Chapter Fifty-Seven

How was that possible?

The Hundred Immortal Sects erupted into an uproar. A Heavenly Dao marriage contract could be dissolved?

"Impossible! Tiānjī Sect's knowledge encompasses nearly every piece of intelligence in the Three Realms, and this is the first time Hè has ever heard of a Heavenly Dao marriage contract being dissolved!" Hè Tíng denied it without a second's thought. He seemed to find the very idea utterly absurd, and couldn't help but let out a couple of cold snorts. He simply didn't believe a word Chú Róng said.

The Hundred Immortal Sects, coming back to their senses, exchanged looks of dawning realisation. Right — Sect Master Hè's network covered the entire world, and even Tiānjī Sect had no record of a way to dissolve a Heavenly Dao marriage contract. How could a mere mortal like Chú Róng possibly know how to do it?

Only Péi Zhàn thought of the scene he had seen in the memories of the demonic spy — that Chú Róng had known even something as hidden as the existence of a teleportation array in the secret realm. Knowing how to dissolve a Heavenly Dao marriage contract didn't seem entirely impossible for him.

"If you all don't believe me." Chú Róng had known in advance that these people would not believe him, and so he made no further attempt to explain. Instead he raised his long, dense-lashed eyes and looked directly at Lian Ci, who was outside the restriction seal. The light in his eyes shifted and flowed, and the corner of his lips curved upward, a smile that was not quite a smile.

Lian Ci's heart gave a violent lurch. The ominous premonition inside him surged sharply upward again. In his constricting pupils, he saw the young man extend one jade-white finger and point, slowly as if in a dream, toward Cen Yan lying on the ground in near-unconscious agony: "You may as well—"

The expression on Lian Ci's imposing face changed violently. He threw himself over Cen Yan's body, glaring at Chú Róng in fury, wishing he could cut him to pieces: "You dare!!"

A Heavenly Dao marriage contract was sealed upon the souls of both parties. No outsider could see it. The only way to know whether the contract had been dissolved was to test it openly.

As for the method of testing — once a Heavenly Dao oath was formed, if one party died, the other would be dragged down with them.

Cen Yan's realm had already been shattered. Another blow would strike at his foundation — and once the foundation was damaged, there might truly be no recovering from it. Cen Yan would sink to become a second Xú Zǐyáng, the second cripple of Qingyang Heavenly Sect.

Lian Ci ground his teeth. The depths of his eyes, crimson as blood, were filled with frightening malice: "Chú Róng, how can your heart be so vicious! Yan'er has never wronged you in any way, and yet even now that his cultivation has been reduced to nothing, you still refuse to let him go! You have committed evil beyond counting. Delivering you to face judgment was the right thing to do. All of this is nothing but the consequence of your own actions. I only regret that I didn't manage to kill—"

His words were not yet finished when a tremendous blast of spiritual force struck him square in the chest. Lian Ci's vision went black, and his body was sent flying beyond his own control!

"Sect Master!!" The people of Qingyang Heavenly Sect cried out in alarm, their faces twisted with urgency — yet under the crushing weight of the pressure, none of them could move.

Blood continued to pour from his mouth. Lian Ci's hair was in disarray and the hem of his robes was smeared with mud. He lay on the ground for a long time without moving.

When Hè Míng and the others had begun to fear the worst for him, Lian Ci dug his ten fingers into the earth, and with enormous effort, pushed himself to a sitting position. The moment he raised his head, he was met with a pair of eyes filled to the brim with ice.

Ning Yuan stood at Chú Róng's side. His tall, imposing frame was like an unconquerable snow-capped mountain — dense, crushing pressure emanating from him. Though he said nothing, his stance spoke his position without a single word.

Lian Ci's heart gave a fierce tremor, and he no longer dared say a word out of turn.

He deeply regretted it. If he had known this day would come, four months ago, when Cen Yan brought Chú Róng to the main hall to confess, he should have had Chú Róng forcibly locked away — whether Chú Róng was guilty or not.

But now, no matter what was said, it was too late. With the Immortal Venerable firmly set on protecting Chú Róng, no matter how many people they had, there was nothing any of them could do to Chú Róng.

Lian Ci could only accept defeat. He hunched over, coughing up more blood, his voice feeble and hollow. Swallowing his humiliation and lowering himself, he pleaded with Chú Róng for terms: "Say it then. What will it take for you to let Yan'er go?"

Whatever happened, Cen Yan's foundation could not be harmed.

Chú Róng tilted a brow slightly. His next words hadn't even been said yet, and Lian Ci was already jumping headfirst into his trap on his own?

