Murmurs echoed around the room at the sound of the judge's words. Countless eyes landed on Baiyun, boring like drills from all directions.

The elders were not considerate enough to restrain their aura, they even brazenly used qi sense to examine him. Even with the sealed meridians of the servant physique sealing away the oppressive qi, the air was still heavy and suffocating.

Yingtao turned to look at Baiyun with concern, and he nodded in return. Neither of them spoke with the judge looming close by. But Ying Shi did not turn to look at Baiyun at all, merely staring at the ground with gritted teeth.

The judge looked around the courtroom sternly, as if search for something.

"Will the witness reveal himself?" he spoke slowly but loudly.

"Y-yes!" a young voice called out.

From under one of the seats of the Ying Clan's section, a boy in uniform stood up with trembling legs. His pale face was covered in cold sweat, his teeth clenched as he reeled under the combined aura and gazes of the Nascent Soul elders.

It looked as if he would faint at any moment, but he managed to stumble down the stair quickly and rushed to the podium, standing before the judge.

That kid... Baiyun remembered him as one of Ying Shi's guards. He was the guard who clapped happily when Yingtao summoned a house-sized boulder, only to be met with silence. Mohei deciding to clap along out of pity made it an oddly vivid memory.

"Recount the incident!" the judge said.

"U-understood!"

The guard took a deep breath and put an arm to his chest, slowly narrating the prior events. He recounted the tale from the beginning, describing when the hunting party first arrived at the Forest Tortoise town. His words were shaky at first, but they grew steadier with time. The words were far from confident, but he was no longing a stammering mess.

Baiyun watched from a distance and nodded to himself. Without the servant physique to resist the might of Nascent Soul auras, it was commendable how the kid could remain conscious. But the boy was still able to go beyond, recounting the matter in a concise yet accurate manner! Despite looking like a trembling mess, merely just this was quite the show of talent.

At the same time, he wondered why the judge seemed to trust the kid's recount. Was he sent by the WanLing sect to observe the Ying clan, or had they made some sort of contract?

The guard continued his recount, and soon, he began to describe what he knew of the tragedy. As he described Rampage rushing to the camp with Yingtao and Baiyun, and the discovery of 2 Nascent Soul presences, a few elders let out hushed murmurs of shock. Not every clan had young masters participating in the hunt, and the less informed clans entered court without even knowing the reason.

The attack of an unknown Nascent Soul beast was huge news. No, it was far worse. It was a Spring Delusion Mantis, known to be 5th in Danger Ranking and rumoured to be capable of wiping out armies of Nascent Soul humans!

As the elders whispered to each other in alarm, some taking communication jades and frantically contacting their clans, the guard continued and covered details even Baiyun was unaware of. The state Jingfeng's body had been found in, dragged away into a food storage chamber by the centipedes. How Ying Shi and Qinghe conducted the autopsy, determining blood loss as the cause of death.

The gristly description made Baiyun's blood run cold, but he suppressed the urge to take a deep breath. He held his head steady, not letting himself lower it in shame. It was life and death in this court. He could not show any signs of guilt, or they might point towards him as the culprit.

Finally, the judge struck the podium with his hand, and a resounding gong-like sound echoed. The elders quietened as they lowered their communication jades.

"Ying Shi. Is the recount of your guard accurate? Or are there portions you wish to rectify?" the judge boomed.

"Yes. It is accurate." Ying Shi said respectfully, bowing his head slightly.

It was the first words Baiyun heard him say in this count.

"Then we shall proceed." the judge said.

The air shook as a stern and commanding aura surged from the judge. The guard panickedly ran up the stairs and back to his hiding spot, ducking beneath a seat once more.

Ying Shi gritted his teeth as he fought against the pressure. Yingtao bowed slightly, but she did not falter in the slightest. What once would have been a terrifying aura was now nothing, after what the mantis put her through. Lowering her head was merely to avoid disrespecting the judge.

"Ying Shi. Your clan was unable to find a single elder to supervise the hunting party. Yet, you still chose to push onward, despite knowing the risks to the young masters of various clans. Because of that recklessness, a member of the Thousand Winds Clan has perished. Your crime is manslaughter by negligence. Do you deny that charge?"

Ying Shi knelt on the ground on a single knee as beads of sweat trickled down his stoic face.

"No. I take full responsibility. This incident is entirely my fault." he said, lowering his head.

Beside him, Yingtao shifted around anxiously. Finally, she straightened her posture and mustered up the courage to speak up.

"Your honour. No one could have predicted the attack of a Spring Delusion Mantis. Even if we had several Nascent Soul elders present, we would have been no match."

The judge frowned and was about to respond, but he saw a gesture from the patriarch of Thousand Wind, Fei An's clan.

