âIs he⊠is he only in the Gathering Yuan State?â
Everyone was wondering the same thing.
The elders at the Peak of Drifting Clouds were desperate. They ran away and left Li Qin behind.
The general wasnât targeting them, so they left without any obstacles.
Li Qin was left there alone, experiencing strong feelings of desperation.
She was staring at the general. With a wave of her right hand, her streamer appeared out of nowhere.
She could have flown away, but since she hadnât fully recovered, she was unable to.
She called the streamer over unconsciously, only to help raise her morale, but she soon found it useless.
The general was pushing her. His spear was overwhelming. His horse was high-spirited and vigorous. It made no difference how Li Qin fought back.
In the end, she put her streamer down and leaned against the wall. She raised her chin up and looked over to Jiang Chen, who was still in the air. Her eyes were full of resentment.
âDie!â
The general brandished his spear and was about to kill Li Qin.
At this moment, an unpredicted admonishment was heard. âHow dare you!â
A long golden wire traveled over to the general. It was a rope. It bound the generalâs hand that was raising its spear.
People couldnât tell what kind of material this rope was made of. However hard the general tried, he wasnât able to get rid of it.
Li Qin took her chance to run away from the general.
A figure appeared in the sky. Surrounded by rainbow light, he looked as if he had descended to the earth from heaven. He was standing over the Peak of the Drifting Clouds tall and stiff, like a sharp sword. Everyoneâs attention was on him.
He had black hair and was in a white robe. Both his hair and robe were flowing in the wind, free of shackles. His skin had a fine luster and his eyes were shining with the light of a thousand kinds of coloured glazes.
Ning Haotian!
He was recognized immediately. Everyone in the Natural Law School knew him.
Soon, people started to exclaim and shout.
âThe Reaching Heaven State! Apprentice Brother Ning has achieved the Reaching Heaven State!â
âHeâs standing on nothing in the air! Only a Reaching Heaven State is able to do that. How is it possible? Heâs so young.â
âApprentice Brother Ning is so great!â
Both Ning Haotianâs manner and his skill to stand in the air without the help of any spiritual weapon announced the power of his state.
Following Ning Haotian, important elders also showed up one by one, like Li Qinâs master, Elder An.
She flew into a rage when she saw the devastation on the Peak of Drifting Clouds.
âDonât say anything. Let me handle it,â the Medicine Elder came up to Jiang Chen and said to him in a low voice.
Both his tone and expression were serious. He knew it would be difficult for him to save Jiang Chen this day.
Jiang Chen didnât answer. He and Ning Haotian were fiercely looking at each other.
This was their first encounter since they met in the Black Dragon City.
Ning Haotianâs look was aggressive, which made Jiang Chen uncomfortable, as if he were being exposed to a glare.
âJiang Chen, do you admit your guilt?â
In the end, Ning Haotian spoke first. He had a magnetic voice that could reach very far.
âWhat guilt? How do you declare me guilty?â Jiang Chen asked coldly.
âHow dare you! Apprentice Brother Ning is vice leader of the school now. All disciples are under his management. He has the right to decide your life and death. Nowadays, the Natural Law School is going to the dogs and youâre the biggest culprit!â a disciple of the Peak of the Heavenly King jumped out to scold Jiang Chen.
âVice leader of the school?!â
People were shocked. No doubt, it was big news.
Although there was more than one vice leader, it was a decisive position.
Most importantly, each school leader had been a vice leader at some point.
This appointment meant Ning Haotian had almost reached the position of leader.
No wonder almost twenty elders had been trying to kill Jiang Chen that day; they had intended to impress Ning Haotian!
It was a surprise for Jiang Chen as well. He finally saw why the Medicine Elder was acting so serious.
Fortunately, he wasnât counting on the Medicine Elder to save him from this occasion.
âYou wanna know what your guilt is? Let me tell you,â Ning Haotian said at a moderate speed, but with a forceful stateliness. He wasnât posturing. He had picked up such a temperament naturally after he achieved the Reaching Heaven State.
âThe Natural Law School is one of the top ten sects and schools in the Fire Field. Weâre a decent and just school. Each discipleâs word and deed represents us.
âBut you killed Gao Chenyi in the Vermillion Bird City. Besides that, you became an indecent grave robber by taking treasures from the imperial mausoleum!
âThat statue was used to guard the imperial mausoleum, wasnât it? But you turned it into your weapon. Shame on you!â
Ning Haotian even shook his head disdainfully in the end, as if Jiang Chen was so notorious that he didnât even want to talk about him.
His words created an uproar in the crowd.
âNo wonder heâs so powerful. He took treasure from the imperial mausoleum. That explains it.â
âSo many people died in the underground imperial mausoleum and no one else but him received any priceless treasures.â
âHe could have killed others to get these treasures. Gao Chenyiâs death was odd.â
Ning Haotian went on, âNow that Iâve been appointed vice leader of the school, I have the responsibility to correct your wrong deeds!â
Then he raised his right arm gently. The rope that was binding the statue moved up into the air.
Bound by the golden wire rope, the general had to turn back into a statue.
Pah!
Suddenly, Ning Haotian threw his palm out and the statue was smashed into pieces, blown apart from the inside out. The gravel splattered heavily.
âYou!â Jiang Chen gnashed his teeth. His eyes were full of anger.
âIâve only just started!â Ning Haotian sneered and disappeared suddenly.
âThis is bad!â Jiang Chen turned pale. He knew he would be in danger.
As expected, Ning Haotian showed up before him again and retreated in a blink, but the Universal Darkfire Lamp and the Eight Groups of Spiritual Beings in Jiang Chenâs hands had both been grabbed by him.
Crack!
Ning Haotian clenched his fist. His horrifying power demolished the Universal Darkfire Lamp in a second. The petals of the lotus-formed wick floated down.
To his surprise, at this moment, the Eight Group of Spiritual Beings shook out of his other hand and flew over to Jiang Chen.
âOh? Itâs intelligent.â
Ning Haotian smiled and extended one of his fingers. The tip of the finger exuded electricity which pierced the Eight Group of Spiritual Beings. The pamphlet lost its golden light immediately, turned into an average book, and fell.
âFrom now on, you wonât be able to bring shame on the Natural Law School anymore,â Ning Haotian said.
âLong live Apprentice Brother Ning!â
âWell done. Disciples of the Natural Law School shouldnât use things that belong to an imperial mausoleum.â
âGrave robber, shame on you!â
Many disciples were shouting emotionally. What Ning Haotian had done cheered them up.
However, they were actually jealous of Jiang Chen. If it were them who had found the three spiritual weapons, they wouldnât have cared whether they were from an imperial mausoleum or whether they would be seen as grave robbers.
In fact, it was normal for practitioners to explore imperial mausoleums or relics. It didnât make them grave robbers at all.
However, everyone could adopt a double standard.
For the moment, Ning Haotian was the powerful one. He could call Jiang Chen whatever he wanted.
Even if the Eight Group of Spiritual Beings didnât belong to the imperial mausoleum, it didnât matter.
Ning Haotian was resolute to destroy the treasures Jiang Chen had been using and turn him back into an average Gathering Yuan State.
âNow, letâs talk about the crimes youâve committed todayââ Ning Haotian started again.
âSave your breath! Ning Haotian, knock it off! I only want to ask you one thing!â Jiang Chen interrupted rudely. When everyone was looking at him, he said the words slowly for emphasis, âHow many holy pulses in your body have disappeared?â