Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 101 The First Time in a Thousand Years

When the members of the five major sects finally reached an agreement, they appeared together before the group of independent cultivators.

This time, the people who came were not the junior members, but the true guardians of the five major sects in Hundred Seas Valley.

The Mirage Sect's Purple Smoke True Person, the Incense Burning Sect's Cloud Wave True Person, Heavenly Heart Island's Qixia Yuanjun, Cloud Peak Immortal Sect's Yangshuo True Person, and finally, the Qinghe Sword Sect's Wang Yichen.

All five were cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage, and they all looked like immortals, separated from ordinary people by an insurmountable chasm.

But now, facing these rogue cultivators who could be easily annihilated, the five Nascent Soul stage cultivators dared not show any contempt.

Today's events have escalated to an enormous degree, causing the five major sects to lose face completely.

Especially the Incense Burning Sect, when Master Yuntao saw Wei Changsheng, he couldn't hide the anger on his face.

Wei Changsheng was on the verge of death, with no visible injuries on his body and his soul found to be intact. However, the torture he had endured was even worse than the soul search.

The hateful gaze quickly fell on Chen Ye, and Master Yuntao said in a deep voice, "You broke into my mountain gate and kidnapped my Burning Incense Sect disciples. Have you thought about the consequences?"

Chen Ye could feel a pressure falling on him. High-level cultivators don't need to use spells; they can crush mortals with just their willpower.

But Chen Ye only held out for a moment before Wang Yichen spoke up: "Old man, do you want to spar with me again? The people weren't just tied up by him, they were tied up by disciples of my Qinghe Sword Sect. If you want to vent your anger, come at me, don't make things difficult for these juniors."

As soon as the sword immortal spoke, Chen Ye felt the pressure on his body dissipate, and he couldn't help but look at Wang Yichen with gratitude.

Previously, although Chen Ye had been staying at the Qinghe Sword Sect's residence, he had little interaction with this Senior Brother Wang; the two were merely nodding acquaintances. However, at this crucial moment, the Qinghe Sword Sect unexpectedly stood up for him without hesitation, something Chen Ye naturally wanted to remember.

Master Yuntao had just had a "sparring" session with Wang Yichen, and no matter how hard he tried, he was no match for him.

If Wang Yichen hadn't held back some of his strength, the disciples of the Burning Incense Sect would probably all have died.

Now he can only keep his mouth shut, lest he anger Wang Yichen and get another sword strike from him.

But Chen Ye wasn't going to let him off the hook. Today, one sect had to continue to lose face and bear the biggest consequences for the five major sects. Only in this way could the five major sects stop pressing the rogue cultivators as one.

Since he had already offended the Incense Burning Sect, Chen Ye naturally wouldn't hold back.

Upon hearing Master Yuntao's question, Chen Ye retorted, "Master asked me if I dare to bear the consequences of kidnapping a disciple of the Burning Incense Sect. As a rogue cultivator, I naturally cannot bear such a responsibility. It's not as good as the disciples of the Burning Incense Sect, who have the sect's backing and don't have to bear the consequences of their actions."

Upon hearing this, Master Yuntao was instantly enraged and roared, "You brat, how dare you slander my Burning Incense Sect?!"

This time, however, he only shouted loudly, no longer daring to use his superior cultivation level to intimidate others as he had done before.

Chen Ye ignored him and said to the other Nascent Soul cultivators, "You have all come together to resolve this matter. To resolve it, we must first determine right and wrong and understand the cause and effect. We are rogue cultivators, weak and powerless. We have always been respectful to the five major sects. How could we dare to be your enemies? Why have things come to this point? Don't you all want to know the reason?"

Wang Yichen chimed in at the opportune moment: "This incident nearly resulted in deaths on both sides, so of course we must investigate the cause. Now, judging from what you've said, it doesn't seem to be due to the Crimson Serpent Demon Sect manipulating people's minds? Do you have any evidence?"

Chen Ye thought to himself, this Senior Brother Wang is truly skilled in the art of speaking; his "straight man" skills are unparalleled.

With just the question, "Is there any evidence?", the topic was instantly shifted.

In this way, Chen Ye only needs to present the evidence now, and his previous actions such as breaking into the camp and kidnapping Wei Changsheng will be glossed over.

Chen Ye naturally wouldn't miss this excellent opportunity to cooperate, and he immediately signaled the rogue cultivators to release the images they had just recorded.

Wei Changsheng's voice, filled with remorse and pain, rang in everyone's ears. He recounted his many evil deeds in detail, but among these crimes, there was no mention of Wei Changsheng killing his fellow disciple Yue Lianxing.

Chen Ye intentionally concealed it. Although the matter was important, it had nothing to do with the rogue cultivators. If this matter were brought up, the Incense Burning Sect would simply dismiss it with a mere "clean house" statement.

One thing at a time. First, let the five major sects admit their mistakes and avoid creating any further complications.

