Dealing with the Traitor in the Celestial Masters' Mansion

The night was as dark as ink; Celestial Masters' Mansion, along a desolate forest path.

A figure emerged silently from the side door, their footsteps so light they seemed to blend into the night breeze.

Sun Yuanzhao actions, stopping every few steps to listen attentively.

The coded message he received indicated that the Demon Lord's eldest disciple requested a meeting here tonight.

But when he arrived at the agreed place, there was no one around, only a few withered leaves being swept up by the wind and swirling on the ground.

He frowned, a sense of unease rising within him.

Just as he was about to leave, a very faint voice suddenly sounded behind him, "Chief Sun, I've kept you waiting."

Sun Yuanzhao suddenly turned around, and in the moonlight, a person wearing a worn Daoist robe was slowly walking out from the shadows of the trees. His face was calm and his steps were unhurried. It was Li Mo.

That outer sect servant who had swept the floors of the manor for twenty years and whose cultivation level was so low as to be almost negligible.

"It's you?" A flicker of surprise crossed Sun Yuanzhao's eyes, quickly replaced by murderous intent. "What are you doing here? Where's Xue Wuya?"

Chen Du stopped three zhang away from him, his expression calm. "He's dead. I killed him."

Sun Yuanzhao was taken aback, then sneered, "You killed him? What a joke! Li Mo, what are you to dare say such a thing? A useless sweeper, you might not even be able to stand firm in the Mind-Clearing Realm. I think you've had enough of living."

Chen Du wasn't annoyed, he just looked at him and said, "Sun Yuanzhao, you are a spy for the Celestial Masters' Mansion. Tonight, I will clean house for the Celestial Masters' Mansion."

Sun Yuanzhao, his face no longer concealing anything, and his aura slowly expanded.

The cultivation of the Seventh Realm Early Stage pressed down on Chen Du like an undercurrent, as if he were looking down at an ant that knew no death. "You? Li Mo, who do you think you are talking to? Killing you is easier for me than crushing an insect."

After he finished speaking, he stopped wasting words and struck out with his palm.

The demonic energy mingled with Daoist magic, and the palm strike was as sharp as a knife, aimed directly at Chen Du's crown chakra.

He intended to smash the young Daoist priest who had stumbled upon the secret into a pulp with a single blow.

However, the next moment, his hand stopped.

It wasn't that he wanted to stop, but that he couldn't go any further.

Chen Du simply extended a finger and gently pressed it against his palm.

Sun Yuanzhao violently shaken, feeling as if the force of his palm strike had vanished without a trace, like a mud ox sinking into the sea.

He looked up in disbelief, only to meet Chen Du's terrifyingly calm eyes.

There was no murderous intent or anger in his eyes, only a condescending indifference, as if he were looking at an insect that had finally crawled out of the shadows.

"I said," Chen Du's voice was extremely soft, yet every word was like thunder, "Based on me."

He slowly released the suppression of his own aura.

The pressure of the Eighth Realm Heavenly Master Realm was no longer restrained; it crashed down like an invisible curtain, but he deliberately controlled it, pressing down only on Sun Yuanzhao.

Sun Yuanzhao knelt on the ground, his whole body trembling like a leaf.

He raised his face, contorted with fear, his eyes filled with disbelief. "You... who are you? How could someone like you exist in the Celestial Masters' Mansion?"

Sun Yuanzhao felt as if the entire world was pressing down on him; it was no longer a difference in cultivation level, but a crushing defeat in terms of the level of life itself.

He was like an ant pressed under a boulder, even his breathing felt like swallowing razor blades.

"Heavenly Master Realm... You're actually Celestial Master!"

He trembled, his voice sounding like it was being squeezed out from between his teeth.

But then, the resentment that had been building up for countless years seemed to finally find an outlet, allowing him to overcome his fear and shout hoarsely, "Impossible! This is impossible! In the world, there are only a handful of people at the Eighth Realm. You, a janitor, a piece of trash who might not even be able to stand firm at the Mind-Clearing Realm, how could you possibly become Celestial Master?"

Moreover, for twenty years, a full twenty years, you've been in this manor without the manor lord's knowledge, the elders' knowledge, none of us knew! You've hidden yourself so deeply, what exactly are you after?"

