School Beauty's Invincible Martial Expert

"Bastard!" the Second Elder exclaimed in a fit of rage.

Boom...

A massive ball of energy descended from the sky.

This time, the Second Elder truly utilized his killer move. Sadly, such tactics were child's play to the Ghost King.

"Useless thing," the Ghost King snorted contemptuously, "Let me show you what I'm capable of."

Having said that, the Ghost King's arms shook violently.

"Myriad Ghosts Entanglement," the Ghost King roared.

Then, from the void, a series of piercing wails emerged.

The Second Elder immediately sensed that something was terribly wrong around him. Arms stretched out from the void, wrapping around the Second Elder. They frenziedly entwined him, seemingly intending to tear him apart. The Second Elder frantically swung his longsword, severing the limbs one by one. However, the arms seemed to be inexhaustible.

"Damn it!" the Second Elder yelled in anger.

Soon, countless arms had bound his hands, legs, and neck...

In an unguarded moment, the Second Elder was buried under a multitude of limbs.

"You old fool, die!" the Ghost King charged forward as he finished speaking.

Squelch...

Suddenly, the Ghost King's claws penetrated into the Second Elder's chest.

Rip...

When the claw retracted, it clutched a bloody heart in its grasp.

"Delicious," the Ghost King's eyes gleamed as he hastily stuffed the fist-sized heart into his mouth.

Gulp...

He swallowed it in one gulp.

The Second Elder's eyes stared straight ahead before he plummeted straight down from the midair.

"Is he dead?" Duanmu Ci asked in surprise.

"Dead!" the Ghost King nodded, then returned to Xiao Han's side.

Without waiting for the Ghost King to boast, Xiao Han, without a second word, instantly absorbed him into the Soul Bead.

The Second Elder's corpse lay stiff on the ground, not having uttered a word before his death.

Seeing the Second Elder's body, a group of people heaved a sigh of relief. Regardless, the man was finally dead, and the Wulan Sect would no longer be under his control. Xiao Han walked over and kicked the corpse twice.

"You old thing, dared to kick me just now." Xiao Han cursed indignantly.

"Good that he's dead." Yang Jinfeng, holding her curved longbow, stood upright before the side hall, her figure perfect, with curves in all the right places, her body tall and youthful.

A fiery red robe cloaked her body, her legs sheathed in black stockings. Her hair, like a cascading waterfall, was tied with a red butterfly knot on top, making her look exceptionally charming. The longbow in her hands seemed to integrate with her form, its presence overpowering. Probably an average person wouldn't even be able to handle such a longbow.

With the Second Elder's death, all the people in the dungeon were released.

The news spread quickly afterward.

"We're in trouble now," some whispered.

"What do we do?"

"We… we shouldn't have surrendered to the Second Elder!"

Those who had switched sides earlier now realized they were in a predicament, quivering with fear, barely daring to speak.

"No need to be afraid," a disciple who had just emerged from the dungeon suddenly stood up and said, "The Sect Leader is merciful and won't kill the innocent. Besides, it was the Second Elder who coerced your allegiance, so it has nothing to do with you. There's no need for fear!"

"Right, right!" the group agreed, nodding, "We didn't want to surrender, but the Second Elder forced us, threatening to kill us if we didn't. We had no choice but to comply!"

Suddenly, using this excuse, the group seemed to have found their justification, becoming overly animated.

Little did they know, when the Second Elder first stormed the main hall and captured the Sect Leader, they surrendered without any coercion or pressure. And that's exactly why they were so frantic now, driven by the newfound excuse to be overexcited and agitated.

The Sect Leader was welcomed back to the main hall.

"Sect Leader, we have finally succeeded," Duanmu Ci said with great excitement.

"Mhm!" The Sect Leader nodded, "With the Second Elder dead, the Third Elder on a distant journey, and the Fourth Elder in seclusion, there really is no one left in the Wulan Sect to speak of, alas..."

"Sect Leader, how shall we deal with those who surrendered to the Second Elder?" Duanmu Ci quickly asked.

"Let's spare them for now," the Sect Leader replied with a wry smile, "After all, they were coerced against their will."

"Master, how is your injury now?" Yang Jinfeng asked anxiously by his side.

"It's nothing," the Sect Leader shook his head and said, "It will heal after a few months of recuperation."

"Mhm!" Yang Jinfeng nodded.

"Currently, the Wulan Sect is in internal chaos and urgently needs to be put in order!" The Sect Leader took a deep breath before saying, "Duanmu Ci, for the time being, I entrust you with handling the affairs of the Wulan Sect."

"Ah?" Upon hearing this, Duanmu Ci said, "This... How can this be?"

"What's wrong with it?" The Sect Leader smiled faintly, then said, "Trust me, you can definitely do it."

"I, I will do my best!" Duanmu Ci quickly nodded his head.

