Hearing Xue Zhengyong’s words, people from the other sects stood up angrily. “Can Sisheng Peak shut up?! Your disciple has violated a great taboo in the cultivation world by practicing the Zhenlong Chess Formation. Logically speaking, your lousy sect should disperse immediately and get lost! We don’t have the time to argue with you guys now, but can you have some self-awareness?”

     “Xue Zhengyong! You’re still speaking for him?! You’re not on his side, are you?”

     There was a clamor of murmurs all around.

     Whether it was a sect or family, it was often like this. Once a person attained immortality, even their dogs and chickens would seem to ascend to the heavens. However, once a person did something unforgivable, the entire sect or family would be regarded as a treacherous nest of devils.

     “This is a measure of guilt, not a sentence.” Mu Yanli was calm, discussing the matter as it was, without judging the situation of Sisheng Peak. “Sect Leader Xue doesn’t need to be anxious. After the sins are measured, the merits are also measured. The balance between merit and fault is the final judgement.”

     After she finished speaking, she turned her head and looked at Mo Ran again, then said with a cold voice, “Continue recounting your crimes.”

     “I… once… dishonored my master… and destroyed… my ancestors…”

     “Dishonored your master and annihilated your ancestors?”

     This statement was perplexing.

     Mo Ran felt like his heart was on fire.

     Dishonored his master and annihilated his ancestors. He was stating sins from his previous life—this Water of Admission actually forced the heinous crimes he had committed in his previous life out of his throat!

      But he didn’t want to say it… He didn’t want to say it! Did he have to reveal how he had humiliated Chu Wanning in his previous life under the gaze of countless pairs of eyes?

     He imprisoned him as his personal property and married him as a concubine.

     He humiliated his pride and finally caused his death.

     He didn’t want to say it.

     He felt that he couldn’t live, but Chu Wanning still had a long life ahead of him.

     Chu Wanning was the spirit of the sacred tree. He had the purest spiritual energy and was extremely talented. He hoped that Chu Wanning could continue down his path and, in the end, be able to ascend as an immortal and not have to suffer the pain of reincarnation or the pain of love anymore.

     His Shizun was so good, so clean.

     He wanted to protect him…

     He must not let anyone think that they were connected or involved.

     Chu Wanning must not be seen as dirty, his body stained with Taxian-Jun’s sins and blood.

     He wanted to protect him.

     Protect him…

     His stomach seemed to be on fire, and the pain was so severe that his intestines were nearly broken. He could faintly hear Mu Yanli’s cold voice asking him, “What do you mean by dishonoring your master and annihilating your ancestors?”

     He wouldn’t say it. He wouldn’t say it.

     His fingertips grazed against the rough gravel floor and bled, and his forehead was bruised red from the pressure. He was hunched over and panting heavily, like a fish dying on a riverbank…

     He wouldn’t say it.

     Resisting the Water of Admission was the same as resisting Tianwen. As long as one clenched their teeth, they would ultimately be able to endure it.

     He was being interrogated by Tianyin Pavilion, and everyone’s eyes were focused on him as he struggled and howled like a trapped beast. This torture was too deep; ordinary people couldn’t even endure Tianwen, and this was a hundred—or even a thousand times—more painful than Tianwen’s interrogation.

     He felt as if a pair of invisible hands were tightening, tearing, and twisting his stomach. The mottled wounds on his body were flooded with salt water, and there was a searing pain. His wrists were in excruciating pain.

     Mu Yanli’s voice seemed so far away, as if coming from across an ocean.

     “What do you mean by dishonoring your master and annihilating your ancestors?!”

     He didn’t say it. He bit his tongue and lips. His mouth was full of blood, but there were no tears.

     It was the same as when he was locked in a dog cage for seven days.

     He didn’t cry.

     His tears would only make the spectators laugh.

     No one would pity him, and he didn’t want their pity.

     Even if the pain was agonizing to the point of death, he had to endure it no matter what.

     Mu Yanli was still questioning him condescendingly, “What did you do to Chu Wanning?”

     It hurt so much that he began to hallucinate.

     He vaguely saw Chu Wanning ascending to immortality after a hundred years. His robes were still as white as snow, and his features were handsome, his aura magnificent. When he wasn’t smiling, his eyes were sharp, but when he smiled, the sharpness melted away, turning into the gentleness of a calm lake or sea.

