NEBM Chapter 24.2: The Truth

Yan Shen was shocked speechless, but the burly young man noticed that things were not good and immediately shouted, “Hey! Yan Something. I’m not playing anymore. You said that you would keep me safe. I’m leaving!”

He began to struggle, but he was held firmly in place by an Elder’s personal disciples.

Although he may have won first place, his opponents were only small disciples and those who had not yet officially entered the sect. He was actually just an ordinary demonic cultivator. With a few words, he’d managed to firmly betray and sell Yan Shen clean.

Yan Shen suddenly found himself in a situation of having enemies on both sides. His face shifted between blue and white, his lips trembling, and his mouth repeating “It’s all fake.” He repeated the words louder and louder, until he became hoarse with it.

Shen Zhixian ignored his desperate, futile struggles and slightly shifted his gaze to Song Ming, saying, “This matter is perfectly clear. Yan Shan colluded with demonic cultivators, disrupted the Sword Competition Asssembly, and framed others. All are major crimes, which I will never condone.”

Song Ming frowned. His talent for the sword path was not high and, therefore, he was unable to perceive many things related to it. Theoretically speaking, the sword spirit should only obey the call of the master, but Shen Shixian was different….

Shen Shixian was very talented in the sword path and knew a lot about swords. If he could summon a sword spirit without a master, or even in spite of the master, and compel it to reveal the truth, then Song Ming….was inclined to believe it.

It was no wonder then that, despite knowing nothing, Shen Zhixian insisted on going to Hidden Sword Pavilion. It was to get a sword!

He was just waiting for this moment!

Song Ming didn’t know how much Shen Zhixian knew.

In a split second, countless thoughts turned in Song Ming’s mind. He turned his head to look at the elders and asked, “What do the elders think?”

“It’s reliable.” The speaker was unexpectedly a respected elder who usually buried himself in work and who never liked to meddle in the affairs of others. He looked at the hazy sword spirit and waited for it to re-enter the sword body before adding, “Sword spirits cannot lie.”

In the sect, this elder was considered a person of virtue and prestige. When he said this, he was essentially siding with Shen Zhixian. As a result, the crowd immediately cast their eyes on Yan Shen, who was on the verge of collapse.

“Master! Yan Jin has long been a demonic cultivator. He is conspiring against you and the entire sect! Disciple did this to show you Yan Jin’s true face!” He shouted sharply, realizing that he was reaching a dead end. Then, he staked it all in one final throw, yelling, “The disciple really and truly did these things…Sect Leader Song knew all about it! Sect Leader Song, you promised me that so long as….”

“Presumptuous!”

A small tea cup slammed into the floor right in front of Yan Shen. The cup splintered into sharp fragments and the shards flew out, cutting his arms and causing blood to flow.

Shen Zhixian looked coldly at him, his eyes icy and unfriendly. “Lad, not only did you violate the law and secretly colluded with demonic cultivators, now you also want to slander the sect leader?!”

He appeared to be extremely angry. “Yan Shen committed many crimes. As his Master, it was my grave mistake for not teaching him well. I want you all to witness that I, Shen Zhixian, will drive out this traitor today.”

In the uproar, Shen Zhixian took the sword from his waist and threw it backward to Yan Jin behind him. He said, “For harboring such evil intentions, he is not worthy of the name Qingyun. Today, I will forthwith disperse your spiritual force. Our master and disciple relationship, from now on, comes to an end.”

He turned to the side and whispered to Yan Jin, “Go.”

This turn of event stunned everyone.

Yan Jin’s hands tightened on the sword. Calm as he was, he was still surprised by Shen Zhixian’s action. As he reigned back his shock, his lips tightened when he saw Shen Zhixian’s hands half-hidden by his sleeves. They were clenched so tight that they were turning white. Yan Jin gritted his teeth and walked out.

Yan Shen became panic stricken. He crawled backward and tried to run.

Yan Jin unsheathed Shuanghui, which emitted a cold chill. As he walked forward, he pointed the sword at Yan Shen, who was immediately nailed to the spot by the sword qi.

The so-call dispersal of spiritual force could only be done with one method; that was, to sever the spirit root so that the body could no longer grasp nor recycle spiritual force.

It was like a length of water hose that had been cut in two. The two parts were no longer connected and so water could not flow through.

Yan Shen struggled frantically but he couldn’t escape the cold sword qi. He wailed in despair. With a severed spirit root, he would become a waste. He would lose grasp of the path to immortality!

He was terribly scared. His mouth shouted wildly for Song Ming to save him from Shen Zhixian. The more he shouted, the heavier Song Ming’s face became.

He wanted to protect Yan Shen, simply to shut him up and prevent him from talking. However, Shen Zhixian’s attitude made it difficult for him to intervene.

He grinded his teeth hatefully. He hated Yan Shen’s thoughtless behavior, hated Shen Zhixian’s clear-sightedness. Finally, he took a deep breath. But just when he was about to speak, Yan Jin had already slashed the sword down. A ray of sword qi shot out, cleanly severing Yan Shen’s spirit root!

