Chương 402: Elder's decision

Long Feng was extremely relieved when the teleportation formation deactivated, and he found himself standing within the familiar hall in the heaven reflection city. He stepped out of the hall and showed his identity token to the guard, who instantly turned respectful and allowed him to pass. Without further ado, Long Feng left the city and took to the sky, speeding towards the triple peaks of the Sect. He couldn't wait to return so he could have a much-needed rest.

After running non-stop for days and directly consuming the rock ape's blood essence, his body was on the edge. The body was perhaps more delicate than the soul in some minor ways. Both could be pushed past their limits to a certain extent, but once it got too much, they would break. In a short hour, he arrived at the base of the middle mountain which was the Inner peak and rushed up along the winding pathways. He rushed directly towards his cave residence.

He was clearly aware that he was supposed to head to the missions hall and report everything that had happened, after all, it involved the betrayal of the Teng clan and the death of several Inner disciples. But there were a few questions that he wouldn't be able to answer, such as how he was able to survive while being the weakest, and how exactly he uncovered the clues he did. Until he figured out suitable answers to those questions, he wouldn't dare to speak about the mission to the Deacons just yet.

He directly locked himself within his cave and didn't step out for the next three days, focusing only on resting. Within those days, he didn't circulate his inner energy or use his true force even once so his body would loosen up. That three days rest turned out to be the final push he needed, and his cultivation returned to rank six Imperial realm silently. He wouldn't have even known he had broken through if he hadn't been paying attention to it. The advantage of that was his extremely stable foundation.

A single level breakthrough added nothing to his combat power, but he was that much closer to rank nine Imperial realm and consequently the Deity realm. On the fourth day after he returned, his peaceful rest was interrupted by a knock oh his door. At the same time, the formations around his cave suddenly deactivated without his control, leaving him startled.

He cautiously approached the door and hesitated before he pulled it open and faced five black robed middle aged men standing before the cave with stern expression. Each of them had auras equivalent to the peak deity realm, but Long Feng could sense an enormously pressure rippling off their bodies. He estimated that all five men had undergone two refinements stages before reaching the peak Deity realm.

Compared to the elders of the Teng clan who had barely succeeded in one or zero refinement stages, they were worlds apart.

"How many I help you?" Long Feng couldn't help but feel tense at the stern expressions they had. When he glanced at their black robes, his pupils shook slightly as he recognized the unique symbol of the enforcement hall.

"Disciple Long Feng! Your presence is needed by the Deacons, and you are to come with us right now!" One of the men spoke crudely. Long Feng's lips twitched as he hesitated, unable to guess why the Deacons would be looking for him. Had they somehow found out about what happened? It wasn't a surprise that they knew he was in the sect. His identity token was practically on him, which meant they could sense his presence.

Even these enforcement hall members had the ability to completely deactivate the formations around his cave. One could only imagine the power actual deacons held. Sighing, Long Feng closed the cave and followed behind the five men. They headed directly towards the mountain summit, to the central Hall where they gestured for him to walk in before they rushed off themselves. Long Feng calmly walked into the large hall and was greeted by a rather surprising scene.

Three deacons sat, each of them commanding and indisputably powerful aura unique to the Dao realm. Before their auras, even the old Dao realm master from the Teng clan seemed rather weak. Facing them were two youths standing with their backs to the door. Both of them were extremely ragged with torn robes and scattered hair. One of them even had a slightly fatal injury that had barely stopped bleeding. With a glance, Long Feng was overcome with surprise.

"Chen Zhaofeng? Hua Zhi?" He didn't expect that they were still alive. After each of them used their life saving means, they were all separated and he didn't know what became of them. But considering the situation, he thought of them as dead. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Now they were standing here, obviously trashed but still alive and relatively healthy. He instantly understood why the Deacons would summon him.

He could only hope that his answers would be satisfying enough since he couldn't expose some of his secrets. He strolled into the hall, drawing the gazes of the three deacons. An unfathomable weight seemed to land on his shoulders, forcing his back to lower slightly and his knees to tremble with each step he took.

"Disciple Long Feng greets the deacons." He endured the suppression and clasped his fists in greetings when he stood beside Chen Zhaofeng and Hua Zhi.

"Long Feng! Do you admit your guilt?" One of the deacons suddenly barked, startling Long Feng. He stared at that particular Deacon with a faint frown.

"I do not understand what senior is talking about." He replied. The Deacon snorted.

"You returned to the sect after such severe events, including the death of two inner disciples and you didn't report the details instantly, instead locking yourself away for the past three days. Do you admit your guilt?"

"While I admit that I didn't report about it, I do not admit to any guilt. I was severely injured and was barely hanging on. If I had wasted even a few seconds, I might have lost my life. I don't see how healing my injuries is a crime."

"You dare to argue?!" The Deacon roared, causing an immense pressure to surround Long Feng, forcing him down on one knee with a flushed face.

