Chapter 61: First, Do You Still Need to Ask?

This scene.

The other Inner Peak disciples watched, so envious that saliva seemed about to spill from their eyes, right?

This is Ziyuan Zhenren!

Across the whole Qian Kun Realm, they are the goddesses and celestial maidens that countless people revere!

Even when confronting that member of the Ziyang Sect, they remain cold and indifferent, never showing a smile!

But now…

Zi Yuan, upon seeing Li Mu, merely an Outer Peak disciple, actually broke into this kind of smile!

However, the joys and sorrows of people do not resonate with one another.

Compared with Zi Yuan's joy when looking at Li Mu or when emerging from the Yunshan Secret Realm, this is different.

Lin Zecheng and Qin Siwu swept their gazes around, searching for a long while, yet they still did not see their brother's figure, which made their brows knit and a sudden ominous premonition arise in their hearts.

Qin Siwu went straight to Yang Yuanwu and, without preamble, asked, "Yang Yuanwu!"

"Where is Lin Zehong?"

"Why didn't he come out with you!"

"Lin Zehong…"

Yang Yuanwu had just arrived via teleportation, still a little stunned, when Qin Siwu asked about Lin Zehong.

This made his expression exceedingly complex; he inhaled deeply and said gravely, "Lin Zehong, he…"

"He has already died in the Yunshan Secret Realm!"

"What?!"

As soon as those words were spoken,

Qin Siwu, Lin Zecheng, and everyone present couldn't help but stagger back several steps in shock.

"Lin Zehong is dead?"

"How could Lin Zehong possibly be dead!"

Who in the Ziyang Sect doesn't know?

Before joining the Four Peaks Grand Competition, Lin Zehong had already advanced to the First-tier Concentration Realm, one of only three Concentration Realm cultivators of the Outer Peak!

Furthermore, Qin Siwu had given Lin Zehong a "Violent Blood Pill" before he entered the Yunshan Secret Realm!

With the Violent Blood Pill as a trump card, even Yang Yuanwu might not be able to overcome Lin Zehong!

Realizing this, Qin Siwu seemed to suddenly recall something and abruptly turned his head toward Zhao Ruifeng, his voice brimming with grief and anger.

"Yang Yuanwu!"

"Speak!"

"Did you, to seize the champion title of this Four Peaks Grand Competition, decide to join forces with Zhao Ruifeng to eliminate Lin Zehong!"

In the past, such intra‑sect killings for profit and status have indeed happened in the Four Peaks Grand Competition!

After all, the Four Peaks Grand Competition only prohibits killing in principle.

But "principles" are things that can change at any moment, with great flexibility!

Who knows.

Upon hearing Qin Siwu's angry interrogation, not only Yang Yuanwu but also each of the thousand Outer Peak disciples present displayed odd expressions.

Among them, Zhao Ruifeng threw his hands up, utterly speechless, saying, "Elder Qin, are we just full and satisfied?"

"Besides the first, we can't contest; the second and third are still in hand?"

"And to go through such great trouble to jointly kill Lin Zehong?"

"Besides the first, we can't contest?"

When Zhao Ruifeng said that, Lin Zecheng keenly seized the keywords, and a sudden intense unease rose within him, prompting him to ask urgently.

"You and Yang Yuanwu, you both can't vie for the first?"

"Then who is the first!"

"Is he the murderer who killed my brother!"

Hearing Lin Zecheng's rapid‑fire questioning.

Yang Yuanwu and the Xuan Yue Peak disciples involuntarily lowered their heads, as if they wanted to crawl into a crack in the ground.

On the contrary, Zhao Ruifeng had no such mental burden, and said openly: "In front of me and Yang Yuanwu, such a living person…"

"Isn't this a willful question?"

"Oh, right!"

"Don't blame the shit bowl that killed your brother on us…"

"Buzz!"

