So, the Heart-Questioning Stone really was reliable.
Nangong Yu remained calm on the surface, but began thinking hard inside. Precisely because it was reliable, she could no longer avoid it.
“Then let the Heart-Questioning Stone prove my innocence,” she said solemnly after a moment’s thought.
Xu Wanzhong immediately felt a pang of concern. “Are you stupid? If he tells you to use it, you’ll just do it?”
How could anyone be so honest?
“Even if you’re innocent, why should you prove it just because someone else tells you to?” Unable to hold back, Xu Wanzhong bent a finger and tapped her on the forehead. “You don’t have a single bit of cunning!”
Nangong Yu glanced at Elder Ling Heng and declared righteously, “I can’t bring shame to the people of Hengxu Peak! I can’t let anyone slander me! I’m innocent—that’s a fact whether I use the stone or not. If I refuse, some people will say I have a guilty conscience!”
That was true enough.
But Xu Wanzhong was even more displeased. His dark, brooding eyes swept toward Elder Xuanqing.
A mere Taixuan Peak had actually come all the way to Hengxu Peak to bully them. Did they think his master’s seniority and dignity meant he wouldn’t fight back?
“My junior sister can’t use the Heart-Questioning Stone for nothing,” Xu Wanzhong said slowly. “Historically, the Heart-Questioning Stone has only been used by those who have committed crimes. My junior sister has committed no crime. To make her use the stone merely because of your suspicions goes against the principles of Hengxu Peak.”
Elder Xuanqing snorted.
He knew the people of Hengxu Peak were difficult to deal with. But as long as Nangong Yu was willing to stand before the Heart-Questioning Stone, it would reveal her guilt. Elder Xuanqing was eighty percent certain of that!
“What do you want?” he asked, lifting his chin.
Xu Wanzhong said, “If I remember correctly, you have a Myriad Beasts Painting. It nurtures a hundred demons, and every demon spirit within it can fight on your behalf.”
He glanced around before continuing, “If my junior sister is innocent and you wronged her, then you’ll give her the Myriad Beasts Painting as an apology.”
Elder Xuanqing possessed several treasured items, and he had bragged about them more than once. Quite a few people in the sect knew about them.
Since he had bullied his junior sister, Xu Wanzhong intended to make him cut into his own flesh and bleed.
However, when Nangong Yu heard the words “Myriad Beasts Painting” and “nurtures a hundred demons,” she couldn’t help thinking of the painting in her own space.
Could they be the same thing?!
Her expression tightened, and she immediately said, “No, I don’t want it.”
Xu Wanzhong assumed she simply didn’t like that treasure. His tone turned gentle. “Then what do you want? Just name it. Don’t be afraid.”
Nangong Yu looked toward Elder Xuanqing and said seriously, “I don’t want your magical treasure. I only want one sentence from you.”
Elder Xuanqing’s expression remained indifferent. “What sentence?”
“The Heart-Questioning Illusion used in the disciple trials is trash,” Nangong Yu said, enunciating every word.
The moment she finished speaking, Elder Xuanqing’s expression changed completely. “You’re courting death!”
Why had the two of them become enemies?
Because Elder Xuanqing was responsible for the Heart-Questioning Illusion portion of the disciple trials.
The Ziyang Sect had stood for more than a hundred thousand years, and its methods of recruiting disciples had changed many times.
At first, all they did was judge a candidate’s affinity and spiritual roots.
Later, they added a test of endurance and perseverance: climbing the Heaven-Reaching Stairs.
After that, gravity, solitude, fear, temptation, and illusion were gradually incorporated into the Heaven-Reaching Stairs.
The illusion had been proposed by Elder Xuanqing. He believed that to test a disciple’s state of mind, one had to crush the weakest part of their heart.
And if no weakness existed, one simply had to create one and then crush it.
He believed that mental strength was not something cultivated after birth. It was a talent a disciple already possessed when entering the sect.
A person with a truly strong heart could rise again even after being crushed.
But someone who appeared strong on the outside yet was weak within would be unable to get back up once they were broken, no matter how cold and unyielding they seemed. Such a person had no future.
His reasoning was that many disciples in the sect looked impressive on the surface, so why did they fail when facing their inner demons? Because their innate character was weak.
By eliminating such people early, the sect would save resources, and the disciples would be spared suffering. It benefited both sides.
