CHAPTER 65: CHAPTER 62 TAIJI PALACE COUNCIL

True Martial Dao Sect.

Atop Chonghe Peak, within the Taiji Palace, Sect Leader Xuan Chen, along with the other five Peak Masters, had been waiting for a long time.

"Zhengyang Peak" Peak Master Xuan Zheng, "Tianxu Peak" Peak Master Xuan Lin, "Su Nu Peak" Peak Master Xuanzhen, "Kunyin Peak" Peak Master Xuan Yin, "Chi Ming Peak" Peak Master Xuanming, along with "Wanfa Peak" Peak Master Xuanfeng, who was currently on his way here, were all gathered together.

Carrying a light gray parcel, Xuanfeng walked slowly into the hall, followed by Qingzhou and Qingling, and four disciples carrying a sandalwood coffin.

"Xuanfeng, you... this..." Just as he entered the Taiji Palace, Xuan Zheng was so shocked by Xuanfeng’s appearance that he was at a loss for words.

At that moment, Xuanfeng’s hair was streaked with gray, his face was haggard, and he looked much older.

"Xuan Guang, that unfilial wretch, has tortured Junior Brother Xuanfeng to this extent, showing no regard for their past affections, beyond any help from medicine, beyond any help!" After the shock, what followed was endless fury.

In Xuan Zheng’s view, although Xuan Guang hadn’t killed Xuanfeng, torturing him like this showed complete disregard for the fellowship between sect members.

"Calm yourself, Junior Brother Xuan Zheng," Sect Leader Xuan Chen spoke, his voice resonating with True Yuan, serene and clear, carrying an innate dignity and grace.

With a jolt, Xuan Zheng’s mind cleared, his anger subsiding slightly as he bowed respectfully, "I spoke out of turn, Junior Brother."

"No matter," Xuan Chen’s gaze shifted to Xuanfeng, "Junior Brother Xuanfeng, we have received the message eagle you sent earlier, but words on paper are ultimately limited. Now, tell us in detail about what happened in Yang City."

"Yes, Sect Leader Senior Brother."

Xuanfeng bowed his head with a bitter smile, Sect Leader Xuan Chen was authoritative yet approachable, deeply loved by the disciples of the sect. His fellow brothers greatly respected him too, but who could have imagined that his true nature behind the scenes was so... despicable.

"Accompanied by Junior Nephew Qingzhou and Qingling, two months ago I reached Yang City on my mount Bai Yu. At that time, the situation in Yang City was already on the brink of erupting, with the Six Gates and the Zhen Shan Army-supported City Lord Mansion at loggerheads.

To prevent the outbreak of conflict between the two sides, which would have disturbed our mission, I used the remaining aura of Xuan Guang as a guide and deployed the ’Immortal Guidance’ technique to search for Xuan Guang first. Unexpectedly, Xuan Guang had greatly enhanced his power, being just a step away from achieving Divine Communication, and I was captured by him. Only after the conflict in Yang City concluded did he release me..."

"Hold on, Senior Brother Xuanfeng, we all know of Senior Brother Xuan Guang’s strength. He had only reached the True Pill Realm five years ago, how could he have possibly captured you?" spoke "Chi Ming Peak" Peak Master Xuanming.

"Hmph, and you still call him Senior Brother. He must have solicited the sinister methods of the Southern Border Witch Sect," Xuan Zheng retorted with a snort.

Lord Zhen Shan, no, now he should be called Prince Zhen Shan. He severed Qing Province from Daqian and proclaimed himself king. Ordinary people didn’t know the insider details, but these high-ranking figures were well aware. Prince Zhen Shan used the power of the Southern Border to have the confidence to sever the lands of Daqian; otherwise, located at the forefront with Daqian at the front and the Southern Border at the rear, how foolish would Prince Zhen Shan need to be to claim Qing Province, which originally belonged to the Southern Border and now to Daqian?

If it weren’t for the battle at Yang City and Lord Zhen Shan being so well-prepared, if the experts from Southern Border hadn’t held back, and if the sects from the Central Plains didn’t wish to be manipulated by the court, then even if Lord Zhen Shan had taken Qing Province, whether he could have held it remains unknown.

After all, the court took over resource-rich Qing Province but didn’t share any bounty with the Central Plains’ prominent sects. Moreover, they secretly commanded the Zhen Shan Army to target martial artists from worldly society above the Innate level in Qingzhou, which meant that only those in the Postnatal Realm ventured there to hunt for treasures, facilitating the court’s resource consolidation.

