https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-406-Instantly-Killing-a-Nascent-Soul-Cultivator/12550270/
Chapter 405: Unveiling the Truth
Chapter 405: Unveiling the Truth
Shentuping's words caused the cultivators in the hall to not only pay more attention to Chu Ning but also treat him with extra warmth. In a short time, Chu Ning became acquainted with many cultivators in the hall.
"The Alliance Leader is here!" a voice suddenly rang out, and several people were seen exiting the hall.
Leading them was Qin Changkong, whom Chu Ning had met briefly outside the Golden Spirit Planting Spiritual Domain.
In addition, there were four others, two of whom Chu Ning recognized.
They were the ones he had seen on the journey to the Cloud Soaring Forbidden Land. One was Qu Yichen from the Celestial Sound Pavilion.
The other was Yu Zhiguang, the Mid-Nascent Soul cultivator from Taihe Court.
As Chu Ning looked at Yu Zhiguang, his gaze also fell on another Mid-Nascent Soul cultivator with a similar face standing beside him.
Yu Zhifang, Yu Zhiguang's twin brother.
It was said that the two of them excelled in combination techniques and that together, they could rival a Late-Nascent Soul cultivator.
This was also the reason why Taihe Court was ranked second within the Cloud Soaring Alliance, only after Guiyuan Zong.
As for the only female cultivator among the four Mid-Nascent Soul cultivators, Chu Ning was completely unfamiliar with her.
However, Tang Xuan had introduced her to Chu Ning before, so he knew her identity.
She was He Yuexian, the Grand Elder of the Purple Feather Sect, also a Mid-Nascent Soul cultivator.
One Alliance Leader and four Deputy Alliance Leaders—these were the people in charge of the Cloud Soaring Alliance.
As for the other Mid-Nascent Soul cultivators, they also had some influence but did not hold the title of Deputy Alliance Leader.
Following the five of them was a late-Golden Core cultivator.
This man had a worried look on his face, and although Chu Ning had not met him before, he could guess the man's identity.
After the six of them came out, Qin Changkong and the others sat down, while the late-Golden Core cultivator took a seat at the very end of the hall.
Qin Changkong sat in the main seat, his eyes scanning the hall before he slowly spoke, "Thank you, fellow daoists, for coming from afar. You all know what has happened.
The Heaven Extreme Alliance organized several Nascent Soul cultivators to ambush the White Heron Sect. Fellow Daoist Gaoli Xiang from the White Heron Sect will explain the situation in detail."
As Qin Changkong finished speaking, the late-Golden Core cultivator who had just walked in stood up and bowed deeply to the crowd.
Then, with a face full of grief and anger, he said, "Seniors, a few days ago, three Nascent Soul cultivators from the Heaven Extreme Alliance led numerous Golden Core and Foundation Establishment cultivators in a sudden attack on our sect.
Thanks to the defensive formation that our sect had prepared with the help of the Alliance beforehand, we were able to hold them off for half a day.
However, the enemy was too strong, and in the end, they broke through our defenses.
Faced with their overwhelming might, I had no choice but to order all our cultivators to disperse and flee.
Even so, the Heaven Extreme Alliance did not stop, and they slaughtered almost all our sect members, looting all our resources and treasures.
I was only able to escape by using a fake death and entering a hibernation secret technique.
At that time, those Nascent Soul cultivators from the Heaven Extreme Alliance began a sect-wide search.
Fortunately, Senior Sun from the Celestial Sound Pavilion led other daoists to rescue us, and that's how we were able to survive."
As Gaoli Xiang finished speaking, he knelt down and kowtowed, "The White Heron Sect has been destroyed by the Heaven Extreme Alliance. Seniors, please help our sect seek justice!"
"This is outrageous! The Heaven Extreme Alliance has gone too far!"
The first to speak was Shentuping from the Spirit Beast Valley. He stood up and looked at Sun Zhiyuan from the Celestial Sound Pavilion. "Fellow Daoist Sun, do you know the identities of those from the Heaven Extreme Alliance?"
Sun Zhiyuan shook his head. "I received the White Heron Sect's transmission and immediately led fellow daoists to their aid.
The Heaven Extreme Alliance sensed our arrival and had already left by the time we got there.
