Killing to Establish Authority, Shocking the Immortals; Disciples of the Interception and Chan Sects Appear

"Master! This group of cultivators came to our dojo for no reason, shouting insults and suddenly attacking Senior Brother and me. Please uphold justice for us!!"

Qingyuan had arrived.

Wuzhiqi's face lit up with joy as he recounted the matter in a wronged tone.

Yun Zhongzi also felt his heart settle.

He bowed to Qingyuan. "Greetings, Master."

"Mm, no need for formalities."

"I will not allow you two to suffer any grievance over this. Rest assured."

Qingyuan comforted his two disciples.

Then his sharp gaze swept across the entire scene.

In this era,

the beings of the Primordial Wilderness had no notion of morality or etiquette. Their creed was the Survival of the Fittest Jungle Law. Every one of them was proud, unruly, and arrogant.

Yet,

under Qingyuan's piercing gaze,

not a single person present dared meet his eyes.

Immortal Dingguang in particular

buried himself fearfully within the crowd, wishing he could turn and flee at once.

His heart was filled with disbelief.

Th-this was Qingyuan?!!

How was that possible!!

How could this be Qingyuan?!

He had been among the earliest batch to join the Interception Sect. From the days when the sect had only a few hundred members to its current several thousand, everyone knew who was stronger and who was more useless between Qingyuan and Duobao, the sect's earliest disciples.

Who did not know that Senior Disciple Brother Qingyuan could not understand anything Teacher Qingyuan taught? Sword Dao, formations, alchemy... whether orthodox paths or unorthodox arts, techniques or Divine Abilities, he could not comprehend any of them to a profound level, nor could he cultivate any formidable means.

Thus,

he had chosen Senior Disciple Duobao.

But today...

What was this terrifying Sword Intent?!!

That slaughterous Sword Intent was like the Senluo Death Trap, destroying consciousness and freezing flesh and Primordial Spirits. It seemed that with a single thought, Qingyuan could erase any living being present!!

Even he, a being naturally skilled in escape,

did not dare move!!

Even Senior Disciple Duobao did not possess such Sword Intent. How could Qingyuan possibly have it?

Could it be... Qingyuan had been hiding his abilities all along?!!!

Staring at the handsome, towering Youth in Black standing in the void, Immortal Dingguang suddenly shuddered. In that figure, he seemed to see the shadow of his teacher, Sect Master Tongtian!!

"Why have you come to my dojo?"

Qingyuan's expression was icy.

Yet none of the cultivators present dared speak. However, he had his methods. With a cold sneer, he said, "If you refuse to speak, do not blame me for being impolite!"

"Senior Disciple Qing, you cannot kill us! We are members of the Interception Sect too."

"Help! Qingyuan is slaughtering his fellow disciples!!!"

"You dare kill us? Our teacher is also Sect Master Tongtian. Even if we are to be punished, it should be our teacher who punishes us. What right do you have to discipline us in his stead?"

"He... he definitely does not dare kill us. We did not attack him, so he will not kill us. He is only trying to scare us..."

Within the crowd,

some cultivators begged for mercy, while others questioned him.

There were also clear-headed cultivators who saw through Qingyuan's reason for acting.

However, they...

had not expected Qingyuan to be so determined to kill in order to establish his authority!!

Pfft!

Pfft, pfft, pfft!!

In an instant, streams of sword light burst apart flesh. Countless sprays of blood and the sounds of Primordial Spirits being annihilated rang out. Those Interception Sect immortals who had been the most defiant or had threatened Qingyuan instantly became bloody blossoms blooming across the sky. Their bodies died and their Dao vanished, with not even their Primordial Spirits escaping!

This sight instantly terrified every cultivator present.

Even Immortal Dingguang went numb, staring in utter disbelief.

He dared to kill?

He really dared to kill!!!

Where... where had he found the nerve to kill them?!!!

The other cultivators were also stunned and panic-stricken. Some quick-witted ones immediately began begging for mercy or questioning him.

"Senior Disciple Brother, spare my life!! I was wrong!"

"Qingyuan, you dare kill them? They are Teacher's disciples. Regardless of right or wrong, Teacher should be the one to deal with them, shouldn't he? Yet you dare slaughter sect members indiscriminately. This crime is enough to make you die a hundred times!!"

"Quick, report this to Teacher! Qingyuan has gone mad and is slaughtering his fellow disciples!!"

"You're insane! You actually dared to kill people!"

"Senior Disciple Qing, do not kill me! None of this has anything to do with me. Immortal Dingguang was the one who instigated me..."

Some begged for mercy.

Some raised doubts.

Some exposed the mastermind behind the scheme.

It frightened Immortal Dingguang so badly that his face turned pale.

"So what if I kill you?"

Indifferent,

Qingyuan's cold, merciless voice drowned out everyone else. With tyrannical authority, he declared, "I am Qingyuan, the first disciple under the Interception Sect founded by Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun, Sect Master Tongtian; the Senior Disciple Brother of the Mystic Gate, inheritor of Heaven's majesty and Earth's virtue, of the orthodox Mystic Gate lineage. Your daring to attack me is Betraying Master and Ancestors, showing no respect for your elders. You caused a disturbance and wrecked havoc in my dojo, even attempting to kill my beloved disciples. Is this what you, as junior brothers and sisters, ought to do?"

"You are all so outrageously rebellious."

"As the Senior Disciple Brother of the Mystic Gate, I am responsible for purging the sect and removing such inferior disciples, lest you ruin the reputation of the Mystic Gate someday."

"Forget killing ten or a hundred of you—even if I slaughter every last one of you,"

"Teacher will not blame me!!!"

