In the High Heaven Pavilion Plaza, a crowd of hundreds, even thousands, of disciples had gathered, filled with eager curiosity.
All eyes were on the battle taking place in the center of the plaza. Dust billowed into the air, briefly obscuring the scene, before finally settling to reveal a shocking sight.
In the middle of the shattered plaza, the Grand Elder lay fallen, vomiting blood. His body looked fragile, as though it had lost all its strength. The disciples were stunned, their eyes filled with questions: who dared to injure a Grand Elder so brutally?
As the disciples began to approach to check on the situation, they heard a thunderous voice from Wei Xi Tong, who stood with a flushed face, his rage palpable.
"You bastard, I will kill you!" Wei Xi Tong yelled, his voice trembling with anger. As someone who had held a high position in the sect for a long time, the humiliation imposed by a young man had struck at his pride. Now, he swore to take revenge by killing the youth.
Shen Xiang, who stood with a calm expression, looked at Wei Xi Tong indifferently.
"Old dog, weren't you the one who wanted to kill me and my sister? Fine, I can't be bothered to argue with a mad dog like you," he said, stepping forward.
Without waiting for Wei Xi Tong's response, Shen Xiang dashed toward him with incredible speed. His heavy fists slammed through the air with a loud crack.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sounds of the fight echoed through the plaza, causing the watching disciples to fall silent, mesmerized, even fearful.
Each of Shen Xiang's punches seemed to shake the ground, and although Wei Xi Tong was a strong cultivator, he struggled to cope with Shen Xiang's extraordinary physical power.
The battle attracted the attention of the Sect Leader, Ling Taixu, and the Keeper of the Contribution Hall, Meng Wu Ya, who arrived with several other Elders to assess the situation.
They were all intrigued by the fight, and their arrival soon made many of the disciples who were originally just spectators grow more cautious.
"Brother Meng," greeted Sect Leader Ling Taixu in a low but firm tone as Meng Wu Ya appeared beside him. "What is going on here?"
"Brother Ling, this is the first time I've seen such an event. The young man... he seems to be using only his physical strength when fighting," replied Meng Wu Ya, with a tone of suspicion.
Being experienced, he quickly recognized that, although Shen Xiang wasn't an exceptionally powerful cultivator, his physical strength appeared unmatched compared to ordinary people.
"Brother Meng, I just arrived here. I don't know what's going on," Ling Taixu responded calmly, though his expression showed concern.
As the Sect Leader, he could not ignore the damage being caused.
On the other side, the other Elders began to pay close attention to the battle as they watched Shen Xiang gain dominance over Wei Xi Tong.
As they fought, Elder Su, who had been standing nearby, finally spoke up to explain the situation.
"To clarify, Shen Xiang and his sister came to join the sect, but the Grand Elder, who has long been obsessed with power, planned to expel them. Of course, he chose the wrong path by attacking them. Shen Xiang, enraged, finally fought back."
After hearing this explanation, Sect Leader Ling Taixu, Meng Wu Ya, and the disciples present began to realize that the Grand Elder's actions had been excessive.
They soon realized that the Grand Elder needed to be taught a lesson for his actions.
However, before they could comment further, a massive explosion shook the ground, rattling the entire sect.
BOOOM!!!
The explosion was so powerful that it sent dust and debris flying into the air, momentarily covering the entire plaza. Many of the sect's buildings collapsed.
The disciples watching were immediately startled, holding their breath, as the explosion was too strong even for their sect to withstand.
When the dust settled, everyone fell silent. Shen Xiang stood amidst the rubble, his upper body exposed, as his clothes had been torn apart by the explosion. Although his body had a few bruises, he appeared unharmed.
All eyes were on him, with some disciples even feeling a sense of dread. From their perspective, even though Shen Xiang had just fought with Wei Xi Tong, who was of a higher level, his body showed only minor injuries that were slowly healing. They could clearly see that the bruises on his body were gradually disappearing.
Meng Wu Ya, who observed this, was taken aback. "Terrifying vitality," he murmured quietly. He could sense that Shen Xiang's vitality exceeded the limits of his realm.
Even a cultivator in the True Element Realm wouldn't possess such vitality. It seemed that Shen Xiang had physical strength comparable to a cultivator in the Sacred Realm.
Hisshhh... Everyone present drew in a deep breath. They were even more shocked by Shen Xiang's displayed power. In front of them, Wei Xi Tong, although still alive, was in a pitiful state.
His body was severely injured, with his arms and legs broken in unnatural positions. His face was covered in blood, his eyes barely able to see, and blood flowed from his eyes, mouth, ears, and nose.
His cultivation had been shattered. As a cultivator in the Ascension Realm, his abilities were now gone. Death seemed imminent for him in just a few minutes.
Seeing this, Ling Taixu attempted to speak. "Young man, don't you think your actions were a bit excessive?" Although Wei Xi Tong was in the wrong in this situation, as Sect Leader, he felt the need to assert his authority.
However, when Shen Xiang looked at him, Ling Taixu felt an overwhelming fear, as if Shen Xiang could see through his soul.
Ling Taixu's face turned pale upon hearing the youth's words.
Shen Xiang, with a look of contempt, responded, "Shut up, village dog. Do you think I care about a mad dog like you? You should have controlled your dog so it wouldn't bite people wherever it went."
"If I had a mad dog, I would kill it without hesitation, because if the chain holding it breaks, it would threaten the lives of everyone. Not just children, but even babies, men, women, and the elderly would fall victim."
"I'm not like you, someone who still has feelings for a disciple who has fallen off the right path. As a teacher, you would rather sacrifice innocent lives for the sake of your disciple, but in the end, that disciple would still die."
Silence enveloped the plaza. All the disciples and elders present were stunned, unable to speak. They all stared at the Sect Leader with confused expressions.
Some of them could guess that the Sect Leader was hiding a huge secret. Perhaps one of his disciples had fallen into the Devil's Path, but the Sect Leader chose to imprison him rather than stop his actions.
If the youth's words were true, then the Sect Leader's disciple's freedom could cause an unimaginable disaster throughout the Great Han Dynasty. The thought made everyone's back sweat cold.
"Chang'er, let's leave," Shen Xiang said calmly as he walked toward Xia Ning Chang, who was standing in the crowd, unaffected by the chaos.
No one dared stop them. Everyone remained silent in their confusion. Meng Wu Ya sighed deeply after witnessing this event.
"All disciples may disperse now," Meng Wu Ya said in a stern tone. "Take Wei Xi Tong's body, repair the damage, and don't bother that young man if you see him. Pretend you never saw anything." With that, the disciples and Elders began to scatter to carry out the instructions.
Meanwhile, Meng Wu Ya lightly patted Ling Taixu's shoulder before returning to the Contribution Hall, leaving behind the destroyed plaza.