Chapter Sixty-Nine: Demonic Awakening

As Qi Fei, the martial prodigy of the Danxia Sect, unleashed the power of his innate cultivation, it became clear that Cheng Feng was faltering. Master Cangsong’s heart stirred; he was about to intervene and rescue Cheng Feng when Chu Qingyun and Sima Yan, standing nearby, noticed his intention.

Sima Yan let out a cold laugh and calmly blocked Master Cangsong’s path. “Master Cangsong, do you intend to interfere in the duel between these two? With so many eyes upon us, such an act would surely diminish the prestige of your Xuanzhen Temple.”

Chu Qingyun exchanged a glance with the clan elders beside him, then led his own experts to stand behind Sima Yan. “The sect master is right. Earlier, Master Cangsong himself declared that the duel would be decided by fate, life and death left to destiny. Surely he won’t go back on his word now.”

Master Cangsong watched as Cheng Feng struggled to hold his ground, his heart thrown into chaos. Elder Qingxu of Xuanzhen Temple glared fiercely and shouted, “The Seven Perfections Sect and Marquis Weiwu’s house are bullying us too much! Why hesitate, senior brother? Will you stand by and watch Feng die tragically?”

Master Cangsong shuddered at the thought—if Cheng Feng perished, it would be a calamity for Xuanzhen Temple. Chu Qingyun and Sima Yan had already decided to turn against them; now, there was no choice but to fight head-on and seek justice from the Marquis afterward.

“Attack!” came the order.

With the command from their headmaster, the Xuanzhen Temple disciples, long suppressed, brandished their talisman swords and spirit seals, charging at Sima Yan, Chu Qingyun, and their followers who blocked the way.

The hall erupted in a storm of blades and swords, multicolored spiritual light flashing everywhere. The disciples of Xuanzhen Temple clashed fiercely with the Seven Perfections Sect and Chu Qingyun’s experts, a chaotic battle unfolding in the grand hall.

Master Cangsong wanted to rescue Cheng Feng, but was intercepted by Sima Yan and the Chu clan elders, both formidable innate martial experts. In desperation, Master Cangsong roared, his talisman sword erupting with a cascade of rainbow light, striving to force the two rivals to retreat.

Sensing the chaos in the hall, Qi Fei, locked in a deadly battle of innate energy with Cheng Feng, thought anxiously to himself—now that Sima Yan had seen through his true identity, resentment was inevitable. Qi Fei had no ties with Marquis Weiwu’s young lord; if this dragged on, not only would he fail to kill Cheng Feng, but he might also perish at the hands of Xuanzhen Temple’s experts and their formidable restrictions.

Resolute, Qi Fei unleashed the power of his soul from his spiritual core, his bloodied hands bursting into a mist under the pressure of Cheng Feng’s damaged divine soul. A mysterious sect incantation erupted.

Though Cheng Feng knew Qi Fei was adept in both martial arts and sect magic, he had no means to evade Qi Fei’s desperate, self-destructive spell. Qi Fei’s innate martial energy shattered Cheng Feng’s weakened divine soul, and Qi Fei pressed the spell, transformed from his innate energy, hard against Cheng Feng’s forehead.

With his spiritual core struck fatally, Cheng Feng spat blood and broken teeth, his cry harsh and tragic as his divine soul dissolved into ashes.

Thus, the prodigy of Xuanzhen Temple, renowned for fighting with his body even after his soul left it, died a miserable death under Qi Fei’s violent sect incantation.

“Feng!” cried Master Cangsong.

Master Cangsong, held back by Sima Yan and the Chu clan elders, could only watch helplessly as the extraordinary talent of Xuanzhen Temple fell at Qi Fei’s hands.

A furious howl erupted from Master Cangsong; his divine soul suddenly left his body, transforming into a golden light.

The magical transformation of the sect far surpassed any mere soul apparition. Master Cangsong’s figure expanded, his transformed soul merged with his body, becoming a radiant embodiment of sect power, sweeping aside the fierce attacks of Sima Yan and the Chu clan elders.

Qi Fei, wounded all over, knew he was no match for a transformed master from Xuanzhen Temple. Gathering the remnants of his innate energy, he invoked the Blood Shadow Escape technique and slipped into the chaotic crowd.

With his supreme sect power, Master Cangsong forced back the two martial experts, but Qi Fei’s trail was lost, fueling his rage.

Under the oppressive power of the sect’s divine transformation, disciples of the Seven Perfections Sect and Chu Qingyun’s followers fell one after another to Master Cangsong’s transformed body.

Qi Fei, battered and blending with the crowd, was about to escape the hall when he saw, in a corner on the west side, his master and Elder Sun besieged by Xuanzhen Temple disciples.

