Chapter 580: Like Losing a Wife

Chapter 580: Like Losing a Wife

…

Chen Huaian did not give Master Yuyao an ounce of mercy, even though Master Yuyao was harmless now.

But he remembered clearly the murderous intent Master Yuyao had shown toward Li Qingran.

He remembered clearly the crimes Master Yuyao had committed.

He looked at Zhang Mengchu. “Old Zhang, what do you think?”

Zhang Mengchu understood what the ancestor meant. He bowed his head and cupped his hands. “This disciple will follow the ancestor’s orders completely.”

He had also taken the Ninefold Spring, and his heart ached for Master Yuyao.

But his loyalty to the Moon Shadow Sect and to Chen Huaian ran deeper.

Between personal feelings and the sect’s greater cause, he could unhesitatingly choose the latter.

“All right, rest assured. The reluctance and pain you feel now are only due to the medicine’s effect. Once Master Yuyao is dead, that influence will naturally be gone.”

Chen Huaian paused—he wasn’t actually certain whether death could dispel the Ninefold Spring’s effects—so he added,

“If it truly doesn’t work, I’ll find you a female cultivator who looks eight parts like her; you can pursue her yourself. If her cultivation isn’t as high as yours, you can still play the nurturing game.”

Zhang Mengchu didn’t know what “nurturing” meant.

But he knew the ancestor would not deceive him.

“Thank you, ancestor.” He gritted his teeth, steeled himself, and cupped his hands.

Chen Huaian nodded. “Then we’ll proceed according to my plan.”

At this moment the surrounding cultivators were still stunned. They couldn’t understand how the Taoist Nun Qingci turned out to be Master Yuyao, and they were even more baffled by the disciples of Xuanhe Gate.

They had expected their sect leader to come out and demand justice for them, yet now they watched their leader fawningly kneel before the Moon Shadow Sect’s ancestor.

He even spoke strange words.

What—alive she belongs to Mengchu, dead she belongs to Mengchu’s ghost?

Was that right?

“Master Yuyao, stop hiding behind that Taoist Nun disguise. You may have fooled others, but you can’t fool me.” Chen Huaian said with a sullen face.

His tactics against Master Yuyao were admittedly dishonorable.

But someone as rotten to the core as Master Yuyao didn’t deserve scruples about method.

The kneeling Master Yuyao looked at Zhang Mengchu with a face full of misery, but Zhang Mengchu remained unmoved, staring coldly at her with meanings obvious in his eyes.

With no choice, Master Yuyao dropped the disguise and revealed her true appearance.

The full reveal exposed her cultivation: Great Ascension Three Tribulations.

The ordinary wandering cultivators nearby were still confused.

But sect leaders and elders like Tang San and Fa Dahai who had experienced the Central State Secret Realm immediately recognized her.

“Master Yuyao?! It really is her!”

“That witch Yuyao, return my disciple’s life!”

“I knew this she-devil pushed for martial combat for a reason. Turns out she was here to sabotage the Dao Inquiry Assembly! Luckily Chen Sword Master and the Moon Shadow Sect disciples were skilled enough to stop her!”

…

Many people felt chills down their spines.

If the Xuanhe Gate disciples were deliberately planted pieces by Master Yuyao,

and they used life-consuming Blood-Burning Divine Ability with such severe side effects, their ambition was monstrous.

If Chen Sword Master hadn’t altered the Dao Inquiry Assembly’s rules, who knew how many sect disciples would’ve been injured or permanently crippled.

“Master Yuyao, you see now? You are to be executed by all!” Chen Huaian sneered, his right hand resting on the sword hilt.

“Please forgive me, ancestor!” Master Yuyao kowtowed repeatedly. “I was wrong before. I only sought to increase my strength. Now that I’ve met Mengchu, I only want to live quietly with Mengchu, bear a hundred or eighty children, find a secluded place, live the life of a devoted spouse and teach our children…”

“Hah. You’re not enlightened. You’re just controlled by the medicine.” With a metallic sound, Chen Huaian drew the Black Scales Sword and drove it into Master Yuyao’s dantian. “Besides, keep that nonsense to tell the damned souls in hell!”

Under Zhang Mengchu’s threatening gaze, Master Yuyao showed no resistance and did not circulate any True Essence.

She could only watch helplessly as her True Essence leaked away and her dantian shattered inch by inch.

Watching Master Yuyao’s suffering tore at Zhang Mengchu’s heart like needles.

But recalling the things Master Yuyao had done, this seemed like the best outcome.

The Great Ascension Three Tribulations True Essence dissolved into a hurricane, rattling the wind chimes hanging from the Moon Shadow Sect’s eaves.

A whale falls, life springs forth.

This released spiritual energy nurtured the spirit beasts and spirit plants in the mountains around the Moon Shadow Sect. The sect’s gateway, already rich in Spiritual Energy, now swelled with spirit mist. The mist turned to rain, nourishing everything silently, and a faint rainbow slowly appeared on the horizon.

When the True Essence was fully released,

Chen Huaian withdrew his sword.

Master Yuyao slumped to the ground.

In that instant, she seemed to claw free from the medicine’s influence, her eyes full of hatred and regret as she stared at Chen Huaian.

She hated Chen Huaian’s cruelty.

She regretted ever provoking this despicable old man.

But she had no chance left.

Her dantian had been completely shattered, and Chen Huaian’s sword intent had been embedded there.

For a Great Ascension Three Tribulations cultivator, even with no resistance, killing her was difficult.

Her dantian strove desperately to repair itself, but every bit healed was eaten away by the sword qi.

Eventually, when all her True Essence was exhausted, the sword intent still clung like a bone-deep maggot in the shattered dantian.

Everyone watched as Master Yuyao’s features aged visibly in moments—what had been the delicate face of a youthful sixteen-appearance nun rapidly withered into the wrinkled face and white hair of a stooped old woman.

“Letting her die like this is too lenient.” Chen Huaian flicked his sleeve. “Guards, take her to my Moon Shadow Sect dungeon. I will personally set the formation so she never sees daylight again—let her exhaust every bit of her remaining lifespan!”

Seeing Master Yuyao in such a state, Xu An, Duan Feng, and several of their direct disciples were delighted.

They stepped forward and dragged Master Yuyao away like a dead dog, not wanting her corpse to sully the area.

“Well done, Chen Sword Master!”

“Thank you for ridding Cangyun Realm of a great menace!”

“Though my disciples won’t return, Chen Sword Master has helped avenge them. May their spirits rest in peace…”

Among the crowd, some applauded and some covered their faces and wept.

Only Zhang Mengchu wore a woeful expression, like a man grieving for a dead wife.

“Old Zhang, still so attached?”

Chen Huaian patted Zhang Mengchu’s shoulder and sighed inwardly at the Ninefold Spring’s absurd effect.

He had dosed both bottles of Cola with the Ninefold Spring knowing Master Yuyao’s suspicious nature—she would certainly suspect the Cola had been tampered with.

The plan was practically foolproof; now it was just a pity for Zhang Mengchu.

“Wang Dagen!” Chen Huaian looked toward the Bliss Sect.

Wang Dagen, still dazed on the spot, trembled at the call and hurried over to Chen Huaian with a flattering face.

“Senior, uh… what orders do you have?”

Everything that had happened had left him stunned.

The key was he felt the aura on Zhang Mengchu and Master Yuyao was strangely familiar.

As if… they had eaten his Bliss Sect’s sect treasure—the Ninefold Spring?!

…