Su Xiuyi didnât intend to stop after killing the elders. He called Ding Bai, the leader of the Hall of Penal Law, over.
âLeader.â Ding Bai hurried to stand in front of him. He was walking on eggshells, not daring to look at Su Xiuyiâs face.
âWhy is the school so out of order? Why canât they tell right from wrong anymore? Why hasnât your Hall of Penal Law done anything about it?â Su Xiuyi asked.
âLeader.â
Ding Bai didnât have the nerve to answer him. His forehead was covered in sweat.
âIâll appoint a more capable person to take charge,â Su Xiuyi said coldly.
âYes, leader,â Ding Bai didnât dare argue.
Then he looked over to Elder An and said, âAn Yu.â
Elder An had been prepared for that, but was still struck by fear. She went up to Su Xiuyi nervously.
âYou indulged your apprentice and neglected the schoolâs rules. You neglected your duty as a master. In addition, you and Li Qin attacked the Redcloud Peak. You neglected your duty as an elder,â Su Xiuyi said.
âLeader, it was my fault!â
âYour application to become a grand supreme elder will be postponed indefinitely. At the same time, youâll be demoted from elder to reserve elder. Whether you can be reinstated as an elder will depend on how you behave in the future,â Su Xiuyi said.
Many people were greatly shocked when they heard her punishment, as this was a very severe one. It was a fatal blow for Elder An.
She had not only lost her chance to become a grand supreme elder, but was demoted to reserve elder, which drastically demoted her status in the school.
Su Xiuyi had also fired the leader of the Hall of Penal Law. Everyone realized he was seriously going to reform the Natural Law School.
âLi Qin!â Su Xiuyi shouted.
Li Qin was shocked, trembling.
Su Xiuyiâs tone had been normal when he talked to the others, but he called her with a different tone.
Comparing to the others, she had made a much more severe mistake.
âAs a disciple of the Natural Law School, you intruded into your apprentice siblingâs house with the intent to kill his mother. You violated the rules even though you knew them. For such an unforgivable crime, you deserve to be killed here and now, but considering you were an excellent disciple, and were rewarded with my thousand-year-old tree⌠Eh? Where is my tree?â
Su Xiuyi suddenly realized the ginkgo tree had been burned to ash. He was dumbstruck and looked over to Jiang Chen with rising anger.
He held his temper and once again regained his serious look. He said in a rigid tone, âYour practicing achievements will be abolished and youâll be expelled from the Natural Law School!â
It created an uproar among the crowd. Li Qin fell onto the ground, completely losing the strength to stand.
She didnât have a holy pulse. After being abolished, she wouldnât receive an Elixir of Nature from the Taiyi School, either.
âLeader, please donât. Li Qin is talented. Sheâs a rare genius!â Elder An panicked. She hurried to beg for the leaderâs mercy.
âExactly. Leader, please reconsider. This punishment is too severe.â
âThe Natural Law School spent too many resources in training Li Qin. Itâll be a great loss for us!â
Not only Elder An, but many other elders, started to beg for the leaderâs mercy.
âItâs exactly this attitude that has indulged a few talented disciples and made them unreasonable and arrogant. This isnât good. Talent matters, but the schoolâs rules matter more.â Su Xiuyi had made up his mind and wouldnât change his decision.
At least, not until another person spoke.
âLeader, please donât abolish her practicing achievements.â
It was Jiang Chen. People all looked over to him. He went on, âI want her dead. Even if I have to kill her with my own hands.â
It was such a deep hatred that he wouldnât allow anyone else to rob him of the opportunity to take revenge against her!
âPardon?â
Su Xiuyi had never talked to Jiang Chen. Even after Jiang Chenâs accusation, he had just taken out the Abacus of Good Fortune directly without speaking.
At this moment, he was sizing Jiang Chen up carefully.
âI wouldnât change my decision if it were cases of other disciples, but since she intended to kill your family, sheâs at your disposal. So, Li Qin will be imprisoned at the Peak of Drifting Clouds until her duel with Jiang Chen.â
âLeader, when will the duel be? And what if Li Qin wins?â Elder An asked.
Su Xiuyi didnât answer. He looked over to Jiang Chen.
âIn three monthsâ time. If I lose, I wonât call on her again,â Jiang Chen said coldly.
