Ling Xiaotian

Chen Yuan walked to her side, his tone remaining calm: "Lead the way. Let's go to the Secret Realm first; treating their injuries is the priority."

Under Xu Nuo's guidance, Chen Yuan protected the injured Disciples, traversing the Direct Disciple peaks, and stepped into a valley Secret Realm in the back mountain, where the Spiritual Qi was dense and the atmosphere was completely different from the tragic scene outside.

A flash of light appeared at the entrance of the Secret Realm, and the figures of the group emerged.

Immediately, several powerful Divine Senses swept over, carrying vigilance, but upon discovering it was Xu Nuo and some injured Disciples, they slowly retracted.

The area of the Secret Realm was not small, but it appeared somewhat crowded at the moment.

Scattered about were roughly a dozen Personal Disciples with sharp auras, ranging from the Nascent Soul to the Void Returning stages.

More numerous were nearly a hundred Inner Sect Disciples, deacons, and Elders who looked panicked and bore injuries.

The entire group of survivors was permeated with an atmosphere of grief, indignation, and oppression.

In the center of the Secret Realm, there were two figures with particularly majestic auras, sitting there like pillars of stability.

One was a woman dressed in a plain white dress, with a cold and beautiful face, and a temperament like an orchid in an empty valley. She was Xu Nuo's Revered Master, Core Elder Mu Yan of the Nine Heavens Sword Pavilion, who possessed Body Integration Great Perfection cultivation and was also a Sword Venerable.

The other was an old man in white robes; his original aura of an immortal sage had vanished, but his eyes were as sharp as swords, and he exuded an incomparably fierce Sword Intent. He was Core Elder Dugu Jiu of the Nine Heavens Sword Pavilion, also at the Body Integration Great Perfection stage, with sword cultivation strength at the Sword Venerable level.

The remaining Core Elders, including the Sect Master, had all died tragically under the swords of the Yao Race and the traitor, Grand Elder Wang Situ.

Mu Yan and Dugu Jiu were no better off; they appeared unharmed, but in reality, they had been sneak-attacked and suffered internal injuries.

Seeing Xu Nuo bring back several injured Disciples, along with a strange young man in green robes, everyone's gazes fell upon Chen Yuan with curiosity.

When Mu Yan saw Chen Yuan, her cold gaze flickered slightly. She had long guessed from her Disciple's occasional words and expressions that Xu Nuo had someone in her heart, and seeing Chen Yuan now, she understood a few things.

"Revered Master, Elder Dugu." Xu Nuo stepped forward to salute, her voice still cold. "Disciple has not failed the mission and has retrieved some Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters. However... on the way, we encountered an ambush by the Body Integration Demon Saint 'Chi Tong'. Thanks to... thanks to Fellow Daoist Chen Yuan intervening to save us, I was able to escape danger and slay that Demon Saint!"

"What? You slew the Chi Tong Demon Saint?"

As soon as these words were spoken, a chorus of low exclamations erupted in the Secret Realm.

Everyone's gazes focused on Chen Yuan once again, filled with disbelief.

The Chi Tong Demon Saint was a great demon of the Body Integration Stage!

A trace of surprise also flashed in Mu Yan's eyes. She looked at Chen Yuan, nodded slightly, and her tone softened a bit: "Thank you, young friend Chen, for your righteous intervention in saving my Disciple. The Nine Heavens Sword Pavilion will keep this kindness in mind."

Chen Yuan returned a salute, neither humble nor arrogant: "Senior is too kind. Junior and Xu Nuo are old acquaintances; helping out was a matter of duty."

However, at this moment, a discordant voice rang out, filled with heavy doubt and sarcasm.

"Slaying the Chi Tong Demon Saint? Him? A Cultivator at the Void Returning Early Stage?"

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw a young man standing up behind Core Elder Dugu Jiu, dressed in luxurious brocade robes, with a handsome face but an arrogant air between his brows.

His name was Ling Xiaotian, and he was Dugu Jiu's Personal Disciple, with cultivation at the Late Void Return Stage. He had always admired Xu Nuo. Seeing that Xu Nuo never gave other male Disciples in the Sect a second look, but now spoke so highly of an outsider and even brought him into the Secret Realm, he was already burning with jealousy.