Chú Róng had only intended to bluff Lian Ci. He hadn't really planned to do anything to Cen Yan — after all, when he tallied it up honestly, he and Cen Yan had no deep-seated enmity, and he hadn't reached the point of truly wanting Cen Yan's life.

As it happened, Lian Ci's reaction was more forthcoming than Chú Róng had expected. But it had to be said — what Lian Ci had just said suited Chú Róng's purposes perfectly.

Chú Róng saw no need to dance around it. His lips parted, and he went straight to the point: "I want you to prove my innocence before everyone."

"You want me to — prove your innocence??" Lian Ci looked up at Chú Róng with a jolt, hardly able to believe what he was hearing.

The deeds Chú Róng had committed — one by one — this was the first he was learning of them himself. What was he supposed to use to prove his innocence? If there was truly anything to prove, it should be Chú Róng himself who did the proving.

Of course, now that things had blown up to this scale, Lian Ci didn't believe for a moment that Chú Róng could escape again the way he had four months ago.

"Then what?" Chú Róng seemed utterly unbothered by how outrageous what he was saying sounded: "Sect Master Lian, don't play dumb."

Tiānjī Sect's intelligence network was impressive, yes. But the original host's deeds had been put to rest four months ago. With the Hundred Immortal Sects gathered at Qingyang Heavenly Sect and people everywhere, Lian Ci would never in a thousand years allow any sect disciple to bring up that matter and bring shame upon the sect.

So how had these people come to learn of what the original host had done outside the sect?

The answer was simple. Someone had deliberately leaked the information. The evidence that had previously been used to accuse the original host was known only to those within Qingyang Heavenly Sect — and the leads pointing to incidents outside the sect were also known only to those inside the sect.

Lian Ci was, after all, the head of a sect — his experience and perspective were vast. He grasped it almost the instant it was pointed out to him. His palms clenched tight, and the fury in his chest rose sharply, degree by degree.

How dare they!

How absolutely dare they!

His sect had suffered this calamity and lost two Golden Core disciples, all because someone within the sect's own walls had been feeding information to outsiders!

"Sect Master Lian, I'm sure you haven't forgotten what happened four months ago." Seeing that Lian Ci had understood, the smile at the corner of Chú Róng's lips grew more and more meaningful: "Sect Master Lian, if even the source of the information was fabricated — can it still be called real?"

The original host's crimes had all been overturned four months ago. Every piece of evidence Cen Yan had submitted had been reduced to so much worthless paper. Evidence derived from false information gathered via false leads — what credibility could it possibly have?

These people had used their evidence to press him down with their superior position and bully him as a mortal, hadn't they? Fine. He would pull the rug right out from under them — and make all their evidence worthless!

Lian Ci narrowed his eyes slightly. His voice was a little unsteady, but each word was enunciated with perfect clarity: "Of course. It cannot."

What did that mean?

The people of the Hundred Immortal Sects exchanged bewildered looks, utterly lost in the riddle. What were these two talking in circles about?

The uneasy feeling inside Hè Tíng grew more and more acute. He couldn't shake the sense that something had slipped out of his control.

No.

It couldn't be.

What sort of waves could a mere mortal kick up?

Hè Tíng tightened his grip imperceptibly, suppressing the anxiety rising inside him. He cleared his throat and was just about to speak — when Lian Ci opened his mouth first: "I can prove that the matter for which you have all brought charges against Chú Róng has nothing to do with him. Chú Róng is entirely innocent!"

What?!

Everyone outside Wusong Lodge stared wide-eyed at Lian Ci, utterly dumbfounded.

Even in Ning Yuan's deep, unreadable eyes, a flash of surprise passed through them. With just a few short sentences, Chú Róng had actually made Lian Ci switch sides?

"Nonsense!" Duan Lěng clutched his chest, his face flushed red with rage: "So much evidence, black on white, clear as day — every single point pointing to Chú Róng. How could he possibly be innocent?"

Did they all think they were blind and illiterate?!

"Friend Duan, please calm yourself. I say this because I have grounds." Lian Ci spoke while coughing, then flipped his hand and drew from his sleeve a transparent, perfectly round bead: "Does everyone recognise what this is?"

The Hundred Immortal Sects all possessed one of these. How could they not?

"A Truth Bead." Duan Lěng replied impatiently: "Sect Master Lian, what exactly are you trying to do?"

Lian Ci seemed not to hear Duan Lěng's words, and calmly proceeded to recount what had happened four months ago, one event at a time: "In your opinion — which is more to be trusted? A Truth Bead, or a few sheets of paper?"

As cultivators, of course they would trust the Truth Bead above all else.

