Chapter 323: Deterrence

Watching the charred Jun Shaowei and the terrified, uneasy expressions of the surrounding cultivators, Xu Chen's face remained devoid of any expression from beginning to end.

Compared to the Heavenly Tribulations he had experienced, this thunder punishment was practically no different from a tickle.

This Heavenly Tribulation was the same for True Monarch Guiling, and he even couldn't help but glance at Xu Chen.

After they escaped from Minghuang, they first suffered an unprecedented catastrophe, and he was certain that no one else in this world had ever experienced the power of that nearly impossible-to-survive Heavenly Tribulation; he was even convinced that not even the power of the Four-Nine Great Heavenly Tribulation for Void Breaking to become an immortal was as terrifying as that tribulation.

Ling Yuzhen held Xiaobai, stroking its scalp with absent-minded movements, her lips pouted as if she were distracted.

Only Lin Qiuya watched with a pale face, her delicate body trembling again and again as the thunder fell.

Soon, after being examined by two Spirit Transformation Great Cultivators, Jun Shaowei was carried away by people from Junwang Hall who were waiting nearby.

The platform was about one zhang high and constructed entirely of green jade; there was a massive dragon-shaped statue in each of the four cardinal directions, emitting four rays of array light that shot straight into the sky, enveloping the entire stone platform.

In the blink of an eye, it was the early morning of the third day.

This was also the reason why Xuanhua Sect dared to abduct two female disciples of Taiyuan Sect, yet no Immortal Sect had come out to uphold justice from start to finish.

"Obey the Enforcement Elder's order!"

"Second whip..."

"Soul-Sacrificing Whip, take the Thunder God Hall cultivator Zhang Ting to be punished; fellow Daoist Friends, observe quietly and take this as a warning—do not violate the Immortal Alliance Assembly laws!"

The five people on both sides were, respectively, Chixia Zhenjun of the Song Kingdom's Yuqing Hall, Mingyi Zhenjun of the Ming Kingdom's Lingyun Hall, the Enforcement Elder Qingyun Zhenjun, Wuyuan Zhenjun of the Chu Guo's Wuji Sect, and Xuanhong Zhenjun of the Jin Kingdom's Xuanhua Sect.

Originally, he had held a sense of schadenfreude at Jun Shaowei being struck by lightning, but after seeing the horrific, ghastly state of Jun Shaowei after five thunder strikes, his own mentality had somewhat collapsed.

Moreover, in the battle against the Nether Beasts, the Taiyuan Soul-Entering Pill was still the best and most miraculous healing medicine; for ordinary Immortal Sects and cultivators, it was even harder to let go of.

But it was said that more than a month had passed since the Immortal Alliance Assembly issued the Immortal Alliance Elder Order, and the various large and small Immortal Sects summoned had not yet fully arrived; in the last three days, large groups of cultivators had been continuously arriving from all directions.

The areas where cultivators gathered, spanning a thousand miles around Langya Mountain, were all deserted, with a large number of palace and house-type Magic Treasures having disappeared, leaving behind only some haphazardly built wooden huts, grass sheds, and a large amount of trash; the scene looked a complete mess.

Accompanied by the roar of the executioner Great Cultivator, the whip rolling and spiraling in the sky was like a giant python, releasing rolling, cold, yin energy as it lashed down from the air.

After all, the Taiyuan Soul-Entering Pill was too miraculous, and the temptation was too great.

Soul Whip, a Fourth-Rank Magic Treasure, is an execution tool specifically for the Immortal Alliance; this whip mainly attacks the Soul, and for Danyuan Realm cultivators with weak Souls, the punishment of ten lashes is actually not much lighter than five thunder strikes.

Xu Chen was also very envious and jealous of him, and at the same time, his face was a bit dark.

If he hadn't been overcome with jealousy and run to Junwang Hall to provoke them, he definitely wouldn't have suffered this brutal beating.

However, the good news was that the super sects and large and medium-sized sects in the southeast region, including Junwang Hall, had almost all arrived.

As the sun rose.

Furthermore, the cold, indifferent manner in which Lan You had treated him as if he were invisible in the great hall also made him feel that all his efforts had been thrown into a sewer, and if the news spread, it would certainly invite mockery from more people in the Immortal World.

If it weren't for Lan You, how could he have been squeezed to third place on the Prodigy Ranking?

Zhang Ting covered his head with both hands and let out a scream, but he was still able to stand in place.

However, the atmosphere of interaction between cultivators was significantly more civilized and harmonious compared to the fiery situations of ordinary days where they would pull out Magic Treasures and shout "I'll take your dog life" at the slightest disagreement.

Since the two prodigy disciples of Thunder God Hall and Junwang Hall had both been punished to the point of being battered and bruised, it was best for them, the scum cultivators of small and medium Immortal Sects, to keep their tails tucked and behave themselves.

Therefore, the Elder Council's punishment measures this time had a very obvious effect.

As soon as the sky brightened, tens of thousands of cultivators all began to pack their luggage and various items, stepping on Magic Treasures or riding Spirit Beasts to head straight for the venue.

"Ah~~"

Today was the official date of the Immortal Alliance Assembly.

Two days passed in a flash.

The Enforcement Elder also left with his people.

Nowadays, the southeast region was ravaged by Black Wind and filled with Nether Beasts, and both the immortal and mortal worlds had suffered heavy casualties; every day, and even every moment, countless mortal cultivators died or were injured, yet the dignified Immortal Alliance, which maintained the safety of the Divine Continent, actually still had the heart to engage in these vanity projects—if they had used these three days to set off earlier, tens of thousands of cultivators could have killed countless Nether Beasts.

After the spectacle was over, the tens of thousands of onlookers also dispersed; those who needed to drink tea drank tea, those who needed to chat chatted, those who needed to trade traded—in short, everyone went back to their own business.

