Chapter 34: Who Ordered You to Do This?

"AHHH!" Lu Jun let out another agonizing scream.

He was in so much pain that he was on the verge of passing out. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that this Black Iron Masked Man would be so ruthless, daring to strike again even after the Sect Leader had arrived.

Mo Hao and the surrounding crowd were completely shocked. The Sect Leader was here, yet this man simply ignored her and continued his assault?

The Yuling Sect Master furrowed her brows. However, she was no fool. One look at Shi Muyao’s condition was enough for her to piece together what had happened.

"You dare strike in front of the Sect Leader?" Mo Hao demanded in a deep voice.

Mo Qianqian still didn’t reply. Instead, he stared at Lu Jun with glacial eyes and spat out a single word, "Die!"

With that, he stomped his foot down on Lu Jun’s throat.

At this moment, utter despair washed over Lu Jun. He had no idea what kind of terrifying figure he had provoked. This man was actually going to kill him right in front of his master and the Sect Leader.

What left everyone in disbelief was that the Sect Leader made no move to stop him. She simply watched as Mo Qianqian’s foot crushed Lu Jun’s throat.

SPLAT!

Blood spurted wildly as Lu Jun’s neck snapped, severing his head from his body. He died instantly. With all five of his limbs crippled before having his throat crushed, he met his end in an incredibly painful and brutal manner.

The onlookers were absolutely dumbfounded. He had killed Lu Jun in front of the Sect Leader without a single word of explanation? Regardless of the circumstances, this was a blatant slap to their Sect Leader’s face!

All eyes turned toward the Sect Leader. Everyone wanted to see how she would respond.

The Yuling Sect Master swept her gaze over the scene before settling on the injured Lian Ziying. "Lian Ziying, you tell me. What exactly happened here?" she demanded.

"I..." Lian Ziying’s body trembled, but she gritted her teeth and said, "I heard that Junior Sister Shi Muyao had been accepted as the Sect Leader’s in-name disciple, so I came over to befriend her. But... but Shi Muyao cursed at me, calling me shameless! I was so angry that I tried to reason with her, and then...

"Then Junior Sister Shi Muyao directly attacked me.

"When Senior Sister Yingqiu and the other two found out, they came looking for her to vent my frustration. And then...

"Then, Senior Brother Lu Jun came out to stop them. After that, Senior Sister Yingqiu, the others, and I went down the mountain. We only came back because we heard the commotion. We have no idea what happened..."

Hearing this, Mo Qianqian’s eyes darkened. That Lian Ziying was blatantly lying! Setting aside the phrasing of her story, there was absolutely no way Shi Muyao would do such a thing just because someone came to befriend her!

"No... it wasn’t like that," Shi Muyao finally managed to speak, her breathing ragged. "I didn’t attack her. She was already injured when she arrived, and she purposely fell to the ground on her own. I never laid a hand on her..."

"Shi Muyao, we all saw it! You were clearly the one who attacked, and you even struck at the three of us first!" Cen Yingqiu shouted.

"That’s right! Junior Sister Lian Ziying is hurt so badly, yet you still dare to slander her!" another woman in a white skirt chimed in.

"She was the one who attacked me! If my three senior sisters hadn’t arrived, I might... I might have been killed by her! Boohoo..." Lian Ziying burst into pitiful tears.

"No, it’s not like that..." Shi Muyao tried to explain, but Mo Qianqian stopped her.

"You don’t need to say anything. I will get justice for you!"

Turning to look at Lian Ziying, Cen Yingqiu, and the other two, Mo Qianqian said coldly, "You are all lying!"

"You..." Cen Yingqiu stammered before insisting, "Everything we said is the truth!"

"Never mind their squabble for now. Lu Jun saved Shi Muyao; why did you ruthlessly murder him?" Mo Hao asked Mo Qianqian coldly.

"Lu Jun afflicted her with the Passionate Poison!" Mo Qianqian replied, his tone equally icy.

