Zhenyang Mountain.
At the very center, on Tribulation Crossing Peak, three gigantic statues stood.
The first was handsome and elegant, the founding ancestor Zhenyang.
The second was valiant and extraordinary, the second Sect Leader Li Tian.
The third was with refined features, precisely the third Sect Leader Chen Qingmo.
At this moment, a number of disciples stood beneath the statues, guarding the Sect Leader's Immortal Mansion.
All these disciples wore expressions of dejection.
One disciple said in a low voice, "Yesterday, we let Ye Xiyue and Su Hongling rescue Tantai Mingyue and Su Xin. When the Sect Leader returns, won't we be punished?"
Another sighed, "Su Hongling and Senior Sister Ye are already at Half-Step Divinity Transformation; how could we stop them?"
"Alas, they were too cunning, launching their attack while the Sect Leader was in Jianxian City, truly damaging the grand style of our sect!"
"Indeed, to think our Zhenyang Sect, the leader of the Righteous Path, after Zhenyang the Ancestor, Sect Leader Li Tian, and now Sect Leader Chen, with the ancestor long ascended, and now Sect Leader Chen's exceptional cultivation, how could we fear those of dubious paths?"
The disciples became more spirited as they spoke, dissipating much of the dejection from the previous day's breach by Su Hongling's group.
One disciple curiously asked, "Fellow brothers, I've heard that our second Sect Leader Li Tian only served for ten years before suddenly falling. What happened?"
Someone whispered, "Junior brother, you haven't been here long, so you don't qualify to consult the sect's secret records. Let me tell you, Sect Leader Li went mad during cultivation and got severely injured, which led to his demise."
"Afterward, Sect Leader Chen took over and developed our Zhenyang Sect to its current state."
"I see."
That young disciple looked up at the three statues on Tribulation Crossing Peak and suddenly said,
"Huh, why do I feel the three Sect Leaders look somewhat alike?"
Suddenly, Zhenyang Mountain began to shake violently. The disciples panicked, and a commanding disciple shouted:
"It must be that Su Hongling and the others damaged the mountain's spiritual vein yesterday. Quickly use your spiritual power to suppress the vein's tremor and protect Zhenyang Mountain!"
The disciples scrambled to comply, simultaneously exerting their spiritual power, finally suppressing the tremor in Zhenyang Mountain's spiritual vein.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but then the young disciple suddenly pointed toward the top of Tribulation Crossing Peak, exclaiming:
"Look!"
Everyone looked up, instantly displaying expressions of shock.
"How could this be?!"
At the top of the towering Tribulation Crossing Peak, the statues of Sect Leaders Li Tian and Chen Qingmo suddenly cracked, pieces of stone falling like rain, revealing another layer inside.
Underneath the surfaces of Li Tian and Chen Qingmo's statues lay another face entirely.
But most shocking of all, the appearances beneath Li Tian and Chen Qingmo's outer layers were identical to Zhenyang.
The three Sect Leaders standing tall atop the peak turned into the same person!
"Three Ancestor Zhenyangs?"
"This... what's going on?"
...
Jianxian City.
Under the Immortal Brew Tower.
Chen Qingmo's words had just caused a pause among the many cultivators below when someone suddenly realized:
"Indeed, though Zhenyang's demon embryo occupied his physical body, his soul was long incomplete. After so many years, it must have turned to ashes."
"Exactly, Zhenyang Sect has gone through three Sect Leaders in five hundred years. Even if the first Sect Leader was an utterly evil demon embryo, it has nothing to do with Sect Leader Chen now, right?"
"But the Saintess said Chen Qingmo is Zhenyang!"
"Saintess, do you have any evidence?"
A cultivator asked, and at that moment, a resentful voice sounded:
"My daughter and I are the evidence!"
Chen Qingmo was stunned and turned to look at Black Phoenix in disbelief:
"Just now, they weren't poisoned. Was it your doing? Huang'Er, why did you betray me?"
Black Phoenix suddenly laughed, yet her smile was filled with endless sorrow:
"I have been with you for five hundred years, wholeheartedly devoted, bore a daughter for you. Even though you had so many women, I once hoped I'd be the special one!"
"But what about you?"
"In your heart, I'm just a tool for bearing a daughter, a lowly maid to insult at will for pleasure!"
"I could endure all of this, but you shouldn't have touched Qing Yun!"
"Chen Qingmo, no! Zhenyang, I will never let you ruin my daughter's soul!"
Chen Qingmo's previously genteel and calm expression vanished, as he coldly shouted, "Shut up, you wench!"
With a wave of his right hand, a long sword formed of black energy shot toward Black Phoenix!
Qiu Zhihe coldly snorted, elegantly raised her hand, and a guardian array appeared in front of Black Phoenix, while Qin Gengyun swung his Heaven-Reaching Staff toward the black Immortal Sword.
Boom! Boom!
Two blasts resounded. Qin Gengyun was forced back several yards, the guardian array and the black Immortal Sword breaking simultaneously.
Unsuccessful in his attack, Su Hongling and Ye Xiyue were already standing in front of Black Phoenix.
Chen Qingmo's face turned grim, yet Black Phoenix was already in tears:
"As expected, even after five hundred years together, in your heart, I'm still someone you can kill anytime... Zhenyang, since you are so heartless, today I will expose everything you did to the world!"
"Let the Four Domains of Hongzhou all know who you truly are!"
Chen Qingmo's expression was icy to the extreme, yet he could no longer stop Black Phoenix from speaking.
Her sorrowful, despairing voice rang out, reaching the ears of countless cultivators:
"Five hundred years ago, you came to Celestial Phoenix Mountain, claiming to be the destined one of the Celestial Phoenix Maiden Zhu Yinrong of that generation. Afterward, Zhu Yinrong successfully turned into the Divine Phoenix, willing to do anything for you. You lured her away from Celestial Phoenix Mountain."
"You wanted to force her to bear a daughter for you, but Zhu Yinrong refused, so you imprisoned her for decades, forcing her to cultivate a demon technique."
"Thus, I was born from Zhu Yinrong's divine soul. You taught me cultivation techniques, letting me take over Zhu Yinrong's body, and had me personally kill Zhu Yinrong!"
"You promised to marry me and love only me forever."
"Following you to Zhenyang Sect, I eventually found out you were actually the Sect Leader Zhenyang of Zhenyang Sect."
"But your soul was incomplete, and Zhenyang's body would soon wither, requiring the souls and bodies of others to continue living."
"You pretended to ascend but secretly hid in the Sect Leader's Immortal Mansion in Zhenyang Mountain, waiting for the second Sect Leader Li Tian to take over the Immortal Mansion, then devoured his soul and body, becoming like Li Tian."
"But because it was your first time devouring someone else, something went wrong, and your body could only last ten years."
"You faked a cultivation deviation, and thus the second Sect Leader Li Tian fell. You then targeted the third Sect Leader Chen Qingmo."
"Finally succeeding this time, Chen Qingmo's soul and body could sustain you for several hundred years."
"But to completely complete your soul and ascend to the Upper Realm, you needed to gather Supreme Yin Qi from four close bloodlines."
"So you searched the world for outstanding female cultivators, deceiving them into bearing daughters for you."
"You became Chen Qingmo and deceived Tantai Mingyue; you transformed into Zhou Qing and tricked Lin Yuan."
"Including the daughter I bore for you, you already had three Supreme Yin Qi from close bloodlines."
"Later, you discovered Xia Qinglian was Sheng Tanglian's daughter. Filled with joy, you laid out a plan for many years, all for the sake of taking the souls of four daughters today to complete your residual soul."
"Zhenyang, you killed your loving wife, and now you want to kill your own daughters—such viciousness and cruelty, do you think you deserve to ascend?!"