If word got out, Changyang would become the laughingstock of the entire cultivation world, and wouldn't all the female cultivators visiting the Beast Taming Sect feel unsafe?
Even more troublesome was Yun Qingrao's backing. While it couldn't shake the Beast Taming Sect's foundation, it was more than enough to suppress Changyang.
And with the Seven Peaks Sword Discourse approaching, it would be strange if the other Peak Lords didn't seize the opportunity to cause trouble. After Yuan Feng True Lord finished speaking, he flicked his sleeves and left, his dark Daoist robe forming a sharp arc as he headed towards the Law Enforcement Hall.
Han Ming Peak, however, was a different scene. The Immortal Maidens, who should have been cultivating in peace, all had their willow-like brows furrowed in anger, their flying black hair showcasing a valiant and heroic spirit. A few of the more fiery girls twisted their slender waists, their fingertips almost poking the noses of the Hu Ji Peak Disciples.
"Hypocrites!"
"Beasts in human clothing!" The curses rose and fell.
Men Shao led a few Martial Brothers, diligently serving tea, their teacups delivered faster than flying swords. When they heard the comment, "Though both are Changyang sword cultivators, their characters are worlds apart," a few young cultivators almost spilled the spiritual tea on their robes.
Qing Feng leaned against a spirit dog, watching the battle, scoffing at his Martial Brothers' eagerness. Although he knew that their cultivation of pure yang techniques inevitably led to restless qi and blood, to still be so infatuated with spring approaching summer was truly undignified.
"I have nothing to do with this!" Qi Lin's neck veins bulged, and the dark iron chains clanged as he struggled. How could this favored son of heaven have ever suffered such humiliation? In the past, wherever he went, there were flowers and beautiful women, but now he was publicly shamed.
The young Xuan maiden shook her 瓔珞 hair ties, her jade earrings glinting coldly in the sunlight: "Rats of the same den, why pretend to be noble!"
They were invited to bathe in the Nine Curves Pond, and at first, they indeed felt the spiritual spring was refreshing, but who knew it would turn into a trap?
If not for the Beast Taming Sect's reputation, they would have executed these scoundrels on the spot.
Qi Lin turned to the Law Enforcement Disciples for help, only to see them looking down at their noses, feigning indifference: "Esteemed guests from outside the Sect, we cannot interfere." The Beast Taming Sect was already in the wrong; if they acted rashly again, even the Law Enforcement Hall might be implicated and held accountable.
Light and shadow flowed before the mountain gate, and Qi Yuancheng arrived, breaking through the air on his natal artifact, his dark robes flapping in the strong winds. Seeing his father's figure, Qi Lin's throat choked up before he could speak, and his eyes already turned reddish. "Greetings, Chief." Elder Jizhou put the jade slip into his sleeve, and as he stood, the golden bells on his waist jingled softly. Yuan Feng True Lord nodded in return, his gaze sweeping over the kneeling Hu Ji Peak Disciples, and walked directly to the west side of the execution platform. Yuan Qing True Lord and Yun Qingrao sat side by side there, the bone-chilling coldness emanating from them even condensing a thin layer of frost on the green jade bricks.
The clear tap of the dark iron ruler on the table scattered the whispers. Elder Jizhou flicked an ice shard from his fingertip, unfurling a translucent scroll of crimes in the air: "Upon investigation, between the Frost Moon of the Bingyin year and the Awakening of Insects of the Dingmao year, Qi Lin and seven others from Hu Ji Peak, abusing their positions as Bixi officials, privately altered Sect mission assignments and accepted a total of over eight thousand six hundred spirit stones."
Qi Yuancheng's hand under his robe suddenly tightened, and the armrest of the thousand-year-old dark sandalwood chair silently cracked into a spiderweb pattern. Yuan Feng True Lord lightly waved his wide sleeve, dissolving the escaping pressure into the wind: "Article three of the penal code: For those who violate the prohibitions as Bixi, their inheritance mark shall be stripped."
"Chief, please be fair!" Qi Lin knelt forward a few steps, his waist jade pendant hitting the green bricks and shattering into three pieces, "This Disciple merely offered convenience to fellow Disciples, absolutely no..."
"Presumptuous!" Yuan Qing True Lord pointed his fingers like a sword, and the fierce sword qi sent the young man sprawling to the ground, "Do you think the Law Enforcement Hall's Heaven-Gazing Mirror is just for show? You privately released a demonic cultivator into the mountain last December; do you really think no one knows?"
Just as everyone held their breath, Lin Qian, who was kneeling at the very end, suddenly prostrated herself and wept bitterly.
The jade hairpin in the girl's hair fell, and her black hair was scattered over her plain white prison clothes: "Respected Martial Uncles, please hear me!"