As Wei Changsheng confessed, all eyes turned to Master Yuntao. The once arrogant Master Yuntao's face instantly turned bright red, it was unclear whether it was from anger or shame.

Chen Ye asked, "Now that everyone understands the whole story, although we rogue cultivators were bitten by the Red-banded Serpent, what truly spurred us to fight back was the injustice we suffered. The venom of the Red-banded Serpent actually gave us the power to resist in the face of injustice."

Master Yuntao sneered, "According to you, the Crimson Serpent Demon Sect actually did a good deed?"

Chen Ye replied decisively, "That's right. Otherwise, how could we know that the Incense Burning Sect harbors such filth and nurtures such a heartless and insane person? Otherwise, how many of us rogue cultivators would have been killed by him? So what if he's a demon? If the righteous sects can't seek justice for us, then even if we become demons, it's because the Incense Burning Sect forced us to become demons."

"What nonsense!"

Master Yuntao's anger had materialized, and his spiritual energy condensed into clouds, as if he couldn't help but take action.

But before Wang Yichen could make a move, Master Ziyan of the Mirage Sect advised, "Brother Yuntao, since the fault lies with the disciples of the Incense Burning Sect, we cannot continue to bully the weak."

Master Yuntao looked at Master Ziyan, not expecting that the Mirage Sect would stand on Chen Ye's side at this time.

"The five major sects are closely connected. Does your Mirage Sect bear no fault whatsoever? This whole affair started because of your Mirage Sect. If you hadn't claimed that you had disciples lurking in the Crimson Serpent Demon Sect and that everything was under control, how could things have turned out so ugly?"

Upon hearing this, Master Ziyan narrowed his eyes and sneered, "What a clever trick! The disciples of the Burning Incense Sect are unworthy, yet they try to pin it on our Mirage Sect. If it weren't for this young brother appeasing the rogue cultivators of Hundred Seas Valley today, my Mirage Sect would have been scorned. Brother Yuntao, if you want to settle accounts, then let's settle them properly."

How do you want to calculate it?

"My Mirage Sect disciple failed to investigate the demon's whereabouts effectively, and according to the sect rules, he has been punished with ten years of solitary confinement. He was merely deceived by the demon and lacked the ability himself, so this punishment is sufficient. Brother Yuntao, you said that the five major sects are closely connected, and our reputations are intertwined. According to the Burning Incense Sect's rules, how should your disciple be punished for such an evil deed?"

Master Yuntao gritted his teeth and said, "I will inform the sect leader and deal with it strictly in accordance with the sect rules."

"Is there any need to report? The leaders of the five major sects are watching. Why waste time?"

……

Chen Ye watched the two of them start fighting and finally smiled.

This was the result he wanted: the five major sects would no longer be a united front, and the pressure would shift from the independent cultivators to them fighting each other.

After a heated debate, the situation developed exactly as Chen Ye had predicted. The five major sects eventually made concessions, sincerely apologized to the rogue cultivators of Hundred Seas Valley, and promised to provide appropriate compensation.

As for the Crimson Serpent Demon Sect, the five major sects will no longer entrust the matter to their younger disciples. Instead, these older members will join forces to ensure that the remnants of the Crimson Serpent Demon Sect are completely eliminated in a short period of time. Furthermore, everyone will no longer need to be quarantined and can move freely within Hundred Seas Valley.

As for Wei Changsheng, Chen Ye released him and returned him to the Fenxiang Sect. However, the record of Wei Changsheng's murder of his fellow disciples was also handed over to Master Yuntao. It is likely that this arrogant and domineering Fenxiang Sect disciple will never be seen again.

When they saw the five Nascent Soul cultivators bowing in apology, Chang Shou and the other rogue cultivators were all moved to tears, and some even trembled.

For a thousand years, there has never been a precedent of the five major sects bowing down and apologizing to a group of rogue cultivators.

The five major sects have always been aloof and superior, and even rogue cultivators would bow and pay their respects to sect disciples, only to be ignored in return. It's unexpected that they would one day humble themselves and admit their mistakes.

Everyone looked at Chen Ye; he was the one who had brought all of this upon himself.

Chang Shou couldn't help but walk to Chen Ye's side and said excitedly, "Brother Chen, from now on, I, Chang Shou, will follow your lead. I will do anything to obey your orders, even at the cost of my life."

The crowd behind them echoed in unison, "We'd gladly be shattered to pieces!"

Chen Ye laughed and said to everyone, "Since you all think so highly of me, I won't stand on ceremony. I happen to have an important matter I'd like to ask for your help with."

Chang Shou quickly replied, "Brother Chen, please give your instructions."

Chen Ye said politely, "I dare not give orders. I just want to ask you all for a favor. I am referring to the Nirvana Sect and Cixin Temple to build a new Buddha statue for us independent practitioners to protect all living beings."

(End of this chapter)