Chapter 406 - 312: Appearance of the Heaven-Reaching Order
Over a dozen Golden Core Cultivators, flanked by their trusted subordinates, formed a crowd of about two hundred. Among them were many Middle to Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Standing behind their leaders, they glared at their opponents, looking as if they might draw their weapons at any moment.
When Fang Qingyuan arrived, this was the tense scene that greeted him. He carefully followed behind Lechuan, bracing himself as he pushed into the crowd. Fortunately, the White Mountain Beast Taming Sect’s status was implicitly higher than all the other White Mountain Sects present. Upon seeing Lechuan, these people all came forward to greet him.
"Sect Leader Le, you’ve finally arrived."
"Sect Leader Le, please come and mediate for us."
Despite these enthusiastic greetings, Lechuan maintained a composed expression as he conversed with the crowd. Instantly, the tense atmosphere on the scene eased slightly.
Seeing his master treated with such respect made Fang Qingyuan feel proud as well. But Fang Qingyuan knew that if this had been ten years ago, these Golden Core Sect Leaders would have respected Lechuan, but not to this extent. It was all because the Beast Taming General Mountain had sent a large number of personnel to reinforce the White Mountain Beast Taming Sect over the past decade, causing Lechuan’s status and position to rise accordingly.
Dignity comes from strength, and this was especially true in the Cultivation Realm.
After greeting everyone, Lechuan didn’t rush to state his own opinion. He simply said that he had just arrived and didn’t understand the situation, so he wanted to hear what everyone else had to say.
Hearing this, Fang Qingyuan was inwardly amused by Lechuan’s little ploy. ’He’s obviously just letting them continue to argue.’
Sure enough, upon hearing that Lechuan didn’t intend to intervene, the different factions resumed their bickering. Fang Qingyuan watched for a while and managed to get a basic idea of the three groups’ affiliations.
One group, the largest with eight Golden Core cultivators, was also the quietest and had the weakest presence. The sects these eight belonged to were Golden Core Sects that had been enfeoffed by the Great Zhou Academy at the same time as the Lingliang Sect. Fang Qingyuan only recognized a few of the sect leaders, such as Yan Nanxing of the Yan Gui Sect and the Sect Leader of the Yingxia Sect.
These eight sects were not affiliated with one another and had no real understanding between them. For years, they had all gone their separate ways. If it weren’t for Xiao Xuan’s demonic transformation, they would never have gathered together like this.
Since their efforts were not united, they had the least say despite their numbers, even less than the Pill Alliance and the Spirit Wood Alliance on the other side.
On the side of the Spirit Wood Alliance, Alliance Leader Chai Yi had come in person. He and the two Golden Core Cultivators with him were in a shouting match with the three Golden Core Cultivators led by the Pill Alliance’s leader, Elder Han Yan.
One side accused the other of being dishonorable, of secretly plotting against Xiao Xuan to install their own puppet. The other side accused them of baseless speculation and malicious slander, insisting that the Spirit Wood Lineage’s conduct was upright and they had nothing to fear from wagging tongues.
The leaders of these two great powers were squabbling at the entrance like shrews in the street, while not far away, the Lingliang Sect had its Mountain Protection Array running at full power, its gates sealed shut, refusing entry to all.
But Xiao Xuan was a Late-stage Golden Core cultivator, just one step away from Nascent Soul Formation. There were many suspicious circumstances surrounding his demonic transformation. If word of this spread, it would likely become the biggest news in White Mountain for months.
For now, only a few prominent figures in White Mountain knew of this; the news hadn’t leaked. However, with the commotion at the Lingliang Sect and all these Golden Core Cultivators gathered outside, the secret wouldn’t last long. Fang Qingyuan could even sense some Loose Cultivators from dozens of miles away already rushing in this direction.
Seeing the Spirit Wood Alliance and the Pill Alliance arguing so fiercely, Lechuan sidled up to one of the eight Golden Core Sects and found a sect leader he knew to quietly ask about the full story.
