Chapter 310: The Complexity of Human Hearts

At this moment, from all directions of Langya Mountain, dense streaks of escape light rose into the air like fireworks.

Tens of thousands of cultivators were almost all startled by this loud noise and the fluctuation of Spirit Qi, and they all appeared to watch.

For a time, the escape light was like water and the Divine Sense was like a tide, rolling toward the southeast.

Xu Chen and the other three were also mixed in among the dense crowd of cultivators, and after a few flashes, they quickly arrived near a forest at the foot of the mountain.

Two cultivators with powerful auras were standing in the air a hundred zhang apart, with the light and shadows of Magic Treasures over ten zhang high flickering and swaying behind each of them.

The strike just now was clearly a contest of natal Magic Treasures, and it seemed that no winner or loser had been decided yet.

On the east side was a cultivator in purple Daoist robes, slightly stout, with gray hair and beard, and his Magic Treasure was a precious sword.

On the west side was a cultivator in black robes, about fifty years old, and his Magic Treasure was a large saber.

As soon as Lin Qiu Ya saw this, her face turned pale with fright, and she trembled and exclaimed: "It, it is True Monarch Taihua of Junwang Hall fighting with our Supreme Elder, True Monarch Guangyun."

Xu Chen frowned, roughly understanding the reason, and thus comforted her: "Fellow Daoist Lin, rest assured, it was I who injured the people from Junwang Hall. If True Monarch Guangyun is no match, we will step in to block them; we will not let him get hurt!"

True Monarch Guiling also frowned and nodded, saying: "Indeed, Junwang Hall acts increasingly arrogantly and tyrannically. It seems they cannot find Daoist Friend Xu and are preparing to vent their anger on Ziyang Sect. Later, this old man will seize the opportunity to help Ziyang Sect."

"Many thanks, Daoist Friend Lin, many thanks, Senior!" Lin Qiu Ya was terrified and could only bow repeatedly to express her gratitude.

By now, she could no longer see through Xu Chen's cultivation at all. Just a moment ago, Xu Chen had knocked out ten Junwang Hall cultivators with one strike, including two Danyuan Realm powerhouses; such strength was truly terrifying.

However, this was not the first time Xu Chen had injured an enemy across cultivation realms like this.

When she first met Xu Chen in the Jingshi of Song Kingdom, Xu Chen was only in the mid-Kaiyuan Realm, yet he had beaten True Person Yulong of Yuqing Hall into a coma.

Now, more than a year had passed, and Xu Chen's strength was even more formidable.

In the eyes of ordinary cultivators, the high and mighty Danyuan Realm powerhouses had almost no power to resist when facing Xu Chen.

Furthermore, this young girl whom Xu Chen called Junior Sister, although her aura was only at the early Zhenyuan Realm, her speech and behavior were incredibly strange; it seemed that even the thin, tall old Daoist whom Xu Chen called Senior was cautious around her.

This trio of Xu Chen's did not look like master and disciple, even less like siblings, and they did not even look like fellow sect members; they were filled with an inexplicable strangeness.

The young girl in red, who originally had the lowest cultivation, seemed the weakest, yet she seemed the most respected.

And the old Daoist with the highest cultivation seemed the strongest, yet he was very respectful toward the girl and Xu Chen.

As for Xu Chen, he was also very respectful toward the old man and very reverent toward the girl; although he called her Junior Sister, his actions were cautious in every way.

The strange, disharmonious combination of these three left Lin Qiu Ya completely bewildered.

"Guang Ningzi, if you do not give me a satisfactory answer today, do not blame us for completely wiping Ziyang Sect off the map!"

The black-robed cultivator's Spirit Qi churned all over his body, manifesting into patterns of flowers, birds, insects, and fish that flickered across the sky. Behind him, the large saber Magic Treasure released a Dharma shadow over ten zhang high, its sharp aura locking onto the purple-robed Daoist opposite.

"Hmph, the matter was stirred up by your Junwang Hall in the first place. Moreover, it was not my Ziyang Sect that injured you. Can Junwang Hall just be unreasonable and do whatever it wants because it is powerful? If you dare to make a move, I will certainly report this matter to the Immortal Alliance Elder Council for disposal."

