Chapter 348: Chen Che vs. Elders

Yuan Ming and the other disciples were released from their bonds, stood up, and bowed to the four Elders.

The Great Elder waved his hand, walked toward the steps, and looked at Chen Che with a grave expression.

The other three Elders looked at the scene in the plaza, all with expressions of disbelief.

"To activate the Binding Dragon Sea-Fixing Array with the strength of one person and take down all the disciples of our Taiyi Sect, especially Yuan Ming and the other three—for someone so young to have such methods, it is no wonder he could break the Mountain Protection Array."

"To be able to unleash such power from the Binding Dragon Stabilizing Sea Array, he must be at least at the Innate Heavenly Master realm. Besides, how does he know the Binding Dragon Sea-Fixing Array?"

The Second Elder narrowed his eyes and shouted, "Can you tell us, Your Excellency, how you learned our Taiyi Sect's secret arts?"

Chen Che shrugged and said, "Your people just taught me."

Once these words were spoken, not only the four Elders but all the Taiyi Sect disciples present were stunned.

The Great Elder looked around at the injured disciples and said, "Thank you for showing mercy, Your Excellency. Please explain your purpose here."

"Finally, we can talk properly."

Chen Che revealed the Sect Master Token again, "My name is Chen Che. I came here because I have something I would like to ask everyone in the Taiyi Sect."

"We can answer your questions, but before that, please tell us how you obtained this Token."

Without waiting for Chen Che to reply, the Great Elder continued, "This Token is indeed our Taiyi Sect Sect Master Token, but you are definitely not the Taiyi Sect Master. Not to mention your age, the True Qi on your body is different."

"Therefore, please tell us the truth." The Great Elder stared at Chen Che.

Chen Che sighed, "So this is the reason you stopped me? But haven't you thought that the Sect Master might have changed? Otherwise, how could this thing recognize me as its master?"

"What do you mean?"

"It means that the Sect Master Token was passed to me by my master; he is your Sect Master."

Chen Che was losing his patience and said directly, "My master's name is Taixuan. That matches up now, right?"

Taixuan?

For a moment, the scene fell into silence.

The four Elders looked at each other, stepped forward together, and looked at Chen Che, their True Qi swirling and their killing intent surging.

The Great Elder's expression changed, and he sneered, "The Sect Master is not named Taixuan. Your lie is... it seems you didn't get accurate information."

Huh?

Chen Che was bewildered; no matter how forgetful he was, he couldn't have remembered his master's name wrong!

Where did the problem arise?

He turned to look at Xie Wanning for confirmation, but she also shook her head with a confused expression.

"Wait a minute, there must be a misunderstanding somewhere. Why don't you ask something else so we can verify it again?" Chen Che negotiated with the four of them.

"Of course."

Golden light swirled around the Great Elder, "But before that, please tell us truthfully how this Token was obtained."

"Everything I said is tru—"

"Watch out!"

Xie Wanning screamed.

Chen Che was startled and retreated rapidly as a Golden Bell descended from the sky.

"Boom!!!"

The Golden Bell smashed into the ground, and the bluestone slabs cracked in all directions.

"Hummm~~~"

The bell toll was melodious and lingering, striking directly at the soul. Everyone present, except for the four Elders, covered their ears.

Chen Che was closest to the bell; the profound Sanskrit sounds made his head ache as if it would split, and his soul felt as if it were about to rush out of his body.

"Be careful!"

Xie Wanning broke through the interference of the Sanskrit sounds, tackled Chen Che, and rolled to the side.

The Second Elder descended from the sky, striking with a massive golden palm; the ground caved in, leaving a five-finger print.

Chen Che and Xie Wanning rolled aside, but the Third Elder had already flashed over. He swung his arms, and several iron chains extended from his palms, binding the two of them tightly.

The Fourth Elder's figure was like smoke as he drifted over. He tapped his fingers in front of the two of them, and the next instant, two violent pillars of True Qi erupted from their backs.

"Pfft!"

Chen Che and Xie Wanning spat out a mouthful of blood simultaneously and were sent flying backward.

Chen Che suddenly steadied his figure, opened his arms to catch Xie Wanning into his embrace, and inserted three Ghost Gate Needles into her chest.

"Ghost Gate Needle?!"

The four Elders were stunned again and looked at each other.

"This person not only has the Token but also the Sect Master's Ghost Gate Needles? Could what he said be true?"

"But he doesn't even know the Sect Master's name... Forget it, capture him and use the Soul Searching Technique."

The four of them took their stances again, preparing to strike once more.

Chen Che set Xie Wanning down and slowly stood up to look at the four of them; the trees above his head withered and decayed.

He couldn't figure out why his master's name would be wrong; there must be some misunderstanding here.

