Chapter 202: with translation of chapter title

I still recall the last time at the gate of the Cluster Stars Sect, when Chen Zheng pulled Deng Ao's soul out to light a sky lantern, he personally promised him that he would let him watch with his own eyes how he would annihilate the Feather Ascension Sect…

Translation: "I still remember last time at the mountain gate of Cluster Stars Sect, when Chen Zheng pulled out Deng Ao's soul to light a sky lantern, he personally promised this person that he would let him see with his own eyes how he would exterminate the Feather Ascension Sect..."

No…

It seems Chen Zheng unilaterally promised Deng Ao that he would let him see how he would kill Wu Mingkong?

These are no longer important.

What matters is that Chen Zheng's name contains the character "Zheng"; one must keep one's word.

Therefore, after handing the oil lamp over to Fang Qingxue for safekeeping, he flicked his finger and thoughtfully extinguished the flame on the wick, sparing Deng Ao from further scorching agony, allowing him to recover from the torment worse than death and focus on watching the entire death of the many Supreme Elders of the Feather Ascension Sect.

And the people on all the Pure Yang Crystal Mountains, upon hearing Chen Zheng say, "Let these Supreme Elders of the Feather Ascension Sect go to their deaths," were all horrified.

Chen Zheng has already successively slain Patriarch Wu Mingkong, Patriarch Zhao Shenyang, and Patriarch Wang Kunlun, leaving the Feather Ascension Sect severely depleted, its strength plummeting, and it can no longer match the other nine Immortal Dao sects.

After even losing its King‑realm masters, the Feather Ascension Sect has fallen to a second‑rate power, comparable to some of the top forces in the starry heavens, and is no longer one of the hegemons of the Xuanhuang Grand World.

Moreover, Chen Zheng still refuses to stop, seeking to exterminate them completely.

Is Chen Zheng really planning to kill all their Supreme Elders and remove the Feather Ascension Sect from the Ten Immortal Dao sects?

That's excessively ruthless!

At this thought, everyone's complexion grew even paler.

Especially those who had spoken ill of Chen Zheng, and those who had been dispatched by Wu Mingkong to hunt him after Chen Zheng left the sect, were already in complete panic under threat to their lives, with only one belief in their hearts: to flee, far away from Chen Zheng.

These people each exerted their full strength, either leaping from their respective Pure Yang Crystal Mountains toward the exit of the Golden Immortal Hall, or tearing open spatial rifts in an attempt to slip through space and escape to ascend.

In an instant, more than fifty Supreme Elders fled from the various Pure Yang Crystal Mountains, half of their total number.

The remaining half were Supreme Elders such as Xie Tiankui, Lin Feiyan, and others who had once held Chen Zheng in high regard.

Although panicked, they could not gauge whether Chen Zheng would go on a blood‑thirsty killing spree and wipe them out in one blow, yet they remained relatively composed, standing still.

Moreover, they all knew that fleeing before Chen Zheng was pure fantasy.

Can an ant escape before a divine dragon?

There is not even a shred of possibility.

As expected.

Seeing the Supreme Elders' flight, Chen Zheng was unfazed; instead he chuckled and said, "Your fleeing proves you have guilt in your hearts, that you are all enemies plotting to harm me, which conveniently saves me the trouble of sifting through everyone to single out these troublemakers one by one."

Xie Tiankui, Lin Feiyan and the others, upon hearing this, let out a huge sigh of relief, feeling relaxed and grateful: "Fortunately we didn't flee, otherwise we would have become Chen Zheng's enemies and been hunted down to death."

Those in the midst of fleeing suddenly stiffened, instantly breaking into a cold sweat.

But after the initial shock, most people accelerated their escape.

They had long offended Chen Zheng for various reasons; not fleeing would mean dying even faster.

However, some turned back from the wrong path.

He is a middle‑aged man with sword‑shaped eyebrows and star‑like eyes, dressed in Confucian robes, named Haoran the Scholar.

