Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
The person who spoke earlier was Wang Jie, the sixth son to the Chief of the tribe Guardian of the Prison, also the most talented one among his siblings. He was only less than a century year old, yet his cultivation level had reached a half-saint’s fifth level.
Logically speaking, the most outstanding son should be the next in line to inherit of his father’s title.
Yet, the heir to the Chief was Shi Ren.
This was the reason why Wang Jie had an opinion about everything towards Shi Ren. He was trying to take over the position as an heir from Shi Ren by discrediting his reputation.
Obviously, this was a good opportunity for Wang Jie. While this would not be effective immediately, adding fuel to the anger of the tribe would ease his plot against Shi Ren in the future.
Shi Ren glared at Wang Jie, then turned to Xiang Zhengfeng. His frown deepened.
In contrast to Xiang Zhengfeng’s testimony, Shi Ren would rather believe his own judgement on Zhang Ruochen’s character. He had been through life and death encounters with Zhang Ruochen more than once.
Moreover, he saw Zhang Ruochen kill the Sixth Royal Prince and numerous Half Saints of the Immortal Vampires with his own eyes in the netherworld.
That clearly showed Zhang Ruochen and the Immortal Vampires could never get along. With that in mind, how could they possibly be working together?
Shi Ren lay his eyes on Xiang Zhengfeng. “What you have said was one sided, I find it hard to believe.”
“Are you doubting me?”
Xiang Zhengfeng was furious, his dissatisfaction towards Shi Ren was written all over his face.
Shi Ren remained composed with no change to his initial expression, “If I may ask, assuming Zhang Ruochen did lead three half-saints of the Immortal Vampires to ambush you, like you said, where do you think he is now?”
Before Xiang Zhengfeng could even reply, Wang Jie cut him off with a laugh. He snorted, “Is that even a question? Zhang Ruochen is only a level one half-saint, he will never be able to defeat Brother Xiang? I doubt his alliance with the three half-saints could even take a strike from Brother Xiang.”
Wang Jie needed the support from all six Keepers of Swords in order to be the heir of the tribe.
He was trying to build his rapport with Xiang Zhengfeng, preparing for the upcoming revolt.
Xiang Zhengfeng looked at Wang Jie and nodded lightly, then added, “Zhang Ruochen and the three half-saints came well prepared and deployed. However, they’ve underestimated the ability of a sword keeper.”
“After defeating them, I wanted to keep them alive to interrogate them further on the identities of other intruders.”
“Unfortunately, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to escape, they blew their lower abdomen meridian points off. Thankfully I discovered their action early and escaped from it. Otherwise… I might have died in Bei Wang Mountain.”
Xiang Zhengfeng’s story fueled the already furious tribe with much anger.
Standing among the crowd, Li Min bit her lips, mustering her courage to speak up. “That is absurdity. Zhang Ruochen would never collude with the Immortal Vampires. He was with me the entire time. It was impossible for him to have been in touch with the Immortal Vampires.”
Li Min’s first impression of Zhang Ruochen and Xiang Zhengfeng was a monstrous pervert and a handsome righteous Sword Saint respectively.
Somehow, between the two, Li Min was more willing to believe the former. Contradicting her impression, her gut feeling was denying what Xiang Zhengfeng had said earlier.
Zhang Ruochen was forthcoming; he did not beat around the bush and was willing to face the consequences. He even attacked the military base on his own. Why would someone as such collude with the Immortal Vampires?
There was no possible way he would ever do that.
Xiang Zhengfeng looked at Li Min with the corner of his eyes, then replied inconsiderately, “Whatever Zhang Ruochen is going to do, he has no obligation to inform you. You are nothing in his eyes.”
Just when Li Min was going to refute him, Li Gu Half-Saint stopped her.
Li Gu Half-Saint gave her a stern glare. How dare she refute the sword keeper publicly? She was getting more reckless and rowdier.
Among the ruins in Bei Wang Mountain, a black figure was seen walking in the dark, with the constant sound of footsteps.
Everyone’s heart literally stopped beating for a moment as the footsteps advanced towards them.
There was a survivor?
As the figure came closer, he waved the dust and debris off, revealing his handsome-looking face.
It was Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen lifted his head up and stared at Xiang Zhengfeng. What he said next confused many.”I wasn’t sure if it was you. Not anymore.”
How’s that possible?
Xiang Zhengfeng had inspected the ruins using his spiritual power; there was no sign of life at all.
He was so confident of it and put all the blame on Zhang Ruochen.
Who would have thought Zhang Ruochen was alive still?
The blast of Wu Jun Half-Saint’s self-destruct power was indeed powerful, even Zhang Ruochen was vulnerable to it.
But Zhang Ruochen had the Universe Spiritual Map. He escaped the catastrophic blast by hiding in the Scroll World.
Zhang Ruochen could have come out from the Scroll World in the beginning, yet he chose to stand in the dark to probe Xiang Zhengfeng’s intentions.
While Xiang Zhengfeng’s mind was in complete chaos, his face did not show any sign of discomfort. He gave out a cold laugh, “Zhang Ruochen, the fact that you didn’t blow yourself up shows that you are a coward. I must torment you to find out who your confederates are.”
