In the entire second-floor attic, only the intermittent sobbing of Manager Jiang could be heard as he narrated, and everyone, including Li Qingming and the others, was listening.

During this time, Long Xuhu and Man Niu several times felt the impulse to extract Jiang Yan's soul and torment him thoroughly, but Li Qingming, who acted quickly, suppressed the urge each time.

"Big brother, this guy is so shamelessly twisting the truth, are we just going to watch and let this Wang Badan smear us?" Long Xuhu's face reddened and his neck thickened with anger, his rage soaring to the sky.

"Xu Hu!" Before Li Qingquan could speak, Li Qingquan gave him a glare and said, "Big brother has the Time Retrospection Technique. Isn't it easy to restore the truth of the events? I think the reason big brother is holding you back must be that he has a plan!"

"Exactly! Let's see what that old man has to say!" Li Qingming nodded and said, "If everyone in the Elegant Scholar Pavilion is so unreasonable and biased, what's the harm in destroying it?"

Not far away, as Jiang Yan spoke, Manager Cai's face changed unpredictably. After Manager Jiang finished speaking, Manager Cai's face was so dark it seemed water could drip from it. He stared straight at Manager Jiang's face, his voice booming like thunder, "Jiang Yan, are your words true? A gentleman should be open and upright, not resorting to the behavior of petty men, fabricating stories!"

Jiang Yan shivered all over, about to blurt out the truth.

However, when he saw Li Qingming's faint smile not far away, a surge of malice rose in his chest, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Manager Cai, please see clearly, every word Jiang Yan says is true, there is no falsehood!"

"Humph!" Manager Cai snorted coldly and turned his gaze toward Little You who was standing aside, and said, "Little You, is that so?"

Little You frowned, intending to tell the truth, but then he noticed Jiang Yan sincerely staring at him with resentment from where he was half-sitting on the ground.

He suddenly remembered that although those people had shown mercy and not killed him just now, he still had to make a living in Yafeng Ancient City in the future. Even though Jiang Yan had his cultivation wasted, he still belonged to a family with a large business, and Little You could not afford to provoke him.

With this thought, Little You simply kept silent, refusing to help either side.

However, seeing Little You's response, Manager Cai misinterpreted it as consent. With a grim face, he walked up to Li Qingming and the others and said, "Shouldn't Your Excellency give me, Cai Wen, and my Elegant Scholar Pavilion, an explanation?"

Upon hearing this, Li Qingming glanced at Jiang Yan not far away, who was full of a mocking smile, turned his head back, and said, "What explanation do you want?"

"You allow your subordinates to ruin the reputation of my Elegant Scholar Pavilion, insult the high-level managers of my Elegant Scholar Pavilion. Did you do it yourself, or should I discipline your subordinates for you?" The shopkeeper Cai Wen's eyes showed a fierce light, and then with a swish, he pulled out a divine brush, emitting a gloomy light, with a Daoist charm swirling around it.

"A top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure!" Yin Xi, standing behind Li Qingming, exclaimed in surprise.

It seems that the rumors were indeed true; the Qingya Fairy might have really plundered a Great Thousand World that was about to face Great Destruction. Otherwise, how could a mere manager of an Elegant Scholar Pavilion possess such a powerful Innate Spiritual Treasure? Other than being bestowed by Jishang Academy, they could think of no other explanation.

"Have you thought it through?" said Cai Wen with a cold voice. Clearly, by revealing this Innate Spiritual Treasure, he intended to threaten them.

"What if I say that everything Manager Jiang has claimed is false?" Li Qingming ignored his threat, still wearing that indifferent expression, as if stating a fact.

"Manager Cai, don't listen to his nonsense! What Jiang Yan said is completely true, please stand up for Jiang Yan!" the moment Li Qingming finished speaking, Jiang Yan shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Humph, Your Excellency is really not taking this old man seriously! Are you saying, this old man doesn't even have the ability to distinguish right from wrong? Facts? Humph, the facts are indeed so!" Cai Wen scoffed, the brush in his hand also began to emit intense fluctuations of Laws, seemingly ready to make a move.

At the same time, another old man from the group of musicians approached, holding a black jade flute in his hand. As he neared, he sneered arrogantly, "Young man, you should know that in the entire True Confucian Origin Realm, some people can't be trifled with! My Elegant Scholar Pavilion is watched over by Lord Yan Hui, and no one has ever dared to cause trouble in my Elegant Scholar Pavilion!"

"Oh?" Li Qingming turned his head to look at the old man dressed in a Musician Robe and chuckled, "According to you, all the rights and wrongs, black and white, are in the hands of your Elegant Scholar Pavilion? Whoever you say is black is black, and whoever you say is white is white?"

"Hahaha, whatever you say!" The old musician laughed heartily, disinclined to explain.

"Good!" Li Qingming nodded slightly, then suddenly reached out, and with a light grasp toward Jiang Yan who was not far away, Jiang Yan felt an overwhelming power coming from in front of him, and the next second he was already in Li Qingming's hands.

