Chapter 405: Encirclement

Watching the Heavenly Ruin Hall brazenly surround their family's mountain peak in front of the eyes of the entire Heavenly Dao Sect, everyone in the Jing family, from Jing Yuntian to the ordinary Golden Core cultivators who had only just earned the right to reside on Skyview Peak, was seething with fury.

An unprecedented sense of humiliation welled up in their hearts. Since when could the Jing family, with a supreme elder holding the fort, be bullied to this extent?!

To say nothing of Jing Yuntian, even Jing Zhengyang, a Void-Refining cultivator, rose into the air, unable to control his rage, and roared at the closing Heavenly Ruin Hall, "Yaoguang, are you trying to revolt?! You dare raise your hand against a supreme elder of the sect within the Heavenly Dao Sect?!"

"Revolt? As I see it, the ones revolting are you of the Jing family!" Yaoguang's figure appeared on the deck of a warship. He looked at the Jing family's main peak and the mountains and rivers stretching for over a thousand kilometers around it, then swept his gaze toward the Heavenly Dao Sect's Void-Piercing and Void-Refining cultivators who had been drawn over to watch from afar, and declared in a ringing voice, "Since you are all here, then bear witness!"

He produced a Recording Stone.

"A few decades ago, fiendish cultivators of the Yin Lunar Sect invaded the Southern Capital of the southern domain in force. Throughout the process, none of the southern domain's warning systems detected anything, and no one raised the alarm. I don't need to spell out what that means; you can all guess. Someone was secretly colluding with the Yin Lunar Sect's fiendish cultivators. And according to the evidence in my possession, it was none other than the Jing family."

Yaoguang's psychic thought spread across the entire Heavenly Dao Sect. At the same time, he activated the Recording Stone in his hand, and the images within surfaced at once: the scene, from all those years ago, of the Jing family head negotiating a partnership with Perfected Lord Crimson Malevolence.

As the images appeared, to say nothing of Jing Zhengyang, the party involved, even Jing Yuntian, who had been alerted but was still watching how things developed, changed color. The cultivators in the distance erupted into an uproar.

"This... was practically filmed at point-blank range! As if he knew in advance that the Jing family would work with the Yin Lunar Sect, planted Recording Stones around the area ahead of time, and just waited for them to take the bait?"

"Jing Zhengyang is a Void-Refining powerhouse, no less. Someone recorded these scenes with a Recording Stone at such close range, and he never noticed a thing? When discussing secret business of this magnitude, didn't he lay down all kinds of array arts beforehand to seal the area?"

"Seal it too tightly, and the fiendish cultivators might not have dared come to negotiate. Besides, isn't it possible that Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang's methods are simply too masterful? So much so that even lurking right beside Jing Zhengyang, he couldn't be detected at all?"

"Ironclad proof! This is really ironclad proof! With this, I'm afraid every member of the Jing family in the Southern Capital will be nailed down. Even their family head, Jing Zhengyang, will hardly be spared, despite being a Void-Refining cultivator! By doing this, Yaoguang has well and truly torn away all pretenses with Supreme Elder Jing Yuntian!"

The Heavenly Dao Sect was, in the end, a sect. Void-Piercing elders might kill their own true disciples from time to time, and grudges between elders and peak masters escalated into fights to the death, but such struggles had to remain private and could never become public knowledge.

Once one side held ironclad proof...

Well, ironclad proof wasn't actually worth much, since fair and impartial enforcement still came down to people, but having it gave someone the moral high ground.

And right now, by producing this Recording Stone, Yaoguang undoubtedly had a just cause and stood on the side of righteousness.

In an instant, every gaze turned toward the Jing family's head, Jing Zhengyang, and toward the supreme elder in the depths of the Skyview Peak, the Jing family's pillar: Jing Yuntian!

By now, Jing Zhengyang was trembling from head to toe, his eyes full of terror. He knew all too well what it meant for this evidence to be laid out in the open.

It was then that Jing Yuntian's psychic thought, carrying barely suppressed fury, reverberated through Jing Zhengyang's mind. "Jing Zhengyang! Is this your "fine" work?!"

"Ancestor—"

Before he could say more, Jing Yuntian barked, "You did not do this. Under no circumstances are you to admit it. This is Yaoguang slandering you! Understood?"

"Understood!" Jing Zhengyang jolted, regaining clarity. Indeed, this could never be admitted, not even in front of death. Ironclad proof or not!

The moment the thought settled, Jing Zhengyang erupted with psychic thought, bellowing in fury, "If you're determined to condemn a man, you'll never lack a pretext! Who knows whether that Recording Stone of yours is a forgery?! I, Jing Zhengyang, conduct myself with a clean conscience, and the Jing family is a household of loyal people. My own uncle died an honorable death suppressing Song Youque's rebellion in the southern domain and was named a model of the Heavenly Dao Sect! How dare you, Yaoguang, slander us at will?!"

"The proof is ironclad. Your denials change nothing!" Yaoguang produced yet another Recording Stone. "Not only do I have the evidence of you and Perfected Lord Crimson Malevolence plotting to sabotage the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array, but also evidence that members of your family broke through to the Azure Golden Core Realm just moments before the Yin Lunar Sect's Eight Desolations and Dark Fiend Lords launched their invasion of the Southern Capital, which matches exactly what your family agreed upon while colluding with the fiendish cultivators! You still want to deny it?"

"All of this is a play you staged yourself! As for someone in my family breaking through at that time... who's to say that wasn't a spy you planted in my family, lying low in patience, waiting for that moment? Besides, the Southern Capital was never breached! That alone is the best proof that this is nothing but verbal slander!" Jing Zhengyang denied everything.

"By your logic, only if the Southern Capital had fallen and the southern domain's living beings had been slaughtered could your collusion with the Yin Lunar Sect be proven?" Yaoguang chuckled.

