Boom—
Boom—
The sound of explosions was continuous, and the defensive grand array protecting the Hehuan Sect shook violently.
The screen of spiritual energy formed by the array began to flicker and waver.
Cracks started to spread rapidly across its surface like a spiderweb.
Tai Lingxuan stood on a high platform, her robes snapping loudly in the turbulent air currents.
Looking at the sky, her expression was momentarily vacant.
“Master, Master, what do we do now!”
An urgent cry finally roused her from her daze.
Gu Qiushui was tugging at her, looking at her with eyes full of expectation, waiting for an answer.
Shock and fury had settled in Tai Lingxuan’s eyes, refusing to dissipate.
Deep within her pupils, there was also a hint of madness and resolute despair.
‘Why?’
‘On what grounds?’
Only questions remained in Tai Lingxuan’s mind.
Clearly, she had done her best to restrain her disciples, forbidding those taboo methods and making them focus on cultivation without provoking others.
Clearly, she had led the Hehuan Sect onto a path of reformation, never again taking the initiative to harm a single innocent person.
Many of these disciples were people who had once been driven to a dead end.
When trouble arose in the North Domain’s Realm of Cultivation, the Hehuan Sect had never stood idly by.
They had contributed manpower and resources, even sacrificing many disciples in the process.
When had they ever shown even a hint of negligence?
But the result… the result was this!
The North Domain still had no room for her.
It had no room for a Hehuan Sect that wanted to turn over a new leaf.
“Why must you drive us to a dead end!”
Tai Lingxuan’s teeth ground together until her gums bled.
Her eyes were as red as blood, and her originally exquisite face appeared somewhat hideous and distorted due to her extreme rage.
Using every ounce of her strength, she screamed her question toward the sky.
“Hahaha! Drive you to a dead end?”
That booming voice remained contemptuous.
“When dealing with such wicked heretics like you, naturally we must pull them out by the roots! Is there even a need for reason? Now, die for me!”
As the words fell, a massive, purple-red hand that blotted out the sun burst through the clouds from high in the heavens.
Carrying a terrifying, heart-palpitating pressure, it smashed down ruthlessly toward the Hehuan Sect’s defensive array.
“Hahahaha… Hahahaha!”
However, at that moment, Tai Lingxuan suddenly began to laugh wildly.
Her laughter was shrill and sharp, echoing over the entire square.
She laughed heartily, tears even streaming down her face, her expression twisting slightly.
But along with that laughter, a sense of madness and killing intent was completely ignited.
“Hypocrites! You bunch of sanctimonious hypocrites!”
Pointing at the sky, Tai Lingxuan cursed loudly, “When my Hehuan Sect turned to the righteous path, you said I was just putting on an act. When my Hehuan Sect minded its own business, you said I was secretly accumulating power. When my Hehuan Sect contributed to the North Domain, you turned a blind eye! And now, you actually have the gall to talk about acting on behalf of Heaven! You simply can’t stand to see my Hehuan Sect rise and surpass you!”
“Fine! Since you won’t give my Hehuan Sect a way to live, no one is going to have a good time today!”
The look of madness in Tai Lingxuan’s eyes grew even more intense.
She suddenly bit the tip of her tongue and spat out a mouthful of essence blood.
Her hands formed seals, and the spiritual energy surging throughout her body took on a shrill, blood-red hue.
“Disciples of the Hehuan Sect, hear my command! Kill them all!”
….
In a room in the distance.
Violent spiritual energy tremors traveled from afar, causing the tables and chairs in the room to shake slightly.
Chen Yuyang, who was stretching his waist, noticed the commotion and slowly opened his eyes.
He walked to the window, pushed it open, and looked toward the direction of the Hehuan Sect’s gate.
Following that, he heard Tai Lingxuan’s shrill and frantic cursing, as well as the deafening sound of explosions.
Combining the scene before him with the rumors of the past few days, Chen Yuyang finally understood what his Master had been obsessed with all these years and what she had been struggling against.
Everything she constructed in this dream was just her longing for recognition.
She wanted to prove that the Hehuan Sect was not beyond saving.
She simply couldn’t get over that hurdle.
Perhaps she just couldn’t understand why someone of Long Zhizheng’s status and position would move to kill her—moving against her when she was “already innocent and had done nothing wrong.”
But in Chen Yuyang’s view, his Master had perhaps been mistaken from the very beginning.
Long Zhizheng could never represent the entire North Domain’s Realm of Cultivation.
Were the righteous factions hypocritical?
Naturally, some were.
Chen Yuyang did not deny this, and hypocritical fellows were not few in number.
He had seen too many righteous cultivators who were sanctimonious on the surface but engaged in intrigue, power struggles, and unscrupulous tactics for resources behind the scenes.
But there was a reason why the righteous factions could be called righteous and maintain a dominant position in the Realm of Cultivation.
At least, in most cases, they could maintain more order.
They would not kill the innocent indiscriminately or act without any bottom line.
They weren’t necessarily true models of morality, but they at least wouldn’t rot to a certain point.
However, there was no need for him to explain these principles to his Master.
At this moment, Tai Lingxuan was just afraid, fragile, and panicked.
She was afraid that her years of hard work would go to waste.
She was afraid that everything she had finally stabilized would cease to exist.
She was fragile because she didn’t have enough strength to protect the sect and the disciples who followed her.
