’s heart tightened, and an ominous feeling instantly flooded his mind.
“What happened to Uncle Long?”
“The Great Elder… has fallen!” Liu Da squeezed out these words with great difficulty, and then tears could not help but flow down.
“Just now, in the Soul Jade Hall, the Great Elder’s soul jade shattered.”
“That’s impossible!”
Mo Chen stood up abruptly, his eyes wide, filled with unbelievable shock and fury.
He stared fixedly at Liu Da, his voice involuntarily trembling.
“Even if Uncle Long’s strength wasn’t the absolute peak among the Mahayana Realm, he was a veteran of a hundred battles, proficient in countless mysterious techniques and life-saving methods. In the North Region, who could possibly have the ability to kill him so easily?!”
Liu Da knelt on the ground, burying his head even lower.
“I do not know the specifics of who did it. However, the Demonic Cult has been active recently and acting secretly. I embolden myself to guess that this… might be the work of the Demonic Cult!”
“The Demonic Cult…” Mo Chen repeated those two words in a low voice.
A murderous glint flashed in his eyes, and his hands unconsciously clenched into fists, making a creaking sound.
After a long time, Mo Chen took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the emotions churning in his heart.
His face gradually returned to its usual steadiness and majesty, though his eyes were colder and fiercer than usual.
“Issue the order immediately!”
Mo Chen spoke slowly.
“Dispatch the sect’s secret agents to investigate right away.
They must find out the sequence of events clearly!”
“Additionally, keep this matter a secret for now. It must not be spread outside.”
Mo Chen paused, then said again, “Also, immediately issue a mobilization order. Command all elders and guest elders who are traveling or in seclusion, no matter where they are, to return to the sect for a meeting within 1 month!”
Liu Da’s heart shivered, knowing the gravity of the situation.
He did not dare to delay in the slightest and quickly bowed his head.
“I obey your command! I will arrange it now!”
After speaking, Liu Da stood up, turned, and walked quickly out of Tianxuan Hall to carry out the Sect Master’s orders.
Inside the hall, only Mo Chen remained.
Mo Chen stood with his hands behind his back and walked outside, looking at the mountain peaks surrounding the main hall like stars surrounding the moon.
At this moment, his silhouette seemed somewhat lonely.
He raised his hand and looked at his slightly trembling fingertips, feeling a mixture of emotions in his heart.
To him, Dragon Zhizheng was not just the Great Elder of the sect, but also an elder who had watched him grow up and cared for him.
His sudden death was undoubtedly a huge blow.
“No matter who did this, my Qiankun Sect will fight you to the death!”
Meanwhile, 10,000 miles away…
At the center of the shattered earth, inside a deep pit, a bronze-colored square plate floated quietly.
That was the Ji Pan.
Inside the Ji Pan was a small pocket world.
At this moment, this small world was bordering on collapse.
And within this collapsing world, Ling Xi looked at the woman in front of her, whose clothes were in tatters and whose body was scorched black, feeling utterly helpless.
“Master! Master!”
She shook the other’s body, but there was no reaction.
The only thing Ling Xi could be sure of was that her Master still had a breath of life left in her.
Ling Xi took out several high-grade healing pills from her storage ring and fed them to her Master.
However, her Master’s injuries were far too severe.
For such heavy wounds, the effects of these pills were almost zero.
But now, an even more troublesome matter for Ling Xi was… she could not leave the small world within the Ji Pan.
Ling Xi looked at her unconscious Master and muttered through her tears, “Master, at least tell me how to get out of here!”