The Hundred Immortal Sects fell silent. They had never known that such a thing had happened at Qingyang Heavenly Sect four months ago. If the accusation was fabricated, and the charge was fabricated — did that not mean that every piece of evidence in their hands had been false from the very beginning?

Hè Tíng's complexion turned a livid iron-grey. Why hadn't Xú Zǐyáng told him something so important?

Péi Zhàn's golden pupils contracted sharply. Yes — how had he forgotten about the Truth Bead? Though he had not personally witnessed the scene of Chú Róng using the Truth Bead to prove his innocence, he had heard about it from the sect's disciples.

The Truth Bead had declared Chú Róng innocent. That made him innocent. These people had no grounds to take Chú Róng away.

And Chú Róng had also dissolved his marriage contract with Cen Yan… the thick, dark tide flowing through the depths of Péi Zhàn's eyes surged. He gazed at Chú Róng's devastating face with eyes that were dark and unreadable. Truly, every cloud had a silver lining.

Chú Róng had always been destined to belong to him — to be locked inside his Dragon Scale Jade Pendant for the rest of his life.

An unusual trace of bewilderment appeared on Nán Xíngyě's otherwise supremely handsome face. Chú Róng had been innocent all along? In that case… not bad at all. He could bring Chú Róng back to Qīngxū Sect without any obstacles.

If the Immortal Venerable did not permit it, he would slip around the Immortal Venerable first, form a marriage contract with Chú Róng in secret, and present the Immortal Venerable with a fait accompli that he could do nothing about.

Jīng Héng's pale lips pressed together slightly, and the shadowed colour in his cold, hollow eyes grew denser. Since Chú Róng was innocent, things were even simpler — he would just take Chú Róng away directly.

Henceforth, Chú Róng would keep him company in Yúnyǐn Valley. With his skills in medicine, he could make Chú Róng remain by his side for lifetime after lifetime.

Yún Tán closed his eyes again. The speed of his fingers toying with the beads returned to its usual steady rhythm, and the barely perceptible curve at the corner of his lips deepened. His lips moved inaudibly in a quiet murmur: "Amitabha Buddha."

Ning Yuan lowered his eyes and looked at the young man beside him. His spiritual sense had been stationed at Qingyang Heavenly Sect for four months — he knew something of Chú Róng's affairs, but not their full details.

That time before — had Chú Róng also stood alone like this, facing the condemnation and coercion of an entire sect, with no one to stand by him?

Ning Yuan found it difficult to imagine what Chú Róng, a mere mortal, had felt when confronting so many cultivators.

The man's gaze was far too intense for Chú Róng to miss. He turned his head slightly to the side, and the upward-tilting corner of his eye cast a sidelong glance at the man. The soft morning light fell across his tall, slender, flexible figure, casting his half-visible profile in a glow of flawless white jade, moving enough to seize one's very soul: "What is it?"

Ning Yuan's eyes darkened slightly. His Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily. He was just about to say something when Lian Ci spoke again: "This time, Qingyang Heavenly Sect invited you all here in utmost sincerity to deliberate together on the matter of the evil energy. We do not know from whom you received your information, but—"

Lian Ci paused briefly, then turned sharply, his eyes blazing with fury: "This is clearly a deliberate frame-up. You all came storming into Qingyang Heavenly Sect in such aggressive force without ascertaining the truth — shouldn't you give our sect an explanation?"

The moment those words fell, the tide of events reversed completely.

A moment ago, it was Qingyang Heavenly Sect in the weaker position, being pressured by the Hundred Immortal Sects to give an account. Now it was Qingyang Heavenly Sect demanding a reckoning from the assembled sects.

The eyes of the assembled sects darted about uneasily. Each one was deeply embarrassed. They wanted to say something in their own defence, but were so much in the wrong that nothing would come out.

Chú Róng stood tall and elegant within the restriction seal, watching the awkward spectacle of the assembled crowd. A glimmer of light flashed through his eyes. The Truth Bead really was a bug that never wore out — it worked its magic every single time, without fail.

Chú Róng was quite content to watch these people turn on each other like dogs. However, he had never much liked being the one who took a loss. This great crowd of people had come right to his face to push him around, and if he didn't get a little interest back out of them, it would be decidedly out of character for him.

"Hasn't everyone forgotten something?" Chú Róng drew out his tone as he spoke.

The crowd raised their heads at the sound. Chú Róng raised his hand and extended one jade-coloured finger, pointing at himself. His wide, gauze sleeve slid down, revealing a stretch of fair, slender wrist: "You all surrounded and condemned me without ascertaining any facts — shouldn't you give me an explanation too?"

At the sight of that stretch of wrist, the eyes of every sect member went blank at once.

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久等～