Zhao Ruifeng's speech was like a heavy hammer striking the heads of Lin Zecheng, Qin Siwu and the others, causing their minds to go blank.

Especially Lin Zecheng, who felt the world spin, his body staggered and nearly fell to the ground.

Not only them, but Zi Yuan, who had always held hope for Li Mu, was also shocked by Zhao Ruifeng's startling news!

Zi Yuan, though, always believed that Li Mu was the destiny child bearing great fortune, and could never easily perish in the Yunshan Secret Realm.

Even so, Zi Yuan thought that, faced with Lin Zehong and the encirclement by hundreds of Xuan Yue Peak Outer Peak disciples, Li Mu achieving this was already astonishing!

But unexpectedly, the actual development far exceeded his imagination!

Li Mu, an eighth‑tier Refining Qi Realm cultivator, actually counter‑killed First‑tier Concentration Realm Lin Zehong?

Not only that, he also claimed the champion title of this Four Peaks Grand Competition!

Such a shock, even Zi Yuan could not find any suitable words to describe his current feelings.

All the people present now gathered their gaze on the handsome youth in a blood‑stained robe standing at the front of the line.

The youth stood still, his expression calm and indifferent,

He looked nothing like the kind of person who had performed that earth‑shattering feat, breaking a historical record that no one had ever shattered since the Ziyang Sect was founded.

Not a trace of smugness could be seen on his face, as if everything before him had nothing to do with him.

Boom, boom, boom!

In that instant, the Ziyang Daochang was suddenly engulfed by a terrifying aura like raging waves crashing against the shore, sweeping over like a storm!

Immediately after, a murderous roar rumbled loudly.

Li Mu!

You killed my brother!

I will make you pay blood for blood!

Lin Zecheng, upon learning that his brother had died at Li Mu's hands, stepped forward at once, raising his hand to strike at Li Mu's celestial crown!

Utterly shameless!

In this world, only your brother deserves the fate of a Longtan Peak disciple like me!

So there is no chance that a Longtan Peak disciple would kill your brother?

Within the Longtan Peak camp, Sun Qingwu immediately manifested his divine power, standing directly before Li Mu.

Zi Yuan said nothing, but a sharp "Clang!" rang out!

A resonant sword tone sounded, and a three‑foot blue blade hovered silently before Li Mu; should Lin Zecheng dare step forward, she would Slash with a single stroke!

Clang, clang, clang!

As Lin Zecheng and Zi Yuan drew swords toward each other, the Xuan Yue Feng and Longtan Peak inner‑peak disciples who had followed them also unsheathed their weapons, blades clashing!

For a moment.

The vast Ziyang Daochang was suddenly overtaken by an intense aura of solemn killing.

The other disciples and elders, seeing this, were utterly shocked!

Unexpectedly, just as the Four‑Peak Grand Contest ended, the Xuan Yue Feng and Longtan Peak inner‑peak disciples faced each other!

In the Four‑Peak Grand Contest, same‑sect duels are generally prohibited.

But in other words, if either side feels its life is threatened, it has both reason and duty to kill the opponent!

This is one of the basic rules of the Four‑Peak Grand Contest!

Consequently, each year the contest sees disciple deaths of varying degrees.

But today, Lin Zehong, the third‑ranked Heavenly Pride on the Storm Rankings, fell—a first in their memory.

Sun Qingwu!

Your Longtan Peak truly has the nerve to dare strike at my Xuan Yue Feng!

Do you really think our Xuan Yue Feng is so easy to bully!

Qin Siwu's face darkened with anger, his fists clenched, teeth gnashing as he glared at Sun Qingwu!

His great‑grandson had just died at Li Mu's hands, and now even his most prized disciple Lin Zehong was slain by Li Mu!

Furious, Qin Siwu's anger surged, the space behind him warped and twisted, faint divine powers beginning to manifest!

Qin Siwu!

In recent Four‑Peak contests, have we Longtan Peak disciples dying at the hands of Xuan Yue Feng been few?

