On Mount Beiyang. Lu Yuan stood with his hands behind his back and remarked, "Eh, Duanmu Congrong, and the other twelve disciples under Venerable Duanmu—you twelve men and one woman, thirteen people in total—what is this business with the Thirteen Cultivation?

Dual Cultivation is common in the Central Celestial Dynasty, but Thirteen Cultivation, that's quite unusual." Lu Yuan adopted a look of earnest persuasion: "Our Sword Sect is one of the Supreme Great Sects; how could we engage in such activities? It is detrimental to our sect's discipline." Duanmu Li could not help but cry out in anger, "Nonsense!

You're the one practicing Thirteen Cultivation!" Qin Shuangcheng and the others also failed to grasp his meaning, wondering why their Junior Brother had said such a thing. "The thirteen of you gathering together for Thirteen Cultivation certainly violates sect rules and disrupts our discipline.

That alone would be one thing; it's just that we happened to pass by, and now you plan to silence us by killing us. That's a bit too ruthless, isn't it?" Lu Yuan sighed, shaking his head.

At this point, no one could fail to understand. Indeed, what Duanmu Congrong had done earlier was nothing more than slanderous gossip, besmirching the reputation of Venerable Taishi's disciples—claiming Zhao Tu intended to defile Duanmu Li, and asserting that Qin Shuangcheng and his group tried to snatch Zhao Tu back, intending to injure Duanmu Congrong, who, in turn, had no choice but to defend himself.

Once Qin Shuangcheng and the others were in their custody, with no other witnesses, they could twist the narrative as they pleased, turning black into white and vice versa. But now, what Lu Yuan was doing was the very same: spreading slander against Venerable Duanmu's disciples, and he was doing it far more viciously.

Duanmu Congrong only accused Zhao Tu of wanting to profane Duanmu Li; Lu Yuan, however, accused the thirteen disciples of Venerable Duanmu of engaging in group that, oh yes, group Thirteen Cultivation. Such group Thirteen Cultivation was infinitely more damaging to their reputation than Zhao Tu's alleged intentions.

Of course, whether the incident had actually occurred was irrelevant; the important thing was that Venerable Duanmu's disciples were now in Lu Yuan's hands. Duanmu Congrong and the others were nearly spitting blood, realizing that if this spread, their reputations would be utterly ruined.

They had not expected Lu Yuan to be so ruthless, nor his methods so wicked. In truth, Lu Yuan felt he was being quite benevolent; what he was doing was merely returning the favor in kind.

"Next, we shall take these thirteen back to Mount Kong and hang them at the main gate of Mount Kong. We will then publicize their involvement in group Thirteen Cultivation.

The audacity—to think they would try to silence us just because we witnessed their Thirteen Cultivation," Lu Yuan's voice carried a convincing anger, as if the event had genuinely transpired. Qin Shuangcheng was momentarily stunned, never having imagined his Junior Brother would use such tactics.

Zhou Nuchi burst into hearty laughter: "Excellent! This method is superb!" Le Shuang couldn't help but let out a giggle.

As for Ye Hanfeng and Zhao Tu, they severely beat back the resisting disciples of Venerable Duanmu. If Lu Yuan had not displayed his divine might, it would likely have been their own people who suffered.

The only snag, unfortunately, was that Lu Yuan discovered all these individuals' Spirit Stone resources were stored within their own Qingyun (Aura Sea) above their heads. This meant that unless they were killed, their resources could not be acquired.

Having the Qingyun above one's head truly was not always a good thing; it prevented him from robbing them, which slightly frustrated Lu Yuan. As for this extreme torment of the thirteen disciples of Venerable Duanmu, Lu Yuan felt no guilt whatsoever.

This dispute was initiated by Venerable Duanmu's disciples first. Had he not possessed the ability to surpass Duanmu Congrong, he would be the one suffering a severe dressing-down this time.

Within the Sword Sect, too, the strong preyed on the weak. Lu Yuan realized he had plunged into a vortex of conspiracy, and this public shaming of Venerable Duanmu's disciples served a dual purpose: first, to remind those schemers that whatever conspiracies they hatched were none of his concern, and not to drag him into their affairs, or he would retaliate with the fiercest possible counterattack.

At the main gate of Mount Kong, great excitement had recently erupted. Thirteen pillars had been erected there, and thirteen people—twelve men and one woman—were bound atop them.

Beside the pillars, a grand archway displayed, in large characters, the sins of these thirteen individuals. The Sword Sect was now abuzz.

"Did you hear? At the main gate of Venerable Taishi's Mount Kong, thirteen people are tied up—twelve men and one woman." "What are their identities?

To be bound at the gate of Mount Kong—Venerable Taishi's disciples are usually very low-key. They wouldn't deal with people like this." "I heard...

they are disciples of Venerable Duanmu." "What? Thirteen disciples of Venerable Duanmu?

That can't be right. Although Duanmu Congrong is at the peak of the ninth level of the Great Dao Realm, how could he and the other twelve be defeated and captured by Venerable Taishi's disciples?" "You haven't heard?

I heard that Venerable Duanmu's disciples, the twelve men and one woman, were caught engaging in group Thirteen Cultivation." "What, group Thirteen Cultivation? That's too sensational, too...

intimate." "Exactly." "Now I understand why Venerable Duanmu's disciples lost to Venerable Taishi's. They must have been weak and pliant from practicing group Thirteen Cultivation, so naturally, they couldn't fight well.

