Chapter 242: Great Jun Reveals Its Divine Might

“Clear name and redress this injustice?”

Li Shun felt as though he had just heard the most ridiculous joke in the world. His fury turned into laughter.

“Acting recklessly and destroying things for no reason. Isn't that exactly how those lunatics from your Jun School conduct themselves? The evidence is as solid as a mountain. What else is there to investigate?”

“Brother Li, you are mistaken.”

Sun Lang remained completely composed as he solemnly cupped his fists and argued back.

“Although my Jun School upholds the principle that all things are in constant flux and that immortality itself is a crime, Great Jun has its own laws governing its operation. We would never act like mindless beasts and create meaningless destruction out of thin air.”

“Only those tumors that attempt to halt the passage of time and interfere with the natural cycle of life and death are regarded by us as heretics who must be erased!”

“The Imperial Mausoleum no longer exists. The present-day Guling Commandery is merely an ordinary land where mortal beings dwell, with its own natural cycle of birth, aging, illness, and death. To slaughter and destroy it so wantonly would instead forcibly interrupt the natural evolution of this world. It would be an immense desecration and insult to [Great Jun]!”

“Even if we take a step back and assume Senior Brother Shen is truly still alive, given his arrogant nature, he would never lower himself to vent his anger upon the innocent people of Guling. If he wished to strike, then even if it meant being reduced to pieces, he would certainly target the remaining imperial mound of the Imperial Mausoleum!”

“Furthermore, Senior Brother Shen already perished within the calamity flames. How could he suddenly resurrect without the slightest warning? And after returning from the dead, why would he act in such a blatant, almost maddened manner? It is truly suspicious.”

Faced with Sun Lang's neither servile nor overbearing, airtight defense, the hostility on Li Shun's face finally eased somewhat.

He gave a cold snort and flicked his sleeve.

“It had better be as you say! I'll go with you and get to the bottom of this!”

“That is precisely what I desire. There is no need for you to ask.”

The three men exchanged no further words. Transforming into streaks of light, they once again sped toward Dongshan Town.

As they flew, Zhao Cheng recounted in full to Sun Lang the testimony and traces he had secretly uncovered earlier.

After listening, Sun Lang became even more certain. He said coldly,

“To condemn my Jun School for such a heinous crime based solely on the one-sided testimony of a few mortals is far too hasty and arbitrary!”

“The Hundred Schools are still as lofty, arrogant, and ignorant as ever.”

Sun Lang sneered mercilessly.

Li Shun merely gave a cold laugh.

“I advise you not to speak with such certainty.”

Before long, the three descended once again upon the devastated lands of Dongshan Town.

Aside from the Fang Xun Shrine, whose reconstruction had already begun, the other buildings throughout the town remained charred ruins that were painful to behold.

On the journey here, Sun Lang had still been completely confident, firmly convinced that the culprit hiding in the shadows could never have been Shen Tuxin.

But when he entered the countless broken walls and shattered ruins himself, his expression darkening as his fingertips slowly brushed over the wreckage while carefully sensing the lingering traces of aura within it...

Deep within his previously resolute eyes, an unmistakable look of disbelief gradually emerged.

“Well? What did you find?”

Li Shun deliberately prompted him.

Sun Lang was surprisingly straightforward. Without concealing anything, he gritted his teeth and answered truthfully,

“There is indeed a unique aura belonging to my Jun School remaining within the scorch marks of these ruins. However...”

He suddenly raised his head and shook it with extreme reluctance.

“The divine abilities and techniques of the Hundred Schools are strange and varied. If someone deliberately imitated my Jun School's principle qi in order to frame us, it would hardly be difficult.”

Seeing the mocking look already appearing on Li Shun's face as he prepared to ridicule him, Sun Lang abruptly raised a hand and cut him off.

“Brother Li, hold your mockery for now. Whether this was the work of the true culprit or a deliberate attempt to frame us, my Jun School naturally possesses secret arts capable of distinguishing the truth and tracking the source.”

Before his words had even finished, Sun Lang had already taken a step forward, his figure hovering high in the air.

The principle qi surrounding his body seemed to have been ignited. In an instant, it began to boil violently.

Li Shun was no stranger to the methods of the Jun School. With a single glance, he could tell that Sun Lang was using his own Life Qi to forcibly activate some kind of divine ability.

In merely a few breaths, Sun Lang's entire body suspended in midair had transformed into a dazzling furnace of Life Qi.

Immediately afterward, an invisible and terrifying suction force swept outward from within him.

The remnants of Jun School aura scattered throughout every corner of Guling Commandery, buried deep beneath the scorched earth and ruins, seemed to have been drawn by some invisible force.

Like countless rivers returning to the sea, they frenziedly surged toward Sun Lang's furnace, pouring into it from all directions.

“Great Jun disseminates all things, all things converge and are transformed together...”

Sun Lang's expression was as calm as still water. His face carried an extreme solemnity bordering on martyrdom as he slowly chanted.

His physical projection, suspended high in the air, gradually faded away within the boiling principle qi, ultimately dissolving completely into the heavens and earth.

In its place, a terrifying phantom appeared before everyone's eyes.

It was an enormous millstone that blotted out the heavens and earth, as though it intended to grind every living thing beneath the sky into dust.

Li Shun and Zhao Cheng watched from the sidelines. Although they belonged to the Confucian School and held the Jun School's extreme doctrines in deep contempt, when faced directly with such a magnificent phenomenon capable of suppressing the ages, even their minds were profoundly shaken.

They were even forced to acknowledge something from the depths of their hearts.

This so-called [Great Jun] truly seemed like an ultimate sovereign and final destination that stood above all living beings and the heavens and earth themselves, representing the supreme Great Dao governing all things.

As he gazed up at the slowly rotating phantom of Great Jun, a strange feeling suddenly arose in Li Shun's heart.

In some respects, the nature of this Great Jun seemed somewhat similar to the Outer Gods.

Both possessed terrifying might that transcended mortal understanding.

Both could rely upon the connection formed through their respective Dao lineages and faith to forcibly project vast manifestations of laws into the present world.

The sole, and most fundamental, difference was this.

The Outer Gods possessed their own will.

Whereas this [Great Jun] was the absolute, emotionless, utterly pure embodiment of the circulation of the Great Dao itself.

As Sun Lang offered up his Life Qi without regard for the cost, while the remnants of aura from every direction were frenziedly drawn into it, the phantom of the Great Jun millstone suspended in the heavens rapidly expanded at a speed visible to the naked eye, becoming increasingly vast and terrifying.

It almost covered half of Guling Commandery.

Naturally, this instantly alarmed the elite Black Armored Army stationed throughout the surrounding region, as well as the local officials.

For a time, streaks of escaping light filled the skies over Guling Commandery, while figures darted through the air.

Countless killing intents and hostile wills locked onto the millstone that Sun Lang had transformed into.

Just as everyone was preparing to strike...

A sudden change occurred.

Perhaps drawn out by this incomparably pure [Great Jun] aura, which shared the same origin as itself, a figure that had been lurking like a ghost deep within Guling Commandery from beginning to end was finally forced to reveal itself to the world.

“Senior Brother Shen?!”

The face of the black figure was still concealed within billowing black qi and had yet to be fully revealed.

Yet from within the rotating millstone high above the Nine Heavens came Sun Lang's incredulous cry, as though his very faith had collapsed.

“Hahahaha... Junior Brother Sun, long time no see!”

A hoarse, wild laugh filled with viciousness, arrogance, and unrestrained madness suddenly erupted into the heavens.

The disguise was completely torn away, revealing the true identity of the newcomer.

It was none other than Shentu Xin!