Demoness's Art of Vengeance

Outside the marshlands, several members of the audience found themselves glancing over at the Eternal Summit Sect’s seating area as they whispered to one another discreetly.

“These Eternal Summit Sect disciples are far too heartless. They’ve not evinced any intention to help out the other sects in need.”

“Isn’t that so? Failing to help out is one thing; while attempting to help out is quite something else. These Eternal Summit Sect disciples don’t even have the intention to help out to begin with, and they’re content to simply stand idly by as other sects perish before their very eyes. They’re practically cold-blooded. In fact, I hear that the Eternal Summit Sect and the Boundless Peace Sect had always been on good terms. I wonder why they’re so heartless towards them this time.”

“Could it be the instructions of the Eternal Summit Sect’s Sect Leader and Sect Elders?”

“It could be…”

Dai Yanfeng could not hear the exact details of the conversations panning out between the other audience members who were whispering to each other, but he could vaguely guess what they were gossiping about. After all, the dirty glances the Eternal Summit Sect was getting from various members of the audience were far too obvious!

Dai Yanfeng had the urge to declare that these were not the disciples from the Eternal Summit Sect and that they were Du Clan’s disciples to begin with. But who would believe him? And even if they believed him, this was clear evidence that he had cheated during the verification process earlier. Neither outcomes bode well for the future of his Sect. The other sect elders from the Eternal Summit Sect were all aware of the fact that their own disciples had been exchanged for the Du Clan disciples. Right now, their indignation against the culprit who had made this suggestion, Dai Yanfeng, only burgeoned.

Did we not say that cooperating with people like the Du Clan was like making a transaction with the devil? Look! Just look at the backlash it has caused! Several Sect Elders lamented in their hearts.

The truth of the matter was that Dai Yanfeng had heard rumours that the eight great sects in the cultivation world were hardly as righteous and upstanding as they had held themselves out to be. In fact, he had heard on the grapevine that the hands of these clans or sects were far dirtier than those of any other sects that were smaller than them. However, these were no more than hearsay.

That said, he had now finally begun to believe the veracity of these rumours – they were no mere exaggeration. The fact was that the Du Clan disciples prided themselves in their abilities, and they had no regard for the other sects, including the Eternal Summit Sect. In other words, they were no more than simple bullies!

Yet despite his stature as the Grand Elder of the Eternal Summit Sect, he knew that there was nothing much he could do about this. He could only forcibly swallow this bitter pill and even continue to cajole the Du Clan Head as though the Du Clan Head were their ancestor.

A sense of unease and remorse swelled from the depths of Dai Yanfeng’s heart. He sincerely hoped that the Du Clan disciples would not tear apart the pride and reputation of the Eternal Summit Sect that they had so painstakingly built up over the years. It had to be said that even though the Eternal Summit Sect was a sect that regularly placed among the top three during the quinquennial Secondary Inter-Sect Competition, any sect that had been isolated and singled out by the rest of the Secondary Sects was only bound to fall. Dai Yanfeng did not wish for the Eternal Summit Sect to achieve first place in these competitions, only to find themselves at the end of their road as a sect.

With these uneasy thoughts weighing heavily on his heart, Dai Yanfeng’s gaze darkened as he turned his eyes towards the water screen as he clenched his fists tightly.

In the water screen, the Boundless Peace Sect’s disciples continued to struggle in a cloud of poisonous miasma within the marshlands as they fervently battled against the swamp monster that was assaulting them.

The Boundless Peace Sect was indeed on good terms with the Eternal Summit Sect. Their abilities ranked among the top twenty among all of the other Secondary Sects around. Unfortunately, luck was not on their side in the course of these group battles, and their lack of preparation before these group battles resulted in their present tragic predicament.

As their disciples began to be devoured by the swamp monster one after the other, the remaining Boundless Peace Sect disciples who were at the end of their road looked towards the team from the Eternal Summit Sect with a frosty gaze. Their eyes were filled with intense hatred.

