"You are unworthy!"

"Even if Lao Yun is not fit to be the Sect Leader of the Hidden Mountain Dragon, it still doesn’t justify your betrayal of your disciples and begging for mercy from a Heavenly God level entity."

Zhou Xuan stepped forward and said, "You’re just a coward, a coward in your very bones. Because of your cowardice, the entire Hidden Dragon Mountain has to be buried with you. What face do you have to stand here so self-righteously?"

Li Changxun couldn’t stand it anymore and conjured a breeze, delivering an invisible slap to Yun Ziyi.

"Slap!"

Yun Ziyi was sent flying backward.

"A Dragon Seeking Heavenly Master can fool around, travel the mountains and waters, and transcend worldly concerns, indifferent to people and things, but they cannot be spineless. Because of you, the Dragon Seeking Sensing Sect almost faced extinction."

Yun Ziyi clutched his face, lowering his head once more.

Qingping Daoist spoke, "That Heavenly God level power constantly manipulated Yun Ziliang, the Yun Heavenly Master, into slaughtering, yet those powers, deeply embedded within Yun Heavenly Master, ceaselessly damaged his flesh,

so with every disciple killed, Yun Heavenly Master’s body would become further damaged,

until after he had killed all the disciples of various sizes on Hidden Dragon Mountain, Yun Heavenly Master’s body was in ruins."

Zhou Xuan suddenly recalled—Yun Ziliang’s body was once so damaged that he was a "half-human, half-ghost," forced to hide in paintings every day, unable to stray too far even when out of the painting.

Now, in hindsight, he understood that was how Yun Ziliang’s body had become so deteriorated.

Qingping Daoist continued, "The entire Hidden Mountain Dragon’s sect gate great array was a river of blood, corpses everywhere, with only me and Yun Ziyi left alive."

"At that time, I saw that Yun Heavenly Master’s body was failing, recognizing it as the perfect opportunity to counterattack."

Qingping Daoist said, "There is a reason why a Heavenly God level hides and reveals nothing; he doesn’t dare reveal his true form to the world,

when Yun Heavenly Master’s body was in ruins, if this Heavenly God level continued its assault, it would expose its divine aura, which could attract other Heavenly God levels, even calling upon the ’Supreme Will’ from the depths of the Heavenly Dome,

thus I persuaded Yun Ziyi to join me in striking back, seizing this last courage to escape to life."

"But this son of a bitch didn’t."

Qingping Daoist cursed, "At that time, the Heavenly God level spoke to him saying, ’I want to cultivate an insider in the Heavenly Dome, you are my chosen one, as long as you kill that worm, I will spare you,’

these words confirmed my judgment that the Heavenly God level was at its ’end of the bow’s strength,’ but this brainless Yun Ziyi believed it,

he pretended to scold the Heavenly God level and joined forces with me to counterattack, yet at the very moment I started to fight back, he assassinated me."

Yun Ziyi sneered, "You are a Heavenly Fire Clan, I am a Dragon Seeking Heavenly Master, different tribes, different hearts, why do I need a reason to kill you?"

Zhou Xuan shook his head, this Yun Ziyi was truly psychologically twisted.

Qingping Daoist grew angrier, turning his head to curse, "Yun Ziyi, what are you? A heartless dog!"

"When I taught you the alchemy technique, you sweetly called me your second master."

"When I shared the ’Ascension Plan’ with you, you thought you could become a Dan Officer in the Heavenly Dome, and you said, ’Qingping Mentor above, guide this disciple in the future,’ why didn’t you talk about tribes and hearts being different back then?"

"I, Qingping Daoist, dedicated my life to alchemy. Though I’m of the Heavenly Fire Clan, I’ve been faithful to heaven, earth, and the human world. I’ve never killed anyone recklessly, let alone betrayed Hidden Dragon Mountain, and even after you backstabbed me, in three hundred years, you’ve never uttered a word of remorse."

Qingping Daoist cursed while tears rimmed his eyes.

Zhou Xuan finally understood, Qingping Daoist’s hatred for Yun Ziyi wasn’t just about betrayal—Yun Ziyi’s attitude over the years was the root of Qingping Daoist’s deep-seated hatred.

"After you killed me, the Heavenly God level laughed and bestowed upon you a Life Exchange Technique, swapping your Divine Soul with my dying Divine Soul,

from then on, you became me... and I became you. You peeled off your own human skin, imprisoning my soul, while you wore my body, transforming into a member of the Heavenly Fire Clan."

"However, you were cunning, knowing that with my prestigious identity, if I returned to the heavens, some great figures in the Heavenly Dome would thoroughly inspect you, and if they did, you would be exposed,

so you destroyed the Hidden Dragon Mountain’s sect gate great array, escaping each day, but you didn’t flee far; you lived in the caverns beneath Hidden Dragon Mountain,

waiting a hundred years, when the offspring of our Heavenly Fire Jade Worm lineage descended to the Mortal World, you secretly killed that offspring, assuming their identity, and from there, worked your way up as a minor clan member to become the current Sky Dome Gatekeeper."

Qingping Daoist sneered, "Yun Ziyi, your deeds are no less notorious than ours of the Heavenly Fire Clan."

Yun Ziyi said nothing more, neither admitting nor denying.

Zhou Xuan then asked, "Yun Ziyi, tell me, who was that Heavenly God level?"

"I don’t know."

"Bullshit, Yun Ziyi, when that Heavenly God level taught you the Life Exchange Technique, his traits manifested in your Secret Realm, and you claim you didn’t see?"

Every Heavenly God has traits,

for instance, the Dream Realm Heavenly God, that incredibly strange grand dream is his characteristic.

Yun Ziyi sighed, saying, "I worshipped him with my head lowered, how could I see his symbol?"

"You didn’t even take a glance?"

"I dared not desecrate." Yun Ziyi replied.

"Spineless, you truly are spineless, a gutless coward." Qingping Daoist relentlessly ridiculed Yun Ziyi.

"Let me ask you again, do you truly not know who the Heavenly God level is?" Zhou Xuan pressed further.

"I don’t know, truly I don’t."

"Then you serve no further purpose."

Zhou Xuan waved his hand and said to Yun Ziliang, "Lao Yun, it’s time to clean house, do it properly, don’t ruin his body too much, extract his Divine Soul."

Without even a word, Yun Ziliang flashed before Yun Ziyi, his right hand forming a sword-pointing gesture, striking towards his brow.

Yun Ziyi was no low-level flame entity and naturally thought to resist, but Li Changxun acted, restraining Yun Ziyi’s hands with two invisible winds.

Yun Ziliang’s sword finger penetrated effortlessly, opening Yun Ziyi’s skull: "Junior brother, I shall avenge the bloodbath of Hidden Dragon Mountain, starting with you."

Puff!

A stream of blood spurted from Yun Ziyi’s forehead; his eyes turned vacant, yet he murmured relentlessly, "I am a Heavenly Fire Clan... I am a Heavenly Fire Clan..."

He believed that as a Heavenly Fire Clan, no one in the Mortal World dared to kill him.

Zhou Xuan’s right hand glowed with the blue hue symbolizing the Nuo God, and with a wave, Yun Ziyi’s Divine Soul was extracted, captured in his grasp.

"The Heavenly Fire Clan may terrify many, but they do not frighten me. Your soul will soon join Qingping Daoist, forever staying in this ’Returning Ruins Space.’"

"I want you never to reincarnate again."

Zhou Xuan said, tossing the Divine Soul to Qingping Daoist, saying, "As I promised you, keeping both of you eternally in Returning Ruins, now you can leave; our matter is settled."

"Thank you, thank you."

Qingping Daoist, delighted, held Yun Ziyi’s soul, and said to Yun Ziliang, "Yun Heavenly Master, you have already fallen a realm, before nine sticks of incense, there’s a way to restore your level in Returning Ruins."

"What way?"

"Acupoint Mountain Ancestor, Mystic Sky True Sect—if you are not afraid to die, once your friends have left, measure the ’Life and Death Gate’ in this Returning Ruins, should you measure accurately, you shall regain the nine sticks of incense."

"Nine sticks of incense won’t kill a Heavenly God, but it’s better than your current state."

Qingping Daoist then walked deeper into Returning Ruins: "Yun Ziyi, my former good disciple, you truly sadden your second master."

"In the future, second master will have to take good care of you, ha-ha... ha-ha... ha-ha-ha."

Qingping now appeared deranged, stepping into Returning Ruins, while that piece of human skin began to age and deteriorate...