Chapter 493: Chapter 153: Turmoil in Zhenyang

"What?!"

"Master was murdered?!"

"Senior Brother Shi and Senior Brother Wei are dead?!"

"How is that possible!!"

Tantai Mingyue’s words were like a massive stone crashing into the lake, instantly stirring up a storm.

Jian Yue’s expression was cold: "Sect Leader Uncle, given the gravity of the situation, are you truly certain?"

Chun Ningzhi, Chen Yunfeng, and Zhang Zheng looked even more shocked, unable to comprehend why the Deputy Sect Leader would say such earth-shattering words.

The Zhenyang Sect is the leader of the Righteous Path, and its six elders are among the most notable Great Cultivators in the world!

Any one of them could cause the Cultivation Realm to tremble with a mere stomp of their foot.

The death of Zheng Shengmo had already dealt a severe blow to the Zhenyang Sect’s strength; if Shi Shuhong and Wei Shouyuan, whose cultivation ranked just below him, were also dead, the top-tier combat power of the Zhenyang Sect would likely be reduced to less than fifty percent.

This is no joke!

Tantai Mingyue’s voice was heavy, and she said slowly: "As things stand now, I won’t hide it from you anymore. During the battle at Celestial Ridge Mountain, the Witch Xia Qinglian was too formidable, causing Senior Brother Shi and Senior Brother Wei to develop heart demons."

As she spoke, she cast a barely noticeable glance at Leng Jing, whose expression changed slightly, and he bowed his head in silence.

Besides Shi Shuhong and Wei Shouyuan, it was also Leng Jing who was intimidated by Xia Qinglian’s power into developing a heart demon back then.

Yet, Tantai Mingyue did not mention him, preserving his dignity.

Suddenly, Leng Jing’s expression shifted, could it be...

At this moment, Tantai Mingyue continued: "I once refined an artifact that could suppress heart demons, called the Healing Soul Pearl. The two senior brothers privately came to me, asking for my help."

"Therefore, I placed two Healing Soul Pearls into their Spirit Fields respectively, capable of suppressing heart demons, without affecting cultivation."

"To prevent their heart demons from suddenly worsening, I could always sense the Healing Soul Pearls implanted within them to respond to emergencies."

"However..."

Tantai Mingyue continued: "Since two days ago, I haven’t been able to sense the Healing Soul Pearls in their Spirit Fields."

Chen Yunfeng hesitated for a moment, then asked shakily: "Sect Leader Uncle, do you mean..."

Zhang Zheng’s face was pale: "Master’s Spirit Field shattered, and the Healing Soul Pearl was broken together, that’s why you can’t sense it?"

In an instant, several people stared intently at Tantai Mingyue, hoping to hear a different answer from her mouth, but this was merely a futile wish. Tantai Mingyue sighed:

"Yes, the Healing Soul Pearls cannot be forcibly removed, so there’s only one possibility: their Spirit Fields no longer exist."

The hall was dead silent.

Being cultivators, they naturally understood what it meant for a Spirit Field to no longer exist.

"But, Master and Junior Martial Uncle Wei are both Nascent Soul Eighth Layer; if the two of them joined forces, who in the world could possibly defeat them?"

Zhang Zheng still refused to believe the harsh reality.

Leng Jing remained silent for a moment, then spoke slowly: "There is one person who can."

"Who?"

The three Commanding Disciples looked at him, seeing Leng Jing’s expression turn grim, and immediately reacted, speaking in unison:

"Xia Qinglian?!"

"How is that possible! Isn’t she already dead?!"

The three were shocked and incredulous.

Tantai Mingyue said: "Very few in the world know the Ten Thousand Swords Array, Xia Qinglian’s cultivation and combat power were once unparalleled in this world, and... she is an Array Master."

With this statement, the hall plunged into deathly silence once more.

The Demon Sect Saintess Xia Qinglian, gifted beyond compare, invincible and ruthless.

She is the nightmare of every disciple of the Righteous Path.

During the battle at Celestial Ridge Mountain, Chun Ningzhi, Zhang Zheng, and Chen Yunfeng were lucky; the south side of Celestial Ridge Mountain they were guarding did not encounter any battles.

