Chapter 537: Discussion! Council Head Zhou Intervenes!

"According to the investigation, on November 8th, Wang Mang,

after being eliminated by Xu Jingming from the Genius Tournament preliminaries, contacted the Blood Wing organization.

He arranged for assassins to strike at Song Qiuyun and Jiang Chuxuan separately, attempting to kill them, but in the end the mission failed.

After the preliminaries ended, Xu Jingming returned from the virtual world and, through unknown means, locked onto Wang Mang as the true culprit.

He immediately took a fighter jet overnight to Sichuan Province and killed Wang Mang in a private villa."

Cao Jun's voice echoed through this stretch of heaven and earth. His bright, piercing eyes turned toward Su Qingli in her seat:

"Congresswoman Su, Xu Jingming is your student. You speak first—how should this matter ultimately be handled?"

Awakeners who die from personal vendettas—God knows how many cases occur every single day across the entire Great Xia nation.

The reason Xu Jingming's case alone has been brought before the National Council for discussion is purely because his identity is no simple matter.

He is the most gifted prodigy the Great Xia nation has today!

On top of that, the other victim involved a Ninth-Rank Congressperson.

That is why it was brought forward as an agenda item—to discuss the final disposition of Xu Jingming.

Seeing Cao Jun mention Su Qingli, many of the powerful figures present instinctively looked toward her.

Although Su Qingli's seat in the National Council is relatively far back, that is only because she entered the Ninth Rank just three years ago.

In reality,

in the span of merely three years, her ranking within the National Council has risen several tiers in succession.

Reaching a position close to the middle is already terrifying.

Given that she is the supreme prodigy who took first place in the previous Genius Tournament, none of those present would naturally underestimate her.

"Xu Jingming is my student, so I naturally know his temperament."

Despite the gazes of many powerful figures—among them no shortage of Ninth-Rank peak Awakeners—

Su Qingli's fair face remained composed as ever. Her red lips parted slightly, and a clear, pleasant voice rang out:

"Xu Jingming is good-natured by nature, firm in will, and harbors tremendous passion for slaying fierce beasts."

"From the time he enrolled at Magic Capital Awakener University, to entering my Lei Ting Martial Hall's Prodigy Training Camp and becoming my student,"

"during that year and a half, he spent roughly two-thirds of his time in the wilderness zones, fighting fierce beasts to the death."

"Even before the Genius Tournament began, he was still in the Kanda Wilderness Zone of Myanmar, hunting fierce beasts."

"This can be verified with even a cursory investigation."

When her words fell, quite a few of the powerful Congresspeople present were secretly nodding.

As an SS-class Awakener, Xu Jingming's relevant records had long since been investigated by them.

They naturally knew Su Qingli was not lying.

And Awakeners like Xu Jingming, who recklessly hunt fierce beasts, easily earn the approval of the powerful.

Especially those Awakeners who came through that dark, turbulent era of years past.

"But even a steadfast ascetic like him has his reverse scale—and that is his family!"

A faint fury surged in Su Qingli's beautiful eyes. "Our Great Xia long ago established laws prohibiting attacks on the families of Awakeners."

"Yet this Wang Mang not only ignored the prohibition—he even dared to contact an assassin organization that is absolutely banned in our Great Xia to hire killers!"

"His crime deserves death!"

"What Xu Jingming did was nothing more than a normal reaction."

"Therefore, I recommend that no punishment be given to Xu Jingming!"

At these words, everyone was somewhat taken aback.

Although Wang Mang was indeed at fault first, Xu Jingming had, after all, killed a man.

Even if one were biased in his favor, one should at least put on a show and give some minor penalty.

If nothing else, a few billion or so would at least save face.

No one expected Su Qingli to be so unyielding—not even recommending the slightest punishment.

At this rate, Wang Zhen is probably going to blow his top.