Seeing this, Fang Qingyuan also pricked up his ears and leaned in close, ready to get the news firsthand.
Seeing that Lechuan wanted to ask, the other sect leader was also keen to get on his good side and naturally told him everything. Through this sect leader’s account, Fang Qingyuan finally understood that the Lingliang Sect was truly having a run of bad luck.
A cultivator’s demonic transformation was normally a very rare occurrence, but it had to happen to Xiao Xuan. Even then, his transformation alone would have been manageable. If he could be cured, fine. If he died, his position would simply pass to his heir.
Unfortunately, when Xiao Xuan’s transformation occurred, only a single Closed-door Disciple was attending to him. And even more unfortunately, this disciple was of ill character. Seeing that Xiao Xuan had lost his sanity, he got an idea.
Fang Qingyuan had met this person once before. When Fang Qingyuan was trying to build rapport with Xiao Xuan, this man had shown a hint of disdain toward him. Though he hadn’t said anything outright, Fang Qingyuan was able to sense his true feelings through his mental abilities.
This person was Qian Xiaowen. Thirty years had passed, and he was now a Golden Core Cultivator. Back then, he had already been at Late-stage Foundation Establishment, and under Xiao Xuan’s tutelage, his advancement to the Golden Core realm was practically a certainty.
However, although Qian Xiaowen was Xiao Xuan’s True Disciple, he was still not the designated heir. The person Xiao Xuan had chosen to inherit the Lingliang Sect was a member of the Xiao Family.
Originally, Qian Xiaowen had no chance of competing with the Xiao Family for the position of the Lingliang Sect’s Second Generation Sect Leader. But with Xiao Xuan’s unexpected demonic transformation, he was the only one there to guard him. Crucially, Xiao Xuan was delirious. For Qian Xiaowen, wasn’t this the perfect opportunity?
So, Qian Xiaowen steeled his heart. Instead of immediately raising the alarm, he first brought his master under control. Then, he forged an edict, appointing himself as the successor sect leader and proactively sought aid from the most powerful nearby faction, the Spirit Wood Alliance.
But such a major event as deposing and appointing a new heir required Xiao Xuan’s presence. Without his authoritative backing, how could it possibly proceed? Leaving others aside, the Xiao Family themselves would certainly not accept it. So, just as Qian Xiaowen issued his false edict, the Xiao Family began to raise a commotion, demanding to see Xiao Xuan.
Qian Xiaowen naturally didn’t dare let the Xiao Family see Xiao Xuan. His original plan was to stall for a day, giving the Spirit Wood Alliance time to send people to help control the situation. What he hadn’t expected was that a mole the Pill Alliance had planted in the Lingliang Sect sensed something was amiss and immediately notified them.
The Pill Alliance was closer, while the Spirit Wood Alliance had received the news earlier. The two factions happened to run into each other right at the entrance. Now, neither could get inside the Lingliang Sect. Blocked outside by each other, they began their shouting match.
Meanwhile, the original heir from the Xiao Family had sent messages to the other eight sects, asking them to come and help. Thus, the eight Golden Core Sect Leaders had also rushed over, arriving just in time to witness the standoff between the Pill Alliance and the Spirit Wood Alliance.
After hearing all this, Fang Qingyuan couldn’t help but feel it was a great injustice to Xiao Xuan. ’He isn’t even dead yet, and his own people are already fighting over power, even colluding with outsiders to scheme against their own sect. What a tragedy.’
Lechuan also sighed a few times. For now, there was nothing any of them could do. They could only wait for the situation inside the Lingliang Sect to change, or for the Pill Alliance and the Spirit Wood Alliance outside to finish negotiating their own interests.
In any case, whether Qian Xiaowen succeeded the throne or the Xiao Family restored order, the Lingliang Sect would at most be passing to its second generation, still well within the protection period granted by the Great Zhou Academy.
However, Fang Qingyuan and Lechuan had miscalculated. Before the Pill Alliance and the Spirit Wood Alliance had finished dividing the spoils, a column of signal smoke suddenly rose from within the distant Lingliang Sect, shooting straight into the clouds.
