Heaven and Earth's Shackles, Fang Xingduan's Death

He was also a Nascent Soul Cultivator of the Xiao State's cultivation world.

He recognized this female cultivator in a bamboo hat. She was none other than Fu Linglong, the ancestor of Clean Lotus Convent in Liao Prefecture.

What he did not understand was when Fu Linglong had developed a private friendship with Wei Tu—and why she was now helping Wei Tu expose the "lie" he had devised to buy time.

"Our sect's higher-ups have other pressing matters and cannot conveniently come here."

Fang Xingduan's eyes turned faintly cold as he explained.

These words were not meant for Wei Tu or Fu Linglong, but for the countless fellow sect cultivators currently sheltered beneath the formation's barrier.

To the higher-ups, these countless cultivators were "sacrifices," yet they were also every bit of strength maintaining the sect-protecting formation. Nothing could go wrong with them.

However, those words were far too flimsy to convince the crowd. The moment his voice fell, small disturbances quickly arose across the various spiritual peaks within Sacred Cliff Mountain.

And they showed signs of escalating.

"Silence! Do not believe Fu Linglong's words! The other Nascent Soul higher-ups are stationed at the various formation nodes of the sect-protecting grand formation, defending our sect's formation with all their strength..."

Fang Xingduan shouted coldly, reciting the lie he had long prepared.

With these words, though the Sacred Cliff Mountain cultivators could no longer return to their former state of "all hearts as one," the unrest was effectively contained and gradually subsided.

Yet Fang Xingduan also knew that Fu Linglong's words had already planted seeds of doubt in their hearts. Their "submission" now was merely born of fear—fear of his authority as sect master, and fear of Wei Tu, this powerful external enemy.

But to him, that was enough.

As long as