Chapter 1

" Fang Lie, you are from a prestigious sect, yet you harbor lustful thoughts, raping and killing innocent women, and to cover up your crimes, you exterminated eighteen members of their family, including the elderly and children. This is truly inhumane and insane! Now, with both witnesses and evidence present, what do you have to say for yourself? " The law enforcement officer of the Mo Sect's Ancestor Hall shouted sternly.

The speaker was a middle-aged cultivator, wearing a golden crown and a crimson brocade robe, exuding an air of extreme nobility.

A faint purple aura rose from between his brows, clearly indicating that he was a Purple Mansion Elder who had practiced diligently for hundreds of years, achieving the Golden Pool and the Purple Mansion, and had attained great success in cultivation!

Cultivation has several levels: opening the Qi Sea, forming the Golden Pool, establishing the Purple Mansion, and forming the Essence Core, followed by the three major tribulations of wind, fire, and lightning!

Each step in this process is extremely arduous, and it takes at least several hundred, or even a thousand years, to pass the lightning tribulation and become a Lightning Tribulation True Person.

Achieving the Purple Mansion and becoming a Purple Mansion Elder also requires one to two hundred years of diligent practice. Such cultivators are considered the elite of the sect and hold a high status within it.

The law enforcement officer sat majestically on a high dais, with a black wooden desk in front of him and a plaque above his head inscribed with the three large characters "Ancestor Hall."

On either side of him, there were eighteen tall and powerful enforcers, each over ten feet tall, with broad shoulders and waists, and fierce, hateful faces. However, they were not living beings but the unique Heavenly Enforcers of the Ancestor Hall.

In the center of the hall stood two young men. The one on the left wore splendid clothing and held a folding fan made of celestial silk, with a slick and frivolous appearance, looking at the man on the right with a smug expression.

The one being observed was a young man who appeared to be only seventeen or eighteen years old, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and a face full of determination.

Although he wore a blue Daoist robe that had been washed until it was almost white, with several patches, he was far inferior to the richly dressed young man beside him. However, he was not at all concerned, instead standing tall and proud, his sharp eyebrows raised, glaring angrily at the law enforcement officer high above and shouting loudly, "Our Fang family has followed the Mo Sect since its founding, and has been passed down for hundreds of generations, never committing any crimes! My parents even died in battle for the sect, making our family a model of loyalty! Now you accuse me of a heinous crime based solely on the words of the treacherous Yuan Hua! What is your reasoning?"

"Model of loyalty? I think you're a bunch of fools!" the law enforcement officer said with disdain.

"Ha ha ha~" Immediately, everyone in the hall burst into loud laughter.

It turned out that ten years ago, to compete for dozens of large and small secret realms in the Flower Language Forest, the righteous and demonic paths engaged in a battle, with the rule that only disciples below the Essence Core level could participate, and the losers had to withdraw unconditionally.

It should be noted that the righteous path had only eight major sects, while the demonic path had ten major sects, making the demonic path far more numerous and powerful.

However, unexpectedly, a peculiar figure emerged on the righteous path at that time, Fang Lie's father, Fang Gang. He was a leader among the Mo Sect's elite disciples, known for his extreme integrity and uprightness!

In such a brutal war, he actually trusted the words of his friend, Tian Jianzi, a disciple of the Eastern Kunlun Sword God, and willingly served as the vanguard, leading hundreds of Mo Sect's elite disciples into the army of the ten major demonic sects.

As a result, they were surrounded by ten times their number of demonic sect elites, and after ten days and nights of fierce battle, they were all killed without any reinforcements arriving!

However, the Mo Sect, being the strongest defensive sect in the world, managed to hold out for so long before being completely annihilated. The demonic sect's elite forces suffered heavy casualties and were mentally and physically exhausted during the prolonged battle.

Thus, just after they had completely annihilated the Mo Sect, they were defeated by the well-rested righteous path army, led by Tian Jianzi.

Despite being at a disadvantage, they achieved a great victory, and Tian Jianzi's reputation soared, making the entire righteous path seem to be the leader.

As for the Mo Sect, although they made the greatest sacrifice, they did not receive praise and were even secretly called "fools"!

The ten major demonic sects also viewed this battle as a great humiliation and blamed the Mo Sect as the culprit, hating them to the bone, and vowed to kill any Mo Sect disciple they encountered without mercy!

Thus, the Mo Sect disciples began to live a miserable life, being despised both inside and outside, and even dared not show their faces in public!

Moreover, after the battle, the Mo Sect lost most of its elite disciples, many of whom were from the eight hundred noble families. The parents and families of these disciples naturally focused all their anger on Fang Gang, who fortunately died in battle, or he would have been torn apart by the families of the sacrificed disciples!

However, his death did not solve the problem; instead, it made his son, Fang Lie, bear the blame. As a disciple from one of the eight hundred noble families, he lived a life worse than that of ordinary disciples and was often humiliated.

Now, Fang Lie was directly brought to the court, and if things went badly, he might not even be able to save his life.

However, Fang Lie inherited his father's strong and upright character. Facing the ridicule of the entire hall, he did not shrink back but shouted angrily, "One day, I will make the Eastern Kunlun and Tian Jianzi regret it!"

"Heh heh, what a big mouth? Even an ant from the Eastern Kunlun is stronger than you, and Tian Jianzi is a direct disciple of the Sword God and a future sect leader. You are not even worth a speck of dust compared to him, and you want him to regret it? Truly laughable!" Li Feng sneered and said, "Enough talk, you are guilty now. In consideration of your foolish father, if you admit your crimes, I can spare your life. Otherwise, you will know the severity of the Ancestor Hall's punishments!"

