Elder Pei in midair, whose spiritual consciousness had condensed into physical form, almost lost his composure and dispersed the human form he had created. He snorted lightly at the crowd kneeling on the ground in the trial grounds.

Almost everyone’s hearts trembled, except for the bold Liu Changning.

Tianjing raised her head tremblingly, enduring the pressure, and asked haltingly: “Palace Master coming to the trial grounds, we failed to welcome you from afar, it is truly our fault.”

Pei Yuanshao glanced at her, seeing her false courtesy, and did not give her face.

Turning his head to look at the excited Juqu, the coldness in his whole body couldn’t help but recede a few points: “I just came out of seclusion not long ago, and because I went to the Ten Directions Sea to look for spirit materials for refining artifacts, I didn’t appear before you all. …”

“Senior, you… can’t tell too many lies. If you impersonate Elder Pei like this, if the old man comes out of seclusion, I’m afraid he will…”

In midair, the long-haired man suddenly swayed his figure.

He glared imperceptibly at the good-for-nothing in the center of the trial grounds, wishing he could grab her spiritual sense and whip her.

“Those who talk too much die!”

A warning without rhyme or reason came from Elder Pei in midair. Everyone’s hearts jolted, and they raised their heads, only to catch a glimpse of Elder Pei’s face hidden in the clouds and mist.

Liu Changning curved her lips extremely disrespectfully and burst out laughing. Seeing this, the little black bird in her arms viciously jabbed its long beak into her chest, again and again.

“It hurts… ah, be gentle.”

The old cadre transmitted a message with spiritual sense, deliberately lowering her voice, hoarse and with a hint of gasping. It permeated Elder Pei’s sea of consciousness along with that icy temptation, following his spiritual consciousness condensed into physical form, pouring from the top of his head all the way down to his tailbone.

The virtual body in midair once again became unsteady, his whole body trembling very subtly. Fortunately, at this moment, everyone was under the pressure of Elder Pei Ziyuan of the Tribulation Period, and did not dare to look directly at his figure.

The little black bird glared at Liu Changning in exasperation. At this moment, forget about jabbing her chest, its long beak was tightly closed, as if it was burning. It wished it could saw it off on the spot.

Its two legs were shaking, its bird body embarrassed.

Unable to control the sudden strange feeling in his body, Pei Ziyuan half-squinted his eyes, feeling depressed and irritated, always feeling that he had been insulted, but unable to find evidence of being insulted.

With his heart trembling constantly, he could only direct his anger at the dog-like people on the trial grounds.

Juqu tremblingly raised his head under the pressure, although not understanding, he took the initiative to bear the Palace Master’s anger: “Juqu is guilty, may the ancestor calm his anger.”

Pei Ziyuan gave her a complicated look, waved his sleeve to send out a beam of white light, pulling her up.

However, his cold gaze fell on Mu Yun’s head: “Disciple Ju is innocent, why should she admit fault? You all get up. I still have important matters at hand and cannot stay here for long. If it weren’t for this sinner from Li Sect here, spreading rumors and distorting facts, I wouldn’t have appeared.”

As soon as these words fell, his figure flickered slightly, and in an instant, he was already standing in front of Liu Changning.

Although the clouds and mist obscured his face, the coldness in his whole body couldn’t be hidden.

He waved his sleeve, and a beam of bright red spiritual power fell directly on Mu Yun’s legs.

With a “thud”, the thin and gloomy-faced Mu Yun fell to her knees on the ground, without any resistance.

Pei Ziyuan lowered his eyes, looking at the old Taoist crawling on the ground as if looking at a maggot.

He coldly snorted: “Elder Mu, are you familiar with this wave of spiritual power? Three days ago, in Mingtai Lane, I encountered a vicious killing formation. The formations were layered to kill people. On a whim, I couldn’t help but split off a strand of spiritual consciousness to observe. What I saw at that time was this junior standing behind me in the trial grounds now. That night, she suffered a brutal assassination attempt. The assassin was quite clever, coming up with one plan after another when the first failed. The treasures they brought out were all high-grade magic weapons. The methods were sinister, the intentions malicious, all actions not befitting a righteous person.”