“Eternal Summit Sect! You bastards! My master will never let you off!!!” As soon as the disciple from the Boundless Peace Sect finished speaking, the swamp monster’s tentacle wrapped itself tightly around his body and snapped him cleanly into two halves.

Fresh blood began to fill these marshlands and dye it a striking red colour. Even though the audience was observing the battles through the water screen, they somehow felt as though they had caught a whiff of the nauseating stench of blood through the water screen.

Most members of the audience began gaze at the Boundless Peace disciples with compassion as they witnessed their final moments. Even though they were rivals in the competition, nobody wanted to see these young, innocent sprouts die if they could help it.

At this moment, several members of the audience couldn’t help but think of the Heavenly Peak’s disciples. Compared with them, the Eternal Summit Sect’s disciples were truly far too cold-blooded.

The Dragontiger Sect’s Sect Leader and Sect Elder had the same perspective as well. He looked at the Heavenly Peak’s seating area with gratitude in his eyes, and his eyes coincidentally met with Jun Linxuan’s gaze as well.

Jun Linxuan nodded to them, and they smiled faintly at Jun Linxuan as well.

Prior to these battles, their relationship with the Heavenly Peak could be said to be ordinary at best, because they had not interacted much with each other. However, after this incident between their disciples, their hearts had somehow developed a deeper sense of familiarity with the Heavenly Peak, and they now viewed the Heavenly Peak with far more friendliness in their eyes.

Conversely, the Boundless Peace Sect exploded with fury. As soon as their disciples declared vengeance on the Eternal Summit Sect, the Sect Leader of the Boundless Peace Sect stormed over towards the Eternal Summit Sect’s seating area.

“Dai. Yan. Feng! Don’t you think you owe us an explanation on why your disciples stood idly by while our disciples were perishing in front of their very eyes? Did you instruct them to do so before the competition began? Since when has our Boundless Peace Sect ever offended or transgressed against you? Why do you have to treat us this way?!”

The Boundless Peace Sect’s Sect Leader, Ge Kaibo, stared daggers at Dai Yanfeng as he demanded an explanation.

He had always maintained a cordial relationship with Dai Yanfeng in the past, and he had never expected his “dear friend” to suddenly stab him in the back when he needed him most. How could he not be incensed?!

If not for the fact that his abilities were weaker than Dai Yanfeng’s abilities, he might very well have physically confronted Dai Yanfeng and tussled with him.

Dai Yanfeng struggled in his heart. How was he to explain the situation? Was he really going to reveal that the disciples in the marshlands were not actually from the Eternal Summit Sect? Not even a fool would do that.

Naturally, as the Grand Elder of the Eternal Summit Sect, he knew that both his personal abilities, as well as the sect’s abilities, were well beyond something that the Boundless Peace Sect’s Ge Kaibo could deal with. Thus, he knew that there was no reason to fear that they would attempt any form of vengeance on the Eternal Summit Sect.

The only remaining fear that Dai Yanfeng had was whether the other sects would similarly harden their hearts against them, especially those who were originally on good terms with the Eternal Summit Sect. His worst fear was to see everyone begin to dissociate themselves with the Eternal Summit Sect and look to the Dawn Sect with favour instead.

After all, he could tell from the gaze in the eyes of several sect leaders around that they had begun to view the Dawn Sect and the Eternal Summit Sect with different looks.

Dai Yanfeng collected his thoughts and then steeled his resolve – he had to do all he could to get the Eternal Summit Sect out of its present predicament. At the very least, he would have to provide them with a reasonable excuse –

Thus, he sighed, before responding to Ge Kaibo with resignation, “Kaibo, it’s not that our disciples from the Eternal Summit Sect are reluctant to rescue your disciples. Truth be told, we had overlooked the preparation of miasma repelling talismans and antidotes for our disciples earlier. If our disciples had run into the marshlands to rescue your disciples, they would undoubtedly have perished as well.”

“Hah, if that’s the case, then why did they only stand idly by the side watching as our disciples perished? Why didn’t they run away or dive in and save our disciples?”

“You would be aware that our disciples are undoubtedly on good terms with each other after all. I suspect they must be reluctant to see the Boundless Peace Disciples fall into such a predicament, so they had been considering their options on how they might possibly rescue your disciples.”

