The two fell into complete silence, locking eyes in a tense, razor-sharp stare.
Mu Chen froze. He could clearly see the disappointment written across Su Qingyue's face.
"Master Su... I can explain about..."
BLAST!
Su Qingyue thrust her hand forward, sending a streak of white lightning qi straight at Mu Chen.
Startled, Mu Chen reacted on instinct and directed his cauldron to block the attack.
However, with his strength still far too weak, his body was nowhere near capable of controlling the power of the Ancient God Cauldron, an artifact that contained the power of heaven and earth itself.
He was blasted backward, smashing through the wall of the room before being flung far away, the golden cauldron still hovering beside him.
Mu Chen fell from the cliffside. He had no ability to fly, no ability to manipulate qi.
Panic surged through him as the fear of death gripped his heart.
His mind immediately raced.
Turning to the side, he grabbed the golden cauldron. By focusing his mind on controlling it, Mu Chen managed to slow his descent.
He landed safely on the hillside below, the golden cauldron having saved him.
"Mu Chen!"
"You lied to me!" Su Qingyue shouted.
The woman's fury shook the entire sect.
The disciples stopped their training and instinctively looked up toward the sky above Mount Jiuxiao.
Sect Master Yun saw the same thing, his expression filled with worry. The other elders were no different.
All of them were desperate to know what had caused the thunderous heavenly rumbling at the ancestral peak.
"Did something happen to Mu Chen?" Han Lao asked.
Yun Tian turned and saw Elder Wang Wei arriving from his residence. He too looked shocked by the major disturbance that had erupted tonight.
"The power of this heavenly thunder is terrifying. Su Qingyue's anger could destroy the entire sect."
Sect Master Tianyin turned to Han Lao and Wang Wei, "Lead the sect and activate the grand protective array."
The two core elders nodded in understanding.
Yun Tian flew alone from Mount Yunhai toward Jiuxiao, trying to calm Su Qingyue's fury.
He knew very well that there was no one in the Tianyin Sect capable of matching Su Qingyue's strength.
Meanwhile, Mu Chen tried to explain what had really happened. Su Qingyue listened, but his words did nothing to quell the raging storm in her heart.
"I had no choice but to hide the truth to protect myself!" Mu Chen said firmly.
"If you had been honest from the start, perhaps I wouldn't be this angry, Mu Chen!" Su Qingyue shouted.
She formed a hand seal, sending a beam of white qi light soaring into the dark clouds above.
Yun Tian arrived at the safe boundary of Mount Jiuxiao, but he still could not see clearly without using his cultivation vision.
His eyes glowed white. The moment he saw Mu Chen standing there with the golden cauldron floating beside him, Yun Tian's face changed in shock.
"The Ancient God Cauldron? How could it possibly be in his possession?!"
His attention quickly shifted to Su Qingyue. A terrifying force gathered in her hand, summoning her strongest technique from the heavens.
Yun Tian's eyes widened as the sky split apart. The black clouds faded. A giant full moon projection appeared in the sky and began descending from above.
"No way...!"
"Grandmaster Su is trying to kill Mu Chen with Moon Dao Intent?! This is too much!"
"This is dangerous! Extremely dangerous for Tianyin!"
Yun Tian slapped his bag of holding, summoning a white plate engraved with golden patterns and letting it hover before him for a few seconds.
His fist clenched tightly. His mind raced. But if he hesitated, the Tianyin Sect could face total destruction.
"I have no choice!"
He thrust his qi forward and shattered the white-gold plate. In response, five pillars of white qi light rose around him.
As the pillars faded, five figures in Tianyin Sect robes appeared. Three men and two women.
"Yun Tian! Didn't I tell you not to disturb our closed-door cultivation?!" one of the men barked, a Soul Formation cultivator.
"I'll explain later. Help me protect the sect!" Yun Tian said sharply.
The five figures beside him were the sect's ancestors, cultivators who had cast aside worldly affairs in pursuit of the true dao. Every one of them was at the Soul Formation Realm.
They looked ahead and saw Su Qingyue, their senior and old companion, using her strongest power to kill a mere Qi Condensation ant.
"This isn't worth using the highest power of a dao concept against a Qi Condensation cultivator!"
"Senior Su! Calm your heart. Don't do something you'll regret!"
Su Qingyue ignored them. She did not listen.
Her heart had been blinded by deep disappointment. If she could not possess the Ancient God Cauldron, then no one could.
Not even Mu Chen.
The five Soul Formation cultivators joined forces, combining their strength to form a heaven-grade array to counter Su Qingyue's Northern Snow Cold Moon.
Elsewhere, Mu Chen dropped to his knees and coughed up blood as the overwhelming cultivation pressure slammed into his body. It was far stronger than Wang Wei's pressure.
So... she had been holding back all this time?
COUGH!
Mu Chen could no longer accept this oppression. His life had always been shackled by powers that sought to use him. And now, that power no longer sought to restrain him. It wanted to kill him.
He had not come to this world to be oppressed, humiliated, tortured, used, or killed.