     “I never…”

     Mu Yanli was stunned for a moment before her red lips parted slightly. “What?”

     Mo Ran’s throat was in pain, and his voice was extremely hoarse. “I was wrong. I didn’t dishonor my master.”

     He raised his eyes; they were bloodshot, but his pupils were bright.

     “Annihilated ancestors!”

     His words were broken.

     “...” Mu Yanli didn’t know what kind of expression she had on her face. There seemed to be a trace of shock and confusion, but she was too cold, and the shock and confusion were quickly frozen into ice. She paused for a moment, then said, “Continue recounting your crimes.”

     Mo Ran coughed up blood. His lungs felt like they were being ripped to pieces, and there was a foul smell when he breathed.

     He lay on the ground, waiting for the consuming pain of the Admission Water to subside. His whole body was drenched, his face pale as paper. His cheek was pressed to the ground, and his hair was matted against his cheeks as he gasped for breath.

     Mu Yanli couldn’t help but take a half-step forward.

     She stared at him. “Continue recounting your crimes.”

     “No more crimes…” Mo Ran closed his eyes and said hoarsely, “...to declare.”

     Mu Yanli then ordered a disciple to go ahead and take some of Mo Ran’s fresh blood, then smear it on the exquisite weight. The weight was engraved with the three seals: “Merit—Goodness—Virtue” to measure the person’s merits.

     She threw the weight into the scale.

     The scale slowly shifted. Everyone but Mo Ran was looking at the golden needle—

     Destroy the soul. It was still “destroy the soul.”

     The needle moved slowly.

     Destroy the soul.

     It couldn’t break out of the “destroy the soul” region.

     Xue Meng held his Longcheng scimitar on his knees, his face in anguish as he stared at the scale. He tried to straighten his back as much as possible because he knew that if he collapsed, it would be difficult for him to straighten up again.

     He trembled slightly, and at this moment, his palms were actually colder than Longcheng’s black iron.

     Mu Yanli’s beautiful eyes stared unblinkingly at the golden scale. The needle was moving slower and slower, moving within the “destroy the soul” region and nearly stopping.

     She flicked her sleeves and said lightly, “Alright, it seems that the final verdict is…”

     “It’s still moving.”

     “Xue-gongzi…”

     Xue Meng stared at her. He was still speaking, even though his voice was shaking badly, even though he didn’t know whether he was doing the right thing or not.

     “The needle is still moving.”

     Mu Yanli said, “It’s about to stop.”

     “Then wait for it to stop.”

     Mu Yanli met his gaze.

     After a while, a cold and mocking smile appeared on her face. “Okay, then let’s wait for it to stop.”

     The sun was scorching hot, and a layer of gray smoke was rising from the stone ground.

     They waited, all of them looking at the needle and waiting for it to stop. However, the strange thing was that even after a long time, the needle didn’t stop.

     It also seemed uncertain about what decision to make about Mo Weiyu. It was wavering, hesitantly tilting towards the less guilty region, where the punishment was reduced—slowly, bit by bit.

     Mu Yanli seemed to have never encountered such a situation. She didn’t say anything else. Her yellow robe fluttered as she quietly waited for the holy weapon scale’s judgement.

     Xue Meng’s knuckles turned white, and he stared closely at the needle. It seemed as if what was about to be judged wasn’t Mo Weiyu’s life, but the years that he and Mo Ran had known each other.

     From contempt to disgust, from disgust to acceptance, and from acceptance to recognition.

     Was it the initial coldness at the beginning that was wrong, or was it calling him “brother” later that was wrong?

     He didn’t know.

     In his vulnerable heart, he only had hope as he stared at the needle.

     Don’t stop.

     I beg you.

     Keep going, a little further. Look, there’s just a little more…

     No matter how wrong that person was, he still shattered his own spiritual core and defeated thousands of soldiers.

     How could he be sentenced to death?

     How could they destroy his soul…?

     A little more. A little more…

     Finally—

     “Dig out the spiritual core.”

     Mu Yanli announced this with an expressionless face. She looked extremely impartial and cold-blooded, completely different from the golden warm light of the gown she wore. Her entire person was colder than snow and frost.