"Funny, Fang Lie acts with integrity, how can he be guilty? Based on Yuan Hua's words alone, you cannot frame me!" Fang Lie shouted without hesitation.

"Ha ha~" Hearing this, the law enforcement officer, Li Feng, immediately sneered and said, "Yuan Hua is an inner sect disciple from one of the eight hundred noble families of the Mo Sect, studying under a Golden Pool Elder. His background and status are far above yours. Do you think I should believe you, a mere outer sect disciple, or the elite of the inner sect?"

"Ha ha, do we even need to ask? Of course, we should believe the elite of the inner sect!"

"Exactly, a peasant like you wants to be on equal footing with us? That's just overestimating yourself!"

"Just a mere ant, and you are so arrogant? You should know that in front of us inner sect disciples, you are nothing. We say you committed crimes, and you did! Why don't you admit it honestly?"

Several dozen richly dressed young men on the periphery sneered and mocked together.

The Ancestor Hall was the place where the Mo Sect held trials, a wondrous place left by ancient powerful beings. Its space was infinitely large, with the sun, moon, and stars above and solid black stone slabs below. No matter how many people entered, it never felt crowded.

According to the Mo Sect's rules, trials in the Ancestor Hall must be conducted openly, and anyone can observe freely. Therefore, this rare case of rape and murder immediately attracted hundreds of low-level disciples. Besides the dozen or so inner sect elites like Yuan Hua, there were hundreds of ordinary outer sect disciples in simple clothing.

They did not dare to laugh or curse in the sacred Ancestor Hall, but their faces showed sympathy, anger, and even helplessness.

Occasionally, some bold individuals whispered secretly, "I know Fang Lie, he is a good person. When inner sect elites bully us, he is the only one who dares to stand up for us! For this, he has been beaten many times but never gave in, a true man!"

"He even adopted dozens of abandoned infants, and his ancestral spirit mountain is almost like an orphanage! It is said that to support these children, he even sold his own magical artifacts!"

"Exactly, such a good person, how could he go to the mortal world and commit rape and murder? Let alone exterminating a family? It's more likely that Yuan Hua, who often extorts our spirit stones and harasses beautiful female disciples, is the culprit. Two female disciples are said to have committed suicide after being defiled by him. Unfortunately, the matter was suppressed by the Yuan family. If he did it, I wouldn't doubt it, but Fang Lie? That's ridiculous!"

"Heh, you don't know, do you? I heard that the Yuan family recently wanted to buy Fang Lie's ancestral spirit mountain at a low price, but Fang Lie refused, saying he had no place to settle the adopted children. This greatly offended the Yuan family, and then this incident happened!"

"Damn, if that's the case, it's clearly a frame-up by Yuan Hua! How can the law enforcement officer not see through it?"

"Hmph, what do you know? The law enforcement officer today is surnamed Li, called Li Feng, also from one of the eight hundred noble families of the Mo Sect, and is related to the Yuan family by marriage!"

"Damn, does that mean Fang Lie is doomed?"

"If he bows his head, the Yuan family won't be too harsh, at least giving him a chance to live. After all, the Fang family is also one of the eight hundred noble families, and his parents were martyrs of the sect. Although they are now in decline, they won't be completely exterminated. But unfortunately, Fang Lie is strong and upright, and he probably won't bow even if it means death!"

"Alas, good people don't live long~" Many people sighed.

Unfortunately, they only dared to whisper privately, having no impact on the proceedings. Li Feng, the law enforcement officer, was extremely powerful. Although he clearly heard them, he ignored it and sneered, "Fang Lie, did you hear what your inner sect seniors said? They clearly believe you. I'll say this one last time. In consideration of your dead father, I don't want to be too harsh. If you admit your crimes, I will spare your life and expel you from the sect. But if you don't, heh, you know the three punishments of the Ancestor Hall, right?"

The three punishments of the Ancestor Hall refer to a special rule of the Mo Sect. If the accused still refuses to admit guilt and is不服 (unconvinced) in the face of solid evidence, three cruel punishments can be used until they admit their guilt!

"I have not committed any crimes, why should I admit them? It's you who cannot distinguish right from wrong and twists the truth who should admit guilt in the Ancestor Hall!" Fang Lie shouted angrily.

"Good boy, it seems you prefer punishment to mercy!" the law enforcement officer sneered.

"Come on, I want to see if the three punishments can make this Fang's iron bones yield!" Fang Lie roared.

"Brave!" the law enforcement officer shouted angrily, "Bring him in, the criminal refuses to admit guilt, beat him!"

"Yes~" Four golden-armored Heavenly Enforcers immediately responded, flashing to Fang Lie's side. Two of them held down his shoulders, while the other two reached out and grabbed two black and red water-fire rods from the air.

These water-fire rods were not ordinary objects but special magical artifacts of the Ancestor Hall, glowing with divine light and emitting a fierce aura. No matter how high one's cultivation, they could be beaten until their skin was torn and their flesh was exposed.

The Heavenly Enforcer on the left loudly declared, "First rule of the sect, no bullying of the master or ancestors!"

As he spoke, he struck the water-fire rod hard, hitting Fang Lie's back precisely.

A sharp crack echoed, and the old Daoist robe immediately tore, revealing a bloody mark. Fresh blood seeped out, flowing down his back in a stream!