"Chu Yuan, this Ultimate Divine Radiance is a lesson from me to you!"
"From now on, you will never be able to cultivate again. You will have to use all your cultivation just to suppress this ray of Ultimate Divine Radiance. By the time you manage to fully dissipate it, you will already be nothing more than a cripple."
"I am doing this to let the world know: anyone who dares to defy me, even if you are the sect's senior disciple, even if you are my own student, I will show no mercy!"
Xiao Junmo looked down at Chu Yuan with a cold, indifferent expression.
The people in the main hall were so terrified they didn't dare speak. As expected of a powerhouse at the Peak Saint Lord Realm; with a single blow, he had severely crippled a genius prodigy at the Peak Heaven Realm!
Chu Yuan gritted his teeth as he lay on the ground. A foreign energy still lingered in the bloodied hole in his chest, instantly burrowing into his internal organs, his meridians, and even invading his foundation.
It was slowly eroding his life.
The method was vicious, forcing him to watch his cultivation wither away in agony. This was far more painful than simply killing someone.
"Sect Master, what shall we do next?" the Enforcement Elder asked cautiously.
"Take him to the forbidden grounds behind the mountain! Without my command, he is not to be released!"
"When he recognizes his errors and shows genuine repentance, then we shall discuss his fate."
"As you command!"
In front of everyone in the Qingyun Sect, the Enforcement Elder prepared to help Chu Yuan up to take him to the forbidden grounds. At this moment, Chu Yuan had been blasted by the Ultimate Divine Radiance to the point of near-death; he could not even stand.
"Wait! Who gave you permission to move him?"
Xiao Junmo stood at the head of the hall, sneering with haughty contempt. "Let him go himself! If he can't stand, let him crawl!"
"This..."
In front of all the high-ranking members of the Qingyun Sect, they were to make Chu Yuan crawl to the forbidden grounds? Outside the Enforcement Hall, the entire sect—from inner disciples to outer disciples—was gathered. If Chu Yuan crawled out, one could only imagine the devastating blow it would deal to his Dao heart!
This was an attempt to utterly destroy him.
"Sect Master, Chu Yuan was, after all, our sect's strongest prodigy and a role model for countless disciples. If he is humiliated to this extent, I fear it will have a negative impact..."
Xiao Junmo glanced coldly at the Enforcement Elder. He then turned his gaze toward the fallen Chu Yuan with oppressive weight, speaking indifferently:
"You were a prodigy, yes, but you must understand: I am the one who made you a prodigy, and I can destroy you just as easily!"
"A mere Heaven Realm practitioner—even if you broke through to the Saint Lord Realm, what of it? Before me, you are still nothing but an ant. The Qingyun Sect will not be affected in the slightest by the loss of a senior disciple like you."
"As long as I am here, the Qingyun Sect will shine forever!"
Everyone in the hall shivered. Given his status as a powerhouse at the Peak Saint Lord Realm, those words were certainly not an exaggeration—at least, that was how it appeared for now.
On the floor, Chu Yuan struggled to stand. His bones felt as though they had been struck by lightning, numb and aching, unable to exert force. His flesh felt as if it were being pricked by countless needles; only by constantly using his cultivation to combat the pain could he find any relief.
The crowd looked at Chu Yuan with complex expressions. A perfectly talented prodigy of the sect had ended up in this state because of "cultivating demonic arts"—it was truly heart-wrenching. Yet, it also served as a warning to the rest of the sect: anyone who dabbled in demonic arts would face the same wretched end!
However, from beginning to end, no one had actually verified whether Chu Yuan had truly practiced those demonic arts.
"Master! The senior brother seems to have realized his mistake. Why don't I take him to the forbidden grounds? After all, he is your student and our senior brother; it would be a disgrace to us all if he crawled there."
Beside Chu Yuan, his second junior sister, Han Renxue, spoke up once more. She had been sent flying by Chu Yuan’s blast earlier, but now she had returned to his side.
