Chapter 44: Slaughtering Way into the Inner Sect is Also Cultivation

Qin Anyu forged ahead, walking towards the area where the spiritual energy appeared to be denser.

Those injured guards picked themselves up from the ground. Those who could run chased after him, shouting as they went, while those who could not run shouted right where they were. One guard beat a large bell while shouting, all of them conveying the exact same message: someone was forcefully trespassing into the sect.

Qin Lingxue walked at the very rear, continuously explaining, "My eldest brother grew impatient; he harbors no malicious intent."

A guard who recognized her roared, "Qin Lingxue, the moment you left the sect, you turned around and brought someone to act against it. You are truly ungrateful!"

These words filled her with embarrassment and stirred a trace of guilt within her heart.

However, Qin Youqin refused to tolerate such insolence and rebuked, "Nonsense! My Second Young Master has been inside for so long without emerging; it is obvious that your sect has done something detrimental to him. Are we supposed to sit by and watch him suffer humiliation or even death? Let me tell you this: as long as my Second Young Master is unharmed, all is well. But the moment he suffers any harm, my Eldest Young Master will wipe your Wuyuan Sect off the map."

He grabbed her and broke into a jog. "Miss, pay no heed to such rubbish. Hurry and keep up with the Eldest Young Master; he is unfamiliar with this place."

The loud shouts of the guards alerted nearby disciples, who rushed toward the main gate brandishing their weapons.

Seeing Qin Anyu holding a battered sword and walking inward with a gloomy expression, with two guards in hot pursuit behind him, they angrily roared at him to halt.

They demanded that he stop, yet they did not stop themselves, instead charging toward him with weapons in hand.

Of course, Qin Anyu had no intention of stopping. Wielding his crude sword, he swept forward. Those who rushed at him were sent flying off to the sides. Regardless of whether they were in the Qi Nourishing Realm or the Qi Condensation Realm, anyone who launched an attack against him was sent flying—and they flew even farther than those in the Qi Condensation Realm.

Qin Lingxue and Qin Youqin, walking behind, harbored entirely different thoughts as they watched this scene.

Qin Youqin was observing his footwork and his attacking movements.

Seeing those people batted away before they could even draw close, he felt a surge of excitement while simultaneously sensing the vast gap between their abilities. Secretly, he resolved to cultivate even harder from then on, striving to follow him into higher realms.

Qin Lingxue, on the other hand, felt a pang of heartache for her former fellow disciples, coupled with deep worry for her eldest brother.

Though she currently held immense faith in her eldest brother, the Wuyuan Sect was, after all, one of the top sects in the State of Song, boasting no fewer than eight hundred Qi Condensation Realm practitioners. With their parents still unfound, if something were to go wrong for her eldest brother here, it would inevitably implicate her second brother, spelling the ruin of their entire family.

Qin Anyu continued straight ahead, batting away wave after wave of Wuyuan Sect disciples who came to intercept him. After swatting away nearly five hundred of them, his anger flared. He shouted, "Anyone who dares to block my path can blame only themselves if I draw my sword and kill!"

As a Celestial Emperor, he naturally would not care about the lives of these mere ants; he could simply cut his way through. However, he still had to consider Qin Wushuang and Qin Lingxue. After all, this was the sect where they had once resided, and he needed to preserve their reputations.

To his surprise, his forbearance was not met with any appreciation for his good intentions; instead, wave after wave of disciples continued to charge at him in a frenzy.

Did they assume a Celestial Emperor wouldn't dare kill?

Faced with yet another wave charging toward him, his patience finally ran out, and his strikes turned lethal.

In an instant, limbs flew through the air, heads were severed from bodies, and the sounds of miserable shrieks shook the heavens.

Well, that changed things. Among this latest wave of attackers, everyone who launched an offensive was either killed or severely injured; only a dozen or so who had not yet managed to launch an attack were spared, shouting in terror as they turned and fled.

At this sight, Qin Lingxue's face scrunched up entirely.

Seeing her expression, Qin Youqin said, "Miss, after Lord and Lady were abducted, the very first time the Eldest Young Master returned to the estate, Zhang Fuyuan cursed him, Qin Datong tried to beat him, and Zhang Qili wanted to beat and revile him. You saw it too—they scrubbed that Qin estate clean of any trace that Lord and Lady had ever existed, and of the three of you as well. Those cultivation manuals and books were all forcefully reclaimed by the Eldest Young Master. That was a family; this is merely a sect. You will only encounter far worse here."

