Free Web NovelChapter 397: Chapter 355: The Traitor Purge Assembly
It’s Jii Shu!
She’s actually chasing after me!
Looking at Wang Yu fleeing in a panic in mid-air, Jii Shu’s face was extremely unfavorable. Her once pure and elegant cheeks furrowed, and a surge of vicious and fierce aura erupted, causing the nearby living corpses to panic and scatter.
Originally, after Wang Yu left, the more she thought about it, the more something felt off. She finally couldn’t hold back any longer and threw the intimidation of Wang Yu’s so-called "Ying Kuo Ancestor’s secret mission" aside, chasing over to demand clarity.
But who knew she’d see this scene from afar!
"How dare you! How could you!"
She viciously locked her eyes on Wang Yu’s figure, lifting her foot to step across the rift!
At that moment, Wang Yu’s heart almost jumped out of his throat.
Fortunately, as she lifted her foot into mid-air, it was as if some immense pressure blocked her. With a thunderous roar, the corpse evil qi around her skyrocketed, stirring the heavens and exerting pressure over a hundred miles!
Even though Wang Yu had bolted quite a distance, he still felt a sharp pain throughout his body, drenched in sweat.
Such terrifying power, if in the outside world, would likely annihilate Wang Yu to dust with just a breath!
This Seventeenth Patrol Envoy alone boasted such cultivation; how terrifying must this Ying Kuo Ancestor be?
It’s no wonder only Void Refining True Monarchs dared to explore this absolute ground.
But even with Jii Shu unleashing her full strength, the massive resistance, as if severing heaven and earth, became increasingly strong. Her body creaked under the pressure, and the more she resisted, the greater it grew, until at last, she could not withstand it.
Her half-raised foot was forcibly and inch-by-inch pressed down!
She ultimately couldn’t break through that invisible barrier.
"I will remember you, I will remember you!"
The words, filled with malice and venom, rang out from afar. Wang Yu dared not linger, nor did he want to speak more. Transforming into an escape light, he dashed straight into the distance.
After an hour, upon seeing a marketplace under the bright moonlight, Wang Yu finally exhaled deeply.
He took out a conical hat and put it on, hiding his pitch-black pupils, and descended gently from his escape light.
Watching the cultivators coming and going in the marketplace, Wang Yu recalled the days of dancing with corpses in the absolute ground over the past dozen or so days, as if from another life.
He stared blankly at this most ordinary cultivator world until the Law Enforcement Captain of the marketplace approached with trepidation.
"Esteemed Feathered Scholar, how may I assist you?"
Wang Yu was initially stunned, then suddenly realized.
Yes, I have successfully established my Foundation. Now, I’m already a mainstay within the prefecture.
And in front of me is a small marketplace where Foundation Establishment Feather Scholars rarely come, making Wang Yu a conspicuous presence.
"I just want to ask for directions. Where is the large marketplace in your state?"
After getting pointed in the right direction, under the captain’s reverent gaze, Wang Yu didn’t stop and dove away swiftly.
He plans to head for a large marketplace, rent a Wind-Controlling Beast, and swiftly return to Lingsha City.
Yunshan Sect, I am back!
At this moment, Lingsha City was brightly lit. On the grand square in the comprehensive district, nearly all the Shuangye Alliance cultivators gathered. In the center, more than a dozen cultivators knelt, faces gray as iron, alongside the pale-faced Shuangye Alliance high command.
Before the restless crowd, the Punishment Steward Wu Yan loudly recited a list of offenses.
"Pang Kang, an Outer Disciple of Yunshan Sect, is actually a spy for the Xuanguang Sect. He gathered intel on our sect, including stationed troops, patrol duties, combat changes, and regularly reported to the Xuanguang Sect..."
"Hex Sen, an Inner Sect Disciple of Yunshan Sect, was lured by profit and betrayed the sect, selling out fellow disciples by revealing high-level operations and passing on mission intel to the Xuanguang Sect... Violating sect rules articles one, five, seven, thirteen..."
