Chapter 843: Punishment

Li Ruolan’s charming eyes faintly narrowed. She was surprised by Chu Li’s reply.

Mo Qingqing was stabbed by the Destiny Clan’s hidden weapon first before she was stabbed with another sword. Aside from that, there were no clues to solve Mo Qingqing’s death. The Destiny Clan was a faction in the Qiu Dynasty, and their disciples were extremely skilled at using hidden weapons with terrifying destructive force.

The Destiny Clan’s disciples were absolutely unrestrained when they arrived in the Li Dynasty. Numerous masters of the martial arts world had perished because of the Destiny Clan’s hidden weapons, which illustrated how illustrious and powerful Destiny Clan was. This time, one of the Destiny Clan’s disciples had apparently killed Mo Qingqing.

The Destiny Clan’s disciples had previously attempted to assassinate Chu Li, and now, that made him a suspect because of the link between him and the Destiny Clan. Li Ruolan merely questioned Chu Li as part of protocol. Frankly, she did not fully believe it but she also assumed that Chu Li would flatly deny this.

Although Chu Li might have been involved in Mo Qingqing’s death, he could still deny it as there were absolutely no flaws in Chu Li’s alibi and it was nearly perfect. Due to that, they would have been forced to close the case by saying that Mo Qingqing’s death was solely caused by the Destiny Clan.

However, Li Ruolan had never expected that Chu Li would simply admit everything.

She was stuck in a dilemma now.

Li Ruolan sighed. “Zhao Dahe, please think carefully before you speak. Are you aware of the punishment for killing a fellow member of your sect?”

Chu Li shook his head.

Li Ruolan replied, “Your martial arts will be crippled and your legacy will be revoked. You will also be permanently expelled from the Holy Church of Light.”

Chu Li frowned and said, “Mo Qingqing went looking for the Destiny Clan’s disciples and asked them to kill me first. They repeatedly tried to assassinate me. I truly couldn’t bear it anymore.”

“You could have turned to me,” Li Ruolan scoffed. “The Church would have naturally assisted you if you sought them out.”

Chu Li shook his head. “The Destiny Clan merely consists of assassins. It would have been impossible to find the mastermind who pulled the strings behind the scenes. I may have to report to my superiors this time, but I know that I’ll be left with no other choice if this happened again. So, I was forced to solve this issue once and for all — I’ll murder anyone who tries to kill me!”

Li Ruolan sighed. “If you really killed her, all of your previous efforts will be wasted. Your achievements will be utterly lost!”

Chu Li replied, “Miss Ruolan, I don’t want to lie to you or the Saint. It’s true that I killed Mo Qingqing… However, I’ll never admit this to any other person who asks. I killed the Destiny Clan’s disciple first. After that, I snatched his hidden weapon and killed Mo Qingqing. Won’t my alibi be perfect if I shift the blame to the Destiny Clan?”

Li Ruolan’s emotions were strangely conflicted. She sighed. “There’s no such thing as a perfect alibi!”

“Are there any flaws with my alibi?” Chu Li asked as he frowned.

Li Ruolan replied, “Yes, there’s a flaw because the Destiny Clan’s disciple tried to assassinate you previously.”

Chu Li said, “That’s easy. I’ll say that the Destiny Clan had ulterior motives. They wanted to kill me and Mo Qingqing at the same time. In the end, I managed to escape the assassination attempt, but Mo Qingqing failed to do the same. The Destiny Clan’s disciples are despicable!”

Li Ruolan’s smile vanished. She shook her head and said, “You seem to have a lot of ideas about killing people.”

Chu Li replied, “The Church has every right to punish me because I killed someone for no reason. However, I was forced to kill her to defend myself. Do I still deserve to be punished?”

Li Ruolan shook her head again. “I’m afraid that you can’t escape this. You can say whatever you want and come up with other excuses, but killing a fellow member of your sect is a serious crime. You’ll definitely be punished for that!”

“Fine, I’ll plead guilty to every offense!” Chu Li huffed. “However, I won’t agree to having my martial arts crippled or being expelled from the Church.”

“You…” Li Ruolan sighed. “Why must you worry me? Have you also been secretly dealing with the Tian Luo Sect?”

Chu Li replied, “I wouldn’t have escaped the White Tiger Sect’s ambush if it wasn’t for the Tian Luo Sect. Without their help, I would’ve fled and returned to Great Light Peak long ago!”

“The Tian Luo Sect…” Li Ruolan muttered.

Chu Li asked, “Is something wrong?”

“What’s done is done.” Li Ruolan said, “You have to be clever. Don’t let other people take advantage of you!”

Chu Li arrogantly said, “Who could take advantage of me?”

“As for the White Tiger Sect…” Li Ruolan sighed before she said, “You should stop before you’ve gone too far. Don’t pressure them anymore. Once you’ve truly provoked the White Tiger Sect, they’ll eat you for breakfast!”

“Of course.” Chu Li nodded. “That’s right, I helped the Tian Luo Sect destroy the Church of the Bloody Garment several days ago.”

Li Ruolan frowned. “They’re a branch of the Church of the Divine Blood from the Nan Zheng District. You shouldn’t underestimate them. They’re also lunatics who will fight to their last breath. Why did you get involved with them?”

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“I’ve completely annihilated them.” A smug look appeared on Chu Li’s face. “They were idiots who refused to flee despite being too weak to defeat me. They insisted on dying in vain.”

“The Church of the Bloody Garment is alright, but the Church of the Divine Blood is truly terrifying.” Li Ruolan said, “It would be best if you didn’t provoke them… Anyway, your cultivation level has advanced greatly. You’ve made significant progress.”

Li Ruolan could feel Chu Li’s mountainous aura. Chu Li had greatly improved from the previous time when he was at Small Light Peak.

Chu Li suddenly beamed with joy before he told Li Ruolan about his discovery.

A shocked expression instantly appeared on Li Ruolan’s face.

She never knew that one could cultivate their martial arts this way.

“I’d like to stay here for a little while longer until the martial arts competition begins.” Chu Li smiled and said, “My Isolated Cultivation is six to seven times stronger here than it is when I return to Small Light Peak. I’ve been improving at a tremendous pace!”

“But we don’t know if there are any side effects,” Li Ruolan retorted.

Chu Li replied, “There’s no need to worry about that for now. I’ll just focus on my cultivation.”

“I’m returning immediately. I have to report this matter to the Saint.” Li Ruolan huffed. “I don’t think that the Saint will be merciful, but you should await your punishment.”

Chu Li straightened his neck and said, “If I have to be punished, then so be it. I’m still going to kill my attacker if I ever encounter this situation again in the future!”

“In that case, you should give up on becoming an inner mountain disciple!” Li Ruolan angrily spat. “You can’t achieve great things just by indulging in your volatile personal feelings.”

“How could I live a meaningful life if I merely suffered in silence?” Chu Li scoffed. “I practice martial arts because I want to satisfy myself by repaying my debts and getting revenge. I don’t want to be mistreated!”

Li Ruolan glared at Chu Li, but she remained silent.

Everyone had their own opinions. It was impossible for Li Ruolan to persuade Chu Li because Chu Li was as stubborn as a donkey. There was nothing that Li Ruolan could say to change Chu Li’s mind.

…

Li Ruolan stood before the Saint, Sun Mingyue, in the basilica of Great Light Peak. Li Ruolan accurately reported the things that Chu Li had said.

Sun Mingyue rose and left her desk. Sun Mingyue clasped her hands behind her back and paced around when she reached the bottom of the steps.

She was very elegantly and her clothes were as white as snow. Although a white veil covered her face, her gorgeous almond-shaped eyes were exposed. This bright and piercing gaze of hers could intoxicate many people’s hearts.

“My Saint, Zhao Dahe did not actually commit any crimes. He merely couldn’t bear Mo Qingqing’s repeated assassination attempts. We’re fully aware of Zhao Dahe’s personality. He simply refuses to swallow his anger,” Li Ruolan explained.

Sun Mingyue quietly asked, “Are you saying that we shouldn’t punish him?”

“We should just pretend that we don’t know about it,” Li Ruolan replied.

Sun Mingyue shook her head. “I can’t let him off because I’m already aware of this.”

“We wouldn’t have discovered that it was Zhao Dahe if he had insisted on denying it.” Li Ruolan said, “It’s rare for someone to be as honest as him.”

Sun Mingyue coldly yelled, “Nobody is allowed to violate the rules of the Church!”

“Are you really going to cripple his martial arts?” Li Ruolan exclaimed as she lost her temper.

Sun Mingyue slowly nodded. “Yes, his martial arts will be crippled.”

“My Saint!” Li Ruolan loudly cried out.

Sun Mingyue glanced at her with her sharp eyes.

Li Ruolan shook her head and said, “How could you do this? The church may have rules, but it must be merciful as well!”

Sun Mingyue replied, “After taking the circumstances into consideration, I’ve decided to reduce Zhao Dahe’s punishment because he was forced to kill Mo Qingqing. I won’t revoke his legacy or expel him from the Church.”

“My Saint, the entrance competition will be held soon. If you cripple Zhao Dahe’s martial arts…” Li Ruolan frantically added.

Sun Mingyue waved her pale hand and quietly said, “Nobody is above the rules of the Church. Zhao Dahe is a genius, but he won’t receive any special treatment.”

“My Saint…” Li Ruolan felt that Chu Li was being treated unfairly. Chu Li should have lied if he knew about the consequences beforehand.