Immortality Cultivation: I can use my clansmen’s energy and blood to add points.

The tens of thousands of sets of energy fluctuation data about the seventy-two core runes, which the research team had been working tirelessly for the past few days to detect, were instantly destroyed.

"Bastard!"

Elder Gu, who was already stern-tempered, flew into a rage and slapped the disciple away.

"How did you do your job?!"

The disciple, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, scrambled to his knees, trembling with fear and uttering incoherent words.

"This disciple didn't do it on purpose, it was, it was a slip of the hand, Elder, please spare me, Elder, please spare me!"

Elder Gu was so angry that his face turned ashen. He wanted to lash out again, but Luo Qingchen stopped him.

"Elder Gu, please calm down."

Luo Qingchen's gaze calmly swept over the disciple kneeling on the ground, then looked at the crystal fragments on the ground, a barely perceptible cold light flashing deep in his eyes.

"The data is corrupted, but it can be retested; it just takes a little more time."

"Right now, there is a lot of anxiety both inside and outside the sect. Perhaps this junior brother was too nervous, which led to his mistake."

Let's just drop this matter.

Luo Qingchen pleaded for mercy, and although Elder Gu was still burning with anger, he couldn't say anything more. He just snorted and ordered his men to drag the disciple away.

What seemed like an ordinary accident was simply swept under the rug.

But from the fleeting look of relief and resentment in the disciple's eyes as he was dragged away, Luo Qingchen knew that things were far from simple.

Late that night, Luo Qingchen found Elder Qin Mingyuan, who was inspecting the defenses.

"Uncle Qin, I would like to ask you for a favor."

"What's the matter?"

"Help me secretly investigate the disciple who accidentally broke the recording crystal in the research hall today."

"You also suspect him?" Qin Mingyuan's gaze sharpened.

“It’s not a suspicion.” Luo Qingchen shook her head. “I’m almost certain that he did it on purpose.”

"Just before he threw the spirit stone, his hand made an extremely subtle exertion of force, and his eyes were too calm, not at all like someone who had caused a major disaster due to a mistake."

"But I need evidence."

Qin Mingyuan gave Luo Qingchen a deep look and nodded.

"Okay, leave this to me."

"In addition, I have a fake star map research data here, which records an incorrect time and location for opening a stargate."

Luo Qingchen handed over a jade slip.

"I would like to ask Uncle Qin to find a way to let certain people obtain this information 'inadvertently'."

Qin Mingyuan instantly understood Luo Qingchen's intention, and a cold smile appeared on his lips.

"Luring the snake out of its hole? I like that."

An invisible net has been cast.

Two days later, Qin Mingyuan brought the news.

The array hall disciple named Wang Hao, after being placed in solitary confinement, secretly slipped out that night and had a brief encounter with a manager from the enforcement hall in a dense forest on the back mountain.

The manager of the Enforcement Hall was none other than one of Fang Zhenxiong's most trusted confidants, a middle-aged man named Wei Cheng.

After that, Wei Cheng frequently made secret contact with some inner disciples and deacons who had been close to Fang Zhenxiong in the past.

Meanwhile, the false intelligence that Qin Mingyuan sent out was successfully passed on to Wei Cheng through a mountain patrol disciple who had been turned against him.

Everything was just as Luo Qingchen had predicted.

Fang Zhenxiong's remnants have indeed not given up.

They not only wanted to sabotage the star map research and avenge Fang Zhenxiong, but also wanted to steal the secrets of the star map.

However, things took an even more serious turn than they had imagined.

Another day passed, and Qin Mingyuan brought news that shocked everyone.

Wei Cheng and his group secretly made contact with a force outside the sect.

That force was none other than the Zhao family, who had formed a deadly feud with Luo Qingchen and others in the meteorite crater, and later provoked them within the sect, ultimately being suppressed by True Person Xuanyang!

The Zhao family suffered heavy losses in the last incident and harbored deep hatred for the Qingyun Sect and Luo Qingchen.

Wei Cheng promised them that as long as the Zhao family was willing to send experts to help, the secrets of the Star Gate could be shared with them after the matter was accomplished.

Their plan was thus revealed.

Three days later, the day marked in the false intelligence report as "opening the stargate" would arrive.

At that time, under the guidance of inside agents such as Wei Cheng, the experts of the Zhao family will disguise themselves as black-clad demonic cultivators and launch a fierce feint attack on the western valley where the sect's defenses are relatively weak, attracting most of the sect's attention and defensive forces.

