"Ye Lineage, do you... know your crime!"
High Person Xueqing spoke again.
Her voice was just as indifferent, yet it exploded in the air like a thunderclap, shaking everyone's hearts and souls.
Some of the weaker disciples fared even worse, dropping straight to their knees.
"May I ask where you hail from, esteemed expert, and how we have offended you?"
Ye Xuan cupped his fists and asked with utmost caution.
During this time, he and several lineage elders had all made breakthroughs.
Even so, none had broken through to the Xiantian realm.
Yet the woman in palace robes possessed an overwhelming presence, her oppressive might far surpassing that of Xiantian cultivators. Without a doubt, she had to be an Origin Core expert.
At present, no one in the Ye Lineage could possibly match her.
Perhaps their ancestor could, but he was not at the Ye Lineage at present, and no one knew where he was.
"Hmph!"
Chen Xue, the Falling Snow Sect's leading core disciple, snorted coldly. Her slender brows bristled as she angrily spoke first. "You trash dared openly rape and murder disciples of our Falling Snow Sect, and now you dare pretend you know nothing!"
Ye Xuan and the other lineage elders were greatly startled, their expressions somewhat panicked.
If the Ye Lineage really had done this, the Falling Snow Sect would certainly never spare them.
The Falling Snow Sect bordered the Clear Wind Kingdom and was not far from Clearwater Town, so everyone had heard of it.
As a third-grade sect, its strength could be said to rival the Breeze Sect's.
The Ye Lineage had already killed an elder of the Breeze Sect, and now they had provoked another formidable enemy like the Falling Snow Sect. At once, everyone in the Ye Lineage was filled with dread.
Many martial artists from Clearwater Town also came after hearing the commotion. Once they learned what had happened, they all grieved over the Ye Lineage's plight.
In Clearwater Town, the Ye Lineage was famously good-natured, treating others kindly and never committing wrongdoing.
No one had expected such upheavals to befall the lineage one after another. It was truly a pity!
"Alas, what a shame. Such a good lineage, yet they've actually provoked two powers high above the clouds!"
"Isn't that the truth!"
"The Breeze Sect hasn't come, but the Falling Snow Sect has come to demand an accounting first!"
"Even if they escape the Falling Snow Sect, they can't possibly escape the Breeze Sect. That Wang Shuiyan was the Breeze Sect master's disciple!"
"Alas! These days, good people get no good in return!"
"My lady, might there be some misunderstanding here? The disciples of our Ye Lineage have always treated others kindly. They could never commit such vile acts!"
Ye Xuan steeled himself and answered.
He did not believe anyone in the Ye Lineage would do something so shameful. Someone must have framed them.
"Hmph! The evidence is conclusive. One of the female disciples who was raped that day managed to return to the sect and personally said the Ye Lineage of Clearwater had done it. Are you still trying to deny it?"
Chen Xue's face was frosty as she spoke disdainfully.
"This humble one is not trying to deny it, but there is something suspicious about this matter..."
"Hmm? You mean our Falling Snow Sect has falsely accused you?"
High Person Xueqing, who stood to one side, abruptly lashed out, her tone icy and utterly devoid of feeling.
With that accusation, the surrounding temperature abruptly dropped. Even beneath the blazing sun, everyone in the Ye Lineage felt a bone-piercing chill.
Ye Xuan clenched his hands tightly and bit hard into his lip, his face full of struggle.
He wanted to argue, but he simply did not dare.
Because he, and the entire Ye Lineage, were weak.
And the weak had no right to speak at all.
Ye Yan was even more indignant. He glared fiercely at the two above, wanting to unleash a torrent of abuse, but Ye Xuan's spiritual power had sealed all the acupoints throughout his body, leaving him unable to make a sound.
The other Ye Lineage disciples were also deeply unwilling to accept this, unwilling to be trampled beneath someone else's feet without even the confidence to argue.
At this moment, a fire seemed to ignite in the hearts of every member of the Ye Lineage. All it needed was a handful of kindling and a gust of wind to become a prairie blaze.
