“Senior Brother Ling, please seek justice for us!”
With a rustle, more than a dozen female disciples knelt below the platform, each sobbing with tears streaming down their faces.
“What nonsense are you spouting? Get them out of here, don’t disrupt the core disciple ranking battle!”
Elder Jin stood up and shouted.
“Wait!”
Ling Xiao commanded, “The core disciple ranking is trivial, this matter is far more serious. If a sect can’t even protect its own disciples, it’s not far from collapse. Tell me, what has Yue Ren done?”
Ling Xiao’s expression was grim; he was a man of responsibility.
Having received the Yuehua Token from Chang Ge, he hoped to see the Yuehua Sect prosper.
If such incidents occurred within the sect and he didn’t address them, his conscience would never be at ease.
“Yue Ren practised a martial art called the Gentleman’s Sword Technique, meant to make a warrior upright and honourable, but it requires abstaining from women for a time.”
One of the female disciples explained, “Yue Ren couldn’t restrain himself and turned on his fellow disciples. We were weaker than him, with no backing, so after he bullied us, we didn’t dare speak out.”
“Outrageous! If you had reported this to the Enforcement Hall, someone would have upheld justice for you!”
Elder Jin fumed, glaring and puffing his beard.
“Senior Brother Ling, he’s lying! One of my junior sisters did just that, but she vanished without a trace, never to be found again!”
The female disciple shouted in anger.
“Senior Brother Ling, be careful!”
Suddenly, a female disciple cried out in alarm.
Yue Ren had taken advantage of Ling Xiao’s conversation to launch a sneak attack.
Ling Xiao snorted coldly, his figure flickering, easily dodging Yue Ren’s full-force assault.
Then, facing Yue Ren’s back, he opened his mouth and let out a roar.
Dragon Roar Technique!
Boom!
A horrifying scene unfolded.
Yue Ren’s body exploded in mid-air, fragments scattering across the sparring platform.
“I didn’t intend to kill you, but you were truly asking for death!”
Originally, Ling Xiao had planned to let the Enforcement Hall judge Yue Ren’s crimes after an investigation.
But who could have predicted Yue Ren would try to take his life?
That was absolutely unforgivable!
“Yue Ren!”
Elder Jin’s eyes blazed with fury amidst the cries of shock.
He had taken Yue Ren as his disciple, believing that with time, he could regain his former position, and Yue Ren could bring glory at the Four Sects Martial Assembly.
But now, Yue Ren had been killed by Ling Xiao.
And so effortlessly!
Without even lifting a hand, just by moving his lips!
This scene left all the Yuehua Sect disciples in utter shock.
Especially those who thought Ling Xiao was only arrogant because of his connections—they shut their mouths.
They had never seen anything like this. Just two roars had killed a peak ninth-level Mortal Realm warrior.
Wasn’t that too absurd?
Ling Xiao suddenly seemed unfathomable, impossible to gauge.
“Ling Xiao is terrifying, I wouldn’t dare provoke him again!”
“Indeed, Senior Brother Yue Ren, though he dropped a few ranks among the core disciples, was still sixth, yet Ling Xiao killed him so easily!”
“A fiend!”
“Mysterious and unpredictable!”
“Better not make an enemy of him in the future.”
Countless disciples were still reeling, especially those who had come to see Ling Xiao humiliated. At this moment, they could hardly believe their eyes.
If Yue Ren hadn’t been killed, they’d have thought it was a rigged performance.
“Heh, as expected of Senior Brother Ling, even more terrifying than I imagined.”
Leng Hao was momentarily stunned, then clapped enthusiastically.
Bai Feifei, however, was completely dumbfounded. Even for her, defeating Yue Ren would take at least ten moves, and it wouldn’t be easy.
But Ling Xiao had killed Yue Ren without lifting a hand. Was he even human?
A monster!
Tantai Lingzi’s expression remained unchanged, but her eyes betrayed a hint of worry.
“Sister, see? I’ve told you more than once, Senior Brother Ling is no ordinary person. He’s a young dragon, destined to soar through the heavens one day.”
Zhao Zhi sighed to Zhao Ci beside him.
Zhao Ci, along with Ling Xiao, Dai Yuling, and Zhao Zhi, had entered the Yuehua Sect at the same time.
But their paths had diverged.
Dai Yuling and Zhao Zhi had followed Ling Xiao’s lead and were now among the ten core disciples.
Zhao Ci, however, despised Ling Xiao’s ruthless decisiveness, growing to dislike him and even resenting her brother Zhao Zhi.
But at this moment, tears welled in Zhao Ci’s eyes.
Her excessive compassion had cost her dearly.
Recalling that night’s events, her body trembled.
She couldn’t understand why, after helping Yue Ren, he had treated her like a beast.
She had kept this buried in her heart, not daring to tell anyone, even today when those female disciples spoke out, she didn’t dare step forward.
As the princess of the Northern Han Kingdom, she couldn’t let such a thing be made public.
But she desperately wanted revenge.
She never expected that the one to avenge her would be Ling Xiao!
The fellow disciple she despised most!
“Sister, what’s wrong?”
Zhao Zhi asked, puzzled.
“Brother, I finally understand now. I want to become stronger! You have to help me!”
Zhao Ci spoke to Zhao Zhi, but her eyes were fixed on Ling Xiao on the sparring platform.
The figure she had once scorned and disapproved of now seemed so tall and imposing, so magnificent.
“Ling Xiao, even if Yue Ren deserved to die, he should have been judged and punished by the Enforcement Hall. Your actions were improper!”
As the current head of the Enforcement Hall, Chang Yueying was displeased with Ling Xiao’s conduct.
“Didn’t you see him try to kill me?”
Ling Xiao glanced at Chang Yueying and countered.
Chang Yueying clenched her fists, then slowly relaxed them, saying, “Fair enough. Continue your challenge, then.”
She didn’t press further, knowing full well that the Four Sects Martial Assembly would be Ling Xiao’s downfall!
There was no need to make a fuss over this now.
By killing Yue Ren, Ling Xiao was now ranked sixth among the core disciples.
He was two ranks short of the fourth place required by the Moon Lady.
But he didn’t care about the ranking, as Yue Ren wasn’t the only one he intended to defeat.
“You two, who’s next?”
Ling Xiao looked at Tantai Lingzi and Bai Feifei.
“I’ll go!”
Bai Feifei, with a dark expression, leapt onto the sparring platform.
Though Ling Xiao had killed Yue Ren, she still believed he was no match for her.
After all, she had recovered to one-tenth of her Half-Step Heavenly Venerate strength.
Ling Xiao was only at the early eighth-level Mortal Realm.
She wanted revenge—for the grudge before the tower-climbing ceremony and for what happened inside the Yuehua Pagoda!
Her mind was consumed with thoughts of Ling Xiao. If she didn’t kill him, she would never find peace.
