Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Yang Dingtian got startled and stood still with his back facing Ximen Ju. He spoke in a cold voice, “Why? Is Overseer Ximen going to go back on his words and deny the trial by duel?”
“Of course not.” Ximen Ju said apathetically, “A loss is a loss and a victory is still a victory. The trial by duel is sacred and no one has the authority to break it. Thus, even if you were to have killed Qin Shaobai earlier, none of us could have stopped it.”
Yang Dingtian said, “Then why are you stopping me?”
Ximen Ju looked over at Yang Shishi and spoke loudly, “Yang Shishi is suspected of murder and shall be arrested immediately. A date shall be chosen for her trial.”
Once this statement was made, everyone had a change in expression, including Grand Elder Yang Yan, who was Yang Shishi’s father.
Ximen Ju looked at Yang Yan with firm eyes and didn’t say anything.
Having his trust in Ximen Ju, Grand Elder Yang Yan nodded. Four of the enforcement warriors jumped off the city wall and went up to seize Yang Shishi.
Yang Shishi was still immersed in her sorrow and merely shuddered for a moment after she was grabbed. She continued to hug Qin Shaobai and cried with agony, allowing the four of them to take her and Qin Shaobai away.
Everyone instantly revealed a look of admiration seeing how Yang Yan and Ximen Ju were so impartial.
“Yang Dingtian, you cannot walk off like this. You have to wait for Grand Elder Yang Yan to announce the result,” Ximen Ju said and walked over to Yang Yan, before he continued, “Grand Elder, you can announce the result.”
Yang Yan had this change in expression and couldn’t help but doubt what Ximen Ju was doing. Did he see the unfavorable change in the situation and wanted to become a turncoat? However, under everyone’s eyes and being forced by the situation, he had no way to turn the tables.
Yang Yan took a deep breath and yelled out, “I announce that this trial by duel is won by Yang Dingtian. Ximen Yanyan is declared not guilty!”
In an instant, the city plaza cheered in waves while Yang Yan and his group had even more awful expressions on their faces.
Ximen Ju said, “Yang Dingtian, do you feel that it is fair for everything to be settled in this way?”
“It’s fine,” Yang Dingtian frowned, but he could instinctively feel that things wouldn’t be ended so easily.
“It will be fine as long as it is fair.” Ximen Ju continued. “The trial by duel is a sacred thing. No one should desecrate it. We have to be fair to you and at the same time, we need the duel to be fair as well. I have a few questions for you. Please reply with the truth.”
Once this statement was said, everyone present turned silent. They could see that this matter had not ended and that there was going to be another dispute.
Yang Dingtian turned around to look at Ximen Ju and said, “Please ask. I will only answer the questions that are within my knowledge!”
“I will ask. What stage is your mystic qi cultivation at right now? Ximen Ju asked in an indifferent tone.
Yang Dingtian felt his heart turned cold. Ximen Ju truly had vicious eyes as he immediately found the crucial part.
“Three-star Mystic Martial Warrior,” Yang Dingtian replied.
Ximen Ju exclaimed in admiration, “In just nine days, you increased your cultivation from nine-star Mystic Martial Artist to become a three-star Mystic Martial Warrior. Such talent and such pace of progress is something unheard of and unprecedented.”
When he heard how Ximen Ju praised him, Yang Dingtian’s eyebrows instantly kitted even more.
“Of course, I will not ask where you went during these nine days, and even what you used to breakthrough. These are all your secrets and you have the authority to not answer me,” Ximen Ju immediately held the upper-hand in the conversation and stopped Yang Dingtian from speaking.
Immediately after, Ximen Ju asked again, “I’m only asking you this. In normal circumstances, would a three-star Mystic Martial Warrior be able to defeat a four-star Mystic Martial Master? Someone who is eleven classes superior, and has several folds more cultivation? Furthermore, it was a fight that exceeded ranks. Under normal circumstances, and I repeat, under normal circumstances. Is there such a possibility?”
“Under normal circumstances, it isn’t. But needless to say, it is because I’m special,” Yang Dingtian replied.
“That’s right, you’re abnormal,” Ximen Ju said.
“I said I’m special, not abnormal,” Yang Dingtian corrected.
“Alright, I’ll treat it as though you’re special.” Ximen Ju spoke in an apathetic voice, “Over 200 years ago, there was also this special example. A special duel that everyone should still have an impression of. The circumstances were almost the same as today’s situation.
Once Ximen Ju’s words ended, everyone’s expressions instantly changed. It was true, and it was a very famous incident which had a long-lasting influence and had even changed the fate of countless people. That duel had ruined the formidable faction, Wooden Sword Castle and the lives of tens of thousands of people.
