Even Huayang was stunned at this moment.
He wasn't unprepared for a life-and-death struggle; being killed over a dispute regarding the Way was expected.
Huayang still remembered when he initially planned to send a life-saving magic treasure to Gu Wen—facing many elders of the Upper Pure Sect trying to stop him, he said,
"The Lord Emperor's power is mighty, and he controls Daqian; Gu Wen can be abandoned. Conversely, if Gu Wen achieves the Ninety-Nine Dao foundation, this venerable can be abandoned as well."
Then, his own master volunteered to take on the duty, sacrificing himself so he could turn danger into safety.
But gratitude did not offset debt, and merit did not offset enmity.
What Huayang hadn't expected was that Gu Wen would kill him under such a charge, which was so cursory it was practically sabotaging the authority of the Daoist Sect and breaking the laws established over eight hundred years.
