Chapter 927: Grail of Truth
"Patriarch Gu? What is he doing here?" The other Sect Masters were surprised to see him as well.
However, Patriarch Gu ignored all of their gazes and focused on the collapsed cave with a terrified look on his face.
He then looked at Elder Gu and Disciple Gu.
"You… What have you two done?" He asked them in a low and dispirited voice.
"Elder Brother! I just took care of some bastard that had stolen our Gu Family's treasures! Believe it or not, he had our Grail of Truth and—"
"YOU FOOL!" Patriarch Gu roared.
"Did you not hear about what had happened to our family?! Did you really think that we'd encountered a calamity?!" Patriarch Gu pointed at the collapsed cave and continued, "The person you just buried was that calamity!"
"W-What? Are you saying that he was the one who crippled our family and killed our Spirit Lords? If that's the case, then I have avenged our family! He's dead!" Elder Gu laughed out loud.
"You really think you had killed him?" Sect Master Li suddenly spoke, and he continued, "Even six Sect Masters from the Seven Spirit Academies was not enough to defeat him."
"What?" Elder Gu and Disciple Gu looked at the Sect Master with wide eyes.
BOOM!
The ground suddenly shook, and before anyone there could react, almost as though a volcano had erupted, the collapsed cave suddenly exploded into the air.
A figure could be seen flying out of the rubble a moment later.
Of course, it was Yuan, and he was completely unharmed.
"Y-Y-You!" Elder Gu stared at Yuan with a shocked look on his face.
'How did he survive my attack?! I used all of my cultivation in that attack!' He cried inwardly.
"Hm?" Yuan quickly noticed that there were more people than before.
He glanced at them and smiled.
"Yuan! Are you okay?!" Wang Xiuying asked him while standing behind the Sect Masters on her flying treasure.
"Yes, I am fine. However, believe it or not, these guys just tried to kill me! I was so scared!" Yuan chuckled.
"Yuan! Listen to me!" Sect Master Xiahou suddenly spoke, "What happened between you and Elder Gu and Disciple Gu has nothing to do with my Spirit Healing Academy! I came back as soon as I heard about it! Please, forgive us!"
"In fact, I hereby strip them of their statuses and exile them from my sect! They no longer have anything to do with us!"
"What?! You can't do that to us, Sect Master!" Disciple Gu exclaimed in a shocked voice.
Yuan nodded, "Don't worry, I never planned on doing anything to your sect. After all, my friend is studying there. Furthermore, I am not so unreasonable that I would punish an entire sect because of two peoples' actions."
He then turned to look at the Disciplinary Squad and continued, "Since you guys were only following orders, I will also forgive you. Now get out of here before I change my mind."
The disciples following Elder Gu immediately turned around and started running back to the sect.
Once it was just Elder Gu and Disciple Gu, Yuan turned to look at them and mumbled out loud, "Now, what should I do with them?"
"Not only did you plot to kill me just because I am friends with Healer Wang, but you also planned on feeding her a Mind Invasion Pill to alter her memories. It wouldn't be unreasonable to kill the both of you, right?"
"What?! They wanted to feed me the Mind Invasion Pill?!" Wang Xiuying exclaimed in a terrified voice after hearing this information.
"You two… I'm speechless…" Even the other Sect Masters were baffled to hear such information.
"P-Please wait!" Patriarch Gu suddenly shouted.
And he continued, "I know they have wronged you, but please, can you spare their lives?! I— the Gu Family will compensate for this incident! We will give you anything you want! Gu Zhiting is my only son, and that foolish young brother of mine is the only brother I have! If you kill them, I will truly have nothing left!"
Yuan turned to face Patriarch Gu, who had a desperate expression on his face.
"You want me to forgive them after everything today? What do you think happened when I forgave Sun Hao? He immediately ignored my warning and spat on my kindness by going to your Gu Family."
"If I forgive them after everything they've done, they will definitely come back to bite me in the future, and I cannot risk doing that." Yuan said in a cold voice.
"I-It won't happen! I promise! I swear on my surname that they will not trouble you ever again in the future!"
Yuan turned to look at Elder Gu and Gu Zhiting, who were completely soaked in sweat.
"Tell me. If I forgive you, will you promise to never bother me or Healer Wang ever again?" He asked them in a calm voice.
"W-We promise! We will never bother you or Healer Wang ever again!" They both promised simultaneously.
"..."
Yuan silently stared at them with a pondering look.
After a moment of silence, he turned to look at Patriarch Gu and smiled.
Patriarch Gu subconsciously smiled back.
"What a pity." Yuan suddenly said as his expression turned cold.
"W-What?" The smile on Patriarch Gu's face immediately flipped upside down.
Yuan revealed a certain treasure to them.
"T-That's—!" Patriarch Gu's eyes widened with shock.
"That's right. It's the Grail of Truth. As long as I have this, you cannot lie to me." Yuan said.
[Grail of Truth]
[Grade: Divine]
[Quality: Peak]
[Description: A powerful treasure once owned by the Sacred Temple of Truth. The Grail of Truth will expose all liars and emit a golden glow when someone lies before its presence.]
The Grail of Truth before them was glowing, meaning that someone had lied just now, and the only people that had the chance to lie were Elder Gu and Gu Zhiting.
"W-Wait! Give us a chance to explain!" Elder Gu immediately shouted.
"I already gave you both plenty of chances, and unfortunately, you just used up your last chance." Yuan said in a nonchalant manner.
"H-Help me! Father, I don't want to die!" Gu Zhiting began crying with a runny nose.
"Please! You can even take away their cultivation! Just spare their lives!" Patriarch Gu pleaded.
However, Yuan pretended to not hear their voices and retrieved the Empyrean Overlord, his intentions clear.
The Sect Masters distanced themselves, as they did not want to be caught up in their mess.
Patriarch Gu wanted to stop Yuan, but he was afraid that by doing so, Yuan would take his anger out on him and his Gu Family afterward.
Therefore, he could only use his voice to beg for their lives.
Unfortunately, Yuan had no intentions to spare them.
"Here's a suggestion for your next life— stay out of trouble!" Yuan said to them as he swung the Empyrean Overlord, sending a powerful wave of Sword Aura at them.
Elder Gu and Gu Zhiting were so terrified by the pressure that they couldn't even defend themselves.
And right as the Sword Aura was about to hit them, a figure suddenly appeared before them like a ghost and blocked the attack.
Yuan raised an eyebrow after seeing this newcomer with a face that he didn't recognize.
Although Yuan didn't recognize this person, the Sect Masters and Patriarch Gu recognized him.
"Lord Ji?!" The Sect Masters exclaimed in a surprised manner.
However, Patriarch Gu appeared to be more relieved than surprised, almost as though he was expecting this person to appear.
This newcomer known as Lord Ji narrowed his eyes on his own arms after blocking Yuan's attack, feeling a little numb because of it.
"Who are you?" Yuan asked him in a calm voice.
"Hello, young man. I am known as Lord Ji, and I am the current Lord of this realm. My Ji Family oversees the Nine Heavens— At least up to the Fourth Heaven."
"Lord of Spirit Heaven?" Yuan mumbled.
He recalled such a thing being mentioned before— that every world besides the Lower Heavens will have a 'Lord' that oversees it.
"Because of my status, I don't normally intervene in conflicts that don't greatly affect the balance of the world."
"So me killing these two will somehow greatly affect the balance of this world?" Yuan asked.
"No, it won't."
"Then why are you here?" Yuan raised his eyebrows.
"Because a friend of mine asked for help." Lord Ji responded with a calm smile on his face.