“BOOOM!.”
A deadly whistling sound spread throughout the atmosphere. Wen Ren Yan would probably be exterminated in the blink of an eye. Wen Ren Yan’s face turned deathly pale and blood started to drip from his mouth under the pressure. That sword was incredibly powerful.
“Disperse!”
At that moment, a strong and pure Qi came from the sky and collided into that deadly sword Qi. The rumbling noise caused by their collision was unceasingly resonating in the entire gorge. Besides, a silhouette had landed in front Lin Feng. It was the old woman who was Wen Ren Yan’s teacher.
“It’s enough. You won.” said the old woman in an indifferent tone yet sounding like she wouldn’t tolerate any resistance.
Lin Feng’s pupils shrank. How ridiculous. Was that all? He had won? But Wen Ren Yan could continue behaving like before if he didn’t die.
“Old woman, have you forgotten our agreement?” said Protector Bei sounding annoyed.
“Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about it but Wen Ren Yan is my only disciple. Even if I am losing face now, I cannot even bear the thought of losing my only student and seeing him die.”
The old woman’s words deeply moved the crowd. However, she said to Protector Bei that he didn’t have to worry and that she hadn’t forgotten their agreement. She had interrupted Lin Feng and Wen Ren Yan’s battle and had saved Wen Ren Yan. Wasn’t that a bit contradictory?
But the whole crowd didn’t pay attention to that. They were still lost in thoughts recalling Lin Feng’s sword a moment before. Lin Feng had definitely defeated Wen Ren Yan, the top ranked elite disciple.
At that moment, Lin Feng actually became the strongest of all the elite disciples
Nan Gong Ling had already stood up. He was staring blankly at the fighting stage of the Life and Death Arena. He was stupefied but in his heart, he felt extremely gratified by that amazing young disciple.
Lin Feng was just amazing.
“Alright, the Elite Disciple Exam is over for today. Everybody can leave.”
Protector Bei was waving at people. He also didn’t argue with the old woman which surprised a multitude of people.
The Elite Disciple Exam was over?
Everybody was staring at Nan Gong Ling. Nan gong Ling was staring at Protector Bei who was just nodding.
“Hehe, brilliant. The Elite Disciple Exam is fascinating. There is no need to finish that early.”
At that moment, Duan Tian Lang said these words while scratching his ear which made Nan Gong Ling frown.
“Patriarch, let the crowd disperse. Dissolve the entire sect.”
Protector Bei suddenly sounded so solemn. The entire crowd was astonished. Disperse the crowd… and dissolve the sect?
What was going on?
Many people in the crowd suddenly had a bad premonition and then Duan Tian Lang’s laughter spread in the atmosphere.
“No need to waste time. Those at the periphery of the mountain are already dead. Nobody can leave. The best option is to stay here.”
“Duan Tian Lang, what do you mean?!”
Nan Gong Ling suddenly seemed extremely strict and firm. He was intensely staring at Duan Tian Lang.
“What do I mean? Nan Gong Ling, do you think that I have come here only to watch the best Elite Disciples of the Yun Hai Sect fighting at the Elite Disciple Exam? You are way too naive.” said Duan Tian Lang coldly and then said: “I said it already. I came here today because last time, the Yun Hai Sect refused to hand over some of its best disciples. I came here personally as a delegate of His Majesty.”
“Boom….”
His words were detonating in people’s brain. The ground was faintly shaking which stupefied everybody.
Besides, it seemed like it was shaking more and more. Not too long after, it seemed like the entire gorge was about to cave in. The noises were becoming louder and louder, more and more intense and were probably covering the entire area of the Yun Hai Sect.
“Pffffff….” Protector Bei sighed in a sorrowful way. He realized that these people had actually come to the Yun Hai Sect with harmful intentions.
The ground kept shaking and a huge cloud of dust was rising up in the air. At that moment, the crowd looked up in the air and saw a great number of Chi Xie armored cavalry at the top of the gorge. They were carrying bows on their back and looked like they were ready to attack at any moment.
