Chapter 535 – Trial By Decree

　　Steward Ruan slightly narrowed her eyes and stepped forward. “Show me your leaf ticket.”

　　Shen Congrong raised an eyebrow and said “So fast” as he took out his leaf ticket without any resistance.

　　Just looking at his leaf ticket, a few candidates who had gathered around him immediately gasped and stared at Shen Congrong with frightened and confused eyes—

　　A blood-red leaf ticket represented that he killed multiple people in the evil spirit array. Looking at the color, Steward Ruan’s eyes changed. She held the leaf ticket in her hand, as if she could feel the coldness in her bones.

　　This was a leaf card that had been soaked in the blood of countless numbers of people.

　　Shen Congrong was indifferent, as if it didn’t matter to him.

　　That was precisely what was most frightening.

　　Steward Ruan took a deep breath and stared at Shen Congrong. “Come with me. “

　　Shen Congrong didn’t resist and followed her to leave.

　　“Wait a minute.” Yin Changge stood up. He was not good with words, but now, he was pale and said, “I’m with him. I’ll go with him.”

　　Steward Ruan frowned. “Take out your leaf ticket.”

　　Yin Changge brought out his own leaf ticket, which was clear and transparent, a very beautiful green without any blood.

　　Steward Ruan said, “Come along.”

　　Shen Congrong frowned. “It has nothing to do with him. I don’t know him at all. “

　　Steward Ruan gave him a deep look and repeated, “Let’s all go together. In any case, everyone can watch today’s trial.”

　　When this came out, all the disciples in the courtyard were eager to move and see it.

　　After thinking about it, Yan Tianhen took the lead in following.

　　Shen Congrong kept shooting Yin Changge a warning glance, but Yin Changge turned a blind eye to it.

　　At this time, Yin Changge thought, My mouth is on me and belongs to me. Why do you want to block my mouth?

　　Along the way, many disciples of the sect saw Shen Congrong with Steward Ruan, and all of them showed very complicated expressions, such as disgust and fear. This was normal. After all, they seldom saw people who would recklessly kill others in a Primary Ranked evil spirit array.

　　Especially since this person was still young.

　　There were already many people sitting in the hall, and the heads of the four courtyards–East, West, North, and South–were sitting on the trial seats. In the absence of the Headmaster, the Vice Headmaster would take his place as judge in the trial.

　　There were quite a few disciples who wanted to see with their own eyes which examinee was so powerful.

　　Behind the long table on the right side, there were several noble young masters sitting side by side, surrounded by disciples wearing the clan’s robes.

　　Yan Tianhen stood at the back. At a glance, he knew some basic knowledge.

　　Those who were sitting at the back of the long table on the right were all disciples from the families of Divine Clans, but some of them had already entered Myriad Dao Academy in the early years, and some of them were only ready to enter this year.

　　Shen Congrong most likely offended the wrong people.

　　Although there was no aristocratic family in the Myriad Dao Academy and it disregarded secular status, that was only under normal circumstances.

　　As long as Myriad Dao Academy was in the Nine Lands, it was bound to be influenced by secular dynasties.

　　The person in charge of the academy’s laws was the Sect Judge, whose position was similar to the three Hall Masters and four Deans, but he was the one most feared by the disciples. When they saw the Sect Judge and his inspection team who worked for him, it was like a mouse meeting a cat. They couldn’t wait to run away.

　　Yan Tianhen stood in the crowd and looked up. Sitting in the most central position, the Honorable Judge looked very young, probably because of his high cultivation.

　　His eyes were cold, his lips thin and pale, and he had a kind of otherworldly aura.

　　No wonder the disciples were afraid of him.

　　Yan Tianhen was suddenly hit. Looking back, it turned out to be Qi Feiqing.

　　Although there were a lot of people standing here, there were no noisy and disordered voices. This was probably because the trial had a sense of dignity, which made people dare not to speak out at will.

　　Qi Feiqing asked in a low voice, “What seems to be the matter?”

　　Yan Tianhen also whispered, “Just look.”

　　Just then, the judge who sat on the main seat spoke.

　　“Shen Congrong, it’s been reported that after you were sent into the evil spirit array, you killed nine people who entered the evil spirit array with you. Is this true or false” The judge was direct and went straight to the point without a word of nonsense.

　　Sitting next to him, the head of the South Courtyard seemed to be unaccustomed to his style. He frowned slightly, but in the end, still didn’t say anything.

　　Shen Congrong was worthy of his name. He was in full view by the public and put under great pressure, but he just stood calmly and said, “Since Your Honor can ask this question, it is naturally true. Yes, I killed people, and it should be nine of them.”

　　The originally quiet atmosphere suddenly changed, and the disciples couldn’t stop talking.

　　“He’s so calm. I’ve never seen anyone confess to murder while on trial, so outspoken and without explanation.”

　　“He killed nine people at once. Maybe his cultivation will be crippled and he’ll be thrown out of the sect.”

　　“I think there were several disciples of the Divine Clans sitting in those high positions. It seems that this matter is not good.”

　　Qi Feiqing couldn’t stop whispering, “This is too fucking cruel, killing nine people at once. What’s the deep hatred!?”

　　Yan Tianhen looked up at Yin Changge standing in the front row. He always felt that something must have happened between them. He wondered if Yin Changge would stand up and say something.

　　Yan Tianhen said, “This is not necessarily the case. Let’s keep listening.”

　　Shen Congrong’s calm attitude suddenly angered one of the disciples sitting on the podium.

　　The disciple wore a jade hairpin and a black robe, signifying his status as a student of the North Courtyard.