"Mhm!" The Sect Leader nodded, then smiled and said, "Tomorrow, I will announce this matter in front of all disciples. After tomorrow, I will be entering seclusion to recuperate. So, I hope you will make a great effort!"

"I will bear in mind Master's teachings." Duanmu Ci hurriedly knelt down.

......

The next day, thousands of Wulan Sect disciples gathered in front of the grand hall, standing in orderly rows. Everyone held their breath, attuned to the moment. A massive change had occurred the night before, a coup d'état had been successful, and Head Yang had recaptured the power. This meant that the followers of the Second Elder were about to be purged. Last night, those followers of the Second Elder had already packed their bags and descended the mountain, while those who remained were the disciples of the Wulan Sect.

Dressed in a black robe, with silver hair and white beard, the Sect Leader looked over the crowd and said in a loud voice, "Last night, the Second Elder died violently. Let what has passed be in the past, and be aware of your own misdeeds. However, I do not wish for such things to occur again. The Wulan Sect is not among the large sects; it should not have so much scheming and such complicated human hearts. I hope you all can understand."

"Sect Leader is mighty and magnanimous!" shouted the thousands in unison.

"From today onwards, Duanmu Ci will handle all affairs of the Wulan Sect," Head Yang looked over the crowd once more before saying, "I hope you all will follow his orders!"

"Yes!" The crowd nodded in agreement.

At this moment, Duanmu Ci stepped forward, facing the thousands of people, Duanmu Ci appeared extremely excited, he tried his best to suppress the excitement in his heart, then he said, "Disciples of the Wulan Sect, heed my command."

"Yes!"

"From today onwards, we must be united with love, and work together with one heart." Duanmu Ci shouted loudly.

"Yes!" The crowd nodded.

"Very good." Duanmu Ci smiled slightly, then said, "From today onward, if anyone is found to have the heart of rebellion, they must be executed without mercy."

"Yes!" Everyone nodded their heads.

This grand ceremony was truly stirring for many.

However, in Xiao Han's eyes, it was nothing more than a brainwashing assembly.

Xiao Han stood aside, coolly observing everything.

Yang Jinfeng sneakily glanced at Xiao Han, then said, "Xiao Han, we owe you a great debt this time; if it wasn't for you, the Wulan Sect might have faced a terrible disaster!"

"What disaster?" Xiao Han retorted.

"That is..." Yang Jinfeng blinked, saying, "The Second Elder was naturally vicious and certainly would have committed a massacre!"

"In fact, it doesn't matter whose hands the position of Sect Leader is in," Xiao Han smiled and then said, "Even if it were the Second Elder, he wouldn't wantonly slaughter the innocent because, after all, he needed to maintain his image. That can be inferred from one aspect."

"What?" Yang Jinfeng asked.

"After the Second Elder captured you all, he did not immediately exterminate you all!" Xiao Han looked at Yang Jinfeng.

"Because… because…" Yang Jinfeng stammered and couldn't finish.

"Stop deceiving yourself," Xiao Han smiled and then said, "No matter who holds power, it's all the same in the end, and the turnover of power is most detrimental to the disciples below; it leads to killings and eventually in-fighting among fellow disciples."

Yang Jinfeng did not possess the same level of awareness as Xiao Han; she harrumphed and said, "You are an outsider, so it is impossible to reason with you. You don't understand!"

After leaving that remark behind, Yang Jinfeng turned her head, ignoring Xiao Han.

Xiao Han was, in fact, content to be left alone.

After the ceremony, the Sect Leader went into seclusion. His place of seclusion was on a mountain top ten kilometers away from the Wulan Sect. Atop that mountain, there was a deep cave where cultivators often chose to seclude themselves when they met with a bottleneck, only coming out once they had made a breakthrough.

However, this time the Sect Leader went into seclusion not because of encountering a bottleneck but to heal his injuries as quickly as possible.

For half a month, the Second Elder had been poisoning Head Yang's food with a potent slow-acting poison. The poison was tasteless and colorless, so for half a month, Head Yang had been completely unaware. By the time he realized it, the poison had begun to take effect.

The initial reason Duanmu Ci and Yang Jinfeng went to obtain the bile from the giant serpent was to fight poison with poison.

After taking the bile, Head Yang needed some time to absorb it and then expel the toxins from his body.

......

Duanmu Ci replaced the Sect Leader in managing the Wulan Sect.

Although there were quite a few disciples within the Wulan Sect who were older and more powerful than Duanmu Ci, Duanmu Ci became the acting Sect Leader purely because Head Yang couldn't find anyone more reliable than Duanmu Ci. Those powerful disciples had surrendered to the Second Elder in the past, and even though they had reclaimed their status, that could not change the fact that they had once betrayed their Sect.

"Brother Xiao, we really owe you this time," Duanmu Ci looked at Xiao Han seriously and said, "If it weren't for you, our Wulan Sect might indeed have been in trouble."