It did not look like Jin Ju would comply, some people were even supporting Jin Ju but did not dare to voice their opinions. Who would be dumb enough to drink that solution? It was the same as telling to someone: If you don’t come here and willingly become a retard, you will be labeled as a traitor.
Many people were conflicted about Tianshen’s methods. But what if he was a traitor? Didn’t that mean that Tianshen is doing the sect a great service and possibly preventing a future calamity? For some disciples, if they had to choose between Jin Ju becoming brain damaged or facing a possible future sect destruction, they were willing to take their chances on Jin Ju drinking that truth pill solution.
Cao Chen noticed that things were at a stalemate and not moving on in any way, so he had a sudden idea and stood up ‘’Jin Ju, I have reasons to suspect that you are a spy from another sect and Tianshen is acting under my orders, so rest assured if it turns out that I am wrong, I swear that I will take my own life and may all of my future generations be cursed with infertility.’’
Everyone was surprised yet again, Chief Cao Chen was either very certain about Jin Ju being a traitor, or he was covering up for Tianshen, or maybe this was just a prelude to the main event, thought a few.
Jin Ju suddenly screamed, jumped from his seat and tried to run away at full speed, but before he could go anywhere elder Jin Hai had already caught him and put a pill in his mouth, suddenly Jin Ju could not move any of his limbs.
Elder Jin Hai brought him back while everyone was still staring, some with an open mouth and some with satisfied expressions. For some, Jin Ju running away meant that he pretty much admitted to being a traitor, while to others it meant that he was just scared of drinking the pill of truth solution.
‘’Chief Cao Chen, do I have permission to give him the solution?’’ asked Tianshen.
‘’Yes’’ replied Cao Chen. He was glad that Tianshen was treating him as a Chief in front of people, he was well aware that if it was just them two in a room, Tianshen would never care for Cao Chen’s permission.
Tianshen was also doing this on purpose, he wanted to strengthen Cao Chen’s position in the sect, many elders were leaning towards Kong Zhi being the chief nowadays but that was only for political reasons. None of them were aware of Kong Zhi’s betrayal.
Tianshen poured the full cup of truth pill solution into Jin Ju’s mouth while elder Jin Hai was holding him.
After a moment Jin Ju’s eyes and expression became blank, it looked like he was staring into nothing lost all sense his surroundings.
Tianshen approached then turned to the crowd and said ‘’Now we will all know the truth about who he serves and who he really is’’.
After which he turned back to look at Jin Ju and asked him: ‘’Who are you? What is your real name?’’
‘’My name is Tang Ju of the Tang Clan’’ he replied while still having that blank expression on his face.
Many gasps were heard in the crowd, other people furrowed their eyebrows and others stomped at the ground in anger. A few girls in the crowd who were in love with ‘Jin Ju’ even started sobbing, nobody knew if it was out of disappointment because their beloved was a spy sent from the Tang Clan which was a mortal enemy of the Azure Dragon Sect, or because they knew what kind of fate awaited him now that the truth was out.
A lot of Elders instantly turned to Cao Chen and demanded the immediate execution of the spy, even Kong Zhi pretended to join them. But it was painfully obvious at this point, even to the elders that favored Kong Zhi that he did not mean a word from what he was saying.
This made Cao Chen happy, he was winning the favor of the elders that heavily opposed him politically in the past few years, it seemed like everything was turning around in just the span of a few weeks since he met the person called Tianshen.
Suddenly when the talk and whispering was getting a bit out of hand Tianshen asked more questions which silenced the crowd instantly and they returned to being attentive listeners.
‘’What is your position in the Tang Clan? Why are you spying on the Azure Dragon Sect? I want you to tell me all of your plans.’’
‘’I am the youngest son of Patriarch Tang Huo, I was raised in a secluded environment from a young age with the sole purpose of infiltrating this sect when the time is right. I was to work with people on the inside who were dissatisfied with Cao Chen. My father is currently leading a large force from the Tang Clan to raze the Azure Dragon Sect and The Azure City to the ground, in fact he should be arriving in a few hours, it was originally planned that they will attack while the tournament is still going on the the sect is at it’s weakest.’’ replied Tang Ju.
After all of this was heard, a lot of the crowd turned to look at each other in astonishment. So it wasn’t just about a spy infiltrating the sect, apparently there were people working with the Tang Clan from the inside.
Kong Zhi’s face became white from fear, he did not know what to do. He had a lot of supporters in the sect, but none of them would follow him if they knew that he committed such treason. That is why he kept it between himself and his sons to begin with. Another thing that Kong Zhi realized is that he was played for a fool by Tang Huo. He was never planning to hand the reigns of the Azure Dragon sect to him once he killed Cao Chen and the other high ranking elders, instead he was planning to destroy the whole sect from the very beginning.
Kong Zhi might have been a rotten, treacherous man driven by his thirst for power and status, but he was not an idiot. He knew that it was all over for him, he might as well come out and say it before Tianshen asked the question himself. At least in that way he could say that only he was the traitor and exclude his two sons, and in that way saving them the penalty of death. Or maybe he could even plead with Cao Chen and the rest of the elders to let him live since the Tang Clan was on its way here and he could be useful in battle as he is the second strongest cultivator here after Cao Chen.
