On the open field outside Qing Shi City, Xiao Chen leaned on his spear, his body swaying precariously. His spiritual energy was completely depleted, and he didn't even have the strength to lift a finger. Blood seeping from his wound stained the ground beneath his feet, and his eyelids grew heavier and heavier—that last shot had almost drained the last bit of life from him.
"Xiao Chen! You're dead!" Zhao Hao's eyes flashed with wild joy. Seizing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, his folding fan transformed into a sharp blade, carrying a fierce gust of wind, aimed straight at Xiao Chen's heart! He wanted to personally end this guy who had repeatedly brought shame to the Xuan Tian Sect!
Just as the folding fan was about to touch him, a soft white light suddenly shone on Xiao Chen's body—it was Qing Shu's "teleportation talisman" that he had used in the chaos to protect himself. It was a life-saving talisman that he had brought back from the Northern Region, but he hadn't had a chance to use it until now.
A flash of white light, and Xiao Chen's figure vanished from the spot in an instant.
"No!" Zhao Hao's folding fan pierced empty air. Staring at the bare ground, he trembled with rage. With a "crack," he crushed the fan. "He got away again! Useless! All of them are useless!"
The remaining Xuan Tian Sect cultivators exchanged bewildered glances, none daring to speak. With a Nascent Soul Realm elder killed and Xiao Chen having escaped, this trip to the Southern Region was nothing short of a disastrous defeat.
The main altar of the Xuantian Sect, the council hall.
Zhao Hao knelt on the ground, head bowed, not daring to look at Sect Master Zhao Xuan.
Zhao Xuan sat at the head of the table, slowly wiping the jade pendant in his hand, as if he had already expected the result, and said indifferently, "Failed?"
“Yes…” Zhao Hao’s voice trembled, “Xiao Chen was on his deathbed, but he was saved by his fellow disciples using a secret technique.”
Zhao Xuan hummed in response and didn't press further, seemingly unsurprised.
Zhao Hao gritted his teeth and added, "But...but Xiao Chen killed one of our Nascent Soul Realm elders! Elder Xuanming, he..."
"Oh?" Zhao Xuan paused in wiping the jade pendant, looked up at Zhao Hao, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes—a Nascent Soul Realm elder, although not a top-tier combatant, was not someone that could be easily killed by someone in the early Nascent Soul stage. Xiao Chen's growth rate was even faster than he had expected.
But this surprise lasted only a moment before Zhao Xuan regained his composure, placed the jade pendant on the table, and said in a calm but undeniably authoritative tone: "Nothing in this world can escape the word 'reason'."
"Xiao Chen, as a cultivator from the Southern Region, killed a Nascent Soul Elder of my Xuantian Sect within the Southern Region. This is a provocation against the rules of the four regions and a trampling of the sect's prestige."
"It's not unreasonable for us to demand that the Southern Region hand over the murderer and give the Xuantian Sect an explanation, is it?"
Zhao Hao was taken aback for a moment, then reacted, his eyes gleaming with excitement: "Sect Master is wise! We have a just cause! If the Southern Region doesn't hand over the people, we have every reason to raze the Southern Region to the ground!"
"Hmm." Zhao Xuan nodded and stood up. "Gather seventy percent of the sect's fighting force and accompany me on my personal expedition to the Southern Region."
"Yes!" Zhao Hao accepted the order, turned around and strode away, his eyes burning with the flames of revenge.
Zhao Xuan watched his retreating figure, walked to the window, gazed in the direction of the Southern Region, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
Killing the elder was merely a pretext; his true objective was the seemingly barren land in the Southern Region, which harbored the Qingyun Sect and Xiao Chen. Of the four regions, the Southern Region was the weakest. His plan was to strike at the Southern Region first, then move on to the Central Region.
“Xiao Chen, Lin Zhou…” Zhao Xuan murmured, “Perfect, settle accounts with them all at once.”
A moment later, a deafening horn sounded above the Xuantian Sect, and countless cultivators flew out from all directions, gathering into a dark mass. Led by Zhao Xuan, they flew in a mighty procession towards the Southern Region.
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