"What, someone else came in here?"
"Who?"
Hearing Yuan Gaowu's words, everyone was shocked and looked at each other in disbelief.
Lu Chenzi and Zhang Boyun, Liao Haikuo and Feng Yimin, Yan Changjian and Hou Feiying, and others all asked, "Sect Leader Yuan, how do you know someone else came in?"
Yuan Gaowu pointed to the throne behind him and said, "Everyone come up and see for yourselves..."
As he spoke, everyone went up. Zhou Ruoxi, Elder Zuo Qi, Lin Yiping, and others also went. They crowded around the throne in the hall, and Yuan Gaowu pointed to the throne, saying, "It's very clean up here, not a speck of dust!"
Zhang Boyun was startled and said, "Did that person sit on it just now and wipe away the dust?"
"It wasn't wiped away by a butt, whose butt is that big?" Elder Liao pointed to the throne, which was over a meter long.
Yuan Gaowu's sharp eyes saw the snake-shaped reliefs on the back of the throne. The snake's head, covered in dust, had marks. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a large hand gripping the snake's head and twisting it, leaving finger marks.
Yuan Gaowu then grabbed the snake's head and felt it loosen. His heart sank with joy, knowing it was a mechanism. He turned and exchanged glances with Lu Chenzi and Zhang Boyun. Yan Changjian and Liao Haikuo also knew it might be a mechanism.
Yuan Gaowu twisted his hand to the left first, but it wouldn't budge. He then twisted it to the right, and sure enough, the snake's head turned. With a click, the stone slab beneath the throne slowly opened, revealing a stairway leading underground...
"There really is a secret room..."
Seeing this, everyone rejoiced and exchanged glances. However, with the appearance of such a secret room, they wondered if there was any danger inside, and they began to hesitate about who would go down first...
"Let's go down and take a look first," Yuan Gaowu said.
Lu Chenzi and Zhang Boyun exchanged glances and smiled, "Sect Leader Yuan, let our disciples go down with you."
Yuan Gaowu turned to look at their smiling faces and knew what they were thinking. He nodded and said, "Alright, Geng Hong, you go down with your senior and junior brothers from the Kongtong and Dian Cang sects to scout."
"Yes..."
Geng Hong and the others nodded. Regardless of whether they were disciples of the Kongtong or Dian Cang sects, they took out their flashlights and led the way down the underground stairs. Lu Chenzi and Zhang Boyun quickly beckoned their respective disciples to follow...
Never mind whether there were treasures in this secret room. The reason they didn't let the Kunlun disciples go down was to prevent them from hoarding the treasures.
"Be careful, someone might be down there!"
Yuan Gaowu reminded them. Geng Hong, who had already gone down, responded and then began to scout carefully...
After about ten minutes, those waiting above saw Geng Hong poke his head out and shout, "Master, you can come down. There's no danger..."
"Are there any treasures?" Lu Chenzi couldn't help but ask.
A disciple from the Kongtong sect, who was also below, shouted, "Master, there really are! Hurry down..."
"Good, good, good..."
Upon hearing that there were indeed treasures, Lu Chenzi and Zhang Boyun excitedly rushed down first, causing Yuan Gaowu to raise an eyebrow in obvious displeasure. However, he said nothing, turned around, and beckoned Elder Zuo Qi and Lin Yiping to follow. Everyone went down one after another...
"Be careful, everyone..."
Elder Zuo Qi and Lin Yiping cautiously instructed their disciples. Zhou Ruoxi was also cautious and told Senior Sister Lu and Junior Sister He to be alert and follow Zhang Xian'er and Zi Qing, Qi Xiu and Chong Ling'er, Zhang Xingyue and Zhao Xuyan, Jin Xuan and Xu Hai, and others down the secret passage...
"So big..."
As everyone arrived in the underground secret room, they saw a huge, enclosed stone chamber. In the corners were many chests. Lu Chenzi and Zhang Boyun excitedly opened a chest and found it filled with gold ingots, silver bars, jewelry, and antiques...
"My heavens, there's so much gold and jewelry..."
