Chapter 54

A year later, at the Ninth Peak Cloud Soaring Hall.Jiang Chen knelt in the hall, his face somber, the dried blood in his hands extremely glaring.

Around him were curses directed at him.

Just now, Jiang Chen was found holding Lin Mubai’s bone by Xiao Hongyi and others.

He wanted to explain and prove his innocence, but every time he tried to speak, he was interrupted by others’ rebukes.

Seeing this scene, Qingning felt her heart being sliced bit by bit.

At this moment, she was no longer struggling with whether this was an illusion or reality.

After watching from the sidelines for so long, she had completely put herself in the situation, crying out for the injustice against Jiang Chen and shedding tears for him.

She could not imagine. At this very moment, even she, a mere observer, felt such distress.

How much more unbearable must it be for Jiang Chen, the person directly involved?

During that time, she tried to explain things on behalf of Jiang Chen.

She had also cursed at her fellow sect Senior Brothers and Sisters, calling them and herself in the image heartless and ungrateful!

Because of this, she had already cried until her eyes were swollen and red, and she had shouted until her voice was hoarse, but no one could hear her words.

The accusations continued unabated.

Jiang Chen had done nothing wrong, yet he was treated like an unforgivable villain, awaiting the punishment by the so-called ‘righteous’.

Gradually, Qingning gave up.

She can’t help but admit it. In this world, except for Eldest Senior Brother, everyone else was bad including herself.

All she could do now was to snuggle up beside Jiang Chen, sharing the malice that surrounded him.

“Eldest Senior Brother…”

“Can we leave? Leave Ninth Peak, leave Jiuyan Sect.”

“Let’s find a place where there are no people and live together. Even if I am trapped for a lifetime, I am willing to be with you.”

“Even though you can’t hear me, I can sing to you…”

“Even though you can’t see me, I can accompany you to sleep…”

“Even though you can’t feel me, I can hold you, cry with you, laugh with you…”

As she spoke, she began to cry again.

Tears flowed uncontrollably as she knelt in front of Jiang Chen, pleading,

“Eldest Senior Brother, please. If this is the price of being upright, Qingning hopes you will be a bad person for a lifetime!!”

Despite her screaming with all her might and crying heart-wrenchingly, Jiang Chen still could not hear her, his expression still as lifeless as a puppet’s.

“Jiang Chen, you have committed a heinous crime against your fellow disciples. It’s an unforgivable sin! From now on, you will no longer be a true disciple of Jiuyan Sect’s Ninth Peak, nor will you be my disciple, Xiao Hongyi. Today, I will strip you of your cultivation. If the Jiang Family has any complaints, let them come to me!”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Chen’s body trembled.

Qingning stood up abruptly, and a deep hatred emerged in her originally lively eyes.

“Boom—!”

An overwhelming aura appeared, instantly blasting Jiang Chen out of the Jiuyan Sect.

Qingning hurriedly followed.

But just as she was about to leave the Cloud Soaring Hall, she suddenly turned back. Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ NƟvelFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

The faces of Xiao Hongyi and the others, which had always seemed so amiable, now appeared utterly detestable in her eyes.

Her fists clenched, her eyes swollen and red, she screamed with a touch of madness,

“I hate all of you!!”

After saying this, she added in her heart.

I hate myself even more.

Running out of the Cloud Soaring Hall, Qingning sprinted all the way.

She passed by the sparring platform.

“I am Ninth Peak’s Eldest Senior Brother. If anyone speaks ill of my Third Junior Sister behind her back, come and fight me!”

She ran down the Ninth Peak avenue.

“Qingning, how many times have I told you? Don’t hop around on the Ninth Peak path. What if you fall into the ravine?”

She reached the foot of Ninth Peak Mountain.

“Qingning, if anyone bullies you, just tell me! I’ll beat them up!”

Jiang Chen’s words echoed in her mind with each place she reached.

She felt her heart bleeding.

Stumbling along the way, she finally arrived at the sect and saw Jiang Chen, who was unconscious and covered in wounds.

“No matter what you become, I will always be your Eldest Senior Brother, and you will always be my Junior Sister. That will never change.” Jiang Chen’s words resurfaced in her mind.

Suddenly, Qingning smiled.

She squatted beside Jiang Chen, her right hand gently caressing his cheek.

With tears in her eyes and a smile blooming like flowers, she said:

“Eldest Senior Brother… It’s only now that Qingning understands.”

“It turns out I don’t care whether you are good or bad. I don’t care what you have done to others.”

“People say I’m foolish and I can’t see through your true nature.”

“But that’s not the case.”

“In reality, Qingning is not that noble. In fact, I am quite selfish.”

“When I learned that you had deceived me for six years, I was in despair, in pain, and there’s a voice in my head…”

“That voice kept saying, ‘Eldest Senior Brother never really cared about me.’ ”

“Now I finally understand. I never really cared about the Jade Spirit Grass. What I cared about, what concerned me, was whether I was in your heart.”

“Hey, Eldest Senior Brother.”