“Chi Xie armored cavalry.” Lin Feng’s eyes shrank. How come the armored cavalry were suddenly surrounding the area?
Lin Feng glanced at the armored cavalry and then glanced at Liu Fei but at that moment Liu Fei seemed as surprised as him.
What was going on? What had happened?
Liu Fei also glanced at Lin Feng. These were her father’s personal army and they were surprisingly surrounding her father’s sect.
“Could it be that my father gave them orders himself? Is it even possible? Liu Fei was thinking and looked extremely perplexed. She thought that it would be ridiculous. Nobody could understand her father better than her… and her father would have never ordered such a thing.
What was going on?
“Duan… Tian… Lang…” Nan Gong Ling looked enraged and furious. His eyes, filled with murderous intentions, were fixedly staring at Duan Tian Lang.
“Nan Gong Ling, no need to stare at me like this. These Chi Xie armored cavalry are your dear friend’s, Liu Cang Lan’s, personal army. If there is a problem, talk to him, not to me.”
Duan Tian Lang was smiling evilly.
The ground was still shaking. In an instant, the top of the Stormy Gorge was full of Chi Xie armored cavalry. There were so many of them that not a drop of water could trickle through.
The Stormy Gorge was completely surrounded by Chi Xie armored cavalry and the situation really looked critical and dangerous.
Many disciples of the Yun Hai Sect were scared and shaking. What did these people want to do?
In the Stormy Gorge, around the Life and Death Arena, the beginning of a great turmoil was about to happen.
Wen Ren Yan was in a dire situation as blood dripped from the side of his mouth. He was injured from that strike and if this battle continued then he would surely lose his life. However events had unfolded to his advantage.
Suddenly Duan Tian Lang started to move down from the viewing platform. All eyes fell onto him as he slowly stepped down.
Chu Qing, who was next to him, looked at him anxiously. He surprisingly was moving towards the fighting stage of the Life and Death Arena.
He was extremely powerful. It seemed like each of his steps made the entire atmosphere vibrate. He was slowly moving towards the Life and Death Arena and then stepped on the highest fighting stage.
He was walking slowly as if he was having a peaceful walk in a flower garden.
“People of the Yun Hai Sect, please listen.”
Duan Tian Lang glanced at everybody and said in a loud voice: “I, Duan Tian Lang, represent His Majesty. My duty is to select some outstanding disciples who will join the Holy Courtyard of Xue Yue. However, your Patriarch has refused to help his Majesty’s aim. These days, His Majesty is furious and wants the Yun Hai Sect to disappear.”
Duan Tian Lang’s harsh words penetrated into everybody’s soul. He wanted the Yun Hai Sect to disappear from the Xue Yue Country?
How could he make such a powerful sect as the Yun Hai Sect disappear? There was only one solution… exterminate everybody within the sect.
These people wanted to exterminate every single member of the Yun Hai Sect!!
Everybody was panic stricken. The Yun Hai Sect members had joined the sect for the sake of cultivation to become stronger. Being killed for no reason would be an injustice.
“However, His Majesty is willing to show mercy. He’s giving a chance to every single one of you, ordinary disciple, elite disciples as well as core disciples, whose names are on the ranking lists to accept our offer and leave the Yun Hai Sect to join the Holy Courtyard of Xue Yue. The others will not be required.”
Duan Tian Lang’s words detonated in everybody’s brain. The crowd felt numb after hearing these words.
Leave the Yun Hai Sect? Only those who were ranked disciples?
Those who were not ranked felt frustrated in their own lack of power. They wouldn’t have the chance to enjoy the best weapons and skills. They may even die here because of the sect they had chosen.
Nan Gong Ling, who was sitting on the viewing platform didn’t look happy to hear this announcement. They wanted to exterminate his beloved Yun Hai Sect? Did he hear them correctly?
