“Place Ye Tongyao under strict surveillance. Without my personal order, she is not permitted to go anywhere other than the Ye Family and the Azure Cloud Immortal Sect,” Chu Feng declared, his voice dignified and domineering.
“Convey this Holy Son’s command. After investigation, Ye Zhenchuan colluded with external enemies, engaged in corruption, supplied goods with missing weight and inferior quality, and condoned his daughter in releasing the Traitor Su Fan, who stole the sect’s core cultivation technique.
In two days, he will be publicly executed and subjected to death by dismemberment.
Immediately post a public notice to the entire sect and to all families and sects connected with our Azure Cloud Immortal Sect, inviting them to send representatives to witness the execution.”
“Notify the logistics department. Cancel all cooperation with the Ye Family. Return all heavenly treasures they have delivered at once. Within three days, recover every single spirit stone embezzled by the Ye Family. No one involved is to be spared.”
Chu Feng’s gaze was exceptionally cold as he issued command after command.
With each order, Ye Zhenchuan’s face turned paler. By the end, he collapsed to the floor like a boneless heap of mud.
“Holy Son, spare me! All of this was done privately by that unfilial daughter Ye Tongyao. I knew nothing of it. It has nothing to do with the Ye Family!” Ye Zhenchuan kowtowed frantically, his form of address having silently changed to Holy Son.
He had already sensed the immense shift in Chu Feng’s attitude toward Ye Tongyao. The entire Ye Family was now facing catastrophe.
“Take him away.” Chu Feng turned and waved his hand.
The Dharma Enforcement Team dragged Ye Zhenchuan out.
As he was taken away, he roared at Ye Tongyao, who lay slumped on the ground, “Unfilial daughter! At this point, do you still not awaken? Your father’s life and the fate of the entire Ye Family are now in your hands. Do you understand?”
“Why did it become like this?”
“Why?”
“Why…”
Ye Tongyao lay on the ground, her eyes vacant as she muttered over and over.
What had she done wrong?
On what grounds was Chu Feng treating her and the entire Ye Family like this?
The Ye Family had always been loyal and diligent toward the Azure Cloud Immortal Sect.
Her father had treated Chu Feng so well.
Just yesterday, Chu Feng had treated her with such care, bringing her a pile of precious Medicine Kings to aid her cultivation.
Why had everything changed overnight?
Chu Feng ignored Ye Tongyao completely, not even sparing her a glance. He turned to the elders and senior figures of Dharma Peak with a faint smile and said, “Such a trivial matter, yet it troubled the elders to come personally. I’ve made a spectacle of myself.”
“Holy Son, you’re too courteous. This is our duty.”
“The Ye Family truly went too far. Holy Son handled it appropriately. We fully support you.”
“Ye Zhenchuan is nothing but a petty villain.”
“Our Dharma Peak will fully cooperate with the Holy Son to investigate the Ye Family’s filth thoroughly. Not a single criminal will escape.”
“In the future, we will rely on the Holy Son’s continued guidance over Dharma Peak.”
…
The supreme experts waved their hands repeatedly, all smiling.
Yet inwardly, they were solemn.
The struggle for the position of Holy Son had always been the sect’s focal point. Although Chu Feng ranked first among the Candidate Holy Sons and was essentially preselected, that did not mean there was no uncertainty.
Until Chu Feng truly inherited the position of Sect Master, anything could still happen. The other Candidate Holy Sons were far from weak.
Chu Feng had always been the center of attention for every faction within the sect.
His unconditional affection for Ye Tongyao had long been a topic of ridicule.
But now, his sudden transformation in temperament suggested he had finally broken through his last inner demon, stepping past the barrier of romantic attachment. That was extremely worthy of attention and study.
How many heroes and prodigies had turned into piles of bones because they failed to overcome the obstacle of love?
“Then I must trouble you all. Chu Feng offers his thanks in advance,” Chu Feng said with a smile. “Everything is for the prosperity of the sect. This Holy Son will never allow certain families to cling to the sect and suck its blood.”
“I still have matters to attend to, so I will not disturb you further. When the opportunity arises, I shall invite you all to Heavenly Summit Peak for a drink.”
What was a sect?
It was nothing more than a small martial world, filled everywhere with human relationships and unspoken rules.
The sects of this world, the companies and workplaces of his previous life, even the underground fighting arena he once established, were all the same.
Chu Feng understood such matters well.
Ye Tongyao, however, clearly did not. She looked on in confusion as Chu Feng conversed with the senior elders of Dharma Peak.
She did not understand why not a single one of them spoke up for her father or for the Ye Family.
They clearly knew her father and the Ye Family were being wronged.
She had personally witnessed many of them visit the Ye Family, drink with her father and the clan elders, address each other as brothers, and accept numerous benefits from the Ye Family.
How had everything changed so completely?
No one paid her any attention.
Apart from the Dharma Enforcement Team members assigned to monitor her, Chu Feng left. The supreme experts also departed.
The Interrogation Hall became vast and empty, leaving only Ye Tongyao in her bloodstained long dress.
…
Heavenly Summit Peak.
One of the seven main peaks of the Azure Cloud Immortal Sect, it had produced powerful figures generation after generation. It housed hundreds of thousands of disciples, commanded the allegiance of numerous dynasties, and flourished in strength and prosperity.
Chu Feng’s master was the Peak Master of Heavenly Summit Peak and also the Grand Elder of the Azure Cloud Immortal Sect, ranked first among the inner cabinet.
He wielded immense authority, second only to the Sect Master. He himself was a True Immortal–level peerless powerhouse, renowned and feared throughout the Ancient Immortal Continent.
Just as Chu Feng flew back above Heavenly Summit Peak, a cold system voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for making your choice. Reward: 10 years of cultivation. Accept empowerment now?]
This was the first time he had received a system reward. A trace of anticipation stirred within him, and he almost instinctively replied, “Yes.”
[Ding! Empowerment begins!]
“Boom!”
In an instant, a roaring sound like a tidal wave crashed through his ears. Chu Feng felt an immense and terrifying energy pour directly into his body from the unseen.
“Buzz!”
There was no time to return to his cave dwelling. The thought flashed through his mind, and he immediately closed his eyes, sitting cross-legged in midair. Boundless violet light erupted from his body.
Vast pressure exploded outward like surging rivers, instantly covering a radius of 100 kilometers.
If anyone else had dared release such power above Heavenly Summit Peak, they would have been reduced to ashes by the countless powerhouses within the peak in an instant.
But the moment Chu Feng’s aura erupted, the experts of the peak immediately realized he was breaking through.
“The Holy Son is breaking through. Seal off the surroundings of Heavenly Summit Peak at once. No one is permitted to disturb him,” a terrifying powerhouse ordered.
“Buzz, buzz, buzz…”
Within moments, over a hundred figures radiating blinding divine light and possessing abyss-like auras flew out, sealing off the sky above and the earth below, in every direction around Chu Feng. Not even a mosquito could enter within a 100-kilometer radius of him.
Heavenly Summit Peak itself fell into suffocating silence.
Countless disciples across the towering peaks that pierced the clouds turned their gazes toward Chu Feng.
“To comprehend enlightenment in the sky and break through on the spot… What kind of monstrous talent is this?” an ancient monster murmured, nearly breathless.