Chapter 97: Chapter 97: The Death Knell Tolls, the Heavenly Inquiry Sect is Finished

"What is this...?"

Everyone simultaneously looked in the same direction.

The Sect Master of the Heavenly Inquiry Sect shot to his feet, his face instantly turning deathly pale. Without a word, he sped off in that direction.

Right now, only one thought echoed in his mind: ’It’s over!’

’The Heavenly Inquiry Sect is finished!’

The rest of the Heavenly Inquiry Sect members hurried after him, every one of them looking terrified—all except for Song Wanning, whose expression remained placid.

Not a trace of surprise could be seen.

But she still followed closely behind.

The people from the other sects were stunned for a moment, then their faces lit up with wild joy. Forgetting all about the challenge, they immediately gave chase.

Inside the Ancestral Hall, disciples knelt all over the floor, their faces filled with shock.

Because just a moment ago, the soul lamp of Divinity Transformation Ancestor Fang Zhouzi had gone out.

As a death knell tolled, they felt their bodies go limp, as if all their strength had been drained away in that instant.

The Sect Master had ordered them to constantly monitor the two Divinity Transformation Ancestors’ soul lamps. Who could have known that a lamp, perfectly fine one moment, would suddenly flicker out the next?

There was no warning at all.

It caught everyone completely off guard.

In less than a minute, all the Nascent Soul Cultivators had rushed to the Ancestral Hall.

When he saw the disciples all kneeling on the ground, the Heavenly Inquiry Sect Master’s body went limp as well, and he dropped from the sky.

Everyone from the Heavenly Inquiry Sect looked as though they’d been struck by lightning, unable to believe the scene before them.

Just moments ago, they were all trying to stall for time, cherishing the hope that they could protect the Heavenly Inquiry Sect’s status as a high-grade sect. Now, reality had dealt them a resounding slap in the face.

The light in everyone’s eyes died instantly. Even though they had cultivated to the Nascent Soul Stage, they could not face this calmly.

The Heavenly Inquiry Sect Master closed his eyes, his entire being exuding an air of helplessness.

But when he opened them again, he had an air of acceptance.

Things had already come to this. He was powerless to change it and could only accept the outcome.

The weight on his chest had finally lifted; he no longer had to live in constant dread.

He slowly walked into the Ancestral Hall. The moment he saw Fang Zhouzi’s extinguished soul lamp, he couldn’t stop his eyes from turning red.

Uncle Fang Zhouzi was his direct martial uncle, the only junior martial brother of his own master.

His master had been the previous Sect Master of the Heavenly Inquiry Sect. He had poured his heart and soul into the Sect, and because he had little time to cultivate, he perished before reaching Divinity Transformation.

Before his death, his master’s greatest worry had been his martial uncle.

His uncle was an avid adventurer who had visited nearly every perilous place in the world.

He always returned covered in wounds, on the verge of death.

And now, his master’s greatest fear had come to pass.

In truth, he’d had a bad feeling ever since they lost contact with the two ancestors...

"So it was Uncle Fang..."

Song Wanning walked into the Ancestral Hall and couldn’t help but sigh.

But upon closer inspection, the indifference on her face was barely concealed.

She had no emotional attachment to Fang Zhouzi and had only met him a few times, so naturally, she felt no grief.

However, seeing the Sect Master so distraught struck her as odd.

’So a man who only cares about benefits can have genuine feelings after all?’

"Venerable Fang has passed?"

The Sect Master of the Seven Stars Sect walked in with the other sect masters. Though they were thrilled internally, their faces were filled with regret.

"The dead cannot be brought back. Our condolences."

The men offered words of comfort, but in their minds, they were already calculating how to carve up the Heavenly Inquiry Sect’s resources.

The members of the Heavenly Inquiry Sect couldn’t help but clench their fists.

But...

There was no turning things around now.

*

News of the death of Heavenly Inquiry Sect’s Divinity Transformation Venerable, Fang Zhouzi, spread as if it had grown wings.

When the Sect Master of the Ten Thousand Sword Sect received the message, he was overjoyed.

