Xiao Xuefeng literally descended from the sky. She was a 7th-grade Spirit Warrior, ready to break through to the 8th-grade in a matter of years. And she was unanimously recognized as the cultivator with the best spiritual senses. The current pinnacle of cultivation in the Hongchen Kingdom was 9th-grade Spirit Warrior. No one had been able to break through to the fourth realm since the ancient times, the period of Emperor Nuwa. Hence the current era was called the Forsaken Dao Era.
Thus, Xiao Xuefeng was one of the most powerful cultivators in the kingdom, and a genius alchemist at that. As such, her words were worth more than gold. When she descended from the sky, she really looked like a goddess coming to the mortal world.
"Chief Elder Bian, what is the meaning of this?" She did not raise her voice but everyone heard her as if she was close to their ears. There was a sense of authority in her every word.
Even Chief Elder Bian was almost ready to kowtow before her presence, but he controlled himself.
"Guest Elder Xiao, those are the internal matters of our Wubei Sect. While we appreciate your presence, please do not interfere with our laws. In our Wubei Sect, you have no authority on the way in which we mete out justice."
Despite his harsh words, Chief Elder Bian still kept his composure and cupped his fists with respect.
"What kind of law authorizes you to violate the soul of a boy with no evidence at all of his so-called crimes?! I brought Chen Guo here! If anyone wants to harm him, they'll have to go through me! Law or no law!"
Chief Elder Bian's irritation got the best of him. "Would the Golden FLowery Fragrance Institute accept for an outsider to dictate their own laws?! Do not think that our Wubei Sect is so easily bullied!"
Chief Elder Bian was trying to rile up the other chief elders against a common enemy. However, no one seemed to follow him in his indignation. After all, they were agreeing with Xiao Xuefeng on the matter. A Soul Memory Search was really going overboard.
"Brother Bian, calm down." Chief Elder Lümian from the soul and mind pavilion reacted. "What Miss Xiao is saying makes sense. The Soul Memory Search is extremely invasive and the risks are high. We should debate about it more thoroughly. At the very least, we should first listen to Instructor Meng. There is no need to rush to such extremes." As a specialist in the questions of soul and mind, she was well aware that this technique was a last resort. In fact, unless there were tremendous evidence against Cao Yun, she would probably not accept the use of it. But for now, she was just trying to find a peaceful way out.
Rapidly, other chief elders supported her. "Brother Bian, listen to Sister Lümian. Do not be hasty! Our disciple's life is at stake."
Chief Elder Lümian turned toward Xiao Xuefeng in the sky. "Senior Xiao, I understand your fury. But please, be assured that the Wubei Sect will never bully a junior without serious evidence against him. I think that Brother Bian got a little too surprised by your sudden arrival. I can give you my word that the trial will be fair. So please, Senior Xiao, do not interfere."
The majestic woman nodded and got down. She went to Mei Hua's side. "Chief Elders, I will show you respect." She talked while looking at the eight chief elders but not Chief Elder Bian. Then, when she finally looked at him, she added something else. "However, fairness must be adhered to."
Realizing that he had managed to rally all the chief elders against himself, Chief Elder Bian was even more adamant on convicting Cao Yun. Panicked, he tried to take back the control of the situation. "Instructor Meng is the personal teacher of Chen Guo. He already protected him several times. So I do believe that his words are not to be blindly trusted. However, I do recognize that he has some abilities. Brothers, Sisters, I did not intend to take such a heavy decision without a very careful debate. But I thought that Instructor Meng's arrival was rather cavalier." He looked at the instructor. "Meng Jia, please speak."
Instructor Meng walked to the middle of the platform and bowed before the chief elders. He then turned toward Xiao Xuefeng. "Thank you, Guest Elder Xiao."
From his spatial ring, the body of Luduo Bu appeared with a small table under him. His body was covered appropriately but it shocked the disciples. Before Chief Elder Bian could protest this macabre show, Instructor Meng talked.