The slightly stout purple-robed Daoist had an extremely ugly expression. While releasing rolling Spirit Qi to block the opponent's pressure, a purple Flying Sword above his head also released a sword light phantom over ten zhang in size, its hazy brilliance flickering and swaying to illuminate the firmament.

"Hahahaha..."

The black-robed Daoist laughed loudly, then his face sank and he mocked: "You small sects only have this much ability. You always go to the Immortal Alliance to complain at every turn. Hmph, if complaining is useful, then go ahead and complain. However, if you do not hand over the culprit today, do not blame me for being impolite. I will give you half an hour now to bring the culprit before me. Oh right, and that female cultivator too; I want to take her back to pay with her life for my sect's disciples."

"You..." The purple-robed cultivator was both angry and furious, but he did not dare to make a move.

However, Xu Chen frowned slightly and muttered: "That's not right. How could someone have died? I was extremely measured in my strikes; it shouldn't have reached that point."

Ling Yuzhen said: "Just because you don't kill doesn't mean others won't. What's so strange about that?"

Xu Chen was startled and said: "Could it be that someone went and killed them all afterward?"

Ling Yuzhen shook her head: "No, only the two disciples with the lowest cultivation died."

Xu Chen was immediately full of surprise: "Sen... uh, Junior Sister, you saw it?"

Ling Yuzhen gently pressed Xiaobai's chubby nose and said: "If I want to see, naturally I can see everything. What is there to be strange about? When you become a True Immortal in the future, you will find such things as easy as turning over your hand."

Xu Chen nervously turned to look at Lin Qiu Ya, only to find her staring intently at the scene, seemingly having not heard their conversation at all.

Ling Yuzhen smiled: "You don't need to be nervous; when I speak to you, naturally only you can hear it."

Xu Chen breathed a sigh of relief and frowned: "As it stands, it seems someone is stirring the waters in the dark, seemingly wanting to provoke a war between Immortal Sects. What exactly are they trying to do with such behavior?"

"The hearts of men are complex, but you don't need to think about it so complexly. Just watch the changes quietly; this fight won't happen for now. Someone is coming from the mountain!"

No sooner had Ling Yuzhen finished speaking than several streaks of spiritual light flashed in succession, and several old Daoists with snow-white hair and beards wearing purple Dharma robes appeared, standing in the air between the two who were confronting each other.

Xu Chen recognized one of these old Daoists with the bearing of an immortal; it was none other than the Supreme Great Elder of Yuqing Hall, Chixia Zhenjun.

Although he did not recognize the others, judging by their auras, they were all similar to Chixia Zhenjun and should all be great cultivators of the Zhenyuan Realm. Moreover, looking at their attire, they should all hold similar positions in the Immortal Alliance.

Seeing a group of Immortal Alliance Elders appear, Guangyunzi acted as if he had grasped a life-saving straw, hurriedly putting away his Magic Treasure and stepping forward to salute: "Seniors, Junwang Hall came to provoke us; this junior had no choice but to make a move?"

An old man with a round, slightly stout face in the center asked with a serious expression: "What exactly happened? You clearly know that fighting is strictly forbidden during the alliance meeting. It is one thing for low-level disciples to bicker, but as great cultivators, why are you so regardless of the overall situation?"

Guangyunzi looked ashamed and hurriedly explained the matter. The several True Monarchs all changed color slightly after hearing it.

During this, some people kept interrupting to ask more questions. Guangyunzi could only answer what he knew one by one. Although he did not dare to speak nonsense about what he did not know, he still tried his best to distance Ziyang Sect from this matter, pushing all the responsibility onto the two young people and stating that these two were not from his sect.

Of course, what he talked about most was Junwang Hall bullying the weak and using the Qingshen Recovery Jade Pill to threaten his disciple Lin Qiu Ya, striving to show his own innocence and the tyranny and barbarism of Junwang Hall.

From beginning to end, the black-robed cultivator of Junwang Hall did not step forward to explain anything, merely putting away his Magic Treasure and standing in the air with his arms crossed, his face full of disdainful sneers.

