“Zi Tianjun” saw that this girl had shown up in a strange way and immediately sensed trouble.
Among the more than three hundred rogue cultivators, there were plenty of experts.
If his identity was exposed, he’d probably be killed on the spot.
The two girls in front of him might very well be from Xuantian Sect, and they wouldn’t let them off either.
If he wanted to survive, he had to stick to his claim of being “Zi Tianjun” and use the surrounding rogue cultivators to kill these two.
“Zi Tianjun” snorted coldly, “Heh, interesting.
You actually dare to say I’m impersonating someone from Xuantian Sect here on Xuantian Sect’s own turf? This is Xuantian Sect territory—who would dare to pretend to be someone here?”
Inside the Xuantian mountain range, Feng Yi, upon learning that someone was impersonating Xuantian Sect members to scam people, immediately called for the Discipline Hall disciples and had Bao Gu move them out of the giant storage bag so they could handle the matter.
As soon as he was out, he heard that line and immediately followed up, “Yeah, I’m also curious who has the guts to impersonate Xuantian Sect people on Xuantian Sect’s own turf.”
The giant storage bag silently unfolded, and Feng Yi’s group appeared without a sound right behind Bao Gu.
The moment Feng Yi appeared, all three hundred-plus rogue cultivators on the scene were shocked, each one staring in surprise at the group that had suddenly materialized.
At the head of the group was Feng Yi, leading twenty Nascent Soul stage cultivators dressed in Xuantian Sect disciple robes.
The aura of these twenty was nothing like that of “Zi Tianjun” and his group.
Especially Feng Yi—compared to the Feng Yi they’d seen before, though his face and clothes were the same, his bearing was worlds apart.
This Feng Yi, from his headpiece, robes, to his boots, was decked out in a full set of top-grade magical treasures.
He radiated treasure light, looked imposing, his eyes shone like stars, and he wore a token at his waist inscribed with “Xuantian Sect Discipline Hall Elder Feng Yi”—something the previous Feng Yi didn’t have.
Also, the previous Feng Yi’s robe had decorative embroidery, but this one’s was covered in profound runic patterns, each glowing with a power that made people’s hearts tremble.
The two rows of Xuantian Sect disciples behind Feng Yi were the same.
Each looked to be around twenty years old, but all had extraordinary presence, exuding a chilling, murderous aura and brimming with fighting spirit—nothing like the “Xuantian Sect” disciples they’d seen before.
These new arrivals were also fully equipped with sets of magical treasures for attack, defense, and speed.
Each stood protected by a formation formed by their gear.
Every one of them had a waist token, with the back engraved with a five-colored five-element spirit sword, and the front showing their identity and lineage in Xuantian Sect.
For example, the one on the far left had “Personal disciple of Discipline Hall Elder Feng Yi, Discipline Hall disciple Zhao Zuo,” while the one next to him had “Disciple of Ritual Elder Feng Menglong, Discipline Hall disciple Yu Zhengjie.”
It was obvious at a glance who was real and who was fake.
The moment the Xuantian Sect people appeared, their attire, aura, fighting spirit, even their formation, were completely different from the imposters.
The difference was like night and day—one group looked like elite soldiers, the other like a ragtag mob.
A rogue cultivator cursed, “Damn it, we’ve been duped!”
Bao Gu’s gaze swept quickly over the rogue cultivators.
She noticed some were extremely shocked and terrified by the appearance of her and Feng Martial Uncle’s group, but didn’t react much to being “scammed.” She quickly understood.
These people’s scams weren’t that sophisticated, and the rogue cultivators weren’t stupid—they could tell something was off.
This was Xuantian Sect territory.
If they stuck with “Xuantian Sect,” they could scare off some clueless people, and if something happened, the scammers would take the fall—they were just innocent victims. But if they found some rare treasures in the Archaic Mountains, they could just take them and leave quietly, blending into the vast world of cultivation—who would know?
These rogue cultivators probably knew these people were fakes, but they needed the “Xuantian Sect” name to operate here.
The Xuantian Sect disciples formed a circle of twenty, surrounding everyone present.
“Zi Tianjun’s” face changed dramatically.
He said in a deep voice, “What’s the meaning of surrounding us all? Are you bullying us rogue cultivators, planning to wipe us all out?”
Feng Yi laughed, “Now you’re a rogue cultivator?” He looked at “Zi Tianjun” and said, “You impersonated my sect master—think I’ll let you off?” As he spoke, he looked up at the bright sky, then turned to Bao Gu, “The world outside is so much better—broad daylight, way more beautiful than the fake stars and sun conjured by a formation!”
Bao Gu said, “The sky over the Archaic Mountains is sealed by formation, you never see the sun there.”
