Lin Fan looked towards the guilt faced disciples who had testified.
"You felt the energy was 'borrowed'? 'Impure'?
…Young ones, you have been drinking poisoned water your whole lives. When you finally taste pure spring water, does it not feel strange on your tongue?
…The energy you felt was Primordial Qi. It felt foreign because your own bodies have become accustomed to the sickness."
Finally, he turned to the heart of the matter. His eyes softened with a look of profound sorrow as he looked at Su Mei, who was trembling near the witness stand.
"Senior Sister Su Mei," he called out to her with utmost respect, he was an Elder of the Sect.
Officially, he didn't need to address her as Senior Sister but the rule of this world is based on might, the power, the martial prowess and the height of the Cultivation Realms, she is in every right his Senior Sister.
His voice is like the tragic hero of a Shakespearean style play, gentle enough to break hearts. "Please, do not be afraid."
She shuffled forward, unable to meet his gaze.
"The elders accuse me of a demonic Yin Devouring Art, using your sincerity as their proof,"
She nodded and Lin Fan took a deep breath.
"Let us clarify this for the hall. Senior Sister, what is your cultivation realm?"
"Peak... Foundation Establishment," she whispered.
"On the verge of breakthrough?"
She nodded.
"And what is mine?"
"Qi Condensation... Level 3?"
Lin Fan nodded. He didn't reveal that he leveled up a day ago, thanks to her. He is now Level 4 in Qi Condensation. But one level doesn't matter here at all.
"So, you are many, many times stronger than I am. Is that correct?"
"...Yes."
"Good. Now, the most important question." Lin Fan's voice was sharp and clear so that everyone could hear him clearly what he was about to say.
"When I agreed to help you, did I demand payment first? Or did I open the gateway, let you train, and stabilize your foundation before speaking of anything else?"
Su Mei's head snapped up with a faint realization, her voice stopped shaking. "You helped me first."
"And only after you were cured, whole, and stronger again, did I mention my needs. That is the truth, yes?"
"It is."
Lin Fan turned from her to face the elders. "Before you entered my Secret Realm, did I take any promise? Any vow? Any witness to bind you?"
Su Mei shook her head. The confidence in her eyes returning, guilt washing away.
"Did I exploit your helplessness? Your innocence? Your desperation? Your weakness?"
Again, she shook her head, firmer this time.
"When you left my Secret Realm, stronger than you had been in months, ten times stronger than I am, did I force you? Did I threaten you? Did I trap you with formations? Did I use any demonic art to compel you to pay?"
"No!" she cried, tears running down her face.
"Could I have forced you? Threatened you? Compelled you?"
"Never! I... I came to you willingly! I was grateful!"
Her last words shattered everyone's clouded mind. The silence that followed was full of revelation. Then came the whispers, soft at first, then spreading fast.
"She's right... she's Peak Foundation Establishment."
"Elder Lin is Qi Condensation. She could crush him without trying."
"How could a weak person use Yin Devouring Art on someone so much stronger? It doesn't make sense."
Elder Chen's face drained of color. He stammered, searching for a lifeline. "She... she was bewitched! His demonic arts clouded her mind!"
The excuse sounded thin. Pathetic.
The crowd scoffed. "If it was so easy for the Demonic Path then they would not have lost the war at all, even a small soldier could have used Yin Devouring Art on our strongest ones, bewitch their mind and win the war."
The murmurs grew louder, disciples and elders alike exchanging doubtful looks. For the first time, the balance of the trial shifted. A predator needed power, an upper hand.
Lin Fan had none.
On the throne, Sect Master Zhao Tianyi leaned forward. His face was unreadable, but there was the faintest glint in his eyes, something like amusement, or respect.
Behind the pillar, Ning Xinyi's hand covered her mouth. The doubts Bai Qing'er had planted were crumbling, her careful poison dissolving in front of cold logic.
The man she was starting to believe was a cunning demon had just proven he put himself in a position of complete vulnerability.
His so-called price wasn't a predator's demand…it was a request, backed by nothing but the hope of gratitude.
The shame of ever suspecting such an innocent and pure hearted person washed over her, and her tears, once of fear & confusion, now flowed from a profound sense of relief and dawning admiration.
Next to her, Bai Qing'er's face darkened, her smug confidence falling apart as her argument collapsed.
Lin Fan let the whispers build, feeding the moment. When the weight of the room was fully behind him, he struck again, pointing straight at Elder Chen.
"ENOUGH!" Lin Fan roared, his gaze sweeping across the stunned elders. "You have your answer! This is not a demonic ritual! This is a voluntary, sincere exchange of gratitude between two consenting adults!
You bring this disciple here and shame her, twisting her honorable donation into something vile! What kind of righteous elder preys on a disciple's reputation to win an argument?!"
He took a step forward, his momentum now unstoppable. The hall was his now.
"You ask why I demand such a personal price? You want to know why? It is because opening that gateway drains my very life essence!
…YES! You heard me right! My soul! Each time, a piece of my lifespan is consumed! That is why my cultivation is so pitifully low! I sacrifice my own future, my own talent to save the disciples of this sect!"
His voice cracked with theatrical emotion.
"The harmonious exchange of Yin and Yang you accuse of a demonic art is only a desperate and yet a righteous ritual to replenish the very life force I burn away! It is not for pleasure! It is so I can live to open the door one more time for the next desperate soul!"
He opened his arm. "And yet, I took nothing from them, I took their Yin, I gave my Yang. Nothing's been robbed. That is balance. That is the circle of life and death. Complete! Divine Heaven's law obeyed! Nature's blessing upheld!"
The story was perfect, heroic, tragic. Behind the pillar, Ning Xinyi's hands flew to her mouth, her eyes shining with tears.
"This is not a trial about demonic arts!" Lin Fan thundered with grinding teeth, pointing a shaking finger at his accusers.
"This is a trial about your pathetic, selfish pride versus the survival of the Green Cloud Sect!
…You, Elder Chen, grew rich on useless pills while our disciples withered!
…You, Elder Wu, cling to dusty scrolls while our world burns!
…You all would rather rule over a graveyard than see a new path flourish that you do not control! Isn't that right?"
He let that sink in as almost everyone faintly nodded.
Lin Fan finally turned to the Sect Master, his voice ringing with absolute conviction. "Sect Master, I have examined their witnesses, evidence and their arguments.
It has crumbled to dust. Now I ask you, and everyone in this hall. Who is the real demon here?
…The man who offers a solution at the cost of his own talent and life essence, who only asks for a sincere, voluntary donation?
…Or the esteemed elders who would snuff out that hope out of nothing more than jealousy, ignorance, fear or just pure greed?"