"If I am truly guilty... then after killing all of you, I will go to Teacher carrying thorns upon my back and beg forgiveness!!"

Boom!

The moment those words fell,

Qingyuan's killing intent erupted like a mountain flood and tsunami.

That terrifying killing intent and razor-sharp Sword Intent instantly crushed thousands of Interception Sect immortals to the ground.

Immortal Dingguang, who bore the brunt of it, coughed up blood and his aura rapidly weakened.

However,

before Qingyuan could question his crimes,

Immortal Dingguang directly dropped to his knees and began begging for mercy.

"Senior Disciple Brother, spare my life!! Senior Disciple Brother, spare me!!! None of this has anything to do with me. I was born timid and would never dare do something like this. It was all Daoist Duobao's doing! He overestimated himself and wanted to scheme for your position, so he threatened me into doing this!!"

"Spare me, Senior Disciple Brother!!"

"Please spare my insignificant life!"

Immortal Dingguang kowtowed repeatedly like a pounding garlic pestle.

Tears and snot streamed down his face.

Seeing how tactful he was, even Qingyuan could not find the slightest excuse to kill him.

"Though you may be spared from death, you cannot escape punishment."

With a casual wave of Qingyuan's hand, four streams of sword qi nailed Immortal Dingguang's limbs to the ground. The sharp sword qi eroded his flesh; without ten thousand years, it would likely be impossible to expel the lingering sword qi from his body.

"Junior Disciple Duobao, now that matters have come to this, are you still unwilling to show yourself?"

Qingyuan gazed into the distance.

It was as though his sight crossed mountains and rivers billions of miles away,

directly reaching Daoist Duobao, seated cross-legged upon a cushion within the Ten Thousand Treasures Cave.

"Senior Disciple Qing, I never expected you to possess such depth. I have underestimated you all these years."

Daoist Duobao sensed that tyrannical, razor-sharp gaze.

His face was solemn.

After a long silence,

he finally stepped out of the Cave Abode. Sword Lotuses bloomed beneath every step as he crossed the skies, appearing outside Qingyuan's dojo and meeting the Youth in Black's gaze.

After a long while,

he bowed. "Duobao greets Senior Disciple Brother."

"Mm."

Qingyuan went straight to the point. "If you apologize, today's matter will end here. I will not pursue it further. If you insist on going your own way, then do not blame me for damaging the bond between senior and junior disciples."

Daoist Duobao closed his eyes for a long time before finally sighing. "Since things have come to this, please proceed, Senior Disciple Qing!"

The commotion here

drew more and more members of the Interception Sect.

Golden Spirit Holy Mother, Holy Mother Wudang, Golden Hoop Immortal, Piluxian, and other renowned cultivators of the Interception Sect also arrived one after another.

"I thought Senior Disciple Duobao was the strongest disciple among the Three Sects. Who would have thought Senior Disciple Qing would be powerful to such an extent as well!"

Golden Hoop Immortal's face was filled with shock. Feeling the vast Law of Swordsmanship blanketing Heaven and Earth, he said fearfully, "We are both at the Peak Mystic Immortal Realm, yet Senior Disciple Qing gives me the illusion that Taiyi himself has descended. His comprehension of the Law of Swordsmanship is so deep that calling him the number one Mystic Gate Disciple would not be an exaggeration!"

"When I entered the sect, I saw Senior Disciple Brother and Senior Disciple Duobao serving at Teacher's side. I heard Senior Disciple Duobao say that Senior Disciple Brother had already served Teacher before Teacher attained the Dao."

Golden Spirit Holy Mother said solemnly, "I had thought Teacher only kept Senior Disciple Brother Qingyuan by his side because he was born from a Green Lotus. I never expected Senior Disciple Brother to have comprehended the Law of Swordsmanship to such a degree. Could it be that all these years, Senior Disciple Brother focused only on comprehending Laws and did not advance his cultivation?"

"With the body of a Mystic Immortal, comprehending the Law of Swordsmanship... that is simply too... terrifying!"

"No wonder Teacher has delayed selecting the Inner Sect Disciples. Could it be that he saw through Senior Disciple Brother's hidden abilities and thus refrained from deciding?"

"I wonder who is stronger, Senior Disciple Brother or Senior Disciple Duobao..."

Looking at the two figures confronting each other in the void,

the immortals wore solemn expressions.

They all whispered among themselves.

More and more Interception Sect disciples gathered, and even Chan Sect Disciples were drawn out of Secluded Cultivation to watch the spectacle.

Seeing the Interception Sect make such a huge commotion,

Guangchengzi and Chijingzi, who had only joined the sect recently, could not help but grow curious. They asked Immortal Elder Nanji, "What is the Interception Sect doing? Why are they suddenly fighting among themselves for no reason?"

"You two junior brothers may not know this. That Youth in Black is named Qingyuan. I heard his true form is a Green Lotus, and that he followed Martial Uncle Tongtian long before Teacher attained the Dao. However, his foundation and fortune are not particularly impressive. Teacher has also said that his foundation is poor, his fortune shallow, and that he cannot be put to great use, nor can he bear the impact of the Destiny Trend belonging to the Mystic Gate's first disciple."

"It was fine before, but after Teacher, Martial Uncle, and Martial Uncle became Saints..."

Although Immortal Elder Nanji did not finish what followed,

the meaning

was clear to Guangchengzi and Chijingzi.

At once, Guangchengzi could not help but laugh. "Senior Brother, Junior Brother, Teacher and the Martial Uncles gave us some treasures, did they not? Why do we not use them to make a wager on who will win?"