71: Justice from heaven

Night fell silently.

Qianlong City shed its daytime hustle and bustle, but donned a more brilliant and luxurious attire. The City Lord's Mansion, this magnificent complex nestled in the heart of the city, like a giant beast in slumber, was now brightly lit, as if it were day.

The main hall within the mansion, the Tingchao Banquet Hall, was already packed with guests.

Those qualified to enter this place were all prominent figures in the Eastern Barren Territory. Sect masters and grand elders of various top sects, patriarchs of ancient aristocratic families, and various powerful commanders within Qianlong City, all gathered in one place.

The dome of the banquet hall was not solid, but a profound "starry sky" confined by immense magic. Countless fist-sized "Luminous Divine Pearls" were embedded within it, forming brilliant rivers of stars that slowly flowed, casting down soft and sacred light. The floor was paved with a single, massive piece of "Warm Jade," its spiritual energy swirling, making one feel refreshed and invigorated when walking upon it.

In the air, wafted the mellow aroma of fine wine brewed from "Nine Nectar Immortal Fruit," and the soothing, exotic fragrance of dozens of rare spiritual plants used as incense. In their ears, immortal music lingered, played by musicians cultivated by Qianlong City, using various mysterious magical instruments to perform ethereal and melodious immortal tunes.

This was an extremely luxurious feast.

However, beneath this seemingly peaceful and harmonious atmosphere, there lurked a chilling oppression, like the calm before a storm.

Almost all guests' gazes drifted, intentionally or unintentionally, towards the chief seat below the main one.

There, a figure in white was leaning lazily on a chair carved from "Thousand-Year Cold Jade."

Lin Chen.

He rested one hand on his chin, while the other toyed with a glass cup filled with amber-colored fine wine, a faint, playful smile gracing his lips. He seemed indifferent to everything around him, whether it was the gazes filled with awe, curiosity, or hidden hostility, or the delicacies that would drive ordinary cultivators mad.

He was like a spectator who had already bought a ticket, waiting with great interest for the grand show, meticulously prepared for him, to officially begin.

Beside him, Luo Bingli and Xiao Qingxue stood on his left and right, their expressions solemn, as if facing a formidable enemy. They could clearly sense no less than ten extremely terrifying and obscure auras hidden in every direction of this banquet hall, each one far surpassing their own!

This was a... cage.

A top-tier cage, meticulously crafted with "glory" and "celebration" as its magnificent facade!

"Master..." Luo Bingli's divine sense carried a hint of nervousness, "Something is wrong."

"Relax," Lin Chen chuckled softly, without even using his divine sense, in a voice only the three of them could hear, "Since we're here, we might as well see what 'surprises' they've prepared, right? Otherwise, wouldn't we be wasting City Lord's 'kind intentions'?

His gaze swept over the crowd and landed on the main seat.

City Lord of Qianlong City, Long Yan, had changed into an even more luxurious purple-gold phoenix robe today, appearing graceful and dignified. She was holding a wine cup, chatting and laughing effortlessly with various powerful figures, as if she were truly a benevolent elder genuinely pleased that the Eastern Barren had produced a prodigy.

And beside Long Yan sat another woman whose aura was equally unfathomable.

The woman wore a standard silver-white armor, upon which ancient and profound Sky Patrol divine patterns were engraved. Her face was cold and beautiful, without makeup, and her eyes were like a ten-thousand-year-old iceberg, devoid of any emotion. From beginning to end, she had not touched any of the wine or delicacies before her, merely sitting there like an ice sculpture, yet possessing an inherent majesty that transcended everyone else, a majesty that commanded the rules.

The Sky Patrol Hall's Eastern Barren Inspector—Codename: Sharp Blade!

A true "Rule Enforcer" who was rumored to have already stepped half a foot into the Deity Transformation Realm!

The curve of Lin Chen's lips widened.

(The main characters are all here, huh...)

(City Lord, Inspector... This lineup really shows how highly they regard me.)

And just at this moment!

The heavy hall doors of the banquet hall, crafted from "Ten-Thousand-Year Agarwood," were suddenly violently pushed open from the outside with an almost brutal force!

"Bang—!!!"

The huge sound instantly interrupted the immortal music and all conversations within the hall!

Everyone's gaze, like sharp swords, shot towards the entrance!

Outside the hall doors, an old crone with disheveled hair, tattered clothes, and covered in blood, stumbled in, leaning on a broken greatsword!

Behind her followed Li Hanyue and dozens of other Myriad Sword Pavilion disciples, equally wretched, missing limbs and broken bones! Each of them had faces as pale as gold paper, their auras extremely weak, as if a gust of wind could blow them over!

This group was none other than Extinction Sword Crone and her party, who had their cultivation crippled by Lin Chen and were thrown out of Ghost City like trash!

They actually survived and crawled back to Qianlong City!

"Myriad Sword Pavilion?!"

"It's the Extinction Old Demon! How did she end up looking like this?!"

"Hiss—Her cultivation... gone?! Crippled?!"

The moment they recognized the newcomers, the entire banquet hall instantly erupted! Countless gazes filled with shock and disbelief swept back and forth between Lin Chen and Extinction Sword Crone!