The Yun Hai Sect had already been existing for a thousand years. It had gone through many great crises but probably never as serious as the current situation. These were earth shattering events for the sect.
The Hao Yue Sect, the Ice and Snow Mountain Village, the Mo Shou Sect as well as Duan Tian Lang had come to the Yun Hai Sect to completely wipe its roots from the Xue Yue Country.
Obviously, all of this originated from the Imperial clan. They were the ones who had assigned Duan Tian Lang to carry out these tasks. The Yun Hai Sect had become the Imperial Clan’s prey.
“Why choose our sect, the Yun Hai Sect?”
Nan Gong Ling sounded cold as ever. He was intensely and fixedly staring at Duan Tian Lang wishing he could tear apart his flesh and bones. Would the Yun Hai Sect disappear under Nan Gong Ling’s reign?
“Nan Gong Ling, you really don’t understand?” said Duan Tian Lang while smiling coldly.
“If you say that this is because I offended your son, I will not believe it. I think that even you wouldn’t believe it. The Hao Yue Sect, the Ice and Snow Mountain Village… you all came for such a stupid and absurd reason.”
Nan Gong Ling glanced at Chu Qing and Han Xue Tian and met their gazes.
“Hehe, you’re right. The Hao Yue Sect also refused the request at the beginning but I told them that I would make the entire Yun Hai Sect join me or be destroyed. Then, they immediately accepted.”
Duan Tian Lang’s stupefied everybody in the crowd. Make the entire Yun Hai Sect join him or be destroyed?
“I knew it.” said Nan Gong Ling with a sad smile on his face. When all these people had come, Nan Gong Ling had tried to guess why Chu Qing would also come along.
“Then, why the Yun Hai Sect? It’s easy to guess, because the Yun Hai Sect is the weakest and the easiest to defeat from all of the great powers. You just have to let some of your best disciples of the sect leave to join me then I may show mercy upon your sect.”
“You’re a liar.”
A soft voice said spread in the air. It came from a lithe and graceful silhouette in the crowd which was slowly moving towards the fighting stage of the Life and Death Arena. Her facial expression revealed intense and bitter hatred.
“Duan Tian Lang, you’re lying.”
Liu Fei’s beautiful cheeks suddenly seemed very pale. She was filled with anger and indignation.
“If you chose the Yun Hai Sect, Duan Tian Lang, it’s because you are jealous of my father. You envy him. You envy his strength and talent. That is why you chose the Yun Hai Sect and plotted against it. You lied and made the Chi Xue armored horses come with me beforehand. All of this is because you want my father to suffer because you are jealous that you can never be his match.”
Liu Fei was filled with hatred and then she added coldly: “Duan Tian Lang, you are shameless. You’re disgusting.”
Many people were astonished when they heard Liu Fei’s words. In the Yun Hai Sect, nobody knew exactly what Liu Fei’s status really was or who her father was. From what Liu Fei was saying, it seemed that her father had a really high position within the country, especially if amazing and famous cultivators such as Duan Tian Lang envied him.
Besides, what were the Chi Xue armored horses? They were the private troops of Liu Fei’s father?
“The Divine Arrow, Liu Cang Lan.”
Many people said that together. In the Xue Yue Country, it was said that there was a man even more glorious and famous than Duan Tian Lang. That man could only be Liu Cang Lan and his divine arrow.
At some point, Liu Cang Lan was the leader of a huge army composed of thousands of cultivators and they had saved a city from destruction. They had killed tens of thousands of enemy troops.
An arrow on his back, one man… he had led an entire army on his own. He had killed a huge amount of enemy soldiers and when he had come back, he was covered with blood and fell into a coma.
The divine arrow was a symbol of the Xue Yue Country. Besides, the Chi Xue armored horses made enemies panic stricken and terrified.
What made everybody proud was that Liu Cang Lan was a member of the Yun Hai Sect and even though he had been helping the Imperial Clan, he had always been loyal to the Yun Hai Sect and had always been proud of being one of its members.