But now, it was too late to say anything.

For the time that followed, no one dared to fight or cause trouble at the Immortal Alliance Assembly site, and the atmosphere was incomparably harmonious.

The four of them, Xu Chen included, were also mixed in among the tens of thousands of cultivators, following them back to the vicinity of the execution site from that day.

And an Immortal Sect like Taiyuan Sect, which only had one Spirit Transformation Great Cultivator, didn't even have the qualifications to be cannon fodder; they were directly forcibly detained by the Immortal Alliance in the name of righteousness. If Great Elder Xuanchen Zhenjun still refused to hand over the formula for the Taiyuan Soul-Entering Pill today, the outcome would be unpredictable, and it was not impossible that they would be demanded to be executed by all the Immortal Sects coveting this pill.

Or perhaps, the two would stare at each other, couldn't help but shiver simultaneously, and then smile away their grudges, politely indicating that it was nothing.

In reality, the main force for suppressing Nether Beasts after this alliance would still be these large sect forces with True Spirit Realm Great Cultivators sitting in command; other small and medium Immortal Sects were at most auxiliary, and many were simply cannon fodder.

This Soul Whip, let alone ten lashes, even one would cause eighty percent of the tens of thousands of cultivators at the Immortal Alliance venue to pass out; those who could withstand three lashes were definitely True Essence Late Stage cultivators, and those who could withstand all of them had to be at the Danyuan Realm, and they had to have decent strength as well.

"Wow, this is truly the method of a super sect!"

Although Zhang Ting was only at the early Danyuan Realm, the fact that he could stand up on his own after ten lashes was indeed something that his young peers could only look up to.

Another executioner Great Cultivator raised his hand and threw out a pitch-black Magic Treasure that looked like bone joints; amidst an explosion of spiritual light, it transformed into a whip the size of ten-plus zhang that rolled in the air like a giant python.

Soon, the several large free trade markets near Langya Mountain began to bustle with people and noise once again.

"Third whip..."

It was so great that no Immortal Sect could resist it, including super Immortal Sects like Thunder God Hall and Junwang Hall, which also needed this kind of miraculous, heaven-defying medicine to improve the aptitude of their sect disciples.

Among them, the two who stepped forward, wearing purple-gold robes and purple-gold crowns, with silver-white hair and beards and an immortal, transcendent appearance, were Qiyun Zhenjun of Thunder God Hall and Chuchen Zhenjun of Junwang Hall.

However, today this place was no longer a wasteland, but a massive platform several miles wide and long that had appeared out of thin air.

Zhang Ting was soon taken away by people from Thunder God Hall.

Accompanied by one execution order after another, the Soul Whip lashed down one whip after another; Zhang Ting also screamed continuously, rolling onto the ground when the sixth lash hit, but after insisting on finishing all ten lashes, he did not pass out, but instead climbed up shakily on his own, disheveled and bleeding from his seven orifices.

The onlookers were all surprised and stirred.

Even if there were a few verbal disputes, they would soon disperse, and the arrogant ones would only dare to say something like "I'll make you look good next time."

Xu Chen had already verified that his two senior sisters were temporarily out of danger, and Ling Yuzhen had also told him that Great Elder Xuanchen Zhenjun was unharmed, so he put the matter of saving people aside for now, focused on waiting for the official opening of the Immortal Alliance Assembly, and cleared his mind to start wandering around the various trading venues, searching for and purchasing some Spirit Materials and Spirit Medicines that caught his eye.

From this, it could be seen that the Immortal Alliance Elder Order did not have a very strong appeal to the large and small Immortal Sects in the Divine Continent region.

This was also a Fifth-Rank Magic Treasure called the Four Dragon Platform, which was also a Magic Treasure controlled by the Immortal Alliance Elder Council, specifically provided for the gatherings of large and small alliances in the Immortal World; it had powerful defensive capabilities and could also fly, though it required a True Spirit Realm Great Cultivator of Elder level to drive it, and it consumed an extreme amount of Spirit Qi.

"The prisoner Zhang Ting, to receive a total of ten strikes of the Soul Whip, the first strike..."

Inside Xianyun Palace, a row of True Spirit Realm Great Cultivators wearing Elder dharma robes emerged together.

The watching cultivators all sighed in admiration.

"Stinking bitch, once I have the chance, I will definitely make you regret this!" Zhang Ting, slowly landing on the ground, had a pale and ferocious expression, gritting his teeth and vowing fiercely in his heart.

The palace stone platform was naturally formed, with spiritual light reflecting off each other, greeting the morning glow and releasing a five-colored, misty radiance.

Therefore, at this moment, he not only hated Jun Shaowei in his heart, but also began to resent Lan You.

At this time, Zhang Ting's complexion was also incomparably pale.

As the morning sun in the east slowly rose above the sea, a deep and melodious bell chime came from the mountaintop; very soon, the Xianyun Palace, suspended amidst spiritual light and clouds, slowly flew toward the Four Dragon Platform, finally crashing down and becoming a massive palace standing in the center of the stone platform.

The Seven Immortal Alliance Elders walked together to the steps in front of the main hall and stood still; behind them, more than fifty Spirit Transformation Great Cultivators filed out in formation.

But fortunately, the Soul Whip would not cause major damage to the Soul; it only brought pain that left a deep memory, and it did not harm the physical body, so at least it looked much better on the surface.

For so many Great Cultivators to appear together, this was a first since the start of this Immortal Alliance Assembly.

The spiritual Qi light and shadows of flowers, birds, insects, fish, mountains, and rivers, along with the vast aura of the Soul, shook the heavens and earth, stirring the wisps of white clouds in the sky until they collapsed and scattered, revealing an incomparably clear and pure azure sky.

(End of chapter)