Among these cultivators, some stood by Elder Wang's side, but now that he was gone, they remained neutral, neither siding with Lin Qi nor Sun Long. They believed in facts and evidence. Clearly, the most urgent matter in their hearts was to quickly investigate the cause of Elder Wang's death and find out who killed him. This vendetta must be avenged!

Therefore, these cultivators agreed with Sun Long's words, obviously believing the sooner the murderer was found, the better!

At this moment, seeing most of the elders of the City Lord Mansion agree, Sun Long disdainfully looked at Lin Qi, spoke with a bit of sarcasm:

"Lin Qi, since most of the evidence points to you as the one who killed Elder Wang, as the person involved, there's no need to ask for your opinion. Let's begin now!"

Lin Qi noticed the trace of contempt in the other's eyes. Clearly, he didn't expect Elder Wang to be dead, a matter he only found out about later. Lin Qi was deeply saddened; Elder Wang was not only the right-hand man of the City Lord Mansion but also a very close friend of Lin Qi. While Lin Qi was pondering who killed Elder Wang, a ridiculous rumor spread among the people of Dancheng that he himself had killed Elder Wang, with supposedly many pieces of evidence pointing to him!

Lin Qi found this matter laughable yet was furious; obviously, someone killed Elder Wang and wanted to frame him. His first suspect was Vice City Lord Sun Long. After all, the city lord's election was nearing, and clearly, Sun Long was the one who stood to gain the most from this. After his downfall, Sun Long was sure to be the most likely candidate to become the city lord.

Moreover, during Lin Qi's subsequent observations of Sun Long, he indeed found many abnormal behaviors, thus reinforcing Lin Qi's belief that Sun Long had orchestrated everything. Unfortunately, Lin Qi had no evidence, hence he was at a disadvantage.

"Fine."

Lin Qi gave Sun Long a deep glance before calmly speaking.

Sun Long disdainfully locked eyes with Lin Qi before loudly addressing the crowd below:

"The purpose of this City's Convention is to deal with Elder Wang's murderer. Our City Lord Mansion's meticulous investigation has already gathered substantial evidence, which we will now disclose one by one."

"One of the most significant and authoritative pieces of evidence is this robe. Bring it up!"

After Sun Long finished speaking, a guard from the City Lord Mansion walked up, holding a somewhat damaged robe.

At that moment, many among the crowd recognized the robe—it was the robe of Lord Lin Qi. Many cultivators had seen Lord Lin Qi's robe before. Yet, many cultivators also knew one of Lord Lin Qi's robes couldn't prove anything. Still, many were surprised; previously, evidence against Lord Lin Qi was mere hearsay for most people of Dancheng.

But seeing the evidence now, they couldn't help but be shocked. The crowd buzzed with discussions.

"So there really is evidence! Lord Lin is too ruthless!"

"Don't jump to conclusions; a single robe doesn't prove anything!"

"That's true..."

...

After seeing the evidence, amidst the crowd's shocked discussions, Sun Long continued with increasing gravity:

"Many cultivators may think a robe of Lord Lin doesn't prove anything. But what they don't know is that our Lord Lin's robe is not an ordinary robe but a defensive artifact—and clearly, in this world, only our Lord Lin possesses this unique item! Am I wrong, Lord Lin?"

Finishing his words, Sun Long looked at Lin Qi with cunning satisfaction.

Upon hearing this, Lin Qi frowned and said gravely:

"Correct! This robe is the only one in the Cultivation World owned by one person. However, it was stolen from me not long ago!"

Lin Qi spoke frankly and gravely. This robe was indeed an excellent defensive artifact, one possessed only by him in the Cultivation World. However, Lin Qi had discovered not long ago that his robe was missing. He rarely carried it on him, suspecting someone from the City Lord Mansion had stolen it. Despite a thorough check revealing nothing else missing, he had tasked a few bodyguards to investigate the thief.

But to this day, those bodyguards had not returned, leaving Lin Qi unaware of the robe's whereabouts. Seeing this scene, Lin Qi could already foresee that the bodyguards he sent probably faced grim fates!

Hearing Lin Qi's words, Sun Long sneered and said to the crowd:

"Of course, you can claim it was lost recently! You might even say this valuable defensive robe was discarded because you didn't care for it! Various excuses can be made! But evidence is evidence! To prove your words true, you need to provide proof!"

Lin Qi, hearing this, felt gloomily; he hadn't prioritized the matter of the robe. Though this magical artifact robe had accompanied him for many years, in Lin Qi's eyes, it wasn't of great importance, not when so many matters in Dancheng needed addressing. Consequently, he had dismissed the robe's loss as trivial.

Only now did Lin Qi realize the robe's importance! Everything awaited him here.

At this moment, Lin Qi was silent, not wanting to say much.