Above the banner of 3 entwined tornadoes, he stood up and unleashed his aura, shaking the court with might beyond that of a peak Nascent Soul! Unmistakable, this man had also cultivated either Gold Core or True Soul from the improved Heavenly Classic.

His aura was akin to the wind itself, his anger surging with the might of an illusionary cyclone as every clan banner shook from the violent breeze. The matriarch stood up as well with cold eyes. Fei An who sat silently between the masters of her clan seemed untouchable.

All these elders showing off their auras one after the other... the undignified gesture was enough for Baiyun to frown, but he held it back. A good courtroom should not allow elders to abuse such a thing, yet even the judge was brazenly imposing his "authority". Though at the very least, the wind matriarch had the decency not to.

"Yingtao. You ignore your brother's recklessness of embarking without an elder?" the old man's words echoed through the court. "Perhaps it's true that no one here could contest such a dangerous beast. The only one in WanLing who possibly could is the Sect Leader, who is not present today."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Baiyun raised an eyebrow. He assumed the leader was part of one of the clans, but it seemed his guess was off. And from the sound of it, perhaps this supposed leader had a way to resist soul arts.

The wind patriarch continued his speech.

"Many other lethal accidents could have happened, that would have been preventable were an elder supervising. The fact that these did not occur does not excuse that." he spoke gravely. "Besides, your brother brought your group into the den of a Nascent Soul beast despite the situation. Even if he insisted on the hunt, this could have been easily averted by switching to a safer location. It is the logical decision without the presence of an elder."

"This..." Yingtao stammered.

"You yourself bear responsibility as well. Are you not the only adult in the group? Why did you not interfere with the decision of your brother?" the wind patriarch boomed.

"I..."

Yingtao might have gained a resistance to powerful auras, but the undeniable rebuttals of the wind patriarch were far more heavy. The words felt like hundreds of anvils crushing upon her, and she could not come up with a single word of rebuttal.

Changing the destination... that had been discussed. But Yingtao needed Lifesap for her breakthrough, and the visits to the centipede den had always gone smoothly. This was why they had the confidence to go even without an elder.

In other words, she was at fault in this incident as well. If she hadn't been so hasty in wanting to breakthrough... Jingfeng would still be alive. Yingtao slumped on her knees as guilt and regret crushed her.

In her impatience, she lost something far more precious than a paltry breakthrough.

The wind patriarch silently harrumphed at the sight, but the matriarch placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

As she unfurled a fan in hand and stood up, he returned to his seat and allowed her to take the spotlight.

"Raise your head, young Yingtao and Ying Shi." she said.

Yingtao trembled, but she looked upwards in confusion at the kindly voice. Ying Shi's head remained bowed however, as he gritted his teeth.

"Even though the consequences were terrible, in the end, youths make mistakes in their inexperience. As elders, it is our duty to educate and guide them, to prevent them from taking the wrong path." she said.

The kindly words of the matriarch did not reassured Baiyun. From experience, moments like these were when a viper was poised to strike.

She snapped her fan shut with a sharp clack, before pointing it at the man who sat above the banner of the Ying Clan.

"Ying Guang, master of the Ironheart Eagle Clan. It is you who is truly at fault, for failing to oversee and guide your children!" she shouted.

Her loud voice echoed through the courtroom in the silence several times, as if compounding the accusations.

Eyes from all around the court landed on the long muscular man who merely sat with crossed arms, as the elders seem to rouse.

From the Trade and Treasury Association, the young man laughed inaudibly as he jotted something down hastily. Even the sleepyhead of the Meteor Forge Clan looked up, smiling faintly as his eyes narrowed.

With the conflict gathering the attention of the previously bored elders, only the representative of the Infinite Formations Clan remained uninterested. She paused briefly from the commotion, before continuing to scratch at her formation plate.

Ying Guang did not bulge and gazed back at each of the elders with steely cold eyes.

Baiyun mused to himself. So this was Ying Shi and Yingtao's father... he certainly could see what shaped Ying Shi's demeanour.

For them to be his direct descendants instead of grandchildren or great grandchildren, it seemed their clan was still fairly young. It was not rare for such clans to be pushed around by the older clans who didn't take them seriously.

The matriarch seemed to be waiting for Ying Guang to answer, but he remained silent. Her eyebrows creased and she continued her speech.

"Ying Guang. You irresponsibly let your children organise dangerous hunts without supervision, even implicating the youths of other clans! And yet when your children are faced with this burden, you remain silent, leaving them to fend for themselves."

Her stern voiced echoed through the court again.

"We gave you an opportunity." she continued. "We brazenly pressured young Yingtao and Ying Shi with our auras before cornering them, giving you an opportunity to defend them as a father should! But you remain silent and unmoving, not the slightest compassion on your stone-cold face. Is this how a father should act?"

