Chapter 114: So What If I Show Favoritism?!

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The moment Yan Shu spoke, the crowd that had been wavering instantly snapped back to clarity.

Yes, memories weren't impossible to tamper with.

And just because of one person's request, they were supposed to search the souls of everyone else present?

The Soul Search Technique wasn't some cheap cabbage to be had on a whim. Never mind its side effects—simply casting the technique itself was an extremely draining expenditure of cultivation. For the sake of such worthless trash, why on earth would anyone bother?

"Senior Uncle Yan is right. What's all this about soul searching? There's no need at all. Just based on the things Sun Changfeng did before, every single one of them is enough to punish him!"

"Exactly!"

"Punish him! Punish him!"

In an instant, voices demanding Sun Changfeng's punishment rose one after another, and even the two fellows Yan Shu had beaten earlier joined in the shouting.

Xiao Jihan raised his eyes toward Yan Shu, only to see her chin lifted ever so slightly—a visage that was cool and ethereal, unapproachably lofty, yet it somehow carried a trace of quiet pride.

As if sensing something, Yan Shu lifted her gaze to meet his, and for a moment their eyes locked. She blinked at him.

*Well? I'm pretty good to you, aren't I?*

*Protecting those I claim as my own—that's a skill passed down through our Xuantian Sect!*

Whether Xiao Jihan fully grasped the meaning behind Yan Shu's look was unclear.

All that could be seen was him slowly withdrawing his gaze, and amid the rising and falling cries demanding Sun Changfeng's punishment, his voice, laced with a hint of spiritual power, rang out:

"If Senior Uncle and the various stewards still harbor doubts, this disciple is willing to undergo the Soul Search Technique to prove his innocence!"

His voice carried spiritual power with it—not quite like Bing Shien's, which had reached every ear in the vicinity, but most people in the valley heard it clearly.

Yan Shu raised an eyebrow. The green-tea-flavored male lead was online again.

She could almost see a miniature Xiao Jihan dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief, sniffling with that same subtly manipulative air: "What ill intentions could I possibly have? It's merely retreating in order to advance."

The moment Xiao Jihan's words fell, Sun Changfeng became frenzied with excitement: "He's willing himself! Senior Uncle, quickly use the Soul Search Technique on us! Search me and you'll know this disciple isn't lying! He's a contemptible, shameless, treacherous, cunning villain!"

But the onlookers were displeased. One after another, they leapt forward.

"Pah! You say soul search, so we have to do a soul search? Who do you think you are?!"

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"Exactly! You're a piece of dung yourself, yet you insist on stinking up everyone who walks past. Have you no shame at all?!"

"Senior Brother Xiao, pay him no mind! For the vicious crimes he committed, having his cultivation abolished and being cast out of the sect is already lenient! There's no need to sacrifice your own future for a man like him!"

"Pah! And to think I actually believed your nonsense before! If you want to die, do it alone—don't drag others down with you!"

"Elder Bing! That Sun Changfeng is doing this deliberately! He knows his crimes are unforgivable, so he wants to harm Senior Brother Xiao one more time!"

Sun Changfeng flew into a rage. With a swish, he drew his sword, pointing it directly at the crowd in the valley, and roared: "What do you lot know? It's obvious he framed me!"

"He's pointing a sword at us? Pah! Who does he think he is, Senior Uncle Yan?"

"Exactly! Look at what kind of aptitude he has, and what kind of aptitude Senior Uncle Yan has!"

"Laughable—a mountain chicken trying to pass itself off as a phoenix!"

"Hey! Go on, try it! Together we might not be able to beat Senior Uncle Yan, but are we really no match for a single Nascent Soul like you?"

Hearing the crowd's mockery and ridicule, Sun Changfeng's expression grew even more ferocious, and the hand gripping his sword began to tremble.