"I conducted a thorough examination of Luduo Bu's body with the approval of the physician pavilion." Chief Elder Bian looked at Chief Elder Qinghe who simply nodded. Usually, only the disciplinary pavilion was allowed to examine the corpses of the disciples in order to mete out justice. However, there was no strict law on the matter. Even though Meng Jia was not a physician, he was a very talented alchemist. And as such, he was qualified to perform examinations on a corpse.
The disciplinary pavilion had tried to keep the body for as long as possible. According to the rules, unless the investigation was over, they could not neither bury nor burn it. But they still tried to keep it for themselves. Fortunately, the physician pavilion had put in a formal request to take it over. And they had won very recently. In fact, Meng Jia had used his connections within the physician pavilion to have access to the body. And for several days, he had been working on it.
"It is true that there is no apparent trace of demonic arts. However, there are several suspicious elements that can attest of their use. First of all, Luduo Bu's acupoints have all been forcefully opened with a tremendous force. Even after so much time, there are still traumatic marks on his acupoints. I even found traces of Evil Qi in many of them. It is true that someone could have attacked him from the outside. However, Chen Guo is only a Mortal, there is no way for him to perform such a feat."
While speaking, he showed various prominent acupoints who were still bruised or a little bit corroded. This was not apparent to the naked eye for most of them, but the chief elders were all Spirit Warriors. When Meng Jia showed them what they were supposed to look at, they clearly saw the signs. And they nodded as they were listening to him, proving that what he was saying made sense.
The whispers through the crowd resumed. This was not a decisive proof, but it did show that either Luduo Bu had opened his acupoints with Evil Qi or someone else had done it for him. And Cao Yun clearly was not a Mortal Warrior, he could not send his Qi in all the acupoints of someone. Only a Mortal Warrior who could control his Qi outside of his own body could do such a thing. So either another demonic cultivator who was a Mortal Warrior had done so or this Evil Qi came from within Luduo Bu himself. A Mortal could perfectly control his Qi within his own body.
"But that's not all! By using various mixtures, I was able to detect unbalances in the brain and the heart. It's sadly been too long, but the possibility of an inner demon having emerged is very likely."
This time Chief Elder Bian interrupted him. "This is just one possibility! My pavilion's examination concluded that the violent conditions of death could also have produced such a result. We have no proof concerning any inner demon. And even if he had formed one, sadly, even orthodox cultivators can succumb to it..."
"Indeed, Chief Elder. However, the wounds of Luduo Bu are extremely consistent with Chen Guo's account. I do believe that we should conduct a medical examination of Lu Meihan. After all, this procedure is way less invasive and dangerous than a Soul Memory Search. I propose that Chief Elder Qinghe himself does so."
On the side, Lu Meihan was beginning to be afraid. If a Spirit Warrior who specialized in medicine was to examine her, all her secrets would rapidly be exposed. The Life Essence Phoenix Balm was made from human blood. Cao Yun himself did not know that since it wasn't said in the manual, for obvious reasons. But with an expert physician, it wouldn't be hard to see through that fact. There were still traces of the balm in her meridians after all.
Chief Elder Bian interjected. "Lu Meihan is the victim here! Subjecting her to such an humiliation is absurd! You're just trying to protect your student!" All reason had left Chief Elder Bian. He did not even care about the truth anymore. In his mind, he had to convict Cao Yun no matter what, in order to uphold the dignity of the disciplinary pavilion and the laws of the Wubei Sect. As he had dug a hole for himself, he was going to keep digging to get out of it.
"I ask the chief elders not to fall victims to such words. All the findings Instructor Meng claims to have discovered could have been planted by him. He's a talented alchemist and Guest Elder Xiao could have even helped him." None of his words were touching anyone now. Seeing the looks he was receiving, thousands of possibilities crossed his mind. And he only found one way. "I'll show you all!"
All of a sudden, his hand was on Cao Yun's head. All the chief elders stood up in shock. He was going to perform a Soul Memory Search! In his despair, it made sense. As long as he exposed the truth from Cao Yun's mind, everything would be settled. He did not care about the consequences on Cao Yun's mind and he was going to be as fast as possible. In fact, he was ready to literally break his mind and extract the memories he needed.
