Chapter 4: Announcing the News

The core planet of the cultivation world—Liupan Star.
On Qianhua Continent, atop Taiyuan Mountain, lies the headquarters of the Taiyuan Sect.
Suddenly, a golden light shot through the air and landed on the summit of Taiyuan Mountain. Once it settled, Qu Yi’s figure appeared.
One of Qu Yi’s avatars, Jin Zun, approached.
Of course, Jin Zun’s appearance and aura were identical to Qu Yi’s true self. Unlike other Great Perfection-stage beings who emitted energy fluctuations from their elemental origins, Jin Zun did not do so.
The energy emanating from Jin Zun’s body was neither an elemental origin energy nor chaotic energy, but rather an energy aura that lay between the two—seemingly a fusion of elemental origin energy and chaotic energy.
At that moment, Taiyuan Sect’s leader, Tai Ming, teleported to the summit.
As soon as Jin Zun arrived, he sent a soul signal to summon Tai Ming to the summit. Tai Ming’s soul had already been controlled by Qu Yi due to a soul shackle planted by the Artifact God, so a single soul signal was enough to order him to do anything.
Tai Ming now had complete control over the Taiyuan Sect. Free from the constraints of being a Great Perfection-stage being and having eliminated any dissenters within the sect, he firmly held power over it.
“Master!” Tai Ming immediately bowed and greeted him as soon as he arrived at the summit.
“Tai Ming, you’ve firmly established yourself as the sect leader, and your cultivation is about to reach the Great Perfection stage—excellent. I’ve already killed all ten members of the Upper Realm. I’m here to have you thoroughly purge the Taiyuan Sect. Eliminate all those with ambiguous loyalties; only those who swear to follow you wholeheartedly will survive,” Jin Zun said sharply, leaving no room for refusal.
Hearing this, Tai Ming trembled, clearly frightened.
“Yes, Master. I’ll follow your orders,” he replied immediately.
Although Tai Ming felt reluctant at the idea of Qu Yi unleashing mass killings in the sect, he understood that disobedience would mean his immediate death, after which Qu Yi would appoint another puppet to continue controlling the sect.
There was no choice.
Jin Zun nodded and waved his hand. Tai Ming immediately flew back to the Jin Yuan Palace and issued an order: all the Tribulation-stage elders of the Taiyuan Sect were to return to the headquarters, and ten days later, all elders would gather for a meeting.
Through the Immortal Path Alliance network spread across the entire cultivation world, this order was quickly delivered to all the Tribulation-stage elders of the Taiyuan Sect.

Soon, the Tribulation Stage elders of Taiyuan Gate scattered across the cultivation world returned to the headquarters of Taiyuan Gate without hesitation.
…
There were nearly a thousand more Tribulation Stage powerhouses in Taiyuan Gate, all of whom gathered at Jinyuan Palace, the core meeting place of Taiyuan Gate.
Tai Ming sat on the tiger throne, facing all the elders.
After scanning them with his gaze, Tai Ming drew all the elders’ attention to himself before speaking, “Elders, I have called you here to share some painful news. Our ancestors at the Mahayana Stage of Taiyuan Gate have all died.”
“What!”
“How is that possible!”
“Those at the Mahayana Stage are symbols of invincibility—how could they die?”
“Our ancient ancestors, along with a few supreme immortals, how could they encounter misfortune?”…
As expected, many of the Tribulation Stage elders immediately became uproarious in disbelief upon hearing this news.
Tai Ming raised his hand, waiting for the situation to calm down, before slowly saying, “The soul imprint lamps of our ancient ancestors have gone out. Elders, you must understand what this means.”
The soul imprint lamps stored a cultivator’s soul imprint, and as long as the cultivator’s soul did not perish, the lamp would not go out.
All a thousand Tribulation Stage elders exhaled in unison, creating a somber atmosphere, each looking pale with distress.
“Elders, I have called you here not only to announce this news but also to share another piece of information. I have reached an agreement with the six leaders of Yingtian Sect, Jinyang Sect, Cangyang Valley, Bai Shou Peak, Xianyue Cliff, and Jiugong Island. We will merge our seven sects into one unified sect: Sanding Gate.” Finally, Tai Ming revealed the purpose of this gathering.
Qu Yi’s goal was to bring Sanding Gate to the forefront and unify the entire cultivation world. And now, “Sanding” referred to cultivators from the three paths: cultivation, magic, and demon cultivation.
“What? Such an important matter, and you made the decision without consulting us?” Some elders who had always disapproved of Tai Ming protested, demanding accountability.
“Leader, how can cultivators of cultivation, magic, and demons be merged? This violates the rules of the higher realms!” Some elders who adhered to the higher realms also cried out.
The original ten major sects in the cultivation world were all supported by the powerful beings from the three higher realms, representing their will.