Blood spurted from his wound and soon reddened the ground beneath him.

Yan Shen’s scream almost broke the sky. He rolled on the ground, incoherent with agony. “Yan Jin! You lowly person—Ahh! You’ll die a terrible death!”

“Shen Zhixian—Shen Zhixian—You ruthless and faithless human waste! I had so much respect for you!” He panted, as if he was on the verge of death. His eyes full of resentment and hatred shifted to Yan Jin, and his mouth opened to spit out foul venom. “Yan Jin, don’t…don’t be too pleased with yourself!”

“If Shen Zhixian can treat me like this today, he will hurt you heartily the next day. He’ll abandon you as if you were a fool!” When he said this, his voice dropped to a whisper due to pain and only Yan Jin heard him.

Yan Jin’s eyes darkened. The hand holding the sword hilt tightened for a moment. The tip of the sword unconsciously nodded to the ground and became stained with dark blood.

“Om!”

The calm Shuanghui suddenly shook violently and a ray of sword qi burst out, seeming very resistant and disgusted with the blood.

Fourth Elder frowned. “There is demonic qi…Elder Shen’s Shuanghui is the most resistant to demonic qi. Yan Shen’s blood…”

He spoke casually, but also didn’t intentionally lower his voice. Immediately, the young disciples near him heard and began whispering among themselves, realizing the truth.

Even if they still have a hint of doubt in their hearts, that strand of doubt vanished completely with Fourth Elder’s words. Shuanghui was resistant to demonic qi; it was perfectly fine in Yan Jin’s hand but reacted violently the moment it touched Yan Shen’s blood!

Yan Shen said that there was demonic qi in Yan Jin, but it was all clearly slander! The one who colluded with demonic cultivators and who had a devil in his heart was clearly Yan Shen!

The little disciples immediately realized that they’d finally grasped the truth and continued to whisper amongst themselves. Seeing that he’d achieved his purpose, Fourth Elder settled back with satisfaction, continuing to drink tea and watch the rest of the proceedings.

Yan Shen was speechless. The pain caused by a broken spirit root was unbearable to the average person. He was paralyzed on the ground, slightly twitching, and on the verge of fainting.

The burly young man who had been trying to escape also received the same treatment, with his spiritual force wasted, as an account for the young disciple who’d tragically died. This left the remaining odds and ends, which could not be so easily cleaned up by ordinary people.

Someone took away the corpse and cleaned the blood off the ground. The Sword Competition Assembly ended in this manner, wholly disrupted. Seeing that Song Ming and the Elders’ face were not very good, the disciples whispered for a while, then they gradually became silent.

Song Ming furrowed his brows anxiously, still wondering how he should clean up this mess. Looking at Shen Zhixian’s posture today, Song Ming could not believe that he was totally unaware of his involvement.

Of course, Song Ming knew about Yan Shen’s plot today. He’d watched Yan Shen’s actions coldly, quietly pampering him from behind, and even assisted him slightly; otherwise, how could the little demonic cultivator enter so easily?

Shen Zhixian was not easy to deal with. Naturally, he didn’t expect to be able to knock Shen Zhixian down today. But, if something were to happen with Yan Jin, it would still affect Shen Zhixian’s status. And, if they were successful, the only disciple left for Shen Zhixian to rely on would be Yan Shen….

Making it more convenient for him to plan later.

He didn’t expect that Yan Shen, this useless waste, would try to steal the chicken only to lose the rice used to lure it. A few years ago, when Yan Shen’s scheme with the Hidden Sword Pavilion came to nothing, he should not have continued to put his faith in him!

What foolproof? It was all nonsense! He’d exhausted his mind to put a person at Shen Zhixian’s side, wanting to use him to stir water and ruin Shen Zhixian’s name. Who knew that this person would be so useless?!

Today’s event, except for the beginning, had derailed in all directions. It was all completely outside of Song Ming’s expectations.

Song Ming really wanted to stick a sword or two in Yan Shen, so as to avoid him turning around and opening his mouth to spit out bad things about him. Although he’d not negotiated with Yan Shen in person, if Shen Zhixian were to truly investigate down to the smallest details…

Song Ming took a deep breath and was about to say two sentences to let Shen Zhixian take the person back first. Once Shen Zhixian took the person back, he could secretly make a move to make it seem like Yan Shen had up and died by himself.

At that time, the person would have died at Fifth Peak and would, therefore, have nothing to do with him…He prepared himself and opened his mouth just halfway, but it was already too late. Shen Zhixian had made the first move.

“Master!”

“Elder Shen!”

“Ahh!”

A range of surprised and panicked exclamations sounded suddenly. Song Ming’s eyebrows jerked. He turned his head to look and saw Shen Zhixian’s qi heart attack. The person in question spat out a mouthful of blood, then his eyes closed, and he fainted.

Song Ming: “…….”

Song Ming finger’s crushed the table’s edge.