C.3496: The Sword Sect of Startling Thunder (1)

“Why should we? Exactly why should we? Why should we listen to the orders of your Immortal Sect of Azure Foxes?”

“Yeah, why would we listen to your orders? Your Immortal Sect of Azure Foxes is stronger than us, but not to the extent that you can order us around.”

“Immortal Sect of Azure Foxes, you’ve gone too far. We’ve compromised again and again over the years. You better not take things too far.”

Before the sect master and elder Nong could even say anything, a few of the disciples down below had already lost control, calling out loudly in anger.

“Why? Just because our Immortal Sect of Azure Foxes is stronger than you. Just because your Sword Sect of Violet Heavens is absolutely feeble in the eyes of our Immortal Sect of Azure Foxes. The fact that I’ve come to contact you about this is already doing you a great favour. You Sword Sect of Violet Heavens better learn to be grateful.”

“And, watch your attitude. You better show some respect. If you really infuriate me, I’ll just leave the Immortal Sect of Azure Foxes and destroy your Sword Sect of Violet Heavens as an independent cultivator. Even if I’ll die in the end, you’ll definitely die before me.” Sima Changsheng smiled viciously.

“Hmph, since when have the disciples of our Sword Sect of Violet Heavens feared death? We’d rather die standing than live kneeling…” A core disciple of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens, Jin Sang, rushed into the air and arrived before the sect master, meeting Sima Changsheng’s gaze fearlessly.

“I’m tired of this too. At most, it’s just dying. Who’s afraid of who?”

Following Jin Sang, another core disciple rose up into the air. He was a burly man with a stocky build, currently overcome with fury.

The Immortal Sect of Azure Foxes’ actions had completely set off the anger repressed inside the disciples of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens. Many of the disciples down below stared at him furiously, completely casting aside their fear towards Immortal Monarchs. They directed their angry gazes at Sima Changsheng.

There were even some people with eyes filled with determination, like they were ready to anticipate death, unable to withstand this humiliation. They seemed like they were willing to go out with a bang in battle rather than endure this oppression any further.

Seeing how the situation was showing signs of losing control, the sect master suddenly called out, “All of you, shut up. Do you still recognise me as your sect master?” With that, the tremendous presence of an Immortal Monarch spread out, which made the disciples below feel like a mountain was weighing down on them. They felt like a rock had been pressed against their chests.

With the wrath of the sect master, the emotional disciples of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens gradually settled down. All of the disciples held in their anger silently.

“You two, get back down as well.” The sect master turned towards the two core disciples behind him.

Jin Sang and the burly man bowed towards the sect master before turning to the main peak despite their anger.

The sect master Chen Shuzhi looked at Sima Changsheng. His expression had not changed in all this time. “Great elder Changshang, please return. Our Sword Sect of Violet Heavens has already received your esteemed sect’s request.”

“I hope you know what you should do.” Sima Changsheng turned around and left after throwing that behind.

When the protective formation of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens closed up again, all of the disciples huddled around Chen Shuzhi and Nong Fugui. They all tried to speak over each other.

“What do we do, sect master? Do we really have to listen to them?”

“Sect master, we’ll never agree. We’d rather die than submit.”

“The Immortal Sect of Azure Foxes has gone too far. Sect master, we’ll throw our lives at them. Even if we know it’s a futile effort, we still want to go out with a bang. We swear we’ll maintain a backbone, even if we die.”

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…

“Nonsense!” Chen Shuzhi called out. He slowly glanced past everyone sharply and said, “From today onwards, do not use the Energy-gathering Divine Mountain without my orders.”

“Sect master…” Many of the disciples were disappointed. Many of their gazes immediately dimmed, and some of them even felt despair.

Without the support of the disciples, the Energy-gathering Divine Mountain vanished into space again. The Sword Sect of Violet Heavens’ right to use the Energy-gathering Divine Mountain to gather spiritual Qi once a year had been revoked by an Immortal Monarch of the Immortal Sect of Azure Foxes just like that.

From that moment onwards, the atmosphere in the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens became deathly silent as if it had lost its liveliness. Many of the disciples of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens became silent. Only the weaker disciples who had only joined the sect recently buried their heads in cultivation as if they were completely unaware of anything.

The auxiliaries instead had it easy. After all, the Immortal Sect of Azure Foxes had instead helped them out, allowing them to save a lot of energy. As a matter of fact, they did not have any obligations. All they had to do was remain there for ten thousand years to earn the right to view the Immortal Emperor’s letters.

In the blink of an eye, several days had passed. Jian Chen proactively visited the core disciple Jin Sang and gained a greater understanding of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens’ situation from him.

“Sigh, our Sword Sect of Violet Heavens doesn’t have any mines or businesses. All of the disciples in the sect, regardless of cultivation, basically never venture out, just in case they vanish mysteriously or are caught in the schemes of organisations with ulterior motives aimed at harming our sect.”

“As a result, if the disciples of our Sword Sect of Violet Heavens want to cultivate, we have to rely on the bit of spiritual Qi drawn over by the Energy-gathering Divine Mountain every year. Whenever the Energy-gathering Divine Mountain is activated, part of the spiritual Qi will be used on the sect formations to maintain their operations. Another part will be used on the medicinal garden to nourish the heavenly resources there. The rest is for our cultivation.”

“The spiritual Qi can last us for half a year at most before we run out of spiritual Qi. As such, we stop cultivating before spending most of our time condensing the Seven-coloured Sword Lotus.”

“Not only does condensing the Seven-coloured Sword Lotus deplete a tremendous amount of spiritual Qi, but we regularly have to radiate with sword intent to nourish it during its growth process. Our Sword Sect of Violet Heavens has to condense a Seven-coloured Sword Lotus every century because the Seven-coloured Sword Lotus we condense using the entire sect’s strength has to be handed over to the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder.”

“Why do you have to hand the Seven-coloured Sword Lotus to the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder?” Jian Chen could not help but ask.

“We need to go back several tens of thousand years for this. Back then, the youngest son of the sect master of the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder visited our sect. The person responsible for receiving him was our core disciple, Zi Yixin. In the end, the youngest son of the sect master was actually audacious to the extreme, using some kind of drug to temporarily seal up her cultivation in an attempt to defile her.”