By this point, his eyes were bloodshot, and a beast-like growl escaped his throat, "I'm not reconciled, I'm not reconciled!"

Chen Du remained expressionless, but his gaze grew even colder.

Sun Yuanzhao, however, seemed to have gone all out. He knelt on the ground, head raised, his voice filled with deep-seated hatred. "I have been in the Celestial Masters' Mansion for over eighty years. In terms of seniority and hard work, who can compare to me? But the Lord of the Mansion would rather give resources to those so-called geniuses than give me a second glance."

How many years have I been stuck at the Seventh Realm Early Stage? For this cultivation level, I've trained day and night, I'm willing to do anything, but what have I gotten in return? Nothing at all.

He slammed his fist into the ground, his fingertips digging into the dirt, blood streaming down his face. "If the Demon Lord hadn't granted me the opportunity to break through, why would I have betrayed my sect? I could have been a pure and righteous cultivator like you, but you wouldn't have given me that chance; you forced me to do it!"

He spoke with a mixture of grief and indignation, as if he wanted to pour out all the forbearance and resentment he had harbored for eighty years.

Chen Du simply watched him quietly, as if watching a dead man digging his own grave.

After Sun Yuanzhao finished shouting, he spoke calmly, uttering the longest sentence of the night. "Is this your reason for betraying your fellow disciples and harming your fellow students?"

Sun Yuanzhao was startled, opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

Chen Du stopped looking at him, slowly raised his hand, and spread his five fingers.

A purple lightning bolt instantly condensed in his palm, as if he were holding a wisp of tamed divine punishment.

I don't need to explain to you.

As soon as he finished speaking, the divine lightning bolt shot out from his hand.

A bolt of purple lightning ripped through the night like a roaring thunder dragon, striking Sun Yuanzhao.

Sun Yuanzhao could even scream, he was cleaved into a pile of charred ashes, which fell to the ground and were scattered among the weeds by the night wind.

Chen Du withdrew his hand, a few tiny arcs of electricity still lingering on his fingertips.

He looked up and glanced in the direction of the Celestial Masters' Mansion; the mountain gate remained silent in the night.

He turned and walked back the way he came, as if nothing had happened.

The Blood Motian Sect's main altar, the Dark Great Hall.

There were no lights in the hall; only the dark red blood-like patterns covering the walls and ceiling seemed to slowly writhe, like countless living blood vessels.

Demon Lord Zhang Yanzhen sat on a bone throne on the high platform, a long, jet-black sword lying across his lap. No trace of his aura was leaking out; he was as quiet as a stone statue amidst the blood-red light filling the hall.

But just now, he slowly opened his eyes.

The two names shattered one after the other in his mind.

One was the eldest disciple, Xue Wuya, and the other was Sun Yuanzhao, who had been planted in the Celestial Masters' Mansion for many years.

These two men, one in the open and one in the shadows, were both his own planted agents, yet they died one after the other on the same day.

Zhang Yanzhen remained silent for a moment, then smiled instead of getting angry, a smile that filled the empty hall.

"Interesting. A Celestial Master? The Celestial Master’s Mansion of Mount Longhu actually has a Celestial Master hidden inside. I didn't expect that."

He slowly rose from the bone seat, and as he did so, the blood-red patterns throughout the entire hall seemed to be awakened, lighting up wildly.

Dark red demonic energy surged from his body like a tide, pressing down on the entire hall, causing it to creak and crack, and the bone seat to break open.

The demonic cultivators kneeling outside the hall trembled on the ground, not daring to even raise their heads.

"But so what if Celestial Master?" Zhang Yanzhen gripped the black knife tightly, slowly raising it. His pale yet handsome face was reflected in the blade, a cold smile playing on his lips. "Once I've mastered my divine skills, even Celestial Master won't be able to stop me. The Celestial Master’s Mansion of Mount Longhu, with its thousand-year-old incense offerings, will come to an end."

He stepped out of the hall.

In the night sky, blood-red clouds surged, obscuring the stars and moon.

The entire Blood Motian Sect was like a giant beast awakening from its slumber, emitting a silent roar.