Sun Yi looked firmly at Elder Jin Jue and gave him a slight cupped-fist salute before opening fire. “Elder Jin Jue, in this disciple’s view, not only are you unfit to become the new Sect Master, you are also thoroughly unqualified to remain Master of the Law Enforcement Hall.”
Elder Jin Jue laughed in fury. “Hahaha! What an outrageously bold brat! A mere third-level Qi Refining cultivator dares to judge me? I have served the sect diligently for twenty years since I was appointed Master of the Law Enforcement Hall. On what grounds do you call me unqualified? If you cannot give a convincing reason, I will grind your bones to dust!”
Patriarch Qingxuan and the other elders all turned toward Sun Yi. They were astonished that a third-level Qi Refining servant disciple would dare speak to Elder Jin Jue this way, and their curiosity was stirred.
With a Nascent Soul expert present, Sun Yi was not afraid that a Golden Core elder would attack him.
The first step of his plan was to catch Patriarch Qingxuan’s attention and make him willing to hear Sun Yi out. If the Patriarch listened to the end, Sun Yi was confident he had a strong chance of securing the position. After all, the choice of Sect Master rested on a single word from Qingxuan.
During that time, Patriarch Qingxuan would not allow anything to happen to him. Knowing he was safe, Sun Yi took a deep breath and calmed himself.
He stared steadily at Jin Jue. “Elder Jin Jue, what principle should the Law Enforcement Hall uphold?”
“Hmph. Impartial enforcement of the law, of course,” Jin Jue answered with a cold snort.
Sun Yi nodded. “Exactly. The Law Enforcement Hall should be fair, just, and transparent. But Elder Jin Jue, have you actually lived up to those principles?”
Jin Jue’s gaze sharpened. “Are you questioning me?”
“Yes, I am. When was the last time you went to the Law Enforcement Hall? Your three disciples throw their weight around there, bully other disciples, accept bribes, and amass wealth without restraint. Have you simply pretended not to see any of it?”
“Nonsense! You dare falsely accuse me? You’re courting death!” Jin Jue was so enraged that he moved to strike Sun Yi, but a vast pressure instantly enveloped him and left him unable to move.
Sun Yi’s eyelid twitched at the sight. The cultivation world really was dangerous. Fortunately, a Nascent Soul expert was present.
Patriarch Qingxuan looked at Sun Yi gravely. “Do you know the consequences of falsely accusing an elder?”
Sun Yi saluted him. “This disciple knows, but I have not falsely accused Elder Jin Jue. I have collected evidence of some of the crimes his disciples committed. Nearly everyone in the sect knows about them. Please examine it, Patriarch. If you have doubts, you can summon the people involved and question them directly.”
He naturally had evidence. The spirit stones he had spent over the last two days had not gone to waste; he had prepared thoroughly.
Sun Yi took out a jade slip. With a thought from Patriarch Qingxuan, it flew into his hand, and he quickly read its contents.
“Hmph! Jin Jue, look at this yourself! I had no idea you had allowed the Law Enforcement Hall to become such a foul mess!” Qingxuan snorted and glared at him in disappointment.
He tossed the jade slip to Jin Jue. After reading it, Jin Jue’s face turned pale and his whole body sagged.
Sun Yi had spoken the truth. Jin Jue had not visited the Law Enforcement Hall for a long time, leaving everything to his disciples.
Sun Yi calmly regarded the pale-faced elder. “If Elder Jin Jue cannot even manage his own Law Enforcement Hall, then naturally he is unfit to become the new Sect Master of the Qingyun Sect.”
The other four Golden Core elders saw Jin Jue’s defeated state and Qingxuan’s attitude toward him. They secretly rejoiced: with one less rival, each of them had a better chance.
Sun Yi then turned to Elder Qin Chu. “As Master of the Internal Affairs Hall, you control the distribution of sect resources and bear a heavy responsibility. Yet you allow your two disciples to dominate the hall and arbitrarily withhold resources from other disciples, filling the sect with resentment and turning a perfectly good hall into a corrupt mess. And you still want to become the new Sect Master?”
“Nonsense! My two disciples have always worked diligently. How could they withhold anyone’s resources?” Qin Chu shouted, pointing angrily at Sun Yi.
