Abolishing His Cultivation

"Eldest Senior Brother, True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue merely used immortal herbs to refine pills. Why must you get so angry?"

Meng Chen had thought that the other disciples merely disregarded the lives of the Plant Spirit Race, and that their thinking could be changed through proper instruction. To his surprise, Juliusun stepped forward to plead for True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue.

That was difficult to judge.

In the Primordial Wilderness, disregarding life was perfectly normal. Humans did not empathize with ants, nor did tigers empathize with lions.

But what were they now? They were Hongjun Daozu's granddisciples, Yuanshi Tianzun's disciples, and followers of a Heavenly Dao Sage.

In the eyes of a Sage, the demon race, the Wu Clan, the Human Race, the Plant Spirit Race, and ants were all the same. There was no difference.

One had to fulfill the duties of one's position. Since they had become members of Xuanmen, they had to uphold the principle that "Heaven and Earth are impartial; they treat all things as straw dogs."

If they could not do that, they would sooner or later incur the Heavenly Dao's rejection.

Hearing someone plead on his behalf, True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue immediately revealed a smug look. He glanced at Meng Chen with a showy gaze, as if saying, "Eldest Senior Brother, you are too old-fashioned. Look, even Junior Brother Juliusun refuses to accept you."

Meng Chen ignored True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue's gaze and looked at Juliusun with a faint smile on his face.

When the Chan Sect disciples saw the smile on Meng Chen's face, they could not help but shudder. No matter how they looked at it, that smile was anything but kind.

Juliusun stiffened his neck and forced himself to say, "Eldest Senior Brother, no matter what, Senior Brother Clear Void is still our fellow disciple. If you do not care about the bond between fellow disciples, do you not even care about our teacher's love for his disciples? If brothers turn on each other, how will our teacher bear it?"

Upon hearing this, Guang Chengzi and Yellow Dragon True Man inwardly cried, This is deadly, and quietly shifted their feet backward, seemingly intending to place Juliusun in front of them as a shield.

The smile on Meng Chen's face remained, but the coldness in his eyes deepened.

Juliusun felt a powerful aura closing in from all directions, trapping him within it. It felt as though Mount Tai were pressing down on his entire body, leaving him unable to move even a finger.

Then, an enormous dragon head appeared before him. It was as vast as a star. When it opened its mouth, the sun, moon, and stars seemed to enter its jaws as it bit down at him.

"Eldest Senior Brother, don't!"

Facing the threat of death, Juliusun hurriedly begged for mercy.

The moment his cry left his mouth, everything returned to normal. The oppressive aura vanished, and so did the enormous dragon head.

Juliusun looked around and saw his fellow disciples staring at him with baffled expressions.

Tap, tap!

When he turned back, he saw Meng Chen walking toward him with the steps of a demon.

"Don't what? Don't punish you, or don't eat you? You think yourself above all others, able to decide the life and death of Plant Spirit Race immortals at will. Do you know that my true form is the Azure Dragon? In my eyes, you are nothing more than food. Would you willingly let me eat you?"

Meng Chen's gaze blazed as he stared at Juliusun, as if he would swallow Juliusun whole if he gave the wrong answer.

Under Meng Chen's gaze, Juliusun wanted to retreat, but his legs felt as if they had been filled with lead. He could not move at all.

"What, you cannot do it? You have not taken a single bit of the principles our teacher taught you to heart."

"Do you know that every living being is Pangu? The races may differ greatly in appearance, but their essence is the same. You do not even understand that physical forms are all illusory, yet you dare spout such nonsense here and call Plant Spirit Race immortals immortal herbs."

"Even our teacher respects every creature and every life, yet you regard yourself as the master of all things, wishing to replace the Heavenly Dao and decide others' life and death at will. What gives you that right?"

Meng Chen's voice boomed like a great bell, echoing through Jade Void Hall and relentlessly battering the hearts of every Chan Sect disciple.

His voice grew louder and louder, and the pressure radiating from his body became increasingly intense. Under that pressure, Juliusun finally began to tremble.

"Eldest Senior Brother, harming a fellow disciple violates the sect rules."

After holding it in for a long time, that was the only sentence he managed to force out.

By then, Meng Chen no longer wished to speak. He had nothing left to say to Juliusun.

When Meng Chen spoke to Juliusun about sect rules, Juliusun spoke to him about personal bonds. When Meng Chen spoke to Juliusun about personal bonds, Juliusun started talking about sect rules again.

