Chapter 92 - 54 Presumption of Innocence? Presumption of Guilt?

Ten Thousand Immortals Illusion Realm, Council Hall. Chen Jingyun was somewhat exhausted. He propped his face with both hands, elbows on the table. Although this place was an illusion, and the gesture didn't provide any tangible sensation, it still offered him a bit of comfort. The Cultivation of the Nirvana Period allowed him to remain energetically vigorous at all times, yet it wasn't enough to withstand the fatigue from mental exertion. Several days had passed since the Xin Mountain earthquake. These past days, he had been working tirelessly, dealing with a series of issues triggered by the earthquake and communicating with the hidden Carefree Practitioners of the Immortal Alliance. In the council hall, several Great Grandmasters looked at him with somewhat uneasy expressions. Like him, these Cultivators had assumed the positions of Sect Leaders of the major Sects after the Carefree Practitioners had gone into hiding. They all were aware of the incident at Xin Mountain. Only one Carefree Practitioner was present in the conference room, seated to Chen Jingyun's left, Daoist Bu Rong of Mysterious Palace, the Carefree Practitioner proficient in Po Li. Seeing the expressions of the Great Grandmasters, Chen Jingyun smiled and said, "Everyone, there's no need to worry. The incident at Xin Mountain has been resolved, and I've already notified the senior Carefree Practitioners. We're not gathered here to discuss that. Let's talk about the pressing matter at hand." The crowd nodded. The details of the Xin Mountain incident were classified secrets of the Immortal Alliance, not within their purview to intervene. Matters of such secrecy were handled by the Carefree Practitioners. Chen Jingyun lifted his head, cleared his throat, and spoke with a smile, "I believe everyone here has already formed an opinion on the issue we are about to discuss. Although we have a duty to every Cultivator under the Immortal Alliance, I really don't want to have another meeting about this. It would be best if we could come to a conclusion today." "Master Chen, that might be a bit difficult," a Cultivator wearing the symbolic green robe of Tianling Ridge lamented with a wry smile. Chen Jingyun recognized him. The grey-haired old man was the Jiyin Chief of Tianling Ridge's subsidiary, the Jiyin Valley. Chen Jingyun asked, "I wonder if the Jiyin Chief has any insights?" The Jiyin Chief shook his head with a wry smile, "There are no grand insights. You should look at this first." With a wave of his hand, he conjured an image. The picture showed only a drop of blood, and the Jiyin Chief explained, "This is the flesh and blood collected by the needle body during the application of the Thousand Plagues and Ten Thousand Poison Needle. It belongs to a kid named Wang Qi." The needle body of the Thousand Plagues and Ten Thousand Poison Needle was hollow, and in addition to triggering the Law inscribed on it when inserted into the body, it automatically collected a small sample of the recipient's flesh and blood. The amount collected was so minuscule that even Sages like Zhen Chan, a Mahayana Cultivator, didn't notice it. Inside the needle body, a Magic Seal preserved the vitality of the blood and prevented degradation. According to the regulations of the Immortal Alliance, a used Thousand Plagues and Ten Thousand Poison Needle must be sealed back into its original bamboo tube and properly marked for the Immortal Alliance to collect uniformly. Due to the essence of the Plague Skill Poison Path condensed on these poison needles, falling into the hands of those with ill intent would turn them into frightening weapons; hence, the action by the Immortal Alliance did not raise any suspicions. Even Su Junyu was unaware that what he had turned in actually included Wang Qi's blood sample. Chen Jingyun was not surprised by this. He inquired, "Any results?" The Jiyin Valley Master lightly touched the image of the blood sample. The image quickly enlarged, and then the blood imagery gradually faded, being replaced by dozens of pairs of distorted filamentous objects. "This is the essence of the bloodline," explained the Jiyin Valley Master. If Wang Qi had been there, he would have undoubtedly exclaimed that this object was known on Earth as: chromosomes. The Grandmasters of Tianling Ridge nodded, "Mm, that resembles the Human Clan." The Jiyin Valley Master pointed and wiped away most of the bloodline essences on the image, "This part mostly shares commonality with the Human Clan and has no relation to one's cultivation