He had already fled to the entrance of the Golden Immortal Hall, about to rush out, but upon hearing Chen Zheng's words he snapped to awareness, his eyes flashing with astonishment, as if wondering why he had fled.

Immediately, cold sweat beaded on his forehead; trembling, he turned around and knelt straight before Chen Zheng, flashing a smile uglier than crying, and tentatively said, "Senior Chen, if I tell you I've never offended you nor spoken ill of you, and only fled instinctively because I saw others escaping, would you believe me?"

Seeing this scene, Xie Tiankui and the others were all stunned.

They all knew that Haoran the Scholar had once been a great secular Confucian, and after joining the Feather Ascension Sect he cultivated lofty righteous qi, was upright and unbending like the Demon‑slaying Immortal, having exterminated countless demonic practitioners, and was revered by countless righteous cultivators.

But now, Haoran the Scholar actually knelt, his lofty righteous qi completely gone, reduced to a cowardly, self‑preserving commoner.

Nevertheless, kneeling before Chen Zheng is not shameful; it is simply a means of self‑preservation.

Moreover, there is a rumor in the cultivation world that although Chen Zheng is ruthless, if you are willing to kneel and show submission, lowering your posture, he will spare you.

So Chen Zheng should let Haoran the Scholar off, right?

To everyone's surprise, Chen Zheng, without a word, extended his arm like a spring, seized Haoran the Scholar's throat, and lifted him up.

"You… you want to kill me? Why?"

Haoran the Scholar widened his eyes, looking at Chen Zheng in incomprehension, unable to understand why, after clearing up the misunderstanding and kneeling, he was still being grabbed.

Chen Zheng didn't even look at him, casually saying, "Too late."

Too late?

What does that mean?

Could it be that my kneeling was untimely, my explanation too late?

There's no reason.

Haoran the Scholar was stunned, about to ask again, when he felt his entire body engulfed by a scorching flame.

The flame instantly devoured him whole, leaving only a trace of his life essence which Chen Zheng absorbed.

He died with his eyes open.

"It seems the rumor cannot be fully trusted," Xie Tiankui and the others sighed, shaking their heads and mourning Haoran the Scholar.

"Quick, faster, even faster—if I'm faster than everyone else, I won't be the one who dies!"

Many fleeing Supreme Elders, sensing with their divine minds Haoran the Scholar's sudden gruesome death, hardened their resolve, as if injected with adrenaline, and sped up even more.

Chen Zheng, however, remained unhurried, still standing in place with his left hand behind his back, his right hand reaching out from the Golden Immortal Hall doorway, extending infinitely; in an instant he arrived behind a fleeing Supreme Elder, seized his neck from behind, and lifted him back.

The person was the Blue‑Faced Venerable who had previously shouted to stop Chen Zheng during his massacre at the Feather Ascension Heavenly Palace.

When Chen Zheng seized him, his ugly bluish face instantly turned pallid, losing all its hue, and he hoarsely screamed, "Chen Zheng, the Feather Ascension Sect has received word that an external divine clan is about to invade the Xuanhuang Grand World! This unprecedented catastrophe cannot be avoided even by you, so you must not kill me; keep me alive and I can help you resist the divine clan's calamity. Together we can overcome this crisis—you must consider the greater picture!"

"Sorry, I have no such thing as a big picture."

Chen Zheng snorted, and true fire bearing the character "Refine" flowed from his hand, dousing the Blue‑Faced Venerable from head to toe, burning him until black smoke rose from his body and he screamed in despair, all to no avail; he was instantly slain by the refining fire.

Swish!

Chen Zheng's arm moved again, seizing another Supreme Elder, the Five‑Sword Young Lord, who had first proposed that the Three Sages of Feather Ascension punish Chen Zheng.

Previously he had been lucky enough to avoid being killed by Fang Qingxue's immortal ancient thunder cannon, but now he could not escape disaster.

Previously he had been lucky enough to avoid being killed by Fang Qingxue's immortal ancient thunder cannon, but now he could not escape disaster.

