Passing Sentence (II)

"Yuan Jin, Ye Zhengwen, Kang Rongquan, Duan Anle"

Five full rows! A total of thirty-nine people! The elders, True Disciple, and most of the elite of the Chongming Sect were all listed among them. If they all perished, Sect Leader Kang Da would not know how many years he would have to cry before he could sleep at night.

Kang Dabao was hunched over, his head almost touching the ground. He gripped the Jade Slip tightly in his hands, his breathing heavy, his eyes bloodshot, and he looked as if he were about to cry blood.

This time, Kuang Liuting showed no mercy, and the cold-hearted nature of the Kuang Household clan could no longer be concealed.

He was determined to use this incident to establish a precedent in the surrounding states, meaning that regardless of whether it was his in- Yue Household or the Chongming Sect whom he favored, they would all have to offer up a mountain of lives to make his position as the Earl of Nan'an more appealing.

Kang Dabao fell silent, letting out a long sigh, recalling what he and the Daoist Black Shoes had said two months ago before heading to the state court—

"Does Uncle-Master think there's any possibility of a turnaround this time with the Earl of Nan'an?"

"The Kuang Household is cold-hearted. Judging from what the various families in the capital say in private, Kuang Liuting is the most outstanding among them. How could he possibly care about the lives of a mere Foundation Establishment or Qi Refining Qi Refinement?!"

The Daoist Black Shoes sighed softly, glanced at Peng Xingyu was now powerless to struggle, before turning back to speak:

"If he disregards the prior collusion between the disciples of Five Old Mothers Mountain and the Yue Household, and only insists on punishing Chongming Sect and rebellious crimes, then he will face an inescapable disaster."

Sect Leader Kang Da gasped, and after a long pause, finally spoke, "Then what does Uncle-Master think Kuang Liuting will do?"

Without pausing, the Daoist Black Shoes said in a deep voice, "It seems to be nothing more than killing or exiling. The number of people killed may be less, but there will definitely be some killed."

But no matter how many are killed, the number of people exiled will not be small. After all, the Mountain South part of the mountain is relatively peaceful, but there are still several border areas of the Great Wei Immortal Dynasty where fierce fighting is taking place. It is not uncommon for even Golden Core cultivators to die, and battles between True Person occur from time to time.

Therefore, the major factions and Aristocratic Clan stationed in those areas would ask the Kuang Household clan for supplies and personnel every year, firstly to strengthen the borders, and secondly to weaken the clan's power.

If they don't give enough, they might even dare to unleash their demonic calamity all the way to the Capital Circuit, letting the princes and nobles in the imperial palace see what a war-torn border region looks like."

"What should that kid do?" Kang Dabao sighed, looking down, as if he couldn't bear to think about what would happen.

The Daoist Black Shoes shook his head and said softly, "If I knew what to do, I wouldn't have given up the position of sect leader of Hemu Dao so easily."

Seeing the troubled look on Kang Dabao's face, he spoke again:

"Don't become dependent on me just because I'm here. I'm not as far-sighted as my elder brother, and I only have some strength, so I can't be your strategist. But even a fool like a gecko knows when to cut its tail to save itself. You're an excellent person at managing a household; you should have figured this out long ago."

Kang Dabao fell silent, only saying softly, "I understand, but if the Earl of Nan'an wants too many lives, I should..."

Before Sect Leader Kang Da could finish speaking, the Daoist Black Shoes interrupted him with a low sigh:

"There's no such thing as what should or shouldn't be done. If you and I had already achieved the Golden Core, Kuang Liuting's annoying behavior of talking about laws and regulations and ignoring social norms might have become a little more restrained."

But we are far from being able to make him wary. So there's nothing I can do. If he only sentences me to exile and doesn't mention killing me, I might still be able to go to the state court and obey his orders in exchange for Kuang Liuting's leniency towards the Chongming Sect.

But if he were to order a bloodbath, it would mean there was no turning back. He was determined to use human lives to forge his ironclad rules, and no one could dissuade him. At that point, all we could do was hope that his knife would be dull and our necks would be strong enough to withstand the onslaught.

Kang Dabao was certainly aware of these principles.

