Chapter 72: Judgment and Reflection

Pan Yi attempted to twist the facts, but Yao Xiangli was far beyond anyone Pan Yi could deceive.

"With your ability, facing a thousand-year fox demon, did you really think you could make a difference? Why did Bai He give you medicine if not to suppress your spiritual power so the fox demon wouldn’t detect you? Bai He, regardless of the circumstances, is an elder of Lingguang Sect, my junior brother, and a disciple under my master’s inner circle. How dare you harm him? Do you even deserve it? Do you even have the courage?"

This time, Pan Yi had overstepped.

He could not possibly believe that Bai He was just a nominal elder.

"Pan Yi, Bai He’s position is special. When Master left, he instructed all of us senior and junior disciples to take good care of him. If anything happens to him, do you want me to become the criminal?"

Having said this, Yao Xiangli struck Pan Yi across the face from a distance.

Pan Yi immediately fell to the ground, wearing an expression of pain and despair.

"Master..."

"Making mistakes comes with a price! Regarding Bai He, I must give an explanation. So Pan Yi, from today onward, you are no longer my disciple, and I will send you to the Demon Cave."

Only disciples burdened with immense sins were ever sent to the Demon Cave.

Since the founding of the Lingguang Sect, only one or two disciples had ever been sent there, and they were all laden with grave sins.

Today, Pan Yi’s actions had reached that very level of severity.

"Master, no, please don’t..."

It wasn’t only the monsters who would tremble and fear at the mention of the Demon Cave, cultivators themselves, when hearing the words, would feel panic, helplessness, and even despair.

But whether Pan Yi went or not was no longer up to him.

"Guards!"

Yao Xiangli shouted toward the outside and immediately two disciples entered.

"Take him into the Demon Cave and ensure strict supervision."

"Yes, Master!"

Without another word, Pan Yi was led away by two disciples.

These disciples are the one who had once been very close to him.

Seeing them, Pan Yi begged repeatedly, "Junior brothers, please let me go! For the sake of old ties, just let me go, alright?"

"We aren’t unwilling, Senior Brother," one of the disciples replied. "But this is Master’s order. You... how could you have provoked Master so badly to be sent to the Demon Cave? What exactly did you do wrong?"

These two disciples didn’t dare release him.

They knew all too well what being sent to the Demon Cave meant.

It represented a grave mistake and if they let Pan Yi go, the two of them might not escape the consequences either.

"I have been falsely accused. If you let me go now, once Master investigates the truth, he will surely release me," Pan Yi insisted.

The two exchanged a glance and said, "In that case, Senior Brother, you’ll just go to the Demon Cave first. Master will release you sooner or later anyway."

...

"Master, you’re finally back!"

Xu Feng’s face lit up with joy, a broad smile spreading across him.

Bai He returned the smile. "Yes, I’m back."

"I heard you were abducted!"

Hearing this, Bai He’s anger flared. "It was that Pan Yi. He even brought along a small demon to capture me."

Xu Feng immediately grew concerned. "Master, are you alright? Were you hurt?"

In Xu Feng’s mind, Bai He had never seemed particularly formidable.

So even hearing that Bai He had been taken by a small demon and Pan Yi, he still assumed there was a very high chance that Bai He had been injured.

Bai He shot him a sharp look. "Do you really think your Master is that weak? Don’t forget, I’ve already reached the Golden Core stage."

Xu Feng shook the sword in his hand and said, "Master, even though you’ve reached the Golden Core stage, do you think I don’t know what your true strength is?"

Reaching the Golden Core stage, Bai He had indeed achieved it, but in terms of actual combat ability, he was still practically powerless.

He simply could not contend with others in a fight.

He was thin and weak, barely over a certain height, and if it weren’t for his status, in the Lingguang Sect he might have been bullied even more severely.

"You actually look down on me, Xu Feng? I am your Master! Shut your mouth." Seeing Bai He’s spirited demeanor, Xu Feng realized that he must be unharmed.

He stuck out his tongue at him, making a mocking face, and spoke rather rudely: "Tch tch tch, Master, you’d better focus on your cultivation. I’m leaving now."

Watching him run off, Bai He felt neither happy nor motivated to chase after him.

He ignored the little brat.

Next time, when Xu Feng challenged Ye Shiyuan in a contest, he would make sure he taught him a proper lesson.

...

The fox demon, Sima Qian, had killed many people.

He must be confined in the Demon Cave to reflect on his deeds.

Generally, a thousand-year-old great demons were not killed; they were imprisoned instead.

This was because in the early days, the Lingguang Sect lacked the ability to exterminate thousand-year-old great demons.

Even now, with the means to kill such powerful demons, doing so would come at an immense cost.

Bai He stood alongside Ye Shiyuan and Xu Feng while looking down at Sima Qian who is the kneeling before them.

All light had left his expression as if he had lost all hope in life.

He had already forfeited the last bit of attachment he had to this world.

Seeing his expression, Bai He recalled what Sima Qian had once told Hua Xuedie, what it felt like to fall in love with someone who would never love you back.

Bai He’s face remained calm, but inside, he felt a mixture of emotions.

"Master, what’s wrong? You’re not feeling sympathy at a time like this, are you?"