“To know one's mistakes and be able to correct them is the greatest good,” Qing Feng suddenly bent down to tease the Black Dog at his feet. “Oh, right, I heard that Shishu Hu’s second son is severely injured and difficult to heal. How many heavenly materials and earthly treasures has Chen Ming Peak consumed, yet his cultivation shows no improvement? Such a waste of resources, why not…”
The Black Dog suddenly bared its bone-white fangs.
“How dare you.” Hu Wei’s body surged with sword qi, and the celadon vase on the table instantly shattered into dust.
Qing Feng feigned alarm and retreated half a step: “Is Shishu angry? This Disciple only made a small mistake, and it was all for the sake of our Chen Ming Peak.”
He suddenly clapped his hands and laughed: “Why not let my Molin act in secret? When Shishu’s family members have all disappeared, you’ll still be in the dark, and naturally, you won’t be sad. Isn’t this precisely putting the big picture first, as you advocated?”
Before he finished speaking, two sword lights broke through the air. However, they were shredded by an even more formidable sword qi three inches from Qing Feng.
Qin Heng appeared amidst the shattered jade, saying coldly: “Do you take me, this Peak Lord, for a mere decoration? Return to your respective cave dwellings immediately and face the wall for ten years.”
Dao Lord Zisu looked at the two people who were blown away by the sword qi, then turned to Qin Heng and shook her head: “Although your cultivation is decent, how have you managed Chen Ming Peak into such a state?”
Qing Feng quickly replied: “Master Ancestor, in order to surpass Jingyang Peak, greatly decentralized power back then, resulting in various branches vying for power and profit. Later, my parents forcefully reclaimed power, but unfortunately…”
His voice suddenly lowered, “Now Master, for the sake of balance, has instead allowed certain people to taste sweetness and become even more brazen.”
Qin Heng’s ears were slightly red, and he cupped his hands towards Zisu: “I’ve made Shixiong laugh. I will go and rectify the internal affairs now.”
Before leaving, he took a deep look at his daughter, “If it’s truly for the greater good… perhaps the private treasuries of each lineage should be merged into the main peak.”
“Zhijian Peak has always lacked a clever Alchemist. Are you willing to come?” Dao Lord Zisu brushed off the fallen plum blossoms from her shoulder, her gaze sweeping over the Master and Disciple siblings before her.
Qin Yue tucked her dark hair behind her ear, her bamboo-patterned skirt fluttering in the strong wind: “Thank you for Shibo’s kindness, but someone needs to manage the plants and trees of Chen Ming Peak.”
“Although the Sword Dao is sharp, it is difficult to sever the karmic ties between Master and Disciple.” Qing Feng’s fingertips brushed over the jade pendant at his waist, which his Master had given him before entering seclusion.
Dao Lord Zisu sighed softly, looking towards the sea of clouds: “When you both advance to Supreme Elders, you will eventually have to move here to keep me company.”
Before her words fell, two green luan birds suddenly swept across the mountain gorge, reflected in the eyes of the young cultivators who smiled at each other.
Deep within Han Ming Peak, a thousand miles away, an eerie blue ice mist permeated the entire cave.
Ma Bingyun was half-submerged in the Profound Ice Pond. When she heard the news, her roar shook the ice shards, causing them to fall clattering: “How dare that brat!”
“Silence.” The Disciple executing the punishment held a dragon tendon whip, his frost-patterned Daoist robe moving without wind.
“Who do you think you are? When this Venerable One presided over Luoxia Pavilion, your parents probably hadn’t even become Dao companions yet.” The old woman’s withered hair was matted with ice shards, and a fierce glint shot from her turbid eyes.
The profound ice chains suddenly tightened, and beads of blood instantly seeped from Ma Bingyun’s neck. The Disciple executing the punishment coldly eyed this Elder who once dominated the Sect: “The rules of the Cold Pond only consider the severity of the crime, not one’s seniority.”
“A joke! When this Venerable One breaks through…” Before she finished speaking, the whip’s shadow, like a venomous snake, tore through the cold mist, blossoming into a bloody flower on the old woman’s back.
Ma Bingyun stared blankly at the crimson spreading in the pond, suddenly realizing that she hadn’t been tortured for thirty years, ever since she learned to threaten fellow Disciples with Sect secrets.
When the second whip shattered the ice surface, the curses suddenly rose by eight octaves, completely losing the composure a Spirit Transformation cultivator should have.
The Disciple executing the punishment frowned and swung the long whip, suddenly understanding why the Sect Leader would rather consume a thousand years of profound ice than seal this old woman’s cultivation.
