403: Chapter 404 System Backlash!

This was not a balanced battle at all; it was a wholesale slaughter.

"Ah!"

Screams rose one after another.

Those youths, hailed as Geniuses in the outside world, were as fragile as ants when faced with the crushing weight of absolute power.

Their protective Magic Treasures were easily torn to shreds.

The Divine Abilities they prided themselves on were casually broken.

Blood stained the bluestone slabs of the Taichu main peak.

Those young Prodigies who once had bright futures fell one after another, suffering grievous injuries.

Ling Hongzhi watched this scene, his heart twisting with pain.

These were the hopes he had carefully selected to revitalize the Sect!

He wanted to rush forward and fight side-by-side with his Disciples.

But he knew very well that with his meager cultivation in the Return to One Realm, rushing in would only mean adding another life to the toll, serving no purpose.

"Pavilion Master Qi Changchun! My Qian Family will not coexist with you!"

Qian Feng, the legitimate son of the Qian Family, lay in a pool of blood, on the verge of death.

He let out a spiteful roar at Pavilion Master Qi Changchun in the sky.

"Hahaha!"

Pavilion Master Qi Changchun looked at this dying ant and let out a hearty laugh.

"Not coexist? Are you even worthy?"

He looked down from above at all the despairing Taichu Dao Sect Disciples, a cruel smile akin to a cat playing with a mouse on his face.

"Let me tell you the truth: it is not the intention of my Canghai Sword Pavilion to have you all killed."

"Destroying your Taichu Dao Sect is the command of the Immortal Realm's rising star, the future Young Lord designated by the Gu Clan, the Revered Master of Ziwei Hall, Ninth Young Lord Gu!"

Boom!

The five words "Ninth Young Lord Gu" struck the hearts of everyone present like a bolt of divine lightning from the Nine Heavens.

Everyone was stunned.

Those who were fighting, those who were wailing, and those who were in despair all froze at this moment.

Ninth Young Lord Gu?

That legendary figure whose mansion-opening ceremony brought all the Immortal Lords together and earned a decree from the Immortal Emperor?

That Supreme existence who stood at the apex of the Eastern Star Domain, whose single word could determine the life and death of billions of living beings?

How could this be?

How could the Taichu Dao Sect, or rather, Ling Hongzhi, have provoked such a high-level big shot?

They were people from two completely different worlds; they couldn't possibly be connected!

"Do you see? This is your fate." Pavilion Master Qi Changchun pointed at the astonished Disciples, laughing even more triumphantly.

"If you want to blame someone, blame your good Revered Master!"

"It was he who, not knowing the immensity of heaven and earth, provoked someone he shouldn't have, bringing this disaster upon you and the entire Taichu Dao Sect!"

Everyone's gaze shifted to Ling Hongzhi in an instant.

Shock, doubt, confusion, and... a trace of resentment that was quietly sprouting.

Ling Hongzhi himself was completely dumbfounded.

He stood there blankly, his mind a complete void.

Ninth Young Lord Gu?

When did I... ever offend him?

He racked his brains, but he could not recall ever having any intersection with this legendary big shot.

What on earth was going on?

Ninth Young Lord Gu!

When this name was spoken by Pavilion Master Qi Changchun, it was like a death sentence, completely shattering the last shred of luck in the hearts of all the aristocratic Disciples of the Taichu Dao Sect.

If it were just the Canghai Sword Pavilion, perhaps their families could unite and put up a fight.

But Ninth Young Lord Gu...

That was a Supreme existence they were not even qualified to look up to.

They knew very well that in front of a behemoth like Ninth Young Lord Gu, their proud families and so-called True Immortal Old Ancestors were not even worth a speck of dust.

Let alone avenging them, their families would likely sever ties with them the moment they heard the news, fearing they would be implicated.

It was over.

It was completely over.

They were dead.

Once they realized this, immense fear and despair swallowed them like a tidal wave.

The instinct for survival overwhelmed everything else.

"No! I don't want to die! I don't want to be buried with the Taichu Dao Sect!"

"Why? Why should we bear the consequences of the trouble Ling Hongzhi caused?"

"Ling Hongzhi! You jinx! You piece of trash! You ruined us all!"

After a brief silence, the collapsed emotions erupted like a volcano.

Those Disciples who had been respectful to Ling Hongzhi just a moment ago, calling him "Revered Master," now had hideous faces, hysterically hurling the most vicious curses at him.

"I am quitting the Taichu Dao Sect! From now on, I am no longer a Disciple of the Taichu Dao Sect! Pavilion Revered Master Qi, spare me! This has nothing to do with me!"

A Disciple threw down the long sword in his hand, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed desperately to Pavilion Master Qi Changchun in the sky, begging for mercy.

"Right! I quit too! Ling Hongzhi, I am breaking all ties with you!"

"Return my life!"

For a moment, their ugly true colors were fully exposed.

The so-called loyalty between Revered Master and Disciple, the camaraderie between fellow apprentices, were torn to shreds and rendered worthless in the face of death.

Ling Hongzhi looked at this scene blankly.

He watched those Disciples who had been so close to him, their eyes filled with admiration, now acting like mad dogs, cursing him with the filthiest language.

His heart felt as if it were being pierced by countless steel needles, hurting to the point where he couldn't breathe.

He would rather have seen these Disciples fight to the death like warriors.

He did not want to see them like this, casting aside all dignity to live, revealing such ugly faces.

[Ding! Detected that a Disciple has harbored thoughts of rebellion and betrayed the Sect!]

[Triggering penalty mechanism: Stripping the Host of the 'Supreme Immortal Bone'!]

[Ding! Detected that a Disciple has harbored thoughts of rebellion and betrayed the Sect!]

[Triggering penalty mechanism: Deducting one hundred years of cultivation; current Host is at the Late Stage of the Return to One Realm!]

[Ding! Detected that a Disciple... !]

In his mind, the System's prompts rang out continuously.

It seemed to have no emotion, coldly executing the rules.

Cultivating Disciples earned System cultivation rebates and other rewards.

Correspondingly, if a Disciple betrayed the Dao of the Revered Master, it would trigger relevant penalties.

This was the mechanism of his System.

How ironic!

The Sect was about to be destroyed, and the hearts of the Disciples had scattered.

He had lost, lost completely.

Amidst the noise of curses and pleas for mercy, only one figure seemed out of place.

Liu Qingyun.

He was still fighting in a bloody battle.

He did not curse, did not beg for mercy, and did not even look back at the farce behind him.

He simply wielded the Immortal sword in his hand in silence, rushing toward the enemy again and again.

He alone faced the five great True Immortal Elders of the Canghai Sword Pavilion!

"Pfft!"

Immortal blood splattered everywhere.

His arm was severed by a strand of Sword Qi, and his chest was caved in by a palm strike.

The dao patterns on his body peeled off inch by inch under the combined siege of the five True Immortals.

His vitality was like a candle in the wind, flickering out.

But he still did not take a single step back!

"A righteous man! What a pity!"

Even one of the Canghai Sword Pavilion Elders besieging him flashed a trace of admiration in his eyes.