Pursuit of the Truth

“You-you’re Wang Tao!”

At that moment, while the outer sect disciples in the area were still wondering about Su Ming’s identity, someone remembered his appearance and recalled the legendary blood moon!

All the disciples in the area were surprised upon hearing his words. They looked at Su Ming with scrutinizing gazes. To them, Wang Tao was a name they knew by heart due to its fame.

No news about Wang Tao had appeared since the Seven Moons disaster, but after he had been accepted into the inner sect, Ye Long, every single time he challenged the Dao Divinity Shadow Descension Rune, would try to make him challenge the Rune as well. Because of that, despite Wang Tao seeming being forgotten by the people in Seven Moons Sect, his name… had never left the people’s minds for a long time.

“Wang Tao… is him?!”

“I remember now! Chief Attendant Chen was promoted because Wang Tao was among the people he guided!”

While the crowd burst into commotion, Su Ming looked as calm as ever. He cast a glance at Old Chen, who looked nervous, but how hid hatred in his eyes.

“I want this person!” Su Ming lifted his right hand and pointed at Bei Qiong.

Bei Qiong’s expression changed. He instinctively took a few steps back, and terror appeared on his face.

Old Chen was silent. After some time, determination showed up on his face, and when he looked at Su Ming, he spoke with a smile.

“It’s been many years since we met, and of course there’s nothing wrong with such a trivial matter, but… Bei Qiong is my disciple. This is… Brother Wang, you’re forcefully demanding him from me, and it is against the rules of the sect.”

While speaking, Old Chen brought out a jade slip in secret with his right hand. He squeezed it slightly, and a smile blossomed on his face. He had already made his decision in his heart.

‘Wang Tao, oh Wang Tao, they said you came under the tutelage of a sect elder, but it does matter whether this is real or not. Even if it is real, you still have to obey the sect rules. You’ve already committed an offense against the sect by trying to forcefully obtain an outer sect disciple!’

Old Chen laughed coldly in his heart. At that moment, he quelled the nervousness he previously felt and even let murderous intent grow in his heart.

However, he wanted to kill Wang Tao openly and in an upright manner. He wanted to use sect rules to punish him. If he did it like that, then even if a sect elder tried to interfere, he would stand at the side of the sect rules, and his act of trying to kill Su Ming would not be connected to him.

Su Ming’s expression remained the same. He no longer looked at Old Chen. When he took a step forward, he walked towards Bei Qiong, whose expression changed. He was just about to move backwards, but he was grabbed by Old Chen and pushed forward, straight into Su Ming’s direction.

“Don’t be afraid. If you don’t want to, no one can force you. He’s not a sect elder just yet, and neither is he an attendant. He has no right to take you away! If he tries to forcefully take you away from my hands, he would break the sect rules!” Old Chen enunciated every single word while staring at Su Ming.

“But… But he…”

Just as Bei Qiong was about to leave, Su Ming approached him. He smiled faintly, then brought his right hand up and swung his arm, successfully grabbing Bei Qiong’s arm. He then made to leave.

“Wang Tao, how dare you?! Do you truly dare to break sect rules? I might have been connected to you in the past, but I can’t just ignore you breaking sect rules like this!”

Old Chen’s eyes brightened, and he immediately took a few steps forward while shouting loudly.

“Sect Rule 37: Within Seven Moons Sect, besides the sect elders and attendants, no one can interfere with the outer sect disciples’ training nor force them to do anything. This is a form of protection for the outer sect disciples, because outer sect disciples are the foundation that ensure Seven Moons Sects’ increasing strength!

“Wang Tao, if you don’t stop now, I will report this to the sect, and I will have them punish you! I’ve already recorded everything that you’ve done!”

Old Chen took a few steps forward again, and his power spread out from his body with a bang. When he lifted his right hand, he revealed the jade slip on his palm!

Su Ming cast a cold glance at Old Chen, but did not say anything. He grabbed the wailing Bei Qiong and turned into a long arc to leave.

“Master, save me! Master, this scoundrel… He-he has no shadow! He’s a person in the sect who has gained some achievements in practicing the Seven Lives Art!”

With a terror on his face, Bei Qiong screamed in a shrill voice. Upon hearing his words, the disciples in the area immediately looked at Su Ming.

When Old Chen looked over as well, his pupils shrank. He was stunned.

“So what if he gained some achievements in practicing the Seven Lives Art? Does it mean that he can break sect rules?! And… Wang Tao, you’ve broken another sect rule. Besides the sect elders, no one in Seven Moons Sect is allowed to fly! Even us attendants can only fly for short periods of time if we have to settle something urgent!”

Old Chen kept his focus on the sect rules. As he spoke, he leapt up and charged towards Su Ming. At the instant he flew up, dozens of long arcs appeared in the sky.

All of them were outer sect attendants. They had already received the news and were charging over. The person in the lead was the white-robed scholar Su Ming had met in the past. He was the chief attendant, and because of Ye Long, he had become the master of the outer sect. When he arrived, his expression was awe-inspiring.