Qin Lingxue's expression gradually grew stern, and she nodded. "I understand. If they make a move against us, I will not sit still and await death."

Qin Youqin smiled and said, "The Eldest Young Master is right. A cultivator must follow their heart. If you can avoid being bullied, do not let yourself be bullied; otherwise, you might as well stop cultivating. Let's walk a bit faster and guide the Eldest Young Master."

Qin Lingxue remarked, "Strangely enough, with all these branching paths, my eldest brother hasn't taken a single wrong turn."

It was impossible for Qin Anyu to take a wrong turn, because he was heading straight toward the place where the spiritual energy was densest.

Although he did not know why that particular area appeared to have such concentrated spiritual energy, he knew it must be the location of the inner sect, and Qin Wushuang had been an inner sect disciple.

Following that bout of slaughter, the disciples who ran up afterward never dared to attack him again. Instead, they consciously cleared a path, standing on both sides of the road to watch him walk toward the inner sect, giving the surreal impression of a welcoming guard of honor.

Seeing this, Qin Youqin smiled and said, "The Eldest Young Master is truly the Eldest Young Master. Once he actually makes a move, all problems vanish. Just as he said, in the cultivation world, strength is supreme. Strike out with a single heavy blow to spare yourself a hundred future punches."

When no one dies, everyone thinks they are formidable and can act heroically; the moment people die, they realize their own inadequacy and instantly turn cowardly.

Upon reaching the entrance of the inner sect, Qin Anyu finally understood why the spiritual energy here appeared so dense. It turned out there was an array that combined natural formations with artificial ones.

Catching sight of this formation, he held a slightly higher opinion of the Wuyuan Sect.

Though this composite array was quite fragile, it indicated that the Wuyuan Sect had at least enjoyed past glory and possessed individuals who understood arrays. Even if the artificial array collapsed, the natural formation could still ensure that the spiritual energy within remained denser than outside.

Seeing him halt before the inner sect, the Wuyuan Sect disciples who had followed along wore expressions of mockery, a myriad of thoughts churning in their minds.

Qin Anyu paid no heed to what they were thinking, not even sparing them a glance. He turned and beckoned to the two women behind him. "Once we go in, circulate your cultivation techniques to the absolute limit. Absorb as much as you can."

Qin Youqin immediately responded, "Understood, Eldest Young Master."

Qin Lingxue hesitated for a moment before nodding. She knew this was a contest—a contest for spiritual energy against the Wuyuan Sect.

Qin Anyu walked toward the grand gates and said to the two Qi Condensation Realm guards on duty, "We are going inside to find someone. Open the gate."

One guard glared with bulging eyes and roared, "Get lost!"

Qin Anyu took a single step forward and swept his hand outward.

A crisp smack echoed, and that guard was sent flying.

The other guard drew his sword and slashed toward Qin Anyu.

With a parry from his crude sword, Qin Anyu threw a punch that slammed the guard directly into the surrounding wall.

Qin Anyu slowly walked up to him, grabbed him by the throat by his collar, and retrieved his identity token. "If I weren't afraid of causing my younger brother and sister to feel guilty, I'd completely ruin this pathetic array of yours."

With that, he tossed the man aside as if discarding trash.

He swiped the token across the gate mechanism, and the heavy doors immediately swung open.

This sudden revelation left the disciples following behind enlightened: so that was how the gates were opened.

As the gates parted, the expressions of Qin Lingxue and Qin Youqin shifted repeatedly.

Just beyond the gates stood over three hundred Qi Condensation Realm practitioners, far more densely packed than the beasts of the Qi Condensation Realm found within the secret realm beneath the Absolute Life Cliff.

After a wave of disciples had been slaughtered, no further Qi Condensation Realm fighters had appeared because they had all been waiting right here.

Qin Anyu, however, treated them as if they were nothing at all. He said indifferently, "So you're all gathered here. Excellent. Which of you knows my younger brother Qin Wushuang? Take me to him, and you have my utmost thanks."