Chapter 100: Resolving the Crisis

After all, Venerable Tianwu had over two hundred years of life experience. With a quick thought, he came up with another solution.
“Senior Xuanji, how about this? I can back down and avoid using the soul-searching technique. Instead, I’ll use a mental probing spell. I’ll ask questions in front of you and have him answer them. This way, it won’t cause him any harm.”
The mental probing spell mentioned by Venerable Tianwu was a type of lie-detection magic. Though it couldn’t directly read Su Che’s thoughts, it could roughly determine whether he was lying.
Hearing Venerable Tianwu’s concession, Su Che felt relieved. He wasn’t afraid of such a lie-detection spell. After all, true gold fears no fire. He indeed hadn’t murdered Zhen Zhen, so as long as he answered according to the facts no matter what questions were asked, it would be fine.
As long as the secrets of the Immortal Prison remained hidden, Su Che had nothing to worry about.
Unexpectedly, Venerable Xuanji still refused, shaking his head immediately. “Senior, you came to me with such aggression, acting as if you were here to catch a murderer. To be honest, though I’m smiling, I’m very displeased. You can interrogate my disciple, but you must present sufficient evidence proving that my disciple is directly involved in Zhen Zhen’s disappearance before I’ll seriously consider your request.”
After a brief pause, Venerable Tianwu laughed in anger. “I never expected you to defend this disciple so much, ignoring our years of friendship.”
Venerable Xuanji smiled silently, sitting calmly, but inwardly sneered. “What kind of friendship could there be between us? Among the ten main peaks, there’s only competition among us. We only unite against external threats…”
Venerable Tianwu narrowed his eyes, suppressing his anger, and realized that Venerable Xuanji valued Su Che greatly. It was now almost impossible to use violent interrogation methods on Su Che.
“Very well,” he nodded. “Several people from my Tianwu Peak can prove that on that day, Zhen Zhen left the mountain with an inner disciple named Fei Yun with the intention of chasing after Su Che. Now, Su Che has returned, but Zhen Zhen and Fei Yun have been missing for half a year. Don’t you think I should ask Su Che about this?”
“Right, it should be asking, not interrogating,” Venerable Xuanji laughed heartily and waved his hand. “Senior, you’ve finally understood the difference between the two.”

“Junior brother, my true disciple has been missing for half a year now. I’m naturally extremely worried. I hope you can understand that,” said Venerable Tianwu, his tone finally softening.
“I understand,” nodded Venerable Xuanji, before changing his tone again. “Senior brother, actually, I’ve already asked Su Che about this and found out that on that day, Zhen Zhen led people to chase Su Che, clearly with malicious intent—possibly even to kill him outright…”
At this point, Venerable Xuanji’s expression darkened sharply. “Zhen Zhen started the pursuit against Su Che. Even if Su Che killed her in self-defense, he has no fault. Shouldn’t the disciples of my Xuanji Peak just suffer abuse without a fight?”
“So, Zhen Zhen’s disappearance was indeed caused by Su Che?” Venerable Tianwu’s expression also darkened.
“That’s not the case,” waved his hand Venerable Xuanji. “I’m just explaining things to you. In reality, Su Che not only never harmed Zhen Zhen but even showed kindness by helping her twice.”
“Is that so?” Venerable Tianwu wasn’t willing to believe it easily. With a cold snort, his gaze shifted back to Su Che.
Su Che was about to speak when Venerable Xuanji raised his hand to stop him. “Disciple, there’s no need for you to explain anything until the truth is clear. I really can’t believe that within the grand Tianxuan Sect, there’s no place for reason?”
“Yes, master,” replied Su Che, feeling a sense of warmth in his heart. After all, this master was quite fair in front of outsiders.
Venerable Tianwu wasn’t stupid either. Sensing Venerable Xuanji’s firm attitude, he realized they might actually be on the right side. Could it be that things weren’t as he had thought?
So, Venerable Tianwu’s stance softened a bit, and a smile appeared on his face as he chuckled. “Junior brother, don’t be angry. I admit I was a bit impulsive earlier. Actually, we both share the same concern—both of us care deeply for our disciples, which is why we’re so angry.”
“That’s it then.”
Venerable Xuanji nodded, his expression much better now. Since the other party had softened, there was no need to make things too tense. Moreover, to prevent Venerable Tianwu from finding excuses to trouble Su Che in the future, it was better to clarify things face to face.
So, Venerable Xuanji turned to Su Che and asked kindly, “Disciple, I need to use the mind-reading technique on you to prove your innocence. Would you be willing to allow it?”

