Senior Brother Changqing Has Returned

"Zheng!"

The Sword Light landed. There was no explosion, nor any shockwave. The three-faced, six-armed Ruin Clan Tribulation Immortal, its six bone blades hovering in mid-air, froze on all three faces. The face in the very center even retained its previous sinister grin, the muscles on its six arms bulging high, even the black gas it was about to exhale was stuck in its throat.

The next instant, a line of blood split open from the center of its head, extending downwards, passing through its brow, bridge of its nose, chest, and finally down to its groin.

"Laugh."

The hundred-zhang-tall body was neatly split in two, crashing down to the left and right. Rocks flew everywhere, and black blood flowed through the cracks in the bluestone slabs. The Tribulation Immortal of the Three Tribulations Ruin Clan was dead. With just one sword strike.

On the Questioning Platform, it was so quiet that not even a breath could be heard. Even the Ruin Soldiers who had surged in through the gap stopped in their tracks. The first few Ruin Soldiers, splattered with black blood, still had their claws raised in mid-air, but they couldn't take another step. They stared at the hundred-foot-tall corpse, its two halves still bleeding, and for the first time, something called "fear" appeared in their gray-black eyes.

Chen Changqing sheathed his sword and casually dispersed the Blood Qi from its blade. When he rushed back from outside the mountain gate, he saw the three-faced monster raising its bone blade to strike his master's head from afar. If he had been even half a breath slower, the consequences would have been unimaginable. He had to stabilize his master's injuries first before dealing with the remaining big guys in the sky.

Chen Yuan knelt on the ground, blood still dripping from his chest. He looked up at the white-robed youth who emerged from the Sword Light, and his lips moved.

"Changqing?"

"Master."

Chen Changqing quickly stepped forward, reached out to help him up, placed his palm on Chen Yuan's back, and channeled a stream of Pure Yang Immortal Essence immortal energy into him. This immortal energy circulated along Chen Yuan's meridians, forcing out all the gray-black Ruin Qi remaining in the wound. Chen Yuan's injuries stabilized at a visible speed, and the deep, bone-revealing blood groove on his chest stopped bleeding.

"Disciple is late."

Chen Yuan's eyes instantly reddened. He looked at his unharmed disciple, opened his mouth, wanting to ask what was going on down in the Nine Netherworlds, and whether he had suffered any losses along the way. In the end, all his words stuck in his throat, and he simply raised his blood-stained hand and patted Chen Changqing heavily on the shoulder.

"It's good that you're back."

"It's good that you're back."

A moment of silence fell over the area, and then someone in the crowd shouted first.

"Senior Brother Changqing!"

"It's Senior Brother Changqing! Senior Brother Changqing is back!"

"Our senior brother is back!"

The entire Questioning Platform) erupted in chaos. The inner disciples covered in blood, the Outer Sect disciples with broken swords and armor, and those who held their dulled swords, believing they were doomed to die, all turned bloodshot. Some collapsed to the ground and wailed, while others threw their broken swords into the air and shouted along at the top of their lungs.

"Senior Brother Changqing is back! Mount Shu is saved!"

"Senior brother! Avenge us! Junior Brother Zhang was just torn to pieces by them!"

"Senior brother, Elder Liu and the others are still on the Outer Sect mountain path! Go and rescue them!"

Hearing the cries around him, Chen Changqing glanced across the Questioning Platform. Limbs and torsos were everywhere, the bluestone slabs were stained dark red with blood, and the foundation of the Mountain Protection Array was shattered beyond recognition. It seemed that the pressure Mount Shu had been under these past few days was greater than expected. The area had to be cleared immediately to prevent these low-level Ruin Soldiers from continuing to drain the disciples' strength.

He raised his hand and pressed it down.

The previously noisy cries and screams instantly fell silent. Thousands of eyes were fixed on his gestures.

"Report."

He only said one word, then raised his hand and pointed behind him.

"Xiaoqian."

"Exist."

The white-robed holy embryo emerged from the sky, a golden lotus blooming between its brows, and landed without touching the ground in front of the mountain gate.

