Chapter 178
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Chapter 178: Not Allowed
After all the elders in charge of various areas of the sect gathered, Elder Tian finally asked,
“Does everyone know about the recent events in the places for punishment within the sect?”
Several elders nodded slightly in response.
They were the ones secretly responsible for these locations, and the previous stewards had reported to them based on their direction.
However, the elders now looked somewhat surprised; they initially thought only one place was affected, but judging by the expressions of the other elders, it seemed to be widespread.
“Does anyone know the reason?”
All the elders shook their heads; they usually only managed their own domains and were unaware of other areas.
From their perspective, aside from the fewer punished disciples, they did not see any other abnormalities, so they all shook their heads.
“Elder Liu, have you discovered anything over there?”
At this moment, Elder Tian turned his gaze to Elder Liu.
Elder Liu appeared to ponder for a moment before slowly replying,
“Recently, some rumors have spread among the inner disciples, which might be related.”
“Wasn’t there an increase in output from the He Hua spiritual grains in Feng Ling Valley? Each month, the task targets for the punished disciples were raised accordingly. Many disciples, unaware of this, felt the tasks were beyond their limits and found them hard to complete, so few disciples went for punishment.”
Elder Tian nodded slightly,
“I am aware of this; that new spiritual grains picking seems quite good. Eighty stones per month makes sense, and there is no significant issue with it.”
The other elders also nodded, and Elder Liu continued,
“Additionally, there have been issues at the Xuan Iron Mine. Recently, two mines have collapsed, plus some other rumors, which caused many disciples to hesitate in competing within the sect, fearing for their lives.”
The elders could only express speechlessness.
In their many years as elders, they hadn’t encountered mine collapses frequently!
Elder Tian had a puzzled expression after hearing this:
“I remember the Sect Master handled this personally, right?”
Elder Liu nodded,
“Yes, it was indeed handled personally by the Sect Master, but since it involved a specific inner disciple, there was no further investigation.”
Elder Tian nodded in agreement.
With the Sect Master handling it personally, it seemed the problem was not large.
But then, Elder Tian expressed some surprise:
“You say this matter is related to an inner disciple? I recall that the True Dragon Incident was also caused by an inner disciple previously!”
Upon hearing Elder Tian’s remark, the elder in charge of Feng Ling Valley spoke up,
“Yes, the new spiritual grain valley in Feng Ling Valley was also developed by a disciple. It is said that this disciple has now become an inner disciple!”
The elders exchanged glances, and they all recognized the apparent connection.
What were originally unrelated events had cleverly combined into one situation.
Elder Tian thought more deeply. The sword rain in the sect that day also came from Feng Ling Valley, coinciding with the time the disciple was punished there. Though Report to the Sect Leader followed up, there was no further news.
Elder Tian pondered briefly:
“I remember that disciple is the personal apprentice of Peak Master Ye, the one with Talent Jealousy that the sect took in two years ago. What was his name? Something Ji?”
“Ji Yang,”
Elder Liu added from the side.
“Exactly, Ji Yang!”
“Where is he now?”
Elder Tian quickly found the key point and asked.
“Since the mine collapsed a few days ago, this disciple came out from the mine and returned to Jingtan Peak.”
“However, this young man has a strong sense of justice and has taken action multiple times in the outer sect, and it seems he is currently wandering around the sect.”
After hearing this, Elder Tian did not hesitate. In the next moment, a silver ancient mirror with intricate designs appeared in his hand.
The mirror surface resembled a huge eye, containing countless profound patterns.
This artifact was the sect’s Xuan Tian Mirror, and what Elder Tian held was the main body of the Xuan Tian Mirror!
The other elders present each had a Xuan Tian Mirror as well, but only an illusion created by this mirror’s magic.
Following Elder Tian’s manipulation, a silver beam shot out from his Xuan Tian Mirror, reflecting in front of the group before transforming into a curtain of images.
On the curtain, countless scenes flashed.
The displayed scenes covered various locations in the sect, all visible at a glance.
Soon, the images slowed down, locking onto a disciple dressed in inner sect clothing, with a fairly handsome face.
“This is the one,”
Elder Liu nodded beside him.
Looking at the figure on the curtain, Elder Tian activated the Xuan Tian Mirror again, attempting to reveal Ji Yang’s true realm!
But in the next moment, an invisible sword intent shot out from the curtain, striking at everyone.
“Be careful!”
The sword intent was sharp, and the elders looked slightly startled.
Elder Tian remained calm and waved his sleeve to conceal the incoming sword intent, then spoke:
“This is definitely the personal apprentice of Peak Master Ye, protected by Peak Master Ye’s sword intent!”
Seeing Elder Tian handle the sword intent so effortlessly, the other elders were secretly shocked. If it had been them, it would have been impossible to block it so easily.
Elder Tian calmly placed his hands behind him, and no one noticed the sleeves of his robe that had been torn by the sword energy.
At this moment, everyone’s gaze once again focused on the curtain, freezing on Ji Yang.
The Xuan Tian Mirror could record images and then project them.
Thus, everything Ji Yang had done in the inner sect over the past few days was displayed clearly before the elders, even the expressions on Ji Yang’s face were visible.
Watching Ji Yang wander around the sect with a look of disappointment due to his inability to uphold justice, the elders fell into silence.
Now Elder Tian had identified the problem.
With his outstanding strength, Ji Yang had caused many disciples to hesitate in combat.
Moreover, the changes in the places for punishment due to Ji Yang had made other disciples frightened, and they no longer dared to break the sect rules, resulting in multiple potential disputes being extinguished before they could even begin because of Ji Yang’s presence.
Elder Tian thought to himself how the atmosphere in the sect had changed; it turned out Ji Yang was causing chaos.
After observing the entire process, Elder Tian withdrew the images before him.
He initially thought the disciples in the sect were harmonious, but he hadn’t expected such a situation, which meant he could no longer use his previous methods and needed a different solution.
After some contemplation, Elder Tian slowly spoke:
“Currently, the mine, Feng Ling Valley, and Tianxing Lake are all lacking people. If we allow this young man to continue like this, the sect’s daily production will definitely fall behind, and over time, the losses to the sect will be enormous.”
“Various Elders, please share how we should handle this?”
One elder spoke up:
“This is simple; just have the Law Enforcement Hall escort him to the mine for punishment. Without him, the sect will naturally return to normal.”
Before anyone else could respond, Elder Liu immediately interjected:
“This absolutely cannot happen. Due to the mine collapse incident, the Sect Master has clearly forbidden him from entering the mine! If we put him in now, the sect’s mines are in grave danger!”
The elder fell silent after hearing this and did not say more.
“Then let’s take him to Tianxing Lake; that place can temper one’s mindset!”
“Impossible! What if that kid catches a True Spirit? That would be hard to deal with!”
“Then how about Feng Ling Valley? The spiritual grains he opened for the sect there had extremely high yields.”
The other elders nodded in agreement, finding this location promising.
At this point, Elder Tian, who had been silent, shook his head slightly:
“Not possible!”
“Why not?”
The various elders expressed their confusion.
