323 Su Mo Reaches Dharma

"Check this person," Zhou Donghuang said flatly.

"If he is clean, then don't touch him... but if he has done anything bad at all, strip him of his power and chase him out of the sect."

Although he had the authority to kill or save anyone in the Donghuang Sect with just a single word, Zhou Donghuang had no intention to do that.

For a sect to become stronger and united, it had to be as fair and as equal as possible.

As the Sect Leader, he had to lead by example, and not abuse his authority.

That way, he could then convince the rest of the sect to follow these practices.

"Yes."

Freezing Wind heeded the order respectfully, then quickly ordered Zhou Han and Zhou Feng to investigate Fang Kunli.

In the arena down below, the group of outer sect disciples heard Zhou Donghuang's words and knew immediately that Fang Kunli, the inner sect elder, was done for because he definitely had a history of abusing his authority.

At the same time, in Zhou Donghuang's eyes, they saw nothing but fury.

Even now, they could hardly believe what had happened.

The young man that was standing so close to them was in fact the mysterious leader of the Donghuang Sect that nobody had ever seen before. He was the most powerful person on the Ziyun planet!

"No wonder I thought he looked a little familiar just now... now that I think of it, he looks exactly the same as the statue in the square in the capital of the Donghuang Empire, but that the statue does not feel human at all, so I did not see the resemblance right away," laughed one of the outer sect disciples.

"Now that you mention it, I remember that statue too... although it resembles our Sect Leader, it looks nowhere near as majestic and fearsome as our Sect Leader himself."

"Majesty is not something that can be carved out of stone."

"In the few years since the Donghuang Sect was established, I have never heard of anyone seeing the Sect Leader himself... in fact, some people even said that Sect Leader had left the Ziyun planet. Who would have thought that he would appear here after a few years?"

...

Now, the group of outer sect disciples who were staring at the figure floating in mid-air finally understood why this man did not have an identity crest on him.

Why this man said that he was not a guest of the Donghuang Sect.

Why this man said that he was neither an inner sect disciple nor a core disciple of the Donghuang Sect...

In fact, he was the mysterious Donghuang Sect Leader who nobody had ever seen before. He was the faith of the Donghuang Empire itself!

Although their Sect Leader had never shown himself in the last few years, the legends that he created had never been surpassed.

"Zhou Donghuang..."

Hong Yunfei sat on the ground in shock as he looked at the figure in the sky, feeling as if his entire body was frozen cold.

Will he bother dealing with me?

Hong Yunfei was anxious.

It was only when Zhou Donghuang disappeared into thin air that Hong Yunfei finally heaved a sigh of relief.

"That's right... for someone of his level, if he were to bother dealing with our dispute, that would be unbecoming of his status.

Furthermore, although he had recognized me just now, he did not seem to harbor any hatred towards me. Perhaps he did not mean to deal with me in the first place."

As he thought of this, Hong Yunfei heaved a heavy sigh of relief.

At the same time, he could not help but laugh sadly. "To think that a few years ago, before I planned on joining the Donghuang Sect, I had wanted to look for him to thank him for killing Chen Dandan and for indirectly helping me get revenge.

And now, I do not even have the courage to meet him... much less thank him."

After taking in a deep breath, Hong Yunfei then relaxed his body that had originally frozen in fright. Then, he shakily tried to stand up.

"Senior Yunfei."

Xiao Yong, who had finally turned his gaze away from the spot Zhou Donghuang had disappeared from, finally regained his senses, and he rushed to Hong Yunfei's side to support him.

At the same time, he could not help but ask curiously, "Senior Yunfei, Sect Leader... seems to recognize you?

"You were also from the Yunfeng prefecture that Sect Leader came from in his youth... could it be that the two of you knew each other before?"

Xiao Yong was extremely curious about this.

Many other outer sect disciples in the surroundings now looked at Hong Yunfei with surprise.

Faced with the question from Xiao Yong, Hong Yunfei could only smile sadly.

Although that was not considered a huge secret, he still did not dare reveal it.

The leader of the Donghuang Sect clearly did not intend to deal with him regarding the matter of their past... however, other people may not be the same.

Some people could easily deal with him and kill him just to suck up to the Sect Leader.

He did not wish to be a target for anybody.

...

Zhou Donghuang's return to Ziyun planet came five years after he had last left the planet.

That period could not be considered long in the eyes of any successful adepts in the universe.

However, in the Ziyun planet, this was no short period of time.

For almost five years, the Ziyun planet was peaceful.

Of course, amidst the peace, the Donghuang Sect had also emerged from being beneath the Valley of the Medicine Masters to become powerful enough to stand alongside the premier sects of the Ziyun planet.

Before Zhou Donghuang had left the Ziyun planet, the previous head of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Su Mo, became the Deputy Sect Leader of the Donghuang Sect. He represented Zhou Donghuang in handling all the affairs of the Donghuang Sect, no matter how small.

