Chapter 22 - Sect Humiliated, Behead the Defiant Disciple

Early the next morning, Li Guanqi was sound asleep in his master’s courtyard when a sharp tolling bell jolted him awake.

He got up and noticed that his master was already waiting outside the door.

Li Nanting’s expression was solemn. “Get up quickly. We’re heading to the Heavenly Sword Peak’s plaza.”

Though bewildered, Li Guanqi quickly gathered his belongings and followed his master down the mountain. Along the way, he noticed that all the sect’s disciples were making their way toward the Heavenly Sword Peak.

Every single disciple was heading there at this moment.

Li Guanqi asked curiously, “Master, what’s going on? What’s that ringing mean?”

Li Nanting explained with a heavy expression, ”That was the Daxia Sword Sect’s warning bell. It rarely rings, but when it does, all disciples within the sect must immediately gather at the Heavenly Sword Peak Plaza. It means that a disciple has broken the sect’s rules.”

Li Guanqi’s heart trembled.

What kind of violation could warrant such a drastic response?

He didn’t dare ask further and simply followed. Many disciples they passed along the way paused to bow respectfully to Li Nanting, while others greeted Li Guanqi with warm smiles.

In return, Li Guanqi politely smiled and greeted them back.

Li Nanting felt they were wasting too much time. He grabbed Li Guanqi and soared into the sky, heading straight for Heavenly Sword Peak.

When they landed, the plaza was already packed with thousands of sect disciples.

The ones standing at the forefront appeared to be in their mid-twenties, with extremely powerful auras.

Li Guanqi previously wouldn’t have sensed anything, as he had yet to enter the Qi Refinement Realm. Now, he could vaguely feel the immense aura emanating from these people. He was utterly shocked.

Are all of these seniors at the Foundation Building Realm? How powerful!

Aside from the newly admitted disciples, the plaza was densely packed with thousands of people.

The newcomers all looked confused, while the senior disciples bore grave expressions.

Even those who had been in the sect for years had never heard the warning bell toll before.

Whoosh!

Sect Master Lu Kangnian appeared in the sky.

Behind him, a figure hung mid-air, bound at the limbs by four earthen-yellow shackles.

The figure was a youth, seemingly seventeen or eighteen. He glared viciously at Lu Kangnian.

Lu Kangnian’s expression was grim. With a single downward press of his palm, the entire plaza fell completely silent.

Everyone felt like a heavy weight had been placed on their hearts.

Li Guanqi noticed that nearly all the elders of the various peaks he had seen during his initiation were standing behind Lu Kangnian.

The ones at the front were elders he had never seen before.

Among them, a middle-aged-looking man with an extremely dark expression caught his eye. Judging by his attire, he was most likely the peak master of Heavenly Metal Peak.

Lu Kangnian’s icy voice rang out, “Tu Kui, kneel!”

The man shuddered but fell to his knees without complaint before the gathered disciples.

A whip appeared in Lu Kangnian’s hands. It was pitch black and covered in sharp barbs.

The whip lashed out with a flick of his wrist, striking Tu Kui’s back.

Crack!

The sharp sound echoed across the plaza, and Tu Kui’s white robe was instantly torn apart. His back was soaked in blood within moments.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The whip lashed down again and again, mercilessly cutting into Tu Kui’s flesh.

He did not utter a single sound from start to finish, silently enduring the punishment.

His face was pale, and sweat beads dripped onto the stone pavement.

Everyone trembled inwardly. No one knew what had happened, but they were all stunned by Lu Kangnian’s seething fury.

Finally, Lu Kangnian lowered the whip and glared at the kneeling man. His bloodshot eyes burned with rage.

“Tu Kui! I appointed you as the Heavenly Metal Peak Master, and

this

is how you discipline your disciples?!

“What an outstanding disciple you’ve raised! The Heavenly Metal Peak is truly exemplary!

“A so-called disciple of an immortal sect, acting with such unchecked arrogance!

