Was it you that night?
Chapter 201 - 199: Qinghe, An Ominous Person

Chapter 201: Chapter 199: Qinghe, An Ominous Person

Every cultivator knows the power of the Immortal Slaying Formation of the Thousand Mechanisms Sect; it is the most sinister formation of the sect. Even cultivators at the Divinity Transformation Stage would struggle to escape from it once ensnared.

Given this, which powerful figure from the Thousand Mechanisms Sect would use the Immortal Slaying Formation against a female cultivator at the Golden Core Stage who was participating in the grand competition? It was very likely aimed at killing Shen Qinghe.

The male cultivator who had just shouted at Dongfang Wuya, after his initial astonishment, flew into a rage, yelling at Shen Qinghe, "Stop spouting nonsense! How could Elder Qiu use the Immortal Slaying Formation against you? Who do you think you are..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he was suddenly struck from both sides, knocking his teeth out, immediately leaving his face bloodied.

The person who had attacked him was none other than Xiao Bai, the puppet by Dongfang Wuya’s side: "Senseless fool! How dare this lowlife show disrespect to Fairy Qinghe?"

Fairy Qinghe was his mistress, and also the woman his master cared for. Normally, he wouldn’t even speak loudly to Fairy Qinghe, so on what grounds did this cultivator dare to raise his voice to her?

The male cultivator hadn’t expected to be hit by a puppet. He wanted to retaliate, but Female Cultivator He spoke up, "Enough, step aside. We need to discuss serious matters now."

In the Thousand Mechanisms Sect, Female Cultivator He’s status was the highest and her cultivation base the greatest. When she spoke, the male cultivator, despite his grievances, didn’t dare to make further trouble.

Female Cultivator He turned to Shen Qinghe and said, "The Immortal Slaying Formation is the most domineering formation of our Thousand Mechanisms Sect. If Fairy Qinghe has no evidence, she must not make baseless accusations and tarnish the reputation of our sect."

Shen Qinghe was well-prepared: "Originally, I intended to resolve this matter privately with the Thousand Mechanisms Sect. Now that things have come to this, I will certainly produce evidence to prove that I am not lying."

As she spoke, she revealed a Shadow Capturing Talisman that captured her being trapped and subsequently breaking the formation through the power of the Black and White Rope.

This single Shadow Capturing Talisman alone couldn’t prove everything, so Shen Qinghe then produced a second talisman. The words spoken by Nan Sheng were clearly heard by everyone, "How could you possibly have escaped from the Immortal Slaying Formation set by that person?"

Instantly, all eyes turned towards Nan Sheng, suspended in mid-air by Dongfang Wuya.

Nan Sheng’s tongue hung out halfway, unable to speak in her own defense.

Once the Shadow Capturing Talisman had played back all of Nan Sheng’s words, the entire place was in an uproar.

Leaving aside whether Nan Sheng had colluded with Elder Qiu or not, the mere fact of framing a fellow disciple was despised by all cultivators.

Wu Ke’s face fell when he saw this scene.

He hadn’t expected Nan Sheng’s character to be so poor. If it were just a matter of promiscuity, that might have been forgivable, but to harm a fellow disciple was something he, as an elder of the Sky Pole Sect, could not tolerate!

Dongfang Wuya was somewhat surprised that Shen Qinghe had a fallback. In a good mood, he mercifully released his hold on Nan Sheng, allowing Female Cultivator He to interrogate her.

Female Cultivator He was indeed given a considerable shock. She rushed over to Nan Sheng, grabbed her by the collar, and demanded, "Why have you colluded with Elder Qiu? Why did he want to go after Fairy Qinghe?"

Nan Sheng continued to flail about desperately, "I don’t even know Elder Qiu, how could I possibly conspire with him?"

"Then how did you know Fairy Qinghe was trapped in the Immortal Slaying Formation? The evidence is irrefutable, yet you still try to argue?" Female Cultivator He certainly didn’t believe Nan Sheng’s words.

"Isn’t it forbidden to fake a Shadow Capturing Talisman?" Nan Sheng still refused to admit it.

She hadn’t expected Shen Qinghe to be so cunning, recording their conversation at the time; she was relieved that she hadn’t admitted to collusion with Elder Qiu.

