Qingcheng Sect naturally resided on Qingcheng Mountain. As a renowned ancient martial arts sect in the southern border, its influence and overall strength were considerable.
As dusk descended, the western sky was painted a bloody red by the setting sun. The saying "setting sun like blood" added an air of somberness.
The two cars carrying Xiao Yunlong sped along the mountain road.
In fact, half an hour before Xiao Yunlong and his group departed, precisely when the two city lord's mansion guards arrived at the foot of the mountain by the Xiao family's tomb, another car, also from the city lord's mansion, had already rushed up the mountain.
Upon receiving the city lord's order, the adjutant did not delay, taking Qi Dengxian's personal letter and heading straight for Qingcheng Mountain.
Approximately an hour and a half later, the adjutant reached the summit. The mountain peak then revealed its appearance: palaces and Taoist temples stood in profusion, interspersed with pavilions and towers. As evening mist rose, the entire Qingcheng Sect was shrouded in a hazy veil, adding a touch of mystery.
After stating his origin, the adjutant was not obstructed and proceeded directly to the main hall.
Perhaps the remaining members of the Baili family were too consumed by grief and had forgotten, for although the Seven Sons of Qingcheng and the Four Elders of Qingcheng had been dead for over half a day, the Qingcheng Sect had still not received any news.
Therefore, the entire Qingcheng Sect remained peaceful. Many disciples were practicing their breathing exercises in the courtyard facing the setting sun, while others meditated cross-legged. Additionally, groups of disciples sparred with swords in the training grounds.
Given that he carried the city lord's directive, the Qingcheng Sect dared not be remiss. The sect leader, Yan Lingzi, personally welcomed him in the main hall.
However, upon hearing about the events that transpired at the Baili family's residence at noon, Yan Lingzi was struck as if by lightning, petrified on the spot, and unable to recover for a long time.
"Sect Leader Yan, please accept my condolences!" the adjutant could only offer words of comfort.
Yan Lingzi finally came back to his senses. Although he was filled with grief and anger, as the head of a sect, he possessed some composure and quickly regained his composure.
"Go back and tell your City Lord Qi that tomorrow, this sect leader, along with two Grand Elders, will personally visit the City Lord's Mansion to assist him. We will surely tear that brat surnamed Xiao to shreds!" Yan Lingzi gritted his teeth and snorted coldly.
"Excellent! With the assistance of Sect Leader Yan and your sect's two Grand Elders, that brat surnamed Xiao will surely die tomorrow!" the adjutant agreed with a smile.
"Given the unfortunate events that have befallen our sect, we will not keep you any longer. Please excuse yourself!" Yan Lingzi waved him away.
"I must also return immediately to report. Farewell!" the adjutant said, turning to leave.
"Xiao Yunlong, what a disgrace to the Xiao family, to dare to be so audacious, to kill my Seven Sons of Qingcheng and my Four Elders of Qingcheng! This hatred is irreconcilable!"
Yan Lingzi stood in the center of the hall, his grief and indignation lingering.
At this moment, the adjutant was already in his car, heading directly down the mountain. However, just then, two cars sped towards the square in front of the Qingcheng Sect's mountain gate.
Xiao Yunlong and his entourage alighted and walked directly towards the main gate.
"Who are you people? Stop! This is the Qingcheng Sect. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed to enter!"
Four disciples in green robes at the gate sternly shouted, all holding long swords. They were minor masters of inner strength.
"Immediately go and inform them that Xiao Yunlong is here, and quickly tell your sect leader to come out and die!"
Xiao Yunlong, with his hands behind his back, spoke in a deep, stern voice.
"Presumptuous! You blind fools, how dare you come to our Qingcheng Sect and..."
Before the guard could finish, Tu Fu made his move, slapping him away with a single palm.
"Insolent wretches! If you dare to spout more nonsense, do you believe I won't slap you to death with one palm?"
Tu Fu glared with his bell-like eyes, emanating a fierce aura.
The four gatekeepers were terrified. At this point, they dared not say another word. Two of them hurried inside, scrambling.
