47: A sect mission: make an example of someone!

Three months had passed on the journey westward.

The official road had long disappeared, replaced by desolate mountains and ancient forests.

A bonfire blazed beside a mountain stream.

Wang Duojin was holding a golden-brown roasted spiritual bird leg, turning it over the fire. Grease dripped onto the flames with a sizzling sound, and the aroma filled the air.

“Fourth Junior Brother, come, try my Third Senior Brother’s cooking!”

He eagerly offered a roasted bird leg to the golden-haired youth who was meditating cross-legged on a bluestone not far away.

Zhao Wuyou didn't even lift an eyelid. Dragon Qi circulated around him, isolating the greasy aroma.

Wang Duojin was rebuffed and awkwardly withdrew his hand, taking a big bite himself.

“If you don’t eat it, fine. This is a Golden Core Stage Red-Feathered Sparrow, very nourishing!”

Su Linger sat beside him, a small Ice Lotus twirling between her fingertips. She was attempting to condense her ice power into more complex forms.

Ye Chenfeng, by the stream, used his finger as a sword, drawing silent ripples in the water.

Each ripple precisely cut a downstream-floating leaf without disturbing the swimming fish.

Chu Xuanjin leaned against a large tree, eyes closed in repose, his expression lazy, as if he had fallen asleep.

These three months had been calm and uneventful.

The cultivation of the four Disciples had steadily improved during this seemingly monotonous journey.

Just then, Chu Xuanjin’s eyebrow twitched almost imperceptibly.

The myriad dao token at his waist, which connected all the Disciples, transmitted an urgent Divine Soul fluctuation.

Messages mixed with anxiety, anger, and helplessness surged into his Sea of Consciousness through the token's connection.

“Sect Master, the Qingyun Branch is in danger!”

“Blazing Fire Sect Disciples ambushed our branch’s herb-gathering team in the Black Wind Mountain Range, resulting in thirteen casualties!”

“The Surging Waves Sect forcibly occupied our branch’s Spirit Stone mine on the East Sea Coast, killing seven of our mine-guarding Disciples!”

“The Hundred Beasts Manor drove Yao Beasts to besiege our branch’s Outer Sect Disciple training area. Our Disciples are trapped, suffering heavy casualties!”

“Dozens of small Sects in the vicinity are taking advantage of our misfortune, encroaching on our branch’s market and medicinal fields...”

“Your Disciple is incompetent, I humbly request the Sect Master’s instructions!”

Message after message poured in like snowflakes.

Chu Xuanjin slowly opened his eyes.

The laziness in his gaze vanished, replaced by an unfathomable calm.

Beneath that calm, a monstrous rage was slowly awakening.

“Come here, all of you.”

His voice wasn’t loud, but it made the three Disciples, who were cultivating separately, halt their actions simultaneously.

Wang Duojin dropped the roasted bird leg, Su Linger dispelled her Ice Lotus, and Ye Chenfeng withdrew his finger.

The three, along with Zhao Wuyou who had been meditating with closed eyes, quickly gathered before Chu Xuanjin, bowing respectfully.

“Revered Master.”

Chu Xuanjin didn't speak.

He merely waved his hand.

A light screen formed by water vapor appeared before the four of them.

The screen displayed the scene inside the Qingyun Branch’s Sect Master Hall.

Yun Tianqing, with disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes, was roaring angrily at a blood-soaked Disciple who had lost an arm.

“Blazing Fire Sect! Too presumptuous!”

The one-armed Disciple knelt on the ground, weeping uncontrollably.

“Branch Revered Master! senior brother li... he, to cover our retreat, was... was burned to ashes by the Blazing Fire Sect’s Demonic Flames!”

The scene shifted.

Outside a mine, dozens of Disciple corpses dressed in Qingyun attire lay scattered on the ground.

An Elder of the Surging Waves Sect, dressed in blue wave-patterned robes, was laughing loudly, his foot on the head of a Qingyun Disciple.

“What Myriad Dao Divine Sect? They can’t even protect their own territory! From today onwards, this mine belongs to the Xiao Family!”

The scene shifted again.

In a mountain forest, hundreds of young Qingyun Disciples were surrounded by thousands of Yao Beasts.

They formed a sword Formation, struggling to hold on, but the Yao Beasts were endless, and their defenses could collapse at any moment.

Despair was etched on every young face.

The light screen silently dissipated.

Beside the bonfire, there was a deathly silence.

Wang Duojin’s face turned crimson. He clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles white from the effort.

“These bastards!”

He gnashed his teeth, his usually shrewd demeanor completely gone, replaced by towering rage.

“They... they killed our people!”

Su Linger’s eyes reddened. She looked at those despairing faces, as if seeing her past self, abandoned by her Family.

The silver bell on her wrist no longer chimed crisply, instead emitting a bone-chilling coldness.

Zhao Wuyou’s golden eyes, for the first time, ignited with fire.

Although he had never met these people, the token and the address “Sect Master” had long since branded the mark of the Myriad Dao Divine Sect into his heart.

Those who insult his Sect shall die.

Ye Chenfeng slowly raised his head. He looked at Chu Xuanjin, his voice deep and hoarse.