"I'll leave the Ruin Qi to you, and the Ruin Soldiers to you." Chen Changqing had a clear plan in mind. He needed to save his strength to deal with the Five Tribulations Ruin Clan in the sky, clear out the miscellaneous soldiers, and purify the black Qi in the air. It would be most suitable to give it to Xiaoqian's Merit Golden Light.

"Good."

Xiaoqian responded and stepped into the Void Tide. The Merit Golden Lotus unfolded beneath her feet, and wherever the Golden Light passed, the gray-black Ruin Qi melted away in patches, like snow meeting the blazing sun. The originally cold and foul air immediately became refreshing when illuminated by the Golden Light. Once the Ruin Soldiers were enveloped in the Golden Light, the ferocity within them receded like a tide, and before they could even utter a scream, they turned into wisps of green smoke and dissipated into the air.

"Ghost Immortal?!" One of the Ruin Soldier cried out in terror as his comrade vanished into thin air.

"No! It's a sacred embryo! Ghost-Body Sacred Embryo from the Nine Netherworlds!"

"How could something like this exist in the lower realm! Run!"

The Ruin Soldier were so frightened that they turned around and squeezed out of the crack, wishing they had two more legs. Xiaoqian did not chase after them. She remembered Chen Changqing's instructions firmly, and simply stood in front of the mountain gate, spreading out the Golden Light, like an invisible wall blocking the gap. All the Ruin Soldiers rushing towards the Mount Shu disciples, as long as they hit this Dao Gold, were silently scattered, leaving not even a trace.

The disciples of Mount Shu stared at the white-clad figure from behind, their hands gripping their swords so tightly they forgot to lower them, speechless for a long time.

Who is that person?

"I don't know, it seems she came back from outside with Senior Brother Changqing."

"She's so strong; so many monsters couldn't even touch the hem of her clothes."

Chen Changqing didn't look behind him anymore. With Xiaoqian guarding the mountain gate, those bastards couldn't cause any trouble. The most urgent thing was to figure out the situation in Nine Provinces these past few days, why the rift in the Nine Netherworlds directly affected the sky of the mortal realm, and what the situation was like for the other sects. He walked up to Chen Yuan, squatted down, and took his master's arm.

"Master, what exactly happened to the sky crack?"

Chen Yuan took a breath, and with his disciple's help, sat down on the stone steps beside him, and recounted the events of the past three days.

"Three days ago, without any warning, dozens of large cracks simultaneously appeared in the sky above Nine Provinces," Chen Yuan said, pointing to the blood-red clouds overhead, his voice hoarse. "These monsters, calling themselves the Ruin Clan, descended from the cracks, killing anyone they saw and devouring any Spirit Veins they encountered. Several cities at the foot of the mountain were reduced to skeletons in less than half an hour."

Chen Changqing frowned. The entire Nine Provinces split open at the same time? It seems that those things in the Upper Realm had been preparing for a long time, just waiting for the moment the seal loosened to launch a massive attack.

"What about the other Sacred Ground? Haven't they joined forces to defend against them?" Chen Changqing pressed.

"We can't worry about anything, we can't worry about any of them." Chen Yuan gave a bitter laugh, wiping the blood from his face. "The Ten Great Sacred Lands are all besieged and can't even take care of themselves. Yesterday I tried to send SOS messages to the Great Xia Divine Dynasty, Medicine God Valley, and the True Dragon Clan, and I just received a reply. They've also sent down high-level Ruin Clan, so they can't spare any resources to support us."

Chen Yuan paused, glanced at the wounded disciples around him, and continued, "Our Mount Shu was surrounded by three Ruin Clan Tribulation Immortals and 100,000 Ruin Soldiers. The Nine Elders of the Supreme Court were traveling abroad. Upon receiving the news, they rushed back, but were ambushed on the way. Only three of them made it back and are now holding the fort at the back of the mountain. If you hadn't returned in time today, the Mountain Protection Array would have been broken, and the foundation of Mount Shu, built up over thousands of years, would have been completely destroyed in my hands."

At this point, Chen Yuan lowered his voice, a hint of doubt on his face. "Moreover, after these three days of fighting, I've noticed they seem to be looking for something."