"Chen Zheng, I, the Feather Ascension Sect, have nurtured you for so long; now your wings have hardened, you will repay kindness with enmity—you will not die a good death!"

The Five Sword Gentleman knew that begging for mercy was useless, forced himself to endure fear, and cursed Chen Zheng fiercely.

"Good, very good, your skin is thick, and you have a lot of backbone; I most admire people like you who have backbone."

Chen Zheng's tone was full of praise; with a casual shake, he shook the Five Sword Gentleman's soul out of his body.

"Chen Zheng, you… what are you trying to do? Didn't you say you admired me?" the Five Sword Gentleman's soul roared, fierce outward but trembling inside, sensing that something terrible was about to happen.

"Indeed, I admire you, so I won't kill you; I'll just light a sky lantern with your soul, let you keep company with Deng Ao, and see if you can stay stubborn for a lifetime."

Chen Zheng smiled and nodded, but his words terrified the Five Sword Gentleman to the point that his soul left his body.

He casually used true fire to refine the Five Sword Gentleman's body, then snapped his fingers, causing the wick of the oil lamp in Fang Qingxue's hand to emit a suction that forced the man's soul to fly uncontrollably toward the wick.

"No, I'm wrong, I have no backbone, I'm a soft egg, I won't be stubborn any more…" The Five Sword Gentleman's face twisted grotesquely, emitting a pig‑slaying‑like scream.

If Chen Zheng lights a sky lantern with you, imprisoning and torturing you for a lifetime, it would be ten thousand times more painful than death, truly an endless torment, better to die immediately.

Chen Zheng, however, paid no further attention to the Five Sword Gentleman; no matter how he struggled, it was futile—he was instantly sucked onto the wick, his soul intertwining with Deng Ao's.

"Ha ha, finally I'm not alone."

Deng Ao, who was already on the brink of death on the wick, upon seeing his fellow disciple the Five Sword Gentleman meet the same fate, burst into a maniacal laugh.

Swish!

Chen Zheng extended his arm again.

This time he seized a white‑robed old man called Tianhe Thus we have Title: Elder, subjecting him to the same process as Scholar Haoran; the old man screamed for mercy, but Chen Zheng refined him with true fire.

"Ahhh!"

Tianhe Thus we have Title: Elder, Master Xiu Li… one after another, the Supreme Thus we have Title: Elder were seized and refined by Chen Zheng.

No matter where they fled, it was useless.

Even if they slipped into spatial fissures, escaped beyond the Feathered Ascension Gate, no matter how far, Chen Zheng grabbed them back to the Golden Immortal Hall and annihilated them all.

In the blink of an eye, the more than fifty escaped Supreme Thus we have Title: Elder were almost completely wiped out.

Only one remained, still fleeing desperately.

That person was Sun Xihua, arguably the one who, besides Wu Mingkong, bears the deepest hatred toward Chen Zheng.

His speed was undeniably swift; he had already fled to the outer space tens of millions of li away, attempting to soar into the cosmos.

But it was of no use; Chen Zheng still seized him and lifted him in his hand.

Seeing that he was about to be incinerated by Chen Zheng's true fire, Sun Xihua trembled and said, "I was confused by the old dog Wu, which made me oppose you; you, great one, should overlook a small offender and spare me. Moreover, I am the founding master of Hua Tiandu and know his whereabouts."

"Oh?"

Chen Zheng halted the release of true fire, looking at Sun Xihua with interest: "Speak, where is Hua Tiandu?"

Since the last time outside the Taiyuan Immortal Mansion, after Hua Tiandu's Panwu primordial spirit escaped, he had not seen the person again nor heard any news about him.

Hua Tiandu seemed not to have returned to the Feathered Ascension Gate, nor gone to the Taiyi Gate; where this person truly is, Chen Zheng was indeed curious.

