Within Hundred Zhang Peak, the mountain path stretched on endlessly. Xiao Hua and the others had walked for nearly half an hour without seeing its end. The stone walls on either side were exceedingly dry, without so much as moss. Occasionally, startled bats flapped their wings, stirring up faint sounds. Other than that, only the somewhat hurried footsteps of the three and Xiao Hua's low voice, together with Li Zongbao's intermittent questions, echoed through the cavern and carried far into the distance...
"Alas, what Fellow Daoist Xiao encountered... truly inspires sympathy!" After hearing how Shang Hua Ming had been inexplicably destroyed by the Hundred Herbs Sect, Cai Zhuoxia was deeply sympathetic. "This Hundred Herbs Sect is truly shameless. On one hand, they waved the banner of an alliance; on the other, they struck in secret."
"Actually... such methods are not unprecedented in the Cultivation World. One can only say... Sect Master Xiao was too rigid and could not broadly accept disciples. That was why, at the critical moment, she lacked aid and allowed the Hundred Herbs Sect to take advantage." Li Zongbao shook his head slightly. "What the Cultivation World values most is strength. This is true for individuals, and even more so for sects! Every day, no one knows how many cultivators fall, nor how many step into Qi Refining! Likewise, no one knows how many sects establish themselves, nor how many sects perish! Even if my Joyful Sect did not strive diligently to strengthen itself, I fear that after a hundred or a thousand years, it too would meet such an end!"
After pondering for a moment, Li Zongbao continued, "If there was no other reason, then the destruction of Fellow Daoist Xiao's Shang Hua Ming was most likely the work of the Hundred Herbs Sect! But as