Chapter 464: Crossing the Line

They had already been shocked for a year by the revelation that Jiang Fan's strength surpassed Liang Feiyan's. Now, they were hearing that Jiang Fan's strength was even greater than Xia Chaoge's, the foremost talent among the Nine Sects? And what's more, Xia Chaoge herself had said it! Their astonishment knew no bounds.

Lu Xiulian grew anxious and exclaimed, "Chaoge, don't diminish your own prestige and boost someone else's! I witnessed Jiang Fan's strength firsthand at the mine recently. At most, he's on par with Xue Wanzhong. How could he be as exaggeratedly powerful as you and Liang Feiyan claim?" He admitted that Jiang Fan indeed possessed unexpected strength, but not to the absurd extent they described.

Xia Chaoge calmly replied, "Disciple speaks no falsehoods; not long ago at Duan Tian Gorge..."

"Junior Sister Xia, let's not dwell on past events," Jiang Fan interjected, cutting her off just in time. Xia Chaoge then realized that revealing the incident at Duan Tian Gorge would expose Jiang Fan's acquisition of over sixty demon cores. Such a large number would undoubtedly draw envy, especially with a group of powerful Heavenly Secret Pavilion disciples lurking nearby. She immediately stopped speaking.

Lu Xiulian spread his hands and said, "See? You can't explain it either. Don't I know Jiang Fan's strength?"

Li Qingfeng, who had been quite excited moments before, also showed a hint of disappointment. Smiling, he patted Jiang Fan's shoulder. "It's alright. The fact that you've slain more beast kings than Xia Chaoge is already a boast-worthy achievement for a long time to come. It's perfectly normal for your strength to be less than hers."

He then turned to Lu Xiulian. "We shouldn't be away from Mount Jie for too long. Heaven knows what trouble those Heavenly Secret Pavilion fellows might stir up next."

Lu Xiulian's expression became serious. "Let's go! We must return quickly!"

Jiang Fan swiftly took out three demon cores and then hurried with them towards Mount Jie. Along the way, hearing about the actions of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion disciples on the front lines, he couldn't help but frown. It was bad enough that they were scrambling for merits. But to deliberately cause beast king invasions just to secure more for themselves was simply outrageous! While it might seem easy for them to slay beast kings, for disciples at the Foundation Establishment Realm, encountering even a single beast king was a near-fatal ordeal. What's more, if beast kings invaded ordinary towns, like Solitary Boat City, which had no Core Formation Realm cultivators and whose strongest individuals were only at the third or fourth level of Foundation Establishment, it would be a disaster of epic proportions. The unimaginable casualties among the elderly and children would be horrific.

"Elder Li, are you just going to let them get away with this?" Liang Feiyan asked, her brows furrowing.

Li Qingfeng smiled wryly. "They are disciples of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, with powerful masters behind them. How can we, as elders, directly discipline them? At most, we can give them a verbal warning. If they don't listen, we have no better options."

Jiang Fan understood the elders' dilemma. It was like two children fighting: even if one child was clearly at a disadvantage, the parents couldn't personally intervene. They could only reason with the other child's parents. If they, as elders, were to bully the younger disciples, it would inevitably escalate into a conflict between the parents—in this case, between the Nine Sects and the formidable cultivators of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion.

Jiang Fan rubbed his chin. "If our disciples were to act, regardless of the outcome, the Heavenly Secret Pavilion would have nothing to say, right?"

Li Qingfeng nodded emphatically. "Of course! They entered secretly in the first place; if they get beaten by their peers, how could they dare make a big fuss? Besides, even if their elders wanted to back them up, they wouldn't stoop to arguing with juniors like you."

Lu Xiulian quickly waved his hand, stopping Li Qingfeng from continuing. "Don't say such impractical things. If the Heavenly Secret Pavilion disciples heard that, they'd laugh at our Nine Sects for fantasizing and consoling ourselves."