"Don't try to trap me with your rhetorical tricks! This is a deliberate forgery, an attempt to frame us, and my family will never accept such slander! Besides, what standing does a mere deputy sect master have to point fingers at the family of a supreme elder? Unless the Supreme Elder Council, convened by the sect master, personally declares us guilty, the Jing family will not accept any accusation, especially coming from you, Yaoguang! You don't have that right!" Jing Zhengyang's reasoning flowed more smoothly the longer he spoke.

As long as they denied everything, what could Yaoguang possibly do to them, given the relationship between their supreme elder and the sect master? The Heavenly Dao Sect's rules and regulations? A joke. As long as something was not written into the Great Dao Golden Book, those rules existed precisely to protect their interests. Since when did they need to obey them?

Unfortunately for him, Yaoguang no longer had any interest in debating right and wrong. Justice had never been about passing judgment on right and wrong, but about having the power to enforce it.

"A member of the Heavenly Dao Sect, a direct descendant of Supreme Jing Yuntian, conspiring with the fiendish cultivators of the Yin Lunar Sect to ambush and kill a deputy sect master of the Heavenly Dao Sect, and willing, to that end, to cast the Southern Capital and the billions of cultivators of the southern domain into mortal peril. Their crimes are too numerous to record. The proof now stands ironclad, and as a deputy sect master of the Heavenly Dao Sect, I will bring every one of you to justice and punish you severely, so the world learns the price of colluding with fiendish cultivators to scheme against cultivators of your own sect." Yaoguang's psychic thought echoed through the void as he waved a hand toward Qi Sha. "Pass down my order: arrest every member of the Jing family and investigate exactly who was involved in the collusion with the fiendish cultivators. If any of the Jing family resist during this time..."

His command did not pause for even a beat. "Kill without mercy!"

"Yes!" Qi Sha bellowed in acknowledgment. The Annihilation Sword left its sheath, destructive power billowing around him as he led the Heavenly Ruin Hall in a direct assault on Skyview Peak.

"This is outrageous!" Jing Zhengyang roared back. "Yaoguang is trampling law and discipline, frames the loyal and good, and raises his hand against a supreme elder's family within the Heavenly Dao Sect. This is nothing short of rebellion! All members of the Jing family, hear my command: bring Yaoguang to justice and hold him for the sect master's judgment upon his return!"

"Yes!" The Jing family answered with equal ferocity.

Void-Piercing cultivators, battle immortals, and Golden Core cultivators rose into the air as one and instantly collided with Qi Sha and the experts on Yaoguang's side. The battle erupted in an instant.

"It's begun."

"They're actually fighting."

"Well, isn't this only natural? For a deputy sect master to rise to the top, how could he win everyone over without demonstrating his ability, without making an example of someone? It's just that this time, Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang has picked a hard bone to chew, going after the Jing family, who has Supreme Elder Jing Yuntian as their backer..."

The Void-Piercing and Void-Refining cultivators spectating the battle murmured among themselves, each of them rather lamenting the choice.

Among them, the Void-Piercing elders Jin Yuliu, Tong Ming, and Tu Shan were also observing. As they gazed at the figure slowly rising above the warships, their expressions grew complicated.

None of them had imagined that in less than a hundred years, the disciple they had once oppressed and hunted could grow to such heights.

Not only had he reached the Void-Shattering Realm, but he was now leading his forces directly against the Jing family, using it to intimidate Zong Wenxian and seize the position of sect master. ℯℯ𝑙.

It had only been a few decades, a short time by any means, and yet it felt like heaven and earth had been reversed.

***

"Jing Yuntian." Above the fleet, Yaoguang's figure hung high in the air.

He swept a glance over the two battling sides. Qi Sha, who had cultivated the Great Dao of destruction and wielded the Annihilation Sword, a Dao Artifact in perfect harmony with his life-bound Dao Technique, possessed battle strength rivaling a peak Void-Refining cultivator to begin with.

With Qin Shiyue and Chu Gushan joining in as well, the Jing family had no hope of stopping the southern domain's forces.

But he knew very well that the true target of this display was Supreme Elder Jing Yuntian. Everyone else, Jing Zhengyang included, was nothing more than small fry, not worth a second glance.

His gaze bored straight into the depths of Skyview Peak. "Come! Show me exactly how much Zong Wenxian has given you, that you would risk your life for him and make an enemy of me!"

At that, deep within Skyview Peak, Jing Yuntian, who had been reluctant to personally move against Yaoguang, fell silent for a moment, then slowly rose into the air.

He could sense that Gu Li had been intercepted by Chi Yun. As for Zhen Xuanyuan... the sect master might have talked him into taking a side, but asking him to fight against another Void-Shattering cultivator was another matter entirely; he would hardly be willing to do that.

In fact, even Gu Li, who was currently being held off, might well intend for him to take the vanguard and test Yaoguang's strength. There was no helping it. Who told him to draw Yaoguang's attention over the southern domain's interests?

Even so...

"You want to use me to establish your authority?" Jing Yuntian's psychic thought carried over. "You've picked the wrong target!"

Suspended in the void, he looked at Yaoguang. "Perhaps back when you borrowed the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array to display your might, you already had battle strength of the Void-Shattering Realm, and now that you've reached the Void-Shattering Realm, your strength has climbed another level. But if you think that is enough to crush me, you are gravely mistaken."

"You seem to think... a little too highly of yourself." As Yaoguang spoke, a streak of golden sword light shot straight into the sky. "If you survive three strikes of my sword, I'll spare your life!"

In the next moment, the golden sword light rose into the sky like a dragon, stirring ripples through space and condensing a void-rending slash that came down toward Jing Yuntian.