Chapter 400

Chapter 400: Removing Old Bai

When everyone heard Mo Qianxun’s words, each one gasped sharply, faces filled with shock.

The thousand-year output of high-rank materials from Iron-Walled Jin City? This was an astronomical number! Though they occasionally took some for themselves, none dared steal such quantities.

This amount went beyond outrageous. Not only Sect Leader Mo Qianxun, but every Elder present burned with fury!

"Old Bai, explain yourself! How could you steal so much?"

"If the Sect Leader’s words hold truth, you’re in deep trouble!"

"Don’t expect mercy from the Sect Leader—or from us!"

Though these high-rank divine materials officially belonged to the Mo Sect, Elders held privileges to transfer or purchase them at low internal prices.

By stealing this much, the Head of the Bai Family had essentially robbed them all! Small thefts might’ve been overlooked, but such staggering amounts couldn’t be ignored.

Realizing the danger, the Head of the Bai Family hastily defended, "This is a misunderstanding! You all know me—I’d never take so much! Iron-Walled Jin City’s recent output dipped slightly, but never by a thousand years’ worth! You know this!"

The crowd hesitated. Iron-Walled Jin City was a vital resource under heavy scrutiny. While shortages occurred, nothing this drastic had been noticed. A thousand years’ output would form a literal mountain—too vast to conceal through ordinary means.

They turned to Mo Qianxun for answers.

The Sect Leader coldly snapped, "Still lying with death at your throat! Have you forgotten the incident from sixteen years ago? Or did you think I’d never uncover your deception?"

The Head of the Bai Family paled.

"What happened then?" the Elders demanded.

"Sixteen years back," Mo Qianxun growled, "Iron-Walled Jin City’s Magma Lake erupted violently. Ten thousand cultivators perished, countless more were injured—but it spewed enough high-rank materials to match a millennium’s output! Yet the sect received less than usual! Outrageous!"

"What?!" The crowd rounded on the Bai leader. "Explain this, Old Bai!"

"How could you hide such disaster?"

"Did you think yourself above the sect’s laws?"

Sweating, the Bai leader cried, "True, there was an eruption sixteen years past—but it yielded only a century’s worth of materials at most! I admit hiding that, but Fang Lie’s accusations are baseless! He just arrived—how could he know details from sixteen years ago? It’s impossible!"

The Elders wavered. Fang Lie uncovering ancient specifics did seem unlikely.

But Mo Qianxun scoffed, "I stopped trusting you after repeated betrayals. As for Fang Lie—I had him watched, fearing he’d mismanage Iron-Walled Jin City. Instead, he thoroughly investigated your crimes!"

"Know how he uncovered the truth?" The Sect Leader’s voice turned icy. "He interviewed thousands who survived the eruption, calculated their average haul, then multiplied it by the total salvagers present! The math doesn’t lie!"

The Elders nodded—such methods, though tedious, produced reliable figures. Typical of the detail-obsessed Fang Family’s approach.

Trembling, the Bai leader tearfully pleaded, "Sect Leader, I swear I only took a century’s worth! Let lightning strike me if I lie!"

"Oh, I believe you," Mo Qianxun sneered. "Your personal theft was modest—but your Bai family overseers stole three to four centuries’ worth! The rest? Outsiders took it! You fool—you lost watermelons fighting over sesame seeds!"

"What?!" The Bai leader staggered. "My own kin deceived me?"

"Rot starts at the head," Mo Qianxun spat. "With a thieving ancestor, how could your disciples remain loyal?"

The revelation crushed the Bai leader. Centuries-old colleagues pitied his sudden aged despair—a once-proud Elder reduced to a broken man.

Then someone stepped forward and said, "Senior Brother Sect Leader, calm your anger. Old Bai acted foolishly and made a grave mistake, but he was tricked by others. Spare him this once for his past contributions!"

"True," another added. "Old Bai stood by you as a loyal brother for years. Since his family already paid with a life, let this matter rest."

"Regardless," a third voice insisted, "Old Bai remains a pillar of our sect—punishing him rashly helps no one. The real crisis is Fang Lie’s reckless assault on Sword Fortress! Sect Leader, you must act swiftly!"

"Exactly!" another agreed. "The Fortress Lord might’ve stolen divine materials, but without proof, wiping out his entire lineage would make us the villains. Starting a war over rumors is unwise!"

Mo Qianxun sneered. "You grasp half the truth. Fang Lie attacks not just for materials—he seeks to reclaim a Divine Marrow lost to Sword Fortress!"

Gasps filled the room.

"Divine Marrow? The fabled treasure granting limitless Magic?"

"Only three or five such gems have emerged in millennia! Could Iron-Walled Jin City hold one?"

"During that great eruption," Mo Qianxun growled, "treasures surged from the deepest ground veins—including a two-foot Divine Marrow! Yet for over a decade, the Bai family fools let it slip into enemy hands!"

An Elder frowned. "But every salvager carries supervision tokens! How could we miss this?"

"The Bai idiots recalled all tokens to hide their incompetence," Mo Qianxun spat. "Left them rotting in storage! Our sect’s treasured item now enriches outsiders!"

His glare pinned the Head of the Bai Family, who shrank in shame.

The crowd finally understood Mo Qianxun’s rage. Divine Marrow—worth multiple Eighth-rank Treasures, priceless beyond measure, driving Semi-Immortals to madness! With it, Mo Qianxun might dominate the realm, bringing glory unseen in Mo Sect’s history.

Their hesitation vanished.

"Sect Leader! Sword Fortress has a Thunder Tribulation Immortal guarding it. Let me crush them!"

"No, send me! I’ll leave no blade of grass standing!"

All clamored to lead the attack. East Kunlun’s backing meant nothing—Divine Marrow justified war itself. Besides, Sword Fortress was weak. While the Marrow would go to Mo Qianxun, the rest of the plunder…

Mo Qianxun raised a hand. "Unnecessary. Bird Bro himself intervenes. That’s why Fang Lie dares attack alone. The boy’s bold, not suicidal."

"Bird Bro? Victory’s assured!"

"He’s a Legend unseen for ages! Let us witness his might!"

"At least broadcast the battle, Sect Leader!"

Mo Qianxun relented. "Very well. I’ll project the battle. As for you—" He turned to the Bai leader, disgusted. "Your negligence cost us millennia of Iron-Walled Jin City’s output and a Divine Marrow, forcing this risky war. No past service spares you. Enter closed-door training until I summon you."

"Understood." The Bai leader wept, shuffling out.

His defeated figure drew pitying glances, but none spoke. The crime outweighed all loyalty.