     The needle stopped.

     The tip of the needle pointed at the words: “dig out the spiritual core.”

     This was Mo-zongshi’s final judgement.

     Mu Yanli faced the vast crowd below as well as the ten great sects in the stands.

     It was indeed the ten great sects. Tianyin Pavilion still preserved the old seating area of Rufeng Sect. A lone person sat there. It was Ye Wangxi, dressed in black.

     She was holding Nangong Si’s cloth quiver, and lying on her knees was Naobaijin, who had lost its master forever. Her face was very haggard, but her eyes were clear. She was also watching everything on the trial platform.

     Mu Yanli said, “The blue sky has its own eyes, and a clear mirror hangs high. Tianyin Pavilion judges merits and demerits. There has never been favoritism, bias, or any deliberate attempts to make things difficult for Mo Ran, Mo Weiyu. It is announced openly for three days, and if there are no objections after three days—”

     Xue Meng had been holding back with his eyes closed and finally couldn’t stop himself anymore. He suddenly stood up, his silvery blue light armor shining. “I have an objection.”

     “...”

     “There’s no need to wait for three days, I have an objection now.”

     The uproar below became even louder. “Quickly shut the fucking sect of Sisheng Peak up! What the hell?!”

     “Why don’t we just interrogate Xue Zhengyong and Xue Meng too?! There’s a chance they’re working together. How can they still speak up for this devil at this point?!”

     “When the Zhenlong Chess Formation descended upon the world, why didn’t it kill countless people at Sisheng Peak? Are you really not from a demon’s den?”

     Xue Meng was so angry that his face was ashen. However, he had no choice but to use all his strength to suppress his fury.

     Mu Yanli naturally heard the angry roars of those cultivators, but she turned a deaf ear to them. She only said indifferently, “Little Xue-gongzi, if you have anything to say, I’m all ears.”

     Xue Meng opened his mouth, but he didn’t know what to say for a moment. Madam Wang was very worried. She pulled at him quietly. “Meng-er, there are still three days left. Let’s take our time to plan carefully and think of what to say…”

     But Xue Meng didn’t seem to hear his mother’s words. He stared at Mu Yanli for a while, then turned to look at the scale. Finally, his gaze fell on the small black dot in the distance.

     That was Mo Ran on the execution platform.

     Xue Meng’s eyes suddenly trembled. It was as if a curtain was blown up by the wind, causing ripples to form under them.

     It was neither dark nor bright.

     He said recklessly, “He no longer has a spiritual core.”

     Mu Yanli asked, “What do you mean?”

     Xue Meng was suddenly spirited and looked back at her. “What? You don’t know? The person who saved you at Sisheng Peak—the person who forced the chess pieces to retreat—isn’t he the same person? Pavilion Master Mu, I would like to know. How will you fulfill this? His spiritual core is already destroyed! What else do you want to do? Dig out his heart?!”

     His eyes were filled with tears, and his nails dug deep into his palms.

     “Dig out the spiritual core… dig out the spiritual core… He doesn’t have a spiritual core anymore. Do you want to take his life?!”

     Mu Yanli narrowed her eyes. “Tianyin Pavilion has its own way.”

     “According to the rules, after the judgement is announced, its execution will be carried out in three days.” Suddenly, a slightly hoarse voice rang out. Everyone raised their eyes to see that the person speaking was Ye Wangxi. “Pavilion Master, what solution do you have? Please explain it clearly.”

     Immediately, someone from Bitan Manor rebuked angrily, “What right do you have to open your mouth? Who do you think you are?”

     Another person whispered, “Relying on Jiang Xi’s backing and Nangong Si’s death to clear Rufeng Sect’s name, she really thinks she’s something. On such a major occasion, how could a nameless woman be worthy of questioning the Tianyin Pavilion Master?”

     Ye Wangxi ignored all of it.

     Until someone with a grudge against the Nangong family shouted at her, “Ye Wangxi, Rufeng Sect has already perished. You are sitting there alone. Don’t tell me that you think you’re the Sect Leader of Rufeng Sect?”

