274: Chapter 274 The Lamp Dies, the Person Dies

Inside the Ganglei Sect.

Yuan Zhan, who was guarding the Sect Master's Great Hall, suddenly felt a sense of unease, and his pupils constricted instantly.

He immediately abandoned the attendants by his side and rushed toward the secret chamber within the hall. As he passed through layers of corridors, he saw that the Soul Lamp, which had been bright within the stone wall, had long since been extinguished.

That was Sect Master Murong Xiao's Life-bound Soul Lamp. While the lamp lived, the person lived; if the lamp failed, the person perished, without exception.

That indomitable Sect Master of the Ganglei Sect, who guarded an entire region, had died so silently?!

An overwhelming fear instantly surged into his heart. He collapsed to the ground in disbelief; a Foundation Establishment Cultivator was now so terrified he couldn't even stand up.

"Impossible... impossible... impossible! The Sect Master is dead!"

Yuan Zhan let out a raspy, low growl. A metallic sweetness rose in his throat again, and he spat out another mouthful of blood, which splattered onto the ground before him.

His mind was shattered, his spiritual power was out of control, and Qi surged wildly through his body. Waves of sharp pain radiated from his Meridians, but this pain was far less than the despair and grief in his heart.

Yuan Zhan staggered to his feet and stumbled through the secret chamber like a madman. He suppressed the panic in his heart as he arrived at the Sect Master's Great Hall.

The Disciples stationed here smelled the scent of blood on Yuan Zhan and gathered around uneasily.

"Elder? Elder! What's happened to you?"

"Elder, has something happened to the Sect Master?"

As the inquiries reached his ears, Yuan Zhan gritted his teeth, his jaw tightening until it turned pale, forcing himself not to show his grief.

"The Sect Master wishes to enter secluded cultivation. Quickly, go and call the other Elders of the Ganglei Sect here! Go now!"

Inside the Ganglei Sect's Great Hall, the atmosphere had already become oppressive to the extreme.

The various Elders received Yuan Zhan's summons and hurried to gather in the hall. Everyone looked at Yuan Zhan, whose face was deathly pale and who still had bloodstains at the corner of his mouth.

Observing the deathly silence in the hall, everyone's hearts were filled with uncertainty and suspicion.

The hall, usually majestic and solemn, now exuded a lingering Death Qi, and even the spiritual power in the air had become stagnant and turbid.

An Elder with white hair and a white beard stepped forward, his brow furrowed, and asked, "Elder Yuan, you summoned us here in such haste and said the Sect Master is in seclusion, but looking at your state, this is no minor matter of seclusion. What exactly has happened?"

Yuan Zhan looked up at the crowd, his eyes bloodshot. He gritted his teeth tightly and only released them after a long time. His voice was as hoarse as a broken gong, every word carrying a bone-chilling sorrow: "Everyone... the Sect Master of the Ganglei Sect has passed away."

Everyone was shocked upon hearing this and looked at each other. Before they could ask further, they saw Yuan Zhan turn and stagger toward the secret chamber, and they quickly followed behind him.

When they saw the Life-bound Soul Lamp in the stone wall—completely extinguished, its wick turned to ash—the entire room fell into a silence so deep a pin drop could be heard.

"That's... the Sect Master's Soul Lamp?!" someone cried out in shock, their tone full of disbelief.

"The lamp fails, the person perishes... The Sect Master has... passed away?"

Another Elder trembled all over, nearly unable to stand, his face filled with terror. The dignified Sect Master of the Ganglei Sect, a top Cultivator of the Foundation Establishment Stage.

A powerhouse considered top-tier within a hundred-mile radius, who usually presided over the Sect so that no one dared to bully them, had actually perished silently like this without the slightest omen.

Yuan Zhan slumped to the side, his eyes full of despair: "The Sect Master's Soul Lamp has been out for some time; I only just noticed. Now the Sect Master's whereabouts are unknown, and his fate is already sealed.

The Ganglei Sect is a dragon without a head. If the news leaks, the forces around us coveting our Sect's resources will surely take advantage of the situation. Our Sect... is in imminent danger."

The crowd instantly panicked. The originally steady Elders were now in a mess; some advocated searching for the Sect Master's remains immediately, some advocated blocking the news to stabilize the Disciples, and others worried about foreign enemies invading, arguing incessantly.

The grand Ganglei Sect had turned from a region-shaking Sect into a precarious situation overnight, yet news of this change had not yet reached the ears of the surrounding forces.

