In midair, Wan Qi Ze raised his hand and gently swept his sleeve, catching Yuan Ming who was sent flying and shielding him appropriately. Only then did he turn to Bi Changyou with an implicating tone and said,

"Fellow Daoist Bi, it seems that your Chaotian Sect still has some internal issues to deal with, eh?"

Changle Peak's Peak Master Bi Changyou withdrew his gaze from the phantom in the sky and looked through the shattered gates of the Cave Mansion at Shen Lingyun, whose face was dark with anger. Hesitating for a moment, he did not take action to capture Shen Lingyun but instead asked,

"Junior Brother Shen, what's going on here?"

"Senior Brother Bi, this is a setup. My unruly disciple must have been beguiled by someone. He's trying to use this method to frame me. The wounds on his body were clearly self-inflicted with a Magic Artifact; it has nothing to do with me!" Shen Lingyun immediately defended himself.

"Oh, is that so? Yet, the Spiritual Power swirling around the wound seems to be from the Core Formation Stage Mana, what do you think, Fellow Daoist Bi?" Wan Qi Ze suddenly interjected.

Bi Changyou released his Divine Sense to envelop Yuan Ming and quickly discovered that what Wan Qi Ze had said was true. There were indeed remnants of Core Formation Stage Mana around Yuan Ming's wounds, undeniable evidence.

His expression immediately darkened, his gaze fixed intently on Shen Lingyun, and his tone became much less cordial.

"Junior Brother Shen, I need an explanation."

"Senior Brother Bi, I noticed this rebellious disciple acting suspiciously lately, seemingly colluding with outsiders, so I took action to test him. Now it appears that he's clearly involved with this person from the Chang Chun Temple!" Shen Lingyun's eyes swiftly swept over Yuan Ming and Wan Qi Ze, as if he had realized something, then he coldly said.

Upon hearing this, Wan Qi Ze's brow furrowed, and he set the severely injured Yuan Ming down on the ground. After casting a cold glance at Shen Lingyun, he turned and cupped his hands towards Bi Changyou, saying,

"Fellow Daoist Bi, don't involve others in your sect's internal affairs. As for today's incident, I have taken note of it. Once you have dealt with it, you owe Chang Chun Temple an explanation."

After speaking, Wan Qi Ze left without any intention of staying. Although Shen Lingyun wanted to stop him, he knew it was impossible, especially with Bi Changyou standing right there.

A flicker of anger crossed Bi Changyou's face but it was unrelated to Wan Qi Ze.

Shen Lingyun, seeing Wan Qi Ze act this way, was even more bewildered. He couldn't understand how events had unfolded to this point. Although he was an undercover agent, how did his disciple come to know the truth? And who had arranged this series of plans?

Meanwhile, the disturbance at Lingxng Peak had attracted the attention of the other Core Formation Peak Masters of the Chaotian Sect. They flew out from their Cave Mansions one after another, seeing the mess at the entrance of Shen Lingyun's Cave Mansion yet not knowing what had happened.

Bi Changyou, not wishing to air dirty laundry at such a critical time and wanting to keep the issue within the sect, briefly explained the situation to the other Peak Masters who had arrived. He then took them towards Shen Lingyun's Cave Mansion, intending to clear up the truth privately.

Just then, Shen Lingyun suddenly smiled, took out a token, and stimulated his Mana to activate a Formation that had been surreptitiously set up within the mountain beforehand.

However, when his Mana infused the token, it only glowed momentarily before dimming again. No Formation emerged on Lingxing Peak, nor was there even a substantial ripple of Spiritual Power.

Realizing something, he turned incredulously towards Yuan Ming, who was lying on the ground, and let out a roar of despair.

"You little thief, how dare you..."

Bi Changyou's brow furrowed as he saw Shen Lingyun behaving like a madman and realized something was amiss. He immediately tried to cast magic to capture him, but suddenly, from behind him, another Core Formation Stage Peak Master spat out a Jade Ruyi and took him by surprise with an attack.

Caught off guard, Bi Changyou quickly raised a Protective Light Shield, but he was still knocked back by the impact of the Jade Ruyi.

Just as he was about to question the Peak Master for such actions, he saw that in the sky above, several Core Formation Peak Masters were attacking those beside them, and within the Chaotian Sect's twenty-one peaks, four were suddenly enveloped in Formations. Columns of light shot up into the sky like beacons.

At the same time, beside Shen Lingyun, an old man clothed in gray appeared suddenly and silently, not revealing the slightest bit of his aura.

The old man looked at Shen Lingyun discontentedly and muttered,

"Useless."

Seeing the old man appear, Shen Lingyun was overjoyed. Hearing the rebuke, he kneeled down in a panic,

"Please forgive me, Master."

"Considering your past loyalty, your death penalty can be spared but punishment is inevitable. The specific penalty will depend on your performance in the mission from here on out," the old man said coldly.

"Yes, thank you for your mercy, Master. I will give it my all and not disappoint you," Shen Lingyun said earnestly, knocking his head on the ground like he was pounding garlic.

As chaos unfolded in the sky, an inexplicable power surged out from the top of the Chaotian Sect's Main Peak, falling upon each Peak Master and instantly revitalizing them, with their injuries also showing significant healing.

Following that, two tunneling lights shot out from the Main Peak, swiftly arriving above Lingxing Peak. The tunneling light dissipated, revealing the figures of an old and a young Cultivator, their presence vast and mighty, unmistakably two Nascent Soul Cultivators.