Liu Fei’s family name was Liu. Many people would adore her even more for that.
“Fei Fei, how can you even possibly think that way of Uncle Duan Tian Lang? Your father and I are bosom friends. We’re like brothers. How could I be jealous of him?”
Duan Tian Lang was shaking his head and smiling. He was looking at Liu Fei with eyes full of affection. That made everyone feel even more scared.
Liu Fei’s father and he were bosom friends? Nan Gong Ling thought that Duan Tian Lang was being extremely treacherous. It made him want to vomit.
“You and my father are bosom friends, like brothers? Yet you want to exterminate the Yun Hai Sect and all of my father’s friends and fellow members?”
Liu Fei’s eyes, which were filled with disgust, were staring deeply at Duan Tian Lang.
“Fei Fei, that is what His Majesty wants. If I exterminate the Yun Hai Sect, it will be only because His Majesty has ordered it. This is nothing personal. The Yun Hai Sect of today is not the Yun Hai Sect of tomorrow. What it wants to do now would just be hindering some disciples’ progress, especially the geniuses. Leaving would be a great opportunity for them to learn and benefit from the best resources available.
“Besides, I firmly believe that they will all be pleased. If you don’t believe me, just come and look.”
Duan Tian Lang had a smile on the corner of his mouth. He turned around and look at the entire crowd. His facial expression became ice cold.
“What I said was all true. Ranked disciples, who are willing to leave the Yun Hai Sect, please immediately move over there to the Chi Xue armored horses. Please remember that you don’t have much time.”
The entire crowd suddenly became very agitated.
A lot of people were looking at Nan Gong Ling and the Elders of the sect.
“Those who are willing to leave, please go already. Don’t stay within my Yun Hai Sect.”
Protector Bei had suddenly said that while waving his hand.
“Protector Bei.”
Nan Gong Ling was looking at Protector Bei as if he couldn’t understand what the old man meant.
“Patriarch, this is their own decision.”
Protector Bei looked sad as if his heart was broken. It was hard to abandon ranked disciples. They were all extremely talented. Besides, someday, they were likely to rise to even greater heights. What a pity!
“Alright.” said Nan Gong Ling who knew how sad Protector Bei felt. Therefore, he didn’t refute and then nodded.
“Thank you Patriarch and Elders of the sect.”
Many people, when they saw Nan Gong Ling nod, started moving towards the Chi Xue armored horses.
In the blink of an eye, hundreds of disciples were moving towards the Chi Xue armored horses. Besides, the number of disciples moving towards the horses was way above the number of actually existing ranked disciples. Many unranked disciples were trying to pass themselves as one of the ranked disciples of the Yun Hai Sect.
“Stop there.” Duan Tian lang had a big smile on his face.
“Fei Fei, you see? These people understand that I’m giving them a great opportunity and they cherish and appreciate it. Therefore, they are happy to leave the Yun Hai Sect for something better.”
Nan Gong Ling looked sad. He had the feeling that he was being abandoned by too many people.
“Lin Feng, you were right. When Yun Hai Sect’s disciples are weak, they are not treated well enough. We don’t attach enough importance to them. Only when they become strong enough, we attach enough importance to them, for the glory of the sect.”
Nan Gong Ling was staring at Lin Feng. His voice was filled with sorrow. He hadn’t realized these things until he saw all these disciples willing to leave. His heart was broken after watching all of the disciples who had wanted to leave.
Hard times were the best moment to see who would remain loyal to the sect and who would attach no importance to it at all.
“Unfortunately, I found that out too late. If I had found that out ten years earlier, maybe things would have been different. I would already have accomplished great things like Liu Cang Lan.”
At that moment, Lin Feng was expressionless. He also wouldn’t have thought that things would turn out this way.
However, Lin Feng admired Nan Gong Ling. Nan Gong Ling cared about the Yun Hai Sect more than himself.