"I'll show you that I was right!"
The moment he sent his spirit into Cao Yun's mind, a force blocked him. Chief Elder Bian was a late 5th-grade Spirit Warrior. It was impossible for Cao Yun to stop him from invading his mind even with the 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks' method. However, someone here was able of such a feat, Xiao Xuefeng.
As soon as Chief Elder Bian violated the rules, she had intervened. As the woman recognized with the most powerful spiritual senses, stopping his attempt was extremely easy. Chief Elder Bian saw a white crane appear in his mind. The bird flapped its wings and his spirit was sent back within his own mind. In the physical world, a powerful force sent his body backward and Xiao Xuefeng appeared between him and Cao Yun.
The boy was sweating as he had felt the touch of Chief Elder Bian in his mind. The old man had tried to break into his sea of consciousness and he had been so close to do so. Even though Cao Yun was not a demonic cultivator, he did have the Drop of Wrath within him. If Chief Elder Bian had exposed it, explaining things would have become more difficult.
All over the outer yard, Xiao Xuefeng's voice echoed.
"Chief Elder Bian, you've lost all reason! You dare attack someone under my protection?!"
Completely suppressed, Chief Elder Bian coughed a bit of blood. "You...! You would rebel against our Wubei Sect?!"
The other chief elders were conflicted. Chief Elder Bian had gone way too far, but Xiao Xuefeng was an outsider, so they couldn't let her attack him either. They were trying to think of ways to soothe them both, when Xiao Xuefeng acted. From her spatial ring, a cube of jade appeared. It was as big as a dozen of fists combined. Over the cube, there was a turtle carved in exquisite jade. And on the top of its shell, a single character engraved and lined with gold.
Once the cube left her spatial ring, a complete silence fell upon the entire outer yard. Everyone felt absolutely insignificant. Even people who were not near this trial felt this presence. All the chief elders recognized this object, it was the Seal of Authority of the Wubei Sect. Only the Sect Leader could own it. And he had the right to lend the seal to anyone. Having the Seal of Authority was considered as being the Sect Leader himself.
Chief Elder Bian and all the chief elders kowtowed instinctively before this seal.
"Chief Elder Bian presents his respects to the Sect Leader."
All the disciples understood the meaning of this and kowtowed as well.
The character on the turtle's shell shined and a giant golden character appeared in the sky. It was the character for 'Discipline'.
"Chief Elder Bian! You have lost your integrity! Unable to admit your mistakes, you blamed your error in Luduo Bu's case on Chen Guo. You failed to uphold true integrity! Blinded by your pride, you did not see the plot of demonic cultivators right under your nose. You failed to uphold true objectivity! Fueled by your fear of losing your reputation, you tried to hurt an innocent disciple. You failed to uphold true justice!"
With the Seal of Authority in her hands, Xiao Xuefeng's words were sent throughout the entire Wubei Sect, all the way to the manor of the Sect Leader.
"This Seal of Authority has been forged by Ancestor Wu himself when he founded the Wubei Sect. Do you admit to your sins before your forefather?"
Chief Elder Bian was still not ready to admit anything, but his mind was clearer now. He felt as though he had been in a trance. Pride and arrogance had completely blinded him. And he was now thinking less passionately. Slowly, he came to realize that what had been said during this trial made a lot of sense. He may have been mistaken over Cao Yun. But admitting this meant that he had to admit that he had tried to break the mind of an innocent disciple and he simply couldn't.
"Still unwilling to repent?!" Xiao Xuefeng's finger pointer at the disciplinary pavilion. All the characters engraved on it started to shine. They flew in the air and encircled Chief Elder Bian. Those were all the laws forged by Ancestor Wu ten thousand years ago. He had personally carved every single one of them.
"Then, can you swear on these very laws that bind you that your actions were righteous?"
Chief Elder Bian raised his head and saw golden and silver characters floating all around him. Ashamed, he lowered his head back to the ground.
"This unfilial one cannot."