Xia Qinglian appeared on the west side of Celestial Ridge Mountain; after the battle on that side ended, they went to check the scene, which was horribly tragic.

Half of Celestial Ridge Mountain had been burnt into flat ground, mountains and rivers turned into icy mountains and frozen rivers.

Such a miraculous sight could only be achieved by the mighty force of heaven and earth, yet the Witch managed to change the topography by sheer force.

Moreover, they saw countless bodies of disciples from the Three Great Sects, clearly used as cannon fodder to drain Xia Qinglian’s spiritual power, followed by an encirclement by nearly twenty elders of the Three Great Sects.

After exhausting all means, Xia Qinglian still killed four elders and severely wounded over ten, even Sect Leader Chen Qingmo had to retreat into seclusion due to severe injuries.

Such a terrifying Witch, just hearing about her was spine-chilling, if she truly wasn’t dead...

Chun Ningzhi shivered with fear, stammering: "Sect Leader Uncle, what should we do?"

Zhang Zheng was even more direct in his fear: "If Xia Qinglian attacks Zhenyang Mountain, are we all doomed to die?"

Leng Jing clenched his fists, his entire body trembling uncontrollably; Tantai Mingyue reached under the table and gently touched Leng Jing’s fist, finally stopping his trembling. She then spoke softly:

"Everyone, don’t panic. This is just my speculation, besides if Xia Qinglian truly isn’t dead, she must have been seriously injured, her cultivation drastically reduced."

"Otherwise, with Xia Qinglian’s way of doing things, she would have attacked Zhenyang Mountain long ago."

Listening to her analysis, everyone found it reasonable and felt somewhat relieved.

Jian Yue glanced at Tantai Mingyue, thinking indeed this woman was meticulous, capable of deducing so much.

No wonder Chen Qingmo appointed her as Deputy Sect Leader before retreating into seclusion.

Seeing everyone’s emotions stabilizing a bit, Tantai Mingyue continued: "Now, we need to do two things; first, we must prevent anyone from knowing about Senior Brother Shi and Senior Brother Wei’s unfortunate fate, or Zhenyang Sect’s position as the Leader of the Righteous Path will be jeopardized, second, we need to quickly find out the real culprit, determining if it’s truly Xia Qinglian."

Her voice was gentle yet firm, like a spring breeze, like sipping refreshing nectar; that shock and fear gradually subsided.

"We can claim externally that Senior Brother Shi and Senior Brother Wei have gone into seclusion to break through to the Divinity Transformation Realm, thus concealing it for a few years. During this time, I hope you several disciples will train diligently, so once your cultivation reaches Nascent Soul Seventh Layer, you can replace your master’s position."

Chun Ningzhi, Chen Yunfeng, and Zhang Zheng stood up respectfully and said: "Disciple will strive with utmost effort, not letting down the sect’s expectations!"

Tantai Mingyue nodded slightly, then continued: "Regarding the investigation of the true culprit, I plan to send a batch of disciples to secretly investigate in the South Demon region in two days. Please everyone carefully select candidates from each peak."

Leng Jing stood up and cupped his hands: "Obeying the Sect Leader’s decree!"

Other people also stood up: "Obeying the Sect Leader’s decree!"

After the discussion concluded, everyone left, Leng Jing and Jian Yue were called back by Tantai Mingyue.

"Senior Brother Leng, Niece Ye, regarding Zheng Shengmo’s death, I find many suspicious points; what do you think?"

Jian Yue said indifferently: "Zheng Shengmo enjoyed toying with female disciples, Junior Martial Uncle Tantai should know that."

Tantai Mingyue smiled bitterly: "Xiyue, you’re right, Zheng Shengmo indeed deserved this fate."

Leng Jing suddenly said: "Yet it was definitely unusual for Zheng Shengmo to assault a common steward disciple in the perilous area during the beast tide. Oh, wasn’t that female disciple under the Sect Leader Uncle’s tutelage?"

Tantai Mingyue nodded, eyes slightly narrowing:

"Yes, her name is Lin Qingchou."