“Stop!”

His voice rumbled like thunder. In an instant, it echoed in every direction. With one glance, he saw Su Ming and Bei Qiong, who was in Su Ming’s hand.

“Sect master, this person has broken a number of sect rules in succession. He first came out to capture an outer sect disciple without any reason, then he flew without authorization even though he isn’t an attendant or a sect elder. I couldn’t manage to talk him out of it, so sect master, please make a final decision in regards to this matter! This is the proof.”

Once Old Chen saw the white-robed scholar, he started laughing coldly in his heart, thinking that he would finally teach Wang Tao a lesson so that he would know that he was not to be easily provoked.

As he spoke, he threw the jade slip to the white-robed scholar. Once the scholar caught it in his hand, he frowned and looked at Su Ming.

Su Ming was in midair, not feeling in a hurry to leave. Instead, he stood calmly and stared at Old Chen, who had left his previous nervousness behind and replaced it with arrogance.

The white-robed scholar frowned and cast a glance at the ground underneath. Quite a large number of disciples were in the area, watching the event unfold.

The white-robed scholar quite disliked what Old Chen had done. While they had to obey the sect rules, there were certain times when they did not need to pay much attention to them.

One of such was the appearance of an inner sect disciple wanting to capture an outer sect disciple. As long as it was not too overboard, they would usually not pay too much attention to such an event. After all, those in the inner sect had a much higher status, and it happened frequently that they required a furnace or an outer sect disciple to become their servant. There were far too many times such a thing happened for them to manage all of them.

However, right then, Old Chen had sunk his claws into the matter and refused to let go, which made it hard for the middle-aged scholar to handle the matter. If he used sect rules to attack Su Ming, he would naturally offend the sect elder behind him.

The middle-aged scholar also recognized Su Ming as the disciple who had appeared with Ye Long in the past. He had his own channels and learned of things that other people did not know about Su Ming. He had heard that the youth had gone under the tutelage of Sect Elder Lan.

“Junior Brother Wang, how about we settle things like this: Please let me have that outer sect disciple first, and I will handle matters. What do you say? As for the other things, it’s been many years since you’ve returned to this place, and it was just a moment of impulse. We can talk things out,” the middle-aged scholar said while smiling faintly.

A glint appeared in Old Chen’s eyes, and he let out a cold harrumph.

“Sect master, that won’t do. Since Wang Tao broke the sect rules, you must punish him, or else other people will learn from him. What will we do then? Right now, right before all the disciples below, please serve justice!”

Since Old Chen had already offended Su Ming and had evidence of his wrongdoing, he would naturally not let him off easily. As long as he had evidence, he would be much safer in the future. At the very least, he could defend himself if Su Ming wanted to target him.

Su Ming smiled faintly in midair, his expression never changing. At that moment, he spoke flatly. “Oh? And I wonder what sort of sect rules have I broken?”

“Do you still need me to repeat myself? First, you broke the rule of flight. Second, you captured an outer sect disciple, you—”

Old Chen was smiling coldly during his speech, but before he could finish, his expression changed in a drastic manner, and an incredulous look showed up in his eyes. In fact, even the expressions of the white-robed scholar and the other attendants changed.

As for the disciples in the area, all of them were still in a daze, even though they also saw… Su Ming flick his left wrist and reveal a blue plate in his hand!

They did not know what that plate was, but Old Chen, the white-robed scholar, and the dozens of outer sect attendants knew clearly what it symbolized!

That plate… could be said to be a supreme treasure in Seven Moons Sect, and only sect elders could be in possession of them. Once they had them, their statuses could be said to have reached the peak of Seven Moons Sect!

The only ones above them were the great sect elders in charge and the twelve sleeping great sect elders. Besides them, there was no one else in the sect whose status surpassed those with the blue plates. At most… they were of equal status.

Before the people with the blue plates, sect rules and sect laws were all just a joke! If they wanted to fly, they flew. Forget capturing an outer sect disciple, even if Su Ming wanted to kill them or chase them out of the sect, he only needed to say a word.

“I, Xu Yi, sect master of the outer sect, greet Sect Elder Wang.”

When the white-robed scholar’s expression changed, he wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed deeply to Su Ming.

“We greet Sect Elder Wang!” The dozens of attendants behind the white-robed scholar bowed together with nervousness and respect on their faces.

As for the outer sect disciples in the area, they had dazed expressions while quickly kneeling down.

“Greetings, Sect Elder Wang!”

Even the people next to Old Chen swiftly bowed to Su Ming with nervousness on their faces.

Old Chen’s face went pale while full of disbelief. He had not expected that Su Ming… would be a sect elder!

It was something he would have never guessed. To him, Su Ming would be just a disciple of a sect elder at best His mind jolted, and he quickly lowered his head. Nervousness and terror instantly returned to his heart, and he bowed deeply to Su Ming with his fist in his palm.

“Greetings… Sect Elder Wang.”