The First Immortal of Destiny-Chapter 557 Rectification_1

Shen Mo’s gaze moved away from Tang Lv’s face. His spiritual sense swept over Lu Ming, who stood with the other Elite Disciples from the Main Peaks outside the execution ground. Lu Ming’s expression was complex and wistful.

His thoughts traveled back many years, to the day he first crossed paths with Tang Lv.

At that time, during the New Talents competition, he had just fought Lu Ming. Ultimately, he was defeated and secured second place.

Subsequently, the Peak Masters of the Three Peaks personally came to recruit them.

"I am Tang Lv, the Rising Sun Peak Master."

"Are you willing to join my Rising Sun Peak?"

"My Rising Sun Peak is the foremost of the Three Peaks, the strongest, and offers the most opportunities. If you join, a vast future will naturally open up for you."

Even though Shen Mo declined Tang Lv’s kind offer and ultimately chose to join Stars Peak, he always remembered... This Peak Master Tang had extended an olive branch to him, his face filled with pride at that moment!

Then, when the Foreign Realm Demons invaded the Red Flame Country from the Outer Zone, Tang Lv also spared no effort in battling the Heavenly Demons, showcasing the sect’s might.

Even later, despite numerous conflicts with the Elders and core disciples of Rising Sun Peak, he always maintained a degree of respect for Tang Lv.

It wasn’t until he returned to the Mountain River Realm and learned, from close associates like Zhao Lingyin and from the souls of Yuan Shengcai and Tian Zhiyu, a hint of something amiss that he made his decision. He would rather endure the punishment for violating sect regulations than refrain from casting the Soul Searching Spell on Tang Lv!

Shen Mo turned around and said softly, "Hall Master Jin, see Peak Master Tang off."

"I abide by the decree!"

Jin Chinian responded, immediately summoning his ferocious sword. With a look of resolve, he slashed at Tang Lv’s neck.

"PUFF!"

Blood gushed like a pillar, and the head rolled free.

Having experienced ultimate despair, Tang Lv’s expression in his final moments was surprisingly calm, even holding a faint, helpless, bitter smile.

Bound by the Immortal Binding Rope, and with the ferocious sword imbued with the "Execution" True Intention, Tang Lv’s soul, along with his Dao Body, were obliterated together.

Sparing him the fate of having his soul pulled and refined, tormented for a hundred years, was the last shred of dignity the Riverside Sect afforded him...

With Tang Lv’s death, his Direct Disciples, along with numerous disciples from Rising Sun Peak who had received his favor, erupted in cries of grief, their wails piercing the dead silence.

And this was merely the prelude to the executions.

Jin Chinian once again read from the book of penal edicts. With each name and their list of crimes announced, the ferocious sword fell, severing another head.

They, however, were not as fortunate as Tang Lv. Depending on the severity of their crimes, their souls would be extracted. Law Enforcement Disciples would step forward to carefully preserve these souls in Soul Nurturing Bottles. In the future, they would face varying degrees of torture... until their suffering matched the duration appropriate for their transgressions!

Most of the day passed in this manner. One by one, the heads of the bound and kneeling Sect Disciples were severed, and one by one, their souls were extracted.

The former Affairs Hall Master Tian Zhaoquan, the former Deputy Hall Master of the Deacon Hall, Elders from various halls and peaks, Elite Disciples from all peaks, inner disciples, Outer and Inner Door Deacons—all who had run rampant, committed crimes, and corrupted the sect’s laws over the past three years—none escaped death!

For a moment, heads rolled across the execution ground, and blood flowed like rivers. The extracted souls shrieked like tormented spirits, wailing and begging for mercy...

Jin Chinian himself grew somewhat weary from the slaughter, while the observing Sect Disciples watched in growing terror.

This massacre had culled nearly one-tenth of the Riverside Sect’s Sect Disciples at or above the Qi Gathering Realm!

In the history of the Riverside Sect, aside from the factional wars between Immortals and mortals that had nearly toppled the sect on several occasions, never before had so much of its core strength been annihilated at once.