Sun Xihua glanced at Chen Zheng's expression, seeming to think he now had bargaining chips, and gritted his teeth: "First release me, then swear a Daoist heart oath never to harm me, otherwise body and spirit will be annihilated, relatives and friends will die, and only then can I…"

Pfft!

Before he could finish, Chen Zheng's face turned cold; his left hand, previously hidden behind his back, suddenly shot out, fingers curled into hooks, thrust straight into Sun Xihua's Tianling cover, causing him to gasp in pain.

That was merely physical pain, nothing remarkable.

Soon, Sun Xihua's soul felt pain a hundred times that of his body, as if being torn, his face becoming extremely grotesque, and he let out a hysterical wail.

Because Chen Zheng employed a Demonic Path divine skill called Great Soul‑Searching Claw, he was probing the man's soul for memories of Hua Tiandu.

"Has Hua Tiandu defected to the Divine Clan?" A moment later, surprise flashed in Chen Zheng's eyes.

Indeed, from Sun Xihua's memories, he obtained some information about Hua Tiandu.

That was half a month ago, when Hua Tiandu sent someone to the Feathered Ascension Gate, delivering a communication token to Sun Xihua, and they began to connect.

During the communication, Hua Tiandu told Sun Xihua not to fear Chen Zheng's overwhelming might, that he had already, while traveling outside the realm, obtained a heaven‑defying transformation, greatly advancing his cultivation, fully comparable to Chen Zheng.

Moreover, Hua Tiandu had met several extraordinary beings in the outer realm, receiving their full support; soon he would lead a great army together with those beings to the Xuanhuang Great World, avenge Chen Zheng, seize the Feathered Ascension Gate, and become the next generation's supreme sect leader.

He even intended to conquer the Ten Celestial Paths, the Seven Demonic Paths, the Five Beast Paths, unifying the entire Xuanhuang Great World.

Hua Tiandu's tone was frighteningly grand.

Sun Xihua curiously pressed for more, but Hua Tiandu said little.

Even regarding those extraordinary beings, Hua Tiandu revealed little.

He only said they were all powerful, each comparable to the founders of various sects.

Moreover, their forces were massive, with strong troops and horses, named Doumu Empress, Cheyuan Emperor, Ziyue Empress…

These names, to outsiders, seemed unremarkable; there are countless so‑called Emperors and Empresses in the heavens, not particularly rare.

But Chen Zheng was different; being well‑versed in the Divine Clan, upon seeing those names he immediately thought of the Divine Clan's Doumu Divine Emperor, Cheyuan Divine Emperor, Ziyue Divine Emperor.

Thus he claimed Hua Tiandu had defected to the Divine Clan.

The ones he defected to were the Divine Clan leaders who also bore grudges against him.

As for why Hua Tiandu became involved with the Divine Clan, Sun Xihua did not know, nor did Chen Zheng.

Perhaps both sides harbored great hatred toward Chen Zheng, and they met in the starry sky, instantly aligning.

Or perhaps Hua Tiandu married into the Divine Clan.

All possibilities.

"You've already obtained Hua Tiandu's information; I'm useless now, I only seek death," Sun Xihua laughed miserably, interrupting Chen Zheng's contemplation.

"You want to die? Then I will deliberately refuse to let you die."

Chen Zheng's mouth curled into a playful smile; with a shake of his hand, he shook Sun Xihua's soul out.

"No…"

Sun Xihua shouted in terror.

Even if he didn't know what Chen Zheng intended, seeing the Five Sword Gentleman and Deng Ao on the wick of the oil lamp held by Fang Qingxue beside him, he understood.

But he had no room to resist at all, could only watch helplessly as his soul was drawn by Chen Zheng onto the wick, intertwining with his two fellow disciples.

After doing all that, Chen Zheng prepared to fetch for Fang Qingxue the pure yang crystal mountain of the more than fifty Supreme Elders who had died.

Suddenly, a clear, crisp voice came from beside Fang Qingxue: 'Are you Chen Zheng, my dad?'

(End of chapter)