671: Chapter 671 Master Qingfeng's Decision!

Daoist Priest Qingfeng's expression was uncertain, like dark clouds hanging low before a storm.

Upon hearing the word "undercover," the core disciples of the Huashan Sect standing behind him all turned pale.

"Sect Leader! You absolutely must not!"

A middle-aged Daoist hurried forward, his face filled with fear.

"If the Tianyi Sect finds out we have betrayed them, it won't be a joke!"

"They are one of the thirteen sects of the Kunlun Ruins! If they just send a random elder, they could wipe out our entire Huashan Sect!"

"Exactly, Sect Leader!" Another elder with gray hair and beard also stepped out, his face full of anxiety. "Our Huashan Sect has been passed down for hundreds of years. It was only with the protection of the Tianyi Sect that we managed to establish a foothold in the Martial Arts Alliance. If we offend them..."

He did not continue, but the meaning was already crystal clear.

Offending the Tianyi Sect meant a dead end for the Huashan Sect.

The other core disciples also spoke up one after another, all trying to dissuade him.

For a moment, the reception hall was filled with voices of despair.

Everyone's face was etched with fear.

The shadow of the Tianyi Sect had been weighing down on them for too long.

So long that they had grown accustomed to bowing their heads, accustomed to bending their backs, and accustomed to being ordered around like dogs.

Now, someone suddenly told them that they could stand up.

Instead, they were not used to it. They were even afraid.

Because they did not know if their legs would be broken after standing up.

Listening to those voices behind him, a bitter smile appeared on the corner of Daoist Priest Qingfeng's mouth.

He did not turn around, his gaze remaining fixed on Ye Chen.

The young man had his hands in his pockets, his expression indifferent, as if he hadn't heard the discussion at all.

He just stood there, not urging, not explaining, not persuading.

Like a hunter who had cast his net and was quietly waiting for the prey to walk in on its own.

Daoist Priest Qingfeng closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

When he opened them again, there was something indescribable in those cloudy, aged eyes.

"I will ask you all a question."

He spoke, and the discussion in the reception hall stopped instantly.

Everyone looked at their Sect Leader.

Daoist Priest Qingfeng slowly turned around, his gaze sweeping over the familiar faces behind him, then he gave a bitter smile and shook his head.

"How many years has our Huashan Sect been affiliated with the Tianyi Sect?"

No one answered.

Daoist Priest Qingfeng gave the answer himself.

"Twenty-three years."

"In twenty-three years, how many talented disciples has our Huashan Sect sent to the Tianyi Sect?"

"Three batches, a total of forty-seven people."

"After these forty-seven people went to the Tianyi Sect, how many have returned?"

"Not a single one."

"In twenty-three years, how many rare treasures has our Huashan Sect offered to the Tianyi Sect?"

"Three thousand-year-old Ganoderma, five pieces of mysterious iron ore, seven Deep Sea Dragon Saliva Pearls..."

He listed them like a treasure count, reporting them one by one. Each of those items was the family fortune accumulated by several generations of the Huashan Sect. Each one had cost him countless efforts.

But what happened after they were offered? The Tianyi Sect's return gift was a low-quality Breakthrough Pill. A Breakthrough Pill that almost cost him his life.

"We do our best to serve them, being subservient and obsequious, losing all our dignity."

"But they..." He paused, his eyes slightly reddening, "But have they ever treated us like human beings?"

The entire room was deathly silent. The Huashan Sect disciples who had just been trying to dissuade him all lowered their heads. No one dared to speak. Because no one could refute him.

The Tianyi Sect treated the Huashan Sect worse than dogs, let alone as humans.

If a dog is disobedient, its master will scold it or hit it a few times, which at least shows the master still cares about the dog. But what about the Tianyi Sect? They couldn't even be bothered to scold or hit them. Because they didn't care about the Huashan Sect at all.

Care? Care about what? What is there to care about regarding a vassal that can be replaced at any time?

The reception hall was terrifyingly quiet. Daoist Priest Qingfeng stood there, his heart filled with mixed emotions. He knew what the others were afraid of. They feared the Tianyi Sect's retaliation, feared the destruction of the Huashan Sect, and feared losing their own lives. They had been afraid for twenty-three years. So afraid that they didn't even have the courage to stand up and resist.

Daoist Priest Qingfeng closed his eyes and opened them again.

"Instructor Ye."

"Can you really help me?"

"I don't want to kneel anymore. I want to stand up, and lead the Huashan Sect..."

"Stand up!!!" Ye Chen looked at him and smiled slightly: "A small matter, it just depends on your intention."

Daoist Priest Qingfeng understood what Ye Chen meant. Ye Chen was not bragging, not making empty promises, and not giving him a blank check. Ye Chen was telling him... those problems were not worth mentioning to him at all.

Your ten-year bottleneck, the medicinal toxins in your body, the restrictions on your foundation... are all minor matters.

Daoist Priest Qingfeng's Adam's apple bobbed, and the redness in his eyes deepened. He remembered how he had spent these past ten years. Day after day of cultivation, failure after failure, injury after injury. It was simply unfair to him!

