Chapter 179: The Hypocrisy of the Sect and First Time Use of the Origin Technique

( Another Big Chapter )

Seeing the situation stalling, the leader of the Cloudwater Sect’s Inner Disciples, Lin Feng, finally stepped forward. He elegantly flicked open his jade folding fan, adopting the righteous posture of a orthodox sect’s genius.

"Enough," Lin Feng said as his voice carried authoritative command. "The Jade City is under the jurisdiction of the Cloudwater Sect. We do not tolerate mindless slaughter, nor do we tolerate unchecked arrogance."

He looked down at Yu Liang, his eyes filled with a sense of ’fairness’. "You have a silver tongue, rogue cultivator. You claim the Zhao Family’s young master provoked you first, and that the elder attacked you from behind. In the cultivation world, words are cheap. However, since you are a lone cultivator and the Zhao Family is a respected Tier 4 family, I will give you a chance. If you apologise to Patriarch Zhao, compensate him for the ’mental distress’ of his son, and hand over any hidden treasures you used to kill his elder, the Cloudwater Sect can guarantee your safe departure from the city. This is the sect’s mercy. Do not refuse it."

Lin Feng’s words were a masterclass in orthodox hypocrisy. He was giving Yu Liang a ’chance’, but it was a chance to surrender his dignity and submit to the inner city’s overlord completing forgetting about the heavenly oath as a option.

Yu Liang slowly lowered his teacup. The porcelain made a soft clink against the wooden table, but in the silent hall, it sounded like a hammer striking an anvil.

He looked at Lin Feng, a faint, mocking smile played on his lips. "Is this how the Cloudwater Sect has become?"

"Insolent!" Lin Feng’s face darkened. "You dare insult the reputation of the Cloudwater Sect?! We are a righteous path! We uphold justice!"

"Justice?" Yu Liang chuckled. He stood up slowly, his Peak Core Formation Realm aura naturally leaked out but it was not oppressive, but infinitely deep, like a bottomless ocean.

"You say you uphold justice, yet you only ask me questions," Yu Liang’s voice rang out clearly, striking directly at the hearts of the disciples. "Why don’t you ask that guy over there?" He pointed a casual finger at Patriarch Zhao Feng.

"Why don’t you ask why his son was harassing a young waitress? Why don’t you ask why his elder burned his life force to launch a lethal strike at my back? Why don’t you ask why he is currently trying to use the name of the Cloudwater Sect to cover up his family’s tyrannical behavior?"

Yu Liang took a step forward, his gaze sweepes over the faltering disciples. "Why are you only interrogating me? Is it because I am alone? Is it because I don’t have a massive family backing me in the inner city? Is it because I defended my own people instead of bowing my head like a dog? Tell me, Senior Brother Lin, is this the ’justice’ of the Cloudwater Sect? Protecting the strong because they are strong, and crushing the weak because they are alone?"

The continuous, soul piercing questions hit the Cloudwater Sect disciples like a barrage of heavy hammers.

Lin Feng and the other inner disciples opened their mouths to retort, but no words came out. They faltered. Their faces twitched, and their eyes darted away from Yu Liang’s piercing gaze.

They weren’t stupid. They instantly got the gist of it. The Zhao Family’s young master lying on the floor with a smashed head definitely deserved his fate. The rogue cultivator was entirely in the right.

But they couldn’t openly shame the Zhao Family!

The Zhao Family’s ancestor, Zhao Wuji, was an Inner Sect Elder of the Cloudwater Sect! If they, as inner disciples, publicly declared the Zhao Family in the wrong today, they would instantly make a powerful enemy out of Elder Zhao. Compared to the other disciples who had massive family backgrounds backing them, Lin Feng and his friends were just ordinary geniuses.

They didn’t have the courage to offend an Inner Elder just to uphold ’justice’ for a nameless rogue cultivator.

Seeing their hesitation and their shifting eyes with silence spoke volumes. They knew Yu Liang was right, but they chose to side with power.

Seeing the Cloudwater Sect disciples falter and lose their moral high ground, Patriarch Zhao Feng’s heart sank. He let out a frustrated sigh. ’These useless, cowardly brats! They actually hesitated! If they don’t act, my Zhao Family’s face will be trampled into the mud today!’

Zhao Feng’s eyes flashed with a desperate light. He couldn’t rely on the sect’s ’justice’ anymore. He had to force their hands!

"You trash! You dare to provoke the Cloudwater Sect?!" Zhao Feng suddenly roared, turning to his remaining Blood Armor Guards. He completely dropped his ’righteous’ facade, his voice dripped with a terrifying, commanding killing intent. "He killed Elder Hu! He insulted the Zhao Family! What are you waiting for?! Attack! Kill him! If anyone dares to hold back, I will exterminate your entire clan!"

