However, the thought had barely formed in his mind, and he hadn't even had a chance to fully turn around—
"Um?"
Yan Qiubai's icy gaze pierced directly at him.
The disciple felt a chilling killing intent instantly envelop his entire body. His legs went weak, and his knees slammed heavily onto the cold bluestone slab with a "thud." Several other disciples who tried to move also knelt down with a thud, their faces pale and trembling like leaves.
The entire Tingtaoping area was completely silent.
All that remained were Yun Wan'er's suppressed sobs, filled with endless grievance, and Gu Xuanchen's heavy, humiliating breathing.
Yan Qiubai didn't even glance at the group of disciples. He slowly withdrew his gaze and fixed it again on Yun Wan'er's tear-streaked face, filled with fear and innocence. His thin lips parted slightly, and chilling words were about to be uttered—
"Junior Brother Qiu Bai."
A calm yet undeniably penetrating voice, like a morning bell or evening drum, suddenly rang out on the deathly silent Tingtaoping.
The sound wasn't loud, but it clearly drowned out all other noises and steadily reached everyone's ears.
On the jade steps leading to the main hall, a cultivator dressed in a blue Taoist robe strolled leisurely with his hands behind his back.
His face was thin and refined, his eyes were gentle and peaceful, and his aura was as deep and restrained as a bottomless abyss. This person was none other than Elder Qingxuan, the Pavilion Master of the Refining Pavilion of the Tianyan Sect.
Elder Qingxuan slightly lifted his eyelids, his gaze sweeping over the messy remains of the zither, the swollen and disheveled face of Gu Xuanchen, and the trembling disciple kneeling on the ground. Finally, his gaze landed on Yan Qiubai, whose murderous aura was like a drawn sword, and his brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
"..."
Elder Qingxuan sighed and reached out to grab Yan Qiubai's wrist, his movements so practiced as if he had done it a thousand times.
However, before his fingertips even touched the dark sleeves—
"Get out of my way!"
Yan Qiubai suddenly swung his arm, the force of which caused a gust of wind to blow away several pieces of broken zither fragments at his feet. The fragments clattered against a stone pillar in the distance, scattering a few sparks.
He turned around abruptly, his sharp, hawk-like phoenix eyes now devoid of any respect for his senior brother, only filled with naked disgust, fixed on Qingxuan's gentle and peaceful face.
"Qingyi was your personal disciple. She was forced to leave the sect, suffered countless injustices, and her whereabouts are unknown! And you?! As her master, did you feel even a shred of pity for her?!"
Yan Qiubai's voice seemed to be torn out from the depths of his throat, each word filled with scalding blood and boundless rage, "You don't feel sorry for me? I do!"
Elder Qingxuan's brow furrowed as he was stung by the venomous hatred in the man's eyes. His gentle and peaceful mask shattered instantly, and a powerful aura of authority silently spread out.
He did not respond to Yan Qiubai immediately, but suddenly raised his eyes, his gaze like ancient jade submerged in water, coldly sweeping over the disciples around him who were frozen in place, not daring to breathe.
What are you all standing there for?
The voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable penetrating power, like a heavy hammer striking everyone's heart: "It's over."
These two words are like a pardon.
The disciples, who had been kneeling on the ground and trembling like leaves, were relieved as if they had been granted a pardon. They scrambled to their feet, not daring to lift their heads, and scattered like birds and beasts in the blink of an eye, leaving the vast Tingtaoping empty.
Yun Wan'er and Gu Xuanchen exchanged a glance, both seeing in each other's eyes the relief of surviving a disaster and the deep humiliation. They immediately tried to take advantage of the chaos and retreat with the crowd.
"Stop!" Yan Qiubai shouted sharply, his spiritual energy surging as he tried to stop him again.
"Yan Qiubai!"
Elder Qingxuan suddenly shouted, his voice like a thunderclap, forcefully severing the spiritual power that Yan Qiubai had gathered!
The immense pressure contained in that voice made the air freeze for a moment.
Taking advantage of this brief respite, Yun Wan'er and Gu Xuanchen dared not linger. Their figures transformed into two streaks of light, and without looking back, they fled in disarray towards their respective caves, leaving behind only two silhouettes filled with deep resentment and bitterness.
"Okay, okay!"
Yan Qiubai watched the two escape, then suddenly turned around and glared at Qing Xuan, "You're protecting those two little bastards too, huh?! Fine! I'm going to investigate Lin Feng's death!"
His eyes blazed with malice, and each word, dripping with chilling coldness, lashed out at Qing Xuan: "At worst, I'll first raze your weapon-refining pavilion! Then I'll cripple those two arrogant brats!"
Elder Qingxuan pressed his throbbing brow heavily, and looking at his junior brother who was like an enraged beast, a deep weariness and helplessness finally appeared on his face.
"How can a dignified Nascent Soul cultivator, who has lived for over a thousand years, still have such a despicable and reckless nature?"
"Yan Qiubai, can't you use your brain for once?!"
He took a sudden step forward, closing in on Yan Qiubai, his once gentle eyes now sharp as knives: "Qingyi is my personally taught disciple. She suffered such injustice and left the sect. How can I not feel pain?"
"But Gu Xuanchen and Yun Wan'er are not people we can harm!!"
Elder Qingxuan's every word carried an almost overwhelming sense of powerlessness: "Have you forgotten Master's final admonition to us atop Chaos Cliff before his ascension and breakthrough?!"
"Our master exhausted his lifespan to comprehend a thread of the Heavenly Dao and glimpse a corner of the future—these two individuals bear the destiny of our Heavenly Evolution Sect for the next thousand years, and are the only two key factors that allow the sect to continue and prosper during the great calamity!"
"If that's not the case, why do you think Senior Brother Ling Xiao values them so much?"
"He practically exhausted all the sect's resources, doing everything himself?"
"He was about to undergo his tribulation, and his cultivation had been reduced to the early stage of the Mahayana realm, yet he still didn't forget to entrust the Xuanqiong Crystal Vein to Gu Xuanchen. What was his purpose?!"
Elder Qingxuan's voice carried an indescribable desolation: "You feel good now, you've punished them, you've humiliated them! But when our lifespans run out and we pass away, who will carry this vast sect, this foundation that has been passed down for ten thousand years?! Who will protect it?!"
"Do you think you can protect the tens of thousands of disciples of the Heavenly Evolution Sect with just your momentary impulse?!"
Yan Qiubai looked at Elder Qingxuan's face, which was filled with heaviness and helplessness, and listened to the questions that concerned the sect's righteousness and the inheritance of ten thousand years. He fell silent.
Only the violent spiritual energy surging around him, as if on the verge of exploding, revealed that his inner self was far from being as lifeless as it appeared.
A few breaths later, the murderous aura in his eyes, which was enough to incinerate everything, slowly receded like the receding tide, eventually settling into a bottomless, cold black pool.
There were no angry roars, no unwilling bellows.
He slowly raised his hand, his fingers distinct, and with an almost indifferent force, unfastened the black iron waist token that symbolized the supreme authority of the Enforcement Hall of the Tianyan Sect.
The token felt cold and heavy in his hand. The emblem of the Law Enforcement Hall engraved on it, which had once been his pride and glory, now felt heavy and cumbersome.
He grabbed Qingxuan's warm, smooth hand, which was now stiff with tension, and without the slightest hesitation, slammed the waist token, still warm from his body, into the other's palm.
The sharp metal edges pressed painfully against Qingxuan's palm.
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