“Qingning still likes you the most.”

She was selfish. Even though Jiang Chen in the image had been stripped of his cultivation and expelled from the sect, she felt somewhat happy.

This meant that she could always be by Jiang Chen’s side. From now on, no one could hurt Jiang Chen or separate her from him.

At this moment, Qingning knew her true heart.

Even if this was all an illusion, even if the Jiang Chen before her was just a figment of her imagination.

Still, as long as Jiang Chen cared about her, she was truly willing to stay in this illusion for a lifetime, accompanying Jiang Chen every step of the way until the end of her life.

Suddenly, a figure clad in a robe appeared.

The moment she saw this person, a strong murderous intent surfaced on Qingning’s cheeks.

This person was Ma Wu.

“The proud young master of the Jiang family has fallen to such a state?” Ma Wu laughed loudly.

His laughter was grating, and each word that followed only intensified the murderous intent in Qingning’s eyes.

After enjoying his mockery, Ma Wu left.

Before leaving, he didn’t forget to praise his own ‘righteousness’ and admire his own ‘selflessness’!

Watching Ma Wu walk further away, Qingning felt a sense of powerlessness.

She wanted to tear Ma Wu to pieces, but she was utterly incapable of doing so!

“Whoosh—”

A sudden breeze appeared.

An old man dressed in a purple robe, leaning on a Purple Blood Silver Dragon staff, appeared like a ghost beside the unconscious Jiang Chen.

The old man hunched over, his wrinkled face filled with distress as he looked at Jiang Chen.

“Bang!”

His staff struck the ground, emitting a crisp sound.

As the sound reached his ears, Ma Wu, who had already walked far away, suddenly lost control over his body and stood frozen in place with a face full of fear.

The old man stepped forward slowly, muttering to himself:

“Young master, you repeatedly instructed me to stay away from the Jiuyan Sect.”

“This old man is in pain! After all, young master is someone I watched grow up, and you even called me ‘Grandpa’ when you were little!”

“How can there be a reason not to let a grandpa see his grandson?”

“Young master, you always said, no matter what happens to you, I must not lay a hand on anyone from the Jiuyan Sect.”

“I listened!”

“For more than ten years, no matter how people treated you, I listened! Because these were young master’s orders! The wishes of my grandson!”

“But what was the result?”

Then the old man suddenly raised his head and asked in a cold voice,

“The result is that you dared to cripple my grandson’s cultivation? Expel the Jiang family’s young master from the sect?! And allow such vermin to frame him time and time again?”

His voice, filled with boundless anger, was like thunder.

In just an instant, it spread throughout the entire Jiuyan Sect, shaking all the peaks of the Jiuyan Sect and causing birds and beasts to flee in all directions!

“Bang—!”

The old man’s cane struck the ground again.

“Boom!”

A dull sound echoed.

It was Ma Wu, who had been standing stiffly in the distance, who suddenly exploded!

Ma Wu instantly turns into a mist of blood!

“How dare you!”

“Chen Sheng! You demon, you actually killed an elder of the Jiuyan Sect?!”

“The Jiang Family took you in! You do not think of repaying their kindness, yet you tarnish the Jiang family’s name by acting like this!”

“I knew that this demon could never truly reform!”

“Since you’ve killed an elder of the Jiuyan Sect, then you shall stay!”

Several deep voices rose from within the Jiuyan Sect, and as the voices fell, several streaks of spiritual light came rushing toward him.

“Hmph!”

The old man sneered disdainfully, and his hunched body gradually straightened.

As he straightened his body, a tremendous spiritual force burst forth from within him, like a towering wave, layer upon layer, directly rushing towards the incoming spiritual light.

Immediately after, the spiritual light collided with the waves in the air and was instantly knocked down!

Several old men fell from the sky, crashing into the peaks of Jiuyan like cannonballs with muffled groans echoing.

“You’ve reached the Divine Passage Realm?!” exclaimed a Supreme Elder of the Jiuyan Sect.

“Hmph! Central Domain ants, how can you comprehend the might of the Jiang family?”

The old man snorted coldly, disdainfully saying, “If you want to keep me here, then let the Jiuyan Old Ancestor come personally!”

“Arrogant!”

A Supreme Great Elder appeared, saying coldly, “You’re not worthy of the Old Ancestor’s attention. The Jiang family’s actions will not be ignored by the Imperial Dynasty!”

“If not for the consideration of the Imperial Dynasty, the Jiuyan Sect would have been annihilated today!” the old man retorted instantly.

The Supreme Elders were left speechless by the retort.

Suddenly, the old man’s ears twitched as if he heard something.

After pondering for a moment with a frown, he continued, “Jiuyan Old Ancestor, you might fool me, but you can’t fool the Jiang family. You better explain this to the family head yourself. Otherwise, my Jiang family will surely annihilate your Jiuyan Sect first before the Imperial Dynasty takes action!”

Having said that, the old man raised his hand towards the unconscious Jiang Chen, who was immediately enveloped in a mist and then began to float.

“Young master, it’s time to go home.”

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