Wei Cheng will lead a small elite team to sneak into the poorly defended Xuan Tie dungeon amidst the chaos and rescue Fang Zhenxiong.

Once Fang Zhenxiong escapes, given his influence within the sect, a single call to action would inevitably trigger a massive internal strife.

At that time, they can work together from the inside and outside to take control of the situation, seize the star map, and then pin all the blame on the "black-clad demonic cultivator" and the "unfortunate sacrifice" of Luo Qingchen.

A meticulously planned and insidious scheme.

"What a brilliant plan to kill three birds with one stone!"

After listening to Qin Mingyuan's account, a cold killing intent flashed in Luo Qingchen's eyes.

"Now that they've set up the stage, wouldn't it be a shame if we didn't put on a good show?"

Inside Xuan Yang Zhenren's council hall, Luo Qingchen, Qin Mingyuan, Elder Xiao, and Xuan Yang Zhenren, who had just learned of the matter, gathered together.

"Use the trick to your advantage."

After listening to all the plans, Master Xuanyang only said these four words. His face showed no emotion, but deep in his eyes, thunder was brewing.

"Since they want to lure the snake out of its hole, then we'll trap it like a turtle in a jar."

Three days later, at night.

The moon is dark and the wind is high, it is a murderous night.

The patrols at Wangyue Valley, west of Qingyun Gate, seem much more relaxed tonight than usual.

Dozens of dark figures, like ghosts, silently slipped into the valley.

Leading the group was Zhao Wuji, the patriarch of the Zhao family, and the few remaining Golden Core stage elders beside him.

Their eyes gleamed with the flames of revenge and greed for the Stargate.

"Do it!"

With Zhao Wuji's command, dozens of fierce attacks, like a torrential rain, instantly bombarded the seemingly weak defensive formation in the valley.

However, just as their attack was about to touch the magic circle's light barrier...

A sudden change occurred!

Countless dazzling golden array patterns suddenly lit up the ground of the entire Moon Gazing Valley.

A colossal, complex trapping and killing formation was activated with a roar!
The seemingly weak defensive light barrier instantly expanded a hundredfold, transforming into an indestructible golden canopy that blocked all their attacks.

On the mountain walls from all sides, hundreds of Qingyun Sect disciples, armed with powerful bows and crossbows, appeared simultaneously.

"Fire arrows!"

At a single command, arrows rained down!

Each arrow was covered with demon-dispelling runes, leaving deadly streaks of light in the night sky.

"No! I fell into a trap!"

Zhao Wuji's expression changed drastically, and he cried out in alarm. However, it was too late.

An old man with white hair and beard, holding a whisk, descended from the sky and landed in front of them.

It was Elder Xiao from the Pill Hall.

"Zhao Wuji, how have you been?"

Elder Xiao looked at him with a smile, but there was no smile in his eyes.

"Since you're here, don't rush off. Stay and have a cup of tea with this old man."

Meanwhile, deep within the sect's Xuan Tie dungeon.

Wei Cheng led a dozen or so trusted men and arrived unimpeded at the cell where Fang Zhenxiong was being held.

Their faces were filled with excitement and anticipation at the prospect of success.

However, when Wei Cheng used a specially made key to open the heavy iron prison door, what he saw was not his master Fang Zhenxiong, whom he had been longing for day and night.

Instead, it was a familiar figure holding a cyan longsword and wearing a cold smile.

Qin Mingyuan.

Behind him stood dozens of elite disciples from the Enforcement Hall, their imposing presence completely surrounding the area.

"Senior Brother Wei, we've been waiting for you for a long time."

Qin Mingyuan's voice was like a cold wind from the deepest hell.

Wei Cheng's face instantly turned ashen.

He knew it was all over.

The disciple who betrayed them, Wang Hao, had already been subdued. When he regained consciousness, he found himself in a secret room, with Luo Qingchen sitting opposite him, calmly watching him.

A meticulously planned rebellion was thus swiftly and decisively crushed.

All the traitors and the Zhao family experts who came to their aid were captured in one fell swoop.

The interrogation, personally overseen by Elder Xiao, was conducted overnight.

Under the influence of various elixirs and secret techniques, the psychological defenses of the captured people were quickly destroyed.

However, they received a chilling message from Wei Cheng.

The Zhao family was not the only ones who made a secret deal with Fang Zhenxiong, promising him the position of sect leader and providing him with ancient evil arts.

There is an even more mysterious and powerful being.

“That person…that person always wears a black robe whenever he appears…”

Wei Cheng muttered to himself, his mind incoherent.

"His face was covered by a silver mask without any facial features..."

