Yang Lingtian suddenly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot and webbed with crimson veins.
The grief and despair in his gaze seemed ready to spill over.
He extended a trembling hand toward Li Ao's corpse and spoke in a shrill voice.
"Sect Master, look! Look at Senior Brother Li! He died with his eyes open!"
He beat his chest and stamped his feet, crying out in boundless remorse, "It's all this disciple's fault! It's all because this disciple was useless!"
"If only this disciple had acted sooner, if only this disciple had been more decisive, Senior Brother Li... he wouldn't have... he wouldn't have died."
Yang Lingtian acted out this complete reversal of right and wrong, shifting the blame onto Li Ao, with such perfection that it was deeply moving.
Xuan Tianba's face was as dark as still water. His gaze flickered uncertainly, and the killing intent around him remained thick, but there seemed to be an added trace of scrutiny.
He did not speak at once. He merely watched Yang Lingtian in silence, trying to discern truth from falsehood through the slightest changes in his expression.
Although Yang Lingtian was tense inside, he still wore that same look of utter grief on the surface.
He knew this was not enough, so he continued, "At the time... this disciple was overcome by grief and fury!"
Yang Lingtian abruptly raised his head. Flames of "vengeance" flickered in his eyes, along with a trace of resolve.
"That Yang Lingtian murdered the Holy Son. This was a monstrous crime, deserving ten thousand deaths."
"As the Saintess of the Xuanba Sword Sect, how could I allow him to remain at large?"
"Although this disciple knew that my cultivation was inferior to that villain's, for the honor of the sect,
and to avenge Senior Brother