Something was wrong!
The Sacred Sect representatives realized it almost immediately.
They clearly remembered that the Thousand Sects Alliance had kicked up exactly the same sort of uproar just moments ago.
Afterward, the embarrassment on the faces of its Alliance Leader and elders had vanished, replaced by relief.
The commotion in Heavenly Baleful Valley was practically identical to what had happened across from them!
They understood at once.
Ye Xiaotian and Zheng Tianyuan were putting on a show!
They had deliberately picked someone to take the blame so they could escape the embarrassment of losing all their dignity and becoming laughingstocks!
But... wasn't their acting a little too convincing?!
Had the representatives not already noticed the commotion on the other side, they might never have seen through this performance!
One of the Sacred Sect representatives hurried forward to smooth things over.
"Ahem, Valley Master Ye, don't blame yourself too much."
"As the saying goes, a big forest has birds of every feather. Every sect inevitably has a few people blinded by greed. This isn't your fault."
"Exactly, exactly!" The other Sacred Sect representatives nodded in agreement, then turned to Zheng Tianyuan and spoke with expressions of "magnanimity."
"Besides, Elder Zheng here surely had his reasons. He must have been momentarily led astray by someone and inadvertently stepped onto the wrong path."
Uh!!!
Hearing their clumsy attempts to back him up, Ye Xiaotian's heart lurched:
Damn it, my performance was seamless! Don't let these idiots ruin it!
Zheng Tianyuan was thinking much the same thing: The duck's almost in my mouth! Don't make it fly away now!
But all he could do was nod along.
"Yes, yes, I... I simply lost my head for a moment."
Yet the disciples who knew nothing of the truth saw how broad-minded these lofty Sacred