Chapter 78: The Passing of Kong Jue
The sound of the zither was like the roaring of the Great Dao itself—each note was a force that shook the soul. Kongjue’s entire heart quivered with the resonance.
...
On the battlefield ten miles away, everyone waited for Immortal Kongjue’s next move. The music of the zither, that thunder of the Great Dao, reverberated in their souls, each note a shocking presence. Yet Kongjue’s spectral form seemed frozen in the air, unmoving for so long that he was little more than a stone statue.
Only after a long while did Kongjue slowly come to his senses. He withdrew his gaze, and the zither in the little courtyard vanished along with it.
“Forefather, all of Kongjue depends on you! You must avenge us!” Ouyang Lianfeng had already fallen to his knees, his voice ringing out in desperation. “Since the founding of Kongjue Holy Land, we have never suffered such humiliation. This is the greatest disrespect to you! We beg you, punish them severely!”
The masses of Kongjue Holy Land raised their voices in unison.
“Forefather, please strike!”
“Please, Forefather, take action!”
...
Immortal Kongjue looked down at the scene below, dazed. After a long while, a faint, bitter smile crept onto his face.
“Strike? I fear there is not a soul in this world worthy of such a thing,” he sighed, long and heavy.
“I once thought myself a man of great ability, but now I see I am nothing more than a child imitating the steps of others. In the presence of this one, I am not worth mentioning at all.”
With those words, Kongjue fell to his knees facing the direction of the mountain village, knocking his head to the ground several times with resounding thuds.
Everyone present was utterly stunned.
What did this mean?
This was Immortal Kongjue!
Yet here he was, kneeling and paying respect before another, all decorum cast aside.
What was happening?
And was this not the enemy to whom Kongjue Holy Land had declared war? That one had taken Ruofeng and Huanyue as disciples, and driven two of Kongjue Holy Land’s Supremes to their deaths.
Yet now their ancestral founder was kneeling in reverence to this individual!
No one knew what to do. Everyone from Kongjue Holy Land was at a loss.
Once more, Immortal Kongjue bowed deeply toward the little mountain village.
“What is Immortal Kongjue doing?”
“He merely glanced toward the mountain village, and now he’s kneeling on the ground?”
“What are they doing?”
The people of Ziyan Holy Land and Jixing Holy Land could not comprehend the scene before them.
“What happened? What did Kongjue see?”
“To pay respects to such a senior is the greatest honor of Kongjue,” Ye Qingchen spoke calmly once again. “This is but an avatar—if the true body were here, perhaps a single glance would be enough for this one to ascend.”
Hearing these words, the crowd was left with tangled emotions.
Who could have guessed that the one in the little mountain village possessed such power?
Those of Kongjue Holy Land were dumbfounded.
Their founder, whom they had always revered as supremely powerful, had now bowed before another!
To the people of Kongjue Holy Land, Immortal Kongjue was an object of faith, the one they all aspired to become. Each hoped to be the next Kongjue Saint.
But never had they imagined that their idol would end up like this.
At that moment, the hearts of many Supremes broke.
The people of Kongjue Holy Land grew lost and uncertain.
On the ground, Ouyang Lianfeng had no idea what to do. He collapsed, gazing blankly at the sky.
Even now, he did not know what calamity he had brought upon Kongjue Holy Land.
Ouyang Lianfeng felt it was over—completely, utterly over.
He had even summoned their ancestral founder, but it was all for nothing.
...
That was Immortal Kongjue, and yet before so many witnesses, he had knelt without a second thought.
Only after a long while did Immortal Kongjue rise from the ground, turning to Ye Qingchen with utmost deference.
“I wonder what judgment Senior has pronounced for the offense committed by Kongjue Holy Land?” he asked.
Ye Qingchen did not even lift his eyelids, remaining perfectly composed.
“Senior has said that he does not wish to see Kongjue Holy Land again.”
Immortal Kongjue nodded immediately, showing no sign of dissatisfaction.
He looked at the assembled Holy Army of Kongjue Holy Land.
“You have all come this far only by receiving my legacy. Yet who could have foreseen that you would show such disrespect to the Senior, bringing about such a great calamity?”
“I am unable to help you any further, and can only send you on your way.”
“Consider this my last act of grace toward you.”
Kongjue gazed down at the masses with utter calm, as if those below were not his own inheritors.
With a wave of his sleeve, a great gale engulfed all of Kongjue Holy Land’s people.
“No!”
“Forefather, we have done nothing wrong!”
“Do not harm us! We never wished for this!”
Cries and wails filled the field as all those belonging to Kongjue Holy Land wept uncontrollably, hearts broken by sorrow.
Even the Supremes were kneeling in tears.
None who joined Kongjue Holy Land would ever have imagined dying at the hands of their own ancestral founder.
They could not accept such an end.
But even if they could, it changed nothing; by now, only death could atone for their deeds.
Under Immortal Kongjue’s hand, the Supremes vanished from the world.
Cultivators of the Grand Completion stage drew their last breaths.
All perished in great numbers.
Those from Jixing Holy Land and Ziyan Holy Land could not help but feel a chill in their hearts.
Such is the power of an immortal!
A mere wave of the sleeve, and all must bow and perish.
In the eyes of an immortal, these people were nothing—not even ants.
The mighty Holy Army of Kongjue, which had marched with such force from Central State to the Southern Wilds, vanished as though it had never existed.
Ouyang Lianfeng was dead inside; he knelt on the ground, gazing at the events unfolding overhead, unable even to be shocked any longer.
“It was my fault—I have destroyed myself, and destroyed Kongjue as well,” he mourned softly.
It was a mistake from the very beginning; he should never have done any of this.
Immortal Kongjue’s gaze fell upon Ouyang Lianfeng.
“That things should come to this is all because of your greed. We were once bound by fate—you were the Holy Master of Kongjue, yet you led its people to their doom.”
“For your sins, may you never know reincarnation, not for all eternity.”