“The combatants of the duel were the Wooden Sword Castle’s Young Lord Li Tianxiao and Northwests Qin Clan’s Third Young Master Qin Yi. In addition, it involved a third party, which was our Cloud Heaven City’s ninth-generation City Lord’s daughter, Yan Tingting.” Ximen Ju said, “Back then, Young Lady Yang Tingting was an outstanding beauty who was titled as the Northwest’s no.1 beauty. The Northwest Qin Clan wasn’t as powerful as the current generation and the Wooden Sword Castle had yet to decline back then, it was the only one of the clans in the Three Sects, Nine Clans.”
Yang Dingtian had certainly heard of Li Tianxiao’s name, perhaps even the world had heard of this name.
This was a name that had been notorious for over two centuries and a name that had committed evil crimes. He was the greatest traitor in the Heaven Dao Union for the past few centuries, with tens of thousands of lives that had fallen in his hands.
In fact, Dugu Xiao had recently mentioned this name… The soul tool ring that he gave to Yang Dingtian even belonged to Li Tianxiao.
Ximen Ju immediately continued, “Back then, Li Tianxiao and Qin Yi simply adored Young Lady Yang Tingting. Li Tianxiao was talented, handsome, and dashing… but he was unrestrained. The Qin Clan’s Third Young Master had astounding talents and had martial prowess. Both of them were deeply in love with Young Lady Yang Tingting, however, she was ultimately unable to make a choice. Hence, Young Lady Yang Tingting decided to travel far away along with the two of them and cultivate in the dangerous Far West while hoping to be able to make the right choice during the midst of their travels. However, when they returned to the city half a year later… Li Xiaotian, Qin Clan’s Third Young Master, and Yang Tingting’s corpse had appeared. The corpse had been extremely violated.”
Despite the fact that everyone had heard of this story before, they couldn’t help but let out a sigh now that they were hearing it again. A spotless, fairy-like beauty with an esteemed status was a blessed woman who had the infatuation from two exceptional men. No one could have expected her to have such a miserable ending.
“Back then, Li Xiaotian and Third Young Master Qin Yi mutually accused each other of violating and killing Young Lady Yang Tingting. But none of them had any evidence to show. The Wooden Sword Castle, Cloud Heaven City, and Northwest Qin Clan had investigated for three months and still didn’t have any conclusion. Hence, the two decided to have a trial by duel and whoever lost would be the sinner. Of course, this trial by duel had to be agreed upon by the three factions. The Wooden Sword Castle’s Young Lord, Li Tianxiao, Qin Clan’s Third Young Master, and Cloud Heaven City agreed to it.”
“It was known to everyone that the Wooden Sword Castle’s Young Lord, Li Tianxiao was unrestrained but brilliantly talented. But in terms of the martial dao, he was far inferior to the Qin Clan’s Third Young Master. Back then, Li Tianxiao was only a four-star Great Mystic Martial Master, while Qin Yi was a five-star Martial Mystic expert. The two of them had a difference of eleven classes and it was a battle that exceeded ranks,” Ximen Ju finished speaking and looked over at Yang Dingtian and smiled. “It sure is a coincidence that the difference this time is also eleven classes and also a battle that exceeded ranks.”
Ximen Ju’s statement was harboring unfathomable motives, but Yang Dingtian didn’t bother to care about it.
Ximen Ju continued, “Everyone assumed that Li Tianxiao wouldn’t agree to the trial by duel, however, he unexpectedly agreed to it. It was similarly held on the Day of Trials of every month and similarly on midday. The trial by duel was held in Cloud Heaven City, that’s right, it’s so coincidental that it was held at the same place as Yang Dingtian and Qin Shaobai’s duel. What’s even more coincidental is that the duel happened at midday on the 23rd of October. The time and place were exactly the same, however, it happened two centuries ago on the same date and same time.”
This statement harbored even more motives.
“The results were similarly shocking and unexpected. Just as the Wooden Sword Castle’s Li Tianxiao was about to die from defeat, he suddenly counterattacked with a sudden burst of strength, instantly killing Young Master Qin Yi.” Ximen Ju said, “Everone was appalled but no one dared to question it. But it was needless to say that the trial by duel was so sacred that no one dared to doubt it despite the fact that everyone had suspicions. However, everyone accepted the result. The Cloud Heaven City Lord announced that it was Li Tianxiao’s victory and that he was not guilty, while the Qin Clan’s Third Young Master, Qin Yi perished in defeat and was found guilty. The Northwest Qin Clan were reluctant in their hearts, but the trial by duel was sacred, hence they accepted the conclusion.”
Yang Dingtian didn’t hear this part of the story, but he knew what Ximen Ju was going to say next.
