Chapter Eighty-Six: Where Shall I Be Buried

"This is how I cleanse the sect for Dan Cliff!" Fang Hongjian, whose cultivation had only just reached the Foundation Establishment stage, stood amid a pool of blood, her expression stern. Before the smoky, spiraling Hall of Huaihua, hers was the only voice.

The incident was so sudden that by the time Dai Mingchi and the many Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators reacted, Jing Li had already been reduced to a bloody mess before their eyes.

So this is what it means to become famous after a single battle.

Having avenged Senior Brother Ding Chunxue, Hongjian felt completely satisfied. She had not expected to survive after this.

Yet, to her surprise, at the instant Jing Li fell, more than a dozen spells struck her one after another. Not a single one aimed to kill her. Metal, wood, water, fire, earth—spells from all five elements came with only one purpose: to bind her! Though she could not even move a finger now, she was, after all, still alive.

Yan Changqing, who had just tried to kill her, was effortlessly stopped by Dai Mingchi. He was so stunned by the turn of events that he froze, as did the rest of Dan Cliff. Everyone was dumbfounded. Jing Li, once a Golden Core at its peak, was now dead—without even a corpse remaining.

"Who would have thought vengeance for Senior Brother would bring further gain!" Hongjian was suddenly excited by this realization. Since she had the chance to speak, she would not let it slip by.

"No one from Late Tide Peak colluded with demonic cultivators. The true traitor who conspired with them and brought about the deaths of Elder Wen and my Senior Brother is none other than Jing Li, that villain!"

"Elder Jin died at the hands of Xing Wuyai. The sect leader and my grandmaster were ambushed by the Sect of Symbolic Diagrams. The ones truly in league with demonic cultivators are them. The Sect of Symbolic Diagrams seeks to seize our—"

Her voice was abruptly cut off. Qi Tianbao's face was shadowed; the task entrusted by the sect leader had been botched. This wretched girl had been putting on a show since the moment she approached the Sect of Symbolic Diagrams, and everyone had been deceived. What had that old fool Sun Yougong promised her to make her throw her life away?

Qi Tianbao didn’t even need to glance at Dai Mingchi to know the sect leader’s mood must be sour. He also knew that silencing Fang Hongjian now would only make them seem more suspicious, but he could not allow her to continue stirring things up.

Dai Mingchi spoke coldly, "Nonsense. Even I, the sect leader, was deceived and used by you."

He stepped forward. The Hall of Huaihua was now eerily quiet. Dai Mingchi frowned, looking at Hongjian as if she were an ant, addressing Mu Fengshan, "It was my oversight that brought further calamity upon your sect. Another Golden Core lost. Their preparations were so thorough that not only I, but even the wardens of the Demonic Prison were kept in the dark. Now, we can only rely on her to uncover the mastermind. I will take her away. Rest assured, the Sect of Symbolic Diagrams will give you an answer."

Mu Fengshan was not someone adept at improvisation. He had no wish to meddle in the sect’s troubles with water-element roots, let alone those mentioned by Hongjian, whether it was Xing Wuyai or the Sect of Symbolic Diagrams—he could not afford to provoke either. Yet letting Dai Mingchi take Fang Hongjian away would be more than he could bear, and so he fell silent.

Fortunately, someone grew impatient. Huo Chuanxing stepped in front of Hongjian, "Sect Leader Dai, why not let her finish? None of us are children. We can discern truth from falsehood ourselves."

After the brief shock, cultivators from each sect returned to their senses.

Leyou chimed in, "Sect Leader Dai, this young lady just accused your Sect of Symbolic Diagrams. It’s hardly appropriate for you to take her away." As he spoke, his pudgy hand quickly formed a spell. Leyou was at the peak of Nascent Soul. With a single gesture, he broke the numerous restraints binding Hongjian.

Hongjian suddenly felt her body lighten and her voice return.

Had this been a few years ago, she would have sought Leyou's protection without a second thought, which might have given her a slim chance at survival. But now, having slain Jing Li with her own hands, she felt an unusual lightness and satisfaction, her gaze looking further ahead. With someone like Leyou willing to speak up for her grandmaster, why drag him into a direct confrontation with Dai Mingchi? No matter how formidable Leyou was, he was no match for a cultivator at the Divine Transformation stage. His survival was more useful to Dan Cliff and Chen Zai.

So she merely cast Leyou a grateful glance, then chose, without hesitation, to further provoke Dai Mingchi. "You silence me because you fear I’ll expose your plot to seize Dan Cliff's Sect Jade Scroll, isn’t that right?"

Everyone in Dan Cliff, including Mu Fengshan, was struck with terror.

Dai Mingchi sneered, "Absurd! You’d best not sow discord!"

As he spoke, without any visible movement, Leyou suddenly staggered back a step. Even then, his bulk did not steady him; he wobbled, was caught by another, and his face turned a sickly blue.

A tremendous invisible force pressed down on Hongjian. She summoned her true essence to resist, but her lowly Foundation Establishment cultivation was as futile as a mantis trying to stop a cart before a Divine Transformation master. It was as if a mountain weighed upon her back. Hongjian realized Dai Mingchi was forcing her to kneel. She could no longer speak, only bite down hard on her teeth. She heard her spine crackle, struggled to ignore the pain, and her mind grew hazy: "Is this the end?"

The crowd watched as Hongjian's back bent further and further, her complexion shifting from red to pale. Suddenly, she spat a mouthful of blood and collapsed face-down onto the ground. Only her slight convulsions showed she was not dead, though clearly in agony—a punishment from Dai Mingchi, a Divine Transformation cultivator, and a warning that silenced all present.

