Volume 1 Volume 6 Chapter 121

Volume 6 Chapter 121: Gathering at Black Emperor Cliff (Part 2)

"Hmph!"

A cold snort was heard. To others, it sounded clear but ordinary, but for Gongsun Huasa, it felt like a sudden thunderclap, causing turmoil in his heart and almost making him spit out blood.

He turned to look at the source of the sound and saw a group of masters had already left the purple curtain. The others looked serious, making it hard to read their expressions, but only Mr. Liu had a dark look on his face, staring at him intensely.

Gongsun Huasa was startled and hurriedly pushed through the people around him, running to Immortal Zizhen and the other masters, bowing and saying, "Dear seniors, I did not act on my own. After you left, some Taoist friends kept accusing me. They not only distrust me but also want to harm me. To show my innocence, I had no choice but to…"

Hearing Gongsun Huasa’s defense, Mr. Liu snorted coldly again. Just as he was about to say something, Immortal Zizhen spoke first.

"Forget it, we have other matters to attend to. Let’s put this aside for now."

Seeing that Immortal Zizhen had no intention of explaining for Xu Qingfan, Mr. Liu felt a shock. Now, under Gongsun Huasa’s trickery, everyone had a preconceived notion about this matter, and with the attitudes of Zizhen and the others…

Xu Qingfan was in trouble.

"I will always protect you."

This was a promise Mr. Liu made to Xu Qingfan back in North Iceland, but at that moment, Mr. Liu could not be sure if he could still protect Xu Qingfan, especially since the opposing forces were too strong.

Just as Mr. Liu sighed and Zhang Xusheng smiled faintly, Immortal Zizhen took a step forward, looked around at all the heroes of the Righteous Alliance, and then spoke loudly, "Dear Taoist friends, I believe you must be very curious about why the ‘Eight Wilderness Hall’ has been destroyed by us, why the ‘Beast Madness cultivator’ has disappeared from the Shenzhou Continent due to our efforts, and why the Southern Wasteland demon beasts have been driven back to the Southern Wasteland. It seems that the cultivation world has returned to peace, and the calamity is over. However, the Righteous Alliance is still active and has even taken the initiative to attack Zhang Xusheng, and we will deal with the ‘Ming’ organization in the future. In fact, more than a hundred years ago, I and the other masters uncovered a shocking secret: all the actions of the ‘Ming’ organization over the past tens of thousands of years have been to restore the Shura Clan!"

As Immortal Zizhen’s words echoed, thousands of heroes from the Righteous Alliance erupted in a flurry of noise. Xu Qingfan has turned to darkness and become the Demon Master, representing the revival of evil, and now the Shura Clan is about to return…

After endless calamities, these events keep happening. Is this a sign that heaven wants to destroy humanity?

After a brief moment of noise among the cultivators, they quickly calmed down again, listening quietly as Immortal Zizhen continued. The Righteous Alliance had gone through great trials but achieved victory each time. Zizhen and the others had earned their trust; although they felt panic, they believed that no matter how great the calamity, Immortal Zizhen and the others would lead them forward.

Then, Immortal Zizhen spoke again, saying that the time had come for humanity’s survival, and the Righteous Alliance was needed to save them. After years of preparation, they were fully ready; the Shura Clan had not yet regained its strength, and the Righteous Alliance had a great chance of winning. He spoke words to inspire morale, saying that evil has never triumphed over good throughout history.

It must be said that while Immortal Zizhen may not be as strong as Mr. Liu or as cunning as Zhang Xusheng, he was the best leader among the masters. Over the years, he managed the vast Righteous Alliance with great order. At this moment, under his encouragement, the heroes of the Righteous Alliance cast aside their fears, filled with courage and morale, feeling like heroes and saviors of humanity.

…

However, among the large army of the Righteous Alliance, there were still dozens of people who had not been influenced by Immortal Zizhen. In fact, since the beginning, they had not listened to what Immortal Zizhen was saying at all.

The most obvious one was Gongsun Huasa, who successfully achieved his goals.

Things went even better than expected. Xu Qingfan not only killed Zhang Hualing but also fell into darkness. With his identity, he would never be able to turn things around again!

How long has he waited for this day? Gongsun Huasa could no longer remember, but it must have been at least a hundred years since the day Xu Qingfan took away his power. Now that Zhang Hualing was dead and Xu Qingfan was almost beyond redemption, as the Supreme Elder of the Jiuhua clan, he finally had complete control over his followers.

A long, long time ago, Gongsun Huasa was just a simple cultivator. Although he was quite skilled, under the strong oppression of Zhang Hualing and the then Supreme Protector Zhou Huahai, he could only behave himself, managing a few junior disciples while focusing on his own cultivation.

However, after the catastrophe of Jiuhua, with many top experts either dead or injured, he unexpectedly became the Supreme Elder of Jiuhua, second only to one. From that moment on, everything changed. Watching his disciples bow respectfully when they saw him, seeing the elders who used to be on equal footing with him now asking for his advice respectfully, and realizing he held the power over rewards and punishments for everyone in Jiuhua, Gongsun Huasa transformed almost overnight. He could clearly feel the benefits of power and the endless ambition he hadn’t even known he had. Once that long-suppressed ambition was awakened, it became incredibly powerful.