As they had three Nascent Soul cultivators, I did not dare to pursue them recklessly."
Shentuping frowned slightly and said in a deep voice, "We don't even know who the culprits are. What if the Heaven Extreme Alliance denies their involvement?"
Upon hearing this, Sun Zhiyuan's expression froze.
He Yuexian spoke up, "Fellow Daoist Sun was concerned about possible ambushes and the Heaven Extreme Alliance using underhanded tactics to attack Cloud Soaring City. It was prudent to be cautious.
Now that the Heaven Extreme Alliance has made their move, whether they admit it or not is not important.
What's most important is how we should respond."
After He Yuexian finished speaking, Shentuping thought for a moment and then cupped his hands towards Sun Zhiyuan, "Fellow Daoist Sun, I am hot-tempered and my previous words were not entirely directed at you. Please do not take offense."
Sun Zhiyuan's expression eased, and he said, "Fellow Daoist Shentu is too kind. You are indeed a righteous person."
Shentuping nodded and returned to his seat.
"Fellow Daoists," Qin Changkong, who was sitting in the main seat, spoke slowly. "I believe you all understand the current situation. If it were just the Heaven Extreme Alliance, it would be difficult for us to deal with them, but with the help of the defensive formations of our sects, we would still have a certain degree of confidence.
What worries me the most is the possibility of an alliance between the Demon Path Alliance and the Heaven Extreme Alliance. If that is the case, what should we do?"
Qin Changkong's words caused a brief silence in the hall.
Then, everyone began to discuss, with suggestions ranging from proactively allying with the Demon Path Alliance to waiting and focusing on defending against the Heaven Extreme Alliance, or even allying with the True Martial Alliance, ranked second, or the Azure Spirit Alliance, ranked fifth.
However, no unified opinion was formed.
Chu Ning remained a cold-eyed observer in the hall and did not offer any comments.
However, he had already formed a general judgment about the current situation.
It was clear that most of the Cloud Soaring Alliance cultivators did not want to go to war with the Heaven Extreme Alliance and the Demon Path Alliance.
As for the Demon Path Alliance, the erratic behavior of the Demon Sect cultivators made the Cloud Soaring Alliance cultivators wary, and they did not dare to form an alliance lightly.
If it weren't for the presence of the White Heron Sect cultivators, Chu Ning even speculated that some cultivators might suggest joining the Heaven Extreme Alliance's camp and fighting against the Demon Path Alliance together.
However, as a precaution, he decided to dispatch Yuan Ying and Jin Dan cultivators to the three sects located near Heaven Extreme Alliance's sphere of influence, in case they attempted another sneak attack.
Qin Changkong then proceeded to make arrangements for personnel.
Each of the three sects would be assigned a Mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, accompanied by two Early-Nascent Soul cultivators, along with several Jin Dan and Foundation Establishment cultivators.
As for the rest of the cultivators, they would remain stationed in Cloud Soaring City.
Chu Ning and Tang Xuan were not included in the deployment and thus stayed in the city.
After Qin Changkong and the others finished speaking, they took their leave from the hall.
Only then did the numerous Nascent Soul cultivators begin to disperse.
Tang Xuan stood up, intending to leave as well, when he suddenly heard Chu Ning's voice in his ear.
"Brother Tang, I plan to speak with Fellow Daoist Lu and the Alliance Leader about something.
Please ask Fellow Daoist Lu to take us to meet Alliance Leader Qin, and tell him that one of us needs to return to our sect."
Tang Xuan turned to look at Chu Ning, his eyes filled with confusion.
Chu Ning nodded slightly in response.
Although Tang Xuan didn't understand what Chu Ning was planning, he trusted him implicitly.
He stopped in his tracks and cheerfully approached Lu Yuezhang.
"Fellow Daoist Lu, our sect originally planned to send two Nascent Soul cultivators, mainly because I wanted to bring Brother Chu here to familiarize himself with the place.
Now, we would like to arrange for one of us to return to our sect. Would you be so kind as to take us to speak with the Alliance Leader about this matter?"
Lu Yuezhang's eyes shifted between Tang Xuan and Chu Ning, and he eventually nodded. "Please follow me, Fellow Daoists. Actually, you are free to leave whenever you wish."
