“Tieshan, do you know how the others are doing?”
David asked.
Tieshan lowered his head, his usual fervor for David gone. After a moment of silence, he said, “Young Master Chen, after you ran away alone last time, we were all chased by the Tian Shu Sect and scattered in all directions.”
“That old bastard Hengxuan mobilized the entire sect to launch an indiscriminate and bloody purge against all the cultivators who had once followed you and resisted the Tian Shu Sect.”
“Countless independent cultivators, small sects, and former allies were either slaughtered, forced to surrender, or forced to hide their identities and flee everywhere, living in misery every day.”
“Of the brothers who fought alongside us back then, only three out of ten survived. Most of them died in the pursuit and encirclement by the Tian Shu Sect, leaving no trace of their bodies or souls.”
David’s fingertips paused slightly, the nonchalance in his eyes vanished completely, and a chilling aura quietly emerged.
He had long anticipated that Heng Xuan would take the opportunity to settle scores and retaliate, but he never expected the other party to be so ruthless and to carry out such a brutal massacre.
“Where are Liu Chen and Ye Qing?” David asked casually.
“The two led their remaining brothers in a desperate breakout and are now hiding in the far northern wilderness, barely clinging to life and struggling to stay alive. They are constantly being hunted down by the patrolling cultivators of the Tian Shu Sect, living in constant fear.”
Tieshan’s voice was bitter, then his tone suddenly became low and full of grief and indignation, “The most tragic one is Fairy Ling Shuang.”
“To cover everyone’s retreat, Fairy Ling Shuang single-handedly held off several elders of the Tian Shu Sect. In the end, she was captured due to exhaustion and was personally convicted by that old bastard Heng Xuan, who labeled her a traitor and imprisoned her in the Tian Shu Sect. She suffered day and night from the lingering power of the Heavenly Dao and the torment of having her soul locked and her body devoured, making her life worse than death!”
“Furthermore, I also heard that in order to establish his authority and prevent others from betraying him, Heng Xuan hired over a hundred people to humiliate Fairy Ling Shuang day and night.”
“At this moment, Fairy Ling Shuang is probably already swollen beyond recognition”
boom!
The last trace of laziness in David’s heart completely dissipated, and the invisible Daoist aura around him stirred slightly.
The air in the entire valley instantly turned cold, and the originally gentle laws of nature suddenly took on a chilling, murderous aura.
Ling Shuang helped me back then by providing me with information.
Now, because he escaped and had no one to protect him, he has ended up being captured, imprisoned, and tortured.
This debt needs to be settled.
David remained silent for two breaths, then chuckled lightly. His laughter was light, yet it carried an icy chill. Beneath his playful and casual exterior lay an absolute confidence that crushed everything: “Okay, I understand.”
“Tieshan, immediately contact all the surviving cultivators who are willing to follow me and gather manpower.”
“This time, I will personally lead the team to crush the Tian Shu Sect, rescue Ling Shuang, kill Heng Xuan, settle all blood debts, and avenge the fallen brothers!”
His tone was calm, without roars or rage, without grand pronouncements, yet every word was firm and resounding, carrying the supreme power of someone who could rule the world.
But Tieshan on the other end of the phone fell into a long silence upon hearing this, and did not respond for a long time.
After a long while, Tieshan’s voice slowly came through, filled with deep weariness, helplessness, and estrangement, his tone extremely complex: “Young Master Chen it’s useless.”
“Now no one dares to rebel with you anymore.”
David raised an eyebrow slightly, his tone still casual: “Oh? Why?”
Tieshan gave a bitter laugh, his voice filled with vicissitudes and helplessness: “Young Master Chen, when you suddenly disappeared, when everyone needed you the most, when everyone needed a pillar of support, you left all alone.”
“Everyone knows that you escaped alone, countless brothers died in battle, relatives and friends perished, and homes were destroyed. Everyone fought to the very end, only to end up in such a tragic state.”
“The remaining cultivators are now filled with fear, chill, and distrust.”
They all felt that, in the crucial moment, you would still leave alone, abandoning everyone.
Now no one dares to gamble anymore, no one dares to follow, and no one dares to rebel against the Heavenly Pivot Sect.
“Everyone is afraid of failure, afraid of betrayal, afraid that even after fighting to the death, they will still end up dead and gone.”
These words are incredibly realistic and incredibly poignant.
In times of chaos, people’s hearts are most fragile and most callous.
One solitary departure, one absence in dire straits, is enough to exhaust everyone’s trust and enthusiasm.
Faced with Tieshan’s frank statement, David was neither angry nor did he try to defend himself. He simply smiled faintly, his eyes open and calm, showing no embarrassment or anger at being exposed.