Chapter 102: Charting a New Path

Jiang Lan continued her arduous and singular task, punching relentlessly at the glowing barrier.

Yet this power of the starry cosmos was like a river’s endless current—no matter how fiercely she shattered the light, it swiftly mended itself, as if the retreating tide suddenly surged back again and again.

Round and round it went. Though Jiang Lan’s divine strength was extraordinary, her mortal body could not endure such relentless torment; countless fresh wounds had formed on her back.

This could not go on. The starry power was accelerating the decay of her flesh; she could even smell the rot emanating from her bones, a nauseating stench.

No—she had to get out.

She absolutely had to escape.

Enduring thirteen incessant strikes on her back once more, a distant clamor grew louder and closer.

“Ancestor of the Qimen Sect! What is the meaning of setting this formation without permission?”

Daoist Qingmei, surrounded by supporters, confronted him.

“Are you intending to bury us all here?”

The Qimen Elder scoffed disdainfully. Since he had taken this course, he would no longer maintain a lofty, dignified facade. Was he expected to mend fences now? How audacious!

He was the progenitor of the thirteen branches of Yin-Yang studies; he would tolerate no interference!

“You are disciples of Daoism—what’s wrong with sacrificing yourselves for a treacherous demon who betrays the sect? Weren’t you just protecting the Golden Pearl Sacred Treasure? This man is the traitor. Killing him together aligns perfectly with your stated principles. Are you merely paying lip service to righteousness, a mere mask worn before the world?”

“Qimen Elder, you’ve gone too far!” A three-eyed Daoist, supporting himself, stepped forward indignantly, standing at the center of the formation.

Many hearts burned with resentment—what happened to cooperation? The head of the Daoist school, the orthodox Yin-Yang tradition, stooping to such vile acts like bandits?

“Qimen Elder, is this really proper?” Qingmei spoke cautiously, the only one present whose words the Elder would tolerate.

“Proper? Survival of the fittest, natural selection. If you have the ability, capture him yourselves and flee. I, a humble Daoist, lack the skill and will not waste time listening to your endless moralizing.”

“Aren’t you afraid of the consequences?” Qingmei’s anger flared, yet he still clung to some semblance of reason.

But the Elder’s unyielding reply swiftly extinguished that reason, spiraling the conflict beyond control.

“In that case, don’t blame us for abandoning righteousness!”

Daoist Qingmei was the first to brandish his talisman, launching it toward the Qimen Elder; others surged forward without hesitation.

Some targeted the remaining twelve Qinjian disciples, others focused their power on the widening fissure, pouring their magic into it.

“Ah!!!”

Shouts collided within the glowing barrier, echoing fiercely all around, growing more intense.

With this sudden aid, Jiang Lan finally caught a brief moment’s respite.

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