※※※

Xiao Mu, was unaware that Chen Ming had arrived at the Domain Master's mansion in the Everlasting Domain.

After conveying the message to summon Lin Ping to the Ancient God Village, he patiently waited, flipping through the information on the five mutated beings from the Ancient God Village killed by the Heavenly Court, while awaiting Lin Ping's arrival.

Xiao Mu quickly read through the information on the five mutated beings from the Ancient God Village who were killed, but found no clues that could determine the Heavenly Court's purpose.

However, Xiao Mu grew angry from waiting.

After He Jin relayed the message to summon Lin Ping to the Ancient God Village as instructed, the message seemed to disappear into thin air, without any response.

Lin Ping, daringly ignored his command, was simply audacious!

Xiao Mu, furious beyond measure, if not for the need to guard the Ancient God Village to prevent the Heavenly Court from coming again to kill its inhabitants, would have already flown to the Everlasting Domain's Domain Master's mansion to hold him accountable.

Fortunately, a few hours later, He Jin came to deliver the news that Zhu Jie, the Grand Elder stationed at the Great Tang Ruins in the Everlasting Domain, Leihe Region, and Changsheng Domain had arrived, waiting outside for Xiao Mu's audience.

Xiao Mu ordered Zhu Jie to be brought in.

He Jin left and soon returned with Zhu Jie.

As soon as Zhu Jie saw Xiao Mu, he recognized Xiao Mu's identity and quickly, with two aides, saluted Xiao Mu, "Zhu Jie pays respects to Elder Xiao!"

"Zhu Jie!"

Xiao Mu, glaring at Zhu Jie, remained annoyed.

He did not know Zhu Jie but could guess that Zhu Jie must have recently become an elder stationed at the Great Tang Ruins.

Coldly questioning him, "Are you aware of your crime?"

Upon hearing Xiao Mu accuse him of a crime as soon as he spoke, Zhu Jie, although prepared, couldn't help but feel alarmed. Although he belonged to the Great Tang Ruins just like Xiao Mu, he had no interactions with Xiao Mu, unlike Xu Qianwu, Fang Ying, and other elders tightly connected to Xiao Mu, who wouldn't dare act presumptuously before him.

"Zhu Jie is unaware of any offense, I beseech Elder Xiao to inform me!" Zhu Jie said uneasily.

"Lin Ping is your subordinate, isn't he under your management?" Xiao Mu questioned him once more.

"This..."

Zhu Jie hesitated, a strong sense of unease surged in his heart. Lin Ping was indeed his subordinate, under his management, a fact he couldn't escape from, "Could I ask Elder Xiao what wrongdoing Lin Ping has committed?"

"Check it yourself!"

Xiao Mu directly threw the information provided by the Everlasting Domain's thirty-two village leaders concerning the Village Protection Array in front of Zhu Jie.

Feeling uneasy, Zhu Jie picked up the papers and started reading.

After just a glance, his expression changed, then he quickly flipped through the pages, reading them one by one.

Once he finished reviewing all the documents, Zhu Jie's complexion instantly turned ashen.

"Recently, the Ancient God Village was attacked by the Heavenly Court, resulting in the death of five mutated beings, including two Yin God Realm leaders and three Peak Mortal Realm beings."

Xiao Mu, in a stern tone, explained the situation in the Ancient God Village to Zhu Jie, "The cause was the lack of a Village Protection Array in the Ancient God Village. When the Heavenly Court attacked, the villagers were unable to resist. Ultimately, leading to the demise of five mutated beings, including two leaders at the hands of the Heavenly Court."

"The Ancient God Village had once sought help from the Everlasting Domain, yet Domain Master Lin Ping ignored the distress call and did not aid."

"His actions directly led to Ancient God Village's leader Zhu Yuan losing trust in the Alliance and wanting independence, no longer seeking assistance from the Alliance."

"If it weren't for another leader from the Ancient God Village, He Jin, still believing in our Alliance, the Ancient God Village might have already left the Alliance."

"And all these issues stem from Lin Ping himself."

"Furthermore, this Grand Elder summoned you to the Ancient God Village and also sent messages to Lin Ping to urgently call him to the Ancient God Village. Yet Lin Ping, not only didn't come, but also didn't respond to this Grand Elder's command."

"Do you say you're not guilty? Do you say Lin Ping deserves to die?"

Upon hearing Xiao Mu's words, cold sweat immediately seeped from Zhu Jie's body, soaking his clothes in an instant.

That Lin Ping dared to commit such acts, with sins too grave to bear.

