In an instant, screams echoed throughout the mountains. Zanxing painfully clutched her head. For a moment, a deep, violent feeling came from her chest. The previously well-behaved Xiaoyuan Pearl seemed to have some kind of mind-controlling ability, bewitching her to kill everyone present.

This couldn’t continue. Zi Luo had done something unknown; the Xiaoyuan Pearl was out of control, and she would kill everyone here. Zanxing clenched her hands, gripped the Wuyou Stick, and charged out of the small courtyard.

However, as soon as she left the courtyard, she immediately collided with powerful sword qi. Someone blocked her path with a single sword.

“It’s you!” the newcomer said coldly.

Zanxing looked up to see Aunt Rongshuang standing before her, her gaze cold as frost.

“Sect Master!” the Xiangling Sect disciples behind quickly said: “This demon killed our fellow cultivators from Chihua Gate and is now trying to escape!”

Lingxin Daoren, the Chihua Gate sect master who had just arrived, heard this and his expression changed. He immediately swept into the hall, and when he came out again, his eyes were already red. Without a word, he raised the demon-subduing pestle in his hand and lunged at Zanxing.

But that attack was blocked by someone.

“Shaoyang, what is the meaning of this?” Lingxin Daoren was quite angry: “My Chihua Gate disciples were silenced by Mo Sha on your mountain, and this Mo Sha is a disciple of your sect. Could it be that your Taiyan Sect is colluding with the demon clan and wants to oppose the entire cultivation world?”

“Dead old man, stop spouting nonsense!” Tian Fangfang, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, immediately said before Shaoyang Zhenren could reply: “The matter isn’t clear yet—what gives you the right to conclude that my junior sister is Mo Sha?”

“Is there a need to ask whether she is or not?” Rongshuang sneered: “Look clearly—is there even half a bit of fakeness to the Demon Lord’s Mark on her forehead?”

Tian Fangfang’s gaze froze as he finally saw the mark on Zanxing’s forehead. He was speechless: “That… that doesn’t prove anything!” But his tone lacked confidence.

“Yang Zanxing,” Mendong stared at her in disbelief: “Did you kill Senior Sister Zi Luo?” He often went to Li Danshu’s hall to help alongside Zi Luo and had good feelings toward her, making this temporarily unacceptable.

“No,” Zanxing struggled to suppress the chaotic Yuanli in her body and answered with difficulty: “I came out of the Scripture Pavilion and met Senior Sister Zi Luo. She asked me to go with her to deliver things to the Chihua Gate fellow cultivators, so I went. When I arrived here, all the Chihua Gate disciples were already dead. I discovered flaws in Senior Sister’s words, learned of her demon clan identity, and fought with her, which led to… I don’t know why this Demon Lord’s Mark is on my body. If I were really from the demon clan and wanted to harm Senior Sister, how could I possibly use such a clumsy method and wait for you to discover me and catch me red-handed?”

“That does make some sense,” Fu Ronghua, the Yinfeng Sect master, pondered briefly and instructed his junior: “Go check whether that disciple called Zi Luo is really from the demon clan.”

Zanxing caught her breath. Once outside, the bloodthirsty killing intent from the Xiaoyuan Pearl seemed to dissipate considerably, as if it would be slightly more stable as long as it wasn’t stimulated by those corpses and blood. However, the surging Yuanli in her body hadn’t disappeared—it was as if two “qi” were madly fighting within her body, and she, as the “vessel,” had to bear both the pain of their entanglement and the risk of bursting at any moment.

The fellow sect members of the Taiyan Sect all looked at her with gazes that were either fearful or worried. Zanxing secretly gritted her teeth—if she couldn’t explain things clearly today, escaping unscathed would be very difficult.

The Yinfeng Sect disciple quickly came out and told everyone, “I’ve checked. The disciple called Zi Luo has no trace of demon qi in her body—she’s not from the demon clan.”

Zanxing was startled: “How is that possible?”

That Zi Luo, who was completely different from usual, the Zi Luo filled with demon qi, was a different person from the usually gentle and smiling Zi Luo. If she wasn’t from the demon clan, why would she so deliberately scheme to frame her? Could Zi Luo have been a spy hidden in the Taiyan Sect from the beginning?

As her thoughts flashed, someone’s spiritual weapon suddenly stabbed at her from behind without warning. Lingxin Daoren’s eyes were deep, his tone carrying bone-piercing coldness: “All demon clan members deserve to die!”

Zanxing still had chaotic Yuanli in her body and couldn’t dodge in time, but suddenly a figure appeared at an angle, blocking the demon-subduing pestle behind her.

The heavy black longsword was like hard armor, protecting Zanxing in front. Meng Ying’s skirt fluttered as she looked at Lingxin Daoren without the slightest fear.

“Senior Sister…” Zanxing murmured.

“Meng Ying, get out of my way!”

“Sect Master Lingxin,” Meng Ying’s voice was calm: “Yang Zanxing is a person of our Taiyan Sect. Even if we need to clean house, it’s not for people from other sects to act.”

“A milk-smelling little girl who hasn’t even become sect master yet dares to put on airs with me?” Lingxin Daoren sneered: “The Taiyan Sect’s juniors are so ill-mannered—today this old man will discipline you properly on Shaoyang’s behalf!” With that, Lingxin Daoren suddenly channeled his Yuanli and struck heavily at Meng Ying.

“Senior Sister Meng!” Zanxing couldn’t help but call out.

Though Meng Ying was a genius among the Taiyan Sect’s juniors, Lingxin Daoren was several hundred years older than her, so his Yuanli was naturally deeper. If they fought, how could Meng Ying be his match? Zanxing was furious: “Are all Chihua Gate members such bullies who pick on the weak?”