She was panicked by the fact that no matter how hard the Hehuan Sect tried, they still seemed to be excluded from the so-called righteous path, a reality where they could never be truly accepted.
However, in Chen Yuyang’s eyes, his Master’s concerns were actually completely unnecessary.
The reason was simple.
A person destined to grow into a giant never needs to care whether the ants beneath his feet acknowledge him or not.
Looking into the distance, the slaughter was unfolding, but his eyes remained as calm as still water.
Just as it appeared in his eyes.
All the power, money, and desire in this world—even those high and mighty sects and families…
These things were never objects he longed for, pursued, or looked up to.
They were like pebbles on the side of the road; they might catch his foot, but they would never make him stop his forward progress.
His purpose and his goal had been only one from the beginning to the end.
Ascension.
Meanwhile.
Outside the Hehuan Sect’s gate, killing intent soared to the heavens.
At this moment, vast spiritual energy collided in the sky.
Large areas of space collapsed, reorganized, and then collapsed again.
Although the disciples of the Hehuan Sect fought desperately to resist, they appeared vulnerable before the absolute strength of the combined major sects.
Before long, they suffered heavy casualties.
In the very center of the battlefield, Tai Lingxuan’s purple robes had been stained red with blood.
Her hair was slightly disheveled, but her beautiful eyes, clouded with frost, still carried a cold and frantic killing intent.
She was currently surrounded by dozens of Great Ascension Realm experts, while two Tribulation Transmutation Realm experts hovered high in the air, looking down at her.
“Tai Lingxuan, surrender now!” the voice of a Tribulation Transmutation Realm elder boomed.
As he spoke, an ancient saber in his hand slashed down.
The blade light condensed into a solid form, stretching 1,000 feet long as it slashed toward her, splitting the mountains and the earth.
Tai Lingxuan’s gaze sharpened.
She circulated the Hehuan Jue frantically.
Yin energy surged, pouring into the Star-Mist Ribbon encircling her.
The Star-Mist Ribbon suddenly expanded to 1,000 feet.
The ribbon shimmered with a brilliant light like stars, appearing as if the Milky Way had descended.
A frigid chill swept across the entire field.
Wherever the Star-Mist Ribbon passed, the air froze, and even a faint layer of white frost appeared on the space itself.
The saber shadow slashed by the Tribulation Transmutation Realm elder struck the Star-Mist Ribbon, producing a crisp cracking sound.
The blade light was instantly frozen and shattered.
“Hmm? You have some tricks!”
The elder frowned, not expecting Tai Lingxuan to be able to block this move.
However, just as Tai Lingxuan poured her spiritual energy into the Star-Mist Ribbon, the surrounding dozens of Great Ascension Realm experts seized the opportunity.
Various magical treasures and secret techniques were unleashed at once.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Dozens of attacks slammed densely toward Tai Lingxuan, impacting her protective spiritual energy and producing deafening explosions.
Finally, after enduring the onslaught for a while, Tai Lingxuan let out a muffled groan.
A trace of blood leaked from the corner of her mouth, and the spiritual energy shield around her shattered.
She was knocked downward by the impact of the attacks, landing heavily on the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
“Cough, cough…”
Tai Lingxuan managed to stand upright, but she couldn’t help but cough up a large amount of blood.
High in the sky, the dozens of Great Ascension Realm experts and the two Tribulation Transmutation Realm powerhouses slowly descended.
They stood in the air before Tai Lingxuan, their powerful pressures overlapping and shrouding her like something physical, making it difficult for her even to breathe.
“Tai Lingxuan, it’s over for you.”
The Tribulation Transmutation Realm elder looked down at her with a cold tone.
“Considering your difficult cultivation journey, if you give up your resistance now, we can at least leave your body intact and let you die with dignity.”
“Surrender?”
Tai Lingxuan lifted her head.
Looking out of the corner of her eye, she saw the corpses of her disciples, and a shrill smile appeared on her face.
“Since it’s just death, what do I care about dignity!”
As she answered, Tai Lingxuan secretly mobilized the spiritual energy in her body, gathering it in her Sumeru Sea of Consciousness.
She was prepared to self-detonate.
Even if she had to die, she would take a few of them down with her!
However, at that moment, a hand was placed gently on Tai Lingxuan’s shoulder.
That hand didn’t seem to have much strength, yet it immediately suppressed the spiritual energy surging within her body.
“Alright, Master, you step back.”
A familiar yet somewhat strange voice sounded in Tai Lingxuan’s ear.
Tai Lingxuan’s body stiffened.
She turned her head abruptly, looking at the newcomer with a face full of shock and disbelief.
It was a youth of about fourteen or fifteen years old.
The youth had black hair and black eyes.
His posture was upright, and his face was extraordinarily handsome.
It was Chen Yuyang!
‘How could he be here?’
“You… what are you doing here?”
Tai Lingxuan was both shocked and anxious.
She hurriedly tried to push him away.
“Get back!”
Chen Yuyang shook his head slightly.
He didn’t spare a single glance at the people in the sky.
Instead, he looked at Tai Lingxuan with a peaceful gaze as he watched the woman covered in blood.
“Master, perhaps you still don’t understand.”
“Actually, on that day—the day you picked me up outside the sect gate…”
“All your worries, all your concerns, and all your troubles… actually ceased to be an issue.”
“Because…”
“You took me in.”
“You raised me to adulthood…”
“You treated me as your own…”
His black eyes gazed solemnly into the woman’s eyes.
“And because you are my woman.”