Baiyun's eyes widened. She was spinning their aura abuse as a good thing?

Still, the man remained silent.

"Ying Guang. Do you have not have anything to say? Will you not defend your children even after being called out? Or will you claim they hosted the hunting party without your knowledge to absolve yourself of blame?" the old woman shouted. "Ying Guang, you are a disgrace as a father and a clan leader!"

The eyes of the elders seem to bore into Ying Guang like drills, as the court grew silent once more.

A sudden thump interrupted the accusations, as Ying Shi slammed his left Knee into the ground with great force. Such was the force that even his iron-like leg bled, blood seeping onto the hard ground.

"Respected matriarch and patriarch of the Thousand Wind Clan, this incident lies on my shoulders alone. My father has done no fault," he spoke loudly as he finally raised his head.

But neither of the wind leaders responded, merely giving him looks of pity.

"Clan Master of the Ironheart Eagle clan, do you have no response? Do you intend to waste the time of the court?" the Wind patriarch boomed.

Ying Guang stared at his son with unreadable eyes. Perhaps Ying Shi's rebuttal was what he was waiting for, as he finally stood up and crossed his arms.

"Our clan has always given our descendants the freedom to do as they please. Were I to supervise their actions, this tragedy would not have happened. To say I am indirectly at fault for this incident, you are not wrong."

He paused before continuing.

"But a sheltered child will not mature. We of the Ying Clan temper ourselves through trials and tribulations, to attain hearts of iron. Look at Yang Xiao, a guard of our clan who has been called as the witness of this trial. Look at Ying Shi and Yingtao, my very own flesh and blood. The elders here flaunt their auras and attempt to suppress them, yet they stand strong with such meagre cultivation. Tell me, could the descendants of any other clan here do the same?"

Baiyun was stunned. In the middle of such a serious matter, Ying Guang remained silent for so long because he was waiting for Ying Shi and Yingtao to overcome the oppressive aura and speak out? Yingtao was one thing, but Ying Shi was still at qi gathering! This was just insanity... what would he have done if his son failed to overcome the challenge?

As Ying Guang's voice boomed though the court, the representative of the Meteor Forge Clan laughed as he slapped his knee, his sleepy demeanour long gone.

"Old man, in the middle of a case that implicates your clan, you still speak so boldly! You do realise you're looking down on every other clan here with those words, don't you?" he said with a wide grin. "Very daring, I admire your courage!"

"That is not my intent. I shall return to the topic." Ying Guang brushed off his words. "Once the case concludes, Ying Shi and Yingtao will be punished accordingly to prevent similar incidents in the future. There will not be a similar accident in the future."

His eyes landed on Ying Shi and Yingtao with overbearing pressure, and they hurriedly kowtowed towards the Wind Clan.

But the display only angered them further.

"Bastard!" the Wind Patriarch roared. "You still take no responsibility for your actions, even saying Ying Shi and Yingtao will be further punished before us? Are you taking the words of the matriarch lightly?"

"I will compensate your clan in any way I can. As for how my children are educated, that is a family matter." Ying Guang said.

"Our precious descendant died so pitifully. Left alone in a dark and filthy beast den, suffering as he bled to his demise!" the old man roared. "Nothing you do could possibly compensate for that!"

Fei An shook at those words and froze for a moment, before bursting out in tears and covering her face. The patriarch seemed taken aback and seemed to panic a little, as the matriarch took out a handkerchief and consoled her.

"I understand." Ying Guang said. "But I will still provide what compensation I can, unless you plan to walk away from this incident empty handed. A matter which I find unlikely."

The wind patriarch only grew angrier as he slammed a fist down on the wall, with such might his clan banner shook and rippled violently!

"Good, good! Your children are traumatised, and our precious descendant is dead, and you show not the slightest bit of remorse, remaining perfectly calm!" he yelled. "And now, you disregard even our remaining descendant!"

"I empathise with your loss and cannot apologise enough. But the leader of a clan must remain calm and rational."

A vein bulged on the Wind Patriarch's head, but he took a deep breath and sat back down in a huff. The Matriarch remained standing; presumably, he wanted her to take over.

Baiyun looked at Ying Guang with strained eyes. That man was indirectly insulting the Wind Clan, by implying they could not remain calm despite being clan leaders!

What confused him even more was why the man was trying to anger them to begin with. What good would inciting the Wind Clan do, especially when the Ying Clan truly was at fault?

The situation made so little sense, Baiyun began to wonder if Ying Guang was truly doing this intentionally. Was he just as dense as a brick? If nothing, arguing with him was like facing a brick wall.

Close by, Ying Shi shifted and opened his mouth to say something. But Yingtao hurriedly slapped a hand over his mouth and shook her head. He frowned but lowered his head again.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.