"Calm down, Deacon Ye. He also has his merits. We should hear his part of the story." The Deacon seated in the center gently spoke while waving his hand, dispersing the pressure of the first Deacon. The former nodded calmly and withdrew his gaze from Long Feng without another word. Long Feng slowly rose to his feet and suppressed his roiling blood while the second deacon spoke, "Long Feng, we've heard of everything that transpired during the mission from your fellow disciples here.

We would like to hear your part of it." Nodding, Long Feng organized his thoughts before recounting everything that happened without changing anything. After all, he didn't know what the deacons had already heard from Chen Zhaofeng and Hua Zhi. It would be better to state everything directly. The only thing he concealed was the Immortal's Sight and also spying on Teng Yanbin's cultivation. He mentioned everything else, including his soul power.

"You mean, you used your soul power to perceive all of these minor details?" The deacon asked with a slightly furrowed brow. Long Feng nodded.

"My soul power is stronger than normal and my perception is also much higher than usual." He replied. Many special mutations existed even in the path of cultivation, so having a slightly special soul power was nothing strange. The deacon nodded after he had completed his narrative before tracing his beard.

"That is more or less the same as they explained. How did you escape from the early stage Dao master?"

"I was lucky and had a bronzeflame talisman on me which I used. After that, I rushed to the nearest city and teleported back at once."

"Mm. One final question. How were you able to tell the actual cultivation of Lian Bao, or should I say, Teng Yanbin?" Asking this, the deacon narrowed his eyes slightly. Long Feng's heart skipped a beat as he rapidly thought of a reasonable explanation.

"It was a lucky guess. I happened to have met an early stage Dao master at close contact before and I clearly recalled the unique pressure he possessed. Somehow, I sensed that Lian Bao's presence was different… stronger." He dumped out a bunch of nonsense which he thought sounded a bit reasonable.

"Is that so…?" The deacon nodded and didn't mention that topic again.

"You three have done a great job and can be considered to have completed your mission. In view of everything, the mission difficulty has risen to the highest five star mission, and you three will receive the rewards each after the Teng clan is dealt with." He continued calmly, causing the three youths to feel excited. Chen Zhaofeng and Hua Zhi instantly felt that being chased and nearly killed by a few peak deities was completely worth it. Even a three star mission's rewards was enough to blind them with guilt.

A five star mission… the rewards would push them more than one level higher and set them up nicely for the next several levels. As for Long Feng, he didn't know how great the rewards was exactly, but he knew it wouldn't be anything minor. Perhaps he could use them to directly impact the deity realm in a very short time. The deacons then sent the three youths away before facing each other with different expressions.

"What should we do about this? The Teng clan actually dare to betray us?" One of them questioned.

"Hmph! What do we do? We crush them for real! That's what we do! The audacity to betray the supreme heaven sect and fake their own annihilation! They're tired of existing!"

"Naturally, they will be destroyed. Otherwise, other forces will begin to think the supreme heaven sect is a pushover." The leading deacon assured before stroking his beard.

"They would have moved away by now, but with such a huge clan, they couldn't have gone far." He glanced at one of the other two.

"Rush over to that region and search for them. Find them within the next two days." The Deacon nodded and moved, vanishing instantly.

"For a mere Teng clan to do something so audacious, they must have some certain backbone. They would have fled our region if we hadn't reacted in time, going beyond our range."

"We'll find out the reason for their death seeking act once we're dismantling them. For now, I'll mention this to an elder. I already know what they'll decide, but I should still let them know." The leading deacon responded while rising to his feet.

"Whatever their reason was no longer matters. It looks like we've been silent for too long and even some fourth grade force think they can mess with our authority. The Teng clan will cease to exist from the face of this world." His cold voice echoed through the hall even after his figure faded away.

"That brat… something feels different about him." The final Deacon pondered.

"Since when could a deity remember the exact presence of a Dao master, not to mention a mere Imperial? How an Imperial could escape from an early stage Dao master still eludes me." He was extremely confident in killing an Imperial, even if the latter had a bronzeflame talisman. Of what use was the treasure if the wielder could be killed before they even realized it? Seconds later, the final Deacon left as well, plunging the huge hall into silence.

"Elder, this lowly one seems your audience!" The leading deacon bowed before a simple looking hut built at the far back of the peak in a restricted area. There was no response for the next several minutes, yet he remained bowed, not even daring to lift his head. Ten minutes later, a blurry voice echoed from within the hut.

"What is it?"

"The Teng clan faked their annihilation, destroyed the Lian clan and killed two inner disciples while nearly killing three more. These acts are tantamount to betrayal. This lowly one wonders what should be done." He lowered his head even further as he spoke. A deep silence filled the surroundings for a few minutes before the response came.

"What is the punishment for betrayal?"

"Annihilation!" Came the short and swift response.

"Lead five deacons and a hundred inner disciples and erase the Teng clan. The supreme heaven sect hasn't fallen so much that an insignificant force dares to betray us." With this sentence, the fate of the Teng clan was decided and sealed.