Favoritism

"Hmph, interesting."

The purple-clad woman standing next to Perfected Hunyuan suddenly chuckled, her gaze falling upon Li Daoyuan.

"Why do you laugh, Holy Maiden?"

Perfected Hunyuan asked, somewhat puzzled, "Your husband is about to face punishment. Would you like me to step forward and say a few words on his behalf?"

"No need."

"No need?"

"To be able to sit in the position of Sect Master, he naturally has his methods. Just keep watching; not a single one of these punishments will actually fall upon him," the purple-clad woman said indifferently.

On the stage, Li Daoyuan was still rattling off names and charges like a waiter reciting a menu.

"Lu Shouzhue of the Xuantian Sword Lineage, harming fellow disciples."

"Sentenced to the punishment of Heavenly Lightning, thirty-six strikes of the Zixiao Divine Lightning, and confined to the back mountain for twenty years."

"Ye Shu of the Xuantian Sword Lineage, intentional assault."

"Sentenced to the punishment of Drowning, submerged in the Frigid Pool for three days, and confined to the back mountain for thirty years."

After listing the crimes of these three people.

Li Daoyuan turned his head to look at Mu Yunxi. "I have always been impartial and treated everyone equally. These individuals have shown contempt for the sect's rules and rightfully deserve to be punished. There is absolutely no favoritism."

"Do you have any objections?"

"No objections."

Mu Yunxi shook her head.

Imposing heavy penalties on the Xuantian Sword Lineage while letting her Zixiao Peak off lightly—if she were still unsatisfied, it would make her seem far too ungrateful.

"Very well."

Li Daoyuan nodded and looked at Lu Qinghuan and the others.

"Lu Qinghuan of Zixiao Peak, for showing contempt toward uninitiated disciples at the disciple acceptance ceremony and drawing her sword without cause, considering no physical harm was done, is sentenced to one year of confinement and copying the sect's precepts five hundred times."

"Zheng Yunshu of Zixiao Peak, for attempting a sneak attack, though unsuccessful, the nature of the act was malicious. Sentenced to one year of confinement and copying the sect's precepts one thousand times."

Having said that, he looked at Mu Yunxi.

"Are you satisfied with this punishment?"

Mu Yunxi bit her lip, but she knew well that her Senior Brother Sect Master was giving her face. It made no sense for the other side to be punished while her own disciples walked away completely unscathed.

If they walked out like that, they would be gossiped about behind their backs.

Qin Ke'er, whose name had not been called, let out a long sigh of relief. Looking at Li Daoyuan on the stage, the heavy stone in her heart finally dropped.

At least there were still normal people in this world.

The sky of the Azure Mystery Sect was brightening.

"It is good that you accept it. Then, as the Peak Master of Zixiao Peak, you shall personally oversee the execution."

"Yes!"

Mu Yunxi turned and walked toward Ye Shu and the others, about to lead them to the place of punishment, but was stopped again by Li Daoyuan.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

Li Daoyuan looked at her with a dumbfounded expression.

"Taking them to receive their punishment."

"You are the Peak Master of Zixiao Peak, leading people from the Xuantian Sword Lineage to be punished. Do you think that's appropriate? I told you to take charge of punishing your own disciples, not others."

Mu Yunxi was stunned.

Pointing at Ye Shu and the others standing not far away, she asked, "T-Then what about them?"

"Didn't I already say it?"

Li Daoyuan looked at her with an expression that said it was only natural.

"Once the disciplinary decision is made, it is handed over to the disciple's Peak Master, and the Peak Master will execute the punishment."

"What?"

He glanced at Mu Yunxi and said coldly, "Does Peak Master Mu wish to overstep her authority?"

"But the Peak Master of the Xuantian Sword Lineage has already left!"

"Then wait until he returns. Once he is notified and the process is complete, the punishment for these individuals will be carried out."

"Ah? This..."

The other Peak Masters looked at each other in dismay, clearly not expecting Li Daoyuan to suddenly pull a move like this at such a time.

"What? Do you have objections?"

Li Daoyuan stared at them coldly. "Or do you all also want to break the rules of the Azure Mystery Sect?"

"We wouldn't dare..."

The Peak Masters hurriedly lowered their heads.

Offstage, Su Xiao listened in dumbfounded amazement. Wasn't this whole operation just like stalling the bureaucratic process at a corporate job in his past life? It was just that now, because the Peak Master of the Xuantian Sword Lineage was absent, the approval process was stuck at this step and couldn't proceed.

As for punishing the inactive Peak Master?

The Peak Master had already run away; who was there to punish?

As the Sect Master, it was impossible for Li Daoyuan not to realize this. This only proved that he was openly protecting the Xuantian Sword Lineage.

And you couldn't even find any faults with it.

Because he had told you from the very beginning that this was the procedure, strictly doing things according to the rules.

It neither violated the rules nor left room for public criticism.

As expected of someone who could sit in the Sect Master's seat; they were all shrewd foxes.

"Enough." Li Daoyuan's gaze swept across the crowd. "I have finished speaking. Who agrees and who opposes?"

"I agree!"

Perfected Hunyuan was the first to step forward, echoing loudly.

He hadn't managed to help out since the beginning, so no matter what, he had to show off in front of the Holy Maiden now and make his presence known.

Offstage, Ye Shu's gaze suddenly sharpened.

Interrupted by that group of idiotic female leads from Zixiao Peak.

He had almost forgotten that there was an even more troublesome entity here that urgently needed to be dealt with.

He stared at the somewhat plump Perfected Hunyuan, who still wore a simple-minded smile on his face like a classic nice guy, and the purple-clad woman beside him, sneering in his heart.

"What a pair of smiling tigers, two black-horned sharks."

At the same time, the purple-clad woman was also looking at him.

Their lines of sight instantly met in midair. The man had a faint smile on his lips, while the woman's eyes rippled with a mesmerizing light, as if flowing with a sky full of stars.

A man and a woman gazing at each other in this setting of tens of thousands of people; though the world was vast, it seemed as if only the two of them remained in each other's eyes.

"My husband... in the time to come, we will have many opportunities to spend together." The corners of the purple-clad woman's mouth, hidden beneath her veil, curled up slightly, looking bright and beautiful.

However—

In the next moment, something completely unexpected happened.

Ye Shu suddenly raised his hand expressionlessly, pointed at Perfected Hunyuan on the stage, and declared, "I want to report! The Peak Master of Hidden Sword Peak is an undercover spy for the Demonic Path!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire venue fell dead silent.

Everyone was stunned by this sudden, shocking statement, their minds racing rapidly.

Perfected Hunyuan's entire body stiffened. He stared fixedly at Ye Shu below, his expression changing drastically, feeling even more bewildered in his heart.

"Holy Maiden's husband, I am here to help you!"

"Why would you?"

Before anyone could figure it out.

Buzz!!!

A massive hum of a sword resounded explosively.

Echoing throughout the entire venue.

A dazzling, brilliant sword light pierced through heaven and earth, illuminating the entire plaza into a vast expanse of white, and Jian Wuhen's figure instantly appeared in front of Perfected Hunyuan.

In his right hand, a golden sword phantom had appeared. Its sword light outshone the world, emitting a terrifying aura.

"Jian Wuhen of the Xuantian Sword Lineage! I ask Martial Uncle Hunyuan to enlighten me!"