The moment she stepped into the Cold Ice Pond, Ma Bingyun felt the power in her spiritual pulse completely sealed by some restriction.
This Spirit Transformation cultivator, who usually commanded awe, was now nothing more than a lamb to the slaughter in the eyes of the Disciples on duty.
“Want to try the disciplinary ruler?”
The Disciple on duty toyed with the torture instrument forged from profound ice, a mocking arc on his lips. In all his years serving at the Cold Pond, this was the first time someone had actively sought punishment.
The ice ruler, imbued with bone-chilling cold, struck through the air. The intense pain finally made Ma Bingyun recognize reality. She turned to the observing Hu Wei and roared: “Are you just going to stand there and watch?”
“Shishu, please forgive me, the main peak still has urgent matters for this Disciple to attend to.” Hu Wei subtly retreated half a step, “Once the verification is complete, this Disciple will certainly plead your case.”
Before he finished speaking, he had already crushed a teleportation talisman. What a joke! The Cold Pond guards were directly under the Law Enforcement Hall; who would dare to incur their wrath?
Watching her fellow Disciple’s hasty departure, Ma Bingyun’s eyes turned bloodshot. The dormant Poison within her sensed her master’s emotional fluctuations and stirred restlessly in her meridians.
The bone-chilling cold suddenly intensified, and she abruptly sobered up, quickly circulating her Breath Concealment Art to suppress any traces of her evil cultivation.
When the morning light pierced through the ice mist, Ma Bingyun’s hair tips were already covered in frost crystals. She knew that at most, she could last one more day before the witchcraft she had painstakingly hidden would be exposed.
At that time, what awaited her was not just the scattering of her soul, but eternal damnation in the cold hell, where even those Golden Core Realm juniors could freely humiliate her.
“Zisu… Qing Feng… Qin Heng.”
Each name was like a poisoned silver needle piercing her heart. Malice condensed into a dark purple vortex in her eyes, finally transforming into a sinister glow like a snake’s vertical pupil.
Her fingernails dug deep into her palms as she silently vowed to make these three enemies pay for their blood debts.
“Why not be with us?”
A ghostly whisper reverberated in her Sea of Consciousness. This time, she did not silently recite the Clear Heart Mantra.
In the reflection of the ice, the woman’s lips slowly curved into a strange smile, and a spiderweb-like black pattern quietly emerged on her neck.
Blood-red light ignited in her pupils, and her five fingers dug deep into the stone wall. The Demonic Qi surging in her Dantian was devouring the remaining Clear Heart Art; this might be her last chance at survival.
“What are the conditions for joining you?” Ma Bingyun questioned hoarsely in her divine consciousness.
“Evil thoughts are the most sacred Dao; only by peeling off the facade of hypocrisy can one see the true meaning of eternal life.” The seductive voice was like a maggot in the bone.
When the gate of the netherworld burst open in her Sea of Consciousness, the shrieks of countless evil spirits almost tore her Yuanshen (Primordial Spirit) apart.
The remaining clarity of her spiritual platform issued a warning, but when her memory flashed back to that merciless sword command in the Law Enforcement Hall, all hesitation transformed into a crazed, sinister grin.
Her body’s sword qi, originally cold and aloof, was now entwined with sinister evil energy.
The Cold Pond guard had just reached for the warning talisman when his throat was clamped tightly by a ghostly claw formed from Demonic Qi.
As his cervical spine shattered, the last thing he saw was the grotesque demonic patterns on the other person’s face.
“Idiot.” A strange reprimand suddenly echoed within her: “The elites of each peak are currently discussing the Dao on Heaven Sword Peak. You just had to stir up trouble.”
Ma Bingyun wiped the bloodstains from her fingertips and sneered: “There’s a reception set up in the direction of Biluo Peak? It seems your Demon Sect’s hidden agents in the Sword Gate are even deeper than I imagined.”
That divine consciousness gradually faded: “Remember, if you haven’t broken through the third barrier in half a quarter of an hour, you’ll be refined into a sword puppet.”
Looking at the warning sword light soaring into the sky in the distance, she suddenly burst into wild laughter.
It turned out that the Beast Taming Sect, supposedly the leader of the righteous path, had long been riddled with holes, like rotten wood.
Since that was the case, let this demonic corruption be even more thorough.
The Cold Pond forbidden area suddenly exploded with ice mist. A cold glint flashed in Ma Bingyun’s eyes, and her figure turned into an afterimage, breaking through the restriction.