The people below the stage saw this scene and couldn't help but engage in discussions; they evidently hadn't expected Lord Lin to be at a loss for words. Clearly, the people were more inclined to believe Sun Long's words and the so-called evidence, since with such evidence present, compared with Lord Lin's one-sided story, it seemed much more convincing.

At this moment, an elder from the City Lord Mansion stepped forward, looked at Sun Long with a cold expression, and questioned:

"Can it be concluded that Lord Lin killed Elder Wang just because of a robe belonging to Lord Lin? Couldn't it be that you stole Lord Lin's robe and are trying to frame him?"

The elder spoke furiously.

"Good! Good, very good! Obviously, one robe cannot prove anything. Alright then, let's call the next witness!" Sun Long looked at the elder with a sneer before continuing.

Soon, a young girl appeared in front of everyone's eyes. The girl looked ordinary, with a medium build, and appeared to be seventeen or eighteen years old. Clearly, the girl was a bit nervous and fearful at this time. Then, with Sun Long encouraging and guiding her, the girl admitted that she had personally witnessed Lord Lin kill Elder Wang, and even abandoned Elder Wang's body in the wilderness, stabbing him several more times after his death...

The crowd was shocked to hear the girl's account, and almost all the cultivators in Dancheng looked at City Lord Lin Qi with resentment. They clearly hadn't expected that City Lord Lin Qi had indeed killed Elder Wang; now with already a witness, it's undeniable evidence! No matter how Lin Qi tried to argue, it was no use!

At this moment, Lin Qi's face was gloomy; she obviously knew that the girl was fabricating nonsense. She hadn't killed Elder Wang at all, and even how Elder Wang had died was unknown to Lin Qi. But Lin Qi saw the girl was just seventeen or eighteen, and temporarily really found herself unable to deal with her. Even if the girl was lying, she was still a citizen of Dancheng, so Lin Qi couldn't bring herself to act!

Moreover, Lin Qi knew in her heart that even if she killed the girl out of anger, it wouldn't solve any problem and would only make it harder to prove her innocence.

In a corner below the stage, Ding Fan stood and watched the scenes unfold, feeling disgusted with Sun Long, who clearly was the one who killed Elder Wang but tried to frame City Lord Lin Qi. He even gathered so much evidence, both physical and testimonial; it wasn't easy!

At this moment, in the plaza, Sun Long looked at Lin Qi and spoke with a noticeably intensified tone, scornfully and sinisterly:

"Now, Lin Qi, what else could you possibly want to say!"

The people below the stage heard Sun Long's words and immediately reached a boiling point in their hearts, angrily looking at Lin Qi and shouting:

"Take revenge for Elder Wang! Lin Qi, you don't deserve to be city lord!"

"A life for a life! Avenge Elder Wang! Kill him!"

"A life for a life! It's rightful! Kill him!"

"A life for a life! Avenge Elder Wang!"

"Kill Lin Qi!..."

...

Suddenly, the crowd below was angrily shouting, and if not for the many guards blocking the way, they would have charged forward to make a desperate move against Lin Qi!

At this moment, some elders aligned with Lin Qi within the City Lord Mansion saw the situation and couldn't help but sigh deeply. Clearly, City Lord Lin was now inciting public outrage under Sun Long's agitation, and the most crucial thing was that all evidence pointed at City Lord Lin. At this time, even though they trusted City Lord Lin deeply, there was evidently nothing they could do! Some elders even began to doubt whether City Lord Lin really did kill Elder Wang for the position of city lord?

Lin Qi looked at the crowd with a sigh, evidently not expecting that her wisdom of building Dancheng to a stature even unmatched by the Great Gate Sect, making it one of the top cities on Donglai Continent. Additionally, organizing this year's Great Alchemy Competition, Lin Qi had set forth the precious Golden Silk Protective Clothing as the champion reward to attract talented alchemists to Dancheng. And indeed, an unparalleled alchemic genius, Ding Fan, had emerged.

Everything Lin Qi had done, unexpectedly led to this outcome. At this moment, Lin Qi's ears were filled with deafening shouts, and her heart was inexplicably filled with sadness...

"Haha! Lin Qi, now I announce that you are no longer the city lord of Dancheng! Even though killing Elder Wang can't lead to a death penalty, you won't escape punishment for your crimes! Men, seize her!"

At this moment, Sun Long looked at Lin Qi with a vicious expression and spoke, feeling immensely satisfied to see this scene. For this day, Sun Long didn't know how many years he had waited, and now finally achieved the wish of pushing Lin Qi down, as he was soon to be the new city lord of Dancheng! Watching Lin Qi seemingly stunned, Sun Long felt delighted!

Whether Lin Qi had heard his words was irrelevant now, for evidently, the public voice was so high that even with Lin Qi's great abilities, today was an unavoidable calamity!

"Stop everyone!"

Suddenly, a loud voice rang out, and Ding Fan directly leaped onto the stage in the plaza.