Sun Yi did not waste words. He raised another jade slip respectfully, and it flew into Qingxuan’s hand. It contained the names of disciples whose resources had been withheld and detailed accounts of what had happened. Such matters were easy to investigate.
“Hmph! Qin Chu, look what you’ve done!” Qingxuan snorted. Deeply disappointed, he tossed the jade slip to Qin Chu. The evidence would be simple to verify, and he did not believe Sun Yi would dare deceive him.
After reading the slip, Qin Chu’s face went pale and he fell silent.
Ignoring him, Sun Yi turned toward Elder Li Tai of the External Affairs Hall.
Li Tai no longer dared to gloat. When Sun Yi looked his way, a bad feeling seized him, and a voice screamed inside his head: Don’t come over here!
Sun Yi challenged him loudly. “Elder Li Tai, the External Affairs Hall is vital to acquiring resources and tempering our disciples. But what have the people you appointed done? They abuse their positions to enrich themselves. Disciples who offer larger gifts receive easy assignments, while those who offer less are sent on dangerous ones. They even suppress disciples deliberately in exchange for money, causing many injuries and deaths. As Master of the External Affairs Hall, you bear primary responsibility for all of this.”
Sun Yi produced another jade slip. Qingxuan’s face darkened after reading it. When Li Tai read the slip flung toward him, his expression became exceedingly ugly. He knew his dream of becoming Sect Master had shattered.
Sun Yi ignored Li Tai and turned toward Elder Han Yun of the Transmission Hall.
Han Yun was a dignified mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, yet under the gaze of a mere third-level Qi Refining cultivator, he felt pressure as heavy as a mountain. Sun Yi had not even started on him, but his face had already gone pale.
Sun Yi spoke slowly. “Elder Han Yun, as Master of the Qingyun Sect’s Transmission Hall, you hold a lofty position and great responsibility. Passing down the sect’s teachings is its foundation; its importance needs no explanation. Twenty years ago, the Qingyun Sect suffered a calamity and heavy losses. That was precisely when the Transmission Hall should have devoted itself to training disciples. But Elder Han, what have you done?”
Though a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, Han Yun suddenly did not know how to answer. “I… I haven’t really done anything.”
Sun Yi stared at him coldly. “Exactly. You haven’t done anything. In twenty years, how many Foundation Establishment cultivators has the sect gained? How much have the other disciples improved? How many teaching assignments have you arranged? How many promising talents have you discovered for the sect? Even the Transmission Hall has become a place where stewards line their pockets. You have failed terribly as its master.”
Sun Yi brought out another jade slip. Qingxuan’s expression grew even darker after reading it. Han Yun also went pale when he saw its contents; he had never imagined the Transmission Hall had become so corrupt.
Finally, Sun Yi turned to Elder Ye Luo.
The moment Ye Luo saw Sun Yi look at him, he simply closed his eyes. He had resigned himself to his fate and given up resisting. After witnessing what had happened to his four colleagues, he knew Sun Yi must have prepared a ‘gift’ for him as well.
Sure enough, Sun Yi spoke. “Elder Ye Luo, you have probably gone a long time without looking into the condition of the Miscellaneous Arts Hall. Its importance needs no explanation. Alchemy, talismans, spirit artifacts, and formations are all indispensable to a sect. Yet for twenty years, our Miscellaneous Arts Hall has declined without end. That is your responsibility. If you cannot manage a single hall, what gives you the right to claim you can manage an entire sect?”
Sun Yi produced one more jade slip, which recorded the condition of the Qingyun Sect’s Miscellaneous Arts Hall. After reading it, Patriarch Qingxuan looked somewhat desolate. Even he had not realized how far the hall had fallen over the past twenty years.
Ye Luo read the jade slip as well and had nothing to say.
One by one, Sun Yi had roasted all five Golden Core elders. Every accusation was supported by reason and evidence, leaving all five speechless. But he was not finished yet.
Those had only been single-target attacks. Next, he was going to switch to group-grinding mode and completely cut off all five elders’ paths to the sect leadership. Having come this far, he could only move forward. If he failed to take the Sect Master’s seat today, his fate would probably be miserable.