The righteous path punishes Heaven

Chapter 64 Settling Accounts After the Autumn Harvest

"Who...who are you?" The person who had just been saved struggled to his feet and helped Zhang Yunling up.

"You must be Ancestor Duan Rong! I am Zhang Yunling, an inner disciple of the Quanzhen Sect. Your nephew, Duan Suchen, has usurped the throne and become the sect leader by massacring his clansmen. Please come down from the mountain and subdue him!"

"How could he have committed such a heinous act? A hundred years ago, he locked me in this secluded chamber, cutting off all contact with the outside world. I had long suspected that he would rebel, but I never expected him to actually harm a member of the Duan family!"

Seeing that it was working, Zhang Yunling was secretly pleased and hurriedly added fuel to the fire: "You don't know this, but your trusted confidant, Senior Duan Weihuang, was poisoned and persecuted by him and expelled from the sect for decades!"

Upon hearing this, Duan Rong was filled with rage. Although his cultivation had been dormant for a long time, it suddenly erupted under the influence of his emotions, revealing the aura of the Nascent Soul Realm.

"Where is he? Take me to see him!" Duan Rong punched the stone brick on the top of his head, stretched out his arm and grabbed Zhang Yunling around his waist, then took a big step and flew outside.

Inner Gate, Elders' Pavilion.

Duan Weihuang was surrounded by a group of elders in the center of the hall. No one spoke first, and each of them was thinking about their next move.

Elder Ren Tianxiong thought to himself, "This day has finally come. Fortunately, I have never abandoned the light for the dark and have only been dedicated to the development of the sect. I am upright and have nothing to fear."

The Second Elder, Duan Liangyong, was different. Like the Fourth and Fifth Elders, he was a member of the rebels who supported Duan Suchen as the sect leader back then. Although no one mentions this matter now, they all know that it is something that can never be seen by anyone.

The Third Elder, Ming Shan, always maintained a carefree attitude. Back then, he did not choose to take sides, but only guarded his own little corner of the world, keeping to himself and others and maintaining a neutral stance.

Duan Suchen broke the silence, saying, "Since you have already chosen to leave the sect, why have you returned today?"

Upon hearing this, Duan Weihuang looked at Duan Suchen, his sharp gaze piercing through the other's psychological defenses like a sword. Before he could utter a single word, Duan Suchen was already sweating profusely.

"This old fellow is still as terrifying as ever after all these years. Although my cultivation is now a level above his, I still can't act rashly. If I were to secretly kill him again, it might jeopardize the reputation I've worked so hard to build as the sect leader..."

Duan Suchen muttered to himself, but just a glance at Duan Weihuang made him a little flustered. Although his cultivation had reached the Nascent Soul Realm, his temperament was still not stable enough due to his young age.

"Nephew, let's skip the banquet. I'm here to find someone; he's my apprentice," Duan Weihuang said in a deep voice, his tone calm, but it made the atmosphere tense again.

"Your apprentice? There are no apprentices here. If you're looking for trouble, I can have a match with you. The era of you old folks is over. Now it's our turn to call the shots!"

Duan Suchen was about to continue his threats when he was interrupted by a loud voice:

"His apprentice is here, that's me!"

All eyes were focused on the source of the voice, where a black-robed youth pointed his thumb at himself and shouted, "Duan Suchen! You traitorous scoundrel, you can't wait to kill my master? Open your dog eyes and see who this is!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a person walked out from behind Zhang Yunling. The person was wearing a blue robe that Zhang Yunling had given him, and with his youthful appearance restored after being purified by the Jade Bottle, he was not recognized at first glance.

Duan Suchen sneered, raised his chin arrogantly, and said, "What, reinforcements sent by the monkey?"

When these words reached the ears of the person next to Zhang Yunling, it was as if a super bomb had been detonated. A soaring aura suddenly erupted from his body, and the powerful cultivation force was like an invisible slap that hit Duan Suchen's upturned face, sending him flying backward and embedding him in the wall behind him.

"You unfilial son! You still dare to act recklessly even now! I'll break both your arms and legs!"

All the elders were horrified and dared not make a move, but Duan Weihuang threw down his cane and shouted in surprise, "Could it be... the old sect master? It's the old sect master Duan Rong!!"

"What?!" Ren Tianxiong turned his head sharply and looked over, his face showing surprise.

"Old...Old Sect Master?!" Duan Liangyong's already horrified face turned even paler, and he collapsed to his knees, powerless. Scenes from the past flashed through his mind, and he couldn't believe that what he was seeing was real.

Duan Rong rushed forward like a rocket and grabbed Duan Suchen by the neck. He was no longer the old man he was a hundred years ago, but had returned to his youthful appearance, which made Duan Suchen even more terrified and unable to believe that the uncle in front of him was real.

But the pain he felt told him that it had all really happened. His uncle, whom he had painstakingly framed, had come back to life. The elder Duan Weihuang, who had poisoned and persecuted him, had also returned to settle accounts. Even Zhang Yunling, whom he considered as insignificant as an ant, had dealt him a fatal blow at this moment.