Over the years, the number of sect disciples who failed when overcoming their inner demons had decreased. Naturally, Elder Xuanqing assumed that this was due to the trials in the illusion.
But then there was Nangong Yu!
She didn’t know how to appreciate anything. She had insulted his achievements and even cursed his master. How could Elder Xuanqing not hate her?!
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to kill her.
He simply couldn’t.
Seeing Elder Xuanqing lose control, he was about to attack her in front of the sect master, Elder Ling Heng, and the others.
The sect master sighed and cast a spiritual shield, enclosing Nangong Yu within it.
Only then did he say, “You refuse to say those words, just as she refuses to use the Heart-Questioning Stone. Xuanqing, are you still going to insist?”
Although Nangong Yu was somewhat odd and possessed a little talent, she was still only a young disciple. Just half a month ago, she had been an ordinary mortal through and through.
To claim that she could have caused such a huge disturbance on Taixuan Peak—anyone with a functioning brain would find that impossible to believe.
Elder Xuanqing was simply acting out of personal spite.
He was bullying a child, but unfortunately for him, that child had unyielding bones. The sect master glanced at Nangong Yu from the corner of his eye, and his admiration for her grew.
How rare was that?
To be irreverent, fearless, and unafraid.
“Continue!” Elder Xuanqing ground out through clenched teeth.
At this point, it was no longer about reason. He had to fight for his dignity!
“All right.” The sect master nodded. “We’ll go to Hengxu Peak.”
With that, he flew toward Hengxu Peak at the head of the group.
Elder Ling Heng gave Elder Xuanqing an indifferent look before following.
Xu Wanzhong let out a cold laugh, summoned his sword, and made sure his junior sister was seated securely. “Let’s go.”
The disciples of Hengxu Peak, the disciples of Luowu Peak, the disciples of Taixuan Peak, and the other sect disciples who had gathered to watch the commotion all moved as well.
The same crowd of spectators simply shifted to the area outside Hengxu Peak.
“This is the Heart-Questioning Stone?” Nangong Yu stood at the entrance to the Discipline Hall and stared at an utterly ordinary slab of blue-gray rock in surprise.
The boulder was more than a person’s height. Apart from its surface, which had been cut smooth as a mirror but reflected no one’s image, there was nothing remarkable about it.
“Nangong Yu!” Elder Xuanqing had already lost his patience. He shouted, “Were you the one who caused the trouble on my Taixuan Peak?”
Nangong Yu shot him a glance. “Why are you in such a hurry?”
She looked at the massive stone before her and said, “I need to test it first and see whether you tampered with it.”
“Hmph! Go ahead and test it!” Elder Xuanqing couldn’t be bothered to argue with her.
Besides, if the Heart-Questioning Stone could be tampered with, whose reputation would be ruined?!
“Heart-Questioning Stone, Heart-Questioning Stone, my name is Nangong Yu.” Nangong Yu spoke to the boulder.
The boulder lit up with a faint green glow.
“What does that mean?” Nangong Yu asked.
A young disciple nearby answered, “It glows green when the statement is true.”
“Oh.” Nangong Yu nodded. Her eyes shifted, and she said, “Heart-Questioning Stone, Heart-Questioning Stone, I’m sixteen years old this year.”
The boulder…
The boulder showed no reaction.
“Huh?” Nangong Yu leaned forward. “Heart-Questioning Stone, say something.”
Everyone else was stunned as well. “What’s going on?”
“Could someone really have tampered with it?”
Several people discreetly glanced at Elder Xuanqing.
Elder Xuanqing grew anxious. “It has nothing to do with me! I’ve never even been to Hengxu Peak!”
Hmph!
He had almost been falsely accused!
“It’s lit up!” someone soon exclaimed, noticing that the Heart-Questioning Stone had begun to glow green.
But immediately afterward, the green light turned red.
Everyone was stunned. “It turned red?”
“What does red mean?” Nangong Yu blinked. “Did I lie?”
The sect master said, “Bring the bone-age testing array plate.”
A disciple immediately went to fetch it.
Before long, a disciple from Wanshi Peak returned with the peak master in tow. “Sect Master Uncle, what happened?”
As he spoke, he handed over the formation plate.
The Sect Master aimed the plate at Nangong Yu. The markings on it immediately began to spin, displaying an exact age of sixteen.