Jiang Yan struggled in terror, calling out frantically, "Stop, what are you doing? This is Yafeng Ancient City, the Elegant Scholar Pavilion presided over by Lord Yan Hui, not a place for you, any Tom, Dick, or Harry, to act recklessly! Let me go, let me go now..."

"What are you going to do, young man?" Both old men's expressions also changed. They did not expect that after all that had been said, this audacious man would still dare to act.

"You were pretty good at pretending and being arrogant just now, weren't you?" Li Qingming threw Jiang Yan to the ground, and said indifferently, "Originally, I wanted to spare your life, but now it seems I've been too soft-hearted! If you do wrong, you must accept the punishment!"

With that, Li Qingming raised his right hand slightly and pointed lightly at the top of Jiang Yan's skull.

"Whoosh!"

Jiang Yan instantly lost all signs of life, and a slightly transparent shadow with well-defined features outlined entirely in golden threads, floated out from the top of Jiang Yan's skull.

The shadow appeared to wander aimlessly in mid-air, seemingly still unaccustomed to its state.

"Hisss!"

All the onlookers drew in a sharp breath simultaneously.

From afar, two Confucian scholars who had been drinking and chatting at a long table, both had a flash of horror in their eyes.

"Look, it's Jiang Yan's soul!" A Confucian scholar in a gray robe gently sipped his drink and said.

Another Confucian scholar, in a blue robe, commented, "Big brother, the cultivation of this Green Robed Taoist is truly terrifying! With just a slight touch, he managed to extract Jiang Yan's soul."

The Confucian scholar in the gray robe said, "Indeed, even a Quasi-Saint would have difficulty accomplishing this without the Netherworld Clan's innate ability to reap souls!"

The Confucian scholar in the blue robe gloated with a smile: "It seems that Master's divination was not wrong! If we go by Master's reading, this Elegant Scholar Pavilion is in for a disaster!"

"Hehe, let's just continue watching!" The gray-robed Confucian scholar chuckled and lowered his head to continue drinking and eating, seemingly unconcerned.

...

"Jiang Yan!" Looking at the golden soul in front of him, Li Qingming smiled slightly, his voice booming like thunder.

"Ah!" Jiang Yan's soul cried out, as if awakening from a dream, scanned his surroundings, and then his face dramatically altered as he bellowed, "What, what is going on? My body, why has my body become like this? Is it you? Was it you who did this?"

Li Qingming smiled indifferently, "If you knew this would be your fate, why act as you did in the first place? This is all your own doing! You shall spend your endless wretched existence at the bottom of the endless Nine Nether."

Saying this, he gently drew a line across the Void with one hand.

"Crack..."

A deep fissure appeared before Li Qingming, and from it, an almost grey flame drifted out, engulfing Jiang Yan's soul in one gulp.

"Ah!"

Jiang Yan let out a heart-wrenching scream, and the golden figure blazed with the flames.

In an instant, the flame, dragging Jiang Yan's soul, rapidly escaped into the silent Void.

"You youngsters, you have no respect for heaven and earth, daring to execute a soul within my Elegant Scholar Pavilion!" The two old men who had witnessed Li Qingming's relentless action changed their expressions.

This was a slap in the face to the Elegant Scholar Pavilion in full view of all the guests!

Before Li Qingming could speak, Long Xuhu cursed arrogantly: "Fuck your two elders! You two old goods, believing that bastard Jiang Yan's side of the story, I can tell you're no good either! If you dare to lay a hand on us today, I swear I'll destroy your entire Elegant Scholar Pavilion!"

"Good, a truly brazen young man! Today, none of you will get away, I assure you, you will regret it!" Manager Cai's face flushed deep red with fury as he bellowed, directing the old musician to report to Lord Yan Hui outside the pavilion.

Clearly, they had realized that this group was no easy target.

In what was perhaps the time taken to drink a cup of tea, a group of men rushed into the second floor of the Elegant Scholar Pavilion. They were all dressed in crimson Confucian robes, radiating tremendous energy, holding various Spiritual Treasures that exuded divine brilliance, extremely formidable.

The young Confucian scholar at the forefront, clad in a bright golden Confucian robe, exuded an unmatched arrogance.

"Damn, where did all these people come from? Could they be the subordinates of Saint Yan Hui?"

"Are you dumb? Saint Yan Hui is a disciple of the Great Saint Confucius; he doesn't have the spare time to come here. In my opinion, this young man must be one of the nephews or younger relatives of Saint Yan Hui!"

"Yeah, now we've got a show to watch!"

All the cultivators on the second floor were slightly astonished at this scene and whispered among themselves. It was clear that they did not recognize this group of unexpected Confucian scholars.

However, in contrast to the discussions amongst these cultivators, Li Qingming and his companions remained calm, showing not the slightest fear. They even found themselves several long tables and sat down, just calmly watching the newcomers as if observing a group of jumping clowns.

The old musician closely followed the young Confucian scholar, speaking respectfully: "Young Master, it was this bunch who beat Manager Jiang Yan until his soul dissipated, and now they've even openly declared their intention to completely destroy our Elegant Scholar Pavilion!"(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to give your recommendation and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)

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