“Revered Master, this matter started because of me.”

Chu Xuanjin’s gaze swept over the faces of the four Disciples one by one.

He saw Wang Duojin’s anger, Su Linger’s sorrow, Zhao Wuyou’s killing intent, and Ye Chenfeng’s self-reproach.

He slowly stood up.

“No.”

He shook his head.

“This matter has nothing to do with you.”

He walked to the bonfire and extinguished the burning flames with a kick.

“We are not wrong.”

His voice was as cold as if it came from the Nine Netherworld.

“They are wrong.”

“They are wrong to think that my Myriad Dao Divine Sect is a sheep that can be bullied at will.”

“They are wrong to think that slapping my Sect in the face comes without any cost.”

He turned and looked eastward.

In that direction lay the Qingyun Branch, the Blazing Fire Sect, and those celebrating clowns.

“It seems that the lesson I taught before wasn’t clear enough.”

A chilling arc appeared at the corner of Chu Xuanjin’s mouth.

“Some people don’t understand reason.”

“Then we can only use our fists to help them remember.”

He looked at the four Disciples whose Battle Intent was rising.

“The Myriad Dao Divine Sect’s first Sect mission is hereby issued immediately.”

The four bowed in unison, their expressions solemn.

“Ye Chenfeng.”

“Disciple is here!”

“Your sword is sharp. But your name is not yet resounding enough.”

Chu Xuanjin’s voice carried an undeniable domineering tone.

“I command you to immediately return to the Qingyun Branch, hold my Sect’s order, temporarily act as Branch Revered Master, and oversee the entire situation.”

“Kill all who bully my Sect.”

“Kill all who invade my territory.”

“Kill all who insult my name!”

“I want you to use the sword in your hand to carve out a bright new world! Kill until no one in the Hundred Sects of the Eastern Barrens dares to show the slightest disrespect to my Myriad Dao Divine Sect!”

Ye Chenfeng’s body trembled violently.

He suddenly looked up, his eyes bursting with unprecedented light.

He knelt on one knee, his voice ringing like iron!

“Disciple Ye Chenfeng, I accept the command!”

“Su Linger, Wang Duojin.”

“Disciple is here!” The two responded in unison.

“You two will assist your Senior Brother. Linger, your ice magic can control the field and protect. Much Gold, your Formation can trap enemies and kill them.”

“I want you to show the Eastern Barrens that none of my Myriad Dao Divine Sect Disciples are weak!”

“Yes, Revered Master!”

Chu Xuanjin’s gaze finally fell upon Zhao Wuyou.

“Wuyou.”

“Disciple is here.”

“You have just joined the Sect. Although your Foundation is strong, you lack practical combat experience.”

Chu Xuanjin looked at his golden eyes.

“Your battlefield is not here.”

He stretched out his hand, pointing to the direction further east, where the Blazing Fire Sect’s main gate was located.

“The Blazing Fire Sect’s Sect Master, Lie Shan, is at the Void Refining Initial Stage. Below him, there are three Soul Transformation Elders and dozens of Nascent Soul cultivators.”

“I want you, alone, with a halberd, to flatten the Blazing Fire Sect.”

As soon as these words were spoken.

Wang Duojin and Su Linger both gasped.

One person, to flatten a Sect with thousands of years of Legacy?

How... how could this be possible!

Zhao Wuyou’s face, however, showed no fear.

He merely licked his lips, and a nearly insane Battle Intent burned in his golden eyes.

“Just a mere Void Refining Initial Stage...”

He murmured softly, his voice imbued with the supreme arrogance of the Primordial Dragon God.

He bowed deeply to Chu Xuanjin.

“Disciple will not fail Revered Master’s command!”

Chu Xuanjin nodded in satisfaction.

With a thought, the Divine Artifact ‘dragon emperor halberd’ he had just acquired appeared in his hand.

The halberd body was black, with Dragon patterns coiled around it, emitting an aura of world-destroying power that twisted the surrounding space.

“This is the dragon emperor halberd, a Divine Artifact.”

“And this Archaic Dragon God Scripture, take it with you.”

“This journey is both a mission and your first trial.”

“Go.”

Chu Xuanjin tossed both the Divine Weapon and the Cultivation Technique to Zhao Wuyou.

“Let the Eastern Barrens hear the Dragon’s roar of my Myriad Dao Divine Sect.”

Zhao Wuyou took the dragon emperor halberd, feeling a sense of Bloodline connection surge through his heart.

He didn't say another word.

He simply bowed to Chu Xuanjin again.

Then, he turned, transforming into a golden stream of light, soaring into the sky, tearing through the firmament, and shooting directly towards the Blazing Fire Sect!

Chu Xuanjin watched his disappearing back, then looked at Ye Chenfeng and the other two.

“You, too, may go.”

He waved his hand.

“Revered Master, what about you?” Su Linger couldn’t help but ask.

Chu Xuanjin smiled.

He walked back to the large tree, leaned against its trunk, and resumed his lazy demeanor.

“I, as your Revered Master, will naturally find a place with good scenery.”

“Brew a pot of tea, set up a chessboard.”

“Waiting to hear the good news of your victorious return.”

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