“I should have seen it long ago — that wild wretch from the hills truly harbors evil in his heart, forming his own faction behind our backs.
He absolutely means to tear this sect apart!”
Mo Liusu’s face was deeply overcast as strands of killing intent seeped from her — cold, heavy, suffocating.
Even White Crane Immortal could only keep her mouth shut, not daring to provoke her.
“I agree with Master’s view!”
Tang Qi suddenly whispered: “Senior Brother has always been timid and low-key, but who would have thought he’d been quietly winning over so many people?
I suspect even this scene was arranged by him in advance, just to add weight to his position and pressure you, Master!”
“That’s right — it’s exactly the sort of thing he’d do.
I can vouch for it!”
Jiang Yuyao chimed in from the side, speaking with absolute certainty.
“Then he’s in for a disappointment.
As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together — they’re nothing but a ragtag mob.
They won’t amount to anything, and they certainly won’t sway my will!”
Mo Liusu sneered — but her words made more than a few Elders’ hearts lurch.
To belittle Zhou Tong, she would speak ill of the sect’s own disciples?
That was hardly the bearing a leader should have.
Her voice reached everyone’s ears, and the hundred-plus disciples heard every word clearly — yet none of them wavered in the slightest.
“Why go this far?
To stir up such trouble for the sake of a crippled wretch like me?”
Looking at the vibrant youths around him, even Zhou Tong could not help but feel moved.
In his past life, he had wallowed in self-pity, believing himself utterly alone and cast out by the whole world — forgetting that people like Mo Liusu were not his entire world at all!
In corners he had never seen, there were still people who worshiped him, admired him, dreamed of him — who saw him as their redemption and their hero.
These were the people worth cherishing.
This life, he would fight to protect them!
With that single realization, everything opened up before him.
He felt the shackles that had bound him for so long loosen, turning so brittle that a single tap would shatter them to dust.
In his past life, his cultivation had reached miraculous heights, standing a single step from the summit — yet that short distance had capped his lifelong achievements, and he had died unable to advance an inch further.
A great master had once advised him that a void remained in his heart, and until it was filled, he could never complete the true Dao.
Now, the missing piece of the puzzle had finally been found.
He had reclaimed his right to contend for the very peak of the martial path.
This life, he would leave no regrets behind!
The instant his mind opened, the heavens and earth seemed to broaden, and within Zhou Tong’s body a cataclysmic change began.
It was a sweeping enlightenment, a metamorphosis of the soul, pulling at every inch of his body from the inside out to cast off his old shell and be reborn.
No outsider could sense it or see any trace of it, but Zhou Tong knew that what followed would be a spectacle of dazzling celestial phenomena — and that he would once again step through the gates of cultivation.
“Senior Brother, why have you stopped?
Are you feeling unwell?”
A disciple noticed something amiss and asked with deep concern.
At that, everyone around stopped and looked at Zhou Tong with worry.
“Escorting one a thousand li still ends in parting.
I accept your goodwill — now go back.”
Zhou Tong said with a warm smile, yet those around him hesitated.
“Senior Brother…
your cultivation…
at least let us escort you a while longer…”
“That’s enough.
Aren’t you going to listen to me?”
Zhou Tong put on a stern face, and the youths who had been about to insist fell silent at once.
“Don’t be angry, Senior Brother — we’ll listen to you.
But remember this: whatever hardship you face, we’ll share it with you.
And if anyone dares bully you, no matter how far across the world they hide, we’ll tear them limb from limb.
Even if we can’t beat them now, one day we’ll make them pay!”
The young man’s voice rang out with iron resolve — a warning not just to Zhou Tong’s ears, but to the entire world.
Let the world know that although Zhou Tong had lost all his cultivation and was now no better than a mortal, his junior brothers and sisters were no pushovers — anyone who wished him harm had best think twice before acting!
“A fine bunch of rebellious disciples you are, daring to defy me!
If I don’t teach you a lesson, you’ll think I’m nothing but a decoration!”