"Enough! Quiet!"

Yuan Zhan stood up and shouted, "The matter of the Sect Master cannot be spread! Everyone, just tell the outside world that the Sect Master is in seclusion! You must immediately select the next Sect Master of the Ganglei Sect, and then..."

Speaking to this point, Yuan Zhan's eyes were full of bloodshot veins as he said tremblingly, "And then send someone to take him away, to leave a spark! The Ganglei Sect cannot be held!"

He knew very well that the younger generation of the Ganglei Sect were all only at the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment.

But the Ganglei Sect could not wait. Even that Sect Master of the Qingyun Sect, who was at the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, had spent a full twenty years with the hope of a Breakthrough from the Core Formation stage to the Golden Core.

The current Ganglei Sect was already a makeshift stage; it only took one big fire from the outside to be completely incinerated.

As his voice fell, the arguments in the hall came to an abrupt halt, leaving only the heavy breathing of the crowd.

Yuan Zhan's words were too cruel, yet every word hit the mark.

One of the white-haired Grand Elders turned ashen. He staggered back half a step, leaning against a nearby stone pillar to barely stay upright.

"Leave a spark... are we old fogies going to abandon the Sect? This Ganglei Sect is the life's work of our entire generation!"

"If we don't leave, do we wait for death?!"

Yuan Zhan roared, wiping the bloodstains from the corner of his mouth with his hand.

"The Sect Master has fallen, and the Sect's Foundation is broken. Our cultivation is shallow, and we simply cannot stop external enemies. If we stay here to defend to the death, it will be nothing more than throwing our lives away. By then, the Ganglei Sect's Legacy will truly be severed, without even a sliver of a chance for a comeback!"

He took a deep breath, suppressing the sharp pain and grief in his chest. His gaze swept across the crowd, his tone as heavy as lead: "The Sect Master has only one daughter, Murong Linger.

Though she is a girl, her talent is extraordinary. At only ten years old, she is already at Qi Refining Level 5.

Only she can carry the incense of the Ganglei Sect. Only if she lives will the Ganglei Sect have a day to rise again!"

Everyone fell silent upon hearing this.

They all knew Murong Linger's talent. She was the future that Murong Xiao held in the palm of his hand and used all the Sect's resources to nurture; she was the hope of the Ganglei Sect.

But to let a girl not yet ten years old carry the blood feud of the entire Sect and flee her homeland—it felt like a giant boulder was pressing on everyone's heart, making it hard to breathe.

"But... how can this be? How old is she!"

One Elder furrowed his brow, his face showing difficulty.

While they were arguing, a strong surge of spiritual power came from the Ganglei Sect's Mountain-protecting Array.

Invaders had arrived!

Yuan Zhan gritted his teeth, looked at the white-bearded old man, and bowed deeply: "Elder Guan Nan, the Young Miss is in your hands!"

It was too late to discuss the so-called Sect Master candidates now. No matter what, they had to protect the Sect Master's Bloodline first, to leave a seed for revenge.

The white-bearded old man's face was filled with extreme grief. Then, gritting his teeth, he flicked his sleeves and left. He was old and at the Late Foundation Establishment Stage; he knew the Sect's techniques like the back of his hand and could serve as the Young Miss's teacher.

Tears welled in Elder Guan Nan's old eyes, and then he resolutely headed deep outside the hall to take the Young Miss away.

Yuan Zhan immediately shouted: "Follow me to battle!"

At this moment, above the Ganglei Sect, the Mountain-protecting Array was being constantly enveloped by countless clouds of black smoke, and the Disciples were in a chaotic mess.

When they saw Yuan Zhan arrive, they swarmed over in panic.

"Elder Yuan Zhan! Where is the Sect Master? Where is the Sect Master? People from the Xuanyou Sect are attacking!"

"Yes! The Mountain-protecting Array won't last much longer! Where is the Sect Master?!"

Facing this scene, Yuan Zhan closed his eyes in despair and only said: "There is no Sect Master anymore! We only have a battle to the death!"

As soon as these words came out, the Disciples' faces were instantly filled with shock, followed by terror and despair.

Yuan Zhan looked at the Mountain-protecting Array above his head, which was constantly showing cracks, and the dragon-headed puppetss surrounded by countless black Qi.

Any further resistance vanished without a trace as a piercing sound of shattering echoed from the horizon.

Countless black mists descended, and those Disciples, along with the Foundation Establishment Elders, were swallowed clean by the black mist before they could even let out a sound.