Chapter 399

Chapter 399: The Sect Leader’s Fury

"What’s your meaning?" Mo Qianxun roared. "If you don’t explain properly today, I’ll drag you to prison myself and beat you senseless!"

"Meaning?" Fang Lie scoffed. "After taking control of Iron-Walled Jin City, I only found mountains of supervision tokens in storage. Yet those salvage Cultivators carried none! Your vaunted supervision system’s pure bullshit! Get it now?"

"Ah!" Mo Qianxun’s face drained of color. "Those damned rats!"

Fang Lie couldn’t lie – if he said it, it was truth. Mo Qianxun realized he’d been fooled for years. How could he face this shame?

"You call Bai family rats now?" Fang Lie jeered. "Where were you earlier?"

Mo Qianxun flushed crimson but stayed silent.

Changing tactics, he demanded, "Total losses?"

"Not much. Just equivalent to Iron-Walled Jin City’s high-rank materials output for… oh, a millennium?" Fang Lie smirked. "Roughly ten Eighth-rank Treasures’ worth."

"Impossible!" Mo Qianxun sputtered. "They delivered annual quotas! I’d have noticed discrepancies!"

"Normally they stole maybe third. But-" Fang Lie’s voice turned icy. "Decade back, Iron-Walled Jin City had ten-thousand-year eruption. Protective array auto-activated, still killed ten thousand. Half-month eruption spewed enough high-rank materials to match thousand years’ output!"

"This happened?" Mo Qianxun paled. "Those traitors hid this? I was blind!"

"Hence ‘old fool’!" Fang Lie sneered.

Mo Qianxun’s neck veins bulged. Finally he growled, "Return now. After ten years, goods are gone. Destroying Sword Fortress lacks justification – could trigger sect war."

"I know stakes!" Fang Lie shot back. "Regular divine materials? Dog food. But for this-"

He revealed the Divine Marrow.

"Three-foot Divine Marrow?" Mo Qianxun gasped. "You mean Sword Fortress stole one?"

"Interrogated the rats." Fang Lie glared. "Two Divine Marrows surfaced during eruption. Bigger piece hoarded by Iron-Walled Jin City gang Leader – reclaimed after killing him. Smaller went to Sword Fortress. Bet East Kunlun never saw it!"

"Screw justification!" Mo Qianxun bellowed. "Level Sword Fortress! Can’t win? Stall them! I’m coming!"

Divine Marrow meant everything – even war with East Kunlun was acceptable.

Fang Lie waved dismissively. "Bird Bro’s handling it. East Kunlun’s getting taught a lesson."

"Bird Bro’s involved?" Mo Qianxun brightened. "Good! Recover that Divine Marrow!"

"Understood. Buzz off." Fang Lie shattered the water screen.

Though disrespectful, Mo Qianxun grinned. Divine Marrow meant unlimited Magic – and becoming world’s strongest!

Throughout, Mo Qianxun kept eyes shut. Onlookers saw anger, shock, bloodlust flit across his face. None dared interrupt.

When eyes opened, Bai Family Head blurted, "Sect Leader Senior Brother! Did Fang Lie confess?"

Mo Qianxun ignored him, turning to Bai Tianxing. "How long stationed at Iron-Walled Jin City?"

"Full Hundred Years!" Bai Tianxing puffed chest. "Nothing escaped my notice!"

"Perfect." Mo Qianxun smiled dangerously. "Let’s discuss… events from ten years back."

"This—" Bai Tianxing trembled violently, his face paling as he instinctively turned to the Head of the Bai Family for help.

The Head of the Bai Family broke out in cold sweat under Mo Qianxun’s piercing gaze, yet dared not react, standing rigid as a wooden post to avoid suspicion.

Others now noticed the strangeness. Bai Tianxing had boasted complete familiarity with Iron-Walled Jin City, yet one question from the Sect Leader left him sweating and seeking aid. To these shrewd Thunder Tribulation Immortals, this amounted to a self-confession—clear proof of wrongdoing.

After prolonged silence, Mo Qianxun growled, "Well? Cat got your tongue? Weren’t you Iron-Walled Jin City’s foremost expert? Can’t handle a simple question?"

"N-no! I’m just… carefully recalling!" Bai Tianxing stammered. "But truly, I remember nothing from over a decade ago!"

"Seems your mind’s truly rotten." Mo Qianxun’s voice turned icy. "Then you’re useless to us."

His palm shot forward—no magic surge, no Divine Light. Yet when it connected, Fire Tribulation Immortal Bai Tianxing detonated like ignited Divine Lightning. Flesh, bone, and blood erupted across the hall, drenching the nearby Bai Family Head in gore.

Gasps filled the chamber. Mo Qianxun, known for leniency, had only executed one Higher-up before—a Wind Tribulation Immortal who’d betrayed sect secrets. Now he’d obliterated a respected Fire Tribulation Immortal! The message was clear: the Bai family’s crimes must be monumental.

The Bai Family Head gaped in disbelief. "Senior Brother Sect Leader! What crime warranted this?!"

"Feigning ignorance?" Mo Qianxun snarled. "Still think me a fool?"

"If… if this concerns old matters," the Head faltered, "why kill him over some materials? He was our pillar! Our blood!"

"Pillar?" Mo Qianxun scoffed. "Name one merit."

"He… guarded Iron-Walled Jin City for a Hundred Years! That’s labor if not merit!"

Even as he spoke, the Head flushed with shame. Mo Qianxun’s face darkened. "Shameless! That rat embezzled high-rank materials worth ten Eighth-rank Treasures from Iron-Walled Jin City! You call this ‘some materials’?!"

"Everyone skims a little!" the Head protested. Murmurs of agreement rose—many present had kin in similar posts.

Mo Qianxun’s laughter chilled the room. "A little? A millennium’s plunder equals ten Eighth-rank Treasures! Your ‘little’ nearly bled the sect dry!"