"The Witch God Sect from Southern Border, with its ancient and highly peculiar heritage, possesses methods to greatly enhance someone’s power, which isn’t surprising," Sect Leader Xuan Chen said. "Junior Brother Xuanfeng, please continue."

"I was imprisoned by Xuan Guang for a month, and during that time, many things happened, including the death of Senior Brother Xuanfa’s only disciple, Qing Yu. I was imprisoned at the time and wasn’t informed about the event, so I’ll let Qingzhou and Qingling who experienced it firsthand explain it in detail." Having said this, Xuanfa sighed wearily.

Qingzhou and Qingling stepped forward to salute, "Greetings to the Sect Leader and all the senior uncles."

"No need for such formalities," Xuan Chen gestured with his hand, "please describe the situation at the time."

"Yes," said Qingzhou. "After Junior Brother Xuanfeng had left, Junior Sister Qingling and I kept searching for traces of Junior Brother Qing Yu in Yang City. During our search, we encountered a black-clothed man in a Death Soldier’s guise, chasing a young boy.

Sister Qingling, who always has a chivalrous heart, spoke up wanting to rescue the boy. After I blocked the black-clothed man’s attack, I learned that the boy being chased was our Junior Brother Qing Yu.

The black-clothed man was hell-bent on capturing Qing Yu. Seeing that my power matched his, he continued to burn his essence blood, trying to kill us who were in his way. In our last standoff, I used the Xuanwu Sea Suppressing Sword’s Discharge Skill to deflect the black-clothed man’s sword.

Unexpectedly, his power surged as he burnt his essence blood, and the residual Sword Qi struck Qing Yu, who was too severely injured to dodge. The Sword Qi opened up his torso, damaging his internal organs. Junior Sister Qingling, although skilled in medical treatment from Su Nu Peak, was helpless to reverse his fate."

"It was my fault," Qingling said somberly, "Seeing all the blood on Junior Brother Qing Yu, I panicked, forgetting all my practiced experience."

"It was I who killed Junior Brother Qing Yu." As she spoke, Qingling bowed her head, ready to cry.

"Ling’er, come here," said the speaker—Peak Master Xuanzhen of Su Nu Peak, Qingling’s master.

"Master," Qingling cried as she ran into Xuanzhen’s arms.

"With all internal organs damaged and the bodily strength of a Postnatal Realm martial artist being too weak, such heavy injuries would give even me, your master, less than a ten percent chance of saving him. You shouldn’t blame yourself," Xuanzhen consoled.

"Continue speaking," Xuan Chen instructed.

"After landing that strike, the black-clothed man, weakened from burning his essence blood, became extremely feeble. I seized the opportunity to deliver a fatal blow. Afterwards, Junior Sister Qingling stitched up the wounds on the junior’s body to ensure he could be properly buried. I changed Junior Brother Qing Yu’s clothes and then discovered..."

"The Zhenwu Sword being in Qing Yu’s possession was just a baseless rumor. Inside the lining of Qing Yu’s outer garment was written in red pigment the details of how Xuan Guang had manipulated him.

Xuan Guang used Qing Yu as a pawn, causing disturbances around Yang City to distract everyone from Senior Brother Xuanfa’s disciples, aiming to cheat the world so that Lord Zhang Huchen of Zhen Shan could have time to breakthrough Divine Communication, smoothly emerging from seclusion. This is from the clothing of Junior Brother Qing Yu..."

Xuanfa spoke and unwrapped a package, shaking out a black outer garment.

On the inside of the black garment, dark red characters were written with red pigment on the black fabric.

All present were elders with names beginning with Xuan and were high-level practitioners in the True Pill Realm; Sect Leader Xuan Chen was even an expert in the Divinity Realm. They could clearly see the characters written on the robe that Xuanfa was holding, as if they were right in front of their eyes.

There was a large area soaked with fresh blood, but one could still vaguely make out what was written.

Aside from detailing the conspiracy of Xuan Guang, there were also large patterns and some mnemonic phrases related to meridian and breathing techniques.

The text began with eight large characters, "To cultivate this divine skill, one must castrate oneself." Indeed, this was the "Exorcism Sword Manual."