talent; we should focus here." As he said this, the remaining few pairs of chromosomes transformed again, from a tangle of lines into a straight line, and upon closer observation, they revealed the classic double-helix structure. In Shenzhou, this was referred to as: Bloodline Root. The Jiyin Valley Master continuously removed parts that exhibited commonality and hidden redundancy. After completing all of this, he pulled up fifty-two bloodline root charts: "These are the bloodline root charts for the common parts of other cultivators. Twenty-six of them come from the 'thing' controlled by the Immortal Alliance, and twenty-six are randomly selected ordinary Immortal Alliance cultivators." Finally, the Jiyin Valley Master placed his hands together, and the fifty-three charts overlapped into one, turning into a cluster of white light. The Jiyin Valley Master explained, "The Ten Thousand Immortals True Mirror will automatically compare these fifty-three charts." Soon, the comparison results were complete. Chen Jingyun looked at the string of numbers floating in the air, perplexed, "All I can make out is that he still looks human..." The Jiyin Valley Master gave a wry smile, "Actually, among those twenty-six known samples, there are only twelve that are obviously 'not like humans'. This child's innate root bone would be considered outstanding among ordinary people, but not the very top. Among these twenty-six, he's not the worst off, but he's in the lower-middle ranks. Just judging from the root bone, it's really hard to determine if he has any issues." Another green-robed cultivator took over the conversation. "This old body has a different opinion." This was an elderly woman with snow-white hair. She was the peak master of another branch of Tianling Ridge, Innate Peak. Unlike Jiyin Valley's research on bloodline roots, Innate Peak's research focused on the human body. She brought up a chart: "Looking at that flesh and blood, there is no problem with this young man. It can be seen that his diet has been primarily vegetarian, with a steady consumption of meat, mostly self-hunted. Ancient Spirit Body Cultivation, Chaos Technique, it all matches up." The chiefs of the two major branches of Tianling Ridge each stuck to their own views. Po Li looked at Chen Jingyun, asking, "You must have something else to say. Speak your mind, don't waste everyone's time." Chen Jingyun nodded and pulled up a report, flicking his right hand to make a copy for everyone present. He said, "This report was submitted by a disciple of the Wanfa Sect a few days ago. Wang Qi participated in a Seeking Trial before the earthquake at Xin Mountain." The crowd hastily went through the report, their expressions strange: "A 'True Self' mentality? Elephant Phase Wave Skill? Wave Ripples Mysterious Energy?" Chen Jingyun nodded. A grandmaster couldn't help but exclaim, "This is clearly a peerless genius! Such comprehension is absolutely unrelated to those guys." Chen Jingyun shook his head, "When things are abnormal, they must be monsters. Don't you think this genius is a bit too mysterious?" Someone gasped in horror, "Sss, by that logic, does that mean the Yuanli Master, the Taiyi Heavenly Venerable, and the Daoist of Uncertainty all... all..." He couldn't go on. This young man's performance had already surpassed the geniuses of yesteryear! "If this person has an unblemished origin, I would naturally rejoice for the Immortal Alliance gaining a genius, but... he used to live in the same village as the Daoist of Uncertainty!" Po Li grew impatient, "I've said it before, Little Hai is a simpleton, without that kind of scheming. Are you brainless or what?" Chen Jingyun countered, "What if Master Hai didn't have this plan at the beginning? What if Wang Qi's admission into the Immortal Alliance was just a spur-of-the-moment decision? You can't completely rule out this possibility." Chen Jingyun paused, then continued, "Also, don't forget, among those twenty-six, there's one person who also grasped the 'True Self' mentality just as quickly." "Synthesizing everyone's views, we can only conclude this: Wang Qi may have issues, or he may not have any. We've come to the same answer after several discussions. I'm not prepared to waste time on this question." "The focus of this meeting is, what attitude should we adopt towards Wang Qi when recruiting disciples? Do we 'doubt' or 'trust' him now?" ———————————————————————————————————— Lalalalala, please recommend and save this! Generous lords, please give a reward! If you could recommend this book to others, it would make Daoist even happier!