However, this honored time came to an end quickly. Xu Qingfan became the steward protector of Jiuhua. His position was lower than Gongsun Huasa’s, but he was the future sect leader of Jiuhua. This would have been fine, but Xu Qingfan quietly took away most of Gongsun Huasa’s power from him. For Gongsun Huasa, who was becoming addicted to his authority, this was simply unforgivable. After repeatedly clashing with Xu Qingfan and suffering defeat each time, the disappointment from the older generation of elders and the disdain from the new generation deeply hurt the most sensitive parts of his heart. From that moment on, he grew to hate Xu Qingfan.

Toppling Xu Qingfan would also be a heavy blow to Jiuhua. Gongsun Huasa knew this well, but no one could imagine how intense the hatred could be after being suppressed for over a hundred years. Driven by ambition, he was willing to do anything to take down Xu Qingfan, even at the cost of Jiuhua’s thousand-year reputation.

"In the past, Jiuhua’s reputation belonged to Xu Qingfan. But now, Jiuhua is mine. I am the true leader of Jiuhua!"

Gongsun Huasa secretly thought to himself, feeling very proud. If Immortal Zizhen wasn’t right in front of him, he wouldn’t have been able to stop himself from laughing.

…

Compared to Gongsun Huasa’s pride, Li Yuhan was filled with anger as he glared at him.

He didn’t know that Gongsun Huasa was aware of Xu Qingfan’s plan to kill Zhang Hualing and had already made preparations. He also never expected that Gongsun Huasa would be willing to ruin Jiuhua’s thousand-year reputation to strike at Xu Qingfan. So when Gongsun Huasa took out the "Shadow Tear," he was too late to stop it and could only watch as the name of Jiuhua Holy Land shattered before his eyes.

For years, Li Yuhan had tirelessly plotted, hoping to solve the issues with Xu Qingfan and Zhang Hualing without harming Jiuhua’s reputation. Yet he never imagined that his careful plan would be destroyed by Gongsun Huasa before it even began!

"That guy deserves a terrible fate!"

Normally calm and humble, Li Yuhan couldn’t help but curse at this moment.

"Yuhan, wasn’t this matter known only to you, Junior Brother Xu, and the sect leader? How did Gongsun Huasa find out? It seems he was well-prepared."

Lv Qingshang frowned and asked. Shortly after Zhang Xusheng’s underlings escaped, Li Yuhan had shared the situation with Zhang Hualing and Xu Qingfan with Bai Qingfu and Lv Qingshang, hoping to come up with a plan together, but their plans had not even formed before things turned out like this.

"I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him because I already knew that once someone like him found out, it would cause trouble. But I didn’t expect he already knew."

"Something feels wrong," Bai Qingfu said with a frown. "Xu Qingfan is surrounded by demonic energy. It’s impossible for Zhang Xusheng’s secret method to do that. He has entered the path of demons, not the path of evil. I fear there is more to this story."

Li Yuhan smiled bitterly, feeling helpless. "Regardless of whether there are hidden truths, the thousand-year reputation of Jiuhua has already been ruined. When I learned that the sect leader was practicing Zhang Xusheng’s secret method and was invaded by evil energy, and at that moment with Martial Uncle Xu, I already thought of his fate. But I didn’t expect things to turn out like this."

After a pause, Li Yuhan sighed sadly and said, "I am sorry for the old man’s request."

"There must be a turn of events; don’t be too pessimistic." Bai Qingfu patted Li Yuhan’s shoulder and encouraged him.

While speaking, he suddenly felt a chill in his heart. When he turned around, he found that Zhang Xusheng had somehow discovered him and was looking at him with great interest.

…

While Gongsun Huasa was overjoyed and Li Yuhan was extremely angry, Ting’er, Zhang Ningmei, and Bai Yu were full of worry. The surrounding cultivators were still glancing at them, but before it was because of their spirit pet, and now it was because of their master, Xu Qingfan!

"Master actually killed the sect leader? What should we do?"

Bai Yu murmured anxiously.

Under Xu Qingfan’s protection, Bai Yu was still inexperienced and did not understand the fear and hatred cultivators had for demon cultivators. He was still worried about Xu Qingfan having killed Zhang Hualing, not knowing that his concern was not a real problem.

"Also, in the picture, the master is surrounded by dark energy, and his face is covered in black patterns. He seems to be in a strange state."

Zhang Ningmei also frowned with worry.

However, Ting’er had grasped the key earlier: Xu Qingfan killing Zhang Hualing was not the issue; Xu Qingfan’s strength and influence were far greater than Zhang Hualing, the sect leader. The real problem was that Xu Qingfan had turned to darkness, and cultivators and demon cultivators were sworn enemies.

Ting’er still remembered how the cultivators of Penance Valley treated her, a harmless little girl, when they discovered she had been corrupted.

"Master, he has turned to darkness."

Ting’er murmured.

"What?"

Bai Yu and Zhang Ningmei asked in surprise.

Ting’er did not answer their questions but suddenly looked up and asked, "I want to find my master. Are you coming with me?"

"Yes."

The answer to Ting’er’s question came from six people all at once.

Ting’er was startled and turned to look at the four people who had appeared next to their elder martial sister without them noticing.