"Out of courtesy and respect, we should still inform the Alliance Leader," Tang Xuan said with a smile.
Hearing the exchange between Tang Xuan and Lu Yuezhang, the others in the hall paid little attention as they watched the three of them head towards the rear hall.
After all, it made sense for only one of the three Nascent Soul cultivators from the Nine Floret Sect to remain, as the Cloud Soaring Alliance had only requested one-third of their forces to provide support.
As the three of them entered the rear hall, they found Qin Changkong and the others still deep in conversation.
Lu Yuezhang promptly conveyed Tang Xuan and Chu Ning's intention for the visit.
Qin Changkong's gaze fell on Tang Xuan, and he said, "Brother Tang, your kindness and support are greatly appreciated. If you wish to return to your sect early, we certainly have no objections."
"Thank you, Alliance Leader," Tang Xuan replied.
"The main reason for my visit is that Brother Chu has a matter he wishes to discuss with all of you," Tang Xuan continued, causing everyone's attention to shift towards Chu Ning.
Even Tang Xuan's eyes held a hint of confusion.
Although he knew that Chu Ning wanted to meet with Qin Changkong and the others, he wasn't aware of the specifics.
Meeting everyone's gaze, Chu Ning slowly spoke, but his next words caused the expressions of those present to change.
"If all goes as expected, our discussion today will soon reach the ears of the Demon Path Alliance.
If they truly intend us harm, I'm afraid they will suffer a great loss."
"What do you mean, Fellow Daoist Chu? Are you suggesting that someone within our alliance is colluding with the Demon Path Alliance?"
Qin Changkong's eyes narrowed, fixing Chu Ning with an intense stare.
Chu Ning didn't answer directly. Instead, he said, "I do know that there have been secret interactions between some of our alliance members and the Demon Path Alliance, but I cannot be sure if they are truly colluding with the enemy."
"Who are they?" Qin Changkong asked in a low voice.
"The Great Luo Sect!" Chu Ning replied.
As Chu Ning's words hung in the air, the expressions of those in the rear hall varied.
Tang Xuan's face showed confusion, while the others wore looks of suspicion.
Yu Zhiguang of the Taihe Court, who had interacted with Chu Ning in the Cloud Soaring Forbidden Land, spoke up. "Fellow Daoist Chu, we are aware of the enmity between your Nine Floret Sect and the Great Luo Sect.
However, such accusations require evidence."
"I don't have direct evidence," Chu Ning admitted. "But in the Golden Spirit Planting Spiritual Domain, I did witness a Great Luo Sect cultivator working together with a cultivator surnamed Zou from the Black Cloud Sect of the Demon Path Alliance."
Chu Ning then proceeded to recount his encounter with Ao Langtian and the elderly cultivator from the Black Cloud Sect, with some modifications to the story.
He explained that he had accidentally stumbled upon Ao Langtian and the Zou cultivator as they were joining forces against Iron Lion of the Heaven Extreme Alliance.
Ao Langtian had noticed him and taken the initiative to attack, forcing him to fight back. During the scuffle, Iron Lion had taken the opportunity to kill the Zou cultivator from the Black Cloud Sect. He then went on to describe how he had also killed Ao Langtian.
"Iron Lion didn't intend to let me go either, but at that moment, the extradimensional demon suddenly appeared and attacked.
I managed to injure the extradimensional demon with the help of the Black Mysterious Golden Spirit Sword.
Iron Lion then pursued the demon, and soon after, a spatial storm occurred."
Chu Ning's narrative was plausible and largely consistent with the events that had transpired, albeit with some differences.
The expressions of those in the hall softened, and Chu Ning casually took out several items from his storage bag.
"After Iron Lion left to pursue the extradimensional demon, I obtained the storage bags of Ao Langtian and the Demon Path Alliance cultivator.
Here are their magical treasures and some of their personal belongings. Fellow Daoists can examine them for yourselves."
Qin Changkong and the others were experienced and knowledgeable. Although they might not be familiar with Ao Langtian, a Jin Dan cultivator, they could identify the origins of the magical treasures and some of the contents of the jade slips.
Their faces turned grim as they realized the implications.
(End of Chapter)
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