About two minutes later, without any warning, the entire Qingcheng Sect was suddenly filled with the sound of urgent bell tolls, nine in total.
The heavy, muffled chimes resonated like muffled thunder throughout Qingcheng Mountain, instantly shattering the tranquility before the onset of night.
"Nine bell tolls! This means the mountain gate is under attack by a strong enemy. Could it be..."
The two remaining guards at the entrance muttered. Suddenly, they realized something and looked up sharply at Xiao Yunlong, their faces filled with shock and horror.
Xiao Yunlong merely smiled faintly and then, with his hands behind his back, leisurely walked inside.
Zhuge Wushuang, Tu Fu, and the others followed. The two gatekeepers naturally dared not obstruct them further; in fact, they had already been scared into hiding to the side.
At this point, the entire Qingcheng Sect was alerted. Disciples emerged from various places, converging on the training square in the front courtyard. Counting them, there were over a hundred disciples, indicating that the Qingcheng Sect's strength was not weak.
When Xiao Yunlong reached the front courtyard square, the Qingcheng Sect Leader, Yan Lingzi, also hurried to the location, and the two parties met.
Behind Yan Lingzi were four elders of the Qingcheng Sect from various halls, all wearing deep green robes. Furthermore, two white-haired old men also floated in from a side corridor.
These two men were at least eighty years old, but they walked with remarkably light steps, as if treading on level ground. They were none other than the two Grand Elders of the Qingcheng Sect, who held the highest seniority and possessed the strongest martial arts cultivation.
Under the nine bell tolls, the elite of the Qingcheng Sect were all present. Disciples surged like a flowing stream, instantly surrounding Xiao Yunlong and his group.
"You are Xiao Yunlong? Did you kill my Seven Sons of Qingcheng and the Four Elders of Qingcheng?"
Yan Lingzi shouted sternly, his gaze fixed fiercely on Xiao Yunlong. If looks could kill, Xiao Yunlong would have been long dead.
"Indeed, it is I!" Xiao Yunlong stood erect like a javelin with his hands behind his back, his expression calm.
"You brat are truly audacious! You killed disciples of our Qingcheng Sect, yet you dare to come up the mountain yourself. I wonder if you are skilled and bold, or ignorant and foolish!"
A Grand Elder of the Qingcheng Sect snorted. As he spoke, the two of them had already approached, positioning themselves to attack Xiao Yunlong from both sides.
Xiao Yunlong smiled faintly and said, "What do you think?"
"Hmph, what we think is not important. What is important is that you will surely die today. The disciples of our Qingcheng Sect must not die in vain!" Yan Lingzi roared through gritted teeth.
Xiao Yunlong faced him directly and said word by word, "You should be well aware that as an ancient martial arts sect on the mountain, according to the laws and regulations established by the Dragon Country, all martial arts sects in the country are forbidden from arbitrarily interfering in secular affairs, nor are they allowed to kill ordinary secular people without reason. Your Qingcheng Sect, years ago, instigated the Qi family and the Baili family to secretly assassinate my Xiao family. This is a capital offense!"
"So you've come for revenge for the annihilation of your Xiao family years ago. However, with just these few people, you think you can show off your might on Qingcheng Mountain? You are not worthy!"
Yan Lingzi roared, his fists clenched, his aura emanating powerfully. As a peak Martial King with his three flowers gathered at the top, his internal energy was surging.
At this moment, the two Grand Elders were already experts in the Innate Aperture Opening realm, their dantian's internal energy having been completely transformed into innate true qi.
The atmosphere in the martial arts square had become extremely tense and murderous, with battle imminent.
However, at this very moment, Xiao Yunlong suddenly burst into laughter and declared loudly, "A mere Qingcheng Sect dares to be so arrogant and presumptuous before me. Truly laughable! Today, I shall raze your Qingcheng Mountain gate!"
"Attack! Kill them all, leave no one alive!"
Yan Lingzi, filled with extreme anger, drew his long sword with a clang and lunged forward.
However, the two Grand Elders moved faster than him. With a flick of their wrists, their long swords produced streaks of sword flowers.