It seems Dual Cultivation is better; at least it doesn't leave you completely drained for battle." "But why would Venerable Duanmu's disciples fight Venerable Taishi's?" "The rumor is that Venerable Taishi's disciples witnessed their group Thirteen Cultivation, and when they tried to silence them, the Thirteen Cultivators were too weak after their activities to fight back." "That's thrilling." "Indeed." The tellers spoke with vivid enthusiasm, and the listeners were equally captivated. In no time, rumors spread like wildfire.

Many people flocked to Mount Kong to gawk at the thirteen strong practitioners of Thirteen Cultivation. You practice Dual Cultivation, but you pull off Thirteen Cultivation—how extraordinary!

Admirable! Truly admirable!

They looked upon the thirteen cultivators with immense reverence, seeing them as idol figures worthy of endless worship. In the long history of the Sword Sect, never had such a formidable instance of Thirteen Cultivation been recorded.

In truth, many disciples on the surface—both ordinary and core—knew this was likely fabricated. But ordinary disciples cared little for truth versus falsehood; gossip is human nature, and news this explosive and sensational must be spread, even if untrue.

Like the tale of the three men seeing a tiger, the story grew so elaborate that the tellers themselves almost believed it. This was merely the information reaching the ordinary and true core disciples.

The actual senior core disciples understood clearly that this was a blatant smear campaign. However, they were perplexed: how could nine disciples of Venerable Taishi possibly overcome thirteen disciples of Venerable Duanmu?

It certainly couldn't be because they were physically drained from group Thirteen Cultivation. There had to be another reason.

Qin Shuangcheng was definitely no match for Duanmu Congrong. So who could possibly defeat Duanmu Congrong?

Lu Yuan? Could it be Lu Yuan?

If anyone among Venerable Taishi's disciples was capable, it could only be Lu Yuan. But even that seemed slightly off; Lu Yuan was, after all, a newcomer.

Or perhaps there were others lurking behind the scenes? A cloud of suspicion descended upon the matter.

One reason Venerable Duanmu's disciples remained suspended for so long was another factor: Venerable Duanmu himself had conveniently left the sect at that time. If Venerable Duanmu had remained, it would have been easy to connect the entire plot—the ambush of Venerable Taishi’s disciples—to a plan orchestrated by Venerable Duanmu.

His departure signaled that he was completely uninvolved and ignorant of the affair. Thus, Venerable Taishi left the Sword Sect, and subsequently, Venerable Duanmu left the Sword Sect.

With the two concerned Supremes absent from the Sword Sect, Venerable Duanmu's thirteen disciples remained suspended for an unusually long period. Every link in their meticulous plan had been accounted for, except for one massive, unforeseen variable: Lu Yuan.

"Venerable Taishi's disciples have courage," a voice thundered in the void like a bolt of lightning. Even shielded by the defensive barriers, the sound was so immense it caused the very structure of Mount Kong to subtly tremble, and Lu Yuan, who was close to the main gate, was nearly shaken to his core.

Lu Yuan saw a figure descending from the void, as majestic as a Heavenly God. As this person landed, the sky itself seemed to convulse.

The earth appeared on the verge of shattering. Though Lu Yuan was some distance away, in that instant, he felt nearly pulled into another strange dimension, a space where he would be utterly subject to the will of this god-like figure.

This must be the Spatial Domain of a Void Realm expert; once sucked in, he would be completely dominated. What immense might for a mere Supreme!

Venerable Duanmu, Duanmu Xianghe. "Courage!" Venerable Duanmu roared, a sound capable of splitting mountains and rivers.

"How dare you capture my disciples? You court death!" Venerable Duanmu struck out a finger, an attack powerful enough to pierce stars, which slammed heavily against the defensive barrier, causing the space around Mount Kong to fluctuate violently.

"Duanmu, you are a Supreme, but am I not one too?" A voice, filled with the scent of wine and carried on the breath of a sword condensed from liquor, swept over from a distant expanse, striking across the void. Only Taishi Kong, who had mastered the Iron Laws of the Void to perfection, could achieve such a feat.

The sword intents of the two Supremes clashed fiercely in the air, transforming into winding rivers and surging torrents of sword energy. In the void, the two Supremes launched continuous attacks.

Venerable Duanmu was startled: "Were you not bound by the Immortal Chains?" "Even if this old man is chained by the Immortal Chains, I will not lose to you, Duanmu! Of the Nine Supremes, I ranked second before I was chained; you were eighth.

Do you truly believe you are my equal?" Taishi Kong tore through the void and arrived, overwhelmingly domineering. Yet, despite this arrogance, he could not fully exert his strength; for now, his power was only on par with Venerable Duanmu's.

Of course, after all this commotion, the matter still needed resolution. The final settlement involved Venerable Duanmu secretly compensating one first-grade Spirit Vein to trade for the return of his thirteen disciples.

Venerable Duanmu suffered a huge loss here, but there was no alternative; who was at fault for Venerable Taishi's disciples seizing the initiative and capturing his men first? He was forced to accept the disadvantage.

Although Venerable Xuanyuan's faction held considerable strength, the combined forces of the three Supremes—Taishi, Xiahou, and Baili—were not without influence.