Knowing he had no strength left to fight, Qi Fei could not bear to watch his master and fellow disciples die before him. He thought of the elusive Zhuo Jin’er, who still had not appeared to help.

Unexpectedly, the demonic maiden of the Yin-Yang Dao had not intervened. Helpless, Qi Fei forced himself to muster the last of his energy to try and kill the disciples attacking the Danxia Sect’s outer court.

Those present in the hall were puzzled—why would Qi Fei expose himself after escaping? In the chaos, a murderous glint flashed in Master Cangsong’s eyes as he rushed toward Qi Fei’s position.

Just then, a subtle fluctuation of the spiritual jade energy stirred within Qi Fei, and suddenly, the hall was overtaken by strange events.

Several Xuanzhen Temple disciples attacking Mo Zhanpeng suddenly froze. Their faces twisted into crazed, ferocious expressions, and they began to slaughter each other indiscriminately.

Witnessing this bizarre scene, the fighters from Xuanzhen Temple, Seven Perfections Sect, and Marquis Weiwu’s house halted, stunned.

Master Cangsong was horrified, abandoning his pursuit of Qi Fei to separate the crazed disciples, shouting, “What is happening here?”

The crazed disciples ignored their master’s authority, lunging at Master Cangsong.

Sima Yan was overjoyed, knowing this was Zhuo Jin’er secretly wielding her Yin-Yang Dao technique. He called out, “Your Xuanzhen Temple allows disciples to practice demonic arts—no wonder Cheng Feng possessed such strange powers! Are you not afraid that the righteous will destroy your sect?”

The experts who had intended to aid Xuanzhen Temple shuddered at Sima Yan’s words. The crazed disciples did indeed show signs of having gone astray practicing demonic arts.

Enraged, Master Cangsong slew the frenzied disciples. “Sima Yan, cease your slander! Xuanzhen Temple has never permitted disciples to study demonic arts!”

Qi Fei leapt forward to support the wounded Mo Zhanpeng. Seeing the Xuanzhen disciples suddenly go mad, and recalling the fluctuation in his spiritual jade energy, he realized Zhuo Jin’er must have acted in secret. No wonder the demonic maiden had kept hidden; she had conspired with Sima Yan to frame Xuanzhen Temple using demonic techniques.

Nearby, Master Muyun’s expression changed. He pondered the years spent with Master Cangsong, knowing his friend’s character well. Xuanzhen Temple, the foremost sect of Cangyun Mountain with ambitions to unify it, would hardly have disciples practice demonic arts in secret. Could it be, then, that a demonic sect expert had infiltrated the hall?

Just then, a small, bloodied young disciple of Xuanzhen Temple spat blood and looked at Master Cangsong, trembling. “Master, is the Blood Transformation Soul Condensation technique you taught us truly a demonic art?”

The hall fell instantly into dead silence.

The Blood Transformation Soul Condensation was a demonic art from the Blood Soul Hall, a sect destroyed a century prior by the righteous. It had claimed countless lives, its cruelty infamous. That sect had been eradicated long ago, yet now, on Qingyang Peak, its forbidden technique resurfaced before all.

“Who are you really? Why frame Xuanzhen Temple?” Master Cangsong, in his transformed body, instantly subdued the small disciple.

Before he could interrogate him, the disciple’s pale face twisted with resentment. He spat a mouthful of black blood. “Master, why... did you do this to me?”

The disciple, seemingly harmed by Master Cangsong, died within moments.

Master Cangsong and his experts changed color at the sudden calamity, caught off guard by the infiltrator dying at their hands. Now trouble loomed.

Indeed, the righteous sect experts who had aided Xuanzhen Temple now eyed Master Cangsong and his disciples with suspicion.

“Eliminating witnesses—Xuanzhen Temple’s methods are truly remarkable,” Sima Yan thought, certain that disaster would befall Xuanzhen Temple today.

Master Cangsong, furious and anxious, stared coldly at Sima Yan, who sought his sect’s destruction. “Master Sima, clever tricks. But Xuanzhen Temple has a century of legacy. Do you think a few infiltrators will convince everyone we secretly practice demonic arts?”

Master Muyun, alarmed, was about to step forward to help, but at that moment, two more Xuanzhen disciples suddenly went mad. The eerie scene deepened the righteous experts’ suspicions—had Xuanzhen Temple truly obtained the Blood Soul Hall’s demonic techniques?

Qi Fei, too, was startled. The small disciple who died at Master Cangsong’s hand looked vaguely familiar—his figure resembled Zhuo Jin’er, the Yin-Yang Dao expert. But if it was truly Zhuo Jin’er in disguise, intending to frame Xuanzhen Temple, how could she be so easily defeated?