Chapter 00203: Power Struggles
# Power Struggles
Chapter 203
Novel: After the Myth
Chapter 203: Power Struggles
Gong Hua struck the defensive formation of Zhaoxia Peak, and Ding Huan was immediately awakened.
At this moment, the third nebula had already formed in his dantian.
Ding Huan's divine sense swept out, and he saw Gong Hua and Liu Yinzhu.
Seeing that Gong Hua was about to take action against Liu Yinzhu, Ding Huan initially wanted to rush out to help.
However, Elder Poxun and Elder Jia Sha soon arrived and announced that a meeting of the sect elders would be held.
Ding Huan knew he would likely be summoned to the meeting.
Deciding to stop cultivating for the moment, Ding Huan realized he needed to improve his knowledge of formations.
He wasn’t afraid of the sect meeting, but he was worried that Gong Hua, that scoundrel, might sneak up to Zhaoxia Peak at night and kill him.
Since he couldn’t cultivate, he decided to focus on refining artifacts.
Ding Huan had studied both formations and talismans, and his talisman-making skills were quite good.
Now that he had a talisman brush as a magical tool, he could even create third-grade talismans.
He chose to refine artifacts not because he wanted to become an artifact refiner, but because he wanted to craft better formation flags for himself.
With good formation flags, he could work harder on his formation skills and at least upgrade Zhaoxia Peak’s defensive formation to the third grade.
The current second-grade formation wasn’t even set up by him, so living there felt like a constant risk.
The artifact refining room on Zhaoxia Peak was of a decent level, at least the earth fire there was much stronger than Ding Huan’s Foundation Establishment True Fire.
Arriving at the refining room, Ding Huan pulled out all the materials he had left from making talismans.
To become a third-grade formation master, he first needed to become a second-grade artifact refiner.
Ding Huan was already a third-grade talisman master, and talismans and artifacts shared some similarities.
Plus, he had previously refined a set of formation flags and had a basic reference book on artifact refining.
This time, it only took him an hour to successfully refine a first-grade magical tool formation flag.
Just then, someone came to call him, and it was Elder Jia Sha.
Ding Huan had already known he would have to attend the elders’ meeting, otherwise Gong Hua wouldn’t let it go.
"Brother Ding, Gong Hua might not let this go easily. If things get too difficult, we can retreat for now. Elder Gong Hua’s cultivation far surpasses mine and Elder Liu’s—he’s at the peak of the True Dan realm. He wants Zhaoxia Peak to break through to the Yuan Soul realm," Jia Sha explained cautiously, not knowing Ding Huan’s temperament.
Ding Huan understood Jia Sha’s implication—he wanted Ding Huan to give up Zhaoxia Peak.
But Zhaoxia Peak was a perfect match for his cultivation.
How could he give up such a good place? Moreover, giving Zhaoxia Peak to Gong Hua to help him break through to the Yuan Soul realm would be like sharpening a knife for Gong Hua to kill him.
Ding Huan was sure that Sect Master Gu Mo wouldn’t ignore this matter.
If Gu Mo didn’t intervene, Ding Huan would leave as far as he could.
"Elder Jia, don’t worry. I know what to do," Ding Huan said, knowing Jia Sha was naturally cautious and not bothering to argue with him.
Jia Sha, being wise and experienced, immediately noticed that Ding Huan wasn’t taking his words to heart.
He sighed and continued, "The sect master’s injuries have been healed, but they were too severe before, so he can’t take action now. He needs to recuperate for a while. Once he’s recovered, we can ask him to help you reclaim Zhaoxia Peak."
Ding Huan frowned.
Sect Master Gu couldn’t take action? That couldn’t be.
He had saved Gu Mo and knew his condition very well.
When he rescued Gu Mo, the man was skin and bones, but once the poison was removed, Gu Mo would recover at least seventy percent of his strength within half a month.
That meant Gu Mo could definitely attend the elders’ meeting now.
