Chapter 32 - 7: The Verdict

The calls for Ye Zhaozhao’s conviction, sentence by sentence, echoed throughout Lingxu Peak.

Master Lingxu’s expression was calm enough, but his face paled slightly as he heard the clamor spreading across the mountain.

A flicker of annoyance rose within him.

’Have these people lost their minds?’

’What does Li Shuang’s business have to do with them?’

’Why must they all be so nosy!’

The moment Master Lingxu spoke up to defend her, Ye Zhaozhao had felt a great sense of relief. But now, hearing so many people cry out at once, her face turned pale again.

’How come I never noticed before that these Sword Sect disciples were so meddlesome!’

A wave of endless panic washed over Ye Zhaozhao.

When she chose Li Shuang as her host, the system had shown her a projection of Li Shuang’s future.

In that future, Li Shuang was destined to be brilliant. She was Master Lingxu’s most valued Senior Disciple, the pride of all the disciples on Lingxu Peak, and a peerless genius lauded throughout the entire Sword Sect.

Wielding Dragon Roar, she took first place in the Six Sects’ Grand Tournament, becoming the strongest of the younger generation.

She advanced step by step, her fortune invincible, her aptitude peerless. She took over the Sword Sect, leading it to become the number one sect in the world.

In the end, under the adoring gazes of everyone in the Immortal Cultivation World, she shattered the tribulation clouds with a single strike and successfully ascended to the Upper Realm!

This was just the destiny the system had projected for Li Shuang, but it also said that given her Talent and fortune, there was a ninety percent chance it would come true.

For the past ten years, with the system’s help, she had taken everything Li Shuang possessed for herself, bit by bit.

She thought she had completely replaced Li Shuang.

She thought that the destiny she had once seen, the one belonging to Li Shuang, would become hers, Ye Zhaozhao’s.

She would replace Li Shuang, become the favored daughter of the heavens, take charge of the Sword Sect in her stead, and reach the pinnacle of power!

But now, looking at the furious crowd before her, waves of panic washed over her heart.

’This scene...’

’It’s slowly overlapping with the future I once saw... the one that should have belonged to Li Shuang.’

In the vision of the future, Li Shuang commanded this same respect, revered by all.

She thought Li Shuang was finished. She didn’t even have her Nascent Soul Stage Cultivation anymore; she was just a lowly Qi Cultivation Stage disciple.

’But how could so many people still be speaking up for her, defending her?’

’Why should she get this?’

’Is this what it means to be the Heavenly Dao Female Protagonist?’

’Then what did my decade of effort count for? In the face of all these furious expressions, my imagined, glorious future is dissolving into an illusion!’

Meng Yifei watched the situation and raised his hand slightly.

A suppressive pressure spread out, and the crowd subconsciously fell silent. Everyone looked at Meng Yifei.

Meng Yifei, the Sect Leader, usually kept a low profile. He was fond of using political balancing acts; as long as harmony could be maintained on the surface, he wouldn’t interfere too much.

However, once he made a final decision, few within the Sword Sect dared to question it.

Meng Yifei looked calmly at Master Lingxu. "Ye Zhaozhao deliberately framed Li Shuang. Regardless of the outcome, the intent itself is a crime. Now, the people from the Spiritual Artifact Pavilion have presented evidence. Does Ye Zhaozhao have any rebuttal? If so, speak now. If you have nothing to say, you will be punished according to sect rules."

Li Shuang’s eyes flickered slightly; she wasn’t surprised by the Sect Leader’s decision.

This was always how Meng Yifei handled things. Li Shuang was sure that if the matter of Ye Zhaozhao framing her hadn’t blown up, he would have likely brushed it aside to appease Lingxu Peak.

But the situation was different now.

The Spiritual Artifact Pavilion had come to their door in person!

Numerous disciples had witnessed it with their own eyes and heard it with their own ears.

If he were to continue whitewashing the situation for the sake of so-called sect harmony, how could the disciples be convinced?

If Ye Zhaozhao went unpunished and the incident was left to fester, that would be the cause of true turmoil within the sect.

As the Sect Leader, Meng Yifei would naturally make the most correct decision at this moment.

As Meng Yifei spoke, Master Lingxu’s expression turned a little ugly. His lips moved a few times, but he said nothing.

He knew Meng Yifei’s character. For him to say this much meant the Sect Leader was serious, and there was no more room for negotiation.

"Junior Sister, hurry and explain. There must be some kind of misunderstanding, right?" Chang Le’an asked, still holding onto a sliver of hope.

Ye Zhaozhao’s lips trembled. Her eyes reddened as she put on a fragile and helpless expression. "I... I didn’t do it on purpose. At the time, Second Brother had just had his entire fortune taken and was seriously injured and unconscious. I was just too angry, my head was spinning, and that’s why I did something like that! I... I just wanted to get Second Brother’s Spirit Stones back... I really didn’t have any bad intentions..."

Ye Zhaozhao said through her tears, "Master, Senior Brother, Third Brother, you know me. I’m not that bad! Once I got Second Brother’s Spirit Stones back, I was going to find another way to return Senior Sister Li’s things to her!"

As Ye Zhaozhao spoke, her tears fell ceaselessly.

She cried so pitifully.

Sheng Yuan’s heart couldn’t help but tremble.

He had actually realized that before, their Master and all of them had indeed been biased.

He was also a little dissatisfied with Ye Zhaozhao’s actions.

’But do we really have to push our junior sister to her death?’

’Our junior sister has always been a warm-hearted person. I once casually mentioned that there weren’t any good stories in the mortal world anymore, and she stayed up for days and nights to personally write one for me.’

’That story was brilliantly written. I can’t imagine how much effort she must have poured into it.’

’Now, our junior sister has indeed done something wrong.’

’But that’s no reason for us to abandon her.’

’Back then, when Li Shuang abandoned our junior sister on the Snow Mountain, wasn’t that also a great crime? I never thought about making Senior Sister suffer any heavy punishment for it.’

’All I ever wanted was an apology from Senior Sister.’

Now that the situation was reversed, Sheng Yuan’s voice was hoarse as he spoke slowly, "Senior Sister, our junior sister truly did do something wrong. Let her apologize to you, and... let’s not pursue this matter any further, alright?"

Sheng Yuan’s gaze held a sliver of hope.

He had already realized he had indeed been biased toward his junior sister, which was what drove Senior Sister to take such extreme measures on the Snow Mountain.

He was willing to forgive Senior Sister.

’Senior Sister should also forgive our junior sister just this once!’

"Zhaozhao just has a childish temperament! What’s all this talk about framing her or not!" Chang Le’an said, moving to stand directly in front of Ye Zhaozhao.

Li Shuang glanced at the people from Lingxu Peak, her expression indifferent. She turned directly to Meng Yifei. "Sect Leader, although Ye Zhaozhao’s words are a poor excuse, she cannot refute the images in the Memory Stone. The facts are clear. I ask that the Sect Leader and the Hall Master make their decision."

Li Shuang’s actions were decisive.

The faces of the few from Lingxu Peak couldn’t help but turn ugly.

In their subconscious, they still saw Li Shuang as the Senior Sister who could be wronged without consequence.

’Her business with Zhaozhao is an internal matter for Lingxu Peak. Couldn’t they just resolve it amongst themselves? Why did she have to drag the Sect Leader into it!’

"Master Pang, you know the sect rules better than anyone. You pass judgment," Meng Yifei said, glancing at Pang Zhixue.