CHAPTER 334: 159. QINGLAN’S PAST! NIU BATIAN’S ACT OF GRATITUDE! EXPOSING YUANYI! _1

Dragon Head Peak, Sect Leader Hall.

Due to True Master Ziyun ringing the Warning Clock, at this moment, all four Chairmen of the Qinglan Sect, except for Su Mei, the Chairman of Phoenix Caw Peak, had arrived.

The Chief Disciples and Senior Deacons of the various branches also gathered in the hall.

Under the tense gaze of everyone present, on the high platform, True Master Ziyun looked somber and weary. "I won’t hide it from you," he said. "I rang the Warning Clock this time to summon you all here to discuss a grave matter concerning the very survival of our sect."

Hearing these words, everyone exchanged glances, their hearts tightening.

True Master Ziyun paused, then continued, "Last night... a major catastrophe struck the Spirit Beast Hall. The Spiritual Beasts imprisoned in their cages suffered heavy casualties. Even our sect’s two great guardian Spiritual Beasts, the Long Right Demonic Monkey and the Green-eyed Ox Python, lost their minds and couldn’t distinguish friend from foe. The elders of the Saint Beast Palace and I exerted all our strength to finally quell this chaos..."

Everyone listened, their hearts pounding with fear.

The Spirit Beast Hall was one of the Qinglan Sect’s crucial defenses against external enemies!

The Spiritual Beasts inside had all been meticulously selected from the Sacred Beast Garden by the sect’s most elite Beast Tamers; they possessed extraordinary intelligence and ferocious strength!

And they had been ambushed?

In an instant, terror seized them all, and a flurry of discussion erupted:

"Senior Brother Sect Leader! The Demon Sect is biding its time, and for the Spirit Beast Hall to encounter trouble at this precise moment—it’s obvious that fiends from the Demon Sect are the masterminds behind this!"

"But... the Spirit Beast Hall is located deep within the Qinglan Mountain Range, fortified by three intersecting Mountain Protection Arrays. Even if a high-level master from the Demon Sect infiltrated our sect, it’s highly unlikely they could silently pass through the illusory formation before the Spirit Beast Hall and enter!"

"That’s true... To take it a step further, even if this person possessed a high cultivation level and understood profound formations, they likely couldn’t have crippled all the Spiritual Beasts in a single night!"

The crowd murmured, one opinion after another. The more they discussed, the more terrifying the implications of this incident seemed.

"Alas! The Demon Sect’s ambition to destroy us will never die!"

As Daoist Chisong, Chairman of Red Cloud Peak, let out a long sigh, the atmosphere in the hall immediately grew heavier.

"Xiao’er, what are your thoughts?"

In the first row at the center of the hall, the tall and beautiful Chief Xiao, whose style was strikingly different from those around her, looked at her beloved disciple behind her.

He, however, was resting with his eyes closed, an air of nonchalance about him, as if he paid it no mind at all.

"Master, don’t worry. Next, some ’expert’ will surely step forward to analyze this matter."

As Lin Xiao spoke, seizing the moment when no one was looking, he, with a mischievous whim, lightly patted his Master’s shapely, black-silk-clad rear from behind.

His action instantly caused his beautiful Master to blush. She whispered via voice transmission, "You wretched boy... you... you... stop your foolishness! So many of your Martial Uncles are present! Are you courting death?!"

"Oh? Does Master mean that if these Martial Uncles weren’t present, your disciple could... indulge himself freely?" Lin Xiao retorted with a grin.

Actually, he wasn’t merely trying to take advantage of his Master at that moment; he was testing her level of acceptance regarding them "becoming a couple"!

He had sacrificed a "Forever Cicada" this time, risking his life for this display; it couldn’t be for nothing!

Looks like... Master didn’t give me a hard slap on the spot. That means... it’s settled!

As for the attack on the Spirit Beast Hall last night, Lin Xiao understood the situation clearly, yet he felt a twinge of surprise.

Originally, according to the novel’s plot, just before the Eight Great Demon Sects attacked the mountain and the major event of the Blood Demon being unsealed, Yuanyi, that treacherous old fox, would begin to show his true colors!

First, he would sneak into the Spirit Beast Hall to stir up trouble. Then, using the excuse of guarding against a mole, he would personally take charge of the Formation Temple and destroy the Formation Devices of the three Mountain Protection Arrays and the eight Protective Sect Formations!

Agh, the timeline for Yuanyi to enter the Spirit Beast Hall isn’t for a few more days. He’s acted prematurely. This, I didn’t expect. Could it be... because of the change in my persona, and Ye Xuan’er resolutely joining the Righteous Path, that the Sky Yin Blood Demon sensed a crisis? Driven to desperation, it ordered Yuanyi to act ahead of schedule? Lin Xiao had a rough idea of what was happening.

And just then, as he had anticipated, that seemingly benevolent, short, portly, bald old Daoist stepped out from the ranks. He addressed True Master Ziyun on the platform and the assembled Supreme Elders, saying, "Senior Brother Sect Leader, esteemed Supreme Elders! In my opinion, the attack on the Spirit Beast Hall must have been the work of a mole! There can be no other reason!"

"Furthermore... this person was able to enter and leave the Spirit Beast Hall freely, which indicates that their cultivation level is not low, and their position within the Qinglan Sect is at least that of an Elder!"

"In other words..." He narrowed his white eyebrows, his gaze sweeping across the hall, and declared with absolute certainty, "This traitor is right here in this hall today!"

His words sent an uproar through the assembly! Everyone wore different expressions, their hearts gripped by even greater terror!

Heh, a thief crying ’stop thief!’ Just like in the original story. Lin Xiao squinted, perfectly composed, watching it all as if it were a cutscene from a game.

But speaking of which, why didn’t Martial Uncle Su and Wanning come? The great Phoenix Caw Peak only sent a single Chief Steward?

Lin Xiao glanced towards the Phoenix Caw Peak contingent, his heart sinking.

Ah, Wanning is deeply in love with me. Her absence must be because she found out I was ’gone’ and is overcome with grief. But... What about Martial Uncle Su? Why didn’t she come? Could it be that my life and death also dealt her a heavy blow? After all, we’re ’P...friends!’