Her raised face was covered in clear tears, and dark red ligature marks were faintly visible on her neck, "If not for Zhang Martial Brother threatening my mother's life, how would this Disciple dare..."
"Bitch, stop spouting nonsense." Zhang Gao, bound by dark iron chains, suddenly erupted, and the spirit-binding lock instantly dug into his flesh, "It was clearly you who actively offered the Joyous Union Sect's secret medicine, saying you wanted to..."
A sharp sword cry cut off the cursing. Qing Feng threw his sword in front of Lin Qian. The recording stone embedded in the sword hilt was glowing faintly, showing the depths of the bamboo forest half a month ago.
The exquisitely made-up girl smiled sweetly, stuffing a medicine bottle into Zhang Gao's hand: "Martial Brother, don't worry, once I become Martial Brother Lu's Dao companion, I will definitely help you secure the position of Hu Ji Peak's steward."
The moment the cold sword tip touched her throat, Lin Qian's fingertips trembled slightly. She looked up at Qing Feng's stern profile, her voice choked: "If my life can exchange for Martial Brother's pity to save my mother."
"Since you've already admitted your grave sins, why not end your own life?" Qing Feng scoffed, arms crossed, his gaze sweeping over the mottled bloodstains on the Law Enforcement Hall's bluestone ground, "This execution ground has drunk countless blood; it won't miss your three-inch sword tip."
In the flickering light of the bronze lamp, the Law Enforcement Disciples exchanged hesitant glances.
According to the law, the Hall of Punishment should carry out the judgment, but Yuan Qing and Yuan Feng True Lord, who were seated, remained with their eyes closed, concentrating. Yun Qingrao's fingertips under her wide sleeves had just gathered spiritual light, but she was forced back by Han Su Fairy's sharp gaze.
"Do it!" Qing Feng suddenly roared, startling Lin Qian, who dropped her sword with a clang. He bent down to pick up the hilt, and the Yixian Palace tassel and 瓔珞 on the sword tassel rustled:
"Last month, you sent Zhang Gao fifteen secret letters; ten complained that I hindered your path to immortality, and five flattered Qi Lin seeking protection. Is this what you call being forced?"
The candles in the Hall of Punishment suddenly sparked, making Lin Qian's face as pale as paper. Qing Feng's sword tip lightly touched the jade pendant on her waist: "You're pitiful, so I should be wrongly imprisoned? My parents should be shamed in the afterlife? The Immortal Maidens of Yixian Palace should almost be defiled?"
Yun Qingrao suddenly stood up, a hint of killing intent emerging amidst the clinking of her Nine Heavens Ring Pendant: "A Qi Refinement ninth-layer cultivator's lifespan is no more than a hundred years; it would be better to imprison her in the Cold Pond Cave for life."
"Good." Yuan Qing True Lord finally spoke, his dark iron token clanging as it hit the ground, "Escort her immediately."
As the Law Enforcement Disciples seized Lin Qian's arms, Qing Feng suddenly chuckled: "Oh, by the way, your mother was rescued by the Medicine King Valley three days ago." Looking at the suddenly stiffened woman, he lightly flicked his sword, cutting off the blood-stained sword tassel.
"Qing Feng, I won't let you go even as a ghost!"
Lin Qian screamed, her eyes bloodshot, squeezing curses through gritted teeth as she heard the verdict. "Then I wish you an early reincarnation into a good life."
Qing Feng dusted off his robe and turned to leave, facing the complex gazes of the crowd. This woman, who had painstakingly plotted to destroy his foundation and secretly used malicious curses to try and make him lose all his luck, could now live to enter the Cold Pond, which he considered merciful.
As the dark iron chains of the Law Enforcement Hall wrapped around Zhang Gao and the others, Qi Yuancheng's face on the execution platform was ashen, like the Cold Pond.
In just three short years, seven of his direct Disciples had been successively imprisoned in the Cold Pond, and even his most valued eldest son had his Bixi guardian silver scales stripped away.
At this moment, the clanging of chains echoing in the hall, each sound was like a slap to his face. "Martial Brothers, please excuse me, this Chief has important matters..."
"Wait."
Yun Qingrao lightly raised her fair hand, and a three-Zhang ice wall instantly condensed before the hall. This Chief Sword Envoy of Yixian Palace did not move her black hair, but nine layers of sword shadows faintly appeared around her, blocking all of Qi Yuancheng's escape routes.
"Yun, little friend, are you going to spar with this Chief?" Qi Yuancheng laughed in extreme anger, his sword Dragon's Cry unsheathing, "Don't think that just because you've slain a few demonic cultivators in the South Sea, you can act wild in the Beast Taming Sect!"