Riven was one of the genius cultivators in the sect, and the sect master knew him.
He knew that his son had falsely accused him to get his hand on the spirit-nurturing fruit.
If he were present at that time, he could have at least stopped others from ruining his whole cultivation. A light punishment like doing some mission would have done the work.
He wanted to intervene and stop the same from happening, but the evidence remained incomplete.
Yan Xue's and the law enforcement disciples' conditions couldn't be ignored.
The entire situation felt wrong, yet he lacked proof. While he was wondering what to do, Elder Han stepped forward with a cold smile across his face.
"Break their limbs."
Suddenly a powerful pressure descended from the sky.
The wind began to howl, and the bright afternoon darkened.
Confused disciples rushed outside.
A gigantic shadow covered the hall. The elders rose to their feet, and even the sect master stood.
Outside, a massive Skylance Roc was descending from the sky, its wings stretched so wide that they blocked out the sun itself.
The pressure it released caused even core formation elders to become nervous.
BOOM!
The roc landed before the law-enforcement hall.
The entire sect fell silent.
While everyone was wondering what was happening, two figures stepped down from its back.
One was an elderly cultivator, and the other was a young man dressed in white.
Others were guessing their identity, and only three people there recognized them.
The Sect Master.
The Hall Master.
And Elder Han.
The moment Elder Han saw them, his face changed.
He suddenly shouted, "They are the ones who fled from the city."
The instant those words left his mouth, the expressions on both the sect masters' and the hall master's faces turned strange.
Before anyone could react.
SMACK!
A loud slap echoed through the hall as Elder Han spun around and crashed into a nearby pillar.
The hall master, after slapping him, didn't even glance at him, instead, he hurriedly bowed deeply towards the old man.
Even the sect master immediately clasped his fist and bowed to him.
"Please forgive the foolish behavior of our elder, Ancestor."
The entire hall became silent.
Ancestor?
The word struck everyone's mind as they stared at the old man in disbelief.
Then realization spread through the crowd, and one after another, cultivators dropped to one knee.
"Greetings, Sect Ancestor."
The voices merged into a deafening roar.
This was the first time for the disciples to ever see the legendary ancestor of Drifting Mist Pavilion.
The strongest cultivator of the sect, a cultivator whose existence alone was enough to place Drifting Mist Pavilion among the strongest powers of the plane.
Even Elder Han, whose face was still swollen from the slap, immediately knelt down.
Cold sweat dripped from his forehead as no matter how much influence he possessed, none of it mattered before Shen Chu.
Shen Chu merely nodded, as his expression remained calm.
Then he looked toward the Sect Master.
"You contacted me. What exactly is going on?"
The sect master immediately bowed.
"Please come inside, Ancestor."
The group returned to the hall, and Riven naturally followed beside Shen Chu.
Many disciples secretly glanced toward him, wondering, Who was this white-haired young man?
And why was he standing beside the Sect Ancestor as an equal?
Inside the hall, Shen Chu's gaze swept over the fourteen chained disciples.
The moment Jerry and the others saw Riven, they became stunned. Previously, they had assumed he was an inner sect disciple. Later, after questioning elders, they learned that no such disciple existed.
Now he had returned together with the sect ancestor himself.
Their minds became completely confused as they remained silent.
The sect master attempted to invite Shen Chu to sit in the highest seat but noticed that Riven had no intention of sitting, so he waved his hand.
"There is no need for this and explain the situation first."
Since the ancestor remained standing, nobody else dared sit down. So the sect master carefully recounted everything that had happened from the beginning.
After hearing the entire story, Shen Chu looked at them like they were fools and asked a single question.
"And that is all?"
The hall became quiet.
"You are telling me that fourteen outer sect disciples who have not even reached Qi condensation somehow managed to move several heavily guarded carriages filled with humans through Drifting Mist City without anyone noticing?"
Nobody responded, so Shen Chu continued.
"Bring the guards, the mortals, and the carriages involved in the case."
The hall master immediately dispatched several elders and disciples.
He then looked toward the chained disciples.
"Release them."
Elder Han's expression changed.
"Ancestor..."
"Release them."
This time Shen Chu's voice became cold.
The hall master personally stepped forward and ordered the restraints removed.
After being freed, Jerry and others immediately bowed.
"Thank you, Ancestor."
Then they turned toward Riven.
"Thank you, Senior."
This caused many elders to become even more confused about the young man's identity.
Shen Chu ignored their curiosity.
"Also bring those injured law enforcement disciples."
The physician immediately hurried away.
Then Shen Chu looked toward Elder Han again.
"As for those qi-strengthening fruits, return them."
Elder Han's face immediately turned ugly, as he had already considered several methods of obtaining those fruits, and now they were slipping away from him.
Seeing his hesitation, Shen Chu's expression darkened.
"You are an elder, and yet you wish to rob the possessions of junior disciples. Do you feel no shame?"
Elder Han's face turned pale, so under everyone's gaze, he reluctantly returned all ten fruits.
The outer sect disciples accepted them with trembling hands.
Soon the guards, mortals, and evidence arrived.
Shen Chu personally questioned them, and the more he listened, the darker his expression became.
After dismissing the mortals, he finally spoke.
"The carriages were protected by formations and were even heavily guarded, yet they passed through multiple checkpoints."
Then he looked toward the sect master and hall master.
"Yet nobody noticed anything."
Shen Chu continued.
"It's obvious these disciples are innocent, and the people helping the traffickers are in positions of authority and possibly within the law enforcement hall itself."
The words caused many faces to turn pale. The sect master immediately bowed.
"Please calm your anger, Ancestor."
"I will personally investigate this matter and root out everyone involved."
Although fearful, he was secretly relieved as many troublesome figures had hidden behind connections for years.
Now he finally had a reason to deal with them.
The hall master also bowed.
"I will begin the arrest immediately."
As he spoke, his gaze landed on Elder Han.
Elder Han felt his heart sink. He looked toward several elders who were in cahoots to get their hands on the qi-strengthening fruits.
Now even they looked away from him like they didn't know him, and not one dared to help him.
Desperate, he turned to the sect master to make use of the relationship of brother-in-law, but the sect master looked at him with emotionless eyes.
Elder Han gritted his teeth and then shouted.
"My disciple was injured trying to stop human traffickers, and he nearly died!"
"Now you are accusing me?"
The hall became quiet as everyone looked toward Yan Xue, who lay unconscious on a stretcher.
The crimson flower rooted in his chest swayed gently.
Even Shen Chu remained silent, as this was the one thing that remained unexplained, so he turned toward Riven.
Riven smiled faintly, and then under everyone's watchful gaze, he walked toward the stretcher.
He bent down, and his eyes examined the flower for a moment, then he lightly touched one of its petals.
The reaction was immediate as Yan Xue's eyes snapped open.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
A horrifying scream echoed throughout the hall.