However, in Shen Mo’s view, this bloodshed was necessary.

Otherwise, given the Riverside Sect’s current state, if these scourges were allowed to remain, it wouldn’t be long before the sect began to crumble from within upon returning to the Red Flame Zone in the Outer Realm, especially when facing powerful external entities, the forbidden lands, and various Evil Spirits!

The heads and headless corpses of Tian Zhaoquan and the others were quickly cleared away by Law Enforcement Disciples, though the dark, coagulated bloodstains remaining on the ground were still a shocking sight.

What remained was the sentencing of disciples such as Ji Susu, formerly the fourth-ranked core disciple, Tang Guangsi, formerly the fifth-ranked, and the Deputy Hall Master of the Affairs Hall. This group, constituting about twenty percent of the Sect Disciples above the Qi Gathering Realm, had all violated sect regulations to varying degrees. However, their crimes did not warrant death, so they were to receive different punishments.

To serve as a warning to others, their punishments were all announced publicly and carried out by the Law Enforcement Disciples.

Compared to the capital punishment of execution and soul extraction, their penalties were considerably lighter. Consequently, the instruments of their punishment were far more varied and, in a grim sense, "spectacular."

By now, Shen Mo had already flown up to the suspended jade platform.

Everyone else, aside from Supreme Elder Yuan Heming and Sect Master Yuan Qingshi, stepped forward half a pace and bowed to him in salute.

"Junior Brother Shen, the sect’s ethos has decayed to this extent, and I bear an undeniable responsibility. I have failed our ancestors..." Patriarch Yuan said, his face etched with remorse as he spoke introspectively.

His words prompted Yuan Qingshi and the other uninvolved Hall Masters to also speak up and reflect on their own shortcomings.

Truthfully, as the only two individuals capable of suppressing Tang Lv, Supreme Elder Yuan Heming and Sect Master Yuan Qingshi couldn’t be said to be entirely blameless.

But such was the overarching environment! 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Maintaining sect law was inherently ten, even a hundred times more difficult than wantonly trampling and destroying it.

Furthermore, from what Shen Mo understood, Yuan Heming had entered seclusion and drawn heavily on the sect’s resources, all in an effort to achieve a breakthrough in his Cultivation Realm and find a path forward for the hundred thousand disciples of the Riverside Sect.

Sect Master Yuan Qingshi, too, had toiled ceaselessly for the sect these past few years.

He had to quell various internal disputes, coordinate manpower and resources to defend the Mountain River Realm against the incursions of the Double-winged Flying Snakes, and even neglected his own cultivation.

In the grand scheme of things, they had not failed the sect; they were countless times better than Tang Lv, the third most powerful figure within the Dungeon. Naturally, they couldn’t be harshly criticized!

The only thing that still irked Shen Mo slightly was that when Yuan Shengcai, a member of the Yuan Family, had pestered Zhao Lingyin, Sect Master Yuan Qingshi hadn’t punished him severely, merely giving him a light reprimand or two...

However, with the execution of Yuan Shengcai, Tian Zhiyu, Tian Zhaoquan, and several other Yuan Family members involved in that affair, the matter was essentially closed!

At worst, the new Enforcement Hall Master, Guo Xun, could be instructed to pay more "attention" to the Yuan clan members in the future.

This would prevent them from further leveraging their lineage or relying on the backing of Patriarch Yuan and the Sect Master to act unscrupulously and engage in bullying and other transgressions within the sect.

Shen Mo accepted the self-reproach from Patriarch Yuan and the Sect Master with a calm expression.

After a moment of pensive silence, he spoke, "Now that these matters are concluded, there’s little point in us remaining in the Mountain River Realm."

"Senior Brother Yuan, Sect Master, it is time to issue the order for the disciples to begin preparations..."

"All remaining resources within the Dungeon must be thoroughly gathered; take everything that can be taken. After we depart this time, who knows how long it will be before we can enter this Dungeon again!"