Jian Chen’s words immediately filled the people who still held onto some hope with despair.
They all understood what he was implying.
Those who declared that they were defecting from the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder would live!
Those who refused to betray the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder would die!
For a moment, countless disciples of the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder became conflicted.
Of course, these conflicted disciples only formed a portion of everyone.
The others were indifferent. They seemed to let out sighs of relief.
It was as if the sect did not hold much significance to them. Whether they left the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder or not, whether they betrayed the sect or not, was something that they were extremely indifferent to.
“I’ll only give you an hour to consider. After this hour, the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder no longer exists on the Reverent Observance Heaven,” said Jian Chen, issuing the final ultimatum.
However, there was clearly no need for one hour. In just a few seconds, voices of defection began to ring out.
“I, Zhang Dacheng, will hereby leave the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder. I will no longer be a disciple of the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder.”
“Zhang Dacheng, you’re an elder of the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder. You hold a great status, and the sect has treated you very well too. How can you flee when the sect faces danger?”
“Zhang Dacheng, I never imagined you to be someone that feared death.”
“I’ve truly been blind, Zhang Dacheng, considering how I never realised you’re actually so afraid of death.”
The first defector was a middle-aged man. He was a Nine-heavenly Xuan Immortal, as well as a regular elder of the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder.
His departure immediately led to a series of furious curses.
However, Zhang Dacheng ignored the curses and sneers from the surroundings. He left behind the only s.p.a.ce Ring on him before turning into a streak of light, leaving the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder and vanis.h.i.+ng into the horizon instantly.
Zhang Dacheng’s departure seemed to set off a fuse. Shortly afterwards, more and more disciples of the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder declared their departure.
“From here on forwards, I, Ze Hu, am no longer a disciple of the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder. I have defected from the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder.”
“From here on forwards, I, Long Shaoming, have defected from the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder. The Sword Sect of Startling Thunder no longer has anything to do with me.”
“I, Bai Qi, have defected from the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder.”
“I, Lan Mengxin, have defected from the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder.”
……
…
More and more people defected from the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder. Gradually, the voices of defection filled the entire mountain. The people who defected from the sect were all extremely sensible. They left behind their s.p.a.ce Rings before leaving.
Some of the disciples of the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder were slightly hopeful, wanting to leave with their s.p.a.ce Ring, but they were stopped by the disciples of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens.
The disciples of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens also hated the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder to the core. Now that they had the opportunity to hold their heads up high, they obviously would not spare any disciple from the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder. Once they found the opportunity, they would obviously hara.s.s them properly to vent.
Before long, most of the disciples of the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder were gone. Only around a hundred people remained in the end. They showed the determination to die, ready to go down with the sect.
Jian Chen stared at the disciples of the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder below and called out, “Chen s.h.i.+fang, I’ll leave these people to you.”
“Yes, sect master!” Chen s.h.i.+fang cupped his fist. He looked down as a hint of cold killing intent flashed through his eyes.
In the next moment, he suddenly turned into a streak of light and rushed down.
“Elder Nong, please lead some disciples to gather the resources and items left behind by the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder. The Immortal Devouring Orchid will cooperate with you to clear away any obstacles.” Jian Chen instructed elder Nong.
Elder Nong also cupped his fist to accept the order before immediately leading a group of disciples from the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens to gather the resources.
Under elder Nong’s arrangements, these disciples of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens became labourers. They began to collect everything of value from the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder.
“This pavilion is constructed from high quality yang jade. Dismantle it.”
“The seat is made from million-year-old dragon blood wood. Collect it all.”
“And these floor boards. They’re excellent materials for forging artifacts. Stow them away.”
……
…
Elder Nong hovered in the air and enveloped the entire Sword Sect of Startling Thunder with the senses of his soul. He directed the disciples of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens to move things around.
The treasury of the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder obviously was not forgotten. Even though the treasury was protected by a powerful defensive formation, all of the arrangements in the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder were basically non-existent before the Immortal Devouring Orchid.
After all, the strongest ancestor of the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder was only a Fifth Heavenly Layer Immortal Emperor. With such puny foundations, how could their formations stop the Ninth Heavenly Layer Immortal Emperor Immortal Devouring Orchid?
However, Jian Chen was uninterested in the wealth of the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder. He led a group of disciples and directly arrived at where they grew Chillsky gra.s.s.
