Life-Returning

Meng Chen treated disciples of the Chan Sect differently from disciples of the Intercepting Teaching.

Whatever the Disciples of Intercepting Teaching did had nothing to do with him. Whether they murdered and set fires or massacred cities and destroyed nations, that was for Master Tongtian and Our Lady of Wudang to handle.

At most, he would suppress those Disciples of Intercepting Teaching and send them to Biyou Palace. He would not interfere any further.

Disciples of the Chan Sect were different. The Calamity Fate of the entire Chan Sect was bound together. If a disciple of the Chan Sect did something that harmed its Calamity Fate, it was equivalent to harming Meng Chen's own Calamity Fate.

Harming someone's Calamity Fate was like killing their parents. Meng Chen could only handle the disciples of the Chan Sect according to the rules.

However, that was only one aspect.

If disciples of the Chan Sect and Disciples of Intercepting Teaching encountered danger at the same time, even if the endangered Chan Sect member was merely an attendant boy or a mount, while the endangered Intercepting Teaching disciples were major figures such as Daoist Duobao and Our Lady of Wudang, he would not hesitate to save the Chan Sect attendant boy or mount.

One did what one's position required. That was Meng Chen's style.

He might not possess the boundless compassion of Goddess Nüwa or Goddess Houtu, nor did he value loyalty and sentiment as deeply as Master Tongtian, but everything he did was worthy of his identity.

"Junior brothers, and Junior Brother Wu Liangzi, you have all seen this. This is the consequence of violating the sect rules. I hope you will never follow in True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue's footsteps. The identity of a Chan Sect disciple is incomparably noble, but whether you can remain Chan Sect disciples forever depends on your own choices."

With a sweep of his sleeve, Meng Chen took True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue with him and transformed into a speck of light, vanishing from Jade Void Palace.

After Meng Chen departed, the atmosphere in Jade Void Palace remained heavy. What had just happened taught these Chan Sect disciples a harsh lesson. They finally understood that Meng Chen's command over the sect rules was not mere talk. He truly would punish his fellow disciples.

Most importantly was Meng Chen's final remark.

Those words warned them that the Primordial Wilderness had countless living beings. They were not the only ones qualified to become disciples of the Chan Sect. If someone proved unworthy of their position, someone else would replace them.

Realizing this, the Chan Sect disciples suddenly began taking the sect rules seriously.

The Witch-Demon Tribulation was underway. The Witch and Demon Clans had a small battle every three days and a major battle every five days.

The reason they could live so freely, occasionally even discussing the will of heaven, was entirely because they were disciples of Saints. If they ceased to be disciples of Saints, they would no longer be so noble.

Guang Chengzi, Yu Ding Zhenren, Yellow Dragon True Man, and Cihang Zhenren exchanged glances, communicated through their eyes, and left Jade Void Palace together.

Wu Liangzi noticed this. His eyes shifted as he considered doing something. He stepped out of Jade Void Palace and was about to catch up to them when he remembered his own situation.

Every time, Meng Chen singled out his name. Now, everyone in the Chan Sect avoided him like the plague, afraid of offending Meng Chen.

"Damn Meng Chen! What benefits did the Chan Sect give you to make you so utterly loyal to it?"

Wu Liangzi cursed inwardly. In this world, the person he hated most was not Yuanshi Tianzun, but Meng Chen. If he could, he wanted to cripple Meng Chen's cultivation, turn Meng Chen into his attendant boy, and humiliate him every day to repay the hatred of Meng Chen's suppression.

"Alas!"

In the end, a thousand words turned into a single sigh.

Below Clear Void Peak, many experts of the Plant Spirit Race waited for Meng Chen's return. No matter the circumstances, they did not dare go to Jade Void Palace and demand an explanation.

All living beings feared Saints. Even Great Luo Golden Immortals were ants before Saints. How would this group of Golden Immortals dare meet a Saint?