“Against the demon clan, there’s no need to be particular about methods,” a cold voice sounded from behind: “The demon clan is so arrogant—today is your death day!” An autumn-colored sword shadow stabbed from behind. Before it even approached, Zanxing felt surging Yuanli coming from behind. She was fighting with the person in front and hadn’t expected Rongshuang to sneak attack from behind—at this moment, it was already too late to dodge.

With a “bang,” the Feishuang Sword’s shadow was deflected by someone. A black long saber inserted horizontally from the middle, brutally cutting the sword shadow in half. The usually taciturn young man blocked behind Zanxing, his expression showing undisguised disdain as he said: “The Xiangling Sect is at least a major sect—how come even the sect master likes such underhanded sneak attack methods! Shameless!”

“Senior Brother Mu…” Zanxing’s eyes grew hot.

She had never expected that at this point, Mu Cengxiao and Meng Ying would still stand in front of her.

“Master,” Mendong was anxious like an ant on a hot pan, grabbing Yueguang Daoren’s sleeve: “They’re treating Yang Zanxing like this—are we just going to watch helplessly? Why doesn’t Sect Master Grand-Uncle act? This is the Taiyan Sect!”

“Mendong, you also saw the Demon Lord’s Mark on her forehead.” Yueguang Daoren’s expression was complex. “If she’s really from the demon clan, even the sect master can’t save her. Moreover, all the Chihua Gate disciples died here under such suspicious circumstances, unless Yang Zanxing proves she’s not from the demon clan, how can we give the other sect disciples an explanation? But…” Yueguang Daoren’s voice grew cold: “Yang Zanxing won’t admit that she harmed the Chihua Gate disciples, but have you seen her deny that she’s from the demon clan?”

Mendong’s voice stopped abruptly.

Yes, from beginning to end, Yang Zanxing had never denied being from the demon clan.

“But…”

“If she is from the demon clan, then her calculated purpose in coming to the Taiyan Sect becomes very suspicious,” Yueguang Daoren lowered his eyes. “Now the Taiyan Sect is increasingly declining. Even if the sect master wants to protect Zanxing, he probably can’t. The demon clan comes menacingly—if the Taiyan Sect opposes the cultivation world at this moment…”

He didn’t continue.

Mendong bit his lip: “Are we going to just watch them beat Yang Zanxing to death?”

Tian Fangfang swung his ax to drive away a disciple lunging at Zanxing and rushed to her side. He still showed no worry about the tense situation and even had the mood to show Zanxing a smile: “Junior Sister, don’t be afraid—Senior Brother will protect you!”

“Senior Brother,” Zanxing bit her teeth: “You’d better stay away from me.”

Looking at the cultivation world’s attitude now, they would never let her go. Previously, she had thought that though the demon clan identity might cause prejudice, it wouldn’t reach the point of irreconcilable conflict—after all, she hadn’t done anything. But now she realized she had been thinking too simply. The cultivation world was even more hostile toward the demon clan than she had imagined. Even if this demon clan member was kind to people and helpful, as long as they were from the demon clan, once they appeared before cultivators, only death awaited them.

“Young Miss!” a familiar voice called. Zanxing looked up to see Hong Su holding Mimi, stumbling as she ran over while crying angrily: “Nonsense! You’re talking nonsense! How could our Young Miss possibly be from the demon clan? I’ve taken care of her since childhood—if she were from the demon clan, she would have eaten you all long ago! Don’t you dare frame our Young Miss!”

“Hong Su…” Zanxing’s heart tightened.

No matter how Meng Ying and Mu Cengxiao helped her, even if Lingxin Daoren and the others were dissatisfied, they were still Taiyan Sect disciples, and Shaoyang Zhenren could guarantee their lives no matter what. But Hong Su was different—Hong Su was the maid she had brought from Yue City, helpless and alone, and in others’ eyes, she was the person closest to her. If she died, what would happen to Hong Su? Would they torture her or simply expel her from the sect? Hong Su was a young girl without the strength to bind a chicken—if she were thrown off the mountain, how could she survive?

“Young Miss,” Hong Su wanted to rush to Zanxing’s side, but was blocked by nearby disciples and couldn’t get close. She could only force down her panic and threateningly gesture at those around her: “If you touch even a hair on our Young Miss’s head, I’ll fight you to the death!”

She was just a young girl—this threat was nothing at all. On the other hand, Mimi sensed the different atmosphere, jumped down from her arms, and bared her teeth while screaming a few times at the surrounding people.

Amid the commotion, Fu Ronghua, the Yinfeng Sect master, looked at Shaoyang Zhenren: “Shaoyang, such a thing has happened with your sect’s disciple—don’t you plan to give us an explanation?”

“Exactly,” Aunt Rongshuang spoke coldly: “It seems the Taiyan Sect disciples very much like to side with the demon clan. One by one, they’re all competing to die for that demon woman. Should I say, what kind of master produces what kind of disciples…”

“Today, I must kill that bastard! Shaoyang,” Lingxin Daoren’s tone was sinister: “For the sake of our many years of friendship, I still haven’t acted against you, but if you want to shelter the demon clan and side with the entire cultivation world, then today not one of your sect’s disciples will leave the Taiyan Sect’s gates!”

His tone did not attempt to hide its threatening intent.

Would they sacrifice the lives of all Taiyan Sect disciples for one Yang Zanxing?

The disciples looked earnestly at Shaoyang Zhenren, waiting for their sect master to speak.

After a long while, Shaoyang Zhenren lowered his eyes and finally spoke.

He said, “Activate the Ten Thousand Killing Formation.”