“Zi Tianjun” shouted, “While they’re few, let’s break out and escape!” As he spoke, he summoned a mediocre Nascent Soul-grade sword and prepared to fight his way out, only to find no one around him dared move.
A cultivator behind “Zi Tianjun” whispered in panic, “Seventh brother, don’t move.
We… we’ve run into the Blade Order Master.” The Blade Order Master—four years ago, outside Wangxian City, she killed several Void Tearing cultivators with a single sword.
Not long ago, she even wiped out that peerless giant demon.
All of them together wouldn’t stand a chance.
Who would’ve thought the Blade Order Master would show up here? This is just the foot of the Archaic Mountains—they didn’t go straight in, but appeared here instead.
The Blade Order Master really doesn’t play by the rules! If they’d known she’d be here, they wouldn’t have dared do this even if you beat them to death.
The two impersonating Bao Gu and Yu Mi were so scared they collapsed to the ground like puddles of mud.
“Zi Tianjun” dropped to his knees with a thud, slapping himself desperately, crying, “Spare me! We didn’t mean anything by it, just wanted to find some herbs outside, we’d never dare go deeper.
We used Xuantian Sect’s name because Xuantian Sect and the Blade Order Master are so famous—no one dares mess with them, and people avoid Xuantian Sect when they see them here.
We just wanted to scare off other people, not ruin Xuantian Sect’s reputation.”
As soon as “Zi Tianjun” knelt, the whole group of imposters behind him dropped to their knees, kowtowing and begging for mercy.
A cultivator disguised as a Xuantian Sect Nascent Soul disciple kowtowed and said, “We’re willing to atone for our crimes.
We’re not the only group who went in—others went deeper, and I know which way they went.
I’ll lead the way.” The voice didn’t match his young face at all—he sounded like an old man, probably someone who only broke through in old age.
If they were from a major power, Bao Gu would never let them off so easily.
But facing a bunch of poor rogue cultivators, a group of weaklings, she couldn’t bring herself to be ruthless.
Cultivation was hard, and for those with poor talent, getting resources was even harder.
Xuantian Sect and the Archaic Mountains were a big fat piece of meat—major powers wanted a big bite, and the small fry wanted the scraps.
If the situation were reversed, Bao Gu believed she and Yu Mi would do the same.
After a moment’s hesitation, she asked, “Which of you are Blade Gang’s wandering members?”
The surrounded rogue cultivators looked at each other.
Some hesitantly raised their hands, and as soon as a few did, more followed.
In the end, everyone present raised their hands and produced their wandering member tokens, including the group impersonating Xuantian Sect.
Feng Yi looked at Bao Gu and asked, “Your Blade Gang wandering member tokens are this worthless?”
Bao Gu neither agreed nor disagreed.
The wandering members were always meant to cast a wide net, gathering power from all over the cultivation world.
The Blade Gang inns were built especially for rogue cultivators—it was normal for everyone to have a token.
Something everyone has isn’t worth much, but if you gather all those people together, even a small fraction is a terrifying force.
The group holding Blade Gang tokens realized what was happening and all knelt, saluting and begging the Order Master for mercy.
Bao Gu ignored them and looked at Feng Yi, saying, “Feng Martial Uncle, can I plead for these rogue cultivators?”
Feng Yi nodded, “The rogue cultivators can be spared, but those impersonating Xuantian Sect have broken sect rules and can’t be let off lightly.” He swept his gaze over the crowd and said, “There’s more than twenty imposters here—drag them out, and the rest of you can go.”
Some rogue cultivators caught on and immediately started dragging out the imposters next to them, shouting, “Him, he’s with the scammers, he’s a plant!”
The accused struggled desperately, yelling, “Let go, I’m not!”
“Bullshit, I saw it with my own eyes, you still want to lie?”
Some rogue cultivators who were genuinely fooled said, “No way, really?”
After a commotion, seven or eight people were dragged out and pushed to the front.
Bao Gu kept an eye on the crowd, noticing some people with panicked eyes trying to hide or stir up trouble.
She sent a voice transmission to a Discipline Hall disciple beside her, who glanced at Bao Gu, nodded respectfully, and went into the crowd, dragging people out one by one.
Those dragged out were shaking like leaves, not even daring to resist.
If they did, they’d probably be killed on the spot.
The Blade Order Master had killed plenty—what’s a few hundred more? Some even suspected that if they tried to resist, the people around them would kill them first to avoid being implicated, without the Order Master or Xuantian Sect even needing to act.
Once all the suspicious ones had been dragged out and pressed into the center by the Xuantian Sect disciples, Feng Yi waved his hand and said, “Go on, get out of here!”