Li Qingfeng immediately offered a wry smile and fell silent. It was indeed wishful thinking, as the Nine Sects simply didn't have disciples powerful enough to challenge the Heavenly Secret Pavilion in such a way. If they did, the Heavenly Secret Pavilion disciples wouldn't be so audacious.

Lu Xiulian instructed, "Chaoge, once you're on Mount Jie, try to avoid getting entangled with the Heavenly Secret Pavilion disciples. Just focus on slaying as many beast kings as possible and earning merits for yourself. Those Heavenly Secret Pavilion disciples will get their comeuppance sooner or later!"

Xia Chaoge remained silent, though it was clear she also felt the Heavenly Secret Pavilion disciples' actions were excessive. Her pretty eyes shifted to Jiang Fan, who was calmly observing the spot where the ape beast kings had breached the defenses. She smiled knowingly. "I knew Uncle would not stand by idly," she thought to herself. She realized she liked this uncle very much. Everything he did perfectly aligned with her intentions, except, of course, for the numerous women around him.

Soon after, Jiang Fan arrived at the foot of Mount Jie. Only then could he truly appreciate its immense size; looking up, he couldn't see its end. The Great Wall on both sides was even more majestic and grand. An ancient, vast sense of oppression swept over him.

"You are to act independently. Mount Jie is vast, and there are demon beasts crossing over everywhere," Li Qingfeng instructed the disciples before he and Lu Xiulian rushed into the mountain to patrol. Their primary role was to guard against powerful beast kings that the disciples couldn't handle and to assist any disciples who encountered danger. The task of eliminating lower-tier beast kings was mainly left to the disciples.

Jiang Fan nodded. He executed his movement technique, gliding over the ice and snow, and sped toward the mountain peak. Xia Chaoge set off almost simultaneously.

Liang Feiyan was momentarily stunned. "How did these two suddenly become so in sync? Do they both want to teach those Heavenly Secret Pavilion disciples a lesson? Well, I want to go too, hehe!"

At the mountain peak, Li Shiqian clutched her profusely bleeding abdomen, her face as pale as paper. She leaned against a snowdrift, which was stained crimson with her blood, seeping deep into the white. The sight was stark. Her face betrayed weakness and pain as she gazed at the group of black-robed figures in front of her, who were casually chatting and harvesting demon cores from the beasts. Then, she looked at the wailing Nine Sect disciples scattered across the ground. Among them was even Senior Brother Hua Xiangchen, the most severely wounded, lying in a pool of blood, his fate unknown.

Moments earlier, as they were desperately fending off the onslaught of ape beast kings, this group of Heavenly Secret Pavilion disciples had suddenly appeared and attacked them from behind, injuring them. The result was that they were caught in a pincer attack, suffering heavy casualties instantly. Li Shiqian herself had been struck by an ape beast king, its sharp claws piercing a hole through her abdomen. Yet, she considered herself fortunate; at least she had survived. Some disciples had been trampled to death on the spot by the ape beast kings, their bodies utterly destroyed.

"How can you call yourselves Heavenly Secret Pavilion disciples? You're worse than bandits and thieves!" Li Shiqian cried out in grief and indignation.

Her words drew the attention of the black-robed figures. One tall black-robed man, wearing a mask imprinted with ancient sword patterns, seemed to be their unspoken leader. He turned his head, speaking in a sarcastic tone, "Who said we were Heavenly Secret Pavilion disciples? You can eat anything, but you shouldn't say just anything." Since they dared to cause such chaos, they naturally would deny being Heavenly Secret Pavilion disciples to their last breath.

Next to him, a thin young man with malicious eyes licked his lips. "Boss, since she thinks I'm a bandit, I might as well act like one! I haven't touched a woman in ages. And this one, her figure is exceptionally good!" His gaze, filled with lust, fell upon Li Shiqian's chest, greedily appraising her ample bosom.