These eight characters were written in blood, and the handwriting was twisted, clearly indicating that the writer was in extreme disquiet, revealing a chilling hatred.

"This is..." Xuan Chen pointed at these eight characters and asked.

"This was because Qing Yu, although never having practiced martial arts and lacking the strength to truss a chicken, was forced by Xuan Guang to cultivate martial arts. This technique is extremely evil, allowing one to advance rapidly if they can withstand the first test shown by these first eight characters," explained Xuanfeng.

"I examined the remains of Junior Brother Qing Yu, and found his meridians were utterly ruined, clearly having been ravaged by some tyrannical medicine and the practice of consuming his potential to boost his inner strength," Qingling said, stopping her tears and looking up from Xuanzhen’s embrace.

"This, it’s utterly malevolent..."

"Xuan Guang, he’s utterly inhuman..."

"Xuan Guang has definitely fallen into the Demon Path..."

...

All the seated Peak Masters were filled with suppressed anger.

To trade crippled limbs for advanced martial prowess, such a cultivation method, even within the Demonic Path, wasn’t widely practiced. The Exorcism Sword Manual, which even inflicted harm upon a man’s genitals to advance martial arts skills, was particularly vile and rarely practiced even among those in the Demon Path, making it unheard of among the present company.

Moreover, the one forced to practice this inhumane technique was their own disciple, and although Qing Yu had been exiled, not everyone wished for his return to the True Martial Dao Sect. Still, he remained a disciple of the True Martial Dao Sect, and the only remaining disciple of Xuanfa.

The one who used the cultivation technique to harm Qing Yu was their own Brother, Xuan Guang. Today he harmed Qing Yu, who knew whether tomorrow he might harm their disciples, or even attack them, his fellow sect siblings. Xuanfeng was the precedent.

"Sect Leader Brother, give the order, we must kill Xuan Guang!" Xuan Lin said.

"Indeed, Xuan Guang has fallen into the Demon Path, he must not be spared," the other Peak Masters agreed in unison.

"Quiet," Xuan Chen called out to silence them, "After this incident, Xuan Guang will certainly flee to the Southern Border, seeking protection there. Although our True Martial Dao Sect is a major sect in the world, we have no reach there.

"But this evil must not be allowed to spread; let it be known to all, expel Xuan Guang from our sect, he is no longer a disciple of our True Martial Sect. Any righteous person capable of killing Xuan Guang, I will allow them to study two techniques from our Four Symbols Ultimate Skills."

"This... Sect Leader Brother, the Four Symbols Ultimate Skills are our sect’s secret techniques, they absolutely must not be imparted," Xuan Zheng hastily said.

"They are not anymore; with Xuan Guang’s betrayal, the Four Symbols Ultimate Skills have already leaked. From now on, they are no longer secret," Xuan Chen declared.

"I have decided, this meeting is adjourned. Later, I will go to the Ancestor Hall and remove Xuan Guang’s name from the True Inheritor’s Golden Disc."

"Junior Brother Xuanfeng, is there anything else?" Xuan Chen saw hesitancy on Xuanfeng’s face, as he seemed to want to speak but stopped himself multiple times.

"Nothing else, Junior Brother is just a bit exhausted and would like to rest first," Xuanfeng said dispiritedly.

"Then go and rest well. For the next few days, let the matters of the sect be set aside," Xuan Chen said gently.

"Thank you, Sect Leader Brother," Xuanfeng bowed in gratitude.

Then, Xuanfeng turned and left.

He appeared older than when he had arrived, even his normally straight back was now stooped.

Because, he had betrayed Senior Brother Xuanfa once again. This time, it was not due to being deceived; it was because he had made the choice again, for the sake of the True Martial Dao Sect.

The True Martial Dao Sect, already beleaguered by scandals—first Xuanfa, now Xuan Guang, and next possibly even Xuan Chen if he were involved—it was unimaginable what would happen.

The reputation would be thoroughly tarnished, that was for sure. Such a major event would undoubtedly lead to Xuan Chen stepping down. Even if it was kept secret, the abdication of Xuan Chen would still give rise to rumors, and the astute would surely guess something went awry.

Would there be internal strife? Absolutely. Not only from the followers of Senior Brother Xuanfa, but even those who supported Xuan Chen might not stomach his actions.

Thus, let me bear all this alone. That was Xuanfeng’s resolve.

Everything, for the sake of the True Martial Dao Sect.