Sudden Upheaval

"Tap."

The softened footsteps still sounded somewhat heavy, despite the newcomer's deliberate attempt to conceal them.

Irregular crates were piled all around, the black jade boxes filled with pearl-like medicinal pills.

The pills used for Qi Refinement were piled up like mountains of grain, leaving the young man who entered staring blankly for a long while. At a glance, the Earth Vein Pill Hall had long lost its former vastness and grandeur. It now resembled a warehouse instead.

Before the towering pill furnace sat a broad, imposing figure.

The pill furnace was indeed extraordinarily huge, yet it could not compare to the back before it. That back was a mountain, something that inspired reverence and shielded against winds from all eight directions. Not a trace of frost or snow could cross that towering peak.

"Master!"

Zhou Xinglie knelt and kowtowed. When he raised his head again, there was no need to say anything more.

After a long while.

Only then did a slightly choked voice sound.

"Your disciple... has brought disaster upon the sect."

The Taiyi Sect had stood for over thirty years. It had always conducted itself properly and treaded with utmost caution in dealing with the changing situation, relying on the Sect Master Martial Uncle's great talent and strategy, his master's formidable strength, and the protection of his fellow disciples. The two senior brothers had indeed fought for the position of sect master in charge of mundane affairs for a long time, but their struggle had never broken the family apart. They were still one family.

Cultivators were people too, and the martial world remained that same unchanging martial world.

Under such circumstances, anything that damaged the sect's dignity was a major matter. Once weakness was shown, others would see them as easy prey. If they did not