And Extinction Sword Crone, after stumbling into the main hall, seemed unable to support herself any longer, and the broken sword in her hand clattered to the ground.

Immediately, she made a gesture that left everyone dumbfounded!

This Nascent Soul Old Monster, who had been famous in the Eastern Barren for hundreds of years, known for her ruthlessness and fierce protectiveness of her own, actually fell to her knees with a heavy thud on the cold Warm Jade floor!

She didn't look at Lin Chen, nor did she look at anyone else!

She merely raised her old face, covered in blood and tears, and let out a heart-wrenching wail towards City Lord Long Yan and the Sky Patrol Hall envoy on the main seat—a wail that saddened the listener and brought tears to their eyes!

"—I've been wronged!!!"

This cry of sorrow contained all her soul power, shrill, desperate, and filled with endless grievance and pathos!

The entire hall fell into instant silence!

Everyone was completely bewildered by her sudden action.

Then, before anyone could ask, Extinction Sword Crone, like an ordinary old person who had been bullied to the extreme and finally found a place to complain, began to "sob" in a trembling, tearful voice!

"Please, City Lord, Lord Inspector... for my Myriad Sword Pavilion... uphold justice!!!"

Large, murky tears streamed from her eyes, which should have been fierce, mixing with the bloodstains on her face.

"My Myriad Sword Pavilion... my Myriad Sword Pavilion has been passed down for thousands of years. Although we dare not claim to be a renowned righteous sect, we have always adhered to the rules of the Eastern Barren and have never overstepped!"

"But... but just today! Right there in the Dragon Bone Wasteland!"

She suddenly stretched out her trembling hand, pointing to the white-robed figure still leisurely sipping wine on the chief seat, her voice suddenly rising, filled with hatred as deep as a sea of blood!

"It's him! Lin Chen of Purple Cloud Holy Land! This... demon in human skin!!"

"He... he relied on his powerful strength, acting recklessly and wantonly killing innocents in the secret realm! My disciples merely had a small verbal dispute with his people, and he... he harbored resentment, set a malicious trap, and cruelly slaughtered hundreds of my sect's prodigy disciples!"

"They... they were still children!!"

At this point, Extinction Sword Crone seemed to be overcome with grief, pounding her chest with her fists, letting out a wail like a cuckoo crying blood!

"This old bag of bones... this old bag of bones heard the terrible news and was consumed by anxiety! I only wanted to enter the secret realm to seek justice, to ask him why he committed such a cruel act!"

"But... but I never expected it!"

"He... he was so insane! Seeing this old woman, he immediately attacked without a word! Not only did he burn the surviving disciples of my sect into ashes with his demonic fire right before my eyes! He didn't even spare their souls!"

"

“Even… even I, a Nascent Soul cultivator who only wanted justice for my disciple, he… he mercilessly crippled all my cultivation! And he even planted a vicious brand in my divine soul that burns day and night, making it impossible to live or die!”

She spoke through tears, every word a cry of blood!

She made no mention of bribing the guards and cheating her way into the secret realm!

She also made no mention of how they, in collusion with Hundred Flowers Valley, set up a double killing formation, intending to encircle and annihilate Purple Cloud Holy Land first!

She only repeatedly, over and over again, with the most tragic words and the most pained expressions, emphasized her “grief at losing a disciple,” emphasized how her sect was “mercilessly slaughtered,” and emphasized how she “sought justice but was denied, and instead suffered humiliation!”

She thoroughly packaged herself as the most pitiful, most innocent, most tragic… perfect victim… who was bullied, suppressed, and ravaged to the extreme by a “peerless demon” who indiscriminately killed the innocent for no reason!

This “tearful complaint” truly made one pity her!

In an instant, the atmosphere of the entire banquet hall completely changed!

Those magnates who had originally held Lin Chen in awe now looked at him with subtly changed expressions.

Suspicion, disdain, contempt… and even deep hostility!

“Hiss… could this be true? If what this old hag says is real, then this Lin Chen is truly too vicious, isn't he?”

“It's better to believe it than not! Look at Extinction's miserable state, it doesn't seem faked! Having her Nascent Soul cultivation crippled just like that, such a great humiliation, how could it be unless there was a deep-seated hatred?”

“That's right! Even if Myriad Sword Pavilion was in the wrong first, slaughtering hundreds of disciples and crippling a sect's Grand Elder… these methods are indeed no different from the demonic path! Too overbearing! Too disrespectful of us fellow cultivators in the Eastern Desolation!”

Whispers spread through the crowd like a plague.

Public opinion, under Extinction Sword Crone's “actress-level” performance, began to undergo an astonishing reversal!

Sympathizing with the weak is human nature.

Especially when this “weakling” is a white-haired, cultivation-crippled “old woman” crying on her knees, this sympathy is infinitely magnified!

And just then!

Just as everyone was infected by Extinction Sword Crone's “tragedy” and developed strong hostility towards Lin Chen.

A cold, emotionless, yet supremely authoritative voice finally resonated throughout the hall.

“—Enough.”

