Riven and Shen Chu sat atop the Skylance Roc as it cut through the sea of clouds.
Thanks to Riven teleporting them ahead, they had already covered an enormous distance. At this rate, they would arrive at Sea City before nightfall.
For most of the journey neither of them spoke.
Suddenly, the ring on Shen Chu's finger grew warm and his brows furrowed.
Closing his eyes, he sent a thread of spiritual sense into the communication artifact.
The ring was connected directly to the sect master of Drifting Mist Pavilion. It was rarely used, and whenever it activated, it usually meant something important had happened.
A few moments later, Shen Chu opened his eyes, and his expression became somewhat strange.
Riven looked at him and asked, "What happened?"
Shen Chu hesitated before replying.
"Immortal Master, something has happened within the sect, and the sect leader wishes to consult me regarding a certain matter."
Riven waited.
"What matters?"
Shen Chu organized his thoughts before speaking. "It concerns a direct disciple of Law Enforcement Hall, as while attempting to arrest a group of human traffickers, he was struck by an unknown spell."
"An unknown flower was attached to his body, and it still cannot be removed."
Riven's expression remained unchanged.
"And?"
"Fourteen outer sect disciples have been arrested."
Riven finally looked toward him, while Shen Chu continued.
"The Law Enforcement Hall claims those disciples were accomplices of the traffickers, and they also suspect a cultivator who escaped using a Skylance Roc."
His eyes shifted toward the beast beneath them.
"The Roc they are speaking about... is this one."
Riven remembered those outer sect disciples that happened to follow him back to the sect.
After a moment, he sighed and said, "Those disciples are innocent and we should clear things up."
Shen Chu naturally had no objections, and just as he was about to command the Roc to turn around, he felt a sudden shift.
The next moment, both of them have appeared directly above the drifting mist-city.
...
Inside the Law Enforcement Hall, the atmosphere was suffocating.
Hundreds of disciples and elders had gathered and were waiting for the sect leader to arrive.
At the center of the hall knelt fourteen outer sect disciples with their hands and feet bound by chains formed from qi-sealing iron.
Among them, Jerry knelt in silence. The physical pain he felt was insignificant compared to the bitterness in his heart.
They were the ones who rescued people and caught the human traffickers, and now they were the ones standing trial.
Many disciples watching from the sidelines whispered among themselves.
"They don't look like criminals."
"Many don't, but I heard they were caught red-handed."
"But those are outer sect disciples. Why would they risk everything on such a matter?"
"No idea."
"Maybe they got greedy."
The whispers spread through the hall.
Some looked at the disciples with suspicion, while others looked with sympathy.
A few of them watched for entertainment.
Above them stood three elevated seats, and two of them were vacant.
Only the seat on the right was occupied.
A stern-looking middle-aged man in crimson robes sat there. Beside him stood another elder wearing similar robes.
The seated man looked toward Elder Han and said, "You have involved the sect master himself in this matter."
"Are you absolutely certain these disciples are connected to the human trafficking case?"
Elder Han bowed immediately and said with confidence.
"Hall Master, I am completely certain. Yan Xue personally discovered them."
"He attempted to arrest them together with several law enforcement disciples."
"Instead, he was struck by a forbidden technique and nearly lost his life."
Elder Han pointed to the outer sect disciples and said, "Those people are accomplices, and their leader disguised himself as an inner sect disciple and escaped."
"He even stole a Skylance Roc."
The hall master remained silent, but he was unconvinced.
Stole a Skylance Roc?
He thought, 'The Skylance rocs in our sect all have the strength equaling to the cultivators of core formation, does he really think that beasts of such strength can be stolen so easily.'
And the roc were raised in the sect from their birth and won't just follow anyone. The person he saw on the Roc must be most likely a member of Drifting Mist Pavilion.
Still, he said nothing as everyone knew Elder Han's background. His wife was the sect master's sister, and that relationship alone had opened many doors for him.
Soon afterward, the sect master arrived.
Everyone immediately stood up.
"Greetings, sect leader!"
The sect leader walked to the seat at the top of the hall and sat in the seat in the center.
After sitting down, he spoke only one word.
"Begin."
Elder Han nodded and summoned the physician.
Moments later, Yan Xue was carried into the hall on a stretcher, and seeing him, gasps immediately echoed throughout the room.
Seeing his conditions, everyone was surprised.
A crimson flower was rooted directly into Yan Xue's chest, and its root disappeared beneath his flesh.
The flower swayed gently along with Yan Xue's heartbeat as if it were alive.
The sect master frowned, as even after seeing it personally, he could not identify the condition.
Elder Han immediately stepped forward.
"Sect Master, we have consulted physicians, alchemists, and formation masters and even searched ancient records, but no one recognizes the technique."
He pointed toward the kneeling disciples and continued, "The culprit is the cultivator who escaped, and the same cultivator was associated with these disciples."
Then he raised his hand, and ten fruits appeared before everyone, and seeing the fruits, discussion erupted in the hall.
"We discovered these fruits in their possession. But how could mere outer disciples obtain such treasures without any criminal activity?"
Hearing this, many elders nodded, as the logic sounded reasonable.
But the sect master remained unconvinced because it was too unreasonable. No human trafficker would exchange ten Qi-strenghtening fruits for a handful of mortals.
The value was absurdly disproportionate. They had to sell almost a kingdom to buy even one such fruit.
The more he thought about it, the more suspicious the accusation became.
At the same time, he knew Elder Han's true interest likely lay with those fruits, and this human trafficking case had simply become a convenient excuse.
Qi-strengthening fruits are treasures that mature only once every hundred years, and even Drifting Mist Pavilion possessed merely five such trees capable of producing them.
The previous harvest was thirty years ago, and the next one would not arrive for another seventy.
Finding even one fruit was an extraordinary opportunity, and ten was almost unbelievable.
Their value is even more than a spirit-nurturing fruit, as they are very helpful to even core-formation cultivators.
If someone below core formation consumes the fruit in parts, they could even reach core formation in two or three years.
Below, Jerry clenched his fists as he finally understood that this was never about justice or Yan Xue. It was all about those fruits.
One of the younger disciples beside him lowered his head. "We didn't do anything wrong."
None of them had imagined things would reach this point.
The sect leader was in a dilemma. Previously, his son had done the same thing to one inner sect disciple.
If he were present at that time, he could have done nothing just like now. He knew that the things in the sect are now slipping through his hands.
He was the highest authority in the sect, but he didn't have much dealings with the sect's matter, as he was focused on cultivation.
The sect leader then suddenly turned to Elder Han and asked, "If these outer disciples were the accomplices, then where are the real traffickers? Have you caught them?"
Elder Han said, "Sect Leader, the person knew that they would get caught, so he killed his underlings and fled."
"What was left was these outer disciples, who thought they wouldn't get caught and returned to the sect."
He then asked the outer sect disciples, "What do you have to say in your defense?"
Jerry looked towards him and said, "Sect leader, we were the ones who stopped those traffickers and freed those people."
"You can even ask them, as they would still be in the city."
Elder Han immediately interjected, "Sect Leader, don't listen to them. It must be their plan."
"To save themselves, they must have freed them to act like they are the saviors."
His voice echoed throughout the hall.
"These disciples have betrayed the sect, collaborated with criminals, and even endangered fellow disciples."
"For such a crime, their limbs should be crippled and they should be expelled from the sect."
The hall immediately became silent.
The color drained from the disciples' faces. Some even close their eyes as despair filled their hearts.
The sect master's expression darkened as he remained silent.