Looking at his nearly hysterical state, Yan Shu thought that if there were bullet comments right now, they'd surely be a wall of: *He's losing it! He's losing it!*

And if the bullet comments for Xiao Jihan's earlier speech had been visible, they'd be: *Whoa! Where did this male green tea come from!*

Yan Shu was amused by her own imagination. Her eyes curved slightly as she turned her gaze to Bing Shien.

Bing Shien handed the memory stone and the porcelain bottle to several stewards from the Punishment Hall for examination. After a while, the stewards delivered their conclusion.

"The image cuts off at that point because the memory stone's spiritual power was exhausted—nothing else. As for this porcelain bottle, we've also compared it and confirmed it matches the one Sun Changfeng produced. The bottle had only ever contained Beast-Alluring Powder, nothing else."

The Punishment Hall steward's words were effectively the final verdict.

Bing Shien looked at Sun Changfeng and said: "What more do you have to say?"

"No! It's not like that!"

Sun Changfeng utterly collapsed. With a thud, he fell to his knees, looked up at Bing Shien, and screamed hoarsely: "This is all Xiao Jihan's trap! He refined the Beast-Alluring Powder and sold it to me on the black market! That bottle was originally his, so of course he'd have more than one! Everything is his scheme! All of it!"

But no one believed his words anymore.

The crowd broke into a chorus of curses, calling him shameless and treacherous!

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Bing Shien looked down at Sun Changfeng at his feet and said calmly: "Harming fellow disciples and privately purchasing Beast-Alluring Powder—two crimes, two punishments. Your cultivation is hereby abolished, and from this day forth, you are expelled from the Xuantian Sect!"

"No! I refuse to accept this!"

Hearing this, Sun Changfeng shot to his feet, pointing at Bing Shien as he roared: "It's obvious you're showing favoritism! Just because Xiao Jihan is the man in Yan Shu's bed, just because Yan Shu is your junior sister, you're blatantly taking sides! Search our souls! One soul search and everything would be known—why won't you do it?!"

Bing Shien furrowed his brow, his expression turning cold.

Beside him, Wen Youhe, Liu Zhiqing, and Shi Wanqing also turned frosty, and in that instant, even the very air seemed to thin.

Shi Wanqing suddenly reached out and, with a bang, sent Sun Changfeng flying with a single palm strike. Watching Sun Changfeng spray a mouthful of blood, he said coldly: "Wretched disciple! Speak another word of nonsense and I'll kill you with my own hands!"

"Hahaha!" Sun Changfeng suddenly burst into mad laughter. "The illustrious Xuantian Sect, and yet you can't even tell right from wrong! You're all biased! Just because he's the man in Yan Shu's bed, just because you're afraid of dragging Yan Shu's reputation through the mud!"

Shi Wanqing was enraged beyond reason: "Unrepentant to the very end! I'll kill this wretched disciple with my own hands today!"

Just as he was about to step forward, Wen Youhe, who had remained silent all along, suddenly stopped him. Looking coldly at Sun Changfeng, he said: "And what if I am biased?!"

At those words, the entire valley fell silent. Even Sun Changfeng was stunned.

Wen Youhe's face remained proper and composed. He turned his gaze to Bing Shien and said: "Handle it according to sect rules!"

"Yes!"

Bing Shien stepped forward at once. With a single reach, he trapped Sun Changfeng, who was trying to escape, and then pressed his hand toward Sun Changfeng's dantian—

"Ahhh!!"

A wretched scream pierced through the valley, sending a chill down everyone's spine.

Sun Changfeng had already fallen unconscious. With his Nascent Soul destroyed, he visibly aged at a terrifying speed. His once jet-black hair turned white inch by inch, and in mere moments, he transformed from a vigorous man in his thirties into a white-haired elder!

Both the agony of a Nascent Soul being crushed to pieces and Sun Changfeng's miserable state left everyone trembling with dread.

Yet Wen Youhe, Bing Shien, Liu Zhiqing, and Shi Wanqing—the four of them—showed not the slightest ripple of emotion on their faces.