Among the Four Great Sects of the Eastern Continent, aside from the Dao Sect, each of the other three Great Sects had no fewer than three Ninth Realm powerhouses.
And that was only the strength displayed openly.
Take the Sword Sect, for example. Although the strongest person openly present in the Sword Sect was currently the Sword Venerable, the previous Sword Venerable had merely retired. He had not passed away.
In fact, if advancing to the Ninth Realm did not require an Origin Fragment, there would be even more Ninth Realm powerhouses among those three Great Sects!
The Dao Sect was in such a state now purely because something unexpected seemed to have happened in the previous Fifth Layer of the Origin Spirit Realm. As a result, from that generation of Junzi Temple disciples—each astonishingly talented—only the Madman Zhong Ming had emerged.
No one knew what had happened that day.
But the Dao Sect's high-end combat strength had indeed nearly all perished inside.
After that battle, the Dao Sect was barely supported by Jiang Zhi, who had advanced to the Ninth Realm, and a Martial Ancestor who had not yet reached the end of his lifespan at the time.
After that Martial Ancestor's lifespan ran out, Jiang Zhi's cultivation also fell because he practiced a secret art. On the surface, the Dao Sect was indeed the weakest of the Four Great Sects.
If Zhong Ming had not gone mad, the situation would actually have improved greatly at once.
He was so extraordinarily talented that he was publicly recognized as the next Temple Master.
Even Jiang Zhi, who was arrogant, unruly, and looked down on everyone, held him in the highest regard.
What was even stranger was that although he had clearly gone mad and had been locked in that Small