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After pondering all of that, Kong Zhi stood up and raised his hand. After which he said: ‘’I was the traitor, I gave information to Tang Ju and he passed it to Tang Huo. But I never wanted the destruction of the sect, what I was promised is being the Chief of a new reformed Azure Dragon sect, one that is prosperous and is supported by the Tang Clan instead of opposing it. I am willing to face the consequences, just don’t harm my two sons, they had no part in this.’’
After saying that, Kong Zhi looked like he aged by 30 years in a single moment.
‘’Kong Zhi how could you?’’
‘’Yeah, we supported you Kong Zhi!’’
‘’Traitor, kill him!”
A lot of shouting was heard left and right from elders until a loud voice broke the shouting ‘’SILENCE!’’.
It was the chief Cao Chen who was now standing in front of his seat, but he was not angry, the only expression on his face was disappointment and disgust.
‘’Kong Zhi by committing such treason you have shamed your family, our sect and our ancestors. You leave me no choice but to sentence you to death. Elders your assistance please?’’
The rest of the elders came and encircled Kong Zhi who now dropped from his seat and knelt on the ground.
But just as everyone thought the show was over the voice of Tianshen sounded yet again ‘’Who else besides Kong Zhi knew of the treason and worked with him?’’
Everyone turned towards Tianshen and then looked at Tang Ju.
‘’His sons, Kong Feng and Kong Jie. Not only did they know about it, they worked closely together by trying to create dissent amongst disciples and promote hatred for Cao Chen’’.
Suddenly Kong Feng and Kong Jie both rushed at Tianshen from the crowd while shouting at him ‘’You bastard! You ruined everything! If we’re dying then you’re going down with us!’’
As the elders were about to make a move Cao Chen stopped them from doing so. The reason he did that was so that Tianshen could gain popularity amongst the sect too by killing these two traitors and cement himself as the Legacy disciple.
Kong Zhi shouted ‘’NO you fools STOP!’’ but it was too late.
Both Kong Feng and Kong Jie were already swinging their swords at Tianshen from two different angles, just as Kong Jie’s sword was about to make contact with Tianshen’s back, Kong Jie heard a voice coming from behind him ‘’Not only a sore loser, but also a traitor, let me put you out of your misery already’’ after which a beam of flames shot into Kong Jie’s back and pierced him completely by incinerating all of his internal organs and then exiting through his chest.
While Kong Jie was still in the process of dropping dead on the ground, Tianshen extended his hand to meet Kong Feng’s sword. The Sword of Judgment appeared in Tianshen’s hand.
‘’You haven’t tasted blood in a long time old friend, I offer this poor soul to you’’ whispered Tianshen to his sword after which the two swords clashed multiple times.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Kong Feng seemed like he was an unleashed beast and was raining aimless attacks at Tianshen from multiple angles out of anger and frustration. Tianshen defended and avoided each attack gracefully and with a lot of ease. The difference between the fighting style of the two was like comparing heaven and earth, one was chaotic and unrefined, while the other was calm, precise and lethal. Lethal because after about 15 to 20 exchanges Tianshen avoided one of Kong Feng’s attacks with lightning speed while jumping through the air towards him.
Everyone heard a slash, after which Kong Feng’s head flew into the air. Kong Feng used multiple profound techniques during this short fight, they all missed because of his anger though. But Tianshen used no profound techniques, it was just good footwork and amazing swordplay.
As Kong Feng’s head hit the ground, so did the body of his brother Kong Jie, which revealed the man that killed him who was currently standing behind him with a trace of golden flames still burning on his hand. It was Qiu Wentian.
Tianshen’s and Wentian’s eyes met and they both nodded at each other in understanding.
Kong Zhi who just witnessed both of his sons being slain in front of his eyes gathered up all of his power and prepared to launch a long distance attack on Tianshen, but before he could do that a heavy hand full of azure scales punched him in the head and completely destroyed it. This was of course Cao Chen’s hand.
‘’Enough blood has been spilled today, let’s make sure no more is spilled by preparing for the Tang Clan. Everyone is to wait here for one hour for further instructions, the elders and Tianshen are coming with me to discuss strategy’’ after which the elders flew away and Cao Chen and Tianshen soon followed.
Tianshen took Tang Ju with him as he thought that he may still be useful in many ways.
Everyone left behind on the stands and the stage felt uneasy and anxious. This was the Tang clan they were facing after all. Everyone knew that in a head to head collision the Tang Clan would obliterate the Azure Dragon sect with a relative ease. Patriarch Tang Huo was at the 9th stage Heavenly Realm while the Chief Cao Chen was at the 2nd stage Heavenly Realm, which was a difference of 7 stages. Not to mention that the overall average strength of the elders and the disciples of the Tang Clan was also much higher than the Azure Dragon sect. The only advantage that the Azure Dragon Sect had was that they were fighting on their own turf.
‘’Now it is a matter of taking advantage of that, and who better to do that than Tianshen?’’ thought Wentian to himself while smiling. He had zero doubts that his friend will be able to pull another miracle.