The Daoist Black Shoes had already revealed his trump card by capturing Peng Xingyu and then offered to get involved himself in exchange for the Chongming Sect of the Chongming Sect. He was already extremely grateful and could not afford to be a burden in the slightest.

He pondered for a moment before speaking:

"As long as Kuang Liuting doesn't mention killing anyone, even if the entire sect is exiled, it's not an unacceptable thing. As the sage once said, 'Those who are united in purpose will prevail, and those who share the same boat will prosper.' This is because I, as the sect leader, have done a bad job. It is Chongming Sect's own fault to suffer this calamity. We cannot let it further hinder my uncle's cultivation."

As for Kuang Liuting, if he wants someone killed, I won't give one up easily. I will have my Second Third brothers take some men and flee to another place immediately, and they will not return until they have been informed. Let alone whether they can escape, we will at least delay things for a while, hoping that things can take a turn for the better."

"In the hope that things might turn around again." Kang Dabao murmured softly, a self-deprecating smile playing on his lips, before closing his eyes again, unable to bear to look any longer. This was because the number of disciples he had sent out to escape was less than a quarter of the list on this Jade Slip.

He had indeed underestimated how heartless the Earl of Nan'an was. He thought to himself, "What an incorruptible pillar of the imperial clan, the Earl of Nan'an! I just hope the Second and the Little Sanzi go far enough to survive; that's enough. I don't have any other ambitions."

Kuang Liuting couldn't hear the inner cries of Sect Leader Kang Da, and the Earl of Nan'an didn't linger on the latter's face for long, leaving him sprawled on the ground like a rotten mud.

He then turned to Peng Xingyu's side, speaking softly and politely, "Fellow Daoist Peng, please don't kneel. You should rise first. Disciples of a major sect should maintain their dignity."

Peng Xingyu felt as if he had been granted a pardon. Not long after he became cautious, he heard Kuang Liuting speak again, "After all, you are a disciple of True Person. I cannot kill you without reporting it. I would rather you return to your sect, explain the cause and effect to your master, settle your affairs after death, and then return to the state court to face your death."

Peng Xingyu immediately changed, and everyone in the hall became solemn, even the two Golden Core Yang Household showed surprise and shock on their faces.

"This is Nascent Soul cultivator! Does this brat surnamed Kuang still think this world is like the time when the Great Ancestor was still alive? Any member of the imperial clan can call for war against other cultivators; any clan king can decide the life and death of a Grand True Person?!"

Peng Xingyu didn't speak, but her face was streaked with tears, making her look pitiful.

Kuang Liuting showed no pity, simply saying in a calm voice, "If you don't come, I will go to Five Old Mothers Mountain to find you. But that would cause you to lose face as a disciple of a major sect, which wouldn't be pleasant."

Stopping Peng Xingyu urged her to leave quickly. After her graceful figure rode away from the hall on a flying sword, Kuang Liuting seemed to remember that Yue Lin, Tie Liuyun, and others were still kneeling inside.

He turned around and asked in a low voice, "Do Patriarch Yue Household and Tie Liuyun have anything else to say?"

Yue Lin, however, was a straightforward man. He bowed deeply and said, "Yue Lin is guilty, but you may punish me as you see fit; I will have no complaints."

The Yue Household was, after all, the Yue Household of the Marquis of Earl of Nan'an. Tie Liuyun assumed that Yue Lin was relying on this status to be so at ease.

But he didn't think this lord was easy to talk to today. At this critical moment, he didn't dare to be as straightforward and frank as Yue Lin. He simply bowed his head again and said, "Please forgive me, Lord!"

"The Yue Household's selfishness is the root cause of this incident! Considering Yue Lin's past merits and his advanced age, we will waive his life as punishment and confiscate all of the Yue Household's property as a warning. There is a list here as well, and the Yue Household members on it will still have to die."

In addition, the various cultivators of the Han City Yue Household were divided into three branches. One branch went to White Buddha Prefecture in Liangxi, one branch went to Whale Pod Commandery in Haibei, and the other remained in their own sect to serve. From then on, unless ordered by the king, the three branches were never to meet in private again.

The people in the room showed no surprise upon hearing this, as Kuang Liuting had only recently gained the support of the direct descendant of the Yang Household.

The increase in strength brought about by the two cultivators from their family alone exceeds the sum of Cloud Horn Prefecture Court's painstaking efforts in the surrounding prefectures over the past two or three decades.

