Divine Emperor Demon Emperor

Lin Yun was calm, showing no intention of escaping. He was certain Qing Zhu wouldn’t let anything happen to him tonight. ’If Qing Zhu wanted me dead, they would have acted during the day. Why wait until now?’

The screams from the front courtyard dwindled. It seemed the Celestial Spirit Auction House guards were nearly all dead.

Just then, a Celestial Spirit Auction House guard covered in blood stumbled into the small courtyard. He shouted at Lin Yun, "Young Master Lin, the Taiqing Academy has broken in! Chairman Nie is dead! You have to run!"

Hearing that Chairman Nie was also dead, Lin Yun’s expression flickered. ’Chairman Nie had no Cultivation. Logically, she wouldn’t have gone to fight the Taiqing Academy. So who killed her?’

As Lin Yun was pondering this, Aunt Lan suddenly appeared behind the Celestial Spirit Auction House guard. With a light tap of her palm, she killed him.

Seeing Aunt Lan, Lin Yun felt a surge of apprehension. This was a genuine Saint Realm expert. ’Even though I know she was likely sent by Qing Zhu to protect me, being with a Saint from the Qing Zhu Association without any trump cards of my own is still very unsettling.’

Right after Aunt Lan killed the guard, Wei Yunhang charged into the courtyard with his men from the Taiqing Academy. He immediately spotted Lin Yun sitting on a stone bench. The killing intent in his eyes was so intense that he completely failed to notice Aunt Lan’s presence.

"Kill Lin Yun! Go!" With a furious roar, the two Core Disciples from the Taiqing Academy behind Wei Yunhang charged straight for Lin Yun. However, before they could take more than a few steps, Aunt Lan dispatched them with casual ease.

Only then did Wei Yunhang and his men notice Aunt Lan. Sensing no aura from her whatsoever, Wei Yunhang’s expression grew incredibly grim.

’A Saint...’ Wei Yunhang could never have imagined that Lin Yun actually had a Saint protecting him.

"Retreat!" Though his heart was filled with reluctance, the cruel reality was that with Aunt Lan present, no one would be able to kill Lin Yun tonight.

Wei Yunhang had just given the order to retreat when Aunt Lan spoke coolly, "Leave one Main Seat Elder behind as evidence."

The moment she finished speaking, Aunt Lan’s figure flickered, appearing instantly before a Main Seat Elder. Before the man could even react, she had already snapped his neck.

After she effortlessly killed a Main Seat Elder, Wei Yunhang couldn’t be bothered with anything else. He led the remaining Taiqing Academy Disciples in a hasty retreat from the Celestial Spirit Auction House.

After Wei Yunhang and his men were gone, four new corpses lay in the courtyard besides Aunt Lan: three from the Taiqing Academy, and one from the Celestial Spirit Auction House.

Giving Lin Yun a charming smile, Aunt Lan said nothing and vanished into the void once more.

"This time, Wei Yunhang truly has no way to defend himself..." Lin Yun murmured. ’With bodies from the Taiqing Academy left at the Celestial Spirit Auction House, he couldn’t talk his way out of this even if he had a hundred mouths.’

Wei Yunhang and his men fled, returning all the way to the Wei Family estate. Without even bothering to change out of their Night Travel Clothes, the Main Seat Elders and Core Disciples followed him into the family’s main hall.

"Brother Wei, what do we do now? This really looks like our Taiqing Academy attacked the Celestial Spirit Auction House," a Core Disciple said, still shaken from the ordeal.

Wei Yunhang seemed not to hear the Disciple’s words, completely lost in thought.

’I never would have thought Lin Yun had a Saint protecting him. Where did this Saint come from? If she’s been protecting him all along, why didn’t she make a move back at the Taiqing Academy?’

’One wrong move and the whole game is lost. Not only did I fail to kill Lin Yun, but the attack on the Celestial Spirit Auction House is now an undeniable fact. Even if I try to explain it to them, they won’t believe me.’

Wei Yunhang was utterly dejected and remorseful. ’If I had known Lin Yun had a Saint with him, I would never have led an attack on the Celestial Spirit Auction House, not even if it cost me my life.’

"Sigh... The Taiqing Academy is facing a catastrophe this time. We must inform the Director at once." With a sigh, a Main Seat Elder rose and left the Main Hall.

After the first one left, the other Main Seat Elders soon followed, leaving the Main Hall one by one.

After this incident, Wei Yunhang’s reputation among the Main Seat Elders had plummeted. This was a true catastrophe, and they needed to return to the Taiqing Academy immediately to discuss it.

The Main Seat Elders had all gone, leaving only Wei Yunhang and a few Core Disciples in the Main Hall. After a long silence, Wei Yunhang spoke, his voice weak. "All Taiqing Academy Disciples and Elders... everyone, pull out."

That night, everyone from the Taiqing Academy withdrew under the cover of darkness, Wei Yunhang included.

「The next morning.」

The previous night’s fierce battle had left the Celestial Spirit Auction House severely damaged. The entire front courtyard was now a pile of rubble, and almost all of its guards were dead.

The surviving guards of the Celestial Spirit Auction House began moving the bodies—including those from the Taiqing Academy—to the Martial Arts Training Ground in the rear courtyard.

At that moment, within the Main Hall of the Taiqing Academy, the Director, the Six Supreme Elders, and all the Main Seat Elders were present. Wei Yunhang was there as well.

"What do we do now? Raid the Celestial Spirit Auction House... Wei Yunhang, who gave you the audacity to do such a thing?" one of the Supreme Elders bellowed at him, holding nothing back.

With things having come to this, even Wei Yunhang’s master had nothing to say in his defense. An act like raiding the Celestial Spirit Auction House was enough to bring about the destruction of the Taiqing Academy.

"We were framed," Wei Yunhang stated calmly in response to the Supreme Elder’s furious tirade.

"You’re still trying to make excuses? Our Taiqing Academy’s dead are inside the Celestial Spirit Auction House right now, and you still claim you were framed?" the Supreme Elder shot back.

Wei Yunhang recounted the previous night’s events in their entirety. He knew it was useless to say anything at this point, but he told them anyway.

After Wei Yunhang finished speaking, everyone in the Main Hall fell silent. After a long moment, his master, the Director of the Taiqing Academy, finally spoke.

"Since it has come to this, our only choice is to wait for the experts from the Celestial Spirit Auction House to arrive. I will go and explain the situation to them. Prepare a generous compensation package to be delivered to them as well."

Hearing this, the Six Supreme Elders remained silent. It was indeed the only option. ’If we pay a hefty price, perhaps the experts from the Celestial Spirit Auction House will show the Taiqing Academy some leniency.’

However, there was one thing Wei Yunhang himself didn’t know: the person in charge of the Fire City branch, Chairman Nie, had been killed the previous night.

Although Aunt Lan was the one who killed her, who would believe that? The Celestial Spirit Auction House Headquarters would undoubtedly place all the blame on the Taiqing Academy.

Killing a branch manager was not a problem that could be solved by simply paying a hefty price. If the Director of the Taiqing Academy knew that even Chairman Nie had died the previous night, he probably wouldn’t be thinking about compensation at all.

Dismissing everyone, the Director of the Taiqing Academy left in a hurry. With a matter of this magnitude, he naturally had to go and request the intervention of the Taiqing Academy’s own Saint.