Huatang swept her gaze around the room before slowly speaking:
"This unexpected incident during the Grand Competition of the Five Regions was due to Huaxian Sect's inadequate preparations, which allowed the evil cultivators to exploit a loophole. On behalf of Huaxian Sect, I offer my apologies to everyone."
Having said that, she rose and cupped her hands to the crowd.
The cultivators in the grand hall remained expressionless. A single apology could not make up for the losses suffered by the various regions.
Xiang Sizi lifted her eyes and glanced at Huatang, a trace of mockery flashing through them. This time, only two people from the Rogue Cultivator Alliance of the Western Regions had emerged alive from the Scroll of Mountains and Rivers, and that was only because Ranxi had given them special care. Otherwise, their Rogue Cultivator Alliance would have been completely wiped out. She flicked her fingernails and said, "Fellow Daoist Huatang, none of us wished to see such an accident happen, but after sacrificing so many Elite Disciples, we must at least know where the problem lies, must we not?
"The Scroll of Mountains and Rivers is Huaxian Sect's sect-defending treasure. How could it have been controlled by evil cultivators for no reason at all? What methods did they use to tamper with it right beneath the noses of Huaxian Sect's Old Ancestors?
"Leaving everything else aside, Ranxi of Haoran Sect in our Western Regions self-detonated even her protective Immortal Artifact to stop the evil artifact Longya from breaking free of its seal. That is not a loss these juniors, who were trapped in the Scroll of Mountains and Rivers for ten years, should have had to bear."
After hearing Xiang Sizi's words, the cultivators in the hall silently nodded to themselves. Only Venerable Xiang Sizi would