In short, Juliusun only discussed what benefited himself. Anything unfavorable to him, he would always avoid mentioning.

Meng Chen returned to his original position and ignored Juliusun. He looked at all the Chan Sect disciples and said:

"Junior Brothers, I know many of you think I am cold and heartless. But I must tell you that sect rules were never meant to accommodate personal feelings. You may look through My Teaching's rules and see whether any of them contain the words 'personal feelings.' No matter who it is, as long as they violate the sect rules, I will deal with them according to the rules. No plea for mercy will be of any use."

His words struck the ground with force and echoed through the hall for a long time, cold and merciless.

These Junior Brothers of his simply did not understand that sect rules were not only restraints, but also protection. Just like now—if not for the protection of the sect rules, Juliusun would already be lying dead.

This time, no one had anything left to say.

Whether in status, strength, or reason, Meng Chen held the upper hand. Especially in strength—if all of them attacked together, Meng Chen would still suppress them.

Guang Chengzi, Yu Ding Zhenren, Cihang Zhenren, and Yellow Dragon True Man, however, began to admire Meng Chen. They thought that if they had stood in Meng Chen's position, they would have handled the matter lightly.

Guang Chengzi completely agreed with Meng Chen's viewpoint, because Meng Chen's viewpoint was Yuanshi Tianzun's viewpoint. Yet if he were asked to choose between fellow disciples and outsiders, he would hesitate for a while before ultimately being swayed by the bond between fellow disciples, turning major matters into minor ones and minor matters into nothing.

"My resolve falls short of Eldest Senior Brother's. Our teacher's decision was right. Only Eldest Senior Brother has the ability to manage My Teaching properly."

Guang Chengzi was utterly convinced by Meng Chen, and his heart gradually drew closer to Meng Chen.

Yu Ding Zhenren and the other two planned to observe for a while longer. If Meng Chen truly could suppress Juliusun and the others, they would completely join Meng Chen's camp.

Wu Liangzi, however, inwardly cried that things were going badly. This was not the situation he wanted to see.

A Sage's great sect was protected by the Heavenly Dao and would not easily decline, because a Sage's great sect represented the will of the Heavenly Dao. To destroy a Sage's great sect, one had to let it rot and cause it to lose the Heavenly Dao's protection.

If Meng Chen continued like this, how could the Chan Sect rot? The moment any rotten branches or leaves appeared within the Chan Sect, Meng Chen would likely prune them away.

At that moment, Meng Chen finally looked at True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue and declared:

"True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue harmed fellow cultivators and slaughtered living beings. His crimes are unforgivable. Now, on behalf of our teacher, I abolish all of True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue's cultivation, sever his immortal root, and expel him from the Chan Sect!"

"What?!"

Hearing Meng Chen's words, Juliusun and the other Chan Sect disciples began to tremble. They had not expected Meng Chen to be so ruthless, leaving True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue no path to survival.

The next moment, Meng Chen raised his hand, and a black gourd appeared in his palm. As he released his mana, the black gourd emitted a powerful suction force and drew True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue inside.

"Ahhh!"

Immortal light flared from the gourd, and a string of agonized screams rang out from within, turning Juliusun and the others pale.

Only then did they realize that Meng Chen was serious. He was not merely talking.

A moment later, the screams ceased. Meng Chen patted the gourd, and True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue flew out like a dead dog.

True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue had now lost all his cultivation. Even his Magic Treasures had been stripped away. Like a beggar, he curled up on the ground in unbearable agony.

"This..."

Seeing this scene, Juliusun and the others were terrified. The hairs on their backs stood on end as they became filled with fear toward Meng Chen.

"Meng Chen, you are so vicious! You abolished all my cultivation! You might as well kill me!"

True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue glared at Meng Chen with venomous hatred, wishing he could devour Meng Chen alive.

Meng Chen merely said, "No need to rush. I will not kill you, but someone else naturally will. You used their Young Clan Leader and clan leader to refine medicine. I must give them an explanation."

His meaning was clear: he intended to hand True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue over to the Blue Silver Grass Clan, the Zhu Yu Clan, and the other plant races for punishment.

It was also convenient, since Meng Chen intended to establish a foundation of support for the Chan Sect. The Plant Spirit Race was the best informed, after all. Few people ever paid attention to the flowers and grass around them.