Dai Yanfeng’s explanation was nothing more than a feeble attempt at making the problem go away, and it was barely believable. That said, this explanation was the only thing he could think of.

I hope that the situation won’t worsen any further. Dai Yanfeng sighed. He knew that if he clung to this story and maintained that the Eternal Summit Sect’s disciples had not prepared miasma repelling talismans and antidotes in their Interspatial Rings, then nobody would be able to levy any further accusations against them.

Even though this incident might very well create an irreparable rift between the Boundless Peace Sect and the Eternal Summit Sect, his hope was simply to earn the benefit of the doubt from the other sects and mitigate the repercussions of the Du Clan disciples’ actions.

Unfortunately, things rarely go according to plan. Just as Ge Kaibo continued to glare suspiciously at Dai Yanfeng, wondering whether to give him the benefit of the doubt one last time, the water screen revealed a new development to the situation –

The swamp monster that was duking it out with the remaining Boundless Peace Sect’s disciples suddenly went berserk! Not only had the swamp monster been unable to subdue and consume its prey, it had even been severely wounded by its prey.

Thus, when it drew second wind and went berserk, the Boundless Peace Sect’s disciples that had been standing closer to the swamp monster were immediately smashed into pieces. Those who were slightly further away where flung out violently by the shockwave of its outburst, and they landed a distance away, either incapacitated or unconscious.

By this point in time, not more than one-third of the Boundless Peace Sect’s participants remained.

Their martial brothers and sisters in the audience covered their mouths in horror as tears filled their eyes.

However, the worst had yet to come. At this moment, everyone could see from the water screen that the Eternal Summit Sect’s disciples began to move as they slowly made their way towards the marshlands that were enshrouded with a thick layer of poisonous miasma.

“It’s about time to clean up the mess.” Du Yongxu calmly remarked, “Heed my commands – retrieve and apply your miasma repelling talismans. We’ll take the heads of the swamp monster and take its inner core.”

“Yes!” The Du Clan disciples responded in unison as they began to retrieve and apply their miasma repelling talismans on themselves. Then, they followed Du Yongxu as they entered the fray and squared off against the swamp monster that was on its final breaths.

Naturally, there were a few surviving disciples of the Boundless Peace Sect that were still conscious who glared at the Eternal Summit Sect disciples with fury in their eyes.

Under the effects of the miasma repelling talismans, the Du Clan disciples strode into the miasma as though they were taking a stroll through a bed of flowers – they were completely unaffected by the miasma.

Unfortunately, their steadfastness in the present situation appeared incredibly heinous to the onlookers in the audience.

What was most upsetting was perhaps the fact that they were clearly reaping where they had not sown. It was clear for all to see that the Boundless Peace Sect had reduced the swamp monster to its final breaths with their blood, sweat and tears. Yet these opportunistic Eternal Summit Sect disciples interjected and strode in at the very last moment to claim their efforts for themselves.

Yet this was no more than what the Du Clan disciples were used to doing after all. Furthermore, now that they were participating in the competition as Eternal Summit Sect disciples, there were no ramifications with such actions of theirs – not to them at least.

“Didn’t you say that you didn’t prepare those talismans for them?! What did they just apply on themselves, huh?!” Ge Kaibo barked. The burning inferno of rage in his eyes was so intense that one could practically see flames spewing from his eyes.

Dai Yanfeng grew sullen. How could he have known that as soon as he committed to his excuse, the Du Clan disciples would do the very opposite and tear apart his pretenses?

His heart swelled with a deep sense of frustration and indignation, yet there was nowhere for him to ventilate all of this.

He had initially been overjoyed at the prospects of working together with the Du Clan earlier. But now, he sincerely and thoroughly regretted his decision. There was a good chance that after this competition, the Eternal Summit Sect’s reputation would be completely torn to shreds and trampled on the ground.

What could he do? What other excuse could he give? Dai Yanfeng’s eyes darkened as he stared at the water screen with a heart filled with anxiety.