Watching the Ye Lineage seethe without daring to speak, High Person Xueqing's cool eyes gained a further measure of mockery.
Right and wrong did not matter at all.
If they said it was so, then it was so. If they said it was not, then it was not.
In her eyes, the entire Ye Lineage was nothing but a bunch of trash, a swarm of ants. Had the sect master not personally instructed her, she would never have come to such a lowly place.
Chen Xue raised her proud head, her face filled with smugness, contempt, and ridicule.
She thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of trampling others beneath her feet, for only that could highlight her nobility.
"The Ye Lineage dared defy its superiors, knowing nothing of rank or station, and raped disciples of our Falling Snow Sect. Yet you remain unrepentant and offer every manner of sophistry. Your crime warrants-"
"Execution!"
High Person Xueqing pronounced heavenly judgment, her voice icy. Those final words were like a massive club, striking hard against everyone's hearts.
The dull sound shook heaven and earth.
Many people's internal organs ruptured from the shock, blood pouring from their seven orifices.
Silence oppressed to its utmost limit would inevitably lead to even fiercer resistance.
At this moment, that was exactly what happened to Ye Yan.
Having obtained abundant cultivation resources, along with guidance from Xuan Danzi, a Saint, he had broken through to the Qi Sea Realm just yesterday.
Today, the extreme humiliation made his conviction to grow stronger burn more fiercely than ever before. Driven by that conviction, he actually broke through on the spot, reaching the Qi Sea Third Layer in the blink of an eye.
Ye Xuan had not placed much spiritual power on him, and at this moment could spare him no attention at all.
Thus, he abruptly exerted his strength and broke free of his restraints.
"Execute your fucking mother!"
He roared in fury and actually attacked first, blasting out a punch.
At the sight, the others were startled at first, before their hearts began to surge.
"That's right, execute your fucking mother!"
"Fuck your mother's goddamn cunt!"
"You two bitches, let us show you what the men of the Ye Lineage can do!"
"..."
The Ye Lineage disciples cursed as they followed Ye Yan in attacking.
Ye Xuan and the Ye Lineage's senior members were greatly alarmed at the sight, but it was already too late to stop them.
Watching the Ye Lineage disciples charge forward with no regard for their lives, they were anxious at first, then moved, before their gratification finally gave way to acceptance.
To preserve the Ye Lineage, they had made their clansmen swallow their anger for decades.
Though this had allowed them to cling to life, it had also cost the Ye Lineage their ancestors' hot-blooded courage, the invincible heart of a true powerhouse.
Now, seeing the young disciples united in fury, unafraid of death, they certainly could not cower and hide behind them.
"Everyone, I, Ye Xuan, will go on ahead!"
Ye Xuan spoke with a smile, then charged to the very front without hesitation.
"Hmph! We can't let these little brats get ahead of us!"
"Don't disgrace our ancestors!"
"It's only death. If I must die, I'll die at the very front!"
Then these old men, who had spent their entire lives being cautious and circumspect, charged forward with no fear of death.
Seeing that the Ye Lineage actually dared resist, High Person Xueqing flew into a rage. "Ants, you dare resist!"
"If I want you to live, you may live. If I want you to die, how dare you not die?"
With a flick of her horsetail whisk, flying snow and ice blades blotted out the sky as they shot toward the Ye Lineage.
The corners of her lips curved upward, her face filled with disdain.
A bunch of trash, yet they still dreamed of shaking a great tree like ants. Utterly ridiculous.
Chen Xue likewise watched the Ye Lineage below with a cold sneer.
For some reason, watching the people below struggle on the brink of death gave her an even stronger thrill.
The feeling of holding others' lives and deaths in her hands was truly wonderful!
But just as the flying snow and blades were about to reach the Ye Lineage, they suddenly vanished without a trace, as though they had never appeared.
Just then, a white figure slowly appeared, an overwhelming presence surging straight into the clouds.