Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Judgment

Voices declaring Ye Zhao Zhao guilty rose one after another, echoing across the whole Ling Xu Peak.

Immortal Ling Xu had looked calm, but when he heard the shouts rolling over the mountain, his face changed. Irritation stirred in his heart. [What is wrong with these people? What does Li Shuang’s matter have to do with them? Why are they meddling so much?]

When Immortal Ling Xu first spoke up for her, Ye Zhao Zhao had relaxed a lot. But now, hearing so many voices at once, her face went pale again. [How did I never notice these Sword Sect disciples were this nosy?] Panic churned in her chest.

When she chose Li Shuang as her host, the System had shown her a predicted future that belonged to Li Shuang.

In that future, Li Shuang shone brightly. She was Immortal Ling Xu’s most valued First Disciple, the Ling Xu Peak disciples’ proud First Senior Sister, and a peerless genius praised by the whole Sword Sect.

With the Dragon Roar Sword in hand, she won the champion’s title at the Six Sects Tournament and became the strongest of the younger generation.

Step by step she moved forward, with unmatched luck and talent. She took over the Sword Sect and led it to become the number one sect in the world.

In the end, under the admiring gazes of cultivators across the Immortal Realm, she cut through the tribulation clouds with one strike and ascended to the Upper Realm.

That was only a fate the System predicted, but it said that with Li Shuang’s talent and fortune, there was a ninety percent chance it would come true.

Over the past ten years, with the System’s help, Ye Zhao Zhao had slowly taken everything that belonged to Li Shuang.

She thought she had fully replaced Li Shuang. She believed the fate she saw for Li Shuang would become hers.

She would take Li Shuang’s place as a Heaven’s Proud Daughter, take charge of the Sword Sect, and reach the peak.

But now, seeing the crowd grow more excited, waves of panic rose in her heart.

This scene began to overlap with the future she had once seen, the one that should have belonged to Li Shuang.

In that vision, Li Shuang rallied people with a word and was respected by all.

She had thought Li Shuang was completely finished. Li Shuang did not even have Nascent Soul Stage cultivation anymore and was only a small Qi Refining Stage disciple.

[But there are still so many people speaking for her, standing up for her? Why? Is this what it means to be the Heavenly Dao’s heroine?] Then what did her ten years of effort mean? The glorious future she imagined seemed to melt into a mirage in the anger on those faces.

Seeing this, Meng Yi Fei raised his hand slightly. Pressure spread out, and everyone fell silent without thinking, turning to look at him.

As Sect Master, Meng Yi Fei usually kept a low profile and liked to balance factions. As long as things looked harmonious on the surface, he did not mind much. But once he made a final decision, few inside the Sword Sect dared to question it.

Meng Yi Fei looked calmly at Immortal Ling Xu and said: “Ye Zhao Zhao intentionally framed Li Shuang. No matter the outcome, the intent itself is a crime. Now that the Artifact Pavilion has produced evidence, does Ye Zhao Zhao have a defense? If she does, speak now. If not, she will be punished by the sect rules.”

Li Shuang’s eyes moved slightly. She was not surprised by the Sect Master’s decision.

He had always handled things this way. Li Shuang dared say that if Ye Zhao Zhao’s scheme had not blown up, he would have covered it up to spare Ling Xu Peak’s feelings.

But things were different now. The Artifact Pavilion had come in person. Many disciples had seen and heard it themselves. If he still tried to cover it up for harmony, how could people accept it? If Ye Zhao Zhao went unpunished and the matter grew, the sect would truly be in turmoil.

As Sect Master, Meng Yi Fei would make the right call.

Immortal Ling Xu’s face turned stiff. His lips moved a few times, but he said nothing. He knew Meng Yi Fei’s character. Once he spoke like this, he was serious. There was no room left to turn things around.

Chang Le An still held a shred of hope as he said: “Junior Sister, explain. There must be some misunderstanding, right?”

Ye Zhao Zhao’s lips trembled, her eyes red as she showed a fragile, helpless look: “I… I did not mean it. Back then, Second Senior Brother lost all his savings and was badly hurt and unconscious. I was too angry and lost my head for a moment, so I did it! I… I only wanted to get Second Senior Brother’s spirit stones back… I really did not have evil intentions…”

Crying, she added: “Master, First Senior Brother, Third Senior Brother, you know me. I am not that bad! After getting Second Senior Brother’s stones back, I planned to repay Senior Sister Li for her own with other methods!”

As she spoke, tears kept falling. She looked so pitiful.

Even Sheng Yuan’s heart trembled. He had realized that before, Master and they had indeed been biased. He was also unhappy with what Ye Zhao Zhao had done. [But do we really have to drive Junior Sister to death?]

Junior Sister had always been warmhearted. Once, when he casually said there were no good storybooks left in the mortal world, she stayed up several days and nights to write him a story herself.

The story was brilliant. She must have poured in so much effort.

Now, Junior Sister had indeed done wrong. But that was not a reason for them to give up on her.

Back then on the snow mountain, Li Shuang left Junior Sister behind. Was that not also a serious sin? He had not thought of asking for heavy punishment for the First Senior Sister.

All he had wanted was a single apology from the First Senior Sister.

With the situation now reversed, Sheng Yuan spoke hoarsely: “First Senior Sister, Junior Sister did make a mistake. Let her apologize to you. Could we… not push this too far?”

There was a trace of hope in his eyes. He had realized his earlier bias toward Junior Sister had driven the First Senior Sister to act so extreme on the snow mountain. He was willing to forgive the First Senior Sister. The First Senior Sister should forgive Junior Sister once too.

Chang Le An stepped in front of Ye Zhao Zhao and said: “Zhao Zhao is childish at heart. Why call it framing?”

Li Shuang glanced at the people of Ling Xu Peak, her expression cool. She turned to Meng Yi Fei and said: “Sect Master, Ye Zhao Zhao’s words are excuses, and she cannot refute the images in the Memory Stone. The facts are clear. Please have the Sect Master and the Hall Master decide.”

Li Shuang acted decisively. The few from Ling Xu Peak looked unhappy.

Deep down, they still saw Li Shuang as the First Senior Sister who could be wronged and endure it. [The matter between her and Zhao Zhao is an internal Ling Xu Peak issue. Why take it to the Sect Master?]

Meng Yi Fei looked at Pang Zhi Xue and said: “Hall Master Pang, you know the sect rules best. You pronounce the judgment.”