Everyone was shocked. Looking at the chests of jewelry, there were more than a dozen chests, each weighing over 200 catties. On the shelves were also a dazzling array of bronze antiques, vases, and many famous paintings...
For a moment, Lu Chenzi, Zhang Boyun, Tan Song, and Hou Feiying's eyes gleamed with greed. They excitedly laughed madly, holding the glittering gold ingots and silver bars.
"Look, there are martial arts manuals here!"
Elder Liao opened a small box, took out a manual, and excitedly said, "Snow Mountain Sword Technique, this is a secret manual of the Snow Mountain Sect..."
"Let me see..."
Feng Yimin excitedly came over and also took out a manual to look at. He exclaimed excitedly, "Golden Crow Saber Technique, this is truly a skill of the Snow Mountain Sect..."
Yuan Gaowu and Yan Changjian and others went up one after another, and they all took out manuals from the boxes. They were all skills of the Snow Mountain Sect...
Lu Chenzi excitedly said, "I never expected that the skills of the Snow Mountain Sect, which was destroyed hundreds of years ago, would have their secret manuals robbed by the Divine Snake Clan and preserved here!"
"Yes, I've long heard that the Snow Mountain Sect was destroyed by a mysterious force. So it was the Divine Snake Clan!" Zhang Boyun said, holding the Golden Crow Saber Technique manual. Everyone's faces couldn't hide their inner joy.
Yuan Gaowu held the manual for the Snow Mountain Sect's Ice Soul Divine Skill. His face could no longer hide his excitement and joy, because he had come for this!
Behind them, Zhou Ruoxi, Lin Yiping, and Elder Zuo Qi exchanged glances. They also didn't expect that the secret manuals of the Snow Mountain Sect, which had been destroyed hundreds of years ago, were preserved here.
However, what made Zhou Ruoxi, Lin Yiping, and the others uneasy was the greedy and ecstatic look on the faces of Yan Changjian, Lu Chenzi, Zhang Boyun, and Liao Haikuo. It was clear that they were harboring ill intentions and revealing their greedy nature, wanting to hoard these secret manuals of the Snow Mountain Sect.
For a moment, people from the various sects exchanged glances. Yuan Gaowu signaled his eldest disciple, Geng Hong. Geng Hong slowly drew his long saber and stabbed Liao Haikuo from behind, who was engrossed in looking at a manual...
"Ah..."
The manual fell from Liao Haikuo's hand, and he let out a scream. His eyes wide with terror, he turned to look at Geng Hong, who had stabbed him from behind, spitting out blood...
"Ah..."
Guan Feipeng also drew his sword and directly slit the throat of Feng Yimin, the second elder of the Qingcheng Sect...
Then, Meng Yan and He Yunxia of the Divine Sword Sect also drew their swords and killed the disciples of the Qingcheng Sect, Huashan Sect, and Shaolin Sect, including Jin Xuan and Xu Hai...
At the same time, the sect leaders of Mount Tai Sect, Tan Song, Xingyi Sect, Li Feiyu, Eagle Claw Sect, Hou Feiying, Great Saber Sect, Hu Yidao, and others were caught off guard and killed by the disciples of the Kongtong and Dian Cang sects...
"You, what are you doing?"
Elder Zuo Qi, Lin Yiping, and Zhou Ruoxi, who had been on guard, were shocked by the sudden turn of events. The people from the three sects retreated to the entrance of the stone chamber's stairs. The stone slab of the passage outside then closed with a bang, and a figure slowly descended...
"Old Sect Leader Yuan?"
Elder Zuo Qi and Lin Yiping widened their eyes, looking in surprise at the person slowly descending. Dressed in a gray robe, with pale white hair tied in a bun, and a ruddy, wrinkled old face, and a pair of sharp, sinister old eyes, the first impression was that he was not a good person. It was Yuan Gaowu's father, Old Sect Leader Yuan Kaicheng.
Yan Changjian of the Divine Sword Sect, Zhang Boyun of the Dian Cang Sect, and Lu Chenzi of the Kongtong Sect, upon seeing Yuan Kaicheng appear, had a bad premonition. It seemed that the Kunlun Sect intended to kill them all and hoard the Snow Mountain Sect's secret manuals!
