Chapter 23: Punishment? Reward?

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Qingyun Sect, main peak hall.

Under the escort of a few of the Law Enforcement Hall’s disciples, Lu Yuan quickly entered the main hall.

This was the first time Lu Yuan had come to the main peak’s hall.

The layout of the entire hall was not complicated. Other than some necessary tables and chairs, it was very empty.

The most eye-catching thing in the entire hall was the jade statue in the depths of the hall.

This 10-meter-tall statue was the founder of the Qingyun Sect, Exalted Celestial Qingyun.

Even though he had long ascended, the disciples of the sect still maintained their respect for the old man and treated him as their goal, working hard in their cultivation.

At this moment, the main hall was already filled with people.

Mu Chen, the leader of the Qingyun Sect, six Core Formation Stage elders, and a group of direct disciples were all here.

Looking at this situation, people who didn’t know better would think that a devil had attacked the Qingyun Sect.

But in fact, the reason they were gathered here today was because of an outer sect disciple.

“Dad, I’ve brought him!” Mu Qiqi shouted happily as soon as she entered the hall.

Mu Chen felt a little embarrassed when he heard this.

He wanted to tell his dear daughter that even though the entire Qingyun Sect knew that she was his daughter, in public, she should at least call him the sect leader.

However, these were all trivial matters. After Mu Chen cleared his throat, he curiously looked behind Mu Qiqi.

Looking at Lu Yuan, who was being held down by a few direct disciples, Mu Chen walked forward.

“You’re the outer sect disciple who’s been collecting the marrow-cleansing pills on a grand scale?”

Lu Yuan raised his head and saw Mu Chen walking towards him.

Since things had come to this, Lu Yuan did not have any thoughts of continuing to struggle.

“Reporting to the sect leader, it is indeed me.”

Although he had already decided to admit his mistake, Lu Yuan was still unwilling to accept it.

“Sect leader, I have a question I would like to ask that I hope you can answer. I don’t know which rule of the sect I have violated by trading for the marrow-cleansing pill, to the point the sect leader and all the senior brothers and senior sisters have been involved. The sect doesn’t seem to prohibit disciples from trading with each other.”

Lu Yuan’s question stumped everyone present.

To be honest, what he did was not that serious.

After all, the exchange of the cultivation pill for the marrow-cleansing pill was a mutually-willing transaction.

He didn’t betray the sect’s interests, nor did he harm his fellow sect members.

No matter what, it shouldn’t be so serious that the sect leader and the elders were questioning him in person now.

In short, although Lu Yuan was wrong, it wasn’t a huge mistake. It was not worthy of such a huge scene.

This was also why Lu Yuan could not understand his situation.

Why were they spending so much effort to catch him?

However, Lu Yuan had clearly forgotten one thing.

In the world of celestial cultivation, many things were useless to reason with. The truth was only within the range of the flying sword, and dignity was only based on powerful cultivation.

Even if one was in reason, the final power of interpretation did not lie in the hands of a small outer sect disciple like Lu Yuan.

Mu Chen looked at Lu Yuan, who was still a little unconvinced, and said indifferently, “Lu Yuan, I’m not here to discuss right and wrong with you today. I’m only here to ask if you’re the one who did this.”

Lu Yuan’s mouth was slightly agape, but in the end, he still nodded dejectedly.

He confirmed that he was indeed the one who had been purchasing the marrow-cleansing pill in a high-profile manner.

After confirming the “main culprit”, Mu Chen asked the question he was most concerned about, “Lu Yuan, never mind anything else. Let me ask you, how did you get so many cultivation pills to trade? You’re just a Qi Cultivation Stage cultivator. Logically speaking, you shouldn’t be able to take out so many cultivation pills.”

Whether there was any other faction behind Lu Yuan was the core problem of this matter.

At this moment, Lu Yuan also appeared to be very carefree and chose to reveal everything.

“Reporting to the sect leader, these cultivation pills were all refined by myself alone.”

“You can make so many cultivation pills by yourself?”

Looking at the shocked Mu Chen, Lu Yuan calmly said, “Reporting to the sect leader, I have indeed refined all the cultivation pills by myself. If the sect leader doesn’t believe me, I can swear on my Dao heart, or I can show it to everyone on the spot.”

At this point, everyone believed in Lu Yuan.

After all this, to think he was a pill-refining genius!

An outer sect disciple who was able to produce so many cultivation pills in such a short time clearly had an extremely high talent in pill refinement.