From the main seat, Inspector Leng Yan of the Sky Patrol Hall slowly stood up!

She merely uttered two words, and a terrifying pressure, belonging to the Half-Deity Transformation Realm, instantly enveloped the entire hall, bringing all the noisy discussions to an abrupt halt!

Her gaze, like two merciless blades of judgment, pierced directly at Lin Chen, and she began to pronounce judgment expressionlessly!

“This Inspector has understood the words of Elder Extinction of Myriad Sword Pavilion.”

Her voice had no fluctuations, like a precise machine executing a program.

“This Inspector has no interest in delving into the right or wrong of this matter. Because, that is not important.”

Not important?!

Upon hearing this, everyone was astonished!

Leng Yan's eyes grew even colder.

“What is important is that you, Lin Chen, as a participant in this Qianlong Grand Competition, openly disrupted the ‘balance’ of the Grand Competition! You used power far exceeding the Golden Core Stage to launch a ‘massacre’ against the disciples of other sects! This is your first crime!”

“What is important is that you, Lin Chen, as a cultivator of the Eastern Desolation, instead of showing respect to your fellow seniors, cruelly attacked them, crippling their cultivation and humiliating their divine souls! This act severely violated the ancient iron rule of ‘order of seniority’ in the Eastern Desolation cultivation world! This is your second crime!”

“Most importantly, your existence has posed an ‘uncontrollable’ huge threat to the future structure of the Eastern Desolation! Your style of doing things is too overbearing, too extreme! For the long-term stability and peace of the Eastern Desolation cultivation world!”

Leng Yan enunciated each word, her voice suddenly rising, filled with a certain undeniable “justice” for the “greater good”!

“This Inspector, in the name of the Sky Patrol Hall's Eastern Desolation Inspector, hereby declares!”

“That you, Lin Chen, this ‘indiscriminate killer,’ ‘rule-breaker,’ ‘threat to stability’… demon!”

“Shall be, immediately—judged!”

Boom—!!!

As the word “judged” was uttered, a terrifying killing intent, a hundred times more fearsome than when Extinction Sword Crone was crying, instantly swept through the entire hall!

This was the true unveiling of the dagger!

Extinction Sword Crone's “pitiable act” was merely an appetizer! It was a fuse that ignited the public's anger!

And the Sky Patrol Hall envoy's “attack” was the real main course! It was the butcher's knife, wielded in the name of “rules” and “righteousness,” aimed at Lin Chen!

They acted in perfect concert, flawlessly coordinated!

One was responsible for standing in the moral low ground of a “victim,” garnering everyone's sympathy and nailing Lin Chen to the pillar of shame as an “abuser”!

The other immediately raised the banner of “rules,” “the greater good,” and “justice,” directly elevating this conflict, which was originally a private feud, to the highest level of “endangering the peace and stability of the entire Eastern Desolation”!

Double shackles!

Leaving no room for you to defend yourself!

Because what they were judging you for was never the “truth”!

But your “existence” itself!

In an instant, countless figures in the hall stood up in unison!

The Sect Master of Crimson Flame Divine Palace, the Valley Master of Shenfeng Valley, and the magnates of over a dozen other top sects, after exchanging a subtle glance with Inspector Leng Yan of the Sky Patrol Hall, simultaneously released their terrifying pressure!

More than a dozen terrifying auras, belonging to the Late Nascent Soul Stage and even Nascent Soul Great Perfection, intertwined into a net, locking onto Lin Chen from all directions!

At this moment, everyone understood.

This was not a “celebration banquet” at all!

This was a long-premeditated… certain death trap!

A “coronation ceremony” prepared by the Eastern Desolation's top old forces, in conjunction with the embodiment of “rules,” the Sky Patrol Hall, for Lin Chen, this “new king”!

—To dye their “crown” with his blood!

The focus of the entire hall instantly converged on that white-robed figure.

Under such terrifying pressure and in the face of such shameless moral judgment, how would he respond? Would he roar in anger? Would he beg for mercy in fear? Or would he unwillingly… surrender?

However.

To everyone's surprise.

Lin Chen's face still showed no trace of anger or fear.

He merely slowly set down the glazed wine cup in his hand.

The bottom of the cup collided with the thousand-year cold jade table, emitting a crisp and pleasant… “ding.”

The sound was not loud, but it clearly reached the ears of everyone present, like a heavy hammer striking everyone's heart.

Immediately after.

He raised his head, his eyes as deep as the starry sky, sweeping across the entire hall for the first and only time.

He swept past Extinction Sword Crone, who was kneeling on the ground, her eyes flashing with venom and glee.

He swept past Leng Yan, who stood on the high platform, expressionless, as if holding the power of life and death.

He swept past the various sect masters who were releasing their pressure, their faces filled with “righteous indignation.”

Finally, his gaze fell upon the “host”—City Lord Long Yan—who had maintained a faint smile throughout, as if an outsider to the events.

A smile, brilliant yet utterly cold, slowly bloomed on his lips.

“Oh?”

“Judging me?”

He softly uttered a few words, his voice low, yet filled with an extreme mockery, as if listening to the funniest joke in the world.

“—Just with you all?”