52: pressing forward step by step

"Old Ancestor!"

The Disciples were in a flurry, rushing forward to help up Old Ancestor Tianyu, each of them watching Shen Lian nervously.

"You wretched beast! If I had known you would commit such a rebellious act, I should have strangled you to death back then!"

Old Ancestor Tianyu wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. She looked like a shrew, devoid of any dignity befitting the Old Ancestor of a Sect.

"Hahaha..."

Shen Lian's mocking laughter was the only response to Old Ancestor Tianyu.

"Old Bastard, if you had killed me back then, would the Heavenly Feather Sect have achieved its past glory? Could you have really brought yourself to kill me! Now, I am simply letting you return to the position where you belong, and then die with hatred. However, before you die, I will let you watch the Heavenly Feather Sect, which you cherish the most, slowly, slowly collapse before your eyes, and then, have you Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering along with it."

"You..."

Old Ancestor Tianyu clutched her chest in anger, her body trembling violently.

She truly wanted to suppress and kill Shen Lian, but she simply couldn't.

Her current Primordial Chaos Realm cultivation was just a hollow facade; it was completely useless for defending against an enemy.

"Alright, enough small talk. Now, is there anyone among you willing to step out and die? If you step forward voluntarily, I'm in a good mood today, so I'll only kill one hundred people. The rest of you can live for one more day; this is the final mercy I grant you."

As soon as his voice fell, a Disciple finally couldn't endure it any longer and suddenly drew his sword: "Shen Lian, you traitorous Disciple who betrays your master and ancestors, how could we, the Disciples of the Heavenly Feather Sect, allow you to humiliate us like this! Even if we die today, we will uphold the honor of our Sect."

This Disciple's words immediately resonated with the remaining Disciples of the Heavenly Feather Sect.

"Junior Brother Huang is right. Shen Lian disregards the bonds of the Sect and kills the innocent so wantonly; how can we, the Disciples of the Heavenly Feather Sect, let such a traitor go?"

"Shen Lian, the Heavenly Feather Sect is a prestigious Sect of the Primordial Continent; how could we be threatened by a disaster like you? Trying to force us to submit in this way is simply wishful thinking!"

"Disciples of the Heavenly Feather Sect, work together! Do not be afraid of this Devil Head, Shen Lian! Even if we all die in battle today, the Primordial Continent will remember our glorious reputation for defending the Dao!"

Hundreds of Disciples at the Qi Gathering Realm drew their Spirit Swords in indignation toward Shen Lian, intending to fight to the death to defend the dignity of the Sect.

"A mantis trying to stop a chariot; you overestimate yourselves!"

Shen Lian closed his Folding Fan, his lips curling slightly upward.

"I will allow you your courage to defend the Sect and fulfill your determination to defend the Dao. One move—if you don't die, I will commit suicide on the spot."

Upon hearing this, the Disciples immediately channeled all their spiritual power to the leading Junior Brother Huang.

In an instant, wind and clouds surged within the cultivation dwelling.

This group of Outer Sect Disciples at the Qi Gathering Realm concentrated their lifelong cultivation onto one person, intending to use their lives to uphold the dignity of a Cultivator.

Alas...

"Boring."

Shen Lian just gently raised his hand, and the Void Concealment · Yin and Yang Profound Fire drifted out.

In an instant, a ball of Yin and Yang fire passed through their bodies. The one hundred and seventy Outer Sect Disciples who had joined forces didn't even have time to groan before they were reduced to ashes.

Dead silence.

A silence like death.

The originally clamorous noise came to an abrupt halt, leaving behind faces twisted in shock.

"One hundred and seventy lives in exchange for one day of survival. Seize it well. I will come again tomorrow. Remember to choose the sacrifices early and don't waste my time. Hahaha."

Amidst his wild laughter, Shen Lian thoroughly enjoyed the pleasure of this step-by-step slaughter. He quickly summoned the netherworld chariot and rode away in full view of everyone.

After witnessing Shen Lian's methods, no one dared to stop him.

Not until the heavy sound of hooves disappeared from their ears did Old Ancestor Tianyu collapse to the ground in despair.

The remaining Heavenly Feather Sect Disciples looked at each other; the sliver of hope and courage they had summoned was so fragile in the face of absolute strength.

That Senior Brother who put the Sect at the core of everything would truly never return.

At this moment, the innkeeper walked up to Old Ancestor Tianyu and the others, trembling, and bowed: "My humble inn is small and cannot accommodate you esteemed immortals. Please find lodging elsewhere. My sincerest apologies."

Clearly, having seen Shen Lian's methods of slaughter, the innkeeper did not want to have any involvement with the Heavenly Feather Sect, lest he bring disaster upon himself in the future.

Old Ancestor Tianyu was furious upon hearing this: "We are the Heavenly Feather Sect! How dare you refuse to let us stay at your inn?"

The innkeeper smiled obsequiously: "I am truly sorry. My humble inn really cannot accommodate you esteemed immortals. Please be accommodating and do not make things difficult for us."

Old Ancestor Tianyu clutched her chest, her twisted, aged face becoming even more terrifying.

Just as she was about to lash out, a Disciple beside her hurriedly pulled her back and whispered: "Old Ancestor, let's go. Look around."

Old Ancestor Tianyu looked up and realized that the surroundings were filled with Cultivators attracted by the commotion.