No!
Mu Chen had come to write his own destiny. A destiny that no one could interfere with.
"I... won't give up!" Mu Chen roared.
"Great power used to oppress others? That's bullshit!" he shouted.
"Great power... is meant to protect the weak!"
Su Qingyue narrowed her eyes. Something strange was happening to Mu Chen's body.
A massive amount of Primordial Origin Qi surged into him until the veins and meridians throughout his body glowed gold. His strength exploded upward. His physique was being perfectly tempered.
The burst of pure golden qi from Mu Chen stunned everyone. The sect's ancestors turned in shock.
"Primordial Origin Qi?!"
Su Qingyue's fury became even more uncontrollable. She swung her hand downward, bringing down the supreme power of her Moon Dao concept.
Northern Snow Cold Moon.
The blue-white moon descended from the sky, scraping away the peak of Mount Jiuxiao and releasing crushing cultivation pressure across the entire Tianyin Sect.
Han Lao, Wang Wei, and the other elders struggled to maintain the sect's protective array, safeguarding the lives of tens of thousands of disciples.
Yun Tian and the five Soul Formation ancestors attacked the blue-white moon with all their strength.
But an explosion erupted. Their attack failed. All six coughed up blood at the same time.
"No one... can stop Senior Su!"
Then, to everyone's disbelief, Mu Chen, a mere Qi Condensation cultivator, leaped upward with explosive force, his body wrapped in Primordial Origin Qi.
"What is that Qi Condensation kid doing?!"
Mu Chen's eyes shone with brilliant gold. He swung his arm fiercely toward the sky.
The Ancient God Cauldron shot upward, rapidly expanding in size. Yun Tian and the five sect ancestors were utterly shocked.
BLAST!
A massive explosion of qi erupted as the Ancient God Cauldron collided with the power born from dao comprehension itself.
The shockwave tore through countless areas, destroying buildings, summoning heavenly lightning that struck the earth and trees, and wounding the souls of every sect member.
The two forces clashed endlessly.
The unrivaled might of the Ancient God Clan against the profound complexity of Dao Comprehension.
Cracks began spreading across the moon's surface. Su Qingyue was stunned.
She looked toward Mu Chen's Ancient God Cauldron. It remained completely intact.
Is this... the power of a descendant of the Ancient God Clan?
Yun Tian and the five Soul Formation ancestors immediately realized that Su Qingyue's Moon Dao concept attack was about to shatter and explode.
They instantly formed their strongest defensive formation to protect the sect.
"A Qi Condensation brat... is destroying the dao concept of a Soul Transformation cultivator?!"
"This is insane!"
Yun Tian narrowed his eyes. He realized the power did not fully belong to Mu Chen. It was a resonance between his body and the ancient artifact.
They did not care if Mount Jiuxiao was destroyed.
But they could not stand by and watch tens of thousands die, nor let Tianyin's legacy be annihilated because of Su Qingyue's obsession.
BLAST!
The second explosion was even more devastating. Northern Snow Cold Moon shattered. Mount Jiuxiao collapsed.
A violent qi shockwave spread across the entire region, even cultivators in the nearby cities could feel it.
Mu Chen, completely unprotected, was blasted far beyond the sect grounds.
His body was grievously injured, and he lost consciousness.
The Ancient God Cauldron flew toward him and entered his body, giving him one final surge of power so he would not suffer fatal injuries from the fall.
Su Qingyue trembled in shock. Pain surged through her body, especially her chest.
She coughed up blood and quickly wiped it from the corner of her lips.
Looking down, she saw that Mu Chen had vanished. Lotus Jiuxiao Residence had also been completely destroyed, leaving only ruins behind.
"Mu Chen!"
"MU CHEN!"
Su Qingyue kept calling his name, desperately trying to determine his condition. But even with her cultivation vision, she could not find him anywhere within Tianyin Sect's territory.
"What... have I done?" Su Qingyue said, both hands trembling.
"I... threw away my precious chance to ascend the realms. I... threw away Mu Chen?"
Yun Tian flew toward her, clutching his chest, his soul injured by the earlier explosion.
The moment he arrived, Su Qingyue turned and flew straight toward him.
"Mu Chen! Where is he?"
"I don't know, Grandmaster Su," Yun Tian said.
"Order all the elders out. Launch an expedition and find Mu Chen. Bring him back to me alive!" Su Qingyue said sharply, panic filling her voice.
"Grandmaster Su Qingyue!" Yun Tian shouted, startling her.
Su Qingyue fell silent. She could clearly see the anger and disappointment on Yun Tian's face.
The five Soul Formation ancestors also flew over, all of them badly injured.
"Tianyin Sect has suffered tremendous losses because of this tragedy. We will search for Mu Chen and bring him before you, but our priority must be restoring the sect," Yun Tian said.
It was obvious Su Qingyue hated seeing Yun Tian prioritize the damaged sect over Mu Chen's life.
"The sect can be rebuilt, but Mu Chen only has one life!" she said firmly.
"If you won't help me, then I'll find him myself!"