Ximen Ju continued, “If nothing ever happened later on, then this truth would have been buried. However, until one day when the Shrine of Extermination’s Master, the world’s no.1 expert, Evil Dao’s no.1 supreme, Wan Wentian gathered all of the Evil Dao. He led the millions of the evil dao alliance army, emerging from the sea of hell and launched an extinction assault on the Primal Chaos World, annihilating countless lives in a short period of time. That was an unbearable recollection of the past and it was the blood and tears in the history of our righteous factions.”
Ximen Ju spoke in a mournful voice, “What I want to say is that the Wooden Sword Castle, which was one of the Nine Clan which dominated the southwest continent. They were the hegemon that governed over a thousand miles and was the core strength of the Heaven Dao Union. But on the day where the Heaven Dao Union’s army was about to have clash to the death with the Evil Dao in the northwest continent, all the experts in the Wooden Sword Castle had bizarrely perished over a single night while the Heaven Dao Union’s southwest army which numbered in hundreds of thousands, were all infected with a plague. No one knew the reason until an individual appeared in the army of the Evil Dao and on the side of the Temple of Blood’s Master, Dugu Beiming. That individual was the Wooden Sword Castle’s Young Lord, Li Tianxiao. It was he who killed all the experts in the Wooden Sword Castle and it was also him who caused the plague in the Heaven Dao Union’s southwest army, which caused thousands to die. Since he was an insider that was planted by the Temple of Blood’s Master!”
“Afterwards, the truth of that trial by duel had been revealed, the truth of Yang Tingting being violated and killed had been revealed as well. Despite the fact that the trial by duel had been concluded more than a decade later and that the Qin Clan’s Third Young Master’s corpse had already been cremated into ashes, the truth would always remain on this world for eternity.” Ximen Ju looked over at Yang Dingtian and said, “The truth was that when Li Tianxiao, Qin Yi, and Yang Tingting were traveling to the Far West, Yang Tingting had finally made the decision to pick Qin Yi. Li Tianxiao was enraged when he knew it, and so, he violated and killed Yang Tingting, and then framed Qin Yi. The reason why he accepted the trial by duel was simple, because the Temple of Blood’s Master, Dugu Beiming had imparted Li Tiaoxiao an evil art, an extremely evil art called Evil Soul Art!”
Upon hearing the name of this evil art, Yang Dingtian’s body instantly shook for a moment.
“The Evil Soul Art uses an evil method to draw out and refine a martial artist’s spirit soul before storing it in a soul tool. During the fight, as long as the practitioner uses the Soul Burst Art, they would be able to use the puppet battle soul to instantly kill the enemy, even if the enemy is several folds, or even more than ten folds stronger than the practitioner.”
“At that time, Li Tianxiao used poison to restrain his own blood uncle and forcefully drew out his spirit soul to refine him into a puppet battle soul. Subsequently, during the duel with Qin Yi, he lost in every exchange and was placed in a precarious situation. Just as Li Tianxiao was about to lose his life, he released the puppet battle soul from the soul tool and instantly killed Young Master Qin Yi, hence obtaining victory in the duel.”
“Ever since that time, Li Tianxiao’s spirit soul had been thoroughly corrupted and he had become the lackey for the Evil Dao. Finally, after more than a decade, he continuously committed grave crimes by destroying the entire Wooden Sword Castle and killing hundreds of thousands of righteous and innocent lives. This caused the entire southwest continent to completely lose their vigor, turning it into barren lands.” Ximen Ju sneered and said, “The most ridiculous thing was that he spoke of the truth in the end.”
Ximen Ju took a deep breath as though he was trying to regain his composure. He immediately continued, “After the world extinguishing battle was over, the Wooden Sword Castle, Northwest Qin Clan, and Cloud Heaven City ruled that the trial by duel was won by Li Tianxiao with evil arts and the result had been annulled. They judged that Young Master Qin Yi was the victor and announced that he was not guilty despite the fact that Young Master Qin Yi had been dead for more than a decade, his crimes were finally wiped away and perhaps he might be able to rest in peace.”
“Since then, the Heaven Dao Union gave the orders that anyone who uses evil arts in a trial by duel would be immediately determined as the loser and be dismembered instantly. This is because righteous and evil do not stand on one side. Our Heaven Dao Union has zero tolerance for the Evil Dao and shall slaughter them on sight! If one becomes a lackey for the Evil Dao, it will be of the most severe crimes!”
Finally, Ximen Ju looked at Yang Dingtian and said, “Yang Dingtian, I do not wish to suspect you. But the circumstances today are just too similar to the one over two centuries ago. I am unable to imagine how you could achieve victory by exceeding the ranks and difference of eleven classes. Hence, I am officially suspecting you of colluding with the Evil Dao. You have used the Evil Soul Art to cheat and defeat Qin Shaobai. We will immediately seize you and investigate. So, you cannot leave for now!”
At this moment, Yang Dingtian wanted to laugh, however, he couldn’t. He wanted to curse, but he couldn’t utter a single word.