Just as these experts were growing bored from waiting, a speck of light descended from the sky and transformed into Meng Chen and True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue.

Bang!

Meng Chen showed True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue no courtesy at all, casually throwing him before the Plant Spirit Race experts.

True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue felt endless terror. As a mortal with no cultivation, relying on the trace of Meng Chen's magical power to maintain his Innate Dao Body—his state was the same as a mortal's, not that he belonged to the Human Race—he simply could not withstand the aura of Golden Immortals.

"What happened to him?"

The Great Elder of Blue Silver Grass Clan looked at the disheveled True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue in disbelief.

Meng Chen explained, "This man harmed his fellow cultivators and has violated the Chan Sect's rules. I have already abolished all his cultivation. You may deal with him as you please."

The experts were stunned at first, then hurriedly bowed to Meng Chen.

"Many thanks to Immortal Lord for upholding justice for us. The Chan Sect truly deserves to be called the orthodox Xuanmen!"

"We will never dare forget Immortal Lord's grace!"

Although it had been a Chan Sect disciple who killed their Young Clan Leader and refined their clan's geniuses into pills, they knew when to advance and when to retreat.

Meng Chen had not only saved them, but also crippled their enemy and handed him over for them to punish. For a disciple of a Saint to treat them so fairly, they could not have been more grateful.

"Please rise!"

Meng Chen raised his right hand slightly, sending out a wave of magical power that lifted the Plant Spirit Race experts to their feet.

A faint look of apology appeared on his face. "Speaking of which, it was my poor discipline that allowed this beast to wreak havoc in Kunlun Wonderland. So, when I abolished this sinner's cultivation, I used a secret Chan Sect technique to return your clansmen's bodies to their original state and restore them."

He took out the Creation Gourd. A stream of air spurted forth, and more than ten intact immortal bodies flew out, landing before the crowd.

True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue was dumbfounded, and so were the experts. They had never expected Meng Chen to possess such a divine ability. He had restored immortals who had already been refined into pills and then refined into magical power.

True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue was furious. Since Meng Chen possessed such a method, why had he still subjected him to this treatment?

He simply did not understand that his violation of the sect rules was an established fact. Even if Meng Chen reversed the outcome, the established karma still remained.

"Immortal Lord, what are you planning to do?"

The Great Elder of Blue Silver Grass Clan looked at the bodies, unable to understand Meng Chen's intentions.

Meng Chen nodded. "That is correct. I will use the Life-Returning Great Art of our orthodox Xuanmen to revive them. As for your clan's Third Elder, his vital essence has already dispersed into heaven and earth. I have no way to revive him."

"Enough! This is more than enough! From this day onward, we are willing to obey Immortal Lord's commands. Should Immortal Lord give an order, even if we must travel to the ends of the earth, we will help Immortal Lord overcome all difficulties."

The Plant Spirit Race experts were overwhelmed with gratitude toward Meng Chen and entrusted their clan's very lives to him.

Meng Chen merely smiled faintly. A mass of azure immortal light appeared in his hand. With a flick of his finger, sixteen streaks of azure light flew out and entered the bodies of those Plant Spirit Race experts.

As the lights entered them, the bodies that had lost all life instantly revived. Their souls returned, their flesh regained vitality, and they came fully back to life.

"What is this?"

"I remember being refined into a pill."

These experts had returned from death, their memories still lingering at the moment before they died. The elders of each clan feared that they might disrespect Meng Chen and immediately reminded them.

"Clan Leader, it was Immortal Lord Meng Chen who used supreme divine power to save you."

"We have already decided to follow Immortal Lord's lead in all things. Clan Leader, quickly pay respects to Immortal Lord."

The Great Elder of Blue Silver Grass Clan directly overturned all propriety, pressing his own clan leader's head down and making him salute Meng Chen.

Seeing this, True Lord of Clear Void and Virtue nearly died of regret. All his killing and pill-refining had been for nothing, and he had even brought himself to such an end.

He regretted it!