367: cause and effect

Cui Yan keenly noticed the Yun Miao's loss of composure. With a slight frown, she stepped forward, the black law chains on her body clattering as they vaguely pointed toward Su Ming.

“This treasure is bizarre, gathering spirit and nourishing the soul—it is unheard of. Moreover, its Evil Qi is so heavy; it is clearly a malevolent object that has drunk the blood of countless people. Su Ming is but a Qi Refinement Stage Disciple; holding such a malevolent object, regardless of his intentions, he will sooner or later be consumed by the Evil Qi and become a Puppet.”

Cui Yan's voice grew colder, her killing intent fully revealed: “For the sake of the Sect, the origin of this object must be thoroughly investigated. If it cannot be purified, it should be sealed, or... destroyed.”

As she spoke the word “destroyed,” she raised her hand, black light condensing in her palm as a destructive aura instantly locked onto Su Ming's left hand.

“Wait!”

A single word.

It was not loud or sharp, yet it carried an unprecedented decisiveness and weight, like a great bell tolling in everyone's heart.

True Person Yun Miao moved.

He did not attack, but simply raised his sleeve and gave a gentle downward wave.

Buzz—

An extremely soft green light screen descended from the sky like a giant glazed bowl, completely covering Su Ming along with the three-zhang area of the Heart-Questioning Platform.

This light screen appeared as thin as a cicada's wing, yet it was incredibly resilient. Cui Yan's black palm wind, held back in anger, struck the light screen and vanished without a trace, like a clay ox entering the sea, failing to stir even a single ripple.

Not only that, but the light screen also completely isolated the inside from the outside.

Divine Sense, sight, and sound from the outside were all blocked.

On the Heart-Questioning Platform, only True Person Yun Miao, Cui Yan, and Su Ming, who was lying on the ground, remained.

Cui Yan's pupils instantly shrank to the size of pinpricks.

As the law enforcement Elder, her instinctual reaction was extremely swift; her figure retreated three zhang violently as the aura around her suddenly became dangerous, her black hair moving without any wind.

“Yun Miao!”

For the first time, she directly addressed the Sect Head by his name, her tone icy: “What is the meaning of this? Opening the ‘Azure Nether Absolute Domain’ to isolate investigation? Are you going to shield this Disciple of unknown origin? Or are you saying... you would disregard the potential risks to the Sect because of this unknown object?”

At this moment, this impartial Criminal Law Peak master was truly enraged.

For a Qi Refinement Stage Disciple, the Sect Head had actually used the core authority of the Mountain-protecting Formation, which was only meant to be activated during the Sect's moments of life and death!

True Person Yun Miao did not heed Cui Yan's questioning.

He even turned his back, no longer looking at Cui Yan.

He walked step by step to Su Ming and knelt down. His green robes, which were originally high and unreachable, were now stained with the dust on the ground, but he did not care in the slightest.

His gaze did not look at Su Ming's face, but instead stared at the ring with a gaze that was almost greedy and trembling.

He looked at the mottled scratches upon it, at that ugly blackish-brown color, and at the slowly dissipating Spiritual Qi vortex.

“It's so similar... just too similar...”

True Person Yun Miao's voice was trembling, carrying a hint of unbelievable sobbing. He reached out, wanting to touch the ring, but pulled back as if struck by lightning just as his fingertips were about to make contact.

An eerie silence spread across the Heart-Questioning Platform.

After a long while, True Person Yun Miao took a deep breath and stood up.

He turned around to face Cui Yan, who was on the verge of an outburst.

At this moment, the Yun Miao's face no longer held its usual lukewarm gentleness; in its place was a solemnity Cui Yan had never seen before, along with a... sorrow so deep it was incomprehensible.

“Junior Sister Cui.”

True Person Yun Miao's voice was very soft, yet every word carried immense weight: “This item... do not touch it. There is no need to investigate it further.”

