Chapter 804: Trial (1)

Inside a club.

Su Yu and the earth weaponsmiths were talking and laughing. He talked about Zhao Li's weapon forging and praised Zhao Li's skills. He also made it clear that he had only provided a tiny bit of assistance during the process.

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

As he spoke, the others asked about the things they were curious about. After a while, they moved on to talk about other topics related to weaponsmithing.

A peak earth weaponsmith like Zhao Tianbing was someone who had studied the teachings of numerous different weaponsmithing paths. With his wide base of knowledge, a simple explanation from him could easily resolve the problem that had troubled someone for a very long time. Thus, this was an exciting night for all these weaponsmiths.

The lower-ranked weaponsmiths might not be able to understand everything that was being said, but they were still fully engrossed in listening to the earth weaponsmiths. They memorized everything regardless of whether they understood it or not. A gathering of so many earth weaponsmiths was extremely rare.

Slowly, the sky turned bright again.

By the time the sun was fully out, the earth weaponsmiths were finally done talking. Zhao Tianbing looked at the two military officials stationed outside the room and said, "General Liu, what is the venue of the trial today?"

The two Mountainseas remained outside. They had been standing guard there for an entire night.

One of them turned around and saluted Zhao Tianbing before answering, "Principal Zhao, we have been notified that the trial will be held in the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy at eight in the morning."

"In the academy?"

Zhao Tianbing was surprised, "Why?"

The general replied, "The marquis and the kings said that since Feng Ji originated from the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy, the truth should be unveiled there as well."

Zhao Tianbing nodded and looked at the others. "Everyone, let's take a look. Feng Ji...sigh. I hope it's a misunderstanding. We are truly in troubled times."

Elder Chen, the sole earth weaponsmith of Great Xia, nodded with a frown, "Everyone knows that Feng Ji isn't the main issue here. But if that person is implicated as well, great trouble will arise."

The others knew who he was talking about, so nobody said anything. Su Yu said nothing either. Since they still had some time before the trial, they continued chatting for a little while. When it was time to leave, they departed under the lead of the two Mountainseas.

Great Xia Cultural Research Academy.

Once again, the academy became the center of attention.

Feng Ji used to be a member of the Knowledge Seeking Realm. Many years ago, he feigned his death and infiltrated the Six-Winged Divine Sect. Because of that, he was once a fugitive wanted by the Knowledge Seeking Realm.

Subsequently, Chen Yong proved that Feng Ji was spying on the cult at his behest. And that was an arrangement with Wan Tiansheng's approval. Not long ago, news of this was spread everywhere, with Feng Ji being called a hero. But in the blink of an eye, he was implicated in the murder of five Mountainsea military officials. Understandably, this became a hot topic in the entire Human Realm.

The so-called public trial was supposed to only involve some experts and the upper echelons of humanity. But news of this had been spreading everywhere. At this point, it was pointless to find out the identities of the ones who had been spreading these rumors. Everyone in Great Xia was talking about Feng Ji.

Even the missing Chen Yong who was closely related to Feng Ji and Wan Tiansheng who had approved Feng Ji's infiltration mission was constantly being talked about. Was Feng Ji strong enough to kill those military officials?

He wasn't. In that case, were Chen Yong and Wan Tiansheng involved? Wan Tiansheng had been in seclusion for a very long time. Was he really in seclusion? Had Chen Yong gone missing because he was running from his crimes? Even Wan Tiansheng was implicated because he was the one who had confirmed Feng Ji's identity as a spy. With Feng Ji's arrest, his credibility was brought into question.

The trial was held at Great Xia Cultural Research Academy's Discipline Hall. A blockade had been formed around the hall.

This might be a public trial, but not everyone could attend it. Only those with sufficient strength and status could be there. After all, this trial might result in the exposure of some highly secretive matters. And these matters would not be leaked to the masses.

When Su Yu and the weaponsmiths arrived, the hall was already surrounded by the academy guards and Martial Dragon Guards.

The atmosphere was solemn.

Some of the students who were passing by could only stare curiously. They wanted to enter as well, but they couldn't.