"Looking for what?" Chen Changqing's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately grasped this key point.

"I don't know. But instead of immediately using all their strength to shatter the great formation, they sent out waves of elite troops, constantly heading towards the Ancestral Land. The pressure was greatest on the back mountain; the three Supreme Elders had to rely entirely on burning their blood to block the entrance to the Ancestral Land."

Chen Changqing's gaze darkened. Heading towards the Ancestral Land? Besides the Sword Graveyard of past ancestors, what else in the Mount Shu Ancestral Land could warrant such a massive upheaval from the Upper Realm 'Ruin Clan? He recalled the thousand-foot-long fissure beneath the Nine Netherworlds, the sound of armor clashing at the other end, and the demonic core he had shattered with a single sword strike. The root of the problem lay entirely within himself.

"Master."

"Um?"

"I brought them here."

Chen Yuan was taken aback and looked up at him.

"I severed the Primordial Demon Body in the Nine Netherworlds. Once its demonic core shattered, the seal connecting it to the Upper Realm loosened, allowing them to slip through." Chen Changqing gripped the Immortal Execution Sword tightly, his knuckles white. "This debt is mine; I will pay it."

"Nonsense!" Chen Yuan suddenly shouted, his voice even louder than when he blocked the bone blade.

He gripped Chen Changqing's wrist with terrifying force. "You went to the Nine Netherworlds to slay the demonic body to save the people of the world and to eliminate the greatest threat to the Nine Provinces. The sky cracked because of the wolves' ambitions of the Foreign Races from the Upper Realm, who have long coveted us. What does it have to do with you? Do you think the sky will stop cracking if you just let that demonic body break free and devour the entire Nine Provinces?"

"Master, that's not how it works..."

"You are a disciple of Mount Shu, not a sinner of Mount Shu." Chen Yuan stared intently into his eyes, saying each word clearly, "Remember this. Anyone who dares to use this matter to smear you, I will be the first to strike them down."

Chen Changqing looked at his master's blood-stained face and those bloodshot eyes that showed no sign of retreat. He remained silent for a moment, then nodded heavily. Yes, what was the use of self-blame now? Now that the seal had loosened and these bastards had already jumped down, he would just grip his sword tightly and kill as many as they came, wiping them all out.

"I've got it."

Chen Changqing stood up, turned around, and looked at his fellow disciples covered in blood on the Questioning Platform.

Jian Zhenzi stood beside the stone pillar, leaning on a chipped iron sword, and nodded to him.

Luo Futian's left arm hung limply, clearly broken, but his right hand held his sword high and waved it at him.

Bai Wuya leaned against the half-collapsed stone wall, his chest stained red. When he saw him looking over, he grinned and gave him a thumbs up.

Ji Changkong fared even worse, having lost an arm. His wound was haphazardly wrapped with strips of cloth, and he was grinning, a grin that looked more like a grimace.

Further away, Liu Mu and Ran Hua, supporting each other, limped over from the Outer Sect mountain path. Both of them were covered in blood, so much so that the original color of their Daoist robes was unrecognizable. When they saw Chen Changqing from a distance, their voices were hoarse from shouting.

"Changqing!"

"Senior brother!"

Looking at the familiar faces, Chen Changqing breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, everyone was still alive. As long as people are alive, broken bones can be set, and collapsed gates can be rebuilt. He raised his hand and pressed it down on them, signaling them not to get agitated.

"Don't move, don't run around."

"Heal your wounds on the spot first."

After saying that, he turned to look at Xiaoqian at the mountain gate. He had to save the seriously injured first, otherwise the blood loss alone could bankrupt a group of people.

"Xiaoqian, can your Merit Golden Light stabilize their injuries?"

"Yes," Xiaoqian replied, turning around and nodding. "The Golden Light possesses the power of life and creation; after removing the Ruin Qi, it can stimulate the growth of flesh and blood. However, I have only recently condensed my sacred embryo, so I can only protect a range of up to a hundred feet at most."

"One hundred zhang is enough." Chen Changqing immediately made arrangements, pointing to the open space in the center of the Questioning Platform, "Move the seriously injured, those with broken arms and legs, over here and gather them together."