“Had that eighty-year-old woman not taken twelve days to make her way to the foot of our sect, I wouldn’t have even known of the vile acts your disciple committed in the outside world!

“I had no idea our Daxia Sword Sect had bred such a beast!”

Tu Kui remained silent. He knew there was nothing to argue—his disciple’s crime was beyond redemption.

At that moment, the bound youth sneered ferociously and yelled, “That woman should have been honored that I took a liking to her!

“Why should I be punished? I even gave her one hundred taels of silver! She’s the one who took advantage of the situation!”

Lu Kangnian reached out and gripped the youth’s neck, pulling him closer.

His stern face loomed close. “Even now, you feel no remorse? You think you’re in the right?

“You are unworthy of being a disciple of an immortal sect!”

The youth’s face turned red from the chokehold, but his defiant eyes showed no hint of regret.

Lu Kangnian’s right palm struck the youth’s abdomen.

Thump!

A visible strand of qi burst from the youth’s dantian, dissipating into the air.

Blood spurted from the youth’s mouth as he coughed. “Agh! Ahhh!”

The youth, a prodigy who had reached the Foundation Building Realm at twenty, had had his dantian crippled in an instant.

The gathered disciples were frozen with fear, their breaths shallow and uneven.

Lu Kangnian was still seething with rage. He released the binding spell, sending the youth crashing to the ground.

“That young woman was to be married in three days. She

begged

you for mercy.

“And yet, you still forced yourself upon her. You even struck down her grandmother.

“The young lady, driven to despair and ashamed to face her future husband, hanged herself after you left.

“You call yourself a disciple of an immortal sect?

“My Daxia Sword Sect is ashamed.

“Ashamed!”

Clang!

A longsword appeared in Lu Kangnian’s hands, and he raised it high.

Fear flashed in the youth’s eyes. With his dantian crippled, he had only lost his path to immortality. But now, Lu Kangnian was going to kill him.

He’d been lying down in extreme agony, but he endured it and crawled forward.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The youth frantically kowtowed, slamming his head against the ground, blood seeping from the impact.

“Sect Master! I know I was wrong!

“I’ll go apologize to the old woman! I’ll compensate them with silver!

“I’ll leave the sect! I’ll serve their family for the rest of my life!”

Thump!

“I’m wrong. I truly know I’m wrong. Spare me, please spare me..”

Thump thump!

“I genuinely know my mistake. You see, if I’m dead, there won’t be anyone left to take care of the elderly grandmother.

“If you spare me, I’ll go down to the mountain now and take care of them till they pass away from old age.

“I’m just a cripple now. Spare me, please!”

The entire plaza was silent, save for the youth’s desperate pleas.

Even the new disciples now understood the whole story.

They understood the grandmother’s situation, but many also felt that the youth’s attitude was extremely sincere.

At this moment, Li Nanting turned to Li Guanqi and asked solemnly, “What do you think?”

Li Guanqi’s voice was cold. “He must die.”

Indeed, the youth’s pleas had done little to appease Lu Kangnian.

He brought his sword down.

The sword flashed like lightning, reducing the youth to a human stick. Blood sprayed three feet high, and the youth’s screams were abruptly cut short.

Lu Kangnian swept his icy gaze across the disciples.

“I will not tolerate another violation of the sect’s rules! If you do not understand them, read your identity jade slip thoroughly and engrave them into your heart!

“Tu Kui, as the Peak Master of the Heavenly Metal Peak, you have failed in your duty. You are removed from your position, effective immediately!

“Meng Linhai will take over as Peak Master!

“A master cannot escape responsibility for a disciple’s crimes! You will personally take your disciple’s corpse and offer an explanation to that elderly woman!”

Tu Kui got up unsteadily, his face pale. He bowed deeply without any intention of talking back.

“Tu Kui accepts his punishment.”

Lu Kangnian flicked his sleeve, snorted coldly, and disappeared from sight.