“What, do you still want to duel with me?” Yun Zimo raised an eyebrow and let out a cold laugh: “I’m not the fourth elder. I won’t suppress my cultivation. To deal with someone like you who oppresses fellow disciples and is arrogant, even if I overwhelm you in terms of realm, I won’t feel ashamed!”
Yun Zimo’s strength is also at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, but he has more good things than Zhang Hanxiao. Zhang Hanxiao spends the spirit stones he earns immediately, while Yun Zimo saves them. Plus, he knows a bit about refining artifacts and setting up formations. Ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators would find him difficult to handle when they encounter him.
“Third Elder Brother, are you afraid?” Li Qingran looked steadily at Yun Zimo.
“You don’t need to provoke me, I won’t fall for it.” He took out his flying sword from his storage bag and focused his gaze on the plain string sword, continuing: “Your sword is very good, but I won’t suffer a loss because of weapons like the fourth elder. I have many more flying swords!”
However, Li Qingran did not respond but instead bowed respectfully to Sect Master Wu Duantian and said loudly: “Sect Master Wu, Bluecloud Sect advocates ‘only kindness should not be slandered, only evil should not be allowed to grow.’ Slandering others and colluding to frame fellow sect members is a serious offense, isn’t it?”
Wu Duantian was preoccupied with the medicine to repair his dantian. At this sudden question from Li Qingran, he was stunned for a moment before reacting: “Indeed, there is such a matter.”
“Li Qingran, what do you want to say?! There’s nowhere I’ve slandered you!” A flicker of panic flashed through Yun Zimo’s eyes that was barely noticeable.
But he thought that since he had handled this matter cleanly, denying it would suffice if questioned.
What evidence could Li Qingran possibly present?
Li Qingran glanced at Yun Zimo and continued asking Wu Duantian: “What punishment should be given?”
Wu Duantian narrowed his eyes, stroked his beard, and said: “For defamation, those with less severe circumstances will be warned by the Enforcement Hall and made to reflect on their actions. If they repeat the offense, they will be sent to the Reflection Cliff; for mutual collusion and harming fellow disciples, which is extremely serious, if found true, they should have their tongues pulled out, their eyes gouged out, molten iron poured into their ears, and no treatment allowed for a month as punishment!”
For cultivators, having their tongues pulled out, eyes gouged out, and molten iron poured into their ears is not an irreversible severe injury, but the pain brought is certainly not insignificant. Moreover, being unable to hear, speak, or see for a month, spending every day in darkness and silence, is no exaggeration to call it an extreme punishment.
Upon hearing this, Li Qingran bowed again: “The third direct disciple of Chixiao Peak, Yun Zimo, colluded with an outer gate elder to slander and persecute fellow disciples. As a prestigious sect, Bluecloud Sect surely wouldn’t ignore such matters, right?”
After these words were spoken, many people present changed their expressions. Although Li Qingran didn’t explicitly say it, everyone knew what she was implying.
On the surface, Yun Zimo appeared enraged, but the clenched fists betrayed the tension within. Wang Chuanhe, the outer gate elder, glared fiercely at Li Qingran, wishing to devour her alive. A few among the outer gate disciples looked away instinctively, retreating behind others.
“Damn brat, how dare you do such a thing?!” Qingxuan Daoist slammed the table and drew his sword, pointing it at Yun Zimo, his eyes blazing with anger. His black and white streaked long hair was blown by the oppressive aura emanating from his body, looking just like an enraged lion.
[Tsk, sit down!]
In the void, that spiritual awareness swept over again, carrying an undeniable meaning.
Qingxuan Daoist gritted his teeth, took three deep breaths, and only then put his sword away.
Since this mysterious cultivator had helped Li Qingran restore her dantian, he must be the one who refined the divine pill back then. Such an existence was at least on the verge of reaching the Unity Realm, someone he couldn’t provoke, and neither could all the elders present together unless Ancestor Qingyun emerged…
But Ancestor Qingyun was in seclusion to break through his bottleneck. Disturbing the old man recklessly wasn’t advisable.
So, endure.
Qingxuan Daoist tried his best to calm the anger in his heart.