"Tsk, tsk, look at your junior sister—so kind-hearted. And yet you attacked her earlier. You are truly a cold and heartless man!"
"No wonder you are a demonic cultivator..."
The third junior sister, Jiang Wanqing, shook her head as she watched them. Having "seen" Chu Yuan’s true nature, she felt it was a waste of kindness for Han Renxue.
Seeing that Xiao Junmo remained silent, effectively giving his tacit approval, Han Renxue moved to support Chu Yuan’s arm. But in the next moment, her hand was slapped away by Chu Yuan.
"Get lost."
Chu Yuan spoke coldly. He knew Han Renxue was secretly thrilled by his downfall, yet she came here to help him with a fake, hypocritical facade. It was sickening.
"How excessive!"
"Senior Sister Han, a person like that isn't worth your kindness!"
The third junior sister, Jiang Wanqing, stomped her feet in frustration, gnashing her teeth. She could not stand Chu Yuan’s attitude at all. But when she remembered that he was about to become a cripple, she felt a little better.
"Senior Sister, leave him be! Let him go himself!" the sixth junior sister, Yu Qiuchiu, snorted.
Then, before everyone’s eyes, Chu Yuan turned and walked out of the hall, followed closely by the two Enforcement Elders.
...
After leaving the hall, Chu Yuan was followed by the two elders all the way to the forbidden grounds behind the mountain. Along the way, they encountered many disciples; seeing Chu Yuan in such a state, they were all shocked. Chu Yuan, who had won countless honors for the sect—what kind of crime could he have committed to end up like this, his chest drenched in blood?
"We have arrived. This is the forbidden ground."
"Chu Yuan, we are merely following the Sect Master's orders. Go inside; don't make it difficult for two old men like us."
The two Enforcement Elders stopped and spoke to Chu Yuan. But suddenly, their expressions changed. The Chu Yuan in front of them had dissolved into fragments of light and vanished into the wind!
"This..."
It was clear now: they had been guarding a mere decoy. His true self had already vanished.
"Struck by the 'Ultimate Divine Radiance,' a secret technique the Sect Master learned from the Polar Saint Land, his spiritual energy should have been sealed! How could he have escaped right under our noses? He truly deserves to be called a once-in-ten-thousand-years genius!"
"Quick, report this to the Sect Master! If something goes wrong, the Sect Master won't spare us."
The two Enforcement Elders hurried back to the hall.
Meanwhile, at the sixth peak of the Qingyun Sect, Chu Yuan’s figure appeared out of thin air. His injuries had vanished—the Ultimate Divine Radiance had remained within the decoy when Chu Yuan performed his "cicada shedding its skin" maneuver.
Being able to pull off such a feat was thanks to his memories from his past life. In that past life, Chu Yuan had stood at the absolute peak of this world. The methods he had mastered were naturally beyond comprehension.
"Sixth Peak, from this day forth, there is no more Chu Yuan here!"
Chu Yuan looked down at the sixth peak, his home for so long. Without a shred of emotion or nostalgia, he raised his hand and brought down a palm that covered the sky, crushing the entire peak into a crater!
Immediately after, he wrote a few large characters in the air before preparing to leave.
Suddenly, a "ding" sounded in his ear.
"Ding! Detected that the host has successfully broken away from the sect. The Demonic Path Point System is now bound!"
"From now on, every evil act the host commits will be rewarded with Demonic Path Points. These points can be used to increase cultivation, progress in techniques, activate physiques, and more..."
"A system, is it?"
...
Chu Yuan had vanished from the spot.
Not long after he left, Xiao Junmo arrived with several Enforcement Elders and disciples.
"Dammit! Who destroyed my sixth peak!?"
Gazing at the mountain range that had been flattened into a crater, Xiao Junmo was furious. Regrettably, no disciples lived near the sixth peak, so no one had witnessed it.
"No need to guess, it must have been senior brother Chu Yuan!" the third junior sister, Jiang Wanqing, said through gritted teeth.