They were currently eyeing her group with strange looks.

"Let's go, to another inn!"

After all, they were people who cared about their reputation. Facing the pointing and side-glances of so many Cultivators, both Old Ancestor Tianyu and the Heavenly Feather Sect Disciples felt ashamed and immediately left the inn with their tails between their legs.

As it turned out, hundreds of Heavenly Feather Sect members spent a whole day asking at various cultivation inns in Tianyuan City, only to be refused lodging by every single one.

Before Old Ancestor Tianyu's group entered the city, Shen Lian had already issued a death order to all the cultivation inns in the city: anyone who dared to harbor the Heavenly Feather Sect would face destruction.

Facing the threat from a madman, no one dared to provoke him in the slightest, so naturally, no one dared to harbor Old Ancestor Tianyu and her group anymore.

In just a few short hours, the news that the Heavenly Feather Sect was being hunted and bullied by their own Disciple had spread throughout the city.

Because the Heavenly Feather Sect had bullied many small Sects and households in the vicinity when they were powerful, everyone had long been angry but dared not speak out.

Now that the news of their downfall had spread, many held a sense of schadenfreude, eagerly wanting to see them make a fool of themselves.

In the end, Old Ancestor Tianyu had no choice but to take her Disciples to stay in a Mortal inn.

For dignified Cultivators to stay in a Mortal inn, and for the entire Sect to stay together at that, was a deeply shameful act.

Once this news broke out, it immediately became the talk of the town over tea and meals.

Upon hearing the news, Old Ancestor Tianyu cursed loudly: "These things with dog eyes that look down on people! Back when my Heavenly Feather Sect was powerful, they were all eager to curry favor with us. Now that we are just slightly in decline, they start showing this attitude. When the day comes that my Heavenly Feather Sect makes a comeback, I will definitely make them regret their shortsightedness today."

Thinking of this, she gnashed her teeth: "It's all that wretched Disciple Shen Lian! The Heavenly Feather Sect ending up in this state is all caused by him!"

Even now, this old fairy still felt that everything the Heavenly Feather Sect faced today was caused by Shen Lian, never once looking for the reason within herself.

She never even considered that years ago, when the Heavenly Feather Sect rose from a third or fourth-rate Sect to a behemoth in the Eastern Region, it was all due to Shen Lian's silent contributions behind the scenes.

The Disciples of the entire Sect, under the guidance of the old fairy and the seven white-eyed wolves, regarded Shen Lian's past contributions as the Sect's Luck, rather than his personal effort.

Even if some of them knew it was Shen Lian's contribution, they would not willingly admit it.

It could be said that, apart from Shen Chuyun, the entire Sect was just a bunch of heartless white-eyed wolves.

Recalling the great changes that had occurred in the Sect over the past twenty days or so, Old Ancestor Tianyu couldn't help but feel anger rise in her heart: "Have you still not contacted your Third Senior Sister?"

"Reporting to Old Ancestor, we still cannot contact Third Senior Sister."

Old Ancestor Tianyu was furious: "This wretched Disciple! Could it be that she saw our Sect in trouble and ran away too!?"

The Disciples collectively and tacitly remained silent, none of them willing to defy this Old Ancestor at such a time.

At this moment, a voice came from the next table.

"Did you hear? The Tianxia Chamber of Commerce is about to disband."

"What? How is that possible?"

"It's absolutely true. A brother of mine saw it with his own eyes. At the Chamber of Commerce Grand Competition, the external aid hired by the Longevity Chamber of Commerce used the great dao human sovereign cauldron to refine four Tribulation Crossing Realm powerhouses of the Tianxia Chamber of Commerce on the spot."

"What? The great dao human sovereign cauldron? Is that the Divine Ability comparable to the Human Emperor Banner? Is there actually someone in this world who can cultivate such an ultimate technique?"

"It's true. The scene at that time was absolutely beyond your expectations. Moreover, the person who wielded the great dao human sovereign cauldron was none other than President Su's Junior Brother, Shen Lian."

"What? How is that possible? Isn't that Shen Lian a simp? How could he be with President Su..."

"Don't mention it. Was the relationship between President Su and her seven sisters and Shen Lian ever just a fellow Disciple relationship? Now that he has suddenly awakened, of course he would fight back. In short, the Tianxia Chamber of Commerce is now severely injured, and the other auction houses, under the coalition of President Gu of the Longevity Chamber of Commerce, are wantonly annexing the original assets of the Tianxia Chamber of Commerce."

"Well done. I have long been displeased with the Tianxia Chamber of Commerce's forced buying and selling over the years. It is truly heaven's will that they are suffering such retribution now."

Old Ancestor Tianyu and the other Disciples, upon hearing these words, were all dumbfounded.

"Keep trying to contact your Third Senior Sister, quick!"

At this moment, Old Ancestor Tianyu was truly panicked.

Currently, the other six were not within the Eastern Region, and she was in such a state; the only one she could rely on was Su Yuheng.

If Su Yuheng were not around, then wouldn't that mean...

Little did she know that Su Yuheng had already run off to the Medicine King Valley in the Spirit Realm to find Mu Yaoguang for healing.

She could barely save herself, so how could she care about the life or death of this old fairy?

Expecting a white-eyed wolf to have a conscience is less reliable than expecting a certain Husky to update ten chapters a day.