It was a direct, suicidal order.

The remaining Armor Guards faces turned deathly pale. They had just seen their strongest colleague blasted into a bloody mist with a single flick of a finger. They knew going forward was death. But the Patriarch’s order was absolute, and the threat of clan extermination was worse than death.

"HAAAAA!!!"

With red eyes from despair and madness, the guards ignited their blood essence. Their auras exploded to the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm and some even reached the Early Stage of Core Formation Realm. They raised their weapons, forming a massive, bloody net of killing intent, and lunged toward Yu Liang from all directions.

"Die!"

But just when they were mid way through their charge, when their weapons were only inches away from Yu Liang’s body—

Whoosh

Literally no one in the restaurant, not even the Mei Hua with Nascent Soul Realm upstairs, saw Yu Liang move.

One breath ago, Yu Liang was standing by the table. The next breath, he was standing three feet to the left, his hands still clasped behind his back, his posture completely unchanged.

And the charging Blood Armor Guards?

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

Like a field of wheat being cut down by an invisible scythe, all guards suddenly collapsed onto the floor.

The hall was dead silent. The Cloudwater Sect disciples stared in absolute horror.

Out of the forty nine guards, only seven were dead. Their bodies had no external wounds, but their hearts and brains had been instantly liquefied by a terrifyingly force.

The other guards were still breathing, but they were completely unconscious, their limbs were dislocated and meridians sealed in a way that felt incredibly ’natural’, as if their bodies had simply given up.

Yu Liang looked at the results and gave a satisfied nod to himself.

This was the true terror of his Origin Realm movement technique, the Limitless Water Cloud Shifting Art. He manipulated the Law. To the observers, he hadn’t moved at all, the world had just shifted around him.

Furthermore, his control was absolute. The seven who died were the ones whose killing intent was the heaviest, the ones who truly wanted him dead. The others, whose killing intent was mixed with fear and reluctance, were simply knocked out.

He wasn’t a mindless slaughterer, he only killed those who deserved it.

"Ah... ah!"

Patriarch Zhao Feng was the first to react. Seeing his elite guards wiped out in a fraction of a second without the enemy even breaking a sweat, his mind completely collapsed. The terrifying speed and the nature of this ghostly movement shattered his last shred of fighting spirit.

He instantly turned to the Cloudwater Sect disciples, his face twisted in terror and desperation. He completely abandoned his Patriarch’s dignity, screaming for help.

"Senior Brother Lin! Fellow Daoists! Help! Please help! Save me! This demon is going to kill us all! He doesn’t care about the Cloudwater Sect! He’s going to slaughter everyone here!"

Lin Feng and the other disciples were also shaken to their core. The speed Yu Liang just displayed was beyond their understanding.

It was to a realm they couldn’t even comprehend.

Realizing that this was no longer a matter of a ’rogue cultivator causing trouble’, but a terrifying monster that could kill them all in a blink, Lin Feng didn’t hesitate for a single second.

He reached into his robe and pulled out a intricately carved jade talisman. This was the highest level emergency signal talisman of the Cloudwater Sect, directly connected to the soul sense of the sect which could alert the nearby Elders or directly to the Sect’s Elders.

Crack!

Lin Feng crushed the talisman without any hesitation.

BOOM!

A pillar of blinding light instantly shot out from the talisman, piercing through the roof of the restaurant and exploding high into the sky above the Jade City, forming a massive, glowing Cloudwater Sect sword emblem.

Seeing the signal go off, Lin Feng finally regained a shred of his courage. He pointed his trembling fan at Yu Liang, his voice was loud but it completely lacked its previous arrogance.

"You! Don’t do anything foolish!" Lin Feng shouted, trying to use the sect’s authority to suppress his fear. "We have just crushed the emergency signal talisman! The sect’s Elders are on their way! They will be here in less than three breaths!"

Lin Feng swallowed hard, his eyes locked on Yu Liang’s calm face. "You might have a terrifying movement technique, but don’t think you can escape the entire Cloudwater Sect! If you dare to take a single step or harm Patriarch Zhao, you will face the wrath of the sect’s Elders! Stop right now, and you might still have a chance to explain yourself!"

Yu Liang stood quietly amidst the groaning, unconscious bodies of the guards. He looked at the glowing sword emblem in the sky, then looked back at the trembling Lin Feng.

A slow, relaxed smile spread across his face. He picked up his teacup from the table, which hadn’t moved an inch during the entire chaos, and took a gentle sip.

"The Cloudwater Sect’s Elders?" Yu Liang murmured, his voice carried a faint expectation that made Lin Feng’s heart skip a beat. "I’ve been waiting for them to arrive."