âAll right!â Elder An agreed immediately.
Li Qin saw hope again. She couldnât believe Jiang Chen was so stupid.
She was ranked tenth on the Talent List, in the peak of the preliminary stage of Mental Wander State, while Jiang Chen was only in the peak of the late stage of the Gathering Yuan State.
He wouldnât be able to beat her even with a year to prepare, let alone three months.
Su Xiuyi was also surprised, but since Jiang Chen had made his decision, he didnât continue the discussion regarding Li Qin.
In the end, he looked over to Ning Haotian.
All of these messes stemmed from the hatred between Ning Haotian and Jiang Chen.
The others had been severely punished. What would happen to Ning Haotian?
âHaotian,â Su Xiuyi called in a calm tone.
People couldnât figure out what he was going to do. He said slowly, âAccording to your master, youâre mature and steady, able to handle great responsibility. Thatâs why I appointed you vice leader, but it turns out that you havenât been impartial when dealing with the schoolâs affairs. From now on, youâre dismissed from the position of vice leader.â
The crowd was in uproar again.
Ning Haotian had been vice leader for a very short time. The school hadnât even had the chance to announce it to the public, and at this moment Su Xiuyi dismissed him directly, not even looking him in the eye.
âYes, leader.â Ning Haotian looked emotionless, but he wasnât so calm inside at all! He was devouring himself with hatred!
If Jiang Chen hadnât told everyone how his holy pulses were disappearing while his own were growing, this would have never happened.
However, no matter how angry he was, he didnât have the nerve to leave the Natural Law School or challenge Su Xiuyi.
The school was too powerful. He wasnât capable enough to become its enemy.
He could surely leave the school and go to another one.
But he wouldnât, for the same reason Jiang Chen had.
The Black Dragon City and the Hundred Thousand Mountains were both located in the Province of Widepool. Comparing with the other places in the Fire Field, they were the closest to the Natural Law School.
If he went to another sect or school while Jiang Chen stayed and gained high status in the Natural Law School, Jiang Chen could lead numerous powerful men to attack the Black Dragon City to rescue his father.
âWhatâs more, the Peak of Heavenly King is really a mess. Both the death of Li Song and the mess Li Qin made involved your peak. You must rectify this. If you canât, youâll be dismissed,â Su Xiuyi said.
âYes, leader.â
Not until then did Su Xiuyi speak to Jiang Chen, âYouâre a disciple of the Natural Law School, which is to say, youâre ours. I know youâve been wronged, but this is the sunshine behind the dark clouds. All these wrongs have been undone.â
Jiang Chen nodded. The leader had done a lot, so he had no more complaints.
But then, something occurred to Jiang Chen. He stared at Ning Haotian and said, âLeader, Ning Haotian destroyed three of my treasures.â
Before Su Xiuyi could answer, Ning Haotian said immediately, âJust give me a price.â
âLeader the Venerable, I had the stone statue and the Darkfire Lamp from the underground imperial mausoleum. I donât know what their classes were. As for my pamphlet, it wasnât a spiritual weapon, but a treasured one!â Jiang Chen said.
âA treasured weapon? Youâre shameless!â Ning Haotian turned red and swore him.
There were nine classes for spiritual weapons, from class-one to class-nine.
Those above class-nine were treasured weapons.
Above treasured weapons, there were magic weapons, immortal weapons, and holy weapons.
A treasured weapon was priceless, far more expensive than a spiritual weapon.
Ning Haotian could compensate him for dozens of or even hundreds of class-nine spiritual weapons, but he couldnât afford even one treasured weapon.
He didnât believe Jiang Chen had truly had a treasured weapon. He thought the latter was only taking advantage of him.
Jiang Chen didnât speak. He was waiting for Su Xiuyiâs reply.
Su Xiuyi took out the Abacus of Good Fortune again and moved the beads with his eyes narrowed, as if he were calculating the value of the Eight Groups of Spiritual Beings with the abacus.
Under Ning Haotianâs nervous gaze, Su Xiuyi said something that made him pale.
âIt was a treasured weapon.â
However, what Su Xiuyi said next made Ning Haotian even more desperate.
âNot only the pamphlet, but also the stone statue and the Darkfire Lamp, were treasured weapons.â