"Good."

The disciples who were still able to move immediately sprang into action, two or three of them supporting a seriously wounded disciple as they moved towards the center of the Questioning Platform. Xiaoqian landed from mid-air, and the Merit Golden Lotus beneath her feet slowly unfolded, enveloping all her fellow disciples within a hundred feet. Wherever the Golden Light passed, the ashen faces of those disciples who had been lying on the ground on the verge of death gradually improved. Displaced broken bones cracked and popped in the Golden Light as they were reattached, and the black blood from the wounds that had been corroded by the Ruin Qi turned into green smoke and dissipated, while the torn flesh slowly closed up.

"This method is truly miraculous." Jian Zhenzi looked down at the deep, bone-revealing wound on his chest, where granulation tissue was growing at a visible speed under the Golden Light. He was completely stunned. "Aren't Ghost Cultivator Cultivation Method all supposed to be Yin Qi and eerie? How can it possibly save people?"

"She has Ghost-Body Sacred Embryo, and she cultivates the Nine Netherworlds Great Merit," Chen Changqing casually corrected from the side. "She's completely different from ordinary Ghost Cultivators. Don't judge people by old standards."

"Oh, I see." Jian Zhenzi glanced at Xiaoqian's impossibly holy back, then at his senior brother, and wisely swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue, not asking any further questions. Anyway, his senior brother always brought back some rare and amazing things that would make people's eyes pop out every time he went out; he was used to it.

Just then, a muffled sound came from the blood-red cloud overhead.

"Boom!"

The entire Mount Shu was swaying slightly, and loose rocks from the edges of the cracks were falling down with a clatter.

Bai Wuya, leaning against the stone wall, looked up at the sky and suddenly spoke.

"Changqing."

"Uncle-Master, what's wrong?"

"What are those things in the sky? I've lived this long and searched through all the ancient texts of my sect, but I've never seen a monster with three faces that devours Spirit Veins."

Chen Changqing followed his gaze upwards and paused for a moment. There was no need to hide this from his martial uncle; since they were going to fight, everyone needed to be informed.

"The Upper Realm Ruin Clan."

"Coming from the Upper Realm? Is it strong?"

"Strong. The one I just killed was only a Three Tribulations Tribulation Immortal. There's still a Five Tribulations immortal pressing down in the sky, and there are probably even more troublesome characters behind the rift."

"And how does it compare to you?" Bai Wuya stared at his retreating figure, asking the question everyone was most concerned about.

Chen Changqing thought for a moment, comparing his current immortal energy reserves with the oppressive feeling from the sky. If he didn't use his trump cards, he would indeed be at a disadvantage in a head-on confrontation based solely on his current cultivation level.

"They're better than me now," he said honestly.

Instead of being afraid, Bai Wuya laughed, "So what do you plan to do? Lead us on a runaway trip?"

Chen Changqing looked up at the crack in the sky that was slowly widening, his eyes as cold as ice. Run? Where to run? Cracks were everywhere in the Nine Provinces; one step back meant an abyss. Only by hurting them, by scaring them, could Mount Shu have a glimmer of hope.

"Kill the one in front of us first."

"Continue along this crevice and fight your way up."

Bai Wuya was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting this answer. Then, he threw his head back and burst into laughter. The laughter was so intense that it aggravated the injury in his chest, causing him to bend over and cough up a mouthful of blood, but he still couldn't stop laughing.

"Good! Well said, let's charge in!"

"That's what a disciple of Mount Shu should say!" Bai Wuya wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, struggling to stand up. "Count me in as your uncle, I'll go with you and chop that son of a bitch!"

Chen Changqing turned his head and looked him up and down, noticing his legs that were still trembling.

"You should just sit here and rest to recover; don't go up there and cause me trouble."

Bai Wuya's smile froze instantly, and he almost choked on his breath. He laughed and scolded, "You brat, would it kill you to give your martial uncle some face?"