So why did Jia Sha say Gu Mo couldn’t take action?
"How many Yuan Soul realm elders are there in Zixia Valley?" Ding Huan asked another question.
If Gu Mo couldn’t act and there were other Yuan Soul experts in Zixia Valley supporting Gong Hua, he wouldn’t even bother attending the meeting.
Jia Sha smiled bitterly, "If Zixia Valley had Yuan Soul experts, the Nine Sound Sect wouldn’t dare to be so arrogant. Zixia Valley has three Yuan Soul experts: the sect master, Protector Elder Pu Jun, and Elder He. The sect master was severely injured, Elder Pu Jun has fallen, and that’s why the Nine Sound Sect has been bullying us."
"What about the third one?" Ding Huan asked, puzzled.
Jia Sha replied, "Elder He has been in seclusion, trying to break through to a higher realm. He’s the backer of Gong Hua and the others, but he never involves himself in sect affairs."
Ding Huan now understood that Gong Hua and his group also had a Yuan Soul expert backing them.
But this Yuan Soul expert was useless—he didn’t care even when the sect was being bullied.
If Zixia Valley was destroyed, would Elder He still not come out? Ding Huan was somewhat shocked.
Jia Sha shook his head and didn’t respond.
Ding Huan felt nothing but disdain.
If he were the sect master, he would kick out anyone who consumed sect resources but didn’t care about the sect’s survival.
This also reassured Ding Huan that he could stand up to Gong Hua, as Elder He, even if he was Gong Hua’s backer, wouldn’t intervene.
"Does the Nine Sound Sect have many Yuan Soul experts?" Ding Huan asked.
Jia Sha sneered, "They only have one Yuan Soul expert. If it weren’t for Ziyuan Chongshan, they wouldn’t even have one."
"I see," Ding Huan nodded.
If the Nine Sound Sect only had one Yuan Soul expert, why were they so bold?
"By the way, Elder Jia, how far is the Heavenly Artifact Sect from Zixia Valley?" Ding Huan asked another question.
Jia Sha looked at Ding Huan, somewhat speechless.
This Brother Ding’s thoughts were all over the place.
They were just talking about Yuan Soul experts, and now he was asking about the Heavenly Artifact Sect.
The shift in topics was quite abrupt.
"Not too far. The sect meeting hall is here. Let’s go in together, but remember to speak carefully," Jia Sha pointed to a large door in front of them and walked in first.
Ding Huan followed Jia Sha into the meeting hall.
The sect hall of Zixia Valley was quite grand, with a total of twenty-one elders, including Jia Sha.
Ding Huan didn’t use his divine sense to scan, but with his Great Universe Technique, he could sense that everyone here was at the True Dan realm.
Liu Yinzhu’s seat was almost at the very back, and Jia Sha was seated with her, indicating that they were among the lowest-ranking elders.
Ding Huan thought to himself that these two really didn’t have much status.
If Sect Master Gu Mo hadn’t been saved by him, he would have advised them to leave the sect as soon as possible.
To Ding Huan’s surprise, the sect master’s seat wasn’t occupied by Gu Mo but by a True Dan realm cultivator wearing a long robe.
This guy seemed even stronger than Gong Hua.
This sect was truly a mess—no unity at all.
The sect master wasn’t even dead yet, and someone was already sitting in his seat.
What was the difference between this guy’s actions and Gong Hua sending people to guard outside Zhaoxia Peak? Both were waiting for Gu Mo to die so they could divide the spoils.
"Ding Huan, why are you occupying Zhaoxia Peak?" a stern voice rang out, accompanied by a powerful aura meant to suppress Ding Huan into silence.
The speaker was the man sitting in the sect master’s seat.
Ding Huan chuckled inwardly.
A mere True Dan cultivator thought he could suppress him with his aura? Did this guy think Ding Huan would kneel under the pressure?
