Chapter 53: Public Execution, Dying of Embarrassment on the Spot

"Little Jiang, I'm over here!"

Li Wudao waved, wearing a brilliant smile.

Seeing that he was safe and sound, Jiang Chuoran let out a barely perceptible sigh of relief.

She then stood quietly by Murong Yan's side.

With dragon-like brows and phoenix-like eyes, Murong Yan possessed an extraordinary demeanor. Standing with his hands behind his back in the center of the hall, his aura was as imposing and steady as a deep abyss, inspiring awe in all who beheld him.

"Greetings, Sect Master!"

Expressions shifted slightly among the crowd, and they quickly bowed in salute.

Murong Yan nodded lightly. Then, his gaze swept across the room, resting on Cheng Yuanliang with a flicker of strange light.

"Why is Peak Master Cheng here?"

He furrowed his brows slightly, acting as if he had just noticed him, with a hint of surprise in his voice.

"Just passing by by chance, and ran into an acquaintance so I chatted for a bit..."

Feeling somewhat guilty, Cheng Yuanliang offered a slight hand salute.

"Is that so—"

Murong Yan seemed lost in thought, then said meaningfully, "This is the Law Enforcement Hall, not somewhere for Peak Master Cheng to issue orders. Mind it next time."

"Understood."

Cheng Yuanliang's expression turned somewhat unnatural.

He knew Murong Yan was rapping his knuckles against the table to warn him against overstepping his bounds just now.

Meanwhile,

Li Wudao stealthily crept up to Jiang Chuoran's side and grumbled, "Little Jiang, why did you only just arrive? A moment longer and I would have been subjected to torture."

Jiang Chuoran gave him a sideways glance and retorted tartly, "The Sect Master is burdened with the governance of a myriad affairs; do you think he has all the time in the world?"

The moment Li Wudao had exposed Ruan Fei's scandals to her, she had immediately sought out Murong Yan.

Once the latter verified the facts, he had a righteous pretext and hurried over without stopping.

Of course, she couldn't be bothered to explain the reasoning behind it, as it was simply not in her nature.

"Hehe—"

Knowing he was in the wrong, Li Wudao didn't argue, simply letting out a chuckle.

Then, he quietly produced a storage ring and shoved it into the young woman's palm.

"???"

The young woman's eyes were full of suspicion.

After probing with her divine sense, her delicate little face froze in shock.

Inside this storage ring, there were actually ten thousand low-grade spiritual stones!

"Where on earth did you get so many spiritual stones?"

Jiang Chuoran's lips parted slightly in astonishment as she whispered her question.

"Don't ask. If you must know, it's your hazard pay. Helping young master here comes with immense benefits."

Li Wudao grinned cockily, radiating an air of immense wealth.

Jiang Chuoran gave him a deep look without probing any further.

She became even more convinced that the youth had encountered some extraordinary fortune before entering the sect, likely inheriting the legacy of some powerhouse.

After all, if even his physical constitution and talent could be improved, what were a few spiritual stones by comparison?

However, this was of little consequence to her and not worth fussing over.

Carrying the imperial dao inheritance and possessing all the memories of her past life, she was well-versed in various divine caches and places of fortune; she was not about to harbor crooked thoughts toward Li Wudao.

The hall suddenly quieted down.

Li Wudao was still bickering with Jiang Chuoran, completely unaware that all their petty movements had fallen into the eyes of everyone present.

"What are you two whispering about?"

Murong Yan coughed lightly, finding the scene a bit too much to watch.

In an instant, strange gazes converged upon them.

"Well, the weather is quite nice today, haha........"

Li Wudao awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

Jiang Chuoran glared at him fiercely, her porcelain-white neck flushed with a deep crimson, clearly mortified.

Yang Lin and the other disciples exchanged knowing, mischievous winks and smirks.

"This rascal..."

Murong Yan's mouth twitched slightly as he shook his head.

Then, turning his gaze toward Ruan Liangcai, he asked in a lowered, solemn tone, "Elder Ruan, is there anything you wish to say to this Sect Master?"

At these words,

Ruan Liangcai froze for a moment, failing to grasp the hidden meaning, and braced himself to say, "Reporting to the Sect Master, this old man indeed has a matter that requires the Sect Master's ruling."

"What matter?"

Murong Yan looked at him indifferently, waiting for the rest.

Ruan Liangcai took a deep breath, pointed at Li Wudao, and rebuked angrily:

"This boy disregarded sect rules, incited Yang Lin and the others to severely injure my son Ruan Fei, and flat out refuses to admit it. His behavior is abominable! I ask the Sect Master to uphold justice for this old man!"

As his voice fell, a dead silence descended upon the hall.

Everyone held their breath, their eyes flickering with uncertainty.

Li Wudao's fate hung entirely on Murong Yan's single thought.

"Is that all you have to say?"

To everyone's surprise, Murong Yan's reaction was cold and detached, as if he had already known.

"Ah........"

Ruan Liangcai was utterly thrown off, freezing in place with his mind blank.

This shouldn't be happening—the Sect Master's reaction was far too lukewarm.

Logically speaking, when such egregious behavior occurred within the sect, even if Murong Yan wasn't flying into a rage, he should have at least shown some kind of emotional response.

Cheng Yuanliang sensed something amiss, his expression shifting uncertainly.

Right at that moment,

Murong Yan's expression darkened, and he let out a cold shout: "Ruan Liangcai, do you know your crime?!"

