Chapter 224: Forgive me, junior nephew, for my rudeness!

"I'm old, and I haven't accumulated enough merit to break through to the life-and-death stage. That's why I chose the Body Refinement Godfiend lineage," Meng Dajiang said. "Inner disciples of Yuanchu Mountain are forbidden from cultivating body refinement, but outer disciples can still try. I thought that this cultivation system was only established a few hundred years ago and could continue to be perfected in the future."

"If I could break the limits of this cultivation system and reach the Marquis Godfiend realm, I believe it would shock the world and make the Bai family look upon me favorably. Perhaps then they would allow your mother and me to be together openly."

"Haha..." Meng Dajiang chuckled self-deprecatingly. "After decades of effort, I'm still just an Undying Godfiend. I haven't even cultivated to the limit of this Body Refinement Godfiend lineage, the 'Great Sun Godfiend' realm, let alone broken past its limits."

"For the sake of cultivation, Dad, you colluded with the Heavenly Demon Gate?" Meng Chuan asked.

Meng Dajiang nodded gently: "Yes, I tried everything to become stronger. Becoming an assassin for the Demon-Slaying Alliance and colluding with the Heavenly Demon Gate—all of it was for that reason! It was simply to obtain various resources and make myself more powerful."

"I don't believe it," Meng Chuan said.

"Chuan'er, whether you believe it or not, the facts are there. What's the use of not admitting it?" Meng Dajiang said. "At the time, I only thought about getting stronger and being with your mother. I made mistakes. Although I later realized my error and stopped colluding with the Heavenly Demon Gate, it was already too late."

"I don't believe it." Meng Chuan stared at Meng Dajiang. "I don't believe that a father who served in the military for an exceptionally long time, who served ten years at the city gates, disregarding life and death, would collude with the Heavenly Demon Gate?"

"I don't believe that a father who raised me to be who I am today, who taught me from a young age, would collude with the Heavenly Demon Gate?"

"I don't believe that my mother, who chose to expose her identity and leave us to kill demon kings and demon tribes and save a hundred thousand people, would have you—who loved her so deeply—do something completely opposite to her ideals by colluding with the Heavenly Demon Gate?"

Meng Chuan looked at his father, his eyes reddening. "I believe my eyes, I believe my heart! Both my eyes and my heart tell me that my father would never collude with the Heavenly Demon Gate, never!"

"I..." Meng Dajiang looked at Meng Chuan.

"I will prove all of this," Meng Chuan said, grabbing Meng Dajiang's arm. His Great Sun realm True Qi enveloped his father, making him unable to resist.

"Chuan'er, what are you doing?" Meng Dajiang asked repeatedly.

Meng Chuan gripped his father's arm and led him directly out of the cell, continuing onward.

In the dim dungeon, the distant entrance offered a faint glimpse of the pre-dawn light outside.

"Chuan'er, don't be foolish," Meng Dajiang said repeatedly. "Whatever the punishment, I have no complaints. If you do this..."

Meng Chuan remained silent. His Great Sun realm True Qi flowed, directly sealing his father's mouth, and Meng Dajiang was instantly unable to speak.

As the father and son walked out, a tall, robust figure in a purple robe suddenly appeared at the distant dungeon entrance. He looked indifferently at Meng Chuan and his father.

"Martial Uncle," Meng Chuan said, stopping with his father's arm still in his grasp.

"Meng Chuan, where are you taking your father?" Marquis Gong Xu asked calmly.

"Martial Uncle has already convicted my father, sentenced him to death, and reported it to Yuanchu Mountain for final approval, right?" Meng Chuan asked.

Marquis Gong Xu replied, "The evidence is conclusive, and your father has confessed. Naturally, we will proceed according to Yuanchu Mountain's regulations."

"Conclusive evidence?" Meng Chuan sneered. "Martial Uncle, you are also a Marquis Godfiend. There are many methods Godfiends possess in this world, such as controlling minds or altering memories. Are you unaware of such methods?"

"Such methods do exist," Marquis Gong Xu said. "However, your father is an Undying Godfiend. Even to simply alter a few memories, the illusionist would need to have reached the 'Dao Realm'. How rare is an illusionist at the 'Dao Realm'? Would one specifically frame your father?"

"The probability is relatively low," Meng Chuan admitted. "But... the possibility still exists. If so, can it truly be considered conclusive evidence?"

Marquis Gong Xu stated, "When the Earth Net handles cases, this is how ordinary Godfiend crimes are dealt with! If every case were assumed to involve memory alteration, proving anything would be too difficult. Every case would require powerful Godfiends to investigate meticulously, consuming an immense amount of effort."

"Ordinary Godfiend crimes? But my father is not an ordinary Godfiend!" Meng Chuan retorted. "He is my father, Meng Chuan's father! I suspect this is a deliberate frame-up by the Heavenly Demon Gate."

"A frame-up by the Heavenly Demon Gate?" Marquis Gong Xu frowned.

Meng Chuan had already made up his mind. With a son like himself and a wife who was the Taiyin Saintess Bai Nianyun, his father's identity was certainly not ordinary.

"Regardless of whether it's a frame-up or not, you can report it to Yuanchu Mountain. I believe Yuanchu Mountain will verify the facts," Marquis Gong Xu said.

"Godfiends are currently engaged in battles across the land; where would they find the time to slowly investigate a single case?" Meng Chuan shook his head. "Just like you, Martial Uncle, directly sending it to Yuanchu Mountain for a final decision. Will Yuanchu Mountain truly conduct a thorough investigation? I don't trust other Godfiends to handle it. I will personally take my father to Yuanchu Mountain! I will personally oversee every aspect of this case."

"How can you act like this?" Marquis Gong Xu frowned.

"That's my father," Meng Chuan said angrily. "Martial Uncle, don't stop me today."

"You're too presumptuous," Marquis Gong Xu said, somewhat irritated.

"Then forgive your junior's disrespect!" As soon as Meng Chuan's voice fell, he instantly transformed into a bolt of lightning with his father, soaring skyward with a loud roar. A terrifying burst of lightning directly tore a large hole in the dungeon roof, and Meng Chuan, with his father, had already broken through the air!

"How dare you!!!" Marquis Gong Xu also transformed into a streak of light and pursued them.

The Godfiends outside the dungeon had been trembling with fear when they saw Meng Chuan and Marquis Gong Xu confronting each other. One was Senior Brother Meng Chuan, one of Yuanchu Mountain's three greatest young geniuses, who had slain countless demon kings and demon tribes in recent years, bestowing favor upon many Godfiends within Wuzhou and Qianzhou. The other was Marquis Gong Xu, a Marquis Godfiend who governed Wuzhou City! His reputation was widespread. With the two of them clashing, how dared those Undying Godfiends utter a sound?

"They burst out?""My heavens, he directly broke through the dungeon?"These Godfiends stared at the huge hole in the dungeon roof, dumbfounded. They also saw a flash of lightning instantly reach the distance, while Marquis Gong Xu's streak of light, though streaking across the sky, was noticeably much slower.

Perched on the crown of a large tree outside Wuzhou City, Meng Chuan held his father's arm, looking at Marquis Gong Xu, who stood on the city wall and had stopped pursuing. Marquis Gong Xu had clearly realized the difference in their speeds: "This Junior Nephