Chapter 823 Case against the Chen family (4)

Chapter 823 Case against the Chen family (4)

Yang Qing's guess was validated when he saw Chen Zian get so overwhelmed by his emotions that a bit of killing intent leaked out. The target of that intent was two elders, one of them looked well on in his years, and the other was relatively young, he looked to be in his mid-thirties and could be considered to have a decent cultivation base too, as he was in the eighth stage of the core formation realm.

Of those two elders, the older one was called Chen Gutian, while the younger one was called Chen Zholan. Chen Gutian's cultivation base was in the eleventh stage of the core formation realm, but he was well along in his years, and from what Yang Qing could tell he had at most three hundred years left in his lifespan. He was Chen Zian's uncle by blood which Yang Qing guessed was the reason Chen Zian entrusted him with the supervision of Misty Caldera County. He was one of his people, and he was getting on in his years, there was no better retirement than the environment in one of their precious territories.

As for Chen Zholan, from what was gathered, he was one of the talented youngsters of his generation who had gained the admiration of Chen Zian. Giving him the supervisory role at Cherry Blossom County, was no different than announcing to the rest that Chen Zholan was his chosen successor.

However, both had betrayed him, which was why Chen Zian looked like he was struggling to keep his emotions in check every time his eyes fell on them. Both Chen Zholan and Chen Gutian made sure to avoid his gaze with the former occasionally looking up, with nervousness, regret, and repentance in his eyes which Chen Zian didn't look like he was in the mood to accommodate.

Yang Qing couldn't help but sigh when he saw their interaction, especially with his gaze falling on Chen Zian. The investigation showed him to be uninvolved in the charges brought against his clan. He had no ties and seemed largely unaware of it until the moment he was appraised of it by Yu Gen when they were about to be brought over.

His clan members had hoodwinked him, and the damage they would leave behind would cause significant damage to his clan and their foundations.

The evidence showed he didn't know what they were up to or the dealings they had with the Black Scorpion Gang or the Red Lotus Alchemy Pavilion, or the pill slaves and human cauldron's business. His lack of knowledge or involvement in those affairs could be true, but then again it could be false. Short of using karma to deduce it, it would be next to impossible to prove that he knew whatever his clan members were involved.

Yang Qing twitched as he detected something that prompted him to take out his medallion and use it to expand the courtroom once more, catching those present by surprise. A moment later, a flash of golden runes and light appeared at the center of the courtroom.

The light flashed for a second and disappeared and in its place was a new group of people who looked to be around the ages of ten to twenty wearing the same robes, which were dull grey robes. Outwardly, they looked vibrant and full of life, with their lustrous skin, and healthy bodies that eluded strong vitality, but within them, Yang Qing could feel the hollowness that lay within.

They were all young with the oldest being the same age as Yang Qing who was twenty-three and was even in the middle stages of the foundation establishment stage, about half of them were, with the rest being in the late stages of the qi refinement realm.

At face value, such a young lineup which had about thirty foundation establishment cultivators and seventy late-stage qi refinement cultivators, considering how young they were, it was bound to leave countless cultivating organizations salivating over them.

A seventeen-year-old foundation establishment cultivator would be treated as a genius seedling in a rank three organization and even some rank two organizations would gladly receive them as a regular disciple, and there were already seven of them here, but Yang Qing's gaze couldn't help but turn cold when he saw them.

The cultivation base he saw within them, was all manufactured and came at a price, a steep price at that. None of them would be able to live past one hundred years even those in the foundation establishment realm. They were nothing more than fragile porcelain with countless cracks that were hidden behind beautiful layers of engraving and ornaments, but soon enough those porcelains would break without fail.

Such were the lives of pill slaves and human cauldrons.