Xuanhuang Mountain, Yuqing Sect, the Hall of Judgment.
“Zhou Tong, you destroyed a treasured heirloom of the sect.
Do you know your crime?!”
“I know you’re a fool!”
The youth’s eyes flashed like lightning.
At this very moment, he was already a peerless expert reborn from death.
In his past life, he had been framed by his junior brother, despised by his master, and treated as an enemy by his senior sisters—until, at last, they joined hands to kill him.
In this life, he would show no mercy for old times’ sake.
Every grievance would be avenged; every grudge, repaid.
The one questioning him was a stunningly beautiful woman—cold and noble as a waterfall of white silk.
She was none other than his master, Mo Liusu, and one of the principal architects of his death.
Orphaned as a child, he had been brought back to the sect by Mo Liusu during one of her journeys and taken in as her disciple.
Five senior sisters had come before him, every one of them gifted and beautiful.
At first they had been quite kind to him—but everything changed once their junior brother, Tang Qi, joined the sect.
Tang Qi was brilliant, deeply scheming, and favored by Heaven’s mandate.
Before long, he had stolen away everyone’s affection for Zhou Tong.
From then on, his senior sisters and his master treated Zhou Tong like a cast-off shoe, refusing to spare him so much as a glance.
Desperate to win them back, Zhou Tong had tried every means to please them and had even attempted to defy Tang Qi—only to be crushed mercilessly by them all.
Just as today: it had been Tang Qi who damaged the sect’s treasured heirloom, yet he had joined with the Fourth and Fifth Senior Sisters to frame Zhou Tong for it, all for the simple pleasure of watching him fail to talk his way out.
“How dare you!
Is this any way to speak to me?!”
Mo Liusu’s face turned icy in an instant.
“The witnesses and the evidence are all before us.
Not only do you refuse to confess, you dare to show disrespect toward your elders.
That is a crime on top of a crime.
Kneel!”
A powerful pressure immediately bore down from above, crushing onto Zhou Tong’s shoulders.
Creak, creak…
The sound of grinding bones came from Zhou Tong’s body.
He bore the immense pressure, yet his back stayed ramrod straight.
The sight drew gasps from the crowd—Zhou Tong was still wounded, and this was no different from torture.
Yet Zhou Tong wore a cold smile, his sharp gaze fixed on her.
“Hearsay proves nothing.
With no evidence at all, you’d force me to confess to a crime.
In your eyes, I’m nothing but a doll for people to trample underfoot!”
“Everything you’ve done has been to shield your precious disciple without a shred of principle.
You are not fit to be my master!”
Mo Liusu’s expression tightened.
Meeting that gaze, she couldn’t help but shudder.
The Zhou Tong she knew was meek and fawning, always eager to please her.
He should have been looking at her with a pitiful face, begging for forgiveness.
The thought only made her angrier.
“What do you mean by this?
Are you implying that Xiao Qi and your sisters would lie?
They’re not base and hypocritical like you.
Who are you putting on this act for?
If you’re using defiance to show me your displeasure, then let me tell you something—beside Xiao Qi, you are nothing!”
Mo Liusu pressed down harder, crushing his bones until they creaked and groaned, his body on the verge of collapse.
“Master, please spare Senior Brother just this once.
Perhaps he was too afraid—and jealous that everyone always dotes on me—and that’s why he tried to frame me.”
At that moment, Tang Qi stepped forward, speaking with feigned sincerity.
At the sight of him, Zhou Tong’s pupils contracted sharply.
The boy looked innocent on the surface, but in truth he harbored evil in his heart—practicing demonic arts, planning to sacrifice the entire world to fuel his ascent to the Great Dao.
And in the end, he had succeeded.
He had slaughtered the whole Yuqing Sect, refining the five senior sisters into puppets, and even imprisoning Mo Liusu and turning her into his plaything.
These were the scenes Zhou Tong had witnessed in his past life after death, watching as a wandering soul—and at the time, his heart had felt nothing but vindication.
“Xiao Qi, you’re simply too kind—that’s why wicked people dare to frame you.
There’s no need for you to plead for him.
Today I’m going to make sure he gets exactly what he deserves.”
A rare smile surfaced on Mo Liusu’s face.
It was favoritism, bare-faced and unashamed!
“Please don’t, Master!
Senior Brother was only confused for a moment.
Please give him a chance to mend his ways!”
Tang Qi knelt before Mo Liusu, speaking with great emotion.
He appeared to be pleading on Zhou Tong’s behalf, yet with every word he drove the guilt deeper onto Zhou Tong’s head.
“Very well.