Dai Mingchi withdrew his gaze from Hongjian. The bold, reckless girl had spoken true: he did covet Dan Cliff's Sect Jade Scroll, and he was determined to obtain the legendary spring said to enhance cultivation. If not for that, how could he have allowed Fang Hongjian to be so insolent before him and still left her alive?

"Precisely because this female cultivator accuses my Sect of Symbolic Diagrams, I cannot simply let it pass." Dai Mingchi waved his hand, signaling Nangong Jiu to take her away. "When Elder Jin was alive, he and I shared mutual respect, often discussing important matters. He was killed by demonic cultivators. I cannot watch his sect descend into chaos. Elder Qi!"

"Sect leader!" Qi Tianbao stepped forward to receive his orders.

"You will remain in Dan Cliff on my behalf, assisting Peak Master Mu. Root out the remnants of demonic cultivators as soon as possible." With absolute power, Dai Mingchi cared not what Mu Fengshan and the others thought. If not for the unresolved matter of the 'God Mirage Temple,' and his need to maintain appearances as the leader of a great Daoist sect, he would have wiped out the troublesome cultivators of Dan Cliff. With Jing Li dead, he needed a trustworthy agent to stay and monitor them, continuing the search for the spirit spring.

Before Hongjian, Huo Chuanxing and Yan Changqing blocked Nangong Jiu. Huo Chuanxing declared, "If you want to take her, you'll have to step over our corpses first."

Though leaving Qi Tianbao in Dan Cliff was troubling, the people of Late Tide Peak were powerless to oppose it. But Hongjian, who knew so much, could not be allowed to be taken away.

Sun Yougong was dead. Nangong Jiu regarded these orphaned disciples with contempt, knowing that if his master intervened, their resistance would be futile. Without hesitation, he cast a spell to force Huo Chuanxing and the others aside.

"Bang!" A stone wall appeared in the air before Yan Changqing and the others and vanished just as quickly—it was Leyou again, shielding Sun Yougong’s Golden Core disciples.

Nangong Jiu knew his master had long grown impatient with the fat man. He shouted, "Sect Leader Leyou, are you determined to get involved?"

Leyou saw that Fei Yuan, the usually amiable leader of the Sanqing Sect, was wavering, and the good-natured Yin Quan was giving him a meaningful look. He chuckled coldly, pointedly remarking, "If I stand by and mind my own business today, tomorrow the fate of Dan Cliff will befall my own Little Yingzhou, and then, just as now, everyone will watch in silence, afraid to utter a word."

The main hall fell silent at Leyou’s words.

Mu Fengshan, Ying Qi, and the others seized the opportunity to shield Hongjian within their group.

Two wood-element cultivators propped up the semi-conscious Hongjian. Ying Qi placed a pill in her mouth. Seeing her begin to awaken, Mu Fengshan bent and called, "Fang Hongjian, Hongjian, wake up and speak. I and Peak Leader Ying have more questions for you."

Hongjian forced her eyes open, and with a glance from her dark eyes, Mu Fengshan felt inexplicably uneasy. He paused before asking, "Let me ask you—do you still wish to leave Dan Cliff?"

This was a significant matter. Bright light flashed in Hongjian’s eyes. She replied slowly but clearly, "No. I am of Late Tide Peak. I am Grandmaster’s grand-disciple."

Huo Chuanxing and the others opposing Nangong Jiu heard this distinctly and could not help but look back.

Especially Yan Changqing, who moments ago had been inflamed with anger, thinking only to kill his disciple before everyone. Now, understanding Hongjian’s intentions, and seeing how well he had unwittingly cooperated, he felt ill at ease. Hearing her call herself Grandmaster’s grand-disciple, speaking of vengeance for Senior Brother but never mentioning her own master, made him feel even more unsettled.

Mu Fengshan, however, seemed relieved by Hongjian’s words, hope shining in his eyes. "Then you truly know the whereabouts of the Sect Jade Scroll?" If she said "yes," unless Dai Mingchi broke all pretense and acted, no matter how unreasonable the Sect of Symbolic Diagrams became, he would not let Hongjian be taken.

Hongjian’s cheeks were still stained with blood, making her pallor stand out more starkly, her brow slick with cold sweat from earlier. She smiled carelessly. "I do know. But sorry, Peak Master Mu, the Sect Jade Scroll can only be entrusted to a water cultivator. Grandmaster, entrusted by the sect leader on his deathbed, has already chosen a successor. One day, he will return and avenge us all."

"You—!" Mu Fengshan was speechless with anger. Everyone heard her words clearly. Mu Fengshan did not know what others thought, but if not for a shred of reason left, he would have liked nothing more than to crush Fang Hongjian with his own hands.

As the standoff continued, Master Gong, who had been standing aside for some time, nodded to Dai Mingchi, quietly conferred with the two elders beside him, then stepped forward to mediate between Nangong Jiu and Leyou.

He spoke sternly, "There’s no need for everyone to quarrel. This female cultivator is deeply involved in the killings by demonic cultivators. Before coming here, she recounted the events to the three of us, and her account differed greatly from what she just said. Since it’s inconvenient to hand her to the Sect of Symbolic Diagrams, let us three take her back and investigate thoroughly."

PS: The second volume begins. Xin Yu has received many pink recommendations—thank you, everyone! Also, thanks to Vice Moderator Qing Chen, who battled it out late into the night with the Qidian gods. Much appreciated.