Xiang Zhengfeng extended his fingers to a sword-sign and activated Zhutian Sword, which went flying towards Zhang Ruochen.
Shi Ren rushed over to stop the Zhutian Sword from thrusting forward, then said, “Why are you so eager to attack? Are you trying to kill him for his silence?”
Knowing that he could never kill Shi Ren, Xiang Zhengfeng had to keep his sword back. “Are you questioning me?”
Shi Ren shook his head in reply, “I just want to hear from Zhang Ruochen his side of the story.”
Zhang Ruochen did what he was told, detailing everything that had happened. He did not exaggerate, nor did he leave out anything on purpose.
Many of the clan members had prejudice against Zhang Ruochen. After the accusations Xiang Zhengfeng made earlier, Shi Ren’s followers were the only ones left that believed Zhang Ruochen.
Wang Jie laughed. “Two Keeper of Swords, with two side of the story, who shall we believe?”
A senior Half-Saint answered, “One thing is certain, between the two Keeper of Swords, one of them is the spy for the Immortal Vampires.”
Wang Jie said, “Brother Xiang has helped our tribe to defeat the attacks from the blood slaves twice. Plus, throughout his visit at Pluto Sword Tomb, nothing bad ever happened.”
“Yet, the first day of Zhang Ruochen’s visit has had the whole Bei Wang Mountain razed to the ground. Fellow clan members of bright minds, I trust that you know who to believe.”
Wang Jie’s comment had conveyed the tribe’s inner voice accurately.
“Mr. Xiang is the friend to our tribe, the one who defended Pluto Sword Tomb. Get out of Pluto Sword Tomb, Zhang Ruochen,” someone in the crowd cried.
Soon, voices against Zhang Ruochen grew louder and louder.
“Zhang Ruochen must have conspired with the Immortal Vampires to fight against our tribe. Such wicked intent shall not be forgiven easily.”
“Yes! Zhang Ruochen should be sentenced to death, to repay our clan members who died by the hand of the Immortal Vampires.”
Zhang Ruochen looked at Wang Jie, and could not help but to wonder about Wang Jie’s stupidity. Or rather, whether he was also one of the undercover?
Since he had found out the identity of Xiang Zhengfeng, Zhang Ruochen could not bear leaving Shi Ren to fight against the traitor alone.
Be it for friendship or for a just cause to stop the Immortal Vampires’ conspiracy, Zhang Ruochen had to stay.
Amplifying his voice using Holy Qi, Zhang Ruochen said, “The line of the Taotian Sword Keeper has been defending the Guardian of the Prison for ages, some keepers even sacrificed themselves for the tribe.”
“And now, you ask to exile the Keeper of the Taotian Sword with no evidence found, but solely based on the testimony from one witness? Worse still, you ask to sentence the keeper to death, how ungrateful!”
The line of the Taotian Sword Keepers had indeed contributed much to the tribe. One could never deny their contributions as they were all recorded in books.
Zhang Ruochen’s defending speech made some of the members feel ashamed and they tried to cool their heads off.
Shi Ren added, “There is no conclusion on who’s right or who’s wrong yet. If Zhang Ruochen did collude with the Immortal Vampires, we will never allow him to leave Pluto Sword Tomb. We’ll be laying trouble for ourselves if we do. Therefore, I suggest to keep him here for trial until we have a conclusion.”
Wang Jie laughed, “What if something happens again, who will be responsible?”
“I will watch Zhang Ruochen myself. Should there be any incident similar to tonight’s situation happening again, I will be responsible for it and bear all the consequences.” Shi Ren gaze Wang Jie a sharp gaze.
Wang Jie shook his head and said, “With your strength, you won’t be able to watch Zhang Ruochen. What if he threatens you and causes more harm to the Guardians of the Prison?”
“You rascal…”
Shi Ren held his fists tightly, suppressing his anger.
As the situation was getting heated up, a distant female voice was heard. “I can watch over him.”
Wang Jie was annoyed. Within the tribe, no one dared to interrupt the conversation of him and Shi Ren.
He turned around and berated, “Who dares to…”
His sentence was left hanging. His expression changed and he shut his mouth immediately after, trembling.
Two men flew over and landed gracefully.
One of them was the Chief, Wang Jie’s father.
The other one was a young lady. Wang Jie was a Level Five Half-Saint, even then he could barely see her face, only her silhouette.
She stood there casually, but her presence left Wang Jie incapacitated. His legs were shaking and he nearly fell to his knees.
Zhang Ruochen shifted his gaze to the young lady as well.
She was tall, and her legs seemed exceptionally long, making up a perfect ratio that complimented her figure. Also, her breasts and waist were lined in the most perfect curve ever. Her beauty was breathtaking, though one could see only her silhouette.
Zhang Ruochen also noticed a white jade sword hanging in front of her chest.
The Taotian Sword in his hand was shaking lightly, as if it sensed the presence of something.
The lady must be a noble, for the Chief to have come along with her.
Could she be another Keeper of Sword?
Author’s Note: The third keeper was definitely a Sword Saint. As for her name, it was mentioned a few times in previous chapters. Take a guess. The hint will be, from the Demonic Sect.