Mo Liusu clenched her fists, her chest heaving rapidly, a clear sign of her turmoil.
Beside her, the flames of jealousy in Tang Qi’s eyes nearly burst forth.
Why?!
Zhou Tong was a crippled wreck — shouldn’t he have been kicked while he was down and trampled by ten thousand feet?
Why did so many still respect him?
He, Tang Qi, possessed a luminous comprehension and the bearing of a Divine King — he ought to be the one adored by all.
Why should he still be overshadowed by that cripple!
Even Jiang Yuyao and Ge Hongqiu stared wide-eyed at the scene in disbelief.
They had never imagined that Zhou Tong, whom they had always looked down on, could command such prestige — it felt like a dream.
“Mo Liusu, stop clinging to your delusion!”
Gazing at the desolate, lonely figure in the Celestial Mirror, White Crane Immortal couldn’t help speaking up again: “Bring Zhou Tong back.
Once the Sect Leader emerges from seclusion, let him decide everything!”
“Nonsense!
Nothing but idle fantasy!”
Mo Liusu sat down with composure, looking down at the man in the mirror from on high.
“He’s a cripple now.
What good is prestige?
Before long everyone will forget him.
Without the sect’s backing, he’ll never amount to anything — he’ll live out his days in obscurity until the day he dies!”
Those around her fell silent.
Mo Liusu had a point: no matter how glorious Zhou Tong’s past, it could not hide the fact that his cultivation was utterly destroyed.
Once reduced to such a state, returning to the path of cultivation was harder than climbing to heaven.
Countless geniuses, once crippled, had never recovered and faded into the masses.
Could Zhou Tong truly break free of the cage?
At this thought, even the Elders wavered, and White Crane Immortal’s face showed hesitation.
The sight made Mo Liusu’s lips curl up ever so slightly.
She had to admit that the commotion Zhou Tong stirred today had genuinely startled her — but that was all.
Without strength, one had no right to be defiant.
In the end, Zhou Tong would still yield!
Yet the very next moment, a sudden upheaval struck!
Brilliant light suddenly erupted within the Celestial Mirror, drawing everyone’s eyes to the figure bathed in it.
“That’s…
Zhou Tong?
What’s happening to him?”
Someone murmured, sensing that something extraordinary was afoot.
But the next moment, they had their answer.
“BOOM!”
With a deafening roar, in that instant auspicious colors rained from the heavens, auspicious vapor roiled upward, fragrance bloomed from the void, and lotus blossoms surged from the earth — a scene of supreme splendor.
Then the aura of heaven and earth churned violently, converging from all directions and pouring madly into Zhou Tong’s body.
Zhou Tong was like a bottomless pit, accepting all of it without resistance.
The ripples of a cultivator reappeared on his body — and his brow was glowing!
The sight made countless onlookers gasp!
“Complete awakening, a soul elevated!
He’s resolved the regret in his heart, broken before rebuilding — he has set foot on the path of cultivation once more, and he will be stronger than ever!”
Countless powerful figures’ eyes turned red with greed.
This was a gift falling straight from heaven — an unmatched genius without a master, an auspicious omen to boot.
What were they waiting for?
Snatch him up at once!
“Someone, bring my Sect Leader’s token and prepare generous gifts — go ask the boy if he’d like to join the Wuji Sect!”
“The Xuantian Sect will not lag behind — a talent like this belongs in our sect…”
“Heh, don’t think you can steal the show.
May the best man win!”
In an instant, the leaders of countless sects had red eyes, all eager to extend an olive branch to Zhou Tong.
A crippled Zhou Tong might have been worthless, but a Zhou Tong who had broken through and been reborn was worth more than ever.
How could they not go mad for him?
Bang!
Mo Liusu crushed the teacup beside her hand, scalding tea running down her pale palm — yet she didn’t even notice.
“How can this be?
That good-for-nothing…” she murmured to herself, her eyes vacant, all traces of composure gone.