Qiu Bisheng immediately flew into a rage and shouted, "With no proof at all, don't you dare spout such slander!"
Lin Xuxu shot back, "If you're truly innocent, then let someone search your soul and see."
"Outrageous!" Qiu Bisheng snapped. "How can soul-searching be treated as child's play? One misstep and your soul could scatter, your Dao could perish! I'm at the critical juncture of a breakthrough. If someone rashly searches my soul now, I fear I may never again have a chance to break through in this life."
With a cold, contemptuous sneer, he said disdainfully, "I understand now. You must fear that once my strength breaks through, I'll threaten Hammer Old Jiu's position. You don't want me to have it easy, so you keep flinging mud at me."
"You're talking nonsense!" Qu Qiqi said unhappily. "Ninth Master wouldn't be afraid of you. Who cares whether you break through or not?"
Lin Xuxu changed tack. "If you refuse a soul search, then swear a soul oath instead. As long as your conscience is clear, you shouldn't be afraid of making a soul oath, right?"
Qiu Bisheng flung his sleeve and roared, "Do you think soul oaths can be made whenever one pleases? For cultivators at the Heaven Soul Realm, every soul oath is tantamount to inviting the Heavenly Dao to bear witness. The power of the Heavenly Dao binds one to it. Every oath made makes future breakthroughs that much harder. I'm already shackled by bottlenecks—how can I agree to such an unreasonable request from you?"
"Besides, regardless of what the truth is this time, whether I swear it or not will make no difference at all."
"Would you stop flinging mud at me, or stop suspecting that I took that damned jade pendant, just because I swore one?"