Everything spiraled out of his control. Duan Suchen, who relied on his ruthless methods and left no survivors, finally met his deserved end.

“A hundred years ago you were only at the early Nascent Soul stage, but now you’ve reached the Divine Transformation stage. Why don’t you let your uncle see how you cultivate!”

Having said that, Duan Rong formed his right hand into a claw and grabbed Duan Suchen's crown. Golden spiritual power surged from his fingertips, which was the Soul Searching Technique!

No one in the hall dared to speak out in protest; everyone waited quietly for the verdict.

Duan Rong's lips curled slightly upwards, and he sneered through gritted teeth: "Very well...very well...what a wondrous technique...you know that our sect values ​​mutual progress, so why don't I, your uncle, make your cultivation method public so that all the disciples of the sect can observe and learn from it?!"

Duan Suchen's eyes turned red, and his cultivation erupted as he tried to resist Duan Rong's suppression. At this moment, Ren Tianxiong decisively made a move and forcibly suppressed the power that Duan Suchen was about to release.

"You!..." Duan Suchen stared at Ren Tianxiong in despair, with tears of blood even streaming down his face. Duan Rong ignored all of this, directly sealing Duan Suchen's cultivation by striking his acupoints, then grabbed him and flew him out of the Elders' Pavilion.

Duan Weihuang and the other elders followed. Seeing that things were developing as he had expected, Zhang Yunling took the lead and flew out, using his cultivation to amplify his voice, shouting loudly to the entire inner sect:

"The sect's patriarch has emerged from seclusion! All disciples, quickly assemble in the plaza to receive his teachings!"

With that shout, six or seven tenths of the disciples rushed over and immediately saw Duan Rong in mid-air and Duan Suchen in his hand.

"Today I will show you how your current sect leader cultivated from the Nascent Soul stage to the Deity Transformation stage!"

Duan Rong once again used the Soul Searching Technique, but this time it was different. He used his powerful divine sense to directly materialize the memory images in Duan Suchen's mind. This was a technique that only a super strong person with a cultivation level of the Divine Transformation Realm could do.

All the disciples looked up curiously, and even Ren Jixing and other sect prodigies rushed over, all focusing their attention on the scene.

The image gradually becomes clearer from a blurry state, presented from Duan Suchen's first-person perspective.

Back then, Duan Rong had been in seclusion for a hundred years. Duan Suchen poisoned and harmed the then Grand Elder Duan Weihuang, forcing him to leave the Quanzhen Sect, and then supported Duan Liangyong and others to become elders.

The former senior leader, Ren Tianxiong, was difficult to touch because of his marriage alliance with the Duan family. Moreover, Ren Tianxiong was very pragmatic and took the initiative to show his closeness to Duan Suchen, so he was arranged to become the new Grand Elder.

Later, Duan Suchen sealed Duan Rong's secluded cultivation room and placed a seal on it, completely isolating him from the outside world and causing Duan Rong to lose contact with everyone else.

At this moment, Duan Suchen struggled to reach for his waist and realized that his sect leader token had been stolen by Zhang Yunling once again. But it was too late for him to regret it now.

The scene continues, and Duan Suchen accidentally discovers the cultivation method left behind by the first ancestor when he leaves the secluded cultivation place where Duan Rong is.

This secluded cultivation room was used by all the sect leaders in the past. The first ancestor left the cultivation manual here for the subsequent sect leaders to read and comprehend.

This manual was none other than the Innate Skill. Duan Suchen put it away and, after returning to the Elders' Pavilion to inherit the position of sect leader, studied the Innate Skill, which raised his cultivation level to the late Nascent Soul stage.

However, this Innate Skill only contains the cultivation method up to the late Nascent Soul stage, and there are no records of the subsequent stages. Duan Suchen also remained at the late Nascent Soul stage for decades without making any progress.

Later, Ice Lotus Fairy Chu Yanbing joined the Quanzhen Sect and came into contact with Duan Suchen. The two gave each other benefits. Duan Suchen gave Chu Yanbing the Bodhi Tree Branch, a magical treasure he obtained by chance, while Chu Yanbing taught Duan Suchen the Northern Darkness Demon Art.

Using the Northern Darkness Demonic Arts, Duan Suchen slaughtered countless cultivators, seizing their dantian cultivation. He even killed many members of the Duan clan, falsely claiming they had died from failed tribulations. In reality, they were all killed because their spiritual energy attributes were most compatible with Duan Suchen's.

Because of the side effect of this sorcery, Duan Suchen also absorbed essence and blood from it, restoring his appearance from middle age to that of a young man.

Ultimately, having absorbed the cultivation and souls of countless cultivators, Duan Suchen successfully transcended his tribulation and reached the Nascent Soul Realm.

The scene ended there, and the entire place fell into a deathly silence.