When the Han City Yue Household had not yet established a firm foothold in Kuang Liuting, they could still be considered a fairly powerful force, which was enough to earn the slight respect of the Earl of Nan'an.

However, within the current Cloud Horn Prefecture Court, its weight has indeed diminished somewhat.

Yue Household, apart from Yue Lin, an old cultivator comparable to True Core, the rest of the Yue Household are indeed unremarkable and worthy of Kuang Liuting's attention.

As long as Yue Lin was still alive, Kuang Liuting's punishment of splitting the Yue Household into three separate households with no communication between them could not be considered a serious blow to the Cloud Horn Prefecture Court. However, the punishment of dividing the family to strengthen the border was a painful blow to the Yue Household.

This shows that Kuang Liuting put a lot of thought into this matter.

But when Yue Lin heard the sound, he showed no sign of sadness or joy. Tie Liuyun, who was banging his head on the ground, was clearly uneasy.

But his unease didn't last long before he heard Kuang Liuting speak again:

"Tie Liuyun aided and abetted the wicked, Yixin factional strife, and disregarded the law, which led to a tragedy outside Learning Forest Mountain and damaged the vitality of our state. Therefore, he is hereby stripped of his post and will not be reinstated for half a century."

In addition, the Tie Household's clan property will also be confiscated, and the entire clan will be relocated to Old Ox Mountain in White Sand County immediately to exchange clan land with the Yunwei Zheng Household, in preparation for the recapture of the entire Jingnan region.

The punishment from the Tie Household was not necessarily more severe than that from the Yue Household, but tears still streamed down Tie Liuyun's face.

His grief for the fate of his clan was secondary; what he truly cared about was that the Golden Core Formation Pill, which had once been within reach, had become unattainable, and he didn't know when he would finally achieve it.

Furthermore, without his official title and all his family property, this former deputy commander would no longer be able to maintain his elite Xiezhi Iron Guard at the same level, nor would he be able to instill fear in the False Core.

It should be noted that after the Tie Household gained power, they dominated Tanggu County. During this period, apart from Tie Xishui casting Green Leaf, no other Foundation Establishment emerged from the vast Tie Household.

This is not only inferior to the Yue Household family, whose True Cultivator has almost doubled, but it is also inferior to a dilapidated sect like the Chongming Sect. From this, one can see how much resources the Xiezhi Iron Guard under Tie Liuyun's command consumes, and how selfish Tie Liuyun, the head of the family, is.

If the Tie Household were merely punished with the confiscation of their clan property and a weakening of their power, that would be one thing. But they also had to replace the Yunwei Zheng Household to directly confront the powerful Pill Master Yuan Buwen and use each life lost to regain their trust in the Cloud Horn Prefecture Court.

They will lose their positions and titles, and be constantly wary of being exploited and oppressed by Tie Liuyun. The Tie Household's situation then will be far more dire than simply a matter of "rapidly declining" compared to their current state.

Tie Liuyun's face visibly paled, clearly showing that he had lost all hope.

He felt he finally understood the meaning behind his colleagues' private remark that "the Kuang Household is mean-spirited and ungrateful," but he was powerless to do anything more. He closed his eyes and consoled himself, saying, "At least none of them have died like Chongming Sect and the Yue Household."

Every word Kuang Liuting spoke was a matter of life and death, but neither Yue Lin, the head of the Yue Household who was comparable to Golden Core cultivator, nor Tie Liuyun, the commander who destroyed families and ancestral temples, dared to utter a single word of "no."

This intensified Kang Dabao's grief. His mind raced through the names of the disciples, and he could hardly imagine Chongming Sect Root Bone would be left if it lost these followers.

But what can be done?

Apart from a seasoned spectator, there was no one else from the Fei Household. Acting Sima Gun remained as still as a stone, holding his breath and not uttering a word, while Zhu Tong was calm and composed, as if he were in another world.

None of these important figures showed the slightest intention to save Sect Leader Kang Da and the Chongming Sect.

Just like the governor Zhu Tong, who coldly watched the scene unfold before him, he didn't care about the life of the Chongming Sect at all, and was only thinking about the aftermath.