Hearing this, Jian Zhenzi couldn't help but laugh. Luo Futian, who was supporting his severed arm, also laughed. Even the young disciples who had just been wiping away tears and weeping over the corpses of their fellow disciples sniffled and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Even though 100,000 Ruin Soldiers were still pressing down on them from the sky, even though the Mountain Protection Array had been reduced to rubble, even though the terrifying monster above them was still lurking menacingly, and everyone could die here at any moment, for some reason, as soon as they saw that white-robed youth standing quietly before the Questioning Platform, everyone's hearts, which had been in their throats, settled back into their stomachs. It was as if, as long as he was there, even if the sky were to collapse, he could use the sword in his hand to hold it back.

Chen Changqing heard the laughter behind him. His morale was finally lifted. He didn't turn around, but gripped the hilt of his sword and slammed the Immortal Execution Sword heavily onto the bluestone ground.

"Buzz!"

The sword emitted a long, clear sound that drowned out the thunder in the sky, resounding throughout the entire Questioning Platform and spreading across the seventy-two peaks of Mount Shu.

"Disciple of Mount Shu."

"Exist!"

Behind them, thousands of people, whether standing or sitting on the ground recovering from their injuries, all straightened their backs and responded in unison.

"Today, follow me to kill the enemy."

"Promise!"

The shouts of thousands of people merged together, crashing against the surrounding peaks, rustling the trees, and startling countless birds into flight. Those birds, initially startled, soared into the sky but did not fly far. They circled in flocks above the gate of Mount Shu, passing through the thin, blood-red clouds, as if waiting to witness a long-awaited sunrise.

Chen Changqing looked up at the circling birds, and a memory of his first few years after transmigrating to Mount Shu flashed through his mind. Back then, he was just a lowly servant with no cultivation, closing the mountain gate at dusk every day, sitting on a small stool outside the gatehouse, watching the sun slowly set. He spent his days calculating how to accumulate more Spirit Stones, how to buy a couple of jugs of good wine from the foot of the mountain, thinking that this was probably how his life would be. He'd look at the gate, collect a meager amount of Spirit Stones, live a life of leisure and indifference in Mount Shu, and live out his days peacefully.

Who could have imagined that, step by step, he would end up like this? One day, he, the gatekeeper, would stand at the forefront, sword in hand, leading all the masters and fellow disciples of Mount Shu to slay the gods of the Upper Realm.

"Fate is a fucking unreasonable thing."

He muttered a curse under his breath, shook his head, and then laughed. So what if they're being unreasonable? Since they insist on ruining my livelihood and destroying my home, let's see whose sword is harder.

"However, I like it."

The moment he finished speaking, high in the sky, the Five Tribulations Ruin Clan Tribulation Immortal who had been observing coldly finally made a move.

Its massive body took a step forward, shattering the surging sea of blood-red clouds with a single stomp. Five gray-black Tribulation Rings unfolded layer by layer from behind it, each Tribulation Ring pressing down on the mountains below, causing them to sink an inch. Its voice was like muffled thunder rolling across the sky, causing many low-level disciples to bleed directly from their ears.

"You lowly ants from the lower realm, daring to ruin my Ruin Clan's grand plan by killing one of my lieutenants?"

The Five Tribulations Ruin Clan member looked down at the tiny white dot on the Questioning Platform, his voice devoid of any emotion. "State your name. My men do not kill nameless nobodies."

Chen Changqing raised his sword with one hand, took two steps forward, and pointed the sword tip diagonally at the Firmament, aiming at the brow of the colossal creature. He needed to test the physical strength of this Five Tribulations Ruin Clan first, to see if the Immortal Execution Sword could break through its Tribulation Rings with a single strike.

Seeing him raise his sword, the Tribulation Ring behind him trembled violently, and he announced his identity, "Remember the name of the one who killed you. Ruin Clan Five Tribulations Lieshan, commander under the Seventh Royal Court of the Ruin Clan and Red Ruin King of the Lie Shan."

"Lie Shan?"

Chen Changqing raised an eyebrow, nodded, and searched his memory but couldn't find a single recollection.

Never heard of it.

With a flick of his wrist, a three-foot-long azure light rose from the sword, its sound echoing across the vast wilderness amidst the raging wind.

"But it's okay."

"The dead don't need names."