The man only just managed to steady himself; he looked up with a sullen face. But the gloom on his features vanished the moment he recognized the figure that had suddenly appeared — replaced by shock and horror.
"It's her!"
"Dong Yue!"
Others might not fully grasp who Dong Yue was, but as an old disciple who had been in the inner sect for decades, he knew full well how terrifying she was.
Although Dong Yue was only at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage, her combat power long exceeded what was typical for that realm. The fact that she could already serve as a sect elder while still Foundation Establishment demonstrated that clearly.
He and Dong Yue were both Foundation Establishment cultivators, but if Dong Yue wanted to kill him it would be no different than crushing an ant.
As the man's face turned pale, murmurs rippled through the crowd. When the disciples saw Dong Yue appear, they all displayed looks of disbelief.
"Elder Dong herself!"
"That aloof elder actually rushed all the way from the Outer Affairs Hall just for that trash Wang—!"
…
After Dong Yue repelled the man, her gaze flicked to the house below. Seeing that Wang Jianqiang's breakthrough had not been disturbed, she finally relaxed a little. She then turned to Wang Yuyao and flicked a pill from between her fingers. "Your injuries are severe — take this to heal first."
Wang Yuyao was very surprised by Dong Yue's arrival. Only when she heard Dong Yue speak did she come to her senses and caught the pill in one hand.
"Thank you, Elder Dong."
Wang Yuyao bowed gratefully, swallowed the pill, and began to quietly refine it.
Only after seeing Wang Yuyao start to heal did Dong Yue shift her attention fully back to the man.
"Stand there. Do not move."
"If you take a single step, I will have the Punishment Hall execute you."
A faint voice laced with icy intent washed over him; his face immediately drained of color. He cursed his luck inwardly. Who would have thought a mere outer sect disciple could draw such attention from the usually indifferent Dong Yue, who would even personally intervene to protect someone.
He knew clearly: from the moment Dong Yue appeared, his plan to devour the five-colored vortex had failed.
Although he had broken sect rules, punishment would have to wait for the Punishment Hall to arrive. Even as an elder, Dong Yue did not have the right to summarily behead him. All he could do now was avoid giving her a reason to kill him. So when Dong Yue spoke, he dared not utter a word of protest — he remained obediently rooted to the spot.
He had no doubt that if he moved a single step, Dong Yue would claim he was attempting to escape the sect and cut him down on the spot.
Seeing him stand meekly, Dong Yue's eyes flashed with a hint of regret. She then scanned the crowd, her gaze briefly lingering on a few inner sect disciples mixed in among them.
Feeling the chill of Dong Yue's stare, those inner disciples shuddered and hurried to the back of the crowd, anxious not to be mistakenly suspected by her.
Only then did Dong Yue withdraw her gaze and look back at the five-colored vortex.
The vortex had expanded to a diameter of forty-nine zhang. At that point it seemed to have reached its limit and stopped growing.
Time passed, moment by moment.
The five-colored vortex arrogantly devoured the spiritual qi of heaven and earth and funneled it down into the house below. That inflow continued for nearly the length of an incense stick before gradually slowing.
The vortex's rotation decelerated and finally ceased entirely.
The instant the five-colored vortex vanished, the aura within the house shot up dramatically.
"It succeeded!"
Both Dong Yue and Wang Yuyao broke into smiles.
Dong Yue tapped her finger; the green barrier outside the house vanished. One by one, little flags materialized from the void and flew back to her. With a wave of her arm she gathered the flags.
After she withdrew the barrier, the aura inside the house had already reached its peak and began to consolidate.
A moment later—
Creak—
With the sound of a door opening, a tall, upright young man stepped out of the house.
As he appeared, everyone's gazes turned instantly toward him, their faces revealing astonishment.
"That's… Wang Jianqiang!"
Seeing that exceptionally handsome figure, the crowd's minds could not help but recall the gaunt, stooped, wrinkled old man they had known. Who would have expected Wang Jianqiang to have been so handsome in his youth?
Even Dong Yue was momentarily taken aback.
Wang Jianqiang noticed the many onlookers and raised an eyebrow. He nodded to Dong Yue, then—under all those gazes—walked over to Wang Yuyao's side.
"Senior Brother Wang."
Wang Yuyao immediately stood when he approached. Though her wounds had been temporarily suppressed after the treatments, rising still tugged at her injuries and drained some color from her face.
Wang Jianqiang's deep gaze swept across the wounds on her body before lingering on her pale face.
"How did you end up in such a sorry state?"
"I'm fine. Senior Brother, it's good you completed your breakthrough," Wang Yuyao smiled weakly. Pain clearly remained; her brow still twitched from time to time.
Wang Jianqiang nodded. Because he had been in the critical moment of a breakthrough, his senses had all been sealed; his mind had been entirely focused on making the leap, so he had not sensed what had happened outside. Still, he could roughly deduce the situation: some people had tried to take advantage of him while he was vulnerable, and Wang Yuyao had been injured while blocking them.
But the attacker had been ruthless!
A flash of murderous intent passed across his face. "Now, tell me who did it."
Sensing Wang Jianqiang's killing intent, Wang Yuyao grew worried. "Senior Brother Wang, I'm fine. It's already over — leave the rest to the Punishment Hall."
"He violated sect rules; the Punishment Hall will punish him. You don't need to take matters into your own hands."
Wang Jianqiang shook his head. "I won't let this go."
"If you obstruct another's cultivation it's as bad as killing their parents. And he injured someone of mine—how can I not respond?"
Seeing Wang Jianqiang resolute, Wang Yuyao looked distressed.
"Wang Jianqiang, calm down. This is inside the sect. If you act rashly you will be punished." Someone tried to advise him.
At that moment, Dong Yue's slightly urgent voice came through Wang Jianqiang's mind via transmission.
"I'm very calm."
Wang Jianqiang sent back a transmitted reply to Dong Yue. His gaze swept the crowd and stopped on a man.
"You have injury marks."
"And your aura matches the residue of the battle here."
"You were the one who made the move earlier, weren't you?"
The man laughed. "Indeed I struck. That woman — I injured her. What, you want a piece of me?"
"I do want a piece of you."
Wang Jianqiang nodded.
The man's laughter grew brazen; mockery shone in his eyes. "You really think that because you broke through to Foundation Establishment you can fight me? Clueless fool. Outside the sect I could cut your head off with a single strike!"
"Is that so? Then I'll give it a try."
Wang Jianqiang's face went cold. He rose slowly into the air until he was level with the man.
"Senior Brother Wang, don't be impulsive."
"Wang Jianqiang, he's provoking you to make a move so he can drag you to the Punishment Hall. Don't fall for it."
Wang Yuyao and Dong Yue's voices rang in his head at the same time. Wang Jianqiang only shook his head.
The other party was clearly trying to ruin his Dao path — in the cultivation world that was tantamount to murder.
People live by pride. Some things can be swallowed; some cannot. If one is always meek, one will be bullied.
If he yielded this time, even more brazen actions might follow.
He cast a sliver of consciousness into his soul sea. On his attribute panel, the number of attribute points now clearly read 1,100.
One hundred of those points came from refining a perfect Foundation Establishment Pill earlier. The remaining 1,000 were rewards from breaking through into Foundation Establishment.
A cruel glint crossed his eyes. He could see through the rival's crude provocation easily enough. But trying to drag him to the Punishment Hall? He had to be alive to be dragged.
"System, add all attribute points to the Temporal Saint Body!"