“The disciple is willing,” Su Che replied with a solemn expression. Having his own master cast such spells indeed made him feel much better psychologically.
Venerable Xuanji nodded slightly, performed several hand gestures in sequence, and with another wave of his hand, a transparent water mirror appeared in front of Su Che, floating about a foot above the ground.
“Disciple, next, you must speak to this mirror. If you lie, the mirror will show signs of anomaly,” Venerable Xuanji asked in a deep voice. “Do you understand?”
“The disciple understands.”
“Good. Then I will ask you…”
Venerable Xuanji first asked, “Was it you who caused the disappearance of ‘Zhenzhen’ from Tianwu Peak?”
“No.”
Su Che answered without hesitation, and the mirror showed no reaction.
Venerable Tianwu’s eyes twitched slightly. In fact, even without this mirror, based on Su Che’s response, he could tell that Su Che was indeed telling the truth. As a cultivator in the later stage of the Golden Core phase and having governed Tianwu Peak for decades, his ability to discern truth was not much inferior to Venerable Xuanji’s.
Then Venerable Xuanji posed a second question: “Zhenzhen left the mountain with an inner disciple to chase after you. Did you have any contact after that?”
Su Che replied, “We did have contact…”
In this way, Venerable Xuanji and Su Che, through question and answer, quickly recounted what had happened half a year ago. The mirror never showed any abnormalities, proving that everything Su Che said was true.
In fact, Venerable Xuanji’s way of asking questions was highly skillful—every question worked in Su Che’s favor and cleverly avoided some sensitive topics. For example, how many Escape Pills Su Che used to escape Zhenzhen’s pursuit, or how much compensation he received from her… Venerable Xuanji did not mention such things, so Su Che had no need to hide anything. After all, proving his innocence was sufficient.
Only then did Venerable Tianwu realize that Su Che not only had not taken revenge on Zhenzhen but had even killed that demonic cultivator after she was injured and stayed overnight to protect her, truly showing kindness in return for harm and upholding righteousness to the fullest.
Venerable Tianwu had nothing to say and could only apologize to Venerable Xuanji, “Younger brother, I’m sorry. Just now, I was impulsive and wronged your disciple. I truly apologize.”
It was already quite remarkable that a venerable master of the main peak would express such remorse. Expecting him to personally apologize to a disciple like Su Che was simply impossible.

“No problem.” Venerable Mysterious Insight also decided to stop at the right time, waving his hand with a smile and saying, “If my disciple weren’t outstanding in both character and academics, with good virtues, I wouldn’t defend him so much.”
Venerable Heavenly Objects nodded and added, “Could I take a look at those relics left by that demon cultivator?”
“Of course.” Venerable Mysterious Insight waved his right hand, and several items beside him flew in front of Venerable Heavenly Objects.
After examining them carefully, and based on Su Che’s description of the demon cultivator’s appearance and magical traits, Venerable Heavenly Objects deduced, “Younger brother, I suspect the demon cultivator that Su Che killed was likely a member of the Blood God Sect.”
“Hmm, I think so too,” Venerable Mysterious Insight nodded and added, “I guess there are two possibilities for Zhen Zhen’s disappearance: one is that she was taken away by later members of the Blood God Sect; the other is that she might have encountered someone who was chasing that bald demon cultivator—probably not a good person either.”
“Yes…”
Venerable Heavenly Objects frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, then sighed softly, “It’s not bad to have some clues to follow…”
Immediately afterward, he put the three spiritual artifacts, magic treasures, and pills left by the bald demon cultivator into his bag, then said to Su Che, “Su Che, those items from the demon cultivator are definitely not suitable for you to use. I need them as clues and evidence to continue searching for Zhen Zhen’s whereabouts. So, I’ll take them with me. Later, I’ll send someone to give you more suitable magic treasures and pills as compensation and thanks. What do you think?”
“The disciple has no objections. Thank you, uncle,” Su Che bowed slightly in gratitude. It would indeed be better this way, saving him a lot of trouble.
Venerable Mysterious Insight nodded with a smile, without any false courtesy—things from Heavenly Objects Peak shouldn’t be taken for free.
After that, the three of Venerable Heavenly Objects took their leave. Venerable Mysterious Insight said to Su Che, “Don’t worry. Now that the truth has been uncovered, given his status, he won’t be able to find excuses to target you anymore.”
“Yes, master. The disciple isn’t worried anymore,” Su Che replied calmly.
Venerable Mysterious Insight looked at him smilingly and asked, “So, when do you plan to reach the peak of the Qi Cultivation stage?”
“I’m not in a hurry about that,” Su Che replied. “Anyway, I’ll definitely reach that level before the Xiao Mi Immortal Realm opens. In the meantime, I want to spend more time in the Skill Transmission Pavilion reading books and practicing various magical skills. After all, since I started my journey, I’ve only focused on improving my cultivation level and haven’t had time to practice other techniques.”

“Well, whether it’s countless books or long journeys, one needs sufficient life experiences before their mindset can match their cultivation level,” said Venerable Mysterious Insight, nodding. “Starting from today, you may come to see me at the beginning of each month. You can ask me any questions you have regarding cultivation.”
“Thank you, Master.”
Su Che couldn’t hide his joy. Receiving personal guidance from Venerable Mysterious Insight was undoubtedly a great advantage for him, as it would surely help him avoid many detours on his cultivation path.
Among the ten direct disciples of Mysterious Insight Peak and the hundreds of inner disciples, Su Che was the only one to enjoy such treatment—even Yu Qing had never received such privileges. It wasn’t hard to imagine that if Su Che truly fulfilled Venerable Mysterious Insight’s wish by obtaining a fairy crystal for him from the Little Immortal Realm, then even if he couldn’t become a direct disciple, he would still become the master’s most trusted disciple.
In the Immortal Prison, Old Hei muttered, “It seems this Venerable Mysterious Insight isn’t as bad as I thought…”