Madam Lan pointed at Yaohua's nose and scolded, "Everyone knows that you absorbed the inheritance of the Phoenix Ancestor. You even defeated everyone in the Phoenix Clan and snatched the position of clan leader from your father! My poor Xilan must have fallen victim to your evil hands!"
Yaohua wasn't overwhelmed by fear. She looked at the corpse on the ground and argued rationally, "Princess Xilan is the beloved daughter of two clans. She must have treasures to protect her soul. How could a single phoenix plume of mine disperse her soul?"
Hearing this, Madam Lan still didn't believe her and was convinced that Yaohua was just making excuses. However, the other clan leaders exchanged glances, their eyes showing deep thought.
The clan leader of the Ibis Clan said coldly, "My daughter did have a soul - protecting lamp. Although this item can protect the soul, with your cultivation level and the True Fire of the Phoenix, you could have killed her and extinguished the lamp in an instant."
Suddenly, he turned around and knelt on one knee before the God - Lord. "Please, God - Lord, make a fair judgment and allow me to arrest this girl for interrogation."
"My daughter said she didn't do it, so she didn't!" Qingcang's veins on his forehead bulged. "Who on earth is framing my daughter?"
Madam Lan cried pitifully, "God - Lord! In my opinion, this slut should be subjected to all the cruel tortures in the Immortal Realm. Only if she still doesn't change her story after the torture can we prove that Xilan wasn't killed by her."
The God - Lord looked hesitant. If Yaohua were to be tortured like that, she would be ruined.
But compared to the peace of several clans, what was the sacrifice of a single Yaohua?
Seeing that the God - Lord seemed to be wavering, Chongming stepped forward sternly. "God - Lord!"
"You are Yaohua's master. It's not appropriate for you to intervene in this matter at this time," the God - Lord considered.
Madam Lan saw that her goal was about to be achieved, so she calmed down. She just leaned on the Ibis Clan leader, looking pitiful.
She must avenge her daughter!
Seeing that no one could change the God - Lord's decision, Tu Yang suddenly stepped forward. "The tortures in the Immortal Realm are too cruel. There's a high chance of forcing a confession. In my opinion, we might as well temporarily seal Yaohua's cultivation level and order the Phoenix Clan to find the real culprit within three days. If they can't, then we can use torture. What do you think?"
The God - Lord nodded. "Agreed."
Now, because the Phoenix Clan had grown spiritual herbs, their prestige among the clans had increased. If Yaohua were really ruined, the Phoenix Clan might fight the Immortal Realm to the death.
Tu Yang's solution was very prudent, and he was quite satisfied.
The Ibis Clan leader was very dissatisfied with this result, but since the God - Lord had spoken, he had no choice.
He stroked his beard, and a cold light flashed in his eyes. Just as the God - Lord was sealing Yaohua's cultivation level, he suddenly cast a spell and wrapped a silk ribbon around Yaohua's neck.
Chongming wanted to stop him, but was firmly held back by Madam Lan. He could only watch helplessly as the white silk ribbon wrapped around Yaohua's neck.
Qingcang roared, "What are you doing?!"
The Ibis Clan leader said calmly, "This item is called the Immortal - Binding Belt. It only serves the purpose of tracking to prevent some people from running away to avoid punishment. I don't think anyone will mind, right?"
Seeing that the few people were about to quarrel over the Immortal - Binding Belt, the God - Lord said, "The Ibis Clan leader is right. As the saying goes, the innocent have nothing to fear. If Yaohua is innocent, she naturally won't mind being bound."
Since the God - Lord had spoken, the others had no choice but to obey.
When Yaohua returned to the Phoenix Clan dejectedly with her father, the news of Xilan's death had already spread far and wide.
Several of her elder brothers welcomed them back and asked with concern, "Sister, how are you?"
"What on earth happened? Did you really kill Xilan?"
Facing their concerned eyes, Yaohua was in a low mood and told them what had happened.
The elder brothers began to offer suggestions one after another. "The phoenix plume must have been stolen by someone else to frame you."
"Why don't you go and lie low for a while? We'll look for clues for you."
"I think the Heavenly Demon in the back mountain is highly suspect!"
"If we really can't find the culprit, it doesn't matter. We can find someone to take the blame."
Yaohua was annoyed and couldn't help shouting, "What do you know? The person who could steal the phoenix plume from me must be extremely powerful. Besides talking nonsense here, what help can you be?"
She had never been so angry with her elder brothers before.
The elder brothers were at a loss for what to do after being scolded.
Yan Ling, still seriously ill, looked pale. "We've dragged our sister down..."
Zhu Yuan also looked dejected. "It's all my fault. If I had gone with you, I could have watched out for you and you wouldn't have been framed."
Mo Qing said in a low voice, "Sister, you've suffered. Change your clothes first."
The others' faces turned red and then white. If it weren't for their low cultivation levels, their sister wouldn't have had to make so many enemies and suffer humiliation.
Yaohua opened her mouth and said dejectedly, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I just couldn't control my emotions."
After she changed her torn clothes, Chongming rushed over in a hurry.
His face was serious. "The Ibis Clan leader is relentless. He has stayed in the Immortal Realm and vowed to find evidence. How exactly did Xilan die?"
After learning the whole story, he took Yaohua's hand and headed for the Immortal Realm. "The cause of death is so strange. Someone must have tampered with it. We must go back to look for clues."
The master and disciple returned to the library.
By now, the phoenix plume that had killed Xilan had been carefully stored as the murder weapon.
Not long after, the Ibis Clan leader also returned. His eyes were filled with hatred, as if he wanted to devour Yaohua alive.
Yaohua's cultivation had been sealed because of this incident, and the Immortal - Binding Belt was tied around her neck. Under his oppressive aura, it was difficult for her to even breathe, let alone search the scene.
Chongming protected her behind him and said calmly, "The clan leader came back here also to find the real culprit who killed Xilan. Our goals are the same. Internal strife is useless."
"I think you're not here to find evidence, but to destroy it," the Ibis Clan leader said rudely.
He guarded Xilan's corpse warily, preventing the two from examining his daughter's body.
Yaohua's face was pale. She had just been whipped by Xilan and then had all her cultivation sealed. She had managed to hold on until now only by sheer willpower.
As she moved, the blood soaked her clothes and dripped down her wrists.
Worse still, the Heavenly Demon Seed in her body seemed to sense the weakness of its host and began to stir.
"System," she couldn't help calling in her heart. "Can you help me temporarily suppress the Heavenly Demon Seed?"
After a while, the system replied weakly, "I've detected a wisp of demonic qi nearby... Feed it to me so that I can regain my strength and then help you figure out a way."
"There's demonic qi nearby?" Yaohua was stunned. "Where?"
The system replied listlessly, "I don't know about that."
So she tugged at Chongming's sleeve and whispered, "Master, could it be that demonic qi is responsible for Xilan's complete destruction of soul and body?"
After a moment of thought, Chongming slowly shook his head. "But how could there be demonic qi in the library? Even if there were demonic qi, it couldn't coexist with the phoenix plume because they are incompatible. If they appeared at the same time, one of them would surely be destroyed."