Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 18: The Master's Last Will
Time flies, and a year passed in the blink of an eye. Song Xian successfully advanced to the third level of Qi Refining.

That day, he was summoned by Zhang Shilin to his residence.

All his confidants and close associates were present inside, including his son Zhang Hunyuan, adopted son Lin Zixiang, Zhong Wenyuan, and two of his disciples Zhang Yi and Zhong Yang.

"Master, you called me?" Seeing so many people here, Song Xian knew it must be a big matter, so he bowed respectfully.

"Master has decided to make a breakthrough to establish the foundation in five days. To ensure everything goes well, I have called you here to discuss it together." Zhang Shilin's face was not as kind and smiling as usual. He looked very solemn at this moment.

"Hunyuan, go take over the formation flag peak and activate the mountain protection formation. Do not allow anyone to enter or leave."

"Zixiang, Yang'er, you go take over Guard Peak and transfer its disciples to Lingshan to guard me while I'm building my foundation. Don't let anyone disturb me."

"Wenyuan, you will be in charge of leading the inner disciples. On the day of foundation building, gather them all in the sect's main hall."

"Yi'er, Xian'er. You will be in charge of commanding the outer disciples. Once the mountain protection formation is activated, conduct a thorough search of the mountain gate to prevent anyone with ill intentions from sneaking in. On the day of foundation building, gather them all in the back mountain."

"In short, I don't want any interference on the day of foundation building, and I don't want any man-made accidents to occur."

"Yes." Several people accepted the order.

Zhang Shilin gave some more instructions on specific matters and after discussing for a while, everyone left.

Song Xian and Zhang Yi left his mansion and first came to the residence of Feng Zihua, the outer gate steward. He was over seventy years old, with white hair and beard, and had reached the eighth level of Qi Refining.

Feng Zihua was also an inner sect disciple, and was promoted to outer sect deacon only when he was old.

Zhang Shilin had previously informed the sect's top leaders about the foundation-building matter.

The two men explained their purpose and took out the token of the master. After some discussion, Feng Zihua ordered people to invite the disciples in charge of each peak and explained the task to them.

That night, Zhang Hunyuan ordered Zhenqifeng to activate the formation. The Qingyun Sect's mountain protection formation was called the "Xunli Wind and Fire Formation", a second-level medium-grade formation.

Normally, the sect would not activate the formation, one reason being that it would be inconvenient to travel back and forth. Once the formation was activated, it would cut off traffic between the inside and outside. If a sect disciple had to go out of the mountain gate for something, he would have to specifically greet the disciple in charge of the formation and ask him to open a passage, which would be much more troublesome.

The second reason is that the formation is an extremely expensive thing. It requires a large amount of spirit stones to activate. If it is kept running all the time, the consumption of spirit stones will be very large, which is a heavy burden on the sect's financial resources.

Therefore, if it is not a major event, the formation will not be activated.

After the formation was activated, the entire mountain range was wrapped in an invisible golden barrier like a water curtain. Thick golden auspicious clouds also covered the sky, and bursts of exciting sounds came from inside.

……

The next morning, all outer disciples were summoned. According to the previously agreed deployment, each disciple was assigned the task of searching the corresponding area.

On the fifth day, everyone gathered at the back mountain. Around noon, they saw a lot of spiritual power gathering above the sacred mountain. The spiritual energy from all directions of the entire spiritual vein rushed towards that place, forming spiritual energy vortexes of varying sizes that were visible to the naked eye.

Many spiritual energy vortexes swallowed each other and rushed towards the figure at the foot of the sacred mountain like a tiger descending from the mountain.

About half an hour later, the vortex of spiritual energy on the sacred mountain suddenly collapsed.

"Ah!" Everyone who was originally whispering screamed loudly at the same time.

The spiritual energy vortex collapsed before it was exhausted. There was only one possibility, that is, the foundation building failed.

"Senior Brother Feng, let's go and take a look at the situation first. Before we get the order from the headmaster, it's inconvenient for everyone to stay here." Zhang Yi said, and then he and Song Xian got on the flying magic weapon and came to Lingshan.

When the two arrived, there were already several people surrounding them, including Zhang Hunyuan, Lin Zixiang, Zhong Wenyuan, Chu Yang and Elder Chang Jinmian.

As soon as Song Xian jumped onto the magic weapon, he heard Zhang Hunyuan crying. His heart skipped a beat. When he looked forward, he saw only a pool of blood and flesh on the ground.

Zhang Hunyuan knelt on the ground, crying loudly with tears streaming down his face.

George Lam, Zhong Wenyuan, and Chu Yang all looked grief-stricken, while Chang Jinmian had no expression on her face.

Seeing this situation, Song Xian couldn't help but feel sad. Although he had not been with his master Zhang Shilin for a long time, only less than two years, during this period, Zhang Shilin took good care of him and did not treat him as an outsider at all.

Whether it was letting him go with George Lam to exchange for items for foundation building, or summoning him to the mansion at the critical moment of foundation building to arrange important tasks, it can be seen that he had trust in him.

I didn't expect that he would pass away like this.