Hearing now that Chen Yuan could actually slay a Body Integration Demon Saint, he was the first to not believe it!

Ling Xiaotian stepped out from the crowd, his gaze piercingly fixed on Chen Yuan as he sneered: "Junior Sister Xu Nuo, I know you are kind-hearted and do not wish to owe anyone. But you cannot just say anything! A Void Returning Early Stage Cultivator slaying a Body Integration Demon Saint? That is simply a fantasy! I suspect this 'Fellow Daoist Chen' used some unsavory methods to luckily escape from the Chi Tong Demon Saint, and is now here exaggerating to fish for fame!"

His words were extremely harsh, not only questioning Chen Yuan's strength but also implying that Chen Yuan had questionable character.

"Ling Xiaotian! What nonsense are you spouting!" Xu Nuo's pretty face turned cold, and for the first time, her cold eyes showed anger toward a fellow Sect member. "Chen Yuan did indeed slay the Chi Tong Demon Saint with his own hands; I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Saw it with your own eyes?" Ling Xiaotian sneered. "Junior Sister, you were in danger at that time; it is possible you fell under someone's illusion."

He looked at Chen Yuan with pointed meaning, full of provocation.

The atmosphere in the Secret Realm suddenly became somewhat tense.

Some Disciples' gazes toward Chen Yuan also began to carry suspicion; after all, a Void Returning Cultivator killing a Body Integration expert was simply too shocking.

Core Elder Dugu Jiu closed his eyes to rest, not speaking to stop them, seemingly tacitly approving of his Disciple's behavior.

Elder Mu Yan frowned slightly but did not speak immediately; she wanted to see how Chen Yuan would respond.

"Ling Xiaotian, if I were mistaken, would the group of Disciples that Fellow Daoist Chen Yuan saved also be mistaken?"

Xu Nuo turned to look at the seven or eight people saved by Chen Yuan.

Yet they kept their heads down, not daring to make a sound. Meeting Ling Xiaotian's warning gaze, they buried their heads even lower.

Xu Nuo's anger surged; how could she not know that this was Ling Xiaotian warning them?

As the leader of the younger generation, Ling Xiaotian's sword cultivation had already reached the Sword Domain stage, and he had been named Sect Heir last month, the future successor of the Sect. He could be said to hold the same status as a Core Elder.

Therefore, the younger generation here basically regarded Ling Xiaotian's will as supreme.

Facing Ling Xiaotian's aggressive questioning, Chen Yuan merely glanced at him indifferently, his eyes calm and waveless, as if looking at a clown.

"A frog in a well, how can it know the vastness of the Heavenly River?" Chen Yuan's voice was not loud, but it clearly entered everyone's ears. "Do I need to prove anything to you? Are you... worthy?"

Chen Yuan's words "Are you... worthy?" were like an invisible slap, fiercely striking Ling Xiaotian's face, causing his complexion to instantly flush red as blood, filled with shame and anger.

As the Sect Heir of the Nine Heavens Sword Pavilion, when had he ever received such contempt?

"You!" Ling Xiaotian's Sword Qi erupted, and his Late Void Return Stage pressure was unleashed without reservation toward Chen Yuan, clearly intending to forcibly compel Chen Yuan to make a move.

However, Chen Yuan merely stood in place; the seemingly majestic Sword Domain pressure landed on him like a clay ox entering the sea, failing to even stir a corner of his clothing.

Chen Yuan didn't even bother to look at him again; this kind of disregard was more embarrassing to Ling Xiaotian than any verbal counterattack.

At the outer defense line of the Nine Heavens Sword Pavilion, the Mahayana Stage Demon God Blood Luo, who was setting up a Formation together with the traitor Grand Elder Wang Situ, suddenly frowned and flipped his hand to take out a shattered dark red soul plaque.

"Chi Tong's soul plaque is broken?"

A flash of shock and anger crossed Blood Luo the Demon God's scarlet pupils. "How is this possible? Isn't the Human Race army supposed to arrive in three days? Could it be that they secretly sent experts to sneak in, a feint to the east while attacking the west?"