The moment those words were spoken, everyone’s expressions changed. The Elders present, and especially the Sect Leader, knew exactly what the Passionate Poison was. It was a notoriously malicious type of Hehuan Poison!

Now they understood why this masked man was so enraged and hell-bent on destroying Lu Jun.

SWOOSH!

Before anyone else could speak, Elder Hou Wei blurred into motion. She stepped forward, picked up the jade bottle from the ground, and took a sniff. "It is indeed the Passionate Poison!" she confirmed.

The Yuling Sect Master’s face darkened, while Mo Hao’s expression turned exceedingly ugly. With this revelation, he had completely lost any moral high ground.

"Sect Leader, without an antidote for the Passionate Poison, I’m afraid..." Elder Hou Wei said with deep concern.

The Yuling Sect Master, however, had already sensed the presence of the Spirit Body. She looked at Shi Muyao, whose injuries had visibly improved, and knew the girl could still be saved. At the same time, she marveled inwardly at the situation. The abilities of a Spirit Master were truly extraordinary.

"I will save her," Mo Qianqian declared. He turned his freezing gaze back to Cen Yingqiu, Lian Ziying, and the others. "Who ruined her face?"

Cen Yingqiu’s expression stiffened. "I did it! She slashed Lian Ziying with a sword!"

SWOOSH!

Mo Qianqian temporarily dismissed the Spirit Body and instantly materialized right behind Cen Yingqiu, grabbing her by both arms. Then, channeling the power of a First-Grade Spirit Master, he violently yanked downward.

SQUELCH! SQUELCH!

Cen Yingqiu’s arms were instantly torn from their sockets. Geysers of blood violently erupted from her severed shoulders.

"AHHH!" Cen Yingqiu shrieked in excruciating agony.

She never expected her arms to be suddenly ripped off. She hadn’t even seen anyone approach or attack her.

"What in the world?!"

Seeing this, the surrounding disciples stood frozen in shock, their faces etched with absolute disbelief. From their perspective, Cen Yingqiu’s arms had suddenly torn themselves away from her body without warning and without anyone touching her. Just one look, and her arms were severed? How was that even possible?

Even the Yuling Sect Master’s expression shifted slightly. Ultimately, she spoke up, "He is a First-Grade Spirit Master, our Yuling Sect’s newly invited Honored Guest Elder!"

Since he had already taken action, there was no longer any way to hide his identity as a Spirit Master.

"What? A Spirit Master?!" Mo Hao and the other Elders were instantly overwhelmed with shock.

Now they understood. No wonder they had never seen this Honored Guest Elder before—he had just been hired! It also explained why the Sect Leader was so extraordinarily tolerant of his actions. He was actually a Spirit Master!

They were all too aware of what a Spirit Master represented. With a Spirit Master serving as an Honored Guest Elder, the overall strength of the Yuling Sect would experience a massive leap, provided he was willing to help. This held true even if he were only a First-Grade Spirit Master.

First of all, the disciples of the Yuling Sect would see a monumental improvement in their supply of pills. Furthermore, even if the Elders and the Sect Leader couldn’t obtain higher-grade pills directly from him, they could sell vast quantities of upgraded first-grade premium pills and exchange the profits for higher-tier resources.

As long as he continued to upgrade their pills, the Yuling Sect essentially possessed a literal cash cow!

Moreover, a Spirit Master wielded immense influence. If he merely spoke a word asking to deal with a specific person in exchange for upgrading a certain number of pills, countless experts would fall over themselves to do his bidding! If this Spirit Master’s cultivation were to advance by another grade in the future, his value would be absolutely incalculable.

"A Spirit Master? What’s a Spirit Master?"

"I don’t know, I’ve never heard of it. Is it something super powerful?"

A few confused disciples whispered amongst themselves. After all, Spirit Masters were exceedingly rare throughout the entire Great Xia Dynasty. It wasn’t common knowledge among average disciples.

