Chapter 4041: Brink Of Civil War

BAM!

The air inside Zhenyu’s grasp was compressed so violently that it exploded. The sound rolled across the Law Division grounds like a thunderclap. For the Wild Peak, it was clearer than any spoken command.

Their Peak had closed its fist.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" The response was immediate.

Hundreds of Wild Peak cultivators roared together and their restraint disappeared.

BOOM!

High Elder Shatter Peak’s aura erupted first.

His immense vitality surged from his body like flames, crimson light flooding the surrounding air. His muscles expanded and his already imposing body grew several inches taller as his body cultivation was released without suppression.

High Elder Palm Saber followed. Then another elder, then another as within seconds, the entire Wild Peak contingent transformed.

Their combined vitality became visible.

A crimson mist formed around them before rapidly thickening into something resembling a vast sea of blood-red energy. It rolled across the grounds in waves, carrying the oppressive weight of hundreds of powerful body cultivators releasing their strength together.

RUMBLE!

The earth trembled and several Law Division disciples stumbled backward.

"What the hell?"

"Are they actually doing this here?"

"They’ve entered Closed Fist!"

One of the younger Law Division elders immediately activated the surrounding defensive arrays. Formation barriers flickered into existence around the prison complex, yet the moment they encountered the collective pressure of the Wild Peak, their surfaces began rippling.

WENG!

WENG!

The arrays trembled and Daoist Bone Ruler’s face grew increasingly grim. He had seen Wild Peak enter Closed Fist before. He knew exactly what happened next... They would mobilize.

Every elder with investigative authority would begin hunting for Taegong. Every disciple capable of participating would be organized into groups. Every suspicious connection surrounding the Vault Division would be examined.

And if anyone resisted them aggressively, the Wild Peak would interpret that resistance according to its oldest traditions. Daoist Bone Ruler looked toward Zhenyu. The massive elder still stood in the center of everything with his fist closed.

His robes fluttered within the crimson storm while his white hair and beard flowed behind him. He had not shouted and he had not issued a long declaration. He had merely closed his hand.

Yet that single gesture had transformed an entire Peak.

Even Lin Mu felt something strange seeing it. For all his deception, this part was real. These people genuinely believed in their traditions. They had waited for someone with the authority to act, and now they had received permission.

The Law Division elders looked increasingly nervous.

One swallowed. "Division Head..."

"I know," Daoist Bone Ruler replied.

"If they start moving now..."

"I know."

"The Vault Division will respond."

"I know!"

"And if the other divisions take sides..."

Daoist Bone Ruler’s expression became ugly as that was the true danger.

A conflict between two elders could be controlled, but a conflict between divisions was much worse. And a conflict involving an entire Peak operating under an ancient emergency doctrine could spread throughout the Heavenly Stream Guardian Sect.

The crimson sea continued expanding and several Wild Peak elders had already begun discussing their first targets.

"We start with Taegong’s associates."

"Seal the routes leaving the Vault Division."

"Send people to every teleportation array."

"Find everyone who handled Little Bull’s imprisonment."

"Anyone who disappears today gets added to the list."

High Elder Shatter Peak cracked his knuckles. "I’ll take the Vault Division."

"No," High Elder Palm Saber immediately said. "Last time you took a Division, you destroyed three halls."

"They rebuilt them."

"That isn’t the point."

"Then they can rebuild them again."

Several Wild Peak disciples nodded as though this were perfectly sound reasoning but Daoist Bone Ruler’s eyelid twitched.

Then everything stopped...

WOOOOOM!

An immense pressure descended from the heavens. The crimson sea surrounding the Wild Peak cultivators suddenly sank several meters. High Elder Shatter Peak’s head snapped upward and Palm Saber’s expression changed.

Even Daoist Bone Ruler immediately became solemn.

Lin Mu’s brows furrowed. ’Strong.’

The pressure had arrived from an enormous distance, yet it still carried enough power to suppress hundreds of cultivators simultaneously. Before anyone could react further, another aura descended.

WOOM!

Then another.

WOOM!

And another.

WOOM!

Each was different.

One carried a vast and ancient heaviness. Another felt sharp enough to divide mountains. A third contained an overwhelming purity of Immortal Qi that made the surrounding formations hum in response.

The Wild Peak’s crimson aura was forced downward under their combined weight and even High Elder Shatter Peak stopped expanding his body.

"What now?" he muttered.

Daoist Bone Ruler looked toward the distant center of the Heavenly Stream Guardian Sect and his expression had become extremely serious.

Lin Mu followed his gaze. His spatial perception spread outward while his Immortal Sense reached as far as he could safely extend it. He traced the direction from which those immense auras had arrived.

It was past the surrounding division territories, past the great mountains and past countless halls, palaces, training grounds, and formations. All of them originated from the same place... The very heart of the Heavenly Stream Guardian Sect.

The Grand Hall.

Lin Mu’s eyes narrowed.

He had studied enough of the sect’s hierarchy during his time in the archives to understand what that meant. The disturbance had finally reached the people who truly stood at the top.

The Law Division elders had been one thing and Daoist Bone Ruler had been another. But the people within the Grand Hall represented an entirely different level of authority.

High Elder Shatter Peak looked toward Zhenyu. "So they’ve finally noticed us."

Zhenyu slowly lowered his fist and a faint smile appeared beneath his long white beard. "Good."

Daoist Bone Ruler immediately looked at him. There was something deeply concerning about the way the old man had said that word. Zhenyu’s eyes remained fixed upon the distant Grand Hall as the crushing auras continued rolling across the sect.

"If we’re going to settle this matter," he said calmly, "then it’s about time the people hiding in their grand halls came out and listened."

Daoist Bone Ruler closed his eyes for a moment. Somehow, he already missed the simpler part of his day when Zhenyu had merely been trying to crush him between a mountain and a tsunami.