Zhang Shilin had previously attempted Foundation Establishment several times, all of which had ended in failure, but he had remained unscathed. He had never imagined this would end in such a disaster. Thinking back, he had said that day that he would fight to the death to reach the Foundation Establishment stage, seemingly determined to succeed or die.

This is because he is old. If he fails this time, his energy will decline and he will never have another chance in the future.

Rather than waiting to die, it is better to fight to the death. It must be because of this idea that he refused to give up even when his body could no longer support him. This led to a large amount of restless spiritual energy from heaven and earth entering his body, causing him to rush around uncontrollably and eventually explode and die.

"Elder Chang, what do you think we should do now?" After a while, Zhong Wenyuan walked up to Chang Jinmian and asked in a heavy voice.

Now that the headmaster is dead, the elders are the ones who have the final say in the sect.

Chang Jinmian had no expression on her face: "What else can we do? Let's bury the person first."

"I think the most important thing right now is to calm people's hearts. The most urgent task is to agree on a new leader. What do you think?"

Chang Jinmian said coldly, "It's too hasty to decide on a new leader before the leader's body is even cold. If the news gets out, it will be bad for your reputation and people will laugh at you."

"That's not the case, Elder Chang. A dragon cannot survive without a head, and a sect cannot be without a leader for a single day. The stability of the sect is of utmost importance. I believe we should first determine a new leader."

Chang Jinmian said nothing more.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Zhong Wenyuan started to make his own arrangements. As an inner sect deacon, his status was only below the headmaster, elders and true disciples.

"Junior Brother Lin, go to the sect's main hall and inform the inner disciples there of the Sect Master's passing. Tell them to immediately elect a new Sect Master."

"Junior Brother Song, go to the back mountain and invite Senior Brother Feng to the sect's main hall. Don't tell the outer disciples about this for now, and don't let them leave. Have them wait there first."

"Senior Brother Zhang, Yang'er, go to the Master's residence immediately, bring the coffin, and gather up the Master's body."

Everyone responded and left.

Song Xian came to the back mountain and first called Feng Zihua aside to tell him the news of the headmaster's death, and then told him Zhong Wenyuan's instructions.

Feng Zihua took a breath when he heard this. After being shocked, he immediately realized the seriousness of the matter. He immediately called the disciples in charge of each peak and gave them some instructions, asking them to stay here. Then he went to the sect hall with Song Xian.

At this time, the inner disciples in the hall had already known the letter and were discussing it among themselves, making a noisy sound.

About half an hour later, Zhang Yi and Zhong Yang came in from outside the palace gate carrying a coffin. Zhang Hunyuan, dressed in mourning clothes, followed behind, with Chang Jinmian and Zhong Wenyuan on both sides.

The noisy sounds in the hall disappeared instantly, and the coffin stopped horizontally in the center of the hall. Chang Jinmian walked to the top of the stone steps, glanced at everyone, and shouted with an expressionless face: "All disciples, listen to my orders."

Everyone stood up from their seats.

"The Sect Master has unfortunately passed away. As a sect elder, I now order that all members of the sect below me must wear mourning clothes to honor the Master. During this period, no alcohol or other pleasure-seeking activities are allowed. Anyone who violates this order will be severely punished. The Master's coffin will remain in the main hall for seven days, after which he will be buried. After the burial, a new Master will be elected."

Zhong Wenyuan frowned. Just now, when he insisted on discussing the election of the headmaster, Chang Jinmian did not say anything. He thought that Chang Jinmian had agreed. But now, he did not expect that Chang Jinmian would give orders directly as an elder in front of everyone. It was obvious that he was not taken seriously at all.

"Elder Chang, I think it would be a good idea to discuss the selection of a new Sect Leader first. After all, a sect cannot be without a Sect Leader for even a day. Once the new Sect Leader is in place, everyone will feel at ease."

Chang Jinmian glanced at him and said coldly, "I am an elder. Now that the Sect Master has passed away, I am in charge of the sect's affairs. Who dares to disobey? What's there to be uneasy about? For three generations of inheritance in our sect, it has always been the burial of the old Sect Master before selecting a new one. How can you break the rules now?"

"In an emergency, we must make decisions based on our urgency. The stability of the sect is our top priority."

Zhong Wenyuan refused to back down. He took a step forward and pulled out a black scroll from his sleeve. "The Sect Master has decreed that if an accident occurs during the foundation-building process, our true disciple Zhang Hunyuan will take over as the Sect Master."

As he spoke, he turned the scroll over and showed it to everyone.

The monks had sharper hearing and eyesight than ordinary people, so they could naturally see the words on the file as well as Zhang Shilin's signature and seal below.

When Song Xian saw this, he realized that his master had already made arrangements and had anticipated this step.

Chang Jinmian narrowed her eyes slightly and said nothing. Before she could speak, Zhong Wenyuan continued, "To prevent anyone from suspecting that this was a forged note from the headmaster, it was sealed with his seal after his death. Before that, the headmaster also left a decree on a plaque in the hall."

After saying that, he glanced at George Lam.

George Lam understood and jumped up, taking out the same set of black scrolls from behind the plaque and unfolding them for everyone to see. The content on them was exactly the same as the one held by Zhong Wenyuan.

(End of this chapter)