Chapter 55: History
Elder Ren could be seen walking slowly among the steps towards the Main Hall.
He had a cold, unfeeling expression, but inwardly, he was thinking about the disappearances of the great elders within the past two weeks.
Most of them were his allies that he sent to complain to the Sect Leader, but to his surprise, all of them disappeared one after another.
'Assuming that the puppet leader finally raised his blade towards us, it would be a tricky situation for us great elders... I've already sent a group of six great elders who could be considered the pillars of this sect, and yet... they all disappeared as well.'
His eyes narrowed while thinking of asking for help from the other sects.
'As soon as I've confirmed the deaths of the other great elders, I will stand to overthrow the current Sect Leader.'
'However, in order to do that, I must find evidence and live.'
'After that, I will be borrowing help from the other sects.'
His eyes flashed in a dangerous light. 'The question is... should it be from the White Mammoth Sect or... the Black Cloud Sect?'
From the way Elder Ren spoke, it seemed that the plan to overthrow the current Sect Leader was a long time coming.
The reasons for it were unknown, as only Elder Ren and those in his faction knew the truth.
Walking through the large entrance of the main hall, he casually passed through the lobby before arriving in front of a jade door patterned with gold and silver metals.
He placed his palm on the door and entered the room.
He walked through jade pillars erected on both sides of the room, with a small hill made out of jade placed on the furthest middle position of the room.
From the top of the hill, The Sect Leader's bored face could be seen as he read several letters and reports regarding the sect.
Seeing that his entrance was ignored, Elder Ren became more sure of his speculations.
However, he could not leave without evidence, which is why he continued to walk forward before stopping at the foot of the jade hill.
"Great Elder Ren greets the Sect Leader."
He cupped his hands and bowed.
As for what evidence he was talking about, it was the carcasses of the victims that received the Sect Leader's strike from his unique grade martial arts, the martial arts that were solely passed down between the Sect Leaders of the Cleansing Jade Sect.
Of course, he had thought of the possibility that the Sect Leader got rid of the elders' bodies, but if he managed to get his hands on the life-soul lamps of the great elders, he would be able to find out where they all had died.
However, the life-soul lamps could only be taken out by the Sect Leader, and without his permission, Elder Ren would not be able to use the life-soul lamp to find the other great elders' bodies.
This was his goal for today.
First, he would mention the disappearances of the great elders and ask permission to use their life-soul lamps.
If his permission was rejected, then he would have the excuse to ask help from their allies in the justice faction and let them investigate the matters within their sect.
Naturally, the Sect Leader will be forced to allow them to use the life-soul lamps, and that was where the sect leader would be caught red handed.
Of course, if he was given permission to use the lamps, then the ending would be the same and he would try to do his best to live and escape the sect and seek refuge in the White Mammoth Sect, which was an ally of the Cleansing Jade Sect.
From there, he would do the same and ask for help while accusing the Sect Leader of going mad or becoming part of the Demonic Faction.
Either way, it would be a checkmate for the rebellious sect leader.
Elder Ren was brought out of his thoughts as he heard the Sect Leader respond.
"Oh? Why is it only now that elders pay respect to me when in the past, you would simply come and speak your demands?"
Elder Ren felt his nape become chilly. "S-sect Leader has it wrong, Us Great Elders were simply too tight on time to offer respects to the Sect Leader."
Both the Sect Leader and Elder Ren knew that was one of the stupidest excuses.
Nonetheless, the Sect Leader didn't dwell on it as he had finally caught the target.
"No matter... so, what did Great Elder Ren visit me for?"
His eyes narrowed slightly while his voice remained toneless, making his usual absent-minded face look intimidating.
Elder Ren felt like he was an ant in front of a giant when he met the Sect Leader's gaze.
Gulp.
"S-sect Leader, I would like to ask permission to use the life-soul lamps of the other great elders."
"Ho... and why does Great Elder Ren need the life-soul lamps for?" The Sect Leader inquired with an unchanging expression.
"Sect Leader must know! Recently, Great Elders have been disappearing within these past two weeks. This will become a serious problem to the sect if the news were to spread to the other sects."
"As such, I request for an immediate investigation! Their life-soul lamps will be extremely useful in determining whether they are still living or not."
"...Who are the elders that are currently missing?" The Sect Leader asked.
Elder Ren looked at the Sect Leader with a slightly surprised face. "Does this mean that the Sect leader will give me permission?"
The Sect Leader nodded.
Elder Ren then spoke the eight names of the missing great elders.
After the Sect Leader listened to all of them, his eyes narrowed slightly. 'Hmmm.... is he deliberately not mentioning the other elders or.... were they part of a different faction?'
As of now, the Sect Leader had killed twelve great elders and twenty elders. He was sure that 80% of them belonged to Elder Ren's faction which was planning to overthrow the current Sect Leader. As for the other elders, he was still unsure of where they came from.
The reason he had loose information about elders and great elders was because most elders were approved by the recommendation of other elders, meanwhile, he, the sect leader, was forced to approve of them.
This was why there were over a dozen elders while great elders were responsible for handling the matters regarding them.
You may ask, why is this prestigious sect in a situation like this?
That was because, long ago, the influence of the Sect Leader had been unstable due to the sudden influx of numerous elders within the sect.
This happened 3000 years ago when the 235th Sect Leader was absent to help an acquaintance in their heavenly tribulation.