Daoist Priest Qingfeng took a deep breath, then cupped his hands and bowed deeply to Ye Chen.

"Instructor Ye, I am willing!"

The Huashan Sect disciples suddenly raised their heads and looked at each other. The Sect Leader... really agreed? Agreed to be an undercover agent for Ye Chen? Agreed to betray the Tianyi Sect?

Daoist Priest Qingxuan's expression kept changing. He wanted to stop him, to persuade him, and to tell his senior brother that doing this was too risky. But the words reached his lips, and he swallowed them back down.

Because... the Tianyi Sect did not treat them as human beings. For twenty-three years, they had knelt for twenty-three years, kneeling until their knees were rotten, their spines were bent, and they had almost forgotten how to stand up. Now someone reached out, saying they wanted to pull them up. What right did he have to stop it? Even if... that person had given him no face a short while ago. But personal grudges are personal. The rise and fall of the sect was the priority!

Ye Chen looked at Daoist Priest Qingfeng's face, which was full of determination, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

"You have made a correct decision."

Daoist Priest Qingfeng took a deep breath, raised his head, his eyes full of determination: "Instructor Ye, what does the old man need to do?"

"Don't rush." Ye Chen waved his hand, "Let's solve your problems first."

He flipped his right hand, and several Silver Needles appeared out of thin air in his palm. The Silver Needles were as thin as ox hair, about three inches long, and glimmered with a cold light under the illumination of the lights.

Daoist Priest Qingfeng's pupils contracted slightly: "This is..."

"Don't ask, just stand still." Ye Chen interrupted him and flicked his right hand. Swish! Swish! Swish! Several Silver Needles flew out as fast as lightning.

Everyone only saw a few silver lights flash by, and those Silver Needles had already accurately pierced into several major acupuncture points on Daoist Priest Qingfeng's body.

Daoist Priest Qingfeng's body suddenly stiffened, and his expression changed drastically. He felt... a strange force surging into his body from where the Silver Needles had pierced, like little snakes, traveling along his meridians. Wherever it passed, it was both painful and itchy, indescribably uncomfortable.

"Instructor Ye, this..." "I said, don't speak, keep your mind clear." Ye Chen interrupted him impatiently.

Consequently, Daoist Priest Qingfeng dared not speak again, quickly closing his eyes and forcing himself to calm down, keeping his mind clear.

He could feel that the acupuncture points where the Silver Needles were inserted were heating up, as if someone had lit a fire inside him. The fire was not large, but it burned deep and fiercely, starting from the depths of his energy center, moving up along the meridians, burning through his internal organs, and burning through his limbs and bones.

Pain. Piercing pain. Large beads of sweat seeped from Daoist Priest Qingfeng's forehead, trickling down his wrinkled cheeks and dripping onto the bluestone floor, making a faint sound.

His body began to tremble, from slight to violent, like he was having a fit of malaria.

Daoist Priest Qingxuan's expression changed. He stepped forward, wanting to say something, but was stopped by Jiang Daoxuan raising his hand.

"No one is allowed to move." Jiang Daoxuan said coldly, "My Sect Leader is treating his injuries. If you touch him now, you will make all his previous efforts go to waste."

Daoist Priest Qingxuan's footsteps paused abruptly, and he pulled them back forcibly. He stood in place, his hands clenched into fists, staring at Daoist Priest Qingfeng without blinking.

The Huashan Sect disciples also held their breath, none of them daring to make a sound.

Ye Chen watched the changes in Daoist Priest Qingfeng with a calm face. It was not difficult to make this old Daoist break through, and it did not even require the use of the shanhai bottle.

The main reason was that although the old Daoist had been unable to break through for several years, his power had become more and more pure year by year. Consequently, when the sealed energy center found a vent, the breakthrough would happen in an instant.

And what Ye Chen had to do was... create a vent for him. That way, all problems would be solved. Even the injuries in his body would be repaired under the flushing of the spiritual energy release.

For a moment. Ye Chen raised his right hand, his index finger slightly bent, and then flicked it gently. "Ding!" A crisp buzzing sound exploded in the reception hall.

That finger hit the tail of one of the Silver Needles. The Silver Needle trembled violently, emitting a buzz.

Immediately after, golden light exploded from the tail of the needle, like a prairie fire, instantly surging into Daoist Priest Qingfeng's body along the needle shaft.

Then. It rippled along the meridians to the positions of the other Silver Needles. Several Silver Needles trembled at the same time, emitting bursts of buzzing sounds.

The golden light shuttled back and forth between the Silver Needles, getting brighter and brighter, more and more intense, enveloping Daoist Priest Qingfeng in a halo of golden light.

Those rays of light penetrated out of his body, traveling under Daoist Priest Qingfeng's skin, like little golden snakes, crazily shuttling through his body.

Daoist Priest Qingxuan's eyes widened like copper bells. He had lived for more than sixty years and had never seen such a method. Using Silver Needles to induce true energy, using golden light to cleanse the meridians... Is this medicine? Is it a divine ability? Or some lost ancient technique? He didn't know. But he knew that such a method, looking at the entire cultivation world, probably could not find a second person!!!