     Ye Wangxi hugged Naobaijin, who had yet to recover its spiritual energy and was whimpering in her arms. She stood there alone, neither angry nor unruly. When the angry and mocking voices gradually calmed down, she said, “The commander of Rufeng Sect’s Dark City is still alive, so whether it’s perished or not isn’t up to you.”

     “You—”

     Ye Wangxi didn’t want to argue with others. She looked at Mu Yanli and said, “Pavilion Master, please enlighten me.”

     Mu Yanli said, “There is no way to reconstruct a spiritual core in this world. The spiritual core is shattered, but the fragments are still inside the heart cavity. Naturally, digging out the spiritual core does not require the spiritual core to be intact.”

     Xue Meng’s face turned as white as paper. “So what do you want to do?”

     “Just cast a spell and dig out all the spiritual core fragments.” Mu Yanli said, “Tianyin Pavilion will not take his…”

     Before the word “life” could be said, Xue Zhengyong also stood up, his expression cloudy. “Dig out all the fragments of his spiritual core?”

     “That’s right.”

     “Then how many times will you have to dig?” Xue Zhengyong glared at her. His hair was already white at his temples. “Five times? Ten times? Digging out the spiritual core will injure the heart, and it will be extremely painful every time. Several years ago, Tianyin Pavilion dug out a prisoner’s spiritual core, but she didn’t make it. She returned to prison and died on the same day.”

     Mu Yanli said indifferently, “That is because she was weak. It cannot be blamed on Tianyin Pavilion.”

     “Then you might as well take his life directly!” Xue Zhengyong shouted angrily. “Mu Yanli, his spiritual core is shattered! You say that if his spiritual core is broken into two fragments, you’ll dig twice. If it’s three fragments, you’ll dig three times… But what if it’s broken into hundreds, or thousands, of pieces? Are you going to inflict lingchi on him?! You want to cut him to pieces?!”

     “If it really shattered like that, it would be his own fate.”

     Xue Zhengyong was speechless.

     Fate?

     Everything was fate.

     He suddenly felt that it was very absurd.

     What was fate?

     Because of fate, he mistakenly raised this child as his own nephew.

     He gave this child a family, a master, a place to stay, and a home. But what was this child’s original fate?

     He was born illegitimate and abandoned, not having had enough to eat since he was a child. He had to follow his mother to beg and perform to survive.

     His mother died, and he, a thin and weak child, dragged her gradually rotting body to the mass grave and buried the only warmth of his childhood with his own hands.

     He had been beaten and scolded countless times. He had been locked up in a dog cage. He had been framed and imprisoned.

     Everyone hoped that this world would be fair, but his fate was unfair from the moment he was born.

    Why was it that here, the young masters of rich families had extravagant lifestyles and could spend a thousand pieces of gold in exchange for a beautiful woman’s smile?

     But over there, the poor were displaced and had no choice but to survive by eating insects and ants, with the earth and sky as their shelter.

     Why was it that some people could indulge in the carefree pampering of their mothers with no worries?

     And some people would bring their mother’s bones to the wealthy and powerful to beg, only to get the words: “when life is three feet long, you can’t ask for ten feet.”

     Why was it that some people were humble to the point of death?

     Some people were born rich.

     It wasn’t fair.

     When fate dumped injustice on those at the bottom—when a mere price adjustment order could take away the lives of their loved ones…

     Where was the justice?

     They were all living people. How could they not feel hatred? How could they be free of it?

     Even if this child had misdeeds, even if he wasn’t his flesh and blood, even if fate played tricks on him… he still felt heartbroken when he thought about it.

     Xue Zhengyong closed his eyes.

     He murmured, “It’s too cruel. I don’t think the holy weapon scale ever took into account the fact that his spiritual core was shattered… Hundreds of times, Mu Yanli.”

     He looked up, his voice trembling.

     “You would have to take an awl and gouge his heart hundreds of times.”

     “...”

     The earth and sky were clear, and everything at Tianyin Pavilion was strict, impartial, and meticulous.

     Xue Zhengyong raised his head and watched as the clouds slowly drifted by.

     “Okay, now he will pay for his sins. He will repay what he owes to this world.”

     The wind started to blow.

     Xue Zhengyong suddenly choked up.

     “But what this world owes him… will anyone return it to him…? Will anyone repay him…?”