“Give me a reason!” Cui Yan did not yield an inch, the law chains dancing behind her like venomous dragons. “A reason sufficient to convince the Criminal Law Peak and the Sect Code of Law! Otherwise, today, even if you are the Sect Head, I will request a ruling from the Grand Elder Council!”

True Person Yun Miao remained silent for a full three breaths.

During these three breaths, the air within the barrier seemed to freeze.

Then, he raised his hand and pointed at the ring on Su Ming's finger. Word by word, his voice was dry, yet it was as heavy as a thousand jin:

“Because this ring...”

“Is the ‘starfall soul nurturing ring’.”

He paused, his gaze seemingly piercing through the barrier to see the blood and gore of a thousand years ago, his tone saturated with the vicissitudes and helplessness of time:

“It is the last hope left to this world by the ‘Star River Shen Family’.”

“And the Shen Family Old Ancestor, Venerable Xinghe...”

True Person Yun Miao looked at Cui Yan, his eyes filled with complex emotions she could not understand:

“Was the life-and-death companion of our Cloud Hidden Sect's Grand Elder, True Monarch Hao Yuan.”

“Today, if you destroy this ring or harm this person.”

True Person Yun Miao's voice suddenly became cold and majestic. His green robes moved without wind as a terrifying aura—far more vast and profound than Cui Yan's, seemingly connected to the Luck of the entire Cloud Hidden Sect mountain range—slowly awakened:

“It would mean our Cloud Hidden Sect is severing its own righteousness, betraying a blood oath, and entering a state of... eternal enmity with Junior Martial Uncle Haoyuan!”

“Junior Sister Cui,”

The Yun Miao finally asked, his voice echoing in the deathly silent Azure Nether Absolute Domain:

“Is this reason enough?”

Within the Azure Nether Absolute Domain, the sound of the wind and snow outside and the churning sea of clouds all vanished.

This place seemed to have been forcibly carved out from the world, leaving only that layer of semi-transparent barrier flowing with a pale green halo, and the air within that was so oppressive it made one breathless.

The law chains behind Cui Yan were like startled venomous snakes; though they did not strike, they slithered uneasily in the air, making the tooth-gritting sound of metal grinding. She stared fixedly at the Yun Miao; it was the stubbornness of the Criminal Law Peak master when facing a matter of Sect principle, refusing to back down even before the Sect Head.

“starfall soul nurturing ring?”

A cold sneer tugged at the corner of Cui Yan's mouth, her smile carrying unconcealed doubt. “Sect Head Senior Brother, are you perhaps deceiving me because I am not well-versed in ancient history? The Star River Shen Family—that Ancient Great Family from a thousand years ago known for ‘attaining divinity in the Dao of Formations and transforming gathered spirit into arrays’—has long since left not even ashes behind in the long river of history. Now you point at such a tattered thing, enveloped in dark evil and ghastly ghost qi, and tell me it is the Legacy of a top-tier Righteous Path Family?”

She pressed forward a step, the bluestone ground beneath her feet cracking silently; it was the overflow of Soul Transformation Stage pressure under extreme restraint.

“Even if you wish to protect this boy, there is no need to fabricate such a bizarre excuse. This object is clearly a Demonic Tool that has drunk countless blood; if not, where did that nauseating resentful Evil Qi come from?”

True Person Yun Miao did not heed Cui Yan's interrogation.

He just quietly looked at the ring, the sorrow in his eyes like the waters of a deep autumn pool, too thick to be dispersed.

“Junior Sister, you know only one part of it, but not the other,” the Yun Miao said.

The Yun Miao slowly extended his hand, and at his fingertip, an extremely weak yet incredibly pure spiritual light condensed. That spiritual light was not of the misty attribute common to the Cloud Hidden Sect, but rather a silver radiance with the cold texture of the stars.

“The Shen Family possessed a Clan-Suppressing Secret Array called the ‘Great Cycle Star Spirit Gathering Array.’ This array was neither for offense nor defense, but possessed one Heaven-Defying auxiliary effect—the final path of retreat left by the Shen Family Old Ancestor for the Family's core Bloodline.”