In the blink of an eye, they had both swung their swords. Instantly, two sword qi, like streaks of rainbow light, crisscrossed and attacked Xiao Yunlong from both sides.
Xiao Yunlong circulated some of the power of his divine kingdom within his body and struck out with two palms at lightning speed.
The powerful palm force was like a surging tide. Even before the full collision, it had already dispersed the two sword qi.
Seeing this, the faces of the two Grand Elders changed slightly, and they exclaimed, "Well done, you brat! At such a young age, you have cultivated such formidable power! Today, no matter what, we cannot let you live!"
As they spoke, the two of them shot up into the air. One held his sword high, and with a wave of his wrist, sword qi surged like a cascading waterfall, descending from above and attacking Xiao Yunlong's head.
The other charged directly forward, unleashing waves of sword qi that rolled towards Xiao Yunlong like overlapping waves.
It must be said that these two were indeed the Grand Elders with the highest seniority and martial arts cultivation in the Qingcheng Sect. Their power was truly extraordinary, especially their mastery of swordsmanship, which had reached a profound level.
Originally, Yan Lingzi and several Qingcheng Sect elders had already engaged in battle with Zhuge Wushuang and the others. However, they were now forced to stop and retreat to the side by the power of the formidable sword qi.
As for the other Qingcheng Sect disciples, they had long since retreated to the edges of the square. After all, this was innate sword qi, which they could not resist. Even a trace of it could cripple them.
"The mastery of Qingcheng sword techniques by the two Grand Elders has truly reached the point of perfection!" Yan Lingzi couldn't help but exclaim as he watched.
"Yes, they are too strong! This sword strike, let alone that brat surnamed Xiao, even a peak Innate Aperture Opening realm expert would probably not be able to withstand it easily!"
Several Qingcheng elders around him echoed the sentiment.
However, Xiao Yunlong, at the center of the sword qi, raised the corner of his mouth in a playful smile. Suddenly, he stamped his foot, and his entire body shot up like a spring from the ground, charging directly towards the sky full of sword qi.
"This kid... is like a frog drilling into a snake's hole. He's dead!" Yan Lingzi couldn't help but sneer, as if he had already pronounced the opponent's death sentence.
However, before his words had even fallen, Xiao Yunlong struck out with a palm. The powerful palm force was like a surging tide, instantly scattering the waterfall of sword qi that was descending upon him.
Xiao Yunlong's momentum did not diminish as he charged towards the opponent.
"Not good..." It was only at this moment that the Grand Elder realized something was wrong, but it was too late to dodge.
After all, he was suspended in mid-air, unable to borrow any force to evade in time.
Suddenly, with a bang, Xiao Yunlong punched him in the chest. The Grand Elder was sent flying backward like a kite with a broken string.
He then crashed heavily at the root of a large tree at the edge of the training square, spat out a mouthful of blood, and died on the spot.
The other Grand Elder, who had intended to rush forward to attack, was petrified on the spot upon witnessing this scene.
"You... you actually, actually..."
Perhaps it was due to extreme shock, his lips trembled, and he could not utter the rest of his words.
Xiao Yunlong, too lazy to waste any more words, flickered his body and instantly appeared before him. Then, with a large hand, he grabbed the opponent by the neck.
"Don't... don't kill me, I surrender!" The Grand Elder's face instantly turned ashen pale.
Xiao Yunlong sneered, "He has already gone on his way. You have been friends for decades, you can't let him be alone, can you?"
With that, he exerted force with his finger joints. The Grand Elder's throat immediately shattered, and he fell to the ground.
The Qingcheng Sect Leader, not far away, saw this and his legs suddenly went weak, causing him to stumble and nearly fall to the ground.
"Sect Leader... Sect Leader..."
Two elders beside him exclaimed and quickly reached out, supporting him and preventing him from falling.
"It's over, our Qingcheng Sect's century-old reputation is ruined!" Yan Lingzi muttered incessantly.
"A century-old reputation? Decades ago, your Qingcheng Sect might have had some reputation and prestige. Unfortunately, in the hands of people like you, it has completely degenerated!"
Xiao Yunlong said in a deep, stern voice as he walked step by step towards them.