"Tu Youjun, an Inner Sect Disciple of Spirit Snake Peak, was similarly lured by profit..."
One after another, irrefutable evidence was presented, inciting rage among the cultivators below.
"These seventeen individuals have committed unforgivable crimes, deserving execution by law! We request the Sect Leader’s final decision!"
Hundreds of cultivators’ gazes instantly focused on Lu Qian, stern and solemn, who sat at the center.
This Yunshan Sect Leader and Shuangye Alliance Leader let out a deeply troubled sigh.
Silently, he looked at the kneeling seventeen cultivators, their faces ash-grey, trembling in fear, and finally asked, "Do any of you have any last words?"
In Lu Qian’s heart, a deep distress brewed.
At first, he began by investigating from the Inner Sect disciples who issued the missions, mobilizing most of the intelligence group for the task, but the progress was slow, and the trail went cold multiple times.
Indeed, they managed to catch three or four suspects, but their efforts alone weren’t enough to cause such a complete leak of Yunshan Sect’s mission intel. Beneath the surface lay a hidden iceberg!
Fortunately, while sorting through Hee Yangchen’s belongings, they unexpectedly found a list!
Hee Yangchen, the chief intel officer investigating the Shuangye Alliance, and the sole contact for some spies, maintained single-line contact with these internal spies, making them incredibly difficult to uncover.
But the Xuanguang Sect hadn’t anticipated that Hee Yangchen, who possessed the Invisibility Dao Pattern, would fall into Yunshan Sect’s hands.
The list contained six vitally important names, which led Shuangye Alliance to follow the trail, search rigorously, and eventually apprehend the seventeen concealed spies.
This was an alarmingly vast counter-spy effort within Shuangye Alliance. While these seventeen were indeed spies, over a hundred cultivators were implicated due to inadequate awareness or close friendships with the spies, or were inadvertently swayed by small favors, leading them to inadvertently leak significant information.
Because it involved so many, Lu Qian took nearly half a month to organize evidence, ensuring not a single innocent was wronged, nor any spy escaped justice.
As of today, all matters are clear, and Lu Qian summoned all the alliance’s cultivators to the square for a public trial, announcing their crimes to warn disciples and intimidate those harboring sinister motives who had yet to act.
Of these seventeen, seven were Yunshan disciples, four were Honored Guests of Yunshan, while the remaining six came from the Zhou Family, Spirit Snake Peak, and Zhuquan Sect as Honored Guests or disciples.
Before clarifications surfaced, Lu Qian never realized the extent to which their ranks had been infiltrated.
The most significant vulnerability stemmed from Shuangye Alliance’s rampant recruitment of loose cultivators at the Shuangye Square Festival over the past few years!
Once spies infiltrated, despite mostly being Outer Disciples or production Honored Guests with no access to core secrets, they wielded their methods, climbing the ranks over several years and gaining several Inner Sect disciples, establishing an expanding intelligence network.
This is precisely why major sects rarely engage in broad recruitment of loose cultivators, preferring instead to focus on nurturing Spirit Seeds.
The still-maturing Yunshan Sect and Shuangye Alliance ultimately paid a tuition fee for their impatience to expand.
Jiang Baitao neared death, the Qingli Mountain rescue team lost over twenty members, lost a Void-Soaring and Distant-Guarding Divine Ship, and faced the immense risk of deploying the Primordial Pearl.
Fortunately, it seems for now this tuition is within a tolerable range.
Gazing upon those once-familiar faces, Lu Qian felt both rage and sorrow. Unable to wait for them to speak any final words, he couldn’t help but regretfully call out to one person, "Hex Sen, you are one of the earliest disciples since our sect’s reestablishment. Through trials and challenges, you fought alongside me, valiantly facing the Golden Core threat!"
"You’ve made it to the Inner Sect Yi Class through your merits, and achieving True Disciple status was within reach with just a bit more effort."
"I have never been stingy towards those with merit, with cultivation techniques or materials," you should know this, and it’s undoubtedly more generous than that of any Golden Core Major Sect disciple!"
"Why did you collude with the enemy and betray us? What was it for?"
