"Hall Head, we have brought the suspect."
Cain was thrown before an elder sitting behind a podium.
"Good, we will start the hearing immediately; notify everyone required."
"Yes, Head."
The disciple forced Cain down into a chair and took out cuffs, placing them on his wrists. After he was done, he bowed and left.
'I can't move my spiritual energy... it's like it's frozen inside my body.'
The only way for Cain to get out of this situation was to play their game.
Soon, people filled into the courtroom. This not only included many of the disciples who saw the fight but also people on duty during the murder.
"Now, since everyone's here. Cain, the head disciple of Origin Peak, how do you plead to the murder of outer disciple, Qin Zemin?"
"Not guilty," Cain replied seriously.
The Elder narrowed his eyes, picked up a jade, and read its contents using his qi before setting it back down.
"Begin prosecution."
Just as the trial was going to start, the doors to the courtroom opened, and a young man holding a sword close to his chest walked in with a frown.
The Hall Head became infuriated, "Elder Fang, you dare interrupt an ongoing trial?!"
"There is no need for this; my disciple is innocent."
From behind Fang Yuan, two more people entered through the door. It was Grand Elder Moon with Elder Dai Tian following behind.
Elder Moon spoke, "Maybe not, Elder Fang. We need absolute confidence that your disciple didn't kill Qin Zemin."
"Grand Elder." Everyone bowed and showed courtesy, even Cain.
Lady Moon turned to Cain, "Boy, did you kill him?" Her eyes shined with a strange light that made him feel constricted and bound.
He couldn't help but answer truthfully. "I did not."
"Where were you before?" She questioned.
"In the mountains with Zhao Long, my friend."
The Grand Elder's brows furrowed. "Where is this companion of yours?"
Cain tried to hold back, but his words just flowed out of his mouth, "He's dead."
Shocked gasps filled the court. Lady Moon narrowed her eyes. "What happened?"
Cain tried his hardest to lie, but at the last second his eyes bulged, using all of his mental energy to say, "We were exploring a cave for.... an inheritance.....but we were attacked. In the end, a cave collapsed, and he died in my arms. I ran back to the sect to report it, but I was arrested by the disciplinary disciples."
Cain's words were forced like he was trying to hold back. But he didn't lie, only twisted the truth. Yet the result was an almost believable truth.
Thinking for a moment, Grand Elder Moon looked at a few disciplinary disciples.
"Go check if this is true." She looked at Cain, "Give them the location."
It seemed Cain's resistance was accepted. Luckily his stuttering and strange tone made everything even more believable, for now.
...
Cain sat in the courtroom waiting. He was very stressed; all the pressures from the big shots in the room alone were worse than that gravity array he had to go through. Even the other disciples were starting to sweat at the tension.
Finally, the doors opened, and two disciples brought a ragged and weak cultivator forward.
Cain knew who this person was. 'He lived?'
The cultivator immediately scanned the room and found Cain. He suddenly screamed, "You! Where is your friend? I'll kill both of you!"
He was quickly knocked unconscious.
"What did you find?" It was obvious Lady Moon was somewhat angry.
The disciple shivered and reported to the Grand Elder.
"Just him, my lady; the cave was a mess. We could only find this survivor because he was digging himself out."
Fang Yuan grinned, "See, he isn't the killer. Now, can I take my disciple?"
Moon scoffed, "Elder, please. There is still another disciple who has been murdered."
At this moment another stepped forward, "If I may. This boy has been in the Library under my watch during the time you said that Outer Disciple was murdered. He in no way could have killed him."
"Elder Li...." Lady Moon couldn't help but frown.
"Good Good! See, my disciple isn't a part of this! Continue investigating, but I will be taking my disciple back now!" Fang Yuan laughed as he took Cain and walked out.
But as they neared the door, Lady Moon's icy voice gave a warning, "He must stay in the sect for 2 weeks first. We still have to search the mountain to find Zhao Long's body."
"Of course, Grand Elder." Fang Yuan shot an annoyed glance at her before disappearing with Cain in hand.
Grand Elder Moon silently sneered, "Not even my disciple wishes to convey what this disciple's secrets are.... All evidence shows he has some evil nature; I must get evidence of the murder...."