“Bone age: sixteen.” After saying this, the Sect Master tossed the plate back to the Wanshi Peak Master. “It’s nothing. Just a minor matter.”
No matter how one looked at it, internal sect disputes were minor matters.
The Wanshi Peak Master put away the formation plate and stood to one side, watching with curiosity.
“Has she seized someone else’s body?” Elder Xuanqing asked hesitantly, voicing his guess.
If her bone age really was sixteen, then her soul certainly couldn’t be. Otherwise, there would be no way to explain what had happened with the Heart-Questioning Stone.
“Watch your tongue!” Elder Ling Heng roared. He sent a wave of spiritual power flying, and Elder Xuanqing grunted, a trace of blood appearing at the corner of his mouth.
He dared not say anything more. Suppressing his anger, he lowered his head and wiped away the blood.
“Elder Xuanqing resents me for saying that the Heart-Questioning Illusion is trash.”
Green light.
“Elder Xuanqing therefore wants to kill me.”
Green light.
“Elder Xuanqing has no evidence proving it was me.”
Green light.
“Elder Xuanqing just thinks it was me.”
Green light.
“That’s enough!!” Elder Xuanqing’s expression shifted through shades of green and red. Looking both disheveled and furious, he snapped, “Just answer me—is it you or not?”
Nangong Yu looked over. “The Heart-Questioning Stone malfunctioned just now, so I wanted to test whether it was working properly, and whether it had been tampered with by ‘certain people.’”
Elder Xuanqing had not tampered with it, so he couldn’t take the remark personally.
“Talk about yourself!” Elder Xuanqing shouted. “Stop dragging this old man into it!”
Nangong Yu pouted. “My master is truly amazing.”
Green light.
“That slap he gave you felt really good.”
Green light.
At the same time, Elder Xuanqing’s face turned green as well.
“All right, Little Yu.” The Sect Master struggled not to laugh. “The Heart-Questioning Stone should be fine.”
“Oh.” Nangong Yu obediently listened. This time, she turned toward the Heart-Questioning Stone and said seriously, “What happened at Taixuan Peak has nothing to do with me.”
Green light.
“Impossible!!” Elder Xuanqing stared in disbelief. With a whoosh, he flew in front of the Heart-Questioning Stone. “There’s something wrong with it!”
The Sect Master’s face darkened.
Xu Wanzhong cursed even more angrily, “Are you sick? Do you have to frame my junior sister before you’ll let this go?”
Everyone knew perfectly well that, after what Nangong Yu had said just now, Elder Xuanqing hated her enough to want her dead.
The Heart-Questioning Stone had clearly emitted green light. What else did he have to say?
“You’re taking her side!” Elder Xuanqing ignored him and instead fixed his gaze on Elder Ling Heng. “The Heart-Questioning Stone belongs to Hengxu Peak. You must know how to use it. You tampered with it!”
His answer was three strikes from Elder Ling Heng.
“The first is for bullying my disciple.”
“The second is for making baseless accusations against an innocent disciple despite being a Nascent Soul elder.”
“The third is for questioning the impartiality of the Discipline Hall.”
Back when Elder Xuanqing had struck Chen Zhi three times, he had likewise listed three charges.
That was because he had been bullying someone weaker. Three strikes were enough; any more would have killed him. Now, Elder Ling Heng struck Elder Xuanqing only three times for the same reason.
After taking all three blows, Elder Xuanqing spat blood and was sent flying backward.
Nangong Yu was a little frightened. Clutching the fabric over her heart, she asked, “What if he says that our Discipline Hall is abusing its power to bully people?”
“Was he not abusing his power to bully you?” Elder Ling Heng looked at her. “He arrested you and subjected you to punishment in private. He violated the sect rules.”
Although Elder Xuanqing was an elder, he was still a disciple of the sect and had to obey its rules.
“Since you were not injured, we will show him leniency.”
“He will seal his cultivation and be confined at Profound Ice Cliff for six months.”
“Go.”
As his voice fell, a golden stream of spiritual power appeared out of thin air and transformed into a command token.
Xu Wanzhong caught it and held it in his hand. “This disciple accepts the order.”
He led several Hengxu Peak disciples in pursuit of Elder Xuanqing. Before long, they had flown far into the distance.
