The high priest and the clan chief stood up. The high priest suddenly realized, "No wonder there have been so many rumors about the selection of the Holy Woman in recent years."

"So it was you who did it!"

Elder Kun remained stern, his brows furrowed: "Nonsense! I have never done anything to wrong my clansmen. Stop trying to frame me!"

Then he turned his gaze to Yun Xiangnanshan and angrily rebuked her: "I have devoted myself to the clan all these years, but you are so desperate for a man. Who knows what you have done in the past sixteen years? Are you going to harm the clan now that you have returned?"

"You are the one with wolfish ambitions and ulterior motives!"

After speaking, he suddenly mobilized his internal energy, and his power increased several times over. With a single strike, Yun Xiang and Nan Shan raised their swords to defend.

Little did she know that her opponent had used all their strength in that attack, leaving her powerless to defend herself.

Elder Kun had murderous intent, so naturally he wouldn't give Yun Xiang and Nan Shan a chance to breathe.

Moreover, among all the elders, Elder Kun's skill was the most profound.

With the next blow about to land, it was too late for the other elders to stop it.

A long whip flew in from outside the hall, easily defusing the crisis.

Elder Kun was furious and was about to make a move when the long whip seemed to have eyes, turned around and went straight for him, binding him tightly in a few swift movements.

No matter how much he struggled, the long whip remained unmoved.

"Old man, why don't you tell us? Sixteen years ago, in the countryside of Licheng, a family unearthed a treasure, which was later bought by a merchant. Who was that merchant?"

A pair of long, slender legs strode into the main hall. Ning Yao appeared, supporting Yun Xiang Nanxi with her left hand and holding the other end of a long whip with her right. Ning Wenyi followed behind her, supporting Ning Zhiheng.

Elder Kun roared in fury: "You brat, let me go!"

"Who are you? How dare you treat me like this? I won't let you get away with this!"

Ning Yao ignored him and handed Yun Xiang Nanxi over to the High Priest.

“Nancy?” the high priest asked cautiously.

"The Holy Maiden is injured, but her life is not in danger, and so is this young master."

Hearing Ning Yao say this, the High Priest was completely relieved.

However, upon seeing Ning Zhiheng, who was also unconscious, the High Priest frowned again: "Why is the young master also unconscious?"

Ning Yao explained, "He secretly entered the forbidden area with us and was corrupted by the spiritual energy, as was the Holy Maiden."

"Alright! The Holy Maiden isn't dead. Then explain why you allowed two strangers into the forbidden area?"

Despite being trapped and unable to move, Elder Kun remained relentless.

"Stranger? Do you think I'm more qualified than your ancestors to know?"

"Yao Yao." Ning Wenyi shook his head at her, signaling her not to reveal her identity.

Ning Yao said, "Father, don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

"I won't ask anything else, I just need you to answer my question from earlier: who was the merchant who bought the farmer's treasure sixteen years ago?"

Elder Kun gritted his teeth and denied, "I don't understand what you're saying..."

"You understand!" Elder Yuan suddenly said, "Sixteen years ago, you left Yunxiang City!"

Elder Kun, in a fit of anger, cried out, "Don't make false accusations! When did I ever..."

"Not long after the young lady left, you used the excuse of searching for her to get me to help you leave the city!"

"I didn't..." Elder Kun panicked.

Elder Yuan said in a deep voice, "You said that the eldest young lady was deceived by an outsider and abandoned her clan. You want to find her and tell the clan leader and the high priest not to know about this for the time being, so as not to upset them."

"I believed you for a moment and helped you leave Yunxiang City. Not long after, you returned seriously injured. You said you couldn't persuade the young lady to come back and you even encountered people outside the city who wanted to break into Yunxiang City. You fought with them and got injured."

"Many have tried to force their way into Yunxiang City since ancient times, and I didn't suspect you back then... Besides, although we have ways to reduce the influence of the earth's spiritual energy, we will still get injured to some extent. Your injury back then was indeed caused by spiritual energy..."

"That's not true! Don't talk nonsense! Elder Yuan, we are both elders, why are you framing me for the sake of an outsider!" Elder Kun questioned him righteously and excitedly.

Ning Yao chuckled: "In that case, it makes sense."

Ning Yao told everyone the story of a three-courtyard house in Licheng.

“That treasure was planted by Chen Sheng beforehand, and you were the merchant in disguise. Chen Sheng had a way to isolate the spiritual energy of the spirit stone, but you didn’t. You were trying to get something from a tiger, and you ended up being eroded and burned by the spiritual energy.”

"What you did not only ruined an ordinary family, but also caused Yun Xiangnanshan to be forced to drink powder made from spirit stones, blinded and imprisoned for sixteen years, becoming a demon in people's mouths!"

Ning Yao's words left Yun Xianglingyu staring blankly at Yun Xiangnanshan's retreating figure.

She was tricked, forced to drink spirit stone powder, and imprisoned for sixteen years while blind. Is this what her mother went through?

A sudden pang of pain shot through Yun Xianglingyu's heart. She opened her mouth, silently uttering two words: "Mother..."

As everyone felt sorry for Yun Xiang and Nan Shan's plight, she said, "Even if this old scoundrel had some scheming involved, it was ultimately my fault for misjudging people. But no matter what, you helped Chen Sheng, making you a traitor to the Yun Xiang clan. The only way to deal with a traitor is to kill him!"

Elder Kun stared intently at Ning Yao: "Who exactly are you? Why are you getting involved in my clan's affairs?"

"Interfering in your clan's affairs? You have quite the nerve. My daughter, Ning Wenyi's daughter, is someone even members of the Ning family would treat with deference. Who do you think you are?"

Ning Wenyi stepped forward and kicked Elder Kun: "Didn't you want to know who we are? Then I'll tell you!"

"My father is Ning Shaoyuan, the 20th generation head of the Ning family, who lives in seclusion. My name is Ning Wenyi, the second son of Ning Shaoyuan. I was sent into the world by my father when I was young. As for the reason why the Ning family members entered the world, I don't need to say more, do I?"

"This kid's name is Ning Zhiheng. He's my junior, so he calls me Second Uncle. So tell me, who are we?"

Elder Kun stood there, stunned, his face full of disbelief.

"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!"

Ning Wenyi gave him a disdainful look: "I don't care whether you believe it or not, daring to boss my daughter around like that, even if the old man comes, he'll kill you!"

At this moment, the clan chief stepped forward and said, "Elder Kun has colluded with outsiders and betrayed our clan. Effective immediately, he is stripped of his position as elder and expelled from the clan territory along with his family. They shall never set foot here again!"

"No, you can't treat us like this!"

"Wait!" Ning Yao exclaimed, "Are we just going to let him go like this?"

After guessing Ning Yao's identity, the clan leader and the high priest treated her with even more respect.

"What does Miss Ning mean?"

Ning Yao took two steps forward and squatted down to meet Elder Kun's gaze: "I know you're not convinced, but I'm a reasonable person and I'll make you accept it."

A wisp of spiritual energy overflowed from his fingertip, slowly probing into Elder Kun's body, instantly severing his meridians and crippling his martial arts.