Immediately after, the Mountain Protection Array began to flicker erratically, as if severely disrupted. At the same time, the auras of several Golden Core cultivators clashing erupted from within the sect gates, followed by a raging inferno that lit up the sky.
"Xiao Xuan is dead! The Lingliang Sect is about to descend into civil war!"
It was unclear which sect leader said this, but it served as a fitting commentary on the situation.
"Idiots! Three generations of protection! The great legacy Elder Xiao built should have been enough for his descendants to live worry-free for hundreds of years! For selfish gain, they let outsiders manipulate them into fighting each other. In the end, none of them will come out of this well!"
The one who had spoken was the Sect Leader of the Yan Gui Sect, Yan Nanxing. He was extremely tall, with a solid, dependable-looking face and slightly graying temples. His expression was one of deep grief as he looked upon the events unfolding within the Lingliang Sect with utter anguish.
Watching the distant glow of the fire, Yan Nanxing couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow, like a fox grieving for a dead rabbit—a sorrow for one of his own kind.
Back then, all nine Golden Core Sects had vied for this strategic location. Xiao Xuan, with the most merit points from the expansion war, had claimed it. The image of his triumphant laughter was still fresh in Yan Nanxing’s mind.
"It hasn’t even been thirty years!"
"This can’t be allowed, Old Yan! Old Xiao was granted three generations of protection; he shouldn’t end up like this!"
"Right!"
The other sect leaders chimed in, "The Spirit Wood Alliance and the Pill Alliance are each backing a different faction. They’ve been threatening to report each other for ages. Don’t be fooled by how loudly they’re arguing—they still haven’t lifted a finger. What if this is all just a charade!?"
The group discussed it, and the more they talked, the more suspicious they grew. If things continued like this, wouldn’t they all be toyed with and ultimately destroyed by these two local tyrants of White Mountain? It was almost a foregone conclusion that after their three generations of protection were up, they would be picked clean.
Yan Nanxing also felt that things couldn’t go on like this. With their large sects and legacies, which of them didn’t have a few ambitious disciples or unworthy descendants? If this became a precedent, how could any of them even hope for three generations of peace?
So, Yan Nanxing looked around at the various sect leaders and spat out resentfully:
"We’re reporting this!"
.....
As a Heaven-Reaching Token was activated, a wave of awe-inspiring righteous energy appeared in the sky above it. The energy swept up the token, and soon after, the perceptive power of some high-level existence swept across the area.
Where the Heaven-Reaching Order had just vanished, a speck of light appeared, growing larger and gradually solidifying. From within it emerged a white, disk-shaped flying shuttle.
This was the first time Fang Qingyuan had seen an Inspector Envoy from the Great Zhou Academy make an appearance. He calculated the time from the Heaven-Reaching Order’s disappearance to the flying shuttle’s arrival—it hadn’t even been a quarter of an hour.
For the vast Cultivation Realm, this speed of arrival was absolutely incredible. If the Great Zhou Academy’s flying shuttle wasn’t already patrolling nearby, then there was only one other possibility: the shuttle could tear through space to arrive precisely and promptly at the location where the Heaven-Reaching Order was activated.
This thought gave Fang Qingyuan a new level of appreciation for the power and methods of the Great Zhou Academy.
While Fang Qingyuan was still admiring the disk-shaped shuttle, a Confucian scholar in a blue robe with a Golden Core Cultivation base appeared above. He flew toward Fang Qingyuan’s group and asked:
"Who made the report?"
Upon seeing the man, Yan Nanxing immediately recounted the whole story to him. The man nodded, turned, and flew back into the shuttle. A moment later, a voice imbued with the Nascent Soul True Meaning of the Great Dao boomed across the land realm.
"Inspector Envoy of the Great Zhou Academy, Nascent Soul Ji Yulang, is investigating the death of Lingliang Sect’s Leader Xiao Xuan and the matter of his disciples’ succession! All uninvolved parties, withdraw immediately!"