But now, he could no longer care about any camaraderie between fellow sects.

The Soul Searching Technique the four Elders mentioned just now was a forbidden technique that utilized True Qi to connect with the soul; it required at least three Innate Heavenly Master experts to perform it simultaneously.

Once the Soul Searching Technique was activated, the soul of the person being treated would be forcibly stripped from their body, and the practitioners could see everything in the subject's mind.

This would indeed verify the truth of his words, but the side effect was that there was a certain probability that the subject's soul and body would not be able to recover, leaving them mentally disabled.

"Four old men at the Heavenly Master realm bullying a child like me—you aren't afraid of being laughed at if this gets out."

The trees above Chen Che's head grew and withered in a cycle, and his body gradually recovered.

This miraculous scene made the four Elders gasp in admiration inwardly, while they became even more cautious when facing Chen Che.

"To be at the Heavenly Master realm at such a young age, and to have so many secrets, we naturally cannot be careless."

"Moreover, the Taiyi Sect has been in seclusion for a long time, and since you cannot get out today, you will not be mocked by outsiders."

"Attack!"

The Great Elder let out a loud shout and was the first to launch an attack at Chen Che.

Chen Che's body shook, and True Qi exploded from within him; the diffusing energy wave turned into thunder, forcibly shattering the Golden Great Bell.

"Xun Wood Growth!"

Chen Che pressed his palms together and roared in anger; a towering giant tree rose from the ground, the earth trembled, and the disciples of the Taiyi Sect screamed as they fell in a heap.

The giant tree towered into the sky, forcibly catching the Second Elder's Covering Earth Palm.

The Third Elder's chain attack followed in quick succession; Chen Che leaped, dodging within the gaps of the chains' constraints.

The number of chains increased, and the speed of their entanglement grew faster; eventually, Chen Che had nowhere left to dodge.

"Gale Break!"

Chen Che changed his hand seals and performed the technique rapidly; violent gale winds swirled around his body, turning into blades that severed all the encircling chains.

The Fourth Elder's figure descended once more, his timing impeccable, yet he had not expected Chen Che to break through the attacks of three people in succession.

With two fingers turned into a sword, his figure moved like lightning, thrusting fiercely toward Chen Che.

Chen Che did not stop his movements, changed his hand seals again, and spread his five fingers to meet the Fourth Elder's finger-sword.

Within his palm were thousands of changes, including the Five Elements, Eight Trigrams, and more; Chen Che had already gathered all his True Qi into this one palm.

The moment the palm and finger-sword made contact, a loud explosion erupted; the Fourth Elder's eyes widened abruptly, and he flew backward.

However,

Chen Che did not stop his momentum and continued to dash forward; the Third Elder wrapped his fists with chains and met Chen Che's palm.

"Crack!"

The iron chains shattered completely, and the bones in the fist-clenching fingers fractured.

The intense True Qi impact was ultimately too much for the Third Elder to withstand; after taking a step back, he could no longer stabilize his stance and collided with the group of disciples who had come forward to catch him.

The entire group flew backward and slammed heavily into the ground.

Chen Che's figure flashed past; the outcome was decided in a mere instant of contact.

Watching Chen Che, who had come straight for him after repelling the Fourth and Third Elders, the Second Elder felt an inexplicable rage rise up.

He pressed his palms together and pushed forward.

A pair of palm prints collided with Chen Che with the force of a landslide; the Great Elder dared not be careless and quickly unleashed his own move.

However,

Before the Golden Great Bell could descend, Chen Che had already broken through the golden palm, and the Second Elder was also backlashed by the True Qi, falling to one knee.

Chen Che stomped his foot and made a sharp turn, dashing toward the Great Elder.

The Great Elder was startled, spread his arms, and manifested the Golden Great Bell around his body, forming a Protective Shield.

"Dong! Hum—"

Chen Che's palm struck the bell, and the humming sound of Sanskrit chanting spread rapidly.

The sound entered the ears and penetrated deep into the soul.

Chen Che's face was ferocious as he let out a heart-wrenching roar; as the techniques collided, a massive pressure spread along with the Sanskrit chanting.

"Crack!"

A vertical crack appeared on the Golden Great Bell; the Great Elder's mind was shaken, and the hearts of everyone else in the Taiyi Sect rose to their throats.

"Ah!!!"

Under the assault of the bell's toll, Chen Che was already bleeding from his seven orifices; he let out one final roar and, bearing all the pressure, took a step forward.

His palm pierced through the bell, and with a clatter, the Golden Great Bell crumbled and dissipated.

"Great Elder!"

"Senior Brother!!"

"Stop! No!!!"

Amidst the shouts of the Taiyi Sect members, Chen Che pressed forward relentlessly...