During this time, the Sect Leader had two disciples, but one of them was clearly chosen to be the successor. The other disciple pretended to have accepted the situation, but inside, he was jealous and bitter.
And so, using the opportunity of the absence of his master, the said disciple used his status to gather and make a faction for himself, while the successor, the soon to be the 236th Sect Leader, remained unaware of the hidden threat that lay within the sect.
After a long preparation of 30 years, only then did the bitter disciple lead a rebellion within the sect. He gathered dissatisfied great elders while promising to share the unique martial arts with them so long as they killed the successor.
Victory was within their grasp as they managed to heavily injure the successor, only to fail after being protected by a divine treasure the sect leader left him.
Once they failed to kill the successor, many elders tried to flee in fear of the alerted sect leader who may have been alerted after the activation of the protective divine treasure.
However, it was all too late as the Sect Leader arrived in no less than a minute after the divine treasure activated.
On that day, a massacre occurred in the Cleansing Jade Sect, with the loss of more than half of the great elders and numerous elders. The bitter disciple was also killed in this massacre by his master, the Sect Leader himself.
Just as the sect was about to rest easy, invaders from an unknown sect attacked. During this attack, they successfully assassinated the 235th Sect Leader while crippling the successor, the soon to be 236th Sect Leader.
This was one of the worst tragedies in the history of the Cleansing Jade Sect.
The great elders and elders who survived were mostly loyal to the sect leader, and so they decided to allow the successor to inherit the Sect Leader's position.
This was the time where the Sect Leader's influence weakened by a whole lot, to the point where the Cleansing Jade Sect's foundation was in peril.
Fortunately, they were helped by allied sects from the justice faction. The White Mammoth Sect was one of their greatest benefactors.
The sect had no choice but to promote multiple disciples in order to fill in the gap that the dead great elders and elders left.
The Sect Leader had no choice but to do so otherwise, the prestige and influence the Cleansing Jade Sect had made would have been lost.
He did not want to be remembered as the incompetent Sect Leader who brought the downfall of the long and rich history of the sect.
Which is why he gritted his teeth, knowing that there were remnants of his despicable brother's disciple's comrades who hid themselves among the new elders.
In the end, he put his hopes in his successor, who would be able to pull the reins of the sect after he mastered the unique martial arts that were bestowed solely to the successors of the Sect Leaders.
Despite the Sect's great efforts, the 236th Sect Leader only lived until 108 years old before passing the position on to his successor.
However, the unique martial arts technique required hundreds of years before being able to master it completely. As such, the 237th Sect Leader was not able to use the power due to the fact that he had only lived 53 years so far.
It was from that era that the influence of the Sect Leaders continued to weaken.
Which eventually led to the current state of the Cleansing Jade Sect.
The proceeding Sect Leaders were looked down upon and manipulated by the great elders. They had done multiple schemes in order to halt the learning process of the Sect Leaders.
But that ended today- was what Elder Ren thought.
Otherwise, how was the Sect Leader able to kill multiple great elders?
'He must have completed the unique martial arts...' Elder Ren thought as he stood before the intimidating pressure of the Sect Leader.
The question was... 'When?!'
Elder Ren and several others had been keeping tabs on the Sect Leader's progress as they did with his predecessors from the council of great elders. (The remnant faction of the bitter brother disciple of the 136th Sect Leader.)
Elder Ren was brought out of his thoughts as the Sect Leader finally spoke.
"Very well, I shall give you permission to use the life-soul lamps. In return, report to me any clues that you may find."
Seeing the Sect Leader easily giving him permission, Elder Ren became slightly suspicious.
'Why is he not feeling nervous at all? Does he not know that by using the life-soul lamp, we will be able to locate where their deceased body was last seen?
Of course, that is under the assumption that the Sect Leader had killed them... but then again, I am only 80-90% sure that he murdered them based on his current attitude.
However... if the life-soul lamps are lit, then that means that the others are still alive. Which remains the question of where did the Sect Leader imprison them? '
Despite his thoughts, Elder Ren cupped his hands and bowed.
"I thank the Sect Leader!"
The Sect Leader only nodded and Elder Ren turned his back and exited the room.
Thud.
With the door closed, the Sect Leader's eyes narrowed with a strange glint.
"Now then... show me to what extent your roots have reached..."
He had long known that Elder Ren was a part of the Council of Great Elders as well as several other elders and great elders in the sect.
The problem was that the Sect Leader didn't know approximately how much the Council of Great Elders had spread their influence within the sect.
It was like a cult or a growing tumor, the Sect Leader intended to remove them all in one fell swoop.
And the main key to that was Elder Ren, who he was sure was one of the leaders of the Council of Great Elders.
With this, Elder Ren's original concern of his wanted disciple, Meixiang, had been put aside for now.
The sect was going to go through some great changes, but the Sect Leader knew this was going to be a long and slow fight.
However, with his plans in motion, the Sect Leader could only sit and wait for the results to come back.
Only after verifying his findings would he make his next move.
Releasing a sigh, the Sect Elder stood up and stretched his body.
"Huuu.... Now then, I suppose it's time for me to take care of my new disciples whom I have been neglecting for some time.'
Saying those words, he disappeared into thin air, leaving the short table filled with scrolls and books on top of the jade hill.
Edited By: WorthyAdversary