Seeing the two arguing, Zhang Ergou felt uneasy in his heart.
Although it seemed on the surface that Jin Yuan intended to protect him, it was most appropriate for his life to be in his own hands.
Zhang Ergou watched the two big figures argue endlessly over his life.
Yet, they didn't even bother to ask for his opinion. This was the sorrow of having low cultivation.
Zhang Ergou's desire for strength and cultivation grew even stronger.
If he possessed the cultivation and strength that others looked up to, or if his strength was comparable to Jin Yuan and Xu Chengtao, he wouldn't need others to decide his fate now.
Zhang Ergou did not regret killing Qian Wenchao at all.
He even felt that Qian Wenchao had died too easily, getting off lightly.
However, his cultivation was still too weak to act as he pleased.
Kneeling on the ground, Zhang Ergou thought of many things, and the desire for power surged within him once again.
This time, his desire for power was even more intense than when he faced Qin Lang.
Facing the two elders, Zhang Ergou had no power to resist and could only let them debate his guilt.
...
Jin Yuan and Xu Chengtao naturally paid no attention to Zhang Ergou's opinion. In fact, during their argument, they did not even notice the change in Zhang Ergou's expression as he knelt on the ground.
"Xu Chengtao, I respect you as an elder, and you have just lost a disciple, so I will not hold you accountable for your previous disrespect towards me. However, if you question the principles and procedures of my Disciplinary Peak, then I must have a word with you."
Jin Yuan said with a cold face and chilling tone to Xu Chengtao.
"Hahaha, well said, Disciplinary Peak with principles and procedures! To even speak of being biased towards Zhang Ergou, Jin Yuan, what fairness and justice you exhibit!"
Xu Chengtao laughed heartily, looking at Jin Yuan with mockery.
"Hmph, it is not for you to teach my Disciplinary Peak how to conduct its business. If junior brother has nothing else, you may leave first. Investigations by the Disciplinary Peak involve state secrets, and unauthorized personnel are not permitted to be present."
Jin Yuan said with righteous indignation. He was annoyed by Xu Chengtao, but fighting him was clearly inappropriate.
However, he had plenty of reasons to make Xu Chengtao leave. As the enforcement department for errant disciples, the Disciplinary Peak naturally differed from other main peaks.
Xu Chengtao was filled with anger, but he could not refute Jin Yuan's words.
When the old sect leader founded the major main peaks, he had stipulated that during investigations by the Disciplinary Peak, if the investigating personnel requested it, others, including elders from the main peaks, were not allowed to be present.
Now that Jin Yuan used this rule to make him leave, Xu Chengtao had no recourse.
However, he was not going to compromise so easily.
With him present, Jin Yuan still looked biased towards Zhang Ergou. If he left, Jin Yuan would likely acquit Zhang Ergou of accidental killing.
"As the master of the victim, I naturally must remain here. If the murderer is not punished as he deserves, how can I face my deceased disciple?"
"If I cannot seek justice for my poor disciple, how can I teach my other disciples in the future?"
Xu Chengtao questioned sternly, refusing to believe that Jin Yuan could truly be fair and just.
They were all old foxes, who didn't understand each other?
Xu Chengtao understood Jin Yuan's intentions very well, but that was also what he couldn't comprehend.
He had never heard of any connection between Zhang Ergou and Jin Yuan. Moreover, he heard that when Zhang Ergou was in the outer sect, he had thrown the outer sect's Disciplinary Hall into disarray.
The inner sect's Disciplinary Peak and the outer sect's Disciplinary Hall were naturally related. Yan Feng was Jin Yuan's fellow disciple, with one presiding over the inner sect's Disciplinary Peak and the other over the outer sect's Disciplinary Hall.
Most disciples of the inner sect's Disciplinary Peak were also promoted from the outer sect's Disciplinary Hall.
Zhuge Wen was currently a disciple of the Disciplinary Peak, but his status there was not high, not reaching the level of Peak Master Jin Yuan.
Naturally, Jin Yuan was not very aware of his grudges with Zhang Ergou.
Now, Jin Yuan was at the Half-step Nascent Soul cultivation, just one crucial moment away from condensing his Nascent Soul and becoming a true Nascent Soul stage powerhouse.
In recent years, he had been engrossed in secluded cultivation, waiting to sense that elusive opportunity.
But breakthroughs were not that easy. Jin Yuan had been in secluded cultivation for decades and remained at his current level, the opportunity for breakthrough still had not arrived.
His emergence this time was because the commotion caused by Zhang Ergou's breakthrough was too great, alarming them old fellows who only focused on cultivation and stayed out of worldly affairs.
Who would have thought that he would encounter this matter?
Originally, this matter could be big or small, depending on Jin Yuan's judgment. But the complexity of the situation went far beyond that.
Not to mention Zhang Ergou being Chi Yu's disciple, there was also the fact that when he had tried to stop Zhang Ergou from killing, he was obstructed by someone.
That person's strength was clearly far superior to his own. At Jin Yuan's level, he naturally knew that the inner sect's strength was not as it appeared.
Besides the nine main peak masters and several dozen elders at the peak of the Golden Core stage, the inner sect only had Heavenly Dao Elder as a Nascent Soul cultivator on the surface.
But Jin Yuan knew there were far more than that. Those who were hidden in the shadows and had never emerged had strength no less than that of Heavenly Dao Elder.
This was the hidden strength of the Misty Sect, prepared for the day when the sect encountered a powerful enemy, these hidden powerhouses would emerge.
And then there was the mysterious sect leader, who was rumored to have long broken through the peak of the Nascent Soul stage and was now at Half-step Deity Transformation.
Of course, these were all things Jin Yuan had heard and speculated about. The sect leader was always elusive, very mysterious, and his cultivation was naturally the sect's greatest secret.
Others might not know, but Jin Yuan knew that Chi Yu and Chi Ling were the current sect leader's own younger sisters. As Chi Yu's disciple, Zhang Ergou's status was self-evident.
Coupled with the person who had intervened from the shadows, who clearly favored Zhang Ergou, all these made Jin Yuan understand that his punishment for Zhang Ergou could not be too severe.
Before punishment, there was naturally the determination of guilt. Originally, his leading questions to Zhang Ergou had almost led to a conclusion, but the procedure was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Xu Chengtao.
Jin Yuan had a bitter taste in his mouth, but the necessary actions still had to be taken. Since you, Xu Chengtao, insisted on considering Zhang Ergou as someone who intentionally killed,
But, old man, you have not shown me, the master of this place, any respect since entering the Disciplinary Peak Hall. Today, I will deliberately make a unilateral decision for once.
With his mind made up, Jin Yuan's expression became resolute. His eyes blazed, and he no longer paid any attention to Xu Chengtao present.
Jin Yuan reached out and took out a jade token from his storage ring, then glanced at Zhang Ergou kneeling on the ground.
"Zhang Ergou, a disciple of the Spiritual Jade Peak in the inner sect of the Misty Sect, accidentally killed someone during an inner sect ranking challenge. Considering it unintentional, he is hereby punished to contemplate his mistakes in the Inner Sect Ice Cave for one month."
Neither Xu Chengtao nor Zhang Ergou had expected Jin Yuan to be so decisive. As they heard Jin Yuan's verdict for Zhang Ergou, their expressions were varied.