Silver mask!

In Luo Qingchen's mind, the image of the black-clad leader who had nearly driven them to the brink of despair at the Qingyun Spirit Mine instantly flashed into his mind!

That guy who claimed to be Elder Jia of the Blood Fiend Hall but ended up turning to ashes was probably just a stand-in!
The real mastermind is someone else!

Fang Zhenxiong is not just a sect elder blinded by lust for power.

He had long since become the most important and most hidden pawn of that group of mysterious men in black, planted within the Qingyun Sect!
This discovery made the hairs on Luo Qingchen's back stand on end.

The pool was much deeper and more murky than he had imagined.

The corruption within the sect has penetrated to its very core.

The process of cleaning away this rotten flesh is destined to be accompanied by excruciating pain, akin to scraping bone to remove poison.

After wiping out Fang Zhenxiong's remaining followers and the Zhao family's schemes, the Qingyun Sect underwent an unprecedented purge.

Dozens of disciples and deacons who were involved with Fang Zhenxiong were investigated one by one, and some had their cultivation abolished or were expelled from the sect.

The atmosphere throughout the sect became solemn.

With the internal hidden dangers eliminated, the research on the star map finally ushered in its final and most crucial breakthrough.

On that full moon night, when the Big Dipper in the sky aligned and cast its brightest starlight.

With Bai Ling'er's assistance, Luo Qingchen successfully infused the power of chaos and the power of the true dragon into the seventy-two core runes of the Star Chart Bronze Disc in a perfect ratio.

hum!
The entire bronze plate burst forth with an unprecedentedly brilliant light.

A crystal-clear stream of information instantly flooded into the minds of Luo Qingchen and all the members of the research team present.

The complete conditions and methods for opening the star gate have been thoroughly deduced!

Start time: Three days from now, at noon. At that time, a once-in-a-millennium celestial phenomenon, "Seven Stars Shining on the Sun," will occur, and the power of the stars will reach its peak.

Location to start: Tianjue Cliff, Ancient Star Altar.

Key to unlock: A fuse made by fusing the power of chaos with the power of the true dragon.

Energy requirements: It requires a massive amount of pure spiritual energy equivalent to the simultaneous eruption of ten high-grade spiritual veins to serve as the foundation for stabilizing the star gate channel.

This news plunged the entire research team into a state of immense elation.

Months of tireless work and painstaking effort have finally yielded this great achievement that is enough to change the fate of the entire sect.

Master Xuanyang acted decisively, immediately ordering the mobilization of all the high-grade spirit stones stored in the sect's treasury, as well as the energy from several core spiritual veins, to begin final preparations for the opening of the Star Gate three days later.

However, nothing in this world stays hidden forever.

Despite Master Xuan Yang having issued the strictest gag order.

However, the news that "Qingyun Sect has discovered an ancient divine relic and will open the gate to an unknown world in three days" still spread like wildfire throughout the entire cultivation world of the Eastern Continent at an incredible speed.

The source of the news is now impossible to trace.

Perhaps he is one of Fang Zhenxiong's remaining followers who slipped through the net during the purge.

Or perhaps, it was those mysterious men in black who deliberately spread the word.

In short, one stone stirs up a thousand waves.

The entire Eastern Continent was in an uproar over this.

The next morning, the first group of "uninvited guests" arrived at the gate of Qingyun Sect.

Dozens of magnificent cloud boats, blotting out the sky, docked outside the Qingyun Mountains.

Leading them were the two most powerful super sects in the Eastern Continent.

The "Sky-Supporting Sword Sect" is renowned for its swordsmanship, and its disciples are all unruly and rebellious.

And the "Wanbao Pavilion," whose wealth rivals that of a nation and whose business spans the entire cultivation world.

The leader of the Tianqing Sword Sect was a middle-aged man with a sharp, sword-like aura and a cultivation level that had reached the late Nascent Soul stage.

The leader of Wanbaoge was a smiling, seemingly harmless fat man, but his cultivation level was equally unfathomable.

Instead of storming the mountain, they sent messengers with a visiting card.

Although the words were polite, the core meaning was very clear.

"These ancient miracles, which concern the fate of all living beings, are a gift from heaven and earth, and should be explored and shared by all fellow practitioners in the Eastern Continent."

"If Qingyun Sect wants to monopolize it, I'm afraid... it would go against the will of Heaven and be difficult to win over the masses."

A naked threat.

Blatant pressure.

They operate under the banner of "for the sake of all living beings," but their actions are based on the logic of robbers. (End of Chapter)