One of the Mountainseas who had brought the weaponsmiths here softly said, "The academy elders, Sunmoon experts, representatives of the various prefectures, representatives of the holy lands, family members of the victims, and Invincible descendants are all allowed to attend the trial."

He was hinting that there were too many weaponsmiths present. And not all of them could enter. After all, there were several Invincibles present. They couldn't allow the place to turn too clamorous and chaotic.

Zhao Tianbing said, "Profound weaponsmiths and above can enter. The rest can stop here. Make an arrangement for them to meet some local weaponsmiths. They can exchange some pointers with each other."

"Yes."

One of the Mountainseas answered. He was relieved. He did not dare to offend these weaponsmiths. After all, the military required a large amount of weapons every year. Some of the weapons could be mass-produced, but the experts would require custom-made weapons.

If only profound weaponsmiths and earth weaponsmiths were allowed to enter, the number would be far more manageable. There were only about twenty of them. But if they included the yellow weaponsmiths as well, there would be fifty of them.

A look of despair covered Bai Junsheng's face. He wanted to enter as well! Alas, he was not a profound weaponsmith yet.

Su Yu remained completely silent, acting like he was a mere onlooker. With a smile, he followed the group into the hall. Right at that moment, several individuals arrived.

When Su Yu turned to look at them, he blanked out. Those were familiar faces. Hong Tan with an indifferent expression, Bai Feng with a cold expression, and Wu Jia with her head lowered. All the members of the multiple character faction were here.

"Elder Hong!"

Zhao Tianbing offered his greeting. When Hong Tan saw Zhao Tianbing, he forced a smile onto his face, "Principal Zhao. I wanted to meet you yesterday, but I wasn't able to find the chance. Allow me to thank you for your assistance toward Su Yu."

"Don't worry about it."

Zhao Tianbing knew that Hong Tan wasn't in the mood to chat so he didn't say much either. After a short exchange of pleasantries, he stood aside and allowed Hong Tan's entourage to enter first.

When Hong Tan's group left, one of the weaponsmiths spoke through voice transmission, "Will Hong Tan flip out this time?"

"He's already in big trouble. The moment they verify that Chen Yong was the murderer, Hong Tan might end up implicated as well. He won't have the chance to flip out. I reckon Great Xia's multiple character faction will be finished for real this time."

"You never know. Hong Tan has yet to release his disassembly method. Even if he's implicated, nobody will touch him unless they have proof of direct involvement."

The weaponsmiths had complicated emotions as they talked about this topic.

Just as they were about to step into the hall, Zhao Li arrived. He acted like he didn't see them and entered the hall without sparing them a look.

"Junior Brother!"

Zhao Tianbing called out in greeting. He was quite surprised. Why was his junior brother here as well?

Zhao Li merely nodded at him. That caused Zhao Tianbing to become even more curious. Had his junior brother really changed? His junior brother seemed to be rather amiable as of late. In the past, his junior brother would always ignore all his greetings.

That thought had barely crossed his mind when Zhao Li said, "Zhao Tianbing, Chen Yong is Su Yu's martial uncle and I'm Su Yu's teacher. Thus, I'm also somewhat related to Chen Yong as well. If he's labeled a traitor, I will be implicated as well. At that time, you need to step forth and argue against that unfair judgment."

Zhao Tianbing laughed. So that was why. He had been wondering about his junior brother's amiable attitude. It turned out that his junior brother simply needed his help. Zhao Li would only be nice when he required help. He had never changed even after so many years.

"Got it. Junior Brother, why aren't you staying in seclusion to stabilize your cultivation? You've just broken through. You can't let this affect your future."

Zhao Li ignored him and entered the hall.

Zhao Tianbing did not mind. He looked at the others and said, "Let's go. Sigh. I spoiled my junior brother when he was a kid. That was why he grew into such an unruly man."

The others didn't feel anything after hearing those words.

But Su Yu felt quite uncomfortable. After all, Zhao Li was someone over a hundred years old. Thus, he felt quite awkward listening to Zhao Tianbing speak about Zhao Li with the same tone one would use when speaking about a little boy.

Then again, Zhao Li was still very young when the fourth principal died. Zhao Tianbing was the one who had raised him, so it wasn't wrong for Zhao Tianbing to speak this way.