Sure enough, the moment Su Qingli finished speaking, Wang Zhen's face changed drastically and he roared angrily:

"Su Qingli! You've gone too far!

No matter how wrong Mang'er was, that should be handled by the law—it was never Xu Jingming's place to take matters into his own hands!

My recommendation is to imprison Xu Jingming in the Deep Sea Prison and suppress him for ten years first!"

The Deep Sea Prison is the most heavily guarded prison in the Great Xia nation.

Located more than a thousand meters beneath the sea, its inmates never see the light of day and suffer terribly.

It is generally used only to hold serious criminals of Seventh-Rank Grandmaster level and above.

Using it to imprison Xu Jingming is clearly inappropriate.

Therefore, quite a few of the powerful figures present shook their heads, and Cao Jun, presiding over the meeting, also furrowed his brow slightly.

"The law? And now you want to talk about the law?"

Su Qingli snorted coldly and rebuked him:

"Your son, abusing the power in his hands, has killed ordinary people and Awakeners alike—far more than a hundred!

Those deeds alone would be enough to earn him death dozens of times over! In fact, you yourself have personally cleaned up his messes at the Security Bureau more than once.

At that time, why didn't you talk about the law?"

"You—!"

Wang Zhen glared furiously at Su Qingli, but could not find a single word of rebuttal.

Because everything Su Qingli said was fact.

"The member is right; Xu Jingming should not be punished."

At this moment, another voice sounded.

The man wore a crimson battle suit, his posture straight, radiating a terrifyingly sharp aura.

Seeing him was like gazing upon endless mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

This man was none other than Lord Xue Jian, who had crossed thousands of kilometers to destroy the Sakura Nation's Ten御Dao Hall branch.

"Wang Mang is merely a spoiled brat."

He serves no purpose to our society; he is nothing but a parasite."

"Killing him was actually a good thing."

Lord Xue Jian's cold voice rang out.

Wang Zhen glanced at him with fear, but dared not speak a word.

Lord Xue Jian is a madman; since his rise, he has always been alone.

Opposing Su Qingli, the worst that could happen is she dislikes you.

But if you provoke Lord Xue Jian, you might lose your own life.

"Wang Mang was indeed at fault first, but Xu Jingming acted on his own, violating protocol."

At this moment, another voice sounded.

The speaker was an old man seated third from the right on the empty dais.

This old man was Li Chunhai, patriarch of the Li family and a ninth-rank upper-level psychic.

"My suggestion is to imprison Xu Jingming in a Level One prison."

He may continue his daily cultivation, and the duration need not be long—only three years."

"This would constitute sufficient punishment."

As the old man finished speaking, Su Qingli's face turned icy.

This Li family was the same one that had allied with the vice-director to replace her.

Their proposal was indeed milder than Wang Zhen's punishment.

But Xu Jingming would be confined in prison for three full years, deprived of freedom.

This she could never accept.

"I support Member Li's proposal."

"I agree as well."

"Xu Jingming is young and arrogant; he needs to be tempered."

"......"

The Li family had three members on the council; as soon as Li Chunhai spoke, several ninth-rank councilors nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, Wang Zhen's previously grim expression eased considerably.

Cao Jun, the meeting's chairperson, also felt torn.

Emotionally, he sided with Su Qingli and opposed punishing Xu Jingming.

Even if punishment were necessary, a fine would suffice.

But the National Council is not decided by one man alone—it must tally all opinions.

As he hesitated, preparing to initiate the vote count, a mechanical electronic voice suddenly rang from the sky:

"Council members! Chief Councilor Zhou Yuanwu has issued his ruling on the matter of Xu Jingming."

As these words fell, all present councilors froze in surprise.

Chief Councilor Zhou Yuanwu was the strongest among the ninth-rank!

His power surpassed all others in Great Xia, placing him among the very top psychics on Blue Planet.

He never attended the National Council unless a major matter arose.

Yet now, he had intervened in the decision regarding Xu Jingming!