"Disciples of the Ice Emerald Sect, this is your sect master Zhao Ju. As you have heard, the Order has declared us guilty of heinous crimes. As your sect master, I'd like to announce it's all false.
Our sect did not do those things. We have always kept to ourselves and slowly built up to where we are today.
I admit it wasn't without its fair share of blood shed but this is the world we live in. Is there truly any cultivator who has reached the heights that they have without stepping over someone?
I doubt there is, though I could be wrong, but in the time I've been around, I haven't met a single one.
Despite how blood-ridden the path is, we as the Ice Emerald Sect have always strived to be cordial with everyone. We avoided conflicts if we could, kept to ourselves, and even when we grew a bit strong, we didn't wantonly plunder our neighbors to exert dominance.
Didn't we live peacefully with them?"
"WE DID!!!!"
"Then how could we be capable of doing all those things the Order has claimed we did? They did not even give us a chance to defend ourselves and just unilaterally decided we were guilty and announced the sentence and destruction of our sect...
While our sect may not be as huge as theirs, we are not made of soft bones. I and the rest of the elders have decided we will stand our ground and fight against their tyranny. We will not shirk back to defend the name of the sect that gave us all we have today.
I will have no regrets even if we meet our end here.
As for you all, I won't order you to fight with us. Those who want to leave can do so, I and the elders will not judge you for it. You can do as the fellow Daoist has said. I wish you all the best in your paths ahead, and I hope you will keep Ice Emerald Sect and our teachings in your hearts.
And for those willing to stay, all I can say is thank you..."
"She's quite the speaker.." said Wei Ying with her tone rife with mockery.
Barely a second later, the whole ground was filled with uproar as the disciples spoke over one another, each pumped full of chicken blood and dragon guts.
"Sect master, what are you saying? Don't look down on us!! If you are staying, so are we. We are not afraid of death either!!"
"Yes, yes...we will show the world that our sect isn't a pushover. Even against an entity like the Order, the Ice Emerald Sect will dare fight back for what is right.."
"The sect is our home.."
"We will fight to our last breath.."
"We will not bend..."
Roars filled the place, with an infectious fighting spirit filling almost every disciple regardless of their age or cultivation base.
People who were riddled with fear moments earlier, now looked as if they wanted to slay the entire world under a righteous banner, but of course, there were those whose sense of preservation remained undeterred by the sensation floating around.
Though their numbers were pitifully few, there were those disciples who took up Yang Qing's offer and passed through the veil with guilted and nervous expressions as they suffered torrents of abuse from the disciples behind them.
There were even some who were attacked but a crimson orange shield appeared around them to shield them from the attacks as they made their way out. The successful passage of one of them prompted a few others to follow suit, and at the end, 17 decided to leave of which one was an elder while the bulk of the rest were new disciples.
Emboldened by the large number that decided to stay back, one of the elders spoke up with mockery in her tone.
"See that, people from the Order. We are not afraid of you. Your claims are ridiculous. We do not accept the charges or the ruling, and if it's a fight you want, then a fight you will get. though we may not match you, our spirit is undaunted.
But for you, you will make an enemy of the world with your actions. Are you sure you can bear it?"
The elder was a palace realm cultivator who amplified her voice with her qi which pushed it for thousands of kilometers.
"They're truly insidious every one of them. She is playing to the audience we have.." Mo Liwei said as he looked behind them.
There were a few figures lurking about monitoring the situation from a distance, and the number seemed to be growing.
Clearly, that elder seemed to be trying to incite others.
Once Yang Qing saw that no one else seemed to have the intention to leave he finally made his move.
"You truly disappoint me sect master Zhao Ju. You're a failure as a leader. ."
Two white flames suddenly appeared in the place of Yang Qing's pupils.
"As for you.." Yang Qing's gaze turned to the elder who had just spoken up.
She was short and oozed an unruly and unbridled aura. She had white hair, the same as all the elders.
She had an arrogant smile as she spoke but when Yang Qing's gaze fell on her, she shrunk back.
"You must be the second elder, Xie Liqiu. Thank you for your kind concern but, every person from the Order, whether it's the guard at the gates, or the judges in the courtrooms, every single one of us has been prepared from the moment we stepped through those doors and agreed to join the Order, that we may one day become an enemy of the whole continent.
We have worn that reality every single day. So what if we become an enemy to the entire world? If it happens, then so be it. We are all prepared for it, even if it happens now, we are ready.
We will always do, what we have been mandated to do, nothing more, nothing less, and if making an enemy of you all will be a consequence, then we welcome you all and see whose fist is bigger..."
A murderous intent radiated from Yang Qing's whole body that immediately shut the mouths of the disciples roaring below.
"Also do you think I gave you all this time to make the whole speech because I was afraid to act..attacking those weaker than you, and living insidiously has dulled your senses.
Do you think you can use their lives against me? You're too naive, sect master. Your sect will be buried today, and you all with it, that is in no doubt..." Yang Qing coldly said as he rose to the center of the veil where a small crimson-orange bead was embedded.
The other judges smirked with murderous intent radiating from them, as Mo Liwen suddenly said..
"You heard him, friends. If you dare mix yourselves up in this, we will bury you all, just the same as them.."
"Reverberate," Yang Qing coldly muttered as he clenched his fist and slammed it sideways into the bead-like it as a drum.
Crack!
It shattered like glass, and the veil disappeared soon after. There was no explosion or any thunderous sound or anything that showed something cataclysmic was about to happen, but what happened next sent the elders and the sect master into the deepest abyss of fear.
The disciples they had riled up all collapsed the moment the veil dropped while some exploded into mists of blood. It did not stop there as the same event extended to the regular elders. Some exploded into bloody mists while others dropped unconscious.
"Sect master save me?!!!" one of the core elders suddenly yelled when she saw crimson-orange cracks appearing on her body.
She speedily ran to the sect master only to explode when she had taken less than ten steps.
"Sister help me!" another yelled as she nervously stretched her hands towards an elder who had a mole under her left eye.
"Yao'er!!!!!!!" that elder yelled in return as she booming sound appeared under her feet as she charged towards a slender young looking lady who had a similar looking mole under her right eye.
However, just when she had just reached her, that slender young lady exploded.
"I WILL KILL YOU!!! YOU BASTARD!!!!"
"How is this happening?" muttered Sect Master Zhao Ju as she saw the disciples falling and exploding all around her.
However, what hit her hardest was that among the victims were three core elders who were all at the peak stage of the core formation realm. They had all exploded into bloody mists within an instant, and one of them was even Guo Mei's sister.
In just a minute only nine people were left standing.
Seven were in the palace realm, while two were in the quasi-palace realm.
"You must be Deng Yaozu, right? The woman you kidnapped from Rapid Twin County, is she alive?" Yang Qing as if unperturbed to what was happening below him or the murderous look Guo Mei asked him, turned his glance to one of the two quasi palace realm cultivators still standing.
Her image matched the description Ma Yuan gave of the kidnapper who came to their home and crippled him and also took his wife and daughter.
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