Once Nan Sheng had spoken these words, everyone scoffed.

How could a Shadow Capturing Talisman possibly be faked—had any cultivator present ever seen such a thing?

To call such irrefutable evidence a fake when it came out of Nan Sheng’s mouth was utterly laughable.

There were many male cultivators present who had been bewitched by Nan Sheng’s beauty, but at this moment, having seen her true colors, all felt disgusted.

Seeing the look of disdain in everyone’s eyes, Nan Sheng’s eye sockets turned red with urgency. She was accustomed to playing the weakling, her eyes brimming with tears: "I, I really don’t know what’s going on, I just happened to overhear Elder Qiu talking with someone, saying he wanted to use the Immortal Slaying Formation to trap Qinghe, he also said that disciples of the Thousand Mechanisms Sect must not lose to Qinghe..."

Dongfang Wuya, lounging on the side, said lazily, "What’s the point of wasting our tongues? Wu Ke, why don’t you Soul Search her, and then won’t everything be clear?"

Nan Sheng went pale as she remembered the experience of being soul-searched last time, her lovely face distorted with fright: "No, no, I’ll tell!"

Everyone looked at Nan Sheng, and she finally recounted the events.

She had been on her way back to Yuheng Mountain when Elder Qiu suddenly blocked her path, telling her to focus on the second round of the competition, and that he would take care of the obstacle that was Shen Qinghe for her.

She naturally recognized Elder Qiu, a prominent figure in the Thousand Mechanisms Sect. Why he would help her get rid of Shen Qinghe, perhaps it was a conspiracy to frame her?

"I asked Elder Qiu why he was doing this, and he told me that Qinghe was an ominous person, and that he would rather have me win first place than let Qinghe top the competition. He also said he would trap Qinghe using the Immortal Slaying Formation, and confidently claimed that Qinghe absolutely couldn’t escape his Immortal Slaying Formation. I know it was wrong of me not to warn Qinghe in advance, but I, too, wanted to win first place. The rules of the competition never said that using wits wasn’t allowed, only that everyone should compete based on their abilities." Upon saying this, Nan Sheng looked at all the cultivators present, "We are all cultivators, striving our whole lives just to achieve Ascension. If one is fortunate in the Black River Secret Realm to gain immortal fate, I also wish to ascend—can those present sincerely promise that they wouldn’t be controlled by personal desires?"

The scene quieted down as everyone considered whether they would have told Shen Qinghe if they were in Nan Sheng’s position.

"At least I haven’t lied—Elder Qiu did indeed die at the hands of Qinghe. When Elder Qiu called Qinghe an ominous person, could it not be because she wielded a Great Killing Device?" Nan Sheng quickly redirected the battle towards Shen Qinghe.

Shen Qinghe’s lips curved in a smile that was not quite a smile: "My Life-bound Magic Treasure is an Ancient Divine Artifact, and your Thousand Shadows Divine Sword is also an Ancient Divine Artifact—does that mean you are also an ominous person?"

Nan Sheng was left speechless by Shen Qinghe’s sharp retort.

"You casually label ’Qinghe an ominous person’ and succeed in pushing her into a perilous spotlight. Nan Sheng, I do not expect you to uphold the fellowship of our sect, but your repeated attempts to harm our fellow disciples really chill one’s heart!" Wu Ke’s face lost all semblance of wickedness and mirth, gazing at Nan Sheng with an exceptionally cold look.

Nan Sheng clenched her fists tightly.

What did he understand? Because of Shen Qinghe, she lost Yan Changsheng, lost Xiao Chen, and lost her unbeatable charm with men, and yet Wu Ke dares accuse her of harming her fellow disciples?

Then Wu Ke looked at Female Cultivator He and spoke again in a calm voice, "Although we can’t take Nan Sheng’s words as complete truth, it’s true that Elder Qiu used the Immortal Slaying Formation against Qinghe. Qinghe had no quarrel with Elder Qiu, yet during the sect disciples’ competition, Elder Qiu set the Immortal Slaying Formation against Qinghe. Even if he ended up being slain by Qinghe, that was Qinghe’s ability—if not, given the lethality of the Immortal Slaying Formation, the one who would’ve died would have been Qinghe!"