The five purple-robed great cultivators who had arrived were all ordinary Elders of the Immortal Alliance, with strength in the early to mid-Zhenyuan Realm. Although they were all much stronger than him, Junwang Hall was a super sect with a True Monarch sitting in command. Furthermore, Junwang Hall currently had a True Monarch of the mid-Zhenling stage at the Xianyun Palace on the mountain top, and his status was even higher; he wore purple-gold Dharma robes, representing the status and position of a super sect.

Therefore, no matter how Ziyang Sect explained this matter or how the group of Immortal Alliance Elders favored them, the matter would ultimately have to be discussed by the Elder Council, and the power of decision lay in the hands of the two Elders from Thunder God Hall and Junwang Hall.

And although the super sects had always had grievances and endless infighting, in reality, they still looked after each other in terms of interests. Generally, they would not interfere in each other's decisions in such matters; this seemed to be a tacit understanding.

To put it bluntly, the five great super sects were actually like the five bullies of the Shenzhou Immortal Alliance, firmly controlling the right to speak in the Elder Council.

In trivial matters that did not concern them, they would naturally handle things impartially, or use some means to win over or suppress Immortal Sects based on the closeness of their relationships. But among themselves, they still tried to maintain a kind of harmony and balance. As long as the exchange of interests was appropriate, the five super sects would not easily tear their faces apart.

After all, they were all cultivators of Qi Refining climbing the path of longevity; they were not very skilled at such schemes and intrigues. When dealing with many things, they were generally relatively simple. Compared to the complex political struggles and wars between secular nations, the Immortal World clearly appeared much more peaceful.

It was mainly because their realms and bearing were not on the same level at all.

After Chixia Zhenjun and the other four Elders finished listening to Guangyunzi's embellished account, they basically understood the cause and process of the matter. After exchanging a few words with each other, one of the Elders turned to look at the black-robed cultivator: "Fellow Daoist Taihua, do you have any different opinions on what Fellow Daoist Guangyun said, or any content to add?"

The black-robed cultivator cupped his hands perfunctorily and said: "Elder Qingyang, I have nothing to add. The matter is about the same as what Guangyunzi said. Although my disciples did indeed go too far, it was only in play and there was never any intent to harm. Yet the other party struck to kill, knocking all ten of my disciples into a coma; not only was their Soul severely damaged, but two have already died. Moreover, two of them were inner-sect deacons of my Alchemy Sect at the Alchemy Formation Realm. Now is a time when people are needed, and the supply of Spirit Pills is of the utmost importance. Such a large loss of personnel will inevitably have a great impact on the supply of Spirit Pills after the war against the Nether Beasts begins. When that time comes, it will not just be my Junwang Hall that suffers, but all the fellow Daoists of the Immortal World who have come to the alliance meeting. Furthermore, the two deacons happened to be alchemists who refine Qingshen Recovery Jade Pills. I believe the Elders can judge the severity of the matter for themselves."

The group of purple-robed Elders' expressions changed slightly, and they looked at each other, seemingly beginning to hesitate.

What both sides said was actually about the same. Based on the consistent nature of Junwang Hall, all the Elders had actually pinned the main responsibility for this matter on Junwang Hall from the very beginning. After all, the more one smells excrement, the less one notices the stench; the reputation of Junwang Hall in the Immortal World could be said to be at the very bottom.

As for the Junwang Hall's nonsense claim that the two Danyuan Realm deacons just happened to be alchemists capable of refining the Green God Recovery Jade Pill, everyone treated it like a fart and did not believe it.

The Junwang Hall has thousands of alchemy Disciples, at least five hundred of whom can refine second-grade pills, and there are at least a hundred alchemists who have mastered the unique Green God secret technique for alchemy; they would absolutely not be lacking these two bullies who oppress men and women.

But the current reality is exactly this: those who were killed or injured are all people from the Junwang Hall, and since they hold the initiative, they naturally say whatever they want; this is blatant cheating, yet no one can refute it.

The meaning behind the words of the black-robed cultivator is very simple: since so many of our people have died, if you do not handle this properly, then do not blame us when we cannot refine the Green God Recovery Jade Pill, which is currently in the shortest supply.

With the Taiyuan Soul-Entering Pill not being produced, the Green God Recovery Jade Pill is almost the scarcest and most sought-after pill for low-to-mid-tier Disciples to resist Nether Beasts.

(End of this chapter)