...
Cain was brought back to Origin Mountain Peak.
"You did good, Disciple. I apologize; it seems the Grand Elder doesn't have a good impression of you. At least I got there in time." Fang Yuan patted his disciple's head.
"It's fine Master. I'm tired, so I will be going to sleep." Cain was quick to go into a retreat.
"Ah, okay. I must return to the sect; I'll be back tomorrow. Remember, don't leave the sect under any circumstances."
Fang Yuan once more disappeared, and Cain was left alone. He stared at the mountain for a bit before entering his shared house with his master and finding his two weapons underneath his bed.
(Good. Now we must return to the forge!)
Cain was vigilant. "Should we? Can't it wait?"
(Of course not! We must make sure nothing is taken. You're lucky we didn't bring anything back; otherwise, we would have been caught when they searched us.)
"We were lucky." He agreed, if he decided to bring anything back it would have certainly been found. This time luck played a major factor in Cain's eyes.
The inner voice became low and barely audible, Cain heard nothing. (Yes....luck.)
...
Sneakily leaving the mountain peak and leaving the sect without being caught, Cain went back and entered the cave once again.
He hid his tracks and stepped inside.
Once again, he was in the hall of weapons and armor; looking down, he saw Zhao Long's corpse.
(You can't bring him out of here; if he's found, we're dead meat. Leave him with his ancestor.)
"I know...."
Cain moved Zhao Long's body, placed him beside the 9 Locks Master, and burned some incense he brought.
"Zhao....please forgive me..."
Cain stood up and began to explore the forge while reading the 9 Locks Schematic.
(There are no materials here; it seems they were all used, and there is a pile of failed products behind the smelter. At least there are some secondary ingredients left....but there are only enough for one product.)
Cain listened to the inner voice while he opened up an ancient door. On the other side was complete darkness, and in the darkness, tiny gray apparitions floated.
"The evolving spirits..."
(They seem accustomed to the darkness. Quickly, capture a few and then reseal the room.)
Cain did as he was told; he used his spiritual energy and encased a few spirits in them, then directed them to his other half for storage.
(Good, we got 2 tier 3's, 1 tier four, and 1 tier 5! We should use one of the tier three's; the sword will grow anyway, and it will be better to use a spirit that ends up growing with the sword.)
Saying nothing, Cain moved to the forge and set everything in place. He then spent the next few hours memorizing the journal and all the information inside it.
"This is an unparalleled schematic; who would have thought of unsealing their own weapon? This is only applicable thanks to the existence of the evolving spirit; any other spirit would just make this schematic subpar.
"But imagine if the large Sects find this..."
(Enough talking; let us start the process. Forging will take a long time, which we don't have. We only have one shot and need to be in the perfect mindset. Not to mention, neither of us have forged anything before. We are relying on luck and control.)
(For starters, let's practice, then return and find the optimal time to forge the weapon. Oh, leave the weapons behind, they might get confiscated, we're still under investigation technically.)
"You.... want to take this slow?" Cain was bewildered. They have always done things and thrown caution out the window.
(I just want this to succeed; without experience, we're doomed to fail in making a new form for my weapons.)
(For now, just go through the steps without using any materials, then we'll leave and return. Seal the cave when we leave. Lay traps too.)
'Oh...so it's "Your Weapons" I should have guessed....'
Cain frowned, but in the end, he said just what the inner voice wanted to hear, "Fine, I'll do as you say."
...
Half a week passed. Cain would return to the sect and then sneak out to the hidden hideout when possible. He had ingrained the process of forging a weapon into his mind and body and even began practicing with lower-quality materials he bought from the sect.
Finally, he was ready.
"Are you sure you want to forge the Yurombi and Warhammer together? They'll be gone forever, you know."
(Not gone, just in another form.) The inner voice was solemn but determined.
Cain continued to nag, "Are you sure the materials are good enough?"
(Fret not; with the presence of the home core and the weapons originally being of the highest grade, even in this territory, there aren't many materials to match them. We even got some rainbow stones as a supplementary ingredient; nothing will go wrong.)
"I hope so."
Ready, Cain started the forge and began the creation of a new weapon, one he would take many lives with.