Later, after Su Mo had taken care of most of the matters in the Donghuang Sect, law and order in the Donghuang Sect were becoming more powerful with each passing day. Su Mo then left and handed the Donghuang Sect to Freezing Wind after seeking the permission of Zhou Donghuang's mother, Lin Lan.

Su Mo himself had shut himself behind closed doors to train. He was trying to reach the Dharma stage. He knew that he had the heavy responsibility of protecting the Donghuang Sect.

In the Donghuang Sect, the most powerful person was Su Mo.

The fact that Zhou Donghuang had left the Ziyun planet had been kept secret by the Donghuang Sect. They did not share the news and did not dare to do so. They were afraid that the other premier sects on the Ziyun planet would have ill intentions towards the Donghuang Sect if they were aware that Zhou Donghuang was not present to protect it.

After all, the fortune that the Donghuang Sect had was a great temptation for the other sects.

The Donghuang Peak that the Donghuang Sect was based at contained a formation that was left behind by Zhou Donghuang. Even though that could protect the sect, the moment the spirit stones that supported the formation were exhausted, the formation would become useless.

The Donghuang Sect needed someone strong enough to be able to protect it.

In such circumstances, Su Mo felt immense pressure. After handing the Donghuang Sect over to Freezing Wind, he shut himself behind closed doors to train and rarely appeared before anyone.

In fact, among those who had entered the Donghuang Sect later, many did not even know of Su Mo, the previous Deputy Sect Leader.

Su Mo seemed to have vanished for most people.

"Just one more step."

One a cliff on the Donghuang Peak, there was a cave that had been opened by someone. This was the site where Su Mo had been practicing.

Now, a white figure had appeared quietly at the mouth of the cave, and he looked calmly at the middle-aged man sitting cross-legged on a platform.

The white figure was none other than Zhou Donghuang.

Zhou Donghuang could sense that Su Mo's level of skill was now trapped at the final step of the ultimate Primal Core stage.

Furthermore, he had been stuck there for a long time.

Whoosh!

With a wave of his hand, Zhou Donghuang retrieved an elixir from the space ring in his hands. With a flick of his fingers, the elixir flew out and landed in Su Mo's mouth, entering his body.

Just as Su Mo felt the elixir entering his body, his body trembled slightly, and his eyes opened slightly. Zhou Donghuang spoke up, "Focus entirely on practicing, continue using the Thousand-Star Sword Technique, I will help you out!"

"Master?"

From the voice alone, Su Mo could tell who was speaking to him. It was none other than his master who had left the Ziyun planet almost five years ago.

His master was back!

Su Mo felt a wave of emotion.

However, he felt a gush of energy enter his body and start working the inner Yuan within him. Immediately, he calmed himself down and began practicing the Thousand-Star Sword Technique again with all his energy.

After the inner Yuan cycled once throughout his body, Su Mo tried to break through the final step of the ultimate Primal Core stage once again.

In the past, he had tried to break through this stage countless times but had failed each time.

He even had a fear of it. But now, with the help of his master, he no longer had any fears but was filled with overwhelming confidence instead.

Boom!!

As his inner Yuan broke through the final bottleneck, even though Su Mo had mentally prepared himself, he still could not help but feel ecstatic.

He had finally broken through!

He, Su Mo, had finally reached the Dharma stage!

"Much thanks to Master."

Ignoring the tumultuous inner Yuan within his body at that moment, Su Mo opened his eyes instantly and stood up to thank Zhou Donghuang.

However, with just his hand, Zhou Donghuang pressed down on his shoulder like a mountain, and forced him back down. "Continue to focus on your practice. The elixir that I gave you still has a lot of effect, and it will be enough to allow you to lay the foundations of the early Dharma stage. I will help you."

For the next two days, Zhou Donghuang stayed by Su Mo's side and helped him solidify the foundations of the early Dharma stage that he had just reached.

After two days, Su Mo had laid the solid foundations for the early Dharma stage, and when he opened his eyes again, his face was filled with immense emotion.

"Thank you, Master."

Su Mo fell to his knees and thanked the white figure who was standing at the mouth of the cave with his hands behind his back. His tone was filled with immense gratitude.

Zhou Donghuang stood at the mouth of the cave at the side of the cliff and stared out at the white clouds.

"It has been hard on you these past few years."

Zhou Donghuang turned around and looked at Su Mo. With a wave of his hands, an invisible force lifted Su Mo up to his feet.

"Not at all, not at all."

Feeling this invisible force that he couldn't resist, Su Mo was immensely shocked.

He believed that now he had reached the Dharma stage, even if he was not on par with his master, he was definitely closer to him than before.

But now, he realized that that had been wishful thinking on his part.

In less than five years, when he now faced his master again, he felt like a dwarf standing in front of a giant.

This was not how he had felt five years ago.

"Master, you... what stage are you at now?" Su Mo could not help but ask.

He really wanted to know...if there was a mistake in his judgement or if he was right.

"Ultimate Primordial Soul stage."

Zhou Donghuang's voice was unbelievably calm.