"Heh heh, Elder Zuo Qi, Celestial Master Lin, I'm sorry."
Although Yuan Kaicheng was over a hundred years old, he walked with the vigor of a young man and was strong and healthy. If it weren't for his white hair, no one would have guessed his age.
"Old Sect Leader Yuan, all of this was planned by you, wasn't it?"
Elder Zuo Qi stared coldly at Yuan Kaicheng, completely unexpected at the darkness in the hearts of the Kunlun Sect.
"Hmph, looking for a snake demon, it was all an excuse."
Lu Chenzi and Zhang Boyun stood with Yan Changjian, clearly indicating that the three parties were in cahoots.
"No."
Yuan Gaowu revealed his true nature, looking at Lu Chenzi and Zhang Boyun and smiling, "The snake demon does exist, and it is about to undergo tribulation and evolve into a flood dragon. Our goal is the inheritance secret manuals of the Snow Mountain Sect!"
Yuan Kaicheng's old face smiled and said, "Many of our Kunlun Sect's ancestors recorded that the Snow Mountain Sect was destroyed by the Divine Snake Clan in alliance with other forces from the Western Regions. We deduced that the inheritance secret manuals of the Snow Mountain Sect were in the ancestral lair of the Divine Snake Clan."
"We gathered everyone here this time to find the inherited martial arts secret manuals of the Snow Mountain Sect!"
Lin Yiping's face turned grim and said, "So, now that the inherited martial arts secret manuals of the Snow Mountain Sect have been found, you intend to kill everyone and let the Kunlun Sect hoard the martial arts secret manuals of the Snow Mountain Sect?"
Yuan Gaowu turned to Elder Zuo Qi, Lin Yiping, and Zhou Ruoxi, and smiled, "To strengthen our Kunlun Sect, we can only sacrifice you all. Don't worry, after we go out, I will give your sects a perfect explanation, saying that you sacrificed yourselves unfortunately while subduing the snake demon, and your descendants will remember you."
"Bah, you are truly despicable to the extreme, how hateful!" Chong Ling'er angrily cursed.
Qi Xiu, Zhang Xingyue, Zhao Xuyan, and others were all filled with anger. They never expected the Kunlun Sect to be so insidious and despicable, gathering them to endure hardships and come to the uninhabited Death Valley in the Kunlun Mountains, only to find the inherited martial arts secret manuals of the Snow Mountain Sect, and now they were to be silenced and the treasures hoarded. This was the ultimate display of shamelessness and despicability.
"By acting like this, is your Kunlun Sect worthy of the name 'righteous path'?" Elder Zuo Qi tremblingly pointed at Yuan Kaicheng and gritted his teeth.
Yuan Kaicheng's old face smiled sinisterly, "Elder Zuo Qi, don't always mention the 'righteous path.' Haven't your Wudang Sect done anything against the conscience of the righteous path in private?"
"I remember that one of your elders went down the mountain and assaulted a village woman. At that time, your sect leader covered up the facts, and nothing happened. Later, when the village woman's family protested, their entire family was not wiped out overnight. Wasn't it done by that elder of your Wudang Sect?"
"What righteous path, it's all just hypocrisy for your own sake, put on for the world to see. Do you dare to say that none of your sects have done anything against your conscience for personal gain?"
This question did stump everyone present.
"Heretical logic!"
Lin Yiping pointed at Yuan Kaicheng and his son and said angrily, "Your Kunlun Sect should not use such twisted logic to escape your despicable actions. Even if we die here, future generations will surely expose your ugly and shameless faces."
"Heh heh..."
Yuan Kaicheng and Yuan Gaowu, father and son, sneered. They paid no attention to Elder Zuo Qi and Lin Yiping's righteous posture in questioning them. After all, in front of the inheritance secret manuals of the Snow Mountain Sect, killing a few people was nothing.
As long as the news didn't leak out, no one would know that their Kunlun Sect had done this, and they would still be a righteous sect in the martial arts world...