These offences were too much for Lin Ping to bear, and even Zhu Jie, his direct superior, couldn't bear them either.

Yet Zhu Jie suddenly felt something was wrong.

Where did Lin Ping get the audacity to defy a Grand Elder's command?

As Lin Ping's direct superior, Zhu Jie was quite aware of Lin Ping's background, knowing him as greedy and timid. He could understand Lin Ping might withhold resources allocated for constructing Village Protection Arrays and ignore the Ancient God Village's distress calls, but he absolutely wouldn't dare ignore a Grand Elder's command.

Was there perhaps some unknown secret in this?

Carefully, he said, "Elder Xiao, I know Lin Ping quite well. I understand that this person might have the audacity to ignore the Ancient God Village's distress call, but he definitely wouldn't dare ignore a Grand Elder's command. Is there some misunderstanding here?"

"Misunderstanding?"

Upon hearing Zhu Jie's words, Xiao Mu sneered, suddenly stared coldly at Zhu Jie.

The awe of True Gods shot from his eyes, with two broom-like flashes of golden light making Zhu Jie's Divine Soul tremble, "It seems Elder Zhu defends Lin Ping. The evidence is clear, yet still speaking for Lin Ping."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jie's body shook, sudden coldness overtaking him. He wasn't defending Lin Ping, merely pointing out a potential discrepancy based on his judgement.

Seeing Xiao Mu's misunderstanding, he panicked immediately and hurriedly replied, "Elder Xiao, please calm down, I didn't mean it that way."

"Not that way? Then Elder Zhu, what exactly do you mean?" Xiao Mu's stare intensified, with True God's authority even spilling from his eyes.

Feeling immense pressure, Zhu Jie suddenly felt weighted down, suppressed tightly by the unintentional release of a sliver of True God's authority from Xiao Mu, he hastily said, "Elder Xiao, please calm down. I'm definitely not defending Lin Ping. Lin Ping withheld resources to construct the Village Protection Array and ignored the Ancient God Village's distress call; each wrongdoing is extremely grave."

"However, Elder Xiao, based on what I know about Lin Ping, although he's greedy and timid, he logically wouldn't dare ignore a Grand Elder's command."

"Now that Elder Xiao has summoned him, yet he hasn't come, and there's no information from him, could it be that he encountered some trouble? Could it be, that he was killed by the Heavenly Court?"

Zhu Jie cautiously voiced his conjecture.

"Killed by the Heavenly Court? Do you have any evidence?" Upon hearing Zhu Jie's words, Xiao Mu's expression relaxed slightly but still remained stern, although his demeanor seemed less threatening, and the solemnness of the True God's majesty was slightly withheld.

Zhu Ping's speculation was not completely baseless.

Zhu Jie took the chance to gather a little composure, "This… I don't have any evidence, it's just a guess, but I'm willing to immediately dispatch someone to go to the Everlasting Domain's Domain Master's mansion to check."

"If Lin Ping is unharmed, I'll have my men bring him in directly for Elder Xiao to question. Elder Xiao, would this be feasible?"

"I'll give you half a day, immediately bring him here to meet me. Even if you don't bring him, give me a reason. If by half a day you still cannot find a reason, don't blame this Grand Elder for being unkind to you."

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Mu sternly stared at Zhu Jie, "Although I'm from the Great Tang Ruins as well, I won't be biased; you better thoroughly investigate this matter."

Zhu Jie, frightened by Xiao Mu's tone, hurriedly agreed, and then, in front of Xiao Mu, directly dispatched his two aides to the Everlasting Domain's Domain Master's mansion to investigate the reason why Lin Ping disobeyed the command to come to the Ancient God Village.

If Lin Ping truly disobeyed the command, they would directly arrest him.

Accompanying Zhu Jie were two Yin God Realm Peak aides, who, upon receiving Zhu Jie's orders, immediately used Escape Art to head toward the Everlasting Domain.

Zhu Jie stayed at the Ancient God Village, anxiously awaiting information from his aides or for them to return with Lin Ping.

Xiao Mu ignored him, continuing to study the information on the five mutated beings killed in the Ancient God Village to speculate on the Heavenly Court's motives for killing there.

After Zhu Jie's two aides arrived at the Everlasting Domain's Domain Master's mansion, they were directly detained by Chen Ming.

The two were greatly surprised upon encountering Chen Ming, faced with a Grand Elder like Chen Ming, they naturally dared not resist and were thus detained by Chen Ming, even under Chen Ming's pressure, they didn't dare send any information back.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.