Chapter 1327: Laying All the Cards on the Table

Chapter 1327: Chapter 1327: Laying All the Cards on the Table

Regarding Mo Baiqi’s accusations, Su Fengchen no longer cared at all. Just then, the Hongjun Sword Furnace had just finished when Wan Qianli from Celestial Sword Manor came up to ask, "Then was my junior brother Wan Qianli also harmed under your orders?"

"You could say that! The story that kid surnamed Pei told earlier is true. After Jue Liunian escaped from the Hongjun Sword Furnace, we took him in."

"Was it also you who taught him those sword techniques that aren’t from the Hongjun Sword Furnace?" Su Fengchen added a few words, and Murong Longxiang from among the onlookers asked.

Su Fengchen nodded and admitted frankly, "Yes! That guy is indeed a prodigy in Sword Dao. Before this, he already had considerable cultivation and insight. While he was taught jointly by Elder Sect Leader Mo from Hongjun Sword Furnace and Mr. Liu, he had dabbled in other sects’ Sword Dao techniques besides those from the Hongjun Sword Furnace. We broadened his knowledge by not only providing him with more profound sword manuals from various sects for reference but also bestowing upon him ancient Sword Sect manuals from ancient times that had already been lost. In less than a hundred years, he mastered these skills."

At this point, Su Fengchen mocked as he looked at Liu Xuanji, "The world says you, Liu Sanjian, and Jue Liunian are tied for fourth in Sword Dao. Actually, you know better than anyone else that he obtained his equal standing with you even before using the Hongjun Sword Furnace sword moves. If he were to give it his all, could you stand up to him?"

Liu Xuanji was so infuriated by these words that he almost exploded, but he couldn’t refute them because they were true. He could only sit there sulking internally. However, as soon as he sat down, he realized that only the two Masters of Origin and this rebellious person were seated, and sitting down felt disrespectful, so he helplessly stood up again. Filled with frustration he couldn’t vent, his heavy breathing blew his side locks awkwardly up and down.

"Enough of this nonsense! Was it Jue Liunian who you instructed to kill my junior brother?" Wan Qianli noticed the topic veering off-course and hurriedly pulled it back, continuing to ask.

"Yes! The order came from me. First, to instigate the already strained relations between your two sects, and second, for the Celestial Sword Manor Elder Token he carried. Oh, and one more thing." Su Fengchen looked at Liu Xuanji and continued to provoke him, "That eldest grandson of yours went out of his way to provoke Zhao Mengzhen repeatedly because I purposely arranged for someone to approach and become his friend, subtly inciting and instigating him. I know that afterward, you looked for these people’s trouble to hold them accountable for your grandson’s death, but you only killed them without asking who was behind it. Tsk tsk tsk, Liu Xuanji, I overestimated you. I took so many turns just to avoid you feeling suspicious and following the clues, but alas, none of that was needed."

"Su Fengchen, I~!"

"Junior brother!" Mo Baiqi pressed down on Liu Xuanji, who was teetering on the edge of anger from being continuously provoked, and whispered, "Don’t fall for his trap. His fate and that of his sect are already sealed. Killing him now would play right into his desires. There are still many secrets on him that need to be uncovered."

"Hiss! Huff!" Liu Xuanji took a deep breath, calming his emotions slightly, gave a cold snort, and walked out of the pavilion to stand aside. He feared if he stayed in the pavilion a moment longer, he wouldn’t be able to resist ending the other party then and there.

"So you took the token from my junior brother Zhao Mengzhen, disguised yourself as a Celestial Sword Manor elder, and sought revenge in the Foundation Plane as well?" Chu Luochen entered the pavilion and brought up the incident that plunged the entire Celestial Sword Manor into crisis.

"Yes!" Su Fengchen responded straightforwardly.

"Why?" Since Su Fengchen began his confession, Pei Yan, who had been silent all the while, asked his biggest question.

"Why what?" Su Fengchen countered.

"Why did you do this back then? At the time, the Investigation Hall was still weak. Expecting us to rise and topple Celestial Sword Manor like today would have been laughable. Don’t tell me you had the ability to foresee the future! According to your Daoist Plane’s time conversion, that was hundreds of years ago. Did you predict the rise of the Investigation Hall today? If you really had that ability, you wouldn’t be in this situation today!" If it were true that the Celestial Sword Manor’s retaliatory attack was orchestrated by the White Deer Institute, there must be more behind it because at that time, the Investigation Hall didn’t have the strength to warrant such a large operation.

"Do you really want to know the answer to this?"

Pei Yan nodded vigorously, quite sincerely, and said, "I really want to know! Are you using this as leverage to propose some conditions?"

"No! No! No!" Su Fengchen shook his head dismissively and chuckled, "There’s nothing to leverage here because I don’t know either!" ℯℯ𝘭.

"Don’t know? What’s that supposed to mean?" Hearing this, Pei Yan frowned, thinking Su Fengchen was toying with him, but then Su Fengchen continued, "I don’t know means I don’t know why we did it at the time. The matter with Fan Ruyi was our doing, but it wasn’t intentional targeting of your Investigation Hall; it was an accident."

"An accident?" Pei Yan found Su Fengchen’s words not like a lie, and became even more puzzled.

"Yes! An accident! At the time, Fan Ruyi was constantly pursuing the whereabouts of the Underworld’s Eighteen Courts, hoping to make a name for himself by eradicating their two gathering points upon discovery. Regarding him, our thoughts were simple: firstly, to see him lose his reputation, and secondly, to use him as a stepping stone to enter the Celestial Sword Manor. I assume you’ve already researched the results. Our plan was very successful! The people we dispatched successfully lured him into the Underworld’s Eighteen Courts’ trap, then, as planned, our people sacrificed their lives to save him. Fan Ruyi, due to his injuries and the spiritual damage inflicted by the Underworld’s Eighteen Courts, was left with a Heart Demon, which led him to commit a series of subsequent heinous acts. The two families involved in saving his life took him in as a vassal family, making them one source for selecting disciples for Celestial Sword Manor."

Su Fengchen, having said this, drank another cup of wine from the table to moisten his throat before continuing, "By this point, our plan was considered successful. The only remaining value was to reveal Fan Ruyi’s evil deeds to the Hongjun Sword Furnace at an opportune moment, letting them clash again at the Sword Discussion Conference. But later, Fan Ruyi sneaked off to the Foundation Plane by himself, engaging in a series of heinous acts, was then punished by you, which ultimately led to Celestial Sword Manor losing its qualification for the Sword Discussion Manor’s yearly conference. This was entirely Fan Ruyi’s doing and was completely unexpected by us."

"Hmph, Fan Ruyi ended up like this because of your scheme, and now you’re pushing aside responsibility during the critical event. Do you think we’ll believe this explanation?" Wan Qianli, hearing about the disgraceful event that caused the sect to lose face, couldn’t help but get angry, letting out a cold snort in ridicule.

"I believe him!" Pei Yan suddenly interjected from the side, "From what he’s said so far, I haven’t found any flaws. Fan Ruyi’s actions indeed have an element of chance, making a lot of things make sense."