One must know that of the cultivation pills that Lu Yuan refined, a portion of them had to be handed over to the sect, a portion was reserved for his own cultivation, and the rest was used for trading.

Yet, just the remaining portion was already enough to be used to exchange for a large number of marrow-cleansing pills. One could see Lu Yuan’s success rate in refining pills.

After knowing this, Mu Chen put away his initial idea of using Lu Yuan as a warning to others.

It was obvious that although this disciple was a little out of line, his talent in pill refinement was definitely not low.

The Qingyun Sect highly valued professional talents like pharmacists.

A good pharmacist was equivalent to ten other cultivators in the same stage.

When he thought of this, Mu Chen’s expression visibly softened.

Bai Dafei, who was good at reading people’s expressions, saw this and knew that it was time for him to make his appearance.

Good brother, don’t worry, he was coming to the rescue!

“Sect leader, I can guarantee with my honor that Junior Brother Lu’s cultivation pills were refined by himself. I was in charge of Junior Brother Lu’s Pharmacist Valley entrance examination. His talent in pill refinement is one in a million. I hope that the sect leader can give Junior Brother Lu a lenient punishment on account of this being his first offense and the circumstances are not serious.”

Looking at Bai Dafei, who had stood up for him, Lu Yuan was so touched that he was about to cry.

As expected of his good brother! To actually speak up for him at this time, he had wrongly blamed him! Senior Brother Bai was indeed his good brother!

At this moment, Bai Dafei seemed to have sensed something and turned to give Lu Yuan a reassuring look.

It was as if he was saying, “Don’t worry, brother. I, Bai Dafei, am a righteous man. I will not let you suffer today!”

Just as Mu Chen was thinking about how to deal with Lu Yuan, Elder Han, who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke, “Sect Leader Mu, can you let me say a few words?”

“Elder Han, please speak.”

Han Yuanshan walked forward and looked at Lu Yuan, who was half-kneeling on the ground. He smiled and shook his head, “Sect Leader Mu, the current situation is already very clear. This matter was all done by Lu Yuan himself and no one else was involved behind the scenes. Since he said that he can refine a large number of cultivation pills in such a short time, why not punish him by making him stay in the confinement room in the back mountain for the next five years? After all, this can be considered as making the best use of everything, right?”

Upon hearing this punishment, Lu Yuan’s eyes lit up.

Eh? Was there such a good thing?

Lu Yuan, who thought that he would be severely punished, had never expected that things would develop in such a way.

To think the result of this punishment was to give him a good chance to work on his skill proficiency!

What kind of punishment was this? This was simply a reward!

Mu Chen’s love for talent had been triggered, so he simply followed Han Yuanshan’s words.

“Then we’ll do as Elder Han says. Lu Yuan, since you have only violated the rules and the circumstances are not serious, I will punish you to refine pills in seclusion in the back mountain’s confinement room for five years. Are you willing?”

He was willing, very willing. Whoever was unwilling was a fool!

“Thank you for your forgiveness, sect leader. I am willing to accept the punishment.”

Just like that, the evil atmosphere that was about to be set off in the Qingyun Sect was snuffed out in the cradle.

The next day, many disciples of the Qingyun Sect learned about this.

The outer sect disciples were amazed that there was such a person who could take out so many cultivation pills.

The direct disciples regretted that an excellent channel to exchange for the cultivation pill was gone.

However, two people reacted differently from most people after hearing the news.

Chen Yan, who had just returned from the mortal world, heard the news about Lu Yuan, an outer sect disciple of the Pharmacist Valley.

After finding out that Lu Yuan was the guy who was his fiancee’s lover, Chen Yan’s face immediately turned gloomy.

Good, he had finally caught the other party.

He was from the Pharmacist Valley, huh? Chen Yan didn’t believe that the other party could stay there forever!

The other person with the same gloomy face was Meng Ruyan, who had just returned to the sect.

She had never expected that her little lover would be gone just like that after she had left the mountain on an expedition for two years.

Five years, five years! How did they plan on letting her live through these five years?

What about her cultivation?

Just when everyone thought that Lu Yuan would regret his actions, Lu Yuan was slapping his thigh in regret in one of the pill refinement rooms in the Pharmacist Valley.

“Damn it, if I knew this would happen, I would have made the whole matter bigger! I’ve only been punished to enter secluded cultivation for five years. Shouldn’t it be at least ten years?! What a loss, what a huge loss!”