Hearing the disciples’ confusion, Elder Hou Wei deliberately lowered her voice and explained, "A Spirit Master can summon a Spirit Body that remains invisible to non-Spirit Masters. This Spirit Body can attack, heal injuries, and even upgrade the quality of pills and weapons."

Gasps rippled through the crowd of disciples. No wonder Cen Yingqiu’s arms had suddenly snapped off, and no wonder the Sect Leader had chosen to yield. A Spirit Master was both terrifyingly powerful and incredibly useful!

Now, absolutely no one dared to show any disrespect to Mo Qianqian. This concerned the core interests of the entire sect. If someone actually moved against the Spirit Master or caused him to leave the Yuling Sect, the entire organization would suffer an astronomical loss. It would not be an exaggeration to say that whoever did so would instantly become public enemy number one of the Yuling Sect.

At this point, even the furious Mo Hao didn’t dare to utter another word.

The brown-clothed woman and the white-skirted woman who had assisted Cen Yingqiu were now thoroughly panicked. This middle-aged man in the iron mask was a Spirit Master! He had severed Cen Yingqiu’s arms without even visibly moving.

Furthermore, the Sect Leader had shown no intention of punishing him. In other words, for the sake of the sect’s interests, the Sect Leader was entirely willing to sacrifice them. If this man decided to attack, they would undoubtedly share Cen Yingqiu’s gruesome fate.

"Who put you up to this? Tell me the truth, or die!" Mo Qianqian demanded, glaring coldly at Cen Yingqiu.

"She was the one who attacked Lian Ziying first!" Cen Yingqiu insisted through gritted teeth.

The moment she finished speaking, Cen Yingqiu felt as though an invisible hand had gripped her head.

CRACK!

The very next second, Cen Yingqiu’s head was violently twisted off her neck. Blood geysered wildly into the air.

Her severed head tumbled to the ground, her eyes wide open—she had clearly died entirely unresigned. Even in her final moments, she hadn’t expected him to actually deal the killing blow.

"AHHH!" Lian Ziying screamed in sheer terror.

The brown-clothed and white-skirted women beside her jolted in absolute horror.

"Elder Asura, killing Lu Jun was his own just deserts. We have nothing to say about that. But senselessly slaughtering other disciples... isn’t that highly inappropriate?" Mo Hao said in a heavy tone.

Mo Qianqian ignored him. He was making a gamble—gambling that the Yuling Sect Master wasn’t stupid and could see through the lies. He was gambling that for the sake of the Pavilion Master’s face and the immense benefits brought by a Spirit Master, she would gladly choose to sacrifice a few low-level disciples.

"Who put you up to this?" Mo Qianqian shifted his frosty gaze to the brown-clothed woman.

The woman instantly broke into a panic and stammered, "N-No... no one told us to do it..."

SQUELCH!

The brown-clothed woman’s head was instantly sent flying into the air.

The crowd erupted in shock. The white-skirted woman and Lian Ziying were nearly frightened to death.

"Outrageous!" Mo Hao could no longer hold back. He flew into a blinding rage. "Even if you are a Spirit Master, you cannot bully our Yuling Sect like this!"

"Shi Muyao is also my disciple!" At that moment, the Yuling Sect Master finally spoke up. "Although she was only an in-name disciple previously!"

Mo Hao’s expression twisted drastically.

With those words, the Sect Leader had made her stance crystal clear. She was standing on Elder Asura’s side!

While the sect encouraged fair competition and the Sect Leader typically wouldn’t interfere even if a personal disciple was beaten—provided it was within the rules—Shi Muyao was still her in-name disciple. Bullying the girl to such a miserable state was an undeniable slap to the Sect Leader’s own face.

Mo Qianqian turned his attention to the white-skirted woman and Lian Ziying.

"I... I’ll talk, I’ll tell you!"

By now, Lian Ziying was thoroughly terrified. She was finally ready to spill the truth.