　　He stood up, pointed to Shen Congrong, and said sharply, “How can such a ruthless and heartless person continue to take part in the examination of Myriad Dao Academy? Your Honor, I implore you to punish him severely, otherwise such things may happen one after the other.”

　　Qi Feiqing was stunned. “Isn’t this Ying Guanchao from the Ying family? The one who died seemed to have been from the Ying family! Ying Guanchao is part of the Ying family’s main branch, and his uncle is the current master of the Ying household. Although he’s not the legitimate son, his status is not low.”

　　After all, the Ying family was one of the Divine Clans, and there were not many disciples in the later generations, so every child was highly valued.

　　After Ying Guanchao finished, a Wan family disciple next to him stood up, his face as black as death. “He really dared to kill just anyone. Once such a person enters the sect, he will certainly be the cancer of the sect.”

　　The remaining disciple was a member of the Xuan clan. He didn’t speak, as if he was just going to sit here and listen.

　　After hearing this, the judge asked, “Shen Congrong, why did you kill them?”

　　Shen Congrong said lightly, “They wanted to kill me first, so I fought back.”

　　“impossible!” Ying Guanchao stood up and was very agitated. “Absolutely impossible. My brother is not the kind of person who would take the initiative to kill people. He is only eighteen years old this year. His cultivation is not high enough. Most of his cultivations are stacked through medicinal pills. He also knows his own situation and has never taken the initiative to provoke anyone! What’s more, your cultivation is obviously higher than his. How stupid is my brother to provoke a person who is better than him?”

　　Even the fact that his brother’s cultivation had been stacked up by medicinal pills was revealed, which could be seen that Ying Guanchao’s dead younger brother was really not someone who would easily provoke people who were stronger than him.

　　However, Shen Congrong contemptuously sneered. “He really doesn’t have the courage, but if there are other people brave enough to do so, it’s not certain that he would continue to be a coward.”

　　Shen Congrong’s voice just fell, and several disciples of the sect who were sitting there were angered.

　　“You mean, my Wan family’s disciples deliberately made trouble with you?”

　　“Even if there was some quarrel, so many people couldn’t have been killed at once. Why don’t you talk?” Ying Guanchao said discontentedly to the Xuan disciple who hadn’t spoken next to him.

　　The disciple of the Xuan clan, named Xuan Ziyun, never had much energy. He yawned and glanced at Shen Congrong. “You are capable of killing nine disciples of a noble family by yourself. You do have ability. However, I don’t think you are stupid enough to not know that those people were disciples of the Divine Clans and kill for the sake of killing. If there was a reason, let’s talk about it. I’d like to know what they did.”

　　Ying Guanchao frowned and said discontentedly, “What is the reason for him to do this? I think he is deliberately provocative.”

　　The judge knocked on the mallet. “Is there anything you want to explain?”

　　Shen Congrong replied, “I have just said that they first challenged me to kill me. In order to defend myself, I returned it in a personal way.”

　　Xuan Ziyun raised his eyebrows and leaned against the chair, with a helpless expression. “In this case, the Xuan family must pursue it to the end.”

　　Ying Guanchao grew red in the face. “Who can prove they were the ones to provoke? You’re just making excuses.”

　　Turning to the judge, he said, “Your Honor, you can see his attitude. He not only has no regrets, but also poured sewage on the dead. When people with such low character and murderous intentions are released, they will become the devils of the world. Just like the current Feng Jiuqing in Reincarnation Palace. I humbly ask Your Honor to be the director of justice.”

　　Feng Jiuqing was originally a proud pupil of Myriad Dao Academy’s Sword God Hall. He was a twin with the current Hall Master, and was also one of the seven stars of the original Sword God Hall.

　　Many years ago, Feng Jiuqing killed all the other disciples who entered with him in an Earth Ranked evil spirit array. He took all the life in the evil spirit array and stole a pair of magical swords — Proud Frost Sword.

　　At that time, he was also sentenced to a trial. Feng Jiuqing only said that those people were killed by accident and because there was no evidence, he had to be released.

　　But later, Feng Jiuqing became more and more possessed and indulged, so that on a night when it seemed calm and nothing should have happened, he killed five of his classmates with the pair of Proud Frost Swords.

　　The current Hall Master of Sword God Hall, one of the twin stars of that year, would have been killed too if he had not been cultivating outside.

　　Since then, Feng Jiuqing had disappeared into the world without a trace for decades. However, five years ago, he reappeared in the world as the Wind Envoy of the four envoys of Reincarnation Palace — the Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon envoys.

　　Maybe the world didn’t know what Feng Jiuqing had done, but when the news reached Myriad Dao Academy, everyone from the instructors to the disciples were in uproar.

　　It was also from that time that the sect began to change its attitude towards the slaughter of their own disciples in the evil spirit array. They would not tolerate it and would investigate it out to the end.

　　Everyone was immersed in the memories of Feng Jiuqing, and suddenly a young man’s voice rang out, “Say, it’s all fine and good if you all just discussed this Shen Congrong, but why would you involve our Reincarnation Palace?”

　　When Yan Tianhen heard this voice, his heart could not calm down. When Yin Nian finished speaking, he felt more and more that there was going to be quite a show today, and he looked in the direction of that voice.

　　Yin Nian was originally in the crowd, and at this time, the space around him was suddenly empty.

　　Inquiry, suspicion, consternation… All kinds of eyes fell on him.

　　“Reincarnation Palace?”

　　“What do you mean by ‘our Reincarnation Palace’?”

　　“This boy has lost his mind!”

　　“He seems to be a disciple who came to take the exam! The demonic cultivators and heretics have dared to come here.”