Chapter 148: Sect Calamity

Arrows and green vines flew in unison. Amidst innumerable difficulties, Chi Yushu slew several green-clothed monsters to rescue the trailing disciples.

Specks of crimson splashed across his fair complexion.

Gazing at the collapsing Feiling Secret Realm, he suddenly raised both hands, carving out a domain enveloped by a glazed jade bowl.

"Follow me closely! Do not stray beyond a radius of three zhang from me!"

Beneath the shelter of the glazed jade bowl, a few injured disciples hurried toward him.

"Senior Brother Chi is still here! We are saved!"

...

"Roar—"

Before Qu Yiqiu emerged, she could never have imagined that the ancient fierce beast, the Taotie, could be so foolish!

Not only did he fail to spit Qu Yiqiu out, but he also plunged headfirst into the endless abyss.

No matter how frantically his wings beat, he could not fly back up to the realm of heaven and earth above.

The Taotie's copper-bell-like eyes were filled with confusion and struggle. A gust of violent wind swept in, blowing him into the center of the storm where jagged, abrasive rocks flew wildly in all directions, making him dizzy. Even for his hardened body, this was merely a minor tickle, but coupled with the torment churning within his belly, he currently lacked any spare strength to resist these external forces.

At the terrifying center of the vortex, the Taotie's figure grew smaller and smaller until it vanished completely.

As the collapse of the Feiling Secret Realm grew more severe, Jiang Shuangyan poured her remaining strength into unlocking the sole escape route of the Necrometric Locking Array.

"Quickly, everyone follow me out of here!" Wearing a supreme-grade water spirit bead at her waist, Jiang Shuangyan dragged Fei Zhongda as she leaped out of the Necrometric Locking Array.

He Yuman grabbed the unconscious You Ruoying and darted through.

Qi Yongfeng and Zou Peng, who had lagged behind, pursued them closely. Catching sight of He Yuman, Zou Peng swam over eagerly.

"He Yuman, don't even think about escaping!"

Zou Peng whipped out a long lash in the water. He Yuman nimbly dodged like a swimming fish, effortlessly leaping into the only escape path of the Necrometric Locking Array.

Zou Peng's face turned dark with fury.

Without a moment's hesitation, Qi Yongfeng led the disciples of Wanqing Peak into the escape route, fleeing the Feiling Secret Realm.

Xuanyi Sect, Secret Chamber.

Huo Tangsheng looked coldly at the person before him, golden magic seals revolving in his palm.

Suddenly, Deng Jingyao opened his eyes and exclaimed in shock, "Jiang Shuangyan actually brought the Heavenly Eye Mirror on this trip! The Necrometric Locking Array has been broken by her!"

The golden magic seal in his palm vanished abruptly.

Huo Tangsheng said with a calm expression, "They have escaped. It is time for us to make our move."

"Make our move?" Deng Jingyao looked up at him, his gaze immediately shifting to Bai Shulan, who was kneeling on both knees. With a fierce expression, he said, "The Huo family has long since been prepared. The Tianyan Sect will absolutely not escape this calamity! The Jiang family is destined to perish!"

Deng Jingyao flickered his wide sleeves, and smoke rose all around, whisking Bai Shulan away until she disappeared.

Huo Tangsheng stared alone at the sealed stone wall, the corners of his lips curving slightly upward. "I wonder if that person escaped or not? I truly want to know just how stubborn her life is!"

Golden light flashed instantly, and Huo Tangsheng's fleeing radiance departed.

...

"Where is the Sect Master of the Tianyan Sect? I demand justice for the countless disciples of the Xuanyi Sect who perished, and I demand that your Tianyan Sect disciples pay for their lives!"

Deng Jingyao led Bai Shulan and appeared before the mountain gates of the Tianyan Sect.

A moment later, Huo Huahong, the head of the Huo family, hurried over with his clansmen, completely surrounding the magnificent mountain gates of the Tianyan Sect.

"Sect Master Deng, what has happened to the disciples of the Xuanyi Sect?" Huo Huahong flew anxiously to Deng Jingyao's side, putting on an expression of nervous concern. "Where is my son? Where is my Tang'er?"

Deng Jingyao beat his chest in grief and said, "Family Head Huo, this Feiling Secret Realm was nothing more than a trap set by the Tianyan Sect! Tang'er, Tang'er is恐怕 already..."

Huo Huahong's pupils dilated as he took a step back in disbelief. "What did you say? What are you saying?"

