"Junior Niece Ye, how do you explain this?"
No one believed Ye Chuxue had intentionally poisoned another disciple. No cultivator would do something so foolish. Most likely, her alchemy was simply flawed—some mistake in the process.
"I don't know what went wrong, but I'm certain my pill wasn't the problem!"
Ye Chuxue still believed in her work. She had followed the inherited method step by step and had successfully refined a mid-grade fifth-rank pill. How could there be poison?
"The facts are right in front of you. Are you still going to insist your pill is fine?" the Second Elder said with a cold laugh. "Do you need someone to die before you'll admit it?"
Ever since Gu Qingyuan had gone out of his way to defend Ye Chuxue, the elders had started to look at her differently. Now that something had gone wrong, of course she didn't want to take responsibility.
"I didn't do it!" Ye Chuxue's face flushed with frustration. "I followed the recipe exactly. There must be a misunderstanding!"
"Sect Master, please believe me. My pill couldn't have been the cause. Please investigate thoroughly!" If she admitted her pill was poisoned, how would she sell her pills in the future? Who would still come to her for alchemy?
"Junior Niece Ye, it's not that I don't trust you," the Sect Master said, frowning. "But the evidence clearly shows your pill is toxic."
He was just as frustrated. He had hoped to raise another alchemy master in the sect, someone who could stand beside Song Wanníng. Now this scandal had ruined that hope.
"Of course, I don't believe you did it on purpose. But a disciple has been poisoned, so you'd best cooperate and focus on finding an antidote." He didn't care much about Wu Dan's survival. She was just an outer sect disciple. But Ye Chuxue was a true disciple. If this wasn't handled properly, her reputation would suffer.
"That's right. Junior Niece Ye, give me the pill formula. Let's see where the problem lies," Lan Yue said. He only wanted to save the girl. But after looking at the formula, his brows furrowed even deeper.
"This is just the standard formula for a Gathering Spirit Pill. There's nothing wrong with it."
Then where had the poison come from?
Everyone around started to look puzzled as well.
Just then, Gu Qingyuan arrived.
Bai Yang and An Ze had rushed over upon hearing the news and ran into Gu Qingyuan at the gate. The three arrived together.
"Chuxue's pill couldn't be the problem," Gu Qingyuan said firmly as he stepped forward to shield her. "Senior Brother Lan, you yourself said the recipe was fine. So the problem must lie elsewhere."
"Master!" Ye Chuxue's eyes lit up. Seeing his tall and unwavering back gave her a deep sense of security. As long as he stood with her, no one could touch her.
"Don't worry. I'm here," Gu Qingyuan said softly. His cold gaze fell briefly on Wu Dan, then turned away in indifference.
At that moment, Bai Yang stepped forward too. "Senior Uncle Lan, if the formula was fine, maybe the issue lies somewhere else—"
"It had to be Li Ruo! I know it was her!" An Ze suddenly shouted.
He ran up to Ye Chuxue, face full of urgency. "Yesterday I asked Li Ruo to bring you some Qianshan Spirit Spring Water. Were you there when it arrived?"
Ye Chuxue blinked, then shook her head. "I stepped out briefly during the pill refinement. When I came back, the water was already there. I thought it was from you...
I was only gone for a short while, and no one else was on the peak. So I didn't bother sealing the room with an array." The moment she said that, realization struck everyone present.
Someone had tampered with the alchemy process.
"Are you certain?" Gu Qingyuan asked again, his voice low.
"I'm certain. When I came back, the Qianshan Spirit Spring was sitting there," Ye Chuxue replied, her face pale with rage.
Song Wanníng. That vile woman actually dared to send someone to poison her alchemy room.
Shameless!
"It had to be Li Ruo!" An Ze shouted, stomping with fury. "She must have been acting on her master's orders, trying to set Ye Shijie up!"
"Or maybe she wanted to poison Junior Niece Ye, but didn't expect someone else to take the pill first!"
"Master would never expect Junior Niece Ye to give her pills away to other disciples, after all!"
In the past, Master had targeted Junior Niece Ye more than once. This had to be her doing.
"What? Grandmaster Song? That doesn't sound right. Would she really do such a thing?"
"Why not? If Ye Chuxue becomes an alchemy master, the first person she'll threaten is Song Wanníng!"
"She's clearly jealous of Ye Chuxue's talent!"
"Exactly. Maybe she's just trying to hold on to her position and had her disciple sabotage things."
"Gasp! Is Grandmaster Song really that kind of person?"
The crowd buzzed with gossip, their doubts quickly turning into accusations.
Bai Yang frowned, shooting An Ze a disapproving look. "Master has been in seclusion this whole time. What does this have to do with her?"
"Watch your mouth," he warned sharply.
Seeing Bai Yang defend Song Wanníng made Ye Chuxue's heart ache. Her eyes turned red with disbelief. Even now, Bai Yang was taking Song Wanníng's side?
He's changed.
"If there's any doubt, let's just call Junior Sister Li over and ask. That way, no one gets wrongly accused," Ye Chuxue said, forcing a composed smile as she looked up at her master.
Gu Qingyuan softened. He immediately ordered someone to summon Li Ruo.
"She's just a low-level disciple in the Qi Refining stage," the Second Elder said, sneering. "And Song Wanníng's in seclusion. Are you seriously bullying a child now?"
She couldn't stand to watch Gu Qingyuan fawn over Ye Chuxue. That tender gaze made her stomach turn.
"Besides, how would a Qi Refining disciple even know how to poison a pill? Sounds more like someone messed up and wants to blame others."
Her sharp eyes landed on Ye Chuxue, full of scorn.
Ye Chuxue clenched her fists, shaking with anger.
What did she ever do to the Second Elder?
Why that condescending tone?!
Gu Qingyuan's face darkened too. His eyes turned cold, a dangerous glint flickering within.
The Second Elder met his glare without backing down. The tension in the air grew thick, ready to ignite.
The Sect Master massaged his temples, already feeling the headache coming.
He secretly sided with Gu Qingyuan and Ye Chuxue. If they could pin this on Li Ruo, all the better. She was just a so-called true disciple, and not a very impressive one. If she took the blame, things might smooth over quickly.
He moved to calm both parties.
Soon, a group of disciples arrived, escorting Li Ruo to the peak.
The young girl looked confused and disheveled. Her hair was a mess, her hands covered in dirt. She looked like she had just come from cleaning chores.
As soon as she stepped forward, Gu Qingyuan released a wave of pressure.
Thud!
Li Ruo dropped to her knees.