The smoke and dust settled, and where the thirty elders had stood, a pit about a meter deep had formed.
They lay in the pit in disarray, their bodies blackened as if they had just emerged from ink.
Some were gone, leaving only scattered fragments of flesh. The remaining ones were not faring any better.
Legs broken, arms severed, intestines spilling out, bones shattered into several pieces, internal organs ruptured and gasping for breath...
The people in the pit were in a pitiable state, while those outside the pit were stunned and their faces turned ashen.
Their fleeting pity could not suppress the urge to vomit, nor the fear in their hearts.
Especially those elders who had hesitated for a long time and had not stepped forward; they were now filled with lingering dread.
Those with weak stomachs vomited uncontrollably, even spitting out bile; those with stronger stomachs were immensely shocked and began to murmur amongst themselves!
"Holy crap! That was too powerful!"
"My heavens! What kind of spiritual art is that? The power is too immense!"
"Those were thirty elders, thirty at the mid-to-late stage of the Hua Yuan Realm, and they were all annihilated in one move. That was so cool!"
"Did you even go to school? She's a woman, how can you use 'cool'? You should use... awesome, yes, awesome! Damn it! That was too awesome!"
"...You're truly bizarre, your focus has gone to the Boundless Sea! Is the point 'cool' and 'awesome'? You're a complete idiot!"
"Hey, hey, hey, what is the Boundless Sea?"
"...It seems there's more than one bizarre person!!! However, I can tell you that the Boundless Sea is a legendary place, said to be located at the westernmost part of the Tian Yuan Continent..."
"A bunch of fools! With such a spectacular scene, you still have the energy to chatter nonsense!"
"It was spectacular, but also too bloody! By the way, does anyone know who this woman is?"
"She mentioned her surname was Zi earlier, and she's so stunningly beautiful. She looks no older than twelve or thirteen, and yet she's so powerful. Only one person fits so many criteria."
"Who?"
"Are you idiots? I've been so obvious, and you're still asking who! Who else could it be? Of course, it's the recently renowned young family head of the Zi family, Zi Linling!" Su Dan Fiction Network
"It's her? I heard she was a good-for-nothing for twelve years, and then she rose to power and took the position of the Zi family head. She destroyed the Nine Jue Peak and the Fairy Qingcheng, single-handedly challenged the Hundred Flowers Palace, and unified the mercenary groups in Xianhe Town. Every single thing she's done has been a major event shaking the Three Kingdoms!"
...
Discussions like these, whispered and rustled, filled the square.
Spies from other factions near the Flowing Clouds Sect spared no expense, using costly sound-and-image stones to record this earth-shattering strike.
Zi Linling saw everything but made no move.
She did not stop the distant spies.
She was about to head to the border of Jin Xia Country, and before that, she naturally had to settle matters with the Four Great Powers.
After dealing with the Flowing Clouds Sect, she still had to visit the Black Water Hall and the Sacred Cult. With the items in the sound-and-image stones, she expected things to become much easier.
Of course, it would also serve as a deterrent to other factions beyond the Four Great Powers.
Leng Si Ren struggled to climb out of the daze and looked at Zi Linling, saying, "You're too cruel!"
"Cruel?"
Zi Linling sneered, "This isn't called cruelty, this is called killing the chicken to warn the monkeys! Don't think I don't know about your sordid intentions."
"In fact, you already knew when Fu Liuyun framed me. Even if you didn't know about his arrangements, you could sense the energy fluctuations when the Zhutian Formation was activated. Moreover, I had already sliced the forbidden area a few times. With such a massive energy outburst, how could you not know?"
"You, oh no, it should be you – the Enforcement Elder Leng Si Ren, you led these people to sit back and watch the fight. Because no matter who between me and Fu Liuyun won, you could reap the benefits."
"If I won, Fu Liuyun would naturally be killed by me, and you could then take over the Flowing Clouds Sect and ascend to the position of Sect Master. If I lost, you wouldn't be at a disadvantage either; you could continue to pledge loyalty to Fu Liuyun. Anyway, Fu Liuyun's time in power has less than two years left, and by then, the position of the Flowing Clouds Sect Master would still fall to you."
"Leng Si Ren, from the moment you heard the summoning bell, you knew I had won. Because if Fu Liuyun had won, he would have returned to the sect silently to handle sect affairs and would have no need to ring the summoning bell."
"Then, you deliberately pretended not to know me, appearing indignant, but in reality, you were just trying to instigate them to turn against me. Because as long as you all joined forces to kill me, with your prestige and cultivation, you could still ascend to the position of the Flowing Clouds Sect Master."
"Leng Si Ren! Leng Shiren! Am I right?"
"Ignorant brat, utter nonsense! Pfft!" Leng Si Ren roared, spitting out a mouthful of blood, mixed with fragments of his internal organs.
He had already been severely injured by Zi Linling's attack but had been enduring it.
Now, with his conspiracy exposed by Zi Linling, his anger surged, aggravating his injuries, and he could no longer hold back, spitting it out.
Although he denied it, his confidence was clearly lacking.
Among the elders who had not stepped forward and the disciples who had been spared by Zi Linling, there were no shortage of sharp minds.
They looked at Leng Si Ren with strange expressions, a mixture of shock and disdain.
The upright and righteous Enforcement Elder was actually just an act; not only did he have schemes, but they were also grand ones.
This made them, who had always been oppressed by his power, feel a sense of stifled resentment.
It was like a rabbit being controlled by a fox with slightly higher cultivation.
"Utter nonsense? You know perfectly well whether I'm talking nonsense or not."
Zi Linling snorted coldly and continued, "Anyway, I'm not here for your unspeakable intentions today."
Her gaze fell on the elders and disciples who had not stepped forward. "You should be grateful that you didn't step forward, otherwise you wouldn't even know you were being used as pawns. Of course, being a pawn isn't the end of the world, but you've seen the consequences of being a pawn, haven't you?"
Everyone fell silent.
Zi Linling smiled, "From today onwards, the Flowing Clouds Sect belongs to the Zi family. Do you have any objections?"
"No... no!"
"No!"
"No!"
...
More and more people echoed her, eventually forming a unified voice: "No!"
Zi Linling nodded and said, "Very good! Don't worry, your cultivation resources will not be lacking, and there will even be many more."
Everyone's faces lit up with joy upon hearing this.
"But... I, Zi Linling, cannot tolerate betrayal. So, if you wish to withdraw now, I will not stop you. However, after today, you must not harbor any thoughts of betrayal, or you will face a fate ten times worse than theirs. Do you understand?"
"Understood!" everyone replied fearfully.