At this moment, everyone’s gaze towards Mu Yun changed, especially Tianjing. Her face turned ashen, glaring fiercely at Mu Yun, afraid that she had been fooled by this old bitch.

Sure enough, the voice of Elder Pei from above was neither cold nor warm as he played with the black hair on his chest.

He said unhurriedly: “Originally, it was a fight between juniors, and I wouldn’t have interfered and meddled in such matters, breaking the rules. Unfortunately, the assassin’s intentions were malicious, and in the end, they actually released sword intent transformed from the spiritual consciousness of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator. This left me with no choice but to move my finger and sever that strand of spiritual consciousness.”

Pei Ziyuan lowered his head to look at Mu Yun, sneering: “Elder Mu, do you still vividly remember the Scarlet Fire True Flame I just used on you? After all, it was your strand of spiritual consciousness that was severed that day. You know best whether I’m lying or not.”

Of course, Mu Yun remembered vividly. Terror was evident in her narrow, small eyes. At this moment, her whole body could only stick to the ground. The powerful pressure on her chest made it difficult even to breathe.

When an ancestor of the Tribulation Period becomes angry, even with her high cultivation, she couldn’t resist.

She opened her cracked lips, a flash of crimson passing through her eyes. Mustering all her strength, her voice hoarse: “If it was the ancestor’s doing that day, was my daughter also killed by your own hands?”

“Since when can’t I kill an evil cultivator?” Pei Ziyuan snorted coldly: “It’s just a pity that such a maggot wasn’t worth me personally taking action.”

Just as he was speaking, the originally clear sky suddenly gathered dark clouds.

Elder Pei’s figure paused.

“Ashao, change back, quick!” Liu Changning’s urgent urging voice came through the sea of consciousness, her usually calm voice tinged with worry.

The Profound Ice True Essence was almost depleted. The dark clouds in the sky were a precursor to the descent of tribulation lightning. Although it would still take an hour for the tribulation clouds to fully form,

If they dawdled any longer, in about half an hour when the tribulation clouds appeared, these old fellows would notice something amiss.

Pei Ziyuan half-lowered his eyes, opened his mouth, about to speak.

Mu Yun finally exploded. Her hoarse voice was extremely unpleasant. On her sunken cheekbones, a pair of small, narrow eyes were filled with hateful sharpness. She shouted: “Who was it? Who killed my daughter? How could the soul lamp be fake? Even if this girl doesn’t have demonic abilities, she is still the culprit who killed my Lanqing.”

“It wasn’t her!” Pei Ziyuan didn’t even look at the skinny old Taoist on the ground. He raised his head to sweep his gaze over the other sect elders and said sternly: “This girl is under the protection of Dunshi Immortal Palace. If any of you dare to come forward to kill her, you will be making an enemy of me, Pei Ziyuan.”

As soon as he finished speaking, his clothes fluttered as he returned to midair. Pointing at Liu Changning, he ordered Juqu: “Take her into the sect. My true body is still in the Ten Directions Sea and will return in a few days. You all guard the mountain gate well.”

As soon as these words fell, clouds in the sky gathered cluster by cluster around the red-clothed, demonic-haired man. Waves of white light flashed, and within ten breaths, the previously solidified spiritual consciousness dispersed. Elder Pei vanished like an epiphemeral flower, disappearing without a trace.

As the spiritual consciousness returned to the body, the little black bird wearily lowered its eyelids.

“Quickly resolve this trouble, the ancestor can’t take it anymore.”

In Elder Pei’s sea of consciousness, waves of heat rolled. His bean-sized green eyes developed a layer of burning desire.