“Elder Master, the Immortals are still in the Five Elements Extreme Realm. Those of us with weaker powers have taken matters into our own hands and merged the seven sects. What if the Immortals return? We will surely be punished by them.” Most of the elders thought of the power of those ten from the upper realm and cried out in panic.

At this time, these cultivators at the Tribulation stage still didn’t know that those ten from the upper realm had already been killed by Qu Yi.

In the entire Jin Yuan Palace, chaos and noise erupted instantly, with voices shouting loudly everywhere.

Tai Ming remained calm as he watched the chaos inside the palace. Only when most of the elders turned to him with reproachful looks in their eyes did he speak up: “Elders, the soul imprints of the Immortals on my communication tablet have also disappeared. I believe you all understand what this means.”

To use a communication tablet, one needs to leave a soul imprint so that messages can be transmitted through spiritual awareness. If a cultivator dies, their soul imprint on someone else’s tablet will disappear.

“What? Elder Master, are you lying?”

“How is that possible? The Immortals are at the Human Immortal level. Who in the cultivation world could kill them?”

“This must be a joke. The four Immortals are united in an alliance. Who has the strength to kill four Human Immortal-level cultivators? It’s completely impossible.”

“Tai Ming, you must be lying to us. How could the Immortals die?” …

This news caused an even greater uproar. Most of the elders became agitated, staring at Tai Ming’s face and shouting loudly, utterly disbelieving the truth of the news.

Tai Ming remained calm. When the situation settled down, he revealed another astonishing piece of news: “Elders, the ten Immortals from the Celestial Realm, Demon Realm, and Fiend Realm have all died—killed by Qu Yi.”

Huh!

At this news, nearly a thousand cultivators at the Tribulation stage gasped sharply, eyes wide with disbelief, too shocked to speak.

After all, these cultivators only knew that Qu Yi was a late-stage Tribulation cultivator. Yet, despite being pursued by over fifty Mahayana-level cultivators and ten Human Immortal-level experts, he not only killed all of them but also the invincible ten from the upper realm. How could anyone believe such a thing?

The atmosphere turned icy cold, dead silent.

It was still Tai Ming who spoke first, a faint smile on his face as he said plainly, “Elders, the seven of us Elder Masters have unanimously agreed that after the seven sects are merged into the Three Tripod Sect, Qu Yi will take on the position of Elder Master.”

“Ah…”

Throughout the Golden Source Palace, a long-lasting voice rang out, filled with a myriad of complex emotions such as surprise, anger, confusion, and resentment. These elders from the Taiyuan Sect who had reached the Tribulation stage had practiced for thousands or even nearly ten thousand years, having witnessed countless extraordinary events. Yet the news revealed by Tai Ming just now was completely beyond everyone’s imagination. The Seven Sects and Qu Yi were mortal enemies! The ancestors of the Seven Sects who had reached the Mahayana stage had died at Qu Yi’s hands! Even the direct upper-world strongmen of the Seven Sects had perished at his hands! How could the rulers of the cultivation world be governed by their former enemies? The nearly thousand elders from the Taiyuan Sect, with their thoughts swirling like flowing hair, still couldn’t figure out how the Seven Sects could allow Qu Yi to become their leader after merging. “Leader, we refuse to accept this! Qu Yi is our common enemy—how can we cooperate with him?” some elders shouted angrily. “Leader, how can you make such a decision? This is a matter that should be resolved jointly by all the disciples of the Seven Sects,” some elders said solemnly. “Leader, have you contacted the immortals in the Immortal Realm? Have you obtained the Emperor Immortal’s approval? You can’t decide such a major matter on your own,” some elders declared arrogantly. … Undoubtedly, most of the elders at the Tribulation stage could not accept this arrangement and began to criticize Tai Ming fiercely. Tai Ming merely smiled. Suddenly, Jin Zun appeared in the Golden Source Palace. “Tai Ming is just announcing this decision on my behalf. You bastards have only one choice: obey me,” Jin Zun said coldly as he stood firm. Upon seeing Jin Zun appear and hearing his words, the nearly thousand elders immediately drew out their magical treasures.