At this, Sun Qingwu's mouth curled into a disdainful smirk.

I still recall that Qin Zhanglao once boasted before all Longtan Peak disciples.

He said that if one is trash, even living is a waste of sect resources; better to become crippled, thus easing the sect's burden!

At the time I thought Qin Zhanglao's words resonated with me, yet were not comprehensive enough!

I'm here, let me add another point!

If one becomes a cripple, they still have to eat, drink, and excrete, wasting sect grain.

In my view, better to become dead outright than a cripple.

Only the dead can truly lessen the sect's load, right!

Sun Qingwu's words rang out powerfully, striking the ground, echoing through the Ziyang Daochang without cease.

It even made the elders and disciples of Little Heaven Peak and Purple Canopy Peak gasp silently.

All these years, Longtan Peak has been tightly suppressed by Xuan Yue Feng, constantly calling for battle!

Although Sun Qingwu says nothing on the surface, he has been holding his breath inside!

Now that the situation finally turned, how could he not harshly humiliate and mock them!

Sun Qingwu!

You…

What did you say!

Qin Siwu, Lin Zecheng and the other inner‑peak disciples, upon hearing this, erupted in fury, roaring loudly.

What did I say?

If you wish to hear it a second time, I wouldn't mind repeating Qin Zhanglao's famous saying before the Four‑Peak disciples!

Sun Qingwu, unfazed, sneered.

Sun Qingwu, you!

Qin Siwu, enraged and about to advance, heard a bright "Clang!" from a sword.

A three‑foot blue blade was already deeply embedded in the green stone slab before Qin Siwu, fragments scattering, sword aura flaring!

Zi Yuan's pretty face was icy; though she said nothing, this act was already a final warning to Qin Siwu!

If he still dares step forward, Zi Yuan's Slash will not strike the ground but his very head!

His shtick is being ruthless and not talking much!

Boom!

But just as the forces of Longtan Peak and Xuan Yue Feng were locked in tension, swords drawn and bows taut, they could at any moment erupt into a battle between the two peaks.

Above Ziyang Daochang, a vast, sea-like true qi rolled in with a thunderous rumble!

Such momentum made the true qi between heaven and earth show signs of boiling!

The true qi's pressure permeated the air, making it difficult for many in the daochang to breathe!

Within the clouds at ten thousand meters altitude, the mist layers suddenly split, and a strand of golden sunlight revealed five figures!

These five needed do nothing more than pierce the clouds and show themselves to instantly halt the feud between Longtan Peak and Xuan Yue Feng!

Hiss!

The Inner Peak Five Great Elders!

They actually showed up!

At once, seeing the five appear, the many disciples of the daochang hurriedly withdrew their weapons, clasped their fists before their chests, and dared not entertain the slightest rash thought!

Even Qin Siwu and Lin Zecheng, who had just been shouting for battle and leaping with joy, now lowered their heads, looking terrified and apprehensive!

Within the Ziyang Sect, who doesn't know that these Inner Peak Five Elders are all mighty figures who have entered the Divine Ability Realm!

Especially the Inner Peak Elder Zhao Huaiyang of Tianfeng Ling, who is said to have advanced into the Great Divine Ability stage in the path of Divine Ability!

For a mighty cultivator like Zhao Huaiyang, what is the Divine Ability Dharma Form conjured by Qin Siwu and Lin Zecheng?

At most it's just a slightly bigger soap bubble; a light finger poke……

It pops!

So, to act rashly before these five mighty ones?

This isn't like an old man eating arsenic!

He's tired of living!

While the assembled disciples felt fearful and apprehensive at the sudden arrival of the five Inner Peak Elders!

Among them, many elders and disciples also turned their gazes toward Li Mu!

They are all curious now.

Regarding these five Inner Peak Elders, how will they deal with Li Mu's killing of Lin Zehong in the Yunshan Secret Realm?