Wu Duantian’s expression became serious. As the saying goes, if the people don’t report, the officials won’t investigate. If Li Qingran hadn’t mentioned it, he would never have known about this matter. But since Li Qingran had spoken, the situation became severe.
Under normal circumstances, considering Qingxuan Daoist’s face, he would choose to mediate or settle privately.
But today, Li Qingran had the backing of an old monster whose exact location was still unknown.
Would he dare to play mediator?
Moreover, this matter essentially was something for Chixiao Peak and Qingxuan Daoist to worry about.
Normally, Qingxuan Daoist didn’t take him, the sect master, seriously either.
Today was a good opportunity to teach Qingxuan Daoist a lesson and also show goodwill to the person behind Li Qingran.
He was also thinking about helping his direct disciple Zhao Lingtian restore his dantian!
“Yun Zimo, is what Li Qingran said true?” Wu Duantian stared coldly at Yun Zimo, locking him down with the energy of the late Soul Transformation stage.
Facing that hook-like gaze, Yun Zimo felt a chill down his spine. He knew the consequences of this matter being exposed, but stubbornly insisted that Li Qingran had no evidence, so he defiantly said: “Please enlighten the Sect Master. I have never done such a thing. It’s Li Qingran who is slandering!”
From Yun Zimo’s outwardly strong but inwardly weak demeanor, Wu Duantian already knew seven or eight parts of the truth. So he turned to Li Qingran: “As the Sect Master of Bluecloud Sect, if you were expelled from the sect because of this matter, I, the Sect Master, will naturally seek justice for you. However, everything requires evidence. Do you have any solid proof?”
Justice?
Li Qingran only felt it was laughable.
Is the justice Wu Duantian spoke of for her? No, it’s for the senior expert behind her.
Without the senior expert protecting her, she wouldn’t get anything today.
“I naturally have evidence. Before I was expelled from the sect, I found one of the involved disciples and offered him a thousand lower-grade spirit stones to reveal the mastermind behind the scenes. He thought I would soon no longer be part of Bluecloud Sect, plus the lure of spirit stones, so he told me everything. That disciple also asked me to swear to heaven not to disclose this matter, otherwise…”
Li Qingran’s gaze sharpened, raising her head to look directly at Wu Duantian and the group from Chixiao Peak.
Actually, she could have exposed Yun Zimo like this before being expelled. But back then, she still harbored a shred of fantasy, fantasizing about the bond among sectmates, fantasizing about the day they could reconcile and return to Chixiao Peak. It wasn’t until Zhang Hanxiao threw her into the broken hut that she realized – the people of Chixiao Peak were no longer worth her expectations.
[Senior, Qingran will not disappoint you!]
Her eyes dimmed slightly as she silently repeated in her mind.
With each word, the pain of the past poured out: “…otherwise, I shall suffer the torment of ten thousand swords piercing my heart!”
As soon as the words left her lips,
ZING——! A phantom sword pierced through her body from behind.
Li Qingran’s complexion suddenly turned ghastly pale, a stream of blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, dripping onto the ground with a ‘patter patter’ sound.
Her trembling hand rose, covering her chest through the phantom sword, her body swaying precariously, barely standing upright with the support of her sword in her right hand.
ZING ZING ZING——!
More swords fell from the void, piercing her body.
Intense pain gnawed at her nerves like countless insects.
“Ugh…”
Large amounts of blood spewed from her mouth, flowing out of her seven orifices, leaving shocking traces on the floor tiles.
Yet she remained silent.
A deathly silence enveloped the square in front of the Bluecloud Sect hall.
Everyone stared dumbfounded at this scene, their hearts trembling.
In less than two breaths of time, Li Qingran’s front and back were already filled with sharp swords, real and illusory, turning her into a living hedgehog! She seemed to be weighed down by the weight of the swords, her silver hair falling to the ground mixed with blood. Only kneeling on one knee could she keep her frail and weak body from collapsing.
Mysterious great Dao scriptures circulated around the blades.
Ten thousand swords piercing the heart.
The great Dao oath manifested under everyone’s watchful eyes.
···
···
