Chapter 76: You Dare to Imprison Me?!
That giant hand formed from Nascent Soul spiritual power dimmed even the dome of the Main Peak Hall.
Its oppressive might poured down like mercury, cracking the hard bluestone tiles inch by inch.
The elders lying prone on the ground groaned under the unbearable pressure; their very souls seemed crushed by an invisible hand, unable even to raise the faintest thought.
This strike was meant to erase Chu Feng—and everything he represented—from the world.
It’s over.
That was the only thought left in the minds of Wang Xuanfu and the others.
The Ascension Group, the shares, the dividends, the future—all would be reduced to dust beneath this palm.
Under the shadow of the handprint, Chu Feng’s body trembled slightly under the weight.
He didn’t dodge.
Nor could he.
Just as that destructive force was about to touch his head, he made a single move.
He slowly and calmly took a Recording Jade Slip from his storage pouch—
Then raised it high.
“Ancestor!”
Pouring every ounce of his spiritual power into his voice, Chu Feng roared against the crushing pressure that was about to grind him to dust. His shout pierced the distorted air like a blade.
“If this palm lands, what shatters won’t be me—but Qingyun Sect’s future!”
True Lord Xuantian’s movement didn’t pause in the slightest.
A dying man’s clamor.
The giant hand continued to descend.
But at that very moment, several streaks of light suddenly burst from the ground, fiercely colliding with the enormous palm.
“Ancestor, stay your hand!”
“Think twice!”
It was Wang Xuanfu, Elder Qian… those sect elders deeply tied to the interests of the Ascension Group!
They had struggled to rise, summoning their own life-bound artifacts.
They had chosen to act.
“Courting death!”
True Lord Xuantian’s eyes blazed with fury. The sect he had protected for centuries—his own disciples—had dared to raise their blades against him for the sake of an outsider!
Boom!
The deafening roar shook the heavens.
The treasures unleashed by Wang Xuanfu and the others dimmed instantly, as fragile as glass struck by a giant hammer.
They were thrown away by an irresistible force, blood spraying through the air as their bodies crashed into pillars and walls, sliding down motionless—their life or death uncertain.
That desperate blockade merely weakened the palm’s might by thirty percent.
The remaining power was still enough to crush a Qi Refining cultivator into pulp.
Chu Feng still didn’t move.
He only looked quietly at True Lord Xuantian, even the corner of his lips lifting slightly.
Just as the palm was about to strike him—
“Stop!”
A furious shout rang out again.
Liu Changqing, who had been lying “unconscious” on the ground, suddenly leapt to his feet.
There was no trace of injury on him—the full power of his late-stage Golden Core cultivation burst forth without restraint.
A simple golden shield flew from his sleeve, expanding against the wind into a thick barrier of light that blocked Chu Feng from the front.
“Liu Changqing! You too would rebel?!”
True Lord Xuantian was livid.
“Ancestor! I’m not rebelling—I’m doing this for the sect!”
Liu Changqing’s hair and beard flared wildly, his eyes bloodshot as he pointed at Chu Feng and shouted hoarsely.
“Do you know what he is now?”
“He is our source of wealth! Our provider of food and clothing!”
“If you kill him, you’re killing all of us!”
Boom!
The giant palm still struck the golden barrier.
The light shield trembled violently, producing a sound that made one’s teeth ache—then shattered with a thunderous bang.
Liu Changqing was sent flying backward, the blood he spat exceeding even the others combined.
But after those two successive blocks, the palm’s strength was reduced to a mere tenth of its original power.
A faint imprint landed upon Chu Feng’s body.
Chu Feng grunted, his body swaying as he retreated three steps.
Each step left a deep footprint in the ground.
He raised his hand, slowly wiping away the trace of blood at the corner of his mouth with his thumb.
He looked at the elders lying injured all over the hall, at Liu Changqing who had risked his life to protect him—and finally, his gaze returned to True Lord Xuantian.
“Ancestor, did you see that?”
His voice was soft, yet it reached every ear in the hall.
“This is what they call ‘public opinion.’ No—let me put it in a way you can understand. This is called ‘the hearts of the people.’”
“You can wound them, even kill them. But can you erase the sweetness they’ve already tasted—their yearning for more?”
“To kill me is easy.”
“But if I die, who will manage the Group’s accounts? Who will pay the miners’ wages? Who will oversee the production of pills?”
“What about those disciples and elders who’ve gotten used to their monthly dividends—what will they think? What will they do?”
Chu Feng’s words were like needles, piercing deep into True Lord Xuantian’s heart.
True Lord Xuantian looked at the elders sprawled on the floor—badly injured, yet staring at him with resentment and unwillingness.
Then he looked again at Chu Feng, who appeared pitifully innocent, as if he were the victim.
A wave of unprecedented helplessness surged within him.
His proud Nascent Soul cultivation—yet before this youth, he was powerless.
Kill him? The sect would descend into chaos, hearts shattered.
Spare him? Then this monster would keep corroding the entire sect.
“Deceitful words to confuse the masses!”
In the end, True Lord Xuantian suppressed his killing intent.
He knew—he couldn’t kill him now. Not before so many witnesses.
His cold gaze locked onto Chu Feng.
“Fine. Today, this seat shall spare your life!”
“But though you escape death, punishment is inevitable!”
“You’ve bewitched the disciples and disrupted the sect—your crimes are grave! From this moment on, you are confined to the West Mountain Pill Institute. Without my command, you are not to take a single step beyond it!”
“Leng Yanran, Zhang Daniu, Wu Hao, and other core accomplices—confined together!”
“This seat will see whether, once all your serpents’ heads are locked away, this so-called ‘Group’ of yours can still keep running!”
True Lord Xuantian meant to cut off the problem at its root.
Once the core brain was contained, the runaway machine would collapse on its own.
Yet upon hearing the decree, Chu Feng only laughed.
“Imprison me?”
He looked at True Lord Xuantian as though gazing at a naive child.
“Ancestor, are you sure… you want to do that?”
“This is open defiance of the decision made by our entire ‘Board of Directors.’”
“You’re playing with fire.”