The rogue cultivators, as if granted amnesty, thanked them and fled as fast as they could.
The group of imposters still kneeling on the ground were all trembling in fear.
Feng Yi stared coldly at them and said, “You’ve got guts! Let’s see, you’ve got a sect master, a young sect master, Bao Gu, and I hear someone even impersonated me.
What do you take Xuantian Sect for? Even if you impersonate an ordinary disciple and do evil, the sect sends the Discipline Hall to investigate—let alone when you’ve impersonated the sect master, young sect master, and Discipline Hall elder! Come on, enforce the sect rules!”
At his command, the Xuantian Sect Discipline Hall disciples drew their swords.
Among the thirty-plus kneeling, one suddenly shouted, “Screw it!” and leapt up to attack.
The others also drew their magical treasures and charged at the Discipline Hall disciples, trying to fight their way out.
The Discipline Hall disciples met them head-on.
To get into the Discipline Hall, you had to be the best of the best, forged through countless brutal training sessions and battles with fellow disciples.
Their combat power far surpassed their peers.
Though both sides were at similar cultivation levels, the quality of their magical treasures, cultivation techniques, battle skills, and resources were on completely different levels.
The difference in combat power was like elite soldiers versus a rabble—at first contact, casualties appeared.
The one impersonating “Zi Tianjun” was the strongest, charging first at a Nascent Soul early-stage Discipline Hall disciple, swinging his sword with all his might, hoping to break through in one blow.
But to his shock, the other’s sword was so sturdy that his own snapped on impact! As his sword broke, he kicked at the disciple’s chest, only to be bounced back by a powerful force.
He realized he hadn’t even touched the disciple, but hit the defensive power of a full set of magical treasures.
The defense formed by a full set of treasures was far beyond any single item, or even the sum of all his own treasures—several times, even dozens of times stronger.
As he was sent flying, a Discipline Hall disciple pounced on him.
Though his cultivation was higher and he was faster than a Nascent Soul cultivator, the other’s “Flying Cloud Boots” boosted his speed so much that even a Nascent Soul early-stage disciple was faster than a beginning Soul Formation cultivator.
In a flash, five or six Discipline Hall disciples surrounded him.
Every time his sword met theirs, it broke—he couldn’t block at all.
Even with his protective energy, their sharp blades and fierce sword qi left long cuts on him.
The wounds weren’t deep, but it was unbelievable—a Nascent Soul cultivator with a high-quality sword could actually break a Soul Formation cultivator’s defenses! The five or six disciples attacked so fast, sword qi crisscrossing everywhere, their shadows flickering all around him.
Every counterattack he made hit their defensive formations, hurting only himself.
He couldn’t break out, kept getting surrounded, his wounds piling up, each one deeper than the last, until finally, he was fatally injured…
“Zi Tianjun” fell to the ground, never expecting that a dignified Soul Formation cultivator could be hacked to death by six Nascent Soul cultivators in less than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense! He didn’t notice that the Nascent Soul cultivators around him were killed in just a few exchanges—some even at first contact.
He was the last to die.
The rogue cultivators who hadn’t run far were all terrified by the scene!
Who said Xuantian Sect was weak? Who said Xuantian Sect was a small sect?
Look at these Xuantian Sect disciples—their gear was even better than the core disciples of major powers! Using full sets of magical treasures as sect uniforms—only Xuantian Sect could pull that off now.
Soon, more than thirty corpses lay on the ground.
The Xuantian Sect people didn’t go overboard—they didn’t destroy their souls.
“Zi Tianjun’s” primordial spirit emerged from his corpse, staring in horror at the Xuantian Sect people.
The Nascent Souls of the other Nascent Soul cultivators also emerged, but their cultivation was too low, their Nascent Souls too weak, and they quickly dissipated, leaving only faint spirits hovering over their bodies.
Feng Yi said coldly, “Those who offend Xuantian Sect must die!”
The Discipline Hall disciples sheathed their swords and returned to stand behind Feng Yi.
Feng Yi snorted, “Still not leaving? Want to leave your souls behind too?”
“Zi Tianjun,” as if granted a pardon, fled as fast as he could, not even looking back at his companions’ spirits.
The Nascent Soul cultivators were better off—their souls were strong, and if they became ghost cultivators, they still had a chance.
The few at the Golden Core stage, without strong soul protection, would be doomed if they ran into ghosts or monsters at night.
The Golden Core cultivators, seeing their Soul Formation and Nascent Soul companions flee, knew their chances of surviving as ghosts were slim.
They could only give up their cultivation and return to reincarnation.
Being reborn as a mortal was still better than being devoured by monsters and never reincarnating.