The elder Nascent Soul Cultivator had white hair and beard, wearing a plain Daoist robe and holding a whisk in his hand, his face bearing an expression of sorrow for the world.

The younger one was a ten-year-old girl in red clothes and shoes, with twin ponytails adorned with bells on her ponytail holders that jingled crisply from time to time.

The Daoist-robed elder was about to ask about the situation, but upon lowering his head and seeing the grey-robed elder standing beside Shen Lingyun, his sorrowful face suddenly changed, revealing a look of shock.

"Junior Brother, you're actually still alive!"

"Heh, yes, I am still alive. Surprised? Are you regretting your moment of soft-heartedness back then, not killing me when you had the chance?" the grey-robed elder sneered, also stepping into the sky step by step.

"So many years have passed, are you still so obstinate?" the Daoist-robed elder sighed.

"Hmph, what a joke. Wasn't it you and that old thing who wanted to snatch my treasure and plotted against me? Now it turns out to be my 'obstinacy' in your mouth; when it comes to inverting right and wrong, you people are indeed a bit more skilled," the grey-robed elder scoffed coldly.

"Back then, you killed people to refine corpses and caused harm to countless cultivators, even disrupting the mortal realm. Our master and I only wished for you to wake up and repent. I didn't expect that you'd see it this way. Alas, I was too merciful and soft-hearted then. Let me personally correct that mistake today," said the Daoist-robed elder, shaking his head as his expression gradually turned colder.

"Haha, so you're finally dropping the act? But now that we are both at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage, it won't be so easy for you to kill me," the grey-robed elder laughed disdainfully.

"What bold words. But have you forgotten about me!" the Nascent Soul girl shouted, about to take action, when suddenly thunderous rumbling approached from the horizon.

"Fellow Daoist Xi, this is a grudge between these brothers; I think it's better you don't interfere," a brawny man with a full beard and bare upper body suddenly flew to the side of the grey-robed elder.

"Lei Kuang, so you were the one behind this all along!" A hint of surprise mixed with a bit of wariness flashed in the eyes of the female cultivator surnamed Xi.

"What do you mean 'behind this'? I just think that Fellow Daoist Kang has such talent and rightfully belongs to the orthodox lineage of the Chaotian Sect. It's a pity he was harmed by treacherous people. Don't you agree, Fellow Daoist Le?" Lei Kuang laughed loudly, turning his head to ask.

"Well said."

Along with the chilly voice, another cultivator shrouded in a black robe appeared beside Kang's Nascent Soul.

"The Beiming Scatter Alliance, huh? It seems, Junior Brother Kang, you've prepared quite a bit in secret. But today, Senior Brother shall teach you a lesson—the Cultivation World ultimately speaks with strength!" The Daoist-robed elder's eyes flashed, and his aura surged forth, pressing towards a late-stage Nascent Soul.

In the next instant, five Nascent Soul existences took action simultaneously, and a fierce battle erupted in an instant.

For a time, the half-sky above Lingxing Peak was filled with thunderous noises as various spirit lights and magic treasures illuminated the sky brightly.

Simultaneously, inside the Chaotian Sect, many disciples of the Five Thunder Sect along with black-robed loose cultivators appeared. Together with the rebellious cultivators of the Chaotian Sect, they plunged the entire sect into the flames of war.

Meanwhile, at Lingxing Peak, as Kang's Nascent Soul ascended to mid-air, Shen Lingyun didn't dare delay any longer. He immediately got up, preparing to go to execute the Chaotian Sect's Core Formation disciples.

But before that, he intended to first deal with the traitorous disciple who made him reveal himself prematurely.

However, when he looked towards where Yuan Ming had just been, he found nothing but a pool of fresh blood.

Among the dense forests, Yuan Ming, having slightly recovered from his injuries with the help of the elixir given secretly by Wan Qi Ze, immediately hid and started gathering intelligence by every means possible.

Reflecting on his failed plan, Yuan Ming found two flaws: first, he had taken too long, allowing not only the traitorous disciples within the sect to catch up to him but also their external allies to arrive in time.

Second, he had underestimated the situation with the sect's traitors, mistakenly assuming there was only Shen Lingyun; otherwise, he would never have caused such a commotion, alerting those traitors to Shen Lingyun's exposure.

As Yuan Ming was contemplating how to make use of his final chance to redo everything, he suddenly felt a shock in his heart as if he were being targeted by a venomous snake.

He immediately took out his magic artifact to protect his body, but in the next instant, he saw the scenery around him change dramatically. The towering trees all turned blood-red, and human faces began to slowly appear on them.

"Traitor, why did you betray me!"

Countless voices echoed in Yuan Ming's ears. He was astonished. In the next moment, his body uncontrollably lifted into the air, suspended mid-air.

Figures identical to Shen Lingyun emerged from the Blood Trees, flew into the sky, and surrounded Yuan Ming, frantically gnawing at his flesh.

However, since Yuan Ming was already within an Illusion Array trial, he felt no pain, though he was extremely startled internally.

As a Soul Cultivator, he knew there was only one magic that could cause the current scene—Illusion Technique.

The records left by the Shura Master didn't mention Shen Lingyun knowing any Illusion Techniques, let alone one so powerful that a common magic practitioner couldn't execute it.

Shen Lingyun is a Soul Cultivator.

That thought flashed through Yuan Ming's mind, and then everything went dark and bright again—he was back in the side room.

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