At the final moment, even when he was about to die under the blade of Qin Shaobai, even if his soul was going to disperse due to the violent sword soul, he didn’t choose to use the Evil Soul Art. He chose an extremely dangerous path which had a miserable consequence.
He might have succeeded and defeated Qin Shaobai, but his master, Dongfang Niemie’s spirit soul had suffered destructive damage. Dongfang Niemie had to leave Yang Dingtian and might not even ever return. Furthermore, it might have even affected his future when he would try to cultivate his flawless sword soul.
He suffered great consequences since he didn’t wish to use the Evil Soul Art. However, this Ximen Ju actually wanted to use the sin of using an evil art and colluding with the Evil Dao to put the crime on him? How could he not be angry? How could he not feel like laughing?
“Hahaha!” Yang Dingtian laughed. “Overseer Ximen. How are you going to investigate?”
Ximen Ju said, “Simple. Please tell me… You are eleven classes inferior to Qin Shaobai and was initially in a hopeless position. How were you able to strike back and turn the tide?”
Yang Dingtian was instantly rendered speechless.
Ximen Ju laughed and continued, “Of course. I wonder if there is something that’s inconvenient for you to explain?”
Yang Dingtian said, “There is nothing that cannot be declared. I was able to turn the tide because of a sword soul. I used a sword soul to fight.”
Once Yang Dingtian said this, everyone present was in a commotion again, most of them uttering unbelievable gasps. Of course, the majority of the people were still shocked by Yang Dingtian’s victory, hence they didn’t turn this explanation into suspicions.
But this was too insane and it had overturned everyone’s perception.
In this world, only three individuals had cultivated a sword soul.
Dongfang Niemie, Ximen Wuya, and an absolute expert who had always stayed secluded. The true world’s no.1, the Hidden Sect’s Sect Patriarch.
All these three individuals were Grandmaster Class absolute experts, while Yang Dingtian was just a three-star Mystic Martial Warrior.
Furthermore, when Qin Shaobai was defeated earlier, it all happened in an instant and no one saw it clearly. Qin Shaobai immediately vomited blood and was sent flying. No one knew how Yang Dingtian defeated him.
Ximen Ju didn’t have any signs of mockery shown on his face, instead, he spoke seriously, “That is truly incredible. If I didn’t remember wrongly, in this world, there are only three individuals who could use a sword soul to battle. All three of them are Grandmaster class experts. Of course, I do not want to look down on you, however, you’re just a three-star Mystic Martial Warrior. The fact that you used the sword soul to battle is truly too unconvincing.”
Grand Elder Yang Yan who was by the side, sneered and said, “Yang Dingtian. The evil soul and the sword soul are only different by a single word. Don’t get confused between them. The evil soul is the Evil Dao’s possession, while the sword soul is the martial arts of the Righteous Dao, the symbol of an absolute expert. Isn’t it too early for you to try wearing this symbol now?”
Once these comments were out, everyone present revealed a look of suspicion. Ximen Ju effortlessly knocked off the worship that Yang Dingtian had just built up. After all, Yang Dingtian using the sword soul to battle was truly unbelievable and impossible. The sword soul was the pinnacle of the martial dao in everyone’s heart. Yang Dingtian’s cultivation and age was indeed not qualified yet.
“Yang Dingtian, do you have any explanation for this? After all, it is unbelievable for someone of your age and cultivation to control a sword soul in battle,” Ximen Ju spoke in a sincere voice.
Yang Dingtian shook his head. “I have nothing else to explain. You asked me what I used to defeat Qin Shaobai and I already told you that it was the sword soul. As for how I used it, I have no obligation to explain.”
This sword was given from the Terror Manor, if Yang Dingtian spoke about where it came from, it would definitely bring Zhao Mu a calamity.
Ximen Ju frowned and sighed. “Okay then, you don’t have to say it. You said that you used sword soul to defeat Qin Shaobai. Even though it is unbelievable, I will treat it as the truth. However, you have to prove to everyone that you used a sword soul and not the Evil Soul Art.”
The muscles on Yang Dingtian’s face twitched a little as he spoke, “How do I prove it?”
“Very simple.” Ximen Ju said, “You just have to demonstrate it again. Use a sword soul and attack me. If you are able to draw out the sword soul, then you, Yang Dingtian will create the history of the millennium. I will publicly give you an apology in front of everyone. I will even support you to be the successor of the Cloud Heaven City. How about it?”
Yang Dingtian didn’t respond.
Ximen Ju’s expression turned cold as he continued, “If you cannot draw out the sword soul to attack me. Then I have to apologize and suspect that you used the Evil Soul Art and that you are an insider from the Evil Dao. According to the orders from the Heaven Dao Union, we will judge that you have lost and that you will be executed on the spot and dismembered into pieces!
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