Liu Changning’s eyes were deep and mysterious. She transmitted a message with her spiritual sense, not pretending this time, her voice somewhat breathless: “Ashao, be good, endure… a bit longer.”

The pressure suddenly dropped, and everyone finally came to their senses. They realized that in the warm spring weather of the third month, the thin shirts on their backs had actually been soaked with cold sweat.

The ten elders looked at each other. Elder Pei had personally appeared to testify for this female cultivator called Liu Cangyun. It seemed that Mu Yun’s earlier speculation was likely baseless.

If she wasn’t from the demon race, then she must be the savior girl.

The few elders who had almost come to blows over Liu Changning earlier now looked uncomfortable. Because of Mu Yun’s words, none of them had shown this girl any kindness earlier. Having chilled her heart this time, it would be almost impossible to recruit her into their sects now.

While everyone was in a daze, no one noticed that on the trial grounds, Mu Yun, who had been prostrate on the ground, suddenly opened her eyes wide.

A voice sounded in her mind: “Do you want to avenge your daughter with your own hands?”

“If you do, then do as I say.”

Suddenly, a shadow-concealing stone appeared in her hand, and the voice in her mind continued.

The stranger’s spiritual message lasted only ten breaths. After listening, a bloodthirsty smile appeared at the corners of Mu Yun’s lips.

No one noticed that her left palm flipped out a spirit talisman into the air. This was a high-grade message talisman, and the spell flew directly towards Juhai Peak where the sect leader of Li Mountain resided.

In an instant, it arrived. Sect Leader Qiu was meditating at the mountain gate. After reading the contents of the message talisman, her silver hair suddenly fluttered in the wind. Her eyes shone with a sharp light as she put away her fly whisk. She summoned her mount and flew towards the trial grounds of Wuya City.

At the trial grounds.

Qiu Changhuan lowered her eyes in thought. When she raised her head, she met Liu Changning’s gaze.

Before she could show a fake embarrassed expression, unexpectedly, the white-robed female cultivator had already opened her lips, silently mouthing the words “Wicked disciple!”

Jing Huan’s heart stirred, too shocked to even hide her expression in time.

She then saw the woman opposite pointing her jade-white finger towards Mu Yun’s direction.

Immediately understanding her meaning, Jing Huan choked on a breath in her throat, breaking into violent coughs.

At this moment, Liu Changning was also furious in her heart. Her spiritual sense expanded, covering the trial grounds like that of a true immortal. Yet unexpectedly, she discovered that the man called Qiu Changhuan earlier was transmitting a spiritual message to Mu Yun and passing something to her across space.

And all of this went unnoticed by almost all of the ten Nascent Soul stage powerhouses present. Upon careful investigation, Liu Changning was amazed beyond words. Using all her strength, she still couldn’t hear their conversation clearly.

With five parts of her guess already formed, she deliberately tested a bit, and it turned out to be true! This person must be the Emotion Demon Liu Guang, King Jing Huan of Zhennan. Ha!

Liu Changning lowered her head to look at the little black bird, bit her own fingertip, and directly fed the blood-stained finger into Pei Ziyuan’s beak.

“What are you doing?” The little black bird’s eyes widened as he said angrily. Streams of cool blood flowed down his throat, surprisingly soothing some of the heat in his body.

But this was her blood.

“Be good, ancestor. This junior estimates that this matter is not over yet,” Liu Changning transmitted mysteriously, her cold clear eyes fixed unblinkingly on Jing Huan.

With the wicked disciple here, this frame-up was clearly a trap he had painstakingly set. Given his personality, he definitely wouldn’t let it go so easily.

Indeed, one’s enemy knows one best. After coughing several times, Qiu Changhuan raised her head, having regained her usual gentle and refined demeanor.

Her eyebrows curved as she silently mouthed across the space: “Master is impressive. So you met Pei Ziyuan this early? Where is he? This disciple doesn’t believe he’s in the Ten Directions Sea.”