In his view, the loss of the Chongming Sect by the Capital Region Faction was merely a minor injury, but the Yue Household's split should have been a bolt from the blue for local cultivators. However, recently the Ye Prefecture Yang Household and even the Five Old Mothers Mountain of Mountain North Circuit have entered the fray.

As a result, Zhu Tong could hardly feel any joy. This was because, although his old rival had indeed left the game, the size of the poker table had more than doubled.

Even before Kuang Liuting has Core Formation, he is already in this state. If he truly becomes Upper-Grade Golden Core in the future, who knows how crowded this small Cloud Horn Prefecture will be.

If everyone wants to get involved, even the Master of the Star-Picking Pavilion, who has been stationed in Mountain South for hundreds of years, will find it extremely difficult to stop them.

If the Capital Region Faction doesn't establish a firm foothold now, it will sooner or later be squeezed out and torn apart by the major factions and prestigious families that come to reap the rewards.

Just as he was thinking this, Kuang Liuting had already sent someone to deliver a writing brush and a knife to Kang and Yue.

The Earl of Nan'an also knew that the list he and Gun Shilu had hastily finalized was full of errors and omissions. If he didn't let the two of them clarify things themselves, it would be too ruthless and might damage morale.

Kang Dabao had no idea how long it had been since he had last racked his brains and pondered over words like this.

He felt that he had thought and thought and finally found a good reason for the last few people to be on the side of strength. But for people like Jiang Qing, Yuan Jin, Kang Rongquan, Kuai En, there was really not a single word that could make Kuang Liuting agree to exonerate them.

The incense burned out quickly, and attendants Kang Dabao and Yue Lin snatched the Jade Slip from their hands Kuang Liuting frowned as he read it one by one, and with a few casual strokes of his gold-carving knife, he wrote a few more words of explanation. In this way, the two families lost a few more lives.

The Jade Slip was quickly thrown back to the two men. Kang Dabao was about to suppress his grief and reach out to take it when he saw that several attendants beside Kuang Liuting had already received instructions from the Earl to snatch Kang Rongquan and Kuai En from the Daoist Black Shoes, and then bring Gui Xiang to the middle of the hall.

"My lord... I beg your forgiveness!! My lord, please forgive me!!" Gui Xiang finally stammered out the words, but it was too late. Kuang Liuting remained unmoved, instead pointing him in the middle and speaking coldly:

"Although Kang Dabao was arguing before, he did get one thing right. You are indeed ignorant of righteousness and have caused the loyalty of my state court to be reduced to ashes. Don't think that you can escape death just because you have climbed up to a noble family and obtained an official position. There is no such logic in the world."

Kang Dabao, you can handle this man. After all, he's now a high-ranking official in the prefecture. Don't make things too ugly; leave him some dignity."

The Sect Leader Kang Da nodded without hesitation, and with a light slash of his short halberd, his sworn enemy, who had murdered his disciple, was decapitated.

However, the Jade Slip Chongming Sect was too heavy, making it difficult for him to feel any joy.

Several attendants each made a hand gesture, and a light rain and gentle breeze cleaned the filth from the hall.

Kuang Liuting showed no sign of stopping and gestured again. Meng Xuan, the criminal clerk who had been inactive for a long time, took over the task from his subordinates and personally carried a water and fire stick to Kang Rongquan and Kuai En.

Judging from this, it seems they intend to have these two ringleaders beaten to death in the hall.

Just like when Gui Xiang died, the high-ranking cultivators in the hall remained indifferent. Apart from Kang Dabao and the Daoist Black Shoes, not one of them showed any sign of pity. Only the Juntian Bird's eyes showed a slightly different expression, and no one knew what it was thinking in its huge head.

Just as Meng Xuan was about to raise his staff, the long-silent Sect Leader Kang Da suddenly spoke, abandoning all dignity, and knelt down, pleading in a mournful voice. "I beg Your Excellency to have some mercy. It is true that my grand-nephew and my nephew have committed a grave mistake, but please let them return to their hometown to explain themselves before they can set off."

Kuang Liuting scrutinized Kang Dabao for a moment, but when he spoke, he shattered Kang Dabao's hopes. "If you won't grant my request, then take action!"

The bright red fire and water sticks were raised high, ready to fall.

(The next chapter will be released immediately after midnight)