"Hahaha, the heavens are on my side!"

He immediately summoned his disciples and sped toward the Heavenly Inquiry Sect.

Meanwhile, those stationed to defend the Heavenly Inquiry Sect’s various territories felt as if the sky had fallen when they heard the news.

’How could the Sect fall just like that?’

None of them could accept it.

But the day of negotiations soon arrived.

The six major sects and four minor schools gathered in the Sect Master Hall. Aside from the people of the Mountain Gazing Sect, everyone else was all smiles, beaming with success.

Nearly all of the Heavenly Inquiry Sect’s Nascent Soul Cultivators were also present.

The Cultivation World had regulations for classifying the power of a sect.

A high-grade sect was required to have at least three Divinity Transformation cultivators. If there was one less, it was permissible if the remaining two possessed exceptionally high Cultivation.

This led many Divinity Transformation cultivators to painstakingly suppress their Cultivation, waiting for a successor to appear before they could ascend.

But not everyone could ascend to the Spirit Realm; many Divinity Transformation cultivators perished with regret after endless years of stagnation.

Once a situation like the Heavenly Inquiry Sect’s arose, the sect would be stripped of its high-grade status and demoted to a middle-grade sect.

Any resources exceeding the allocation for a middle-grade sect would then be divided among the other sects.

For example, the cities and families that were vassals to the Heavenly Inquiry Sect... their tax revenues would now mostly go to the other sects.

Of course, their defenders would also be replaced by people from the other sects.

To make a comeback, the Sect would have to wait until it had at least three Divinity Transformation cultivators once more before it could be eligible to vie for resources again.

But making a comeback was easier said than done.

Countless cultivators found their paths cut short at the Golden Core or Nascent Soul Stage; those who could advance to become a Divinity Transformation Practitioner were few and far between.

Furthermore, with fewer resources, there were fewer provisions to support the disciples, making it even harder for them to distinguish themselves.

Consequently, the aptitude of the disciples they could recruit would also be much lower.

It was, in a sense, a vicious cycle.

Rising again was simply too difficult.

It was precisely because he understood this that the Heavenly Inquiry Sect Master simply gave up, sitting there with a numb expression as he watched the others negotiate with great enthusiasm.

No one from the Heavenly Inquiry Sect could feel happy.

They were all waiting for the verdict.

Their future had become bleak and lightless. What were they to do now?

"Regarding this division of spoils, there is one point I, this old man, disagree with: the share for the Mountain Gazing Sect."

The Ten Thousand Sword Sect was the first to stand up and object. He had heard about the challenge battle as soon as he arrived and was certainly not going to let the Mountain Gazing Sect get off easy. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

The hearts of everyone from the Mountain Gazing Sect sank.

’They’re coming for us after all!’

"Regarding the challenge battle, your sect’s Liu Yiyi and Liu Yao acted irresponsibly, disregarding everyone’s interests. Their actions nearly caused us to lose the challenge and greatly harmed our collective interests. Therefore, in this division, the Mountain Gazing Sect can only receive half a share!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the other sects immediately nodded in agreement.

"Yes, I agree. If you ask me, the Mountain Gazing Sect shouldn’t get anything at all!"

"Exactly! Just look at what your Mountain Gazing Sect has done. What a mess!"

"We’re being generous here. Otherwise, we really wouldn’t want to give you any share at all!"

As they all chimed in one after another, the Mountain Gazing Sect Master’s face turned black with rage. Still, he couldn’t help but retort, "That was the personal action of those two! It has nothing to do with our Mountain Gazing Sect. A division like this is completely unfair!"

"Why don’t we discuss this a bit more?"

"Hmph! Weren’t they representing the Mountain Gazing Sect in the battle? How is it unrelated?"

The Sect Master of the Beast Taming Sect snorted coldly and added, "I even suspect your Mountain Gazing Sect is in collusion with the Heavenly Inquiry Sect!"

"You—"

The Mountain Gazing Sect Master was rendered speechless, his chest heaving with fury.