"This old man knows nothing....... I ask the Sect Master to speak plainly."

Startled by the sudden outburst, Ruan Liangcai turned pale.

"To this day you are still playing the fool! Yesterday you claimed Song Cheng was your newly accepted disciple, when in truth it has been three years. You even dared to deceive this Sect Master—you have a lot of nerve!"

Staring at him with an unkind expression, Murong Yan continued:

"And Ruan Fei, maliciously inciting Song Cheng and others to target Li Wudao and interfere with the newcomer grand competition. Did you truly believe this Sect Master was unaware of these despicable acts?"

A single stone stirred a thousand ripples.

Everyone's expressions tightened as they looked at Ruan Liangcai in disbelief.

Manipulating the grand competition from behind the scenes was a taboo violation of the sect rules and was absolutely intolerable.

Ruan Liangcai's pupils constricted, his face draining of all color. "This old man is guilty; I ask the Sect Master to punish me."

Panic surged within his heart; he hadn't expected this matter to be exposed so quickly.

"Hmph, so now you admit your guilt?"

Murong Yan looked at him coldly.

"Ruan Fei committed such a grave crime, yet instead of disciplining him, you as his father covered for him and tried to bite back, making false accusations first. Don't you think you've gone too far?!"

The entrance trials and various grand competitions existed precisely to select the most outstanding disciples. The sect had always placed immense importance on them and strictly prohibited any form of dark operations.

To the Profound Sky Sect, Ruan Fei's actions were no different from a scandal, delivering a vicious slap to his face as the Sect Master.

"Starting today, you are no longer the Third Elder of the Inner Sect. Your stipend is suspended for five years, and tomorrow you will report to the Outer Sect, starting over as an ordinary deacon!"

Murong Yan coldly announced the punishment.

The crowd gasped in shock. To be demoted straight from an Inner Sect Elder to an Outer Sect Deacon—this was by no means a light punishment.

Cheng Yuanliang opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately chose silence.

Ruan Liangcai and his son were simply too stupid, leaving behind far too many incriminating trails; even if he wanted to help, there was no way to intervene.

"I beg the Sect Master to consider this old man's years of dedicated toil for the sect and punish only myself."

His expression shifting, Ruan Liangcai bowed deeply.

"This is the first time, and also... the last. Take care of yourself."

Murong Yan exhaled a breath and reluctantly nodded.

"Many thanks, Sect Master. This old man takes his leave."

Ruan Liangcai offered a tragic expression of gratitude, appearing to have aged significantly in an instant.

His turbid eyes lingered on Li Wudao for a moment before he turned and left the main hall with a complex expression.

The moment Ruan Liangcai stepped out,

Sun Qian stepped forward and dropped straight to her knees before Murong Yan.

"This disciple accuses Li Wudao of destroying my cultivation......."

Her eyes were bloodshot, her voice resembling a weeping accusation, brimming with hatred.

Sun Qian knew this was her last chance at a counterattack; if she missed it, her future life would be shrouded in utter darkness.

If she could only drag Li Wudao down with her, she would have no regrets.

Hearing this, Murong Yan furrowed his brow tightly.

With his level of cultivation, a brief sweep of perception was enough to confirm that the other party's cultivation was indeed completely gone.

This put him in a difficult spot.

Although the youth was indeed a supreme talent of his generation, he could not openly and blatantly shield him either.

Li Wudao's gaze grew increasingly cold. Sun Qian truly was relentless, jumping at the chance to drag him down no matter who she was addressing.

This only reinforced his conviction that his earlier actions had been completely correct.

No matter what, he could not allow such a person to remain under his nose; who knew when she might stab him in the back?

Seeing that the youth had no intention of refuting the claim,

Jiang Chuoran knitted her pretty brows and couldn't help chiming in, "Although Li Wudao's methods were somewhat heavy-handed, this disciple believes Sun Qian brought this entirely upon herself and is not worthy of the slightest sympathy."

"Oh?" Murong Yan displayed a look of curiosity.

Without keeping them in suspense, Jiang Chuoran roughly recounted the past history between Sun Qian and Li Wudao.

She detailed how Sun Qian had sweet-talked the youth, toyed with his feelings, pilfered his cultivation resources and family martial arts techniques, and even brought Ruan Fei to his doorstep to forcefully break off the engagement, among other shameful deeds.

"N-No... that's not true......."

Sun Qian shook her head in denial, her face drained of color and her eyes filled with lingering terror.

For all her calculations, she had never factored Jiang Chuoran into the equation.

Yet no matter how frantically she denied it, no one believed her.

First, given Jiang Chuoran's status, she had no reason to fabricate lies to deceive them.

Second, the progression of events was far too detailed for anyone not actually present to imagine.

Before long,

righteous indignation gripped the crowd as they glared angrily at Sun Qian.

While the young woman looked pitiful on the outside, her heart was pitch black; she was nothing more than an impudent, ungrateful ingrate!

It was hard to imagine that all these infuriating atrocities had been committed by a single person.

At the same time, the looks they cast toward Li Wudao were filled with pity and sympathy.

The child had truly suffered terribly all these years.

Li Wudao's expression turned somewhat unnatural. Being jilted was certainly not something he cared to dredge up, but to his dismay, Jiang Chuoran had spilled every last detail, making him wish the ground would open up and swallow him whole.

Damn it! Sun Qian was the one being cursed out, but *he* was the one losing face!