Chapter 903: Kill Again

What Ding Huan didn't expect was that Jing Xizhen, upon hearing his words, paused slightly, then nodded: "You're right—before you're brought to justice, this seat still belongs to you."

After saying this, Jing Xizhen actually vacated the Dao Master's seat and sat instead on a side chair.

"Ding Huan, the seat is yours now."

After sitting down, Jing Xizhen looked at Ding Huan, his tone laced with mockery.

Ding Huan paid no mind to Jing Xizhen's tone—he was deeply puzzled.

What's this guy's game? Does he actually intend to reason?

Whether Jing Xizhen meant to reason or had other schemes, Ding Huan didn't care.

He continued drawing the boundary laws, yet refused to sit in the Dao Master's seat.

Are you kidding?

On either side of that seat sat Qingsha, a venomous serpent, and Jing Xizhen, a Daoist at the Eighth Step.

Does he want to die that badly? Dare he sit in the Dao Master's seat?

"Since you want to talk reason, then I'll talk."

Ding Huan's tone was calm and unhurried.

If Jing Xizhen's cultivation were even slightly lower, he'd have already pulled up a chair and sat down.

Now, he dared not sit—he had to be ready to flee at any moment.

"This woman, Qingsha, carved out a Chaos Zone in the Great Universe and dumped innocent Dao-attaining Sages into it, using them to fill her Chaos Zone's Dao-river."

I was one of those she threw in—just because my Dao-root was purer. I only survived by sheer luck."

This woman, acting on her own selfish desires, utterly disregards the lives of ordinary cultivators in the Great Universe. Is someone like this fit to be a Dao Ancestor? Do you know how many innocent cultivators she's slaughtered like this?"

"The human race of the Great Universe is currently fighting the Tianmeng Clan. Every human cultivator who falls gives the Tianmeng Clan one more advantage."

Hearing this, Jing Xizhen frowned slightly.

In truth, such things weren't uncommon.

But as a Dao Ancestor, Qingsha should have done these things in secret—if she did them openly, it was going too far.

"Is this true?" Jing Xizhen's face darkened as he turned to the others.

Qingsha's gaze swept over the crowd—whether it was true or false didn't matter; as long as everyone believed Ding Huan was lying, it was false.

As for sending Jing Xizhen away to verify this, it was impossible.

Because today's affair would end with Ding Huan dead here—there would be no search for witnesses to uncover the truth.

So, as long as no one here testified for Ding Huan, it was enough.

She was certain no one here would dare testify for him.

As for Ling Zhuzhen, he didn't even know about this—he had no standing to testify.

"This is true. I swear upon the Dao—it is absolutely certain."

"It's not just me—anyone in the Great Universe knows this."

What Ding Huan didn't expect was that the first to speak up for him wasn't Feng Pu or Yi Qi, but Yan Zhuo.

"Master, I'm sorry—I truly did wrong in this matter," Qingsha immediately admitted fault.

Jing Xizhen's face remained grim as he said to Ding Huan: "What about the rest? Your theft of Qingsha's supreme-grade Dao vein, and your stripping of Yan Jiuyue's Dao-root?"

Ding Huan chuckled: "Jing Xizhen, you're a Daoist at the Eighth Step—surely your understanding of cosmic laws isn't that of a Bai Chi?"

Never mind whether I stole Qingsha's supreme-grade Dao vein—tell me, after the Great Universe's Great Calamity, in this newly formed world, could a supreme-grade Dao vein possibly have formed in such a short time?"

In fact, both Ding Huan and Hou Yucheng knew.

The Ten Thousand Dao Mountains had almost spawned a supreme-grade Dao vein.

But the Tianmeng Clan's Eighth-Step cultivator forcibly seized it, leaving the vein just short of becoming supreme-grade.

Now, that vein resides in Hou Yucheng's world.

Jing Xizhen understood: Ding Huan's logic was sound.

Under such newly formed cosmic laws, it was indeed nearly impossible for a supreme-grade Dao vein to emerge.

"You can deny it, but it's the truth," Qingsha retorted, voice tight with frustration.

The bitterness in her tone implied: the truth is this—but I have no proof to expose you.

Ding Huan ignored Qingsha and turned to Yan Jiuyue: "Yan Jiuyue, I pulled you out of a brothel—and this is how you repay me? Twist the truth like this?"

"Or was I wrong to interrupt your happy little life there, fucking countless male cultivators? If so, I truly regret it."

Hearing Ding Huan's blunt words, Yan Jiuyue turned livid, her whole body trembling.

He had exposed her shame—right in front of that man.

"I… I was only telling the truth…" Yan Jiuyue lowered her head, voice trembling with fear and helplessness, laced with frailty.

She wasn't smart, but she knew that right now, the only way to win Hou Yucheng's sympathy was to appear weak and helpless.

Ding Huan didn't bother with her—he turned to Qingsha: "Do you know why you couldn't track me after you soul-searched Yan Jiuyue?"

Qingsha stared coldly at Ding Huan—she'd been puzzled about this too.

"Because while you were soul-searching Yan Jiuyue, I watched every moment clearly—I'd planted several surveillance array runes there. You just lacked the skill to see them."

As he spoke, Ding Huan raised his hand and tossed out an image crystal ball.

When he left, he'd casually carved those surveillance array runes.

Through them, he'd seen Qingsha's entire soul-searching process with perfect clarity.