"Sect Master Deng, Family Head Huo, we have guests visiting—why are you refusing to let them pass?" Luo Tangyu feigned displeasure as he swept a glance over the gatekeeping disciples, then cupped his fists toward the two men.

"Sect Master Luo, they, they..." The disciples guarding the mountain gates had long since been terrified by the grand display put on by Deng Jingyao and his companion. Looking at Luo Tangyu, they could not even utter a complete sentence.

This left the eagerly flying Luo Tangyu completely baffled.

Deng Jingyao let out a disdainful sneer. "Luo Tangyu, stop pretending! Just take a look at what the disciples of your Tianyan Sect have done!"

A black image-recording stone traced an arc through the air, dropping to the ground and projecting a scene from the Feiling Secret Realm.

This image-recording stone was none other than the one Huo Tangsheng had shown to Xia Changhan and the others inside the Feiling Secret Realm.

Luo Tangyu and the disciples gradually gathering at the mountain gate all witnessed the scene of Tianyan Sect disciples brutally slaughtering Xuanyi Sect disciples.

"What is this? How could our junior brothers do such a thing?"

The disciples cried out in unison, looking at one another in utter bewilderment.

A chill struck Luo Tangyu's heart, shock filling his gaze.

"May I ask where Sect Master Deng obtained this image-recording stone?"

Having governed the Tianyan Sect for many years, Luo Tangyu had witnessed numerous great storms and quickly regained his composure, slowly questioning Deng Jingyao.

"Tang'er, where is Tang'er? Has my Tang'er fallen victim to the vicious hands of your Tianyan Sect disciples?!" With a face full of heartbreak as he looked at the blood-splattering scene of the Feiling Secret Realm, Huo Huahong almost lost control and lunged toward Luo Tangyu.

Deng Jingyao held him back and said sternly to Luo Tangyu, "For all your meticulous planning, you never calculated that a Necrometric Locking Array was set up within the Feiling Secret Realm, did you? It was that very array that brought our sect's disciple Bai Shulan back, preserving the evidence of the Tianyan Sect disciples brutally murdering members of our sect!"

Luo Tangyu's gaze rapidly shifted to the frail and seemingly negligible Bai Shulan standing beside them.

At this moment, Su Xichen, who had heard the rumors at Nine Swords Peak, also hurried over. Draped in fluttering white robes, his face was as cold as frost.

"What is happening? Is she a disciple who entered the Feiling Secret Realm?"

Cultivators possessed photographic memories. Luo Tangyu recognized Bai Shulan's face at a glance, his heart beating violently. Only upon hearing Su Xichen's icy-cold voice did he abruptly force himself to calm down.

"Peak Master Su, this person is indeed a disciple who participated in the Feiling Secret Realm that day," Luo Tangyu explained to Su Xichen.

Hearing him admit this, a trace of a smile flashed inadvertently across the corner of Deng Jingyao's mouth as fire blazed in his eyes. "If Shulan had not fought her way out of the Feiling Secret Realm at the cost of her life, we people of the Xuanyi Sect would still be kept in the dark by you all!"

Luo Tangyu's face darkened. "Sect Master Deng, this is merely an image-recording stone produced by her. How can it prove that our Tianyan Sect committed such acts? Perhaps this image-recording stone has been tampered with!"

His sharp gaze swept across the faces of Deng Jingyao and Huo Huahong, as if pointing the finger at the two of them for tampering with it.

Deng Jingyao curled his lips in mockery. "Do you take us in the Xuanyi Sect for fools? If the image-recording stone had been tampered with, any casual Nascent Soul Monarch would be able to spot the flaws within it. Why would we commit such a foolish act and come to the Tianyan Sect to court humiliation?"

Luo Tangyu's expression changed abruptly, his gaze fixed on Bai Shulan with a dark and obscure intensity.

He refused to believe that his disciples would commit such deeds.

There must be something wrong with this female cultivator!

Su Xichen stroked the image-recording stone in his hand, deep depression weighing upon his heart.

His current true cultivation was merely at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, rendering him completely incapable of distinguishing the authenticity of the image-recording stone.

"Peak Master Su, what do you think?" Luo Tangyu suddenly turned his head and asked Su Xichen in a low voice.

Su Xichen pressed his thin lips together, his gaze sweeping past the fleeting ruthlessness in Deng Jingyao's eyes, and said, "The image-recording stone is real."