CHAPTER 21: INTERROGATION

He looked down at the three traitors, his voice booming like thunder. "Never in the history of our Heavenly Sword Sect—one of the most respected sects in the Five Heavenly Regions—have we witnessed such disgraceful behavior."

Just as the Sect Master raised his hand toward the accused, a stern voice cut through the air. The Grand Elder stepped forward, frowning deeply. "We cannot be certain. They are still our disciples," he said, shifting his sharp gaze toward Tian Lei and Yuyan.

"Maybe they’re actually from the Demonic Faction, using the faces of the real Yuyan and Tian Lei to sneak into our sect. After all, they were stabbed and thrown to the bandits. I find it hard to believe they survived that," he declared coldly. The crowd went dead silent. All eyes shifted to Tian Lei and Yuyan, the uncertainty spreading like wildfire. The three traitors, seeing the opening, lit up with hope and immediately joined in.

"Exactly! How can they be Yuyan and Tian Lei?" Mei Ling shouted. "Yuyan maybe, sure—but Tian Lei? He was just at the fifth level of Qi Refining! Now he’s at the peak? How can someone jump five whole levels in a single week?"

The sect disciples began murmuring among themselves, doubt creeping in. If the Sect Master and Grand Elder couldn’t see through the lie, then who could? Why weren’t they pointing out the obvious?

Meanwhile, the Grand Elder subtly used spiritual sense to send a mental message to the Sect Master:

’Sect Master, just kill those two. I, Xiao Wei, will owe you a favor.’

The real reason behind his push? The inner disciple behind the betrayal was his own grandson. And he knew exactly what kind of scum he’d raised. His grandson had harmed many female disciples—and it was no surprise he targeted Yuyan. After she slept with another disciple he disliked, his jealousy exploded.

The Sect Master sighed to himself, hiding his thoughts well. Earlier, when the Grand Elder claimed they might be from the Demonic Faction, he had already checked Tian Lei and Yuyan’s bodies. He discovered that their qi was rich with the energy of heavenly treasures—proof they had acquired something incredibly rare. And now...

’I could take it after killing them,’ the Sect Master thought coldly.

He gave them a sad glance.

’What a pity. With their potential, they could’ve become core disciples one day... But who told them to offend the Grand Elder’s grandson?’

Still, he tried to soothe his conscience.

’I’m not robbing them—he’ll kill them. I’m just... claiming what’s left behind.’

The Grand Elder now nodded toward the pair, already treating them like they were as good as dead. He turned to face Tian Lei and Yuyan, who were still blissfully unaware they were being marked as targets.

"Taking treasure from their corpses isn’t stealing," the Sect Master reassured himself.

Then, he spoke aloud, his voice stern. "It’s truly strange that you two survived. Until your identities can be fully verified, you will both be held in confinement under the Discipline Hall."

Tian Lei and Yuyan looked at each other, puzzled but calm, and nodded.

Grand Elder Xiao Wei—known as Elder Wei to most—personally took charge of escorting Tian Lei and Yuyan toward the confinement chambers under the Discipline Hall. His robes fluttered behind him like coiled serpents, and the faint glint in his eye betrayed a storm of intent hidden beneath that calm façade.

Behind him, Tian Lei and Yuyan followed in silence. They didn’t resist. They had no reason to—at least, not yet.

But within Tian Lei’s Sea of Consciousness, a different presence stirred.

Cold, serene, and observing.

Muring Yue, the mysterious entity who now live as a soul within Tian Lei during a past encounter, sat cross-legged within his Spiritual space. Her long silvery hair drifted like mist across the void of his spiritual world, her eyes narrowed, gaze cold and sharp like a sword freshly drawn from a scabbard.

She had seen everything.

The manipulations. The veiled threat. The unspoken agreement. The glint of greed in the Sect Master’s eyes. The rotting ambition in the Grand Elder’s smile.

She did not speak to Tian Lei—not this time.

She had chosen not to remind him, not to whisper warnings into his thoughts.

"It seems," she murmured internally, her voice echoing across the vast quiet of his spirit world, "Lei is about to receive his first true lesson in this cruel world."

Her gaze didn’t hold pity.

It held steel.

"If he is to become someone worthy of standing at the summit, he must suffer. He must bleed. He must learn that this world—this so-called righteous cultivation realm—is not made of heroes, but of predators who wear the skins of saints."

She had no plans to intervene. Not yet.

This was a necessary fire.

"He trusted too easily," she continued, her tone edged with frost. "He believed in authority, in rules, in justice. How laughable."

Her eyes closed as she withdrew deeper into his Sea of Consciousness.

"Now let him experience the weight of betrayal. Let him crawl through despair. When he begs for strength—not to protect, but to destroy—then I’ll know he’s ready."

Meanwhile, in the waking world, Elder Wei gave a low chuckle as the gates to the confinement corridor rumbled open. Cold iron and stone welcomed Tian Lei and Yuyan, lit only by flickering spirit lamps.

"I’ll arrange separate cells," Elder Wi said, his tone polite but his smile tight. "For your safety, of course."

Yuyan stiffened.

Tian Lei tilted his head slightly. "We’re not criminals."

"Mm," the Grand Elder murmured, not looking back. "And yet... everyone here thinks you are."

The gate slammed shut behind them.

And so, the two were led into the belly of the beast—unaware that the sect they trusted had already begun preparing their graves.

The next day dawned, but in the underground confinement chambers of the Discipline Hall, there was no sunrise—only the dull, oppressive flicker of spirit lanterns casting long shadows across the cold stone.

Tian Lei sat cross-legged on the hard floor of his cell, silent, eyes closed, breath steady. The suppression seal on the cell’s walls dampened spiritual energy, but not completely. He could still feel the faint rhythm of qi moving through his meridians—slow, sluggish, but there.