For your sake, I’ll spare this wretch this once.”
Mo Liusu’s expression softened slightly, then she glared at Zhou Tong.
“Well?
Hurry up and thank your junior brother.
You truly are an ill-bred thing—I should never have brought you back in the first place!”
At that, Zhou Tong laughed out of sheer fury.
“What a spotless, righteous master you are!
All these years, was there a single filthy, thankless task in this sect that I didn’t handle myself?
If not for me, you wouldn’t have had the luxury of standing aloof from the world!
And as for you—from the day I kowtowed to you as my master, you have never once performed the duties of one.
All you’ve done is indulge your disciples in bullying and humiliating me.
From start to finish, I owe you nothing!”
“How insolent!
How dare you be so disrespectful!
The Master truly took in a wolf in sheep’s clothing!”
The two senior sisters who had been testifying shouted in unison—but their eyes sparkled with mockery.
Today, this piece of trash was doomed.
This was what he got for daring to compete with the little junior brother for favor!
Mo Liusu, too, was seething.
“I brought you back from the wilderness and spared you a life of wandering the wilds—that alone was a debt you could never repay!
And yet you dare to nurse a grudge, so ungrateful!
What use do I have for you?
I’ll give you one last chance: kneel this instant, apologize to your junior brother, and accept your punishment.
Then today’s matter will be settled and forgotten!”
Hearing this, the blood surged through Zhou Tong.
Even though he had already resolved to sever everything, he couldn’t keep the tightness from his chest, and his breathing grew heavy and labored.
“I’ve already said it: Tang Qi deliberately damaged the treasure and framed me.
I refuse to bear this baseless accusation!”
“Fine, fine, fine.
Even now you remain obstinate, and you dare to drag Xiao Qi into it.
Then don’t blame me for invoking the Trial of Conscience.”
At those words, every elder present went pale.
“You mustn’t, Master!
Even if Zhou Tong is at fault, he is still the finest disciple in the sect, and he has rendered it countless services.
A small punishment to serve as a warning would suffice—”
“Enough.
My mind is made up!”
Mo Liusu waved a hand, and a streak of light shot into the heavens.
In that instant, wind and thunder erupted, and the image of a great tribunal hall materialized in the sky.
“Look!
It’s the Yuqing Sect’s public punishment!”
An old man cried out in astonishment.
It was said that the Yuqing Sect ran a strict household: to punish disciples who had committed grave offenses, the enforcing elder would hold a public trial.
To be publicly punished was to be branded a criminal for life—forever beneath others, forever enduring their contemptuous looks.
Precisely because the penalty was so severe, the elder who imposed it had to bear responsibility as well: for a time afterward, the Way of Heaven would lay the elder’s own deeds bare to the world, proving that the judgment had been delivered with a clear conscience.
“I wonder which disciple has erred so badly that the Yuqing Sect would make such a fuss?”
Someone asked, full of curiosity.
When Zhou Tong’s face appeared in the image, many people gasped.
“It’s him!”
“Good heavens—isn’t that the champion of the Hundred-Sect Tournament?”
“I know this one.
His name’s Zhou Tong.
There’s nothing he doesn’t know—the most monstrous talent I’ve ever seen.
The Yuqing Sect sure knows how to throw talent away!”
As if anticipating the crowd’s thoughts, Mo Liusu’s voice carried across the image.
“What good is a genius?
If his character is rotten, then he’s nothing but garbage!”
Then she pronounced Zhou Tong’s sentence.
“Zhou Tong, for destroying a treasured heirloom of the sect and slandering your junior brother, your crimes are unpardonable.
I sentence you to one hundred lashes of the God-Smiting Whip and three years of kneeling penance on the Cliff of Repentance!”
Even the elders’ hearts trembled.
Setting aside the lack of solid evidence, even if Zhou Tong had truly done it, the punishment was far too severe!
“I object.”
Zhou Tong drew a deep breath and spoke with unwavering eyes.
“The verdict is already set.
It’s too late for you to beg—I will not reduce your sentence.”
Mo Liusu narrowed her eyes, utterly confident.
“According to the sect’s rules, the proper punishment for this crime is to have my cultivation abolished and be expelled from the sect!”
Zhou Tong said, word by word—and Mo Liusu’s eyes flew wide.
“Elders, I ask you to enforce the rules fairly.
Since such a crime has been pinned on me, I ask you all to bear witness: today I leave the sect, and my ties with Mo Liusu are severed for good!”
“What did you say?
You want to break off our bond as master and disciple?!”
Mo Liusu looked down at him, an utterly frigid aura radiating from her entire body.