"Ding Huan greets the sect master," Ding Huan stepped forward, cupped his fists, and greeted politely, as if the person who had just tried to suppress him wasn’t the one sitting in the sect master’s seat.
"I am the sect’s law enforcement elder, Dong Li Shang, not the sect master. Watch your words," Dong Li Shang scolded Ding Huan, but this time he didn’t use his aura to suppress him.
After all, Ding Huan’s words had struck a chord with him.
With the sect master’s impending death, the position of sect master was his for the taking.
This was the result of everyone’s interests aligning—just like how Zhaoxia Peak belonged to Gong Hua, and no one else could take it.
Ding Huan deduced that he would come out of this unscathed and realized that Gu Mo must also be here.
Why didn’t Gu Mo just come out and settle things? He was probably waiting to see how things unfolded and to figure out who the traitors were.
Ding Huan was quite disdainful of Gu Mo’s approach.
As the sect master and a Yuan Soul expert, was this really necessary? He should just come out, lay down the rules, point out the mistakes, and deal with them accordingly—punish, suppress, or kill as needed.
"So you’re not the sect master? According to the Zixia Valley Sect Rules, Chapter 17, Section 31, any sect disciple or elder who is not the sect master but occupies the sect master’s seat will be punished with one year of confinement in the Abyss Cliff for minor offenses, or three years or the revocation of their cultivation for major offenses. Elder Dong, you’ve violated the sect rules," Ding Huan said calmly.
Dong Li Shang was furious but couldn’t argue that Ding Huan was wrong.
Although everyone knew this was the case, with the sect master on the verge of death, he was sitting there to prepare for his ascension to the sect master position.
Once he became the sect master, who would dare say he had violated the rules? But now that Ding Huan had openly pointed this out, Dong Li Shang was more than just angry.
"Ding Huan, Elder Dong’s matters are none of your concern. Right now, we’re discussing your issue. I ask you, what qualifications do you have to occupy Zhaoxia Peak?" Gong Hua’s words redirected everyone’s attention to Ding Huan.
Gong Hua didn’t know that Ding Huan wasn’t yet a disciple of Zixia Valley.
If he had known, he would have been even more aggressive.
Indeed, Liu Yinzhu was responsible for recruiting disciples this time.
If she insisted that Ding Huan was a disciple she had recruited, no one could refute it.
Ding Huan replied indifferently, "I occupied Zhaoxia Peak with the sect master’s token. Is there a problem with that?"
Gong Hua sneered, "The sect master can’t even speak now. How could you have his token? Not only that, but you also conspired with Liu Yinzhu to kill my disciple, Gao Ou."
With that, Gong Hua cupped his fists toward Dong Li Shang and said, "Law Enforcement Elder, Liu Yinzhu conspired with Ding Huan to occupy Zhaoxia Peak and killed a sect disciple within the sect. What should the punishment be?"
"Elder Liu will be confined to the Abyss Cliff for ten years. As for Ding Huan, a disciple who shows no respect for his elders and commits murder, the punishment is death. Guards…" Dong Li Shang said coldly.
Ding Huan chuckled, "Elder Dong, are you saying that whatever you say goes, and Elder Liu and I don’t even have the right to defend ourselves?"
"Zixia Valley is fair and just. Bringing you here is to make sure you die convinced of your guilt," Dong Li Shang snorted.
Ding Huan gave a thumbs-up, "Elder Dong, well said. Earlier, you said that disrespecting elders is punishable by death, and I agree because Zixia Valley does have such a rule. Now, what I want to say is that the reason Gao Ou was killed was because he not only disrespected his elders but also defied and looked down upon the sect master."
"No matter how eloquently you speak, it’s useless if you can’t provide evidence. Everything you say is just slander. And you, occupying Zhaoxia Peak, is already solid evidence," Gong Hua’s killing intent grew stronger.
If it weren’t for Elder Poxun’s interference, there wouldn’t even be a need for this meeting.
They could have just killed Ding Huan directly.
(End of Chapter)