Chapter 86: Never Once Believed

At this moment, Shen Qingyun’s body began to change, his entire being becoming ethereal and indistinct. A hazy, luminous aura enveloped him.

Ling Xiao and Su Ye unconsciously straightened, their eyes filled with shock.

The scene before them was so overwhelming, it shattered the boundaries of their understanding.

Whether it was Gu Yang and his group or the twelve who had betrayed them, all seemed paralyzed by a mysterious force. Their legs felt as if mired in sludge, such that every step required immense effort.

“What on earth is happening…”

A disciple from the Bamboo Peak gritted his teeth, his worldview just as upended.

“It’s him!”

Someone’s gaze fixed on Shen Qingyun, watching as his whole form was swathed in that luminous blur.

Some even summoned their spiritual flying swords, but the entire domain was suffused with an unknown power. The swords shot toward Shen Qingyun, only to lose their support halfway, as though the very force that propelled them had been drained away. They crashed to the ground with a clatter.

Gu Yang, being stronger, sensed the environment more keenly. There was a hint of wariness in his eyes as he looked at Shen Qingyun. He had felt it clearly: the moment that hazy aura radiated from Shen Qingyun, a new force had appeared all around them.

Yet, to call it “force” was not quite right—it was more like a form of intimidation, a suppression akin to the overwhelming pressure of someone from a higher realm over those of a lower cultivation.

It was this oppressive aura that made their legs feel trapped, their movements sluggish.

“What kind of sorcery are you using?!”

Though their actions were constrained, their voices were not. Someone gritted his teeth and growled at Shen Qingyun.

A violet gleam flickered in Shen Qingyun’s eyes, making him appear almost divine. Just a glance at him stirred within others an involuntary urge to kneel in worship.

When those eyes met the speaker’s, it was as if a hand closed around his throat; his breath caught instantly.

The man’s face turned crimson, contorted in discomfort. Gradually, the flush deepened, shading into purple…

Seeing this, Gu Yang cried out urgently, “Stop it!”

Shen Qingyun’s gaze shifted toward Gu Yang, and instantly, the suffocating grip vanished; the man could breathe once more.

Shen Qingyun regarded Gu Yang, his words slow and cool: “You wish to strike at me, yet ask me to stop. Do you really think that’s possible?”

Gu Yang avoided Shen Qingyun’s eyes, his voice low: “Do you intend to kill him?”

Shen Qingyun didn’t respond immediately. His gaze swept over those behind Gu Yang before he finally spoke. “Am I not allowed?”

Gu Yang’s pupils narrowed. He hadn’t expected Shen Qingyun to speak so casually of such things. Yet there was nothing he could do against this new power. Here, they were like lambs to the slaughter.

After a moment’s thought, Gu Yang said quietly, “Shen Qingyun, let’s discuss this. Withdraw your suppression, and I’ll take my people and leave. The losses among my group—we’ll treat them as casualties of the trial. How about it?”

At these words, the Bamboo Peak disciples behind him looked at him in disbelief. Zhou Ze even protested, “Senior Brother Gu, how could you—!”

“Silence!” Gu Yang swung around and glared at him fiercely. He hadn’t planned to settle accounts with Zhou Ze before, but if the three of them had simply obeyed orders, none of this would have happened.

Shen Qingyun’s abilities exceeded anything he’d imagined, nothing like what he thought he knew. Shen Qingyun was as unfathomable as a boundless sea; whenever you felt you’d grasped his limits, you’d discover, at the critical moment, that all you’d seen was a grain of sand in the vast ocean.

That was exactly how Gu Yang felt now. If he didn’t yield, they would all die here.

Two lives weighed against twenty-four—he understood the stakes perfectly well.

A mocking smile curled Shen Qingyun’s lips. “Call it off now? Don’t make it sound so easy. It’s true you can make clear decisions for the bigger picture. But you must recognize one thing: right now, I hold all the cards. What gives you the right to bargain with me?”

Gu Yang fell silent, for everything Shen Qingyun said was true. His confidence in attacking Shen Qingyun had been grounded in the strength of their numbers. But the disparity in strength was obvious at a glance.

In a place like Ghost Valley, cut off from outside help, there was no hope for rescue. Here, concepts like fairness and reason meant nothing. Only strength was the unchanging truth.

As Gu Yang brooded, Shen Qingyun spoke again, a hint of languor in his tone: “But ending it like this would be dull. Why not give you all a chance?”

Upon hearing this, Gu Yang’s eyes flickered with hope as he looked at Shen Qingyun.

“I have a formation. If you can break it, I’ll let bygones be bygones. But if you cannot…” Shen Qingyun left the threat unfinished, but everyone understood his meaning.

“Where is this formation?” Gu Yang asked. Since things had come to this, he might as well gamble everything.

“The moment you entered this place, you were already within it,” Shen Qingyun replied. As his words fell, intricate runes appeared on the ground behind Gu Yang, encircling all twenty-four of his party.

A curtain of light shot into the sky, also marked with complex runes, trapping them within.

At the same time, another curtain of light sprang up behind Shen Qingyun, surrounding the twelve Bamboo Peak disciples.

The expressions on those twelve were a mix of shock and confusion.

“What’s going on?” one of them cried, clearly not understanding why they, too, had been trapped.

“Do you still not understand?” Shen Qingyun’s hazy aura gradually faded as he turned to face them. “From the very start, I never trusted any of you.”

At these words, the twelve’s faces changed. Shen Qingyun continued, “Every time we camped, I would go off alone—not only to ensure safety, but also to see how long certain people’s little schemes would last.”

He fixed his gaze on one within the formation, his eyes mocking. “Every time we camped, you’d sneak away. Even with someone covering for you, did you really think I wouldn’t notice?”

The man he stared at was the one who had earlier incited the others to join Gu Yang’s side.

Nearly all those standing beside him turned to look at him in shock. “Yan Ji, what does he mean?”

Yan Ji’s face darkened. At their questioning, he let out a grim laugh. “I thought I’d covered my tracks perfectly, but it seems I was exposed from the very beginning!”

Then, he raised his head and declared loudly, chest thrust out, “I was an undercover agent—Senior Brother Gu’s spy! Why should Shen Qingyun be the chief of Bamboo Peak? I refuse to accept it! In my eyes, Senior Brother Gu is the only one fit for the position. Shen Qingyun is unworthy!”

Those around him, seeing his wild-eyed fervor, instinctively stepped back two paces. Noticing this, Yan Ji sneered. “Now you want to distance yourselves from me? Too late. You’ve already attacked Shen Qingyun, which means you’ve chosen to leave his team. Do you really think he’ll take you back now?”

“Don’t forget, he never trusted us from the start!”

“I…”

At Yan Ji’s words, everyone lowered their heads in silence.

Shen Qingyun, meanwhile, had already turned away, looking calmly at Gu Yang, who remained outside the formation. “Now, the game begins. If you can break the formation within half a stick of incense, your people will be unharmed. But if you fail…”

He didn’t finish, but everyone understood his implication.

“What is it?” Gu Yang’s heart sank. He wasn’t naïve enough to believe that Shen Qingyun would prepare any “gift” out of kindness.