Unrepentant

The people do not fear death—why threaten them with it?

Sometimes, you truly cannot underestimate the resolve of an ant. They may have little strength, their lives may be fleeting, but they will still fight to the death.

An ant cannot bite an elephant to death, but an ant can use its own life to influence the elephant's actions, drawing the attention of other beasts to the elephant.

Just like now, as the Plant Spirit Race experts were about to meet their end, a dragon's roar resounded through heaven and earth, sealing time and space, freezing everything on the battlefield in a moment of stillness.

Even though both sides of the battle wielded the power of laws, their laws were too feeble—frozen in an instant.

Their mana, their consciousness, every single thing about them was locked in place. This stretch of heaven and earth became like a painted scroll, magnificent and breathtaking.

A pillar of cyan light descended from the sky, and Meng Chen's figure appeared within the painting.

He arrived at the center of the battle, and a mass of cyan light radiated outward from his body. The divine abilities and Daoist arts unleashed by both sides melted away like snow and ice, dissolving into nothingness. The True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue's Small Chiliocosm flew back into his body.

When the Plant Spirit Race experts and the True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue regained their senses, they found themselves each trapped inside a cocoon of light, their mana suppressed, all of them completely subdued.

Everyone looked up and saw a towering figure standing among them. An aura of natural authority emanated from him, making hearts pound with unease.

When the True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue saw that the newcomer was Meng Chen, he couldn't help but say, "Eldest Senior Brother, have you suppressed the wrong people? These spirits do not recognize the will of heaven and have offended a disciple of a sage. Eldest Senior Brother, kill them quickly to set the record straight."

Hearing this, the Plant Spirit Race experts all assumed Meng Chen had come to aid the True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue.

The Great Elder of the Crimson Pearl Clan cursed loudly, "What a fine Chan Sect this is, indulging its disciples in slaughtering living beings. Don't think that just because your magic is strong, you can do as you please. Karmic retribution will treat every being of the Primordial Wilderness fairly."

"Exactly! We plants have been treated as cultivation resources by other cultivators since the moment we were born. So from the very start, we cast life and death aside. You can refine us into pills, you can kill us, but we will never bow to you."

The Great Elder of the Blue Silver Clan bristled with fury, puffing up like an angry pufferfish.

The Great Elder of the Zhu Yu Clan laughed loudly, as if speaking his last words: "Let every plant immortal under heaven hear this—if one day the Primordial Wilderness cannot accommodate our Plant Spirit Race, then tell our descendants to stop reproducing. Let a thousand generations pass, and may the Primordial Wilderness have not a single blade of grass left!"

His voice spread through the plants beneath his feet, from one to ten, from ten to a hundred, traveling far into the distance, growing wider and wider.

His words inspired the other Plant Spirit Race experts. They all used the unique divine abilities of their race to broadcast the message of "let the Primordial Wilderness have not a single plant" across the myriad worlds.

"Exactly! Even disciples of sages treat us Plant Spirit Race as cultivation resources. Then what reason do we have to keep living in the Primordial Wilderness? From now on, the Primordial Wilderness has no need for the Plant Spirit Race."

"Fellow plant spirits, stop reproducing. Let tragedy and pain end with our generation. Do not let our descendants inherit this hopeless fate!"

The True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue watched the Plant Spirit Race experts spiral into madness, and a chill ran through his heart. He never imagined these plant immortals could be so venomous, wanting to wipe out all plants from the Primordial Wilderness.

Without spirit herbs and immortal medicines, how would they immortals refine pills, craft talismans, or forge spirit robes? Without spirit herbs and immortal medicines, how would the birds and beasts that fed on plants grow and multiply?

"Outrageous! You, all of you, truly intend to defy heaven! Eldest Senior Brother, release me at once, and kill these monsters!"

The True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue was furious, itching to slaughter these Plant Spirit Race experts who were spreading heresy. He knew, of course, that the Plant Spirit Race wouldn't be so easily wiped out.

But what if other plants took it to heart and refused to bloom, bear fruit, or pass on their lineage?

Meng Chen watched the True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue struggle in silence, his heart filled with disappointment. Even at this point, the True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue still hadn't realized his own mistake.

All things grow according to their own principles. That the Plant Spirit Race could cultivate into immortals proved that heaven and earth acknowledged them. The True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue's constant talk of "following heaven" and "defying heaven" was nothing but a veneer for his own actions.

Moreover, the Plant Spirit Race's behavior showed that even ants had the power to resist a sage.

If a sage wanted to spread the Dao to all beings, there had to be beings to receive it. Without beings, would a sage preach to stones, mud, and sand?

"Junior Brother Clear Void, SILENCE!!"

Meng Chen's roar was like a great bell, thunder shaking the nine heavens, rattling the True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue's eardrums and forcing him into instant stillness.

Meng Chen's gaze swept over everyone present, and he declared, "Today's fault lies with the True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue. For his own selfish desires, he refined fellow cultivators into pills, violating the rules of My Teaching. In the name of the Chan Sect's Eldest Senior Brother, I swear to you all—the Chan Sect will give every race a satisfactory answer."

His words stunned the entire scene. No one could believe it.

The True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue refused to accept that his own Eldest Senior Brother would bow to a group of weak, wandering cultivators and even use sect rules to punish him.

The Plant Spirit Race was cultivation resources. Who would punish their own junior sect brother over a single pill or a single spirit herb?

The Plant Spirit Race experts couldn't believe it either. This Chan Sect Eldest Senior Brother's magic was countless times greater than the True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue's, yet he deigned to explain himself to such insignificant beings?

"Eldest Senior Brother, have you lost your mind? You want to punish me for their sake?"

The True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue was deeply aggrieved.

Meng Chen knew full well that the True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue was unconvinced. Even after Daoist Duobao and the others knelt, they hadn't been truly convinced. But Meng Chen had no interest in reasoning with the True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue.

He was not one to indulge in misplaced mercy. Since he had decided to punish the True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue, he would show no leniency. In fact, he would treat the True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue as an enemy.

Meng Chen wasn't naive enough to think that after punishing the True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue, the man would hold no grudge.

When you strike a snake, you must kill it—never leave it a chance to live.

If one were to say Meng Chen felt no bond of sect brotherhood, that would be about right. He wasn't an emotional person by nature. In his past life, when he was in university, he finished four years of classes without even learning the names of all his classmates.

What experiences had Meng Chen shared with the True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue? They'd listened to a sermon together, shared a meal of wine—how could deep feelings develop so quickly? If not for the Chan Sect having so few disciples, Meng Chen might have struggled to remember the True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue's name.

The Intercepting Teaching had three thousand disciples. Aside from the more famous ones, Meng Chen never paid attention to the background extras. As for what they were called, he couldn't care less.

The True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue tried to say more, but Meng Chen sealed his mouth, reached out, and grabbed him.

"Rest assured, fellow Daoists. The Chan Sect is the true lineage of Pangu. If even the Chan Sect cannot give you justice, then no justice exists in the Three Realms."

With those words, Meng Chen grabbed the True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue and returned to Jade Void Palace.