Jin Yuan had never been ignored like this before. With a wave of his hand, he took away the bodies of Zhang Ergou and Qian Wenchao.
As the thick fog gradually dissipated, a commotion erupted when people saw only Lin Yichen and his companions on the combat stage.
"Where are Zhang Ergou and Senior Brother Qian? Why can't we see them?"
"Nonsense, didn't you hear that voice just now? It said Zhang Ergou dared to kill someone in public. It's likely that Senior Brother Qian was killed by Zhang Ergou."
Hiss!
A wave of gasps filled the air. These inner disciples had killed before, but only during external trials.
To kill someone during a competition on the inner sect combat stage, Zhang Ergou was the first in the history of the sect.
As the watching inner disciples murmured in awe, some also felt a sense of relief, glad they weren't top experts on the inner sect rankings.
Otherwise, they might have met the same fate as Qian Wenchao...
"Where is Ergou?"
Lin Yueru and the others were also stunned to see the empty combat stage. They had seen Zhang Ergou appear earlier.
Now, with the fog gone, he was nowhere to be seen.
Disappearing along with Zhang Ergou was Qian Wenchao.
They had also heard the furious roar. Could it be that Zhang Ergou had been apprehended?
"Let's go, find Ergou's master."
Lin Yichen immediately made a decision. The situation here was beyond their control; they needed Zhang Ergou's master, Chi Yu, and others to intervene.
...
"Zhang Ergou, do you know your crime?"
Jin Yuan looked at the incredibly troublesome young man with a helpless expression. The inner sect was in complete disarray.
The inner sect elders were also divided into two factions. One side argued that Zhang Ergou was not at fault, as Qian Wenchao's attempt to challenge him during a crucial breakthrough was unethical.
Even they feared being disturbed at a critical moment of cultivation breakthrough.
If disturbed, not only would the breakthrough fail, but if they suffered a qi deviation, the consequences would be no different from being killed.
These elders sided with Zhang Ergou, believing he had done nothing wrong.
Naturally, where some argued Zhang Ergou was right, others disagreed.
These individuals cited the inner sect regulations, stating that Zhang Ergou had violated the rules of the combat stage, which prohibited killing.
It was precisely because of this rule that the Misty Sect's inner sect had been able to develop stably to this day.
If killing were allowed on the combat stage, chaos would ensue, and a large portion of the disciples cultivated over the years would have perished.
Jin Yuan felt miserable. At this point, Zhang Ergou's matter was no longer his to decide alone.
Not only were the elders of the various main peaks paying attention, but even those few reclusive old monsters seemed to be watching this incident.
Moreover, their attitudes were extremely ambiguous, leaving Jin Yuan unsure of how to proceed to satisfy these powerful figures.
The moment Jin Yuan intervened to stop Zhang Ergou, he had sensed those hidden presences. It was also due to the interference of those hidden presences that Zhang Ergou had succeeded.
Otherwise, with Jin Yuan's cultivation, stopping Zhang Ergou would have been a simple matter.
Zhang Ergou was unaware of the complexities involved.
In fact, when Jin Yuan intervened, he was already somewhat bewildered. He had always thought his every move was unnoticed.
This was due to his short cultivation period and his lack of understanding of the great powers.
If he had known that his every action was being observed by these individuals, Zhang Ergou would never have chosen to act at this time.
But it was too late for regrets. Looking at the grim-faced old man before him, Zhang Ergou felt that the old man was subtly conveying something to him.
"Esteemed Elder, your disciple Zhang Ergou is unaware of the crime you speak of."
'A teachable pupil,' Jin Yuan thought, nodding inwardly. It was not in vain that he had subtly conveyed his intentions.
Jin Yuan had also come to a realization: compared to the inner sect elders, the opinions of those few old monsters were paramount.
And from their subtle interference with him earlier, it was clear they approved of Zhang Ergou's actions.
With this in mind, Jin Yuan became much more confident.
However, the charade still had to be maintained. As the peak master of the Discipline Peak, he had to uphold the principles of fair and just law enforcement.
He couldn't give those old fellows any ammunition to use against him, lest they report him to the Sect Master, which would lead to a halving of his Discipline Peak's cultivation resources.
This absolutely could not happen to him.
"Audacious! Zhang Ergou, you still dare to deny it? Every move you make is under the watchful eyes of the elders. Could we elders be mistaken?"
Jin Yuan exclaimed dramatically.
'Does this old man have a screw loose?' Zhang Ergou thought to himself.
Still, he had to respond. He was keenly aware of the loophole in Jin Yuan's words and suspected the old man was doing it intentionally.
"Elder, please clarify. Since all the elders have seen my every move clearly, they must also see whether I have committed any wrongdoing."
Zhang Ergou did not understand Jin Yuan's approach, but he cooperatively played along.
Zhang Ergou had no good impressions of the Discipline Peak's disciplinary hall.
When he was in the outer sect, he had been twice apprehended by Song Zhinan of the disciplinary hall on baseless charges, nearly costing him his life.
If not for his strong willpower, Zhang Ergou would have perished long ago.
Due to his experiences in the outer sect, he harbored a natural aversion to the Discipline Peak.
When he was apprehended by Jin Yuan from the combat stage and brought to the Discipline Peak, upon seeing the words "Justice and Fairness" hanging in the main hall, a cold, disdainful smile flickered across Zhang Ergou's lips.
Jin Yuan saw all of Zhang Ergou's actions.
He was unaware of Zhang Ergou's past experiences in the outer sect and did not understand why the young man wore such an expression.
However, none of that mattered. The most important thing now was to reach a conclusion quickly and silence those old fellows.
"So, you're saying that killing Qian Wenchao was an accident due to your inability to control your strength?"
Zhang Ergou's eyes widened. This was the first time he had heard such a leading question.
From his two experiences of being arrested by the disciplinary hall, each time he was being led to confess guilt. This was the first time he had heard a leading question that exonerated him.
Regardless of Jin Yuan's intentions, since he was offering an excuse, it would be foolish to admit guilt.
"Disciple does not know. Disciple was merely sparring with Senior Brother Qian, and with one misstep, Senior Brother Qian fell and could not rise."
Zhang Ergou lied fluently. Since the head of the Discipline Peak was guiding him this way, he absolutely would not admit it if he didn't have to.
"Upon hearing your words, Elder, disciple realized he had acted carelessly. Disciple absolutely did not do it intentionally. I implore the Elder to investigate impartially."
With that, Zhang Ergou kowtowed several times.
"Well done, Jin Yuan! Is this how your Discipline Peak operates? Is this how you interrogate someone?"
A cold snort echoed from outside the hall...