It was a colossal valley, enveloped in an energy-gathering formation that constantly brought over spiritual Qi to nourish the Chillsky gra.s.s growing in the valley.
Gazing at the Chillsky gra.s.s below, Jian Chen could not help but smile. He recognised with a single glance that the Chillsky gra.s.s was one of the supplementary materials that went into refining high grade G.o.dking pills.
“There’s actually almost fifty thousand stalks of Chillsky gra.s.s. Not bad, not bad. You haven’t left me disappointed.” Jian Chen was in a very good mood. In the past, he had made Xi Yu prepare these materials for him in the Saints’ World, but he had already used up most of it back then.
After all, when he had been comprehending the Way of Alchemy and studying the G.o.dking pills, he had used a large number of low grade G.o.dking gra.s.s to practise. Now, he was already lacking in some of the materials.
Under Jian Chen’s instructions, the disciples of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens immediately began to harvest the Chillsky gra.s.s. Each stalk of Chillsky gra.s.s was carefully stored away before they handed up all of it to Jian Chen.
When all the Chillsky gra.s.s had ended up in Jian Chen’s hands, the disciples under elder Nong’s lead had also collected all of the resources from the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder. Apart from a few items that could not be taken away, all the wealth that the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder had acc.u.mulated over the years ended up in the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens’ hands.
What they obtained from the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder left elder Nong grinning so hard that he could not even keep his mouth shut anymore.
“The Sword Sect of Startling Thunder sure is extravagant. Even if you combine all the resources from the Immortal Sect of Azure Foxes, the Immortal Sect of Three Yang, the Immortal Sect of Scarlet Sunset, and the Immortal Sect of Sword Control, they probably can’t match the Sword Sect of Startling Thunder.” Elder Nong was extremely excited.
These resources did not interest Jian Chen, but to the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens that had been deprived of resources for all these years, this was obviously unimaginable wealth.
At the same time, several dozen experts dressed in the uniforms of the Immortal Sect of Colossal Elephants busied about in a remote mountain range several tens of million kilometres away from the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens in the Sword Region of Violet Heavens. They were all stern.
Even the weakest of these people were Immortal Monarchs. There were even several Immortal Emperors mixed in among them.
A total of eighty-one Immortal Monarchs under the lead of three Immortal Emperors set up a formation there with great intensity. The great energy stirred up the surroundings.
“a.s.semble the formation!”
At this moment, as one of the Immortal Emperors called out, the eighty-one Immortal Monarchs formed seals simultaneously. Energy flooded out from their bodies, rapidly establis.h.i.+ng a colossal formation in the s.p.a.ce there.
The formation contained devastating might. This was a formation a.s.sembled from several dozen Immortal Monarchs and three Immortal Emperors. It could easily kill Immortal Emperors.
However, that clearly was not the formation’s full strength.
Nine thrones hovered inside the formation. Each throne was composed of the power of the formation. They represented a part of the authority and might over it.
However, only three Immortal Emperors were seated among the nine thrones currently as if they were linked with the formation. The six remaining thrones remained empty.
“We’ve already completed what we need to do here. We’ll have to see how they go on their end now.” At this moment, one of the three Immortal Emperors on a throne spoke up. His voice was stern, filled with great displeasure.
“Sigh, we’re putting in so much effort just to save Xiang Shan? Is it really worth it to do all this for an Immortal Emperor of the mixed-blood branch? And we’re going to such great lengths just to deal with an Immortal Devouring Orchid. Isn’t this a little overkill?” A second Immortal Emperor also spoke up. He also seemed very unhappy with this.
“Even a lion would use its full strength to catch a rabbit. The Immortal Devouring Orchid belongs to the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens after all. We obviously need to make all the preparations we can to deal with it. We need to ensure that we easily destroy it. Otherwise, if it escapes, we’ll be in a lot of trouble.” The third Immortal Emperor glanced at the two people before him and said, “The two of you can stop grumbling. Xiang Shan must be rescued, or the mixed-blood branch will cause colossal trouble for the sect.”
In the forbidden grounds of the back mountain in the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens, six Immortal Emperors concealed themselves in the s.p.a.ce near the boulder where the Immortal Devouring Orchid usually stayed. They each clutched an ancient jade talisman that concealed all of their traces and presences, surrounding this part of the mountain completely.