Wei Jun looked at the old man also known as ‘The Elder’ of the military with a difficult name that Wei Jun didn’t bother to remember, with an annoyed expression.

Liu Qianghua, on the other hand, looked at Wei Jun with pure amusement on his face which only irritated Wei Jun more. Liu Qianghua then looked at another old man with a refined presence, a commander realm martial artist, one rank beyond Wei Jun’s own cultivation.

He was no match for Liu Qianghua, a saint realm martial artist, but for Wei Jun, he was a powerful adversary that Wei Jun could only think about his future very, very carefully.

“So you say that the imperial prince and his cousins were evil cultivators?” A man who stood beside the old man with a refined aura, the emperor of the Huanan empire, asked Wei Jun in a calm demeanor.

“Yes.” Wei Jun straightforwardly replied.

“I see. Do you… have any proof, Mister Ruan?” The man once again asked, his tone composed and his demeanor as calm as it could be.

“I have two witnesses.” Wei Jun replied.

“Witnesses of the military.” The man clarified.

“Yes.” Wei Jun replied.

“Is there any other witness you can offer?” The man asked.

“No.” Wei Jun replied.

“Why?” The man asked.

“Everyone in the tomb died, not being able to bear the pressure of the woman who the crown prince released from her prison.” Wei Jun replied.

“Do correct me, Mister Ruan, were you not also present in the room when this alleged woman who was of the imperial lineage was woken up from her prison?” The man asked.

“I was.” Wei Jun replied.

“And how come you were not affected?” The man asked.

“She chose to release me.” Wei Jun replied.

“Why?” The man asked.

“Upon learning that the cultivators with me belonged to the imperial family, she killed them all but I managed to announce my affiliation before that.” Wei Jun replied.

“And she spared you just for that?” The man asked.

“Yes.” Wei Jun replied.

“Awfully hard to believe you, Mister Ruan.” The man replied. “I know.” Wei Jun replied when the man wasn’t expecting one.

“So, let me get this straight. You have no evidence, no witnesses, yet you claim facts that can cause civil unrest throughout the empire so once again, I would like to ask of you, are you sure you want to stick to those claims?” The man asked.

“Yes.” Wei Jun simply replied.

The man was a little taken aback by the short reply. There was no attempt to defend oneself nor was there any hesitation which only made Wei Jun a difficult person to manipulate. His answers were clear and precise so his words couldn’t be used against him.

Tock!

The old emperor tapped his cane on the ground as an immense wave of Qi that was mainly focused on Wei Jun emitted from him, spreading around but before it could reach Wei Jun, it was negated by an equally powerful Qi that one could tell was being held back.

“What is the meaning of this, Master Song Haun?!” Another man next to the emperor stood up and yelled. The sect master, on the other hand, remained still and simply smiled, “Contain yourself, your majesty. Accidents can happen both ways.”

The expression on the old emperor’s face remained refined as ever, but the state of Qi was enough to relay how much anger he was in.

The sect master simply shrugged it and stood up from his seat. There were many, many people in the court room. The people from the military, from Wei Jun’s sect, and from the imperial family.

Addressing all of them, the sect master said, “I think that we are being too hasty about arriving at a decision. I think we should hold this trial until the generals from the military can offer some clarification on this matter. I also propose that additional investigation be done in this matter as I don’t think this claim can be taken so lightly nor has it been taken lightly ever before. If it was a family accused of such a matter, let alone an investigation, they would have been straight up hanged by now so why is the imperial family so different?”

“Do keep in mind that you are addressing the imperial family here!” The man next to the old emperor once again shouted.

“And is the imperial family exempted from such crimes just because of their status?” The sect master calmly asked.

“Precisely.” Liu Qianghua took that very moment to interfere and said out loud for everyone to hear, “Those who worship evil have been enemies of our lives since the very beginning of time. No matter who they are, they shall not be spared regardless of their wealth or status.”

He then looked at the old emperor who finally had an angry expression on his face.

The angry expression of the emperor made Liu Qianghua smirk and he said, “Commander Yan of the CSF will personally investigate this matter. With all my resources at his disposal, he shall not be interrupted in any case. Interruption would taken as a sign of… guilt. In which case, no matter what the case, judgment shall be delivered.”

Leaving a sect master with a neutral expression, Wei Jun with his usual cold, and an old man with a very, very angry expression that the veins on his forehead could be seen, Liu Qianghua dismissed the court.

~~

“That could have been worse.” The sect master said as he and Wei Jun were back in the sect, sitting in the sect master’s usual pagoda as they shared tea. Well, Wei Jun was the only one who drank tea, while the sect master mixed fine tea and exquisite wine together.

“The claim was not something they could just dismiss. Especially if the old man was on our side.” Wei Jun replied.

“On our side, you say?” The sect master scoffed before he asked, “Do you really think he’s on our side?”

“No.” Wei Jun replied, “He’s probably on no one’s side. But that doesn’t matter in the least. Ours and his goals coincided so at the very least at the moment, he’s on our side.”

“One could take it that way.” The sect master replied before he asked, “You know they’re not going to take this lying down, right?”

“Yes.” Wei Jun replied before he asked, “What about them?”

“Since your mother became a sect elder, she’s been here mostly and I’ve made your sister one too so she has no choice but to move here as well. Your father has obviously chosen to follow your mother. I an essence, they’re all safe.” The sect master replied.

Wei Jun knew he could be reached through his family or his acquaintances but he had a way of protecting his subordinates, but when it came to his family, Wei Jun was sure he wouldn’t be able to muster the same feelings for them so he asked the sect master to protect them out of obligation.

The sect master of course agreed and relocated his entire family to the sect where they could still access their businesses and not hinder their daily lives.

“As for your lovers…” The sect master was about to say when Wei Jun interjected, “They’ll be safe.”

“…” The sect master remained silent for a while before he nodded and changed the subject as he asked, “That woman you asked about. I know of her. But, I wouldn’t be able to help you in her case.”

“Why not? She’s an evil cultivator.” Wei Jun replied.

“That she is, no doubt.” The sect master replied before he added, “But I still won’t be able to help you. Their organization is so deep underground that it is difficult for even the old man, Liu Qianghua, to locate them. You think I’d be able to do that?”

Wei Jun remained silent. There were two major evil organizations that terrorized the whole empire. One was mentioned in the novels before this one and Wei Jun had used that information to get rid of almost half of the CSF. The other one was the one that desired to have Li Fan Sho on their side.

Their power was a level higher but so was their concealment. They were hidden so deep that nothing could be done to find them. Even the old man who appeared last time was a special case. There was a good chance she might never show up again.

Finding them and stopping them would be immensely difficult, at the very least would require a lot of resources, resources the sect master wasn’t willing to expend on Wei Jun’s behalf but he couldn’t just come out and say that so he had to twist the truth a bit.

Wei Jun sighed, well aware of the sect master’s inner thoughts, but it wasn’t like he could blame him since he would have done the same in his situation.

With that, Wei Jun nodded and left to deal with the situation on his own. If they wouldn’t come out, Wei Jun was going to bring them out.

And as if to reciprocate his thoughts, Wei Jun received a call from Mark Wilson who informed him, “He’s in.”

A terrifying grin appeared on Wei Jun’s face as he replied, “Begin.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep