Jura began to shake as his fear skyrocketed.

“I SWEAR I’M NOT THE IMPOSTER!” he yelled as he saw everyone’s gazes turn cold.

They stood silently awaiting Futian’s judgment.

One of Arius’s hands held him up in the air while another rested on his chest, at a moment's notice he could rip into his heart and crush it.

All it would take is Futian’s approval.

“I-”

Futian was cut off mid sentence.

Daiyu grabbed Arius and pushed him away from Jura, standing between the two of them.

“You… you seem far too eager.” She spoke as she looked him up and down.

Just a second before she acted, she had seen another vision. In her future she foresaw many things. But she was sure of two things, the first being that Arius was the one to kill Futian and Liza, and the second thing, Jura’s death being the starting point to this chain of events.

As long as she could prevent Jura from dying, she would be able to avoid that scenario.

Arius turned his gaze to Futian, his expression betraying a hint of surprise.

“Senior brother, she’s protecting the imposter…. Could it be, she’s allied with the demonic faction? She was even traveling with that red haired man.”

Krimin's hand rested on his saber and he stood still, his eyes shut, awaiting the moment in which he would act. He knew if he as a demonic cultivator spoke up for Daiyu it would only serve as another point Arius would exploit.

“Like hell. If we’re speaking of suspicion, you seem the most suspicious, the moment an imposter is mentioned you try to kill the first person you see. Almost like you don’t want to give us a chance to think.” she argued in response.

“Arius’s points were valid, he made a compelling case, while Daiyu criticized the fact that he was able to figure it out so quickly.” Futian thought as he rubbed his forehead, it was clear that Daiyu was the one being unreasonable here.

“Fellow disciple of the righteous path Daiyu, I’ll give you one chance to move away from the killer, if you do that we’ll pretend like this never happened.” He presented a merciful way out for her.

She was a valuable disciple to the Celestial Haven Sect and if she died because of his commands, the consequences would be heavy.

“Listen Futian, Arius. He’s the imposter I’m sure of it, don’t ask me how or why. You have to believe me, he is the imposter!” She pleaded while gritting her teeth.

“Senior brother, she’s speaking gibberish, me being the imposter? I’ve been with you from the start. Someone of your caliber could surely tell if I wasn’t the same person.” Arius was quick to defend himself.

Futian nodded at Arius.

How could Arius be the traitor, he had never left his side this entire time, he had helped him try to protect the camp.

The entire time Futian had been stuck here, the greatest asset at his side was Arius.

He slowly withdrew an azure fan from his storage ring, clearly done with talking, yet one small question was still ringing in the back of his mind, he wanted to know before he acted.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“How are you so sure he’s the imposter?” He asked Daiyu.

She looked at him with a conflicted expression. Anyone could tell she was carefully considering what to say next.

She slowly parted her lips, her voice clearly shaky, unsure if it should leave her mouth.

“The reason I know….. is because, I-I can see the future!”

The words sobered Futian up, his heart was no longer faltering at the prospect of killing her, her rationale had told him everything he needed to know.

“What a sorry excuse.” he spoke in an annoyed tone as he took a step forward.

Orion hastily inserted himself into the conversation, he had to at this point. If Daiyu continued stubbornly protecting Jura, she would die.

“Futian, I can drag her away from Jura. It must be some kind of compulsion driving her to this.”

Futian looked at the mountain of the man standing before him.

He nodded, there was no need to waste manpower on defeating both him and Daiyu, he would let the two of them deal with each other.

Krimin took a step and arrived in front of Daiyu and Jura.

“She speaks the truth.” he said simply as he held his saber out in front of him.

A heavy saber intent suffocated those who stood before him..

Much like sword intent, saber intent had the ability to weigh down a person, if refined to great levels one could wield their intent as a weapon, forgoing the physical variant.

“Great, allied with even more demonic cultivators, that’s all you needed to prove your innocence.” Futian scoffed at the statement.

Daiyu took a step backwards, shielding the one behind her, she knew as long as Jura survived all would be fine.

Even if she was seen as a traitor it was fine.

If she was seen as a disgusting vile person it was fine.

Even if she was seen as the villain it was fine, as long as Jura survived.

Krimin was powerful, insanely powerful. If he truly needed to fight all those who stood before him he could. He would be injured but Jura would live.

She could see the future actively changing, a hope emerged within her, fate was not absolute. As long as she tried she could change it.

But something was still wrong, a weird scent of blood in the air.

She caught sight of Arius's expression. Even though his lips did not move, the sneer on his face and the triumphant look told her what he silently mouthed.

"You've already lost," she deciphered.

Her plan soon unraveled as a pained shriek sounded from behind her.

She quickly turned her head.

Futian, Arius and the righteous disciples watched the scene with a smile on their faces.

Jura had a wound large enough to stick a fist through, right where his heart was.

A hand with long fingernails, held his heart before promptly crushing it.

Liza had reached her breaking point. If killing Jura meant Futian would spare them she would do it. It didn’t matter if she truly believed he was the imposter or not.

“I killed him, I killed the one who killed your disciples....Now you should leave.” she spoke in a defeated tone as she fell to her knees and exhaled.

Futian tilted his head, unsure about what to do.

He could leave, but he could also vanquish the remaining demonic cultivators. There was something to be said about unprovoked killing, she even killed one of her fellow disciples, and it would leave his group without injuries.

Fortunately for him he did not have to make a decision.

“ORTHODOX BASTARDS!” A voice came from the forest, followed by a Qi infused Metal shard, hurling towards Futian, aiming for his head.

Arius ran towards him.

“SENIOR BROTHER WATCH OUT!” He yelled as he forcefully pushed Futian to the ground.

Futian looked up, anger present in his expression, however the rage was short lived, quickly replaced by angst.

He saw Arius fall to the ground, his eyes lifeless, and a narrow hole on the right side of his chest.

Any chance of sparing the demonic cultivators was thrown out of the window, he now knew that the reason he came here was the correct one.

Daiyu was at a loss for words, and out of ideas. The killer and the one who must not be killed were both dead. Where did that leave her?

13 members of the Unorthodox group remaining, 19 members of the orthodox group remaining.