Qingsha stared, frozen, at the image crystal ball Ding Huan activated—she wanted to crush it immediately.

Qing Sha stared blankly at the image crystal ball activated by Ding Huan, wanting desperately to crush the crystal ball right then and there.

Not only would Ding Huan have more than one such crystal ball, but even if she shattered it, Jing Xizhen could restore the image.

Even if Ding Huan had more than just this crystal ball, and even if she shattered it, Jing Xizhen could still restore this image crystal ball.

Facing so many people, Jing Xizhen must recover even if he isn't truly recovered.

Qingsha secretly seethed—no wonder she could never catch Ding Huan; her every move had been watched by him all along.

The image crystal ball clearly recorded Qingsha's failed pursuit of Ding Huan, followed by her interrogation of Yan Jiuyue.

Yan Jiuyue merely said she didn't know, and Qingsha immediately began soul-searching her.

Clearly, not a single word Qingsha had just spoken was true.

Jing Xizhen looked at Ding Huan in surprise—no wonder he had become the Dao Lord of the Great Cosmos Dao Court; his strength was one thing, but this level of scheming was likely stronger than his own.

He then glared fiercely at Qingsha.

A Dao Seventh Step, even a false Dao Seventh Step, didn't even notice surveillance array patterns woven around her before attempting soul-searching.

Indeed, a waste—such a waste is useless to him.

Ding Huan pulled out the image crystal ball, still ready to flee at any moment.

Yan Jiuyue's face turned pale; with this crystal ball revealed, it was settled—she had colluded with her soul-searching enemy to slander the one who saved her.

Yan Zhuo's face was equally pale; he looked at Yan Jiuyue and slowly said, "Jiuyue, this is the last time I'll call you that. From today on, our father-daughter bond is severed."

"You no longer need to bear the Yan surname—take your own."

He had once thought Yan Jiuyue was merely jealous of Jia Baihe, but this went beyond jealousy—it was utter moral depravity.

Yan Zhuo was upright and honorable; he had no use for such an adopted daughter.

Yan Jiuyue's lips trembled; she could not utter a single word.

Ding Huan looked at Yan Zhuo—this Yan Zhuo did possess a certain integrity.

Ling Zhuzhen sneered: "Heh, Brother Jing, this is your disciple? Turning black into white, slandering the Dao Lord?"

"You probably don't know that the other two former Dao Ancestors here, Feng Pu and Yi Qi, were severely wounded by the Tianmeng Clan precisely because your disciple secretly schemed against them?"

Not only Jing Xizhen, but even Qingsha was now speechless.

Jing Xizhen knew the matter had escalated this far.

If he still forcibly killed Ding Huan, no one would obey him.

It would have been better to kill Ding Huan outright from the start and pin all the crimes on him.

"Dao Lord Ding, Brother Ling, I failed to investigate this matter thoroughly. Very well—I withdraw from this affair. Let you and Qingsha resolve it yourselves."

"After you've settled this, I'll discuss the important matter with you, Dao Lord Ding, and Brother Ling—that's why I returned."

After speaking, Jing Xizhen turned and left, vanishing from the Dao Court hall in an instant.

Jing Xizhen was indeed furious—not at Ding Huan, but at Qingsha.

Whether Qingsha's words were true or false didn't matter; even if false, he could treat them as true.

But Qingsha was at least a Dao Ancestor, a Dao Seventh Step being.

Yet she let Ding Huan produce concrete evidence, striking his face with ironclad proof.

How could he now twist truth into falsehood?

Not killing this woman himself was already a sign of his good temper.

Seeing Jing Xizhen leave, Qingsha jumped up in panic: "Master!"

No one answered her.

She knew better than anyone—it wasn't that Jing Xizhen had learned the truth and abandoned her; it was that she had given Ding Huan the evidence.

Ding Huan paid no attention to Qingsha; he kept his eyes fixed on Jing Xizhen.

Only after Jing Xizhen departed did he confirm: Jing Xizhen truly had no intention of acting forcibly.

"Dao Lord Ding, this is my fault—please, for the sake of my master…"

Before Qingsha finished speaking, Ding Huan punched her squarely between the eyes.

With her current low cultivation, she had no capacity to resist Ding Huan's punch.

As her world shattered, Ding Huan's killing Dao rhythm tore apart all her soul fragments.

For the sake of Jing Xizhen?

He was no match for Jing Xizhen now—but if he were, he'd have punished Jing Xizhen too.

"Puff!" A mist of blood exploded.

Qingsha had no time to regret.

If she could, she wouldn't have told Jing Xizhen that the Great Cosmos had regenerated again, nor how to return to it.

Yet she had wasted another chance at survival.

Zhuo Qingfeng lowered his head, his entire back drenched in cold sweat.

He felt only one thing: terror.

Qingsha hadn't asked him to testify.

If Qingsha had asked him to testify, and Jing Xizhen had been present, he would have unhesitatingly stood up to aid Qingsha.

Jing Xizhen's power was simply too terrifying—terrifying enough to make him dare not even consider resistance.

Ling Zhuzhen, seeing Ding Huan's punch, his eyes brightened.

He knew Ding Huan's strength had climbed another tier—he must have comprehended a new level of Dao.

Though he couldn't tell if Ding Huan had entered the Fourth Step, from Ding Huan's attitude toward Jing Xizhen just now, he suspected Ding Huan had succeeded.

Perhaps Ding Huan even had the ability to escape from Jing Xizhen's grasp.