Chapter 379: Cutting the Major Artery

"Back Elder, at the time I took Ding Huan to search for the Immortal Spirit Spring source, it was Cheng Cheng Keqi who oversaw it..." Gu Yu spoke honestly.

Hearing Gu Yu's words, Kong Zhangji sighed in relief.

Clearly, Gu Yu had not yet realized the severity of the issue—as long as someone took the blame, it was fine.

"Why didn't you bring Ding Huan to the Guardian Array Hall? Why did you take him to search for the Immortal Spirit Spring source?" Meng Zhongqi cast a cool glance at Kong Zhangji before questioning Gu Yu.

The Elder Kong shuddered—he suspected the Sect Master already knew.

Gu Yu hurriedly replied: "I made a mistake at the time. When I remembered later, I was already out on official business and only just returned to the Immortal Gate."

"Bring forth Cheng Cheng Keqi, Mi Zhidi, and all related personnel." Meng Zhongqi had an exceptionally sharp memory of these two.

It was Cheng Cheng Keqi who had discovered the Immortal Spirit Spring source, and he had awarded the two generously.

So when Gu Yu mentioned Cheng Cheng Keqi, he immediately recalled Mi Zhidi.

But over the following months, feedback from Qin Qin Wuhai and Fan Yi indicated that Cheng Cheng Keqi's discovery of the Immortal Spirit Spring source was pure luck.

In fact, he had reviewed the jade slip detailing Cheng Cheng Keqi's process of locating the Immortal Spirit Spring source—it truly was luck.

Not long passed before not only Cheng Cheng Keqi and Mi Zhidi were summoned, but also Xing Bu and Leng Leng Youlin were brought in.

The sect's Guardian Array had been breached by the Thief Insect, and all Immortal Spirit Spring sources had been sealed off.

Before Cheng Cheng Keqi even reached the Sect Hall, he knew this could not possibly be good.

"Cheng Cheng Keqi, tell me truthfully—what did Ding Huan do while under your care for those months?" Meng Zhongqi's tone was calm.

Cheng Cheng Keqi felt a chill run down his spine—he was certain the matter had been exposed.

He had originally thought that once Ding Huan left, this affair could never surface—yet now the sect's Guardian Array had been breached by the Thief Insect, and his own involvement had been dragged into the open.

At this moment, how could he dare lie?

"Sect Master, this matter was not done by me alone—Disciple Mi also had a hand in it. After Ding Huan discovered the Immortal Spirit Spring source, Disciple Mi sought to claim the credit for himself..."

Before Cheng Cheng Keqi finished speaking, Meng Zhongqi's eyes nearly burst from rage: "What? You say the sect's Immortal Spirit Spring source was also found by Ding Huan?"

Cheng Cheng Keqi froze—he now realized that Ding Huan's discovery of the Immortal Spirit Spring source had not been exposed. It was his own guilt that had led him to blurt it out.

The Sect Master had summoned him merely to ask what Ding Huan had done under his care—not to inquire who had discovered the Immortal Spirit Spring source.

At this moment, Cheng Cheng Keqi wanted to slap himself hard—had he gone mad?

But now that the words were out, he could only continue: "Yes, the Immortal Spirit Spring source was indeed found by Ding Huan."

Meng Zhongqi was nearly driven insane—the sect had brought in such a monstrous genius, only to expel him.

If Ding Huan had not been expelled, with his abilities, the Baihe Hexiandao Sect would have almost certainly risen into the top ten.

And yet he had foolishly rewarded these parasites—those who destroyed the sect's foundation.

This expulsion had struck right at the sect's very roots and major arteries.

"Bring forth Cheng Cheng Keqi, Mi Zhidi, Lu Hai, and Gu Yu—execute them on the spot." Meng Zhongqi's patience had reached its limit.

He could not tolerate such acts of undermining the sect's foundation.

All five men froze—nowadays, the sect was extremely lenient toward disciples.

Even hired personnel were forbidden from being beaten or insulted; if unsuitable, they were simply dismissed.

In this gentle sect environment, no one believed they would be killed.

Especially Gu Yu—what had he done? He had merely taken the blame for a senior elder—why should he die?

Seeing several sect enforcement officers approaching, Gu Yu screamed frantically: "Sect Master, I am innocent! It was Elder Kong who ordered me to do it!"

Not only Gu Yu screamed—Lu Hai and Mi Zhidi screamed as well.

Only Cheng Cheng Keqi stared blankly—he had already anticipated this outcome, and ultimately, he had failed to escape it.

Perhaps only Gu Yu was truly innocent, but at this moment, his cries of injustice would not be heard by anyone.

The five men were quickly dragged away by the enforcement officers, falling silent forever.

The Sect Council Hall fell utterly silent—everyone understood that this matter had not ended with the executions.

Meng Zhongqi's gaze settled on Elder Kong: "Elder Kong, you bear significant responsibility in this matter."

"The Sect Master is right—I was far too careless this time." Elder Kong exhaled in relief; it seemed the Sect Master would not punish him severely.

Meng Zhongqi said coldly: "You will immediately leave to search for Friend Ding Huan. If you fail to find him, you need not return to the Immortal Gate."

Elder Kong's heart jolted—where could he possibly search for Ding Huan?

If he failed, he could never return to the sect—did that not mean he would lose his cultivation methods, his mountain peak? What difference was this from being expelled?

Yet he had no choice but to nod in agreement—the Sect Master clearly knew Gu Yu was a scapegoat; sparing him was merely out of old goodwill.

"Yes, I will spare no effort to find Friend Ding." Elder Kong bowed deeply and departed the sect without delay.

He could not bear to leave the Baihe Hexiandao Sect—once gone, he would lose access to its successor cultivation methods and would never again find a dwelling as excellent as his mountain peak.

"Xing Bu, Leng Leng Youlin—you two knew but concealed the truth and colluded together. Revoke all rewards and expel you from the Baihe Hexiandao Sect."

"Bi Qingjian and the other seventeen main array masters shall forfeit three thousand immortal crystals. Continue guarding the array core, and redeem yourselves through service..."

After Lu Hai's execution, Bi Qingjian and the others were terrified.

Fortunately, they were only fined three thousand immortal crystals—meaning not only had all their rewards been reclaimed, but they had also had to pay nearly a thousand extra.

Yet compared to the executed Lu Hai, they were the luckiest of the lucky.

"Xin Chuang." Meng Zhongqi finally called out Xin Chuang.

Xin Chuang was also trembling—he had nothing to do with this, yet the Sect Master's purge had been extraordinarily brutal.

The Upper Immortal Realm had instructed that, due to the current scarcity of talent in the sects, executions should be avoided as much as possible.

Even ordinary hired cultivators were guaranteed protection—yet the Baihe Hexiandao Sect Master had executed so many at once; this was indeed an extreme purge.

"Disciple here," Xin Chuang replied nervously, stepping forward.

Meng Zhongqi finally wore a warm, gentle smile: "Xin Chuang, you've done well—you managed to recruit a genius like Ding Huan for the sect."

"Ding Huan's expulsion has nothing to do with you—you truly worked hard."

Xin Chuang said in panic, "Sect Master overpraises me; this disciple dare not accept."

Meng Zhongqi pondered for a moment, then said, "I now promote you to Outer Affairs Elder of the Immortal Sect, with the right to open your own peak. If possible, help look for Ding Huan as well."

"Yes, this disciple will spare no effort to search for Daoist Friend Ding." Xin Chuang was overjoyed; he hadn't expected that this incident would make him an elder.

One had to know that the lowest rank of Immortal Sect elder was Jin Xian, and most were late-stage Jin Xian, or even Xuan Xian.

……

The matter of the Baihe Immortal Dao instantly spread throughout the entire Fourth Immortal Domain, and the Baihe Immortal Dao consequently became a laughingstock.

A small number of informed Immortal Sects secretly began quietly searching for Ding Huan's whereabouts.

Among them, the most eager was naturally the Twin Purple Mountain Immortal Sect—Ding Huan's friend Chang Chang Danyi was currently a disciple of the Twin Purple Mountain Immortal Sect.

In their eyes, as long as they found Ding Huan, they would have priority.

Ding Huan did not know that many people were now looking for him; at this moment he was deep in a stretch of mountains.

With a pile of immortal crystals on him, he decided to cultivate for a period before doing anything else.

First he laid out a Concealment Immortal Array, then a Gathering Immortal Array, followed by a Defense Immortal Array and an Attack Immortal Array.

Piles of low-grade immortal crystals were embedded by Ding Huan into the Gathering Immortal Array, and then those few thousand high-grade immortal crystals were arranged around his body.

The Great Cosmos Art circulated, and streams of immortal spiritual energy followed the Great Cosmos Art's Zhou Tian, expanding Ding Huan's starry sky at extreme speed.

Every additional star and every additional law strand in the starry sky raised Ding Huan's strength by another tier.

True Immortal Third Layer, True Immortal Fourth Layer…

In less than two years, Ding Huan's tens of thousands of low-grade immortal crystals and few thousand high-grade immortal crystals were completely consumed.

It had to be said that the Great Cosmos Art was truly a crushing machine that devoured immortal crystals—tens of thousands of low-grade immortal crystals and thousands of high-grade immortal crystals were all ground away by the Great Cosmos Art, and Ding Huan's cultivation had only just reached True Immortal Seventh Layer.

Especially from True Immortal Sixth Layer to True Immortal Seventh Layer, Ding Huan had almost entirely used the high-grade immortal crystals he himself had condensed to push through.

This made Ding Huan feel that continuing to cultivate with low-grade immortal crystals, it would likely be very hard for his strength to improve.

He had to find an Immortal Sect and enter it to search for an immortal spiritual spring eye.

Although the Fourth Immortal Domain was still considered safe, those Immortal Sects probably weren't much different.

Even if he found an immortal spiritual spring eye, he'd still be working for someone else—when would he ever possess an immortal spiritual spring eye entirely his own?

This Fourth Immortal Domain was truly strange; immortal spiritual spring eyes really were only inside Immortal Sects—once you left an Immortal Sect, there simply were none.

Ding Huan had searched many places; when his luck was better, he would occasionally find a spot with faint immortal spiritual energy, but as for finding an immortal spiritual spring eye, he could forget about it.

Ding Huan racked his brains and finally thought of a method.

That was: in the Fourth Immortal Domain there were always some Immortal Sects that couldn't hold on and went bankrupt—if he found the location of such a bankrupt Immortal Sect, wouldn't that mean he could find an immortal spiritual spring eye?

The more Ding Huan thought about it, the more feasible and reliable his idea seemed; he was even excited by it himself.

With only about a thousand low-grade immortal crystals and a few high-grade immortal crystals left on him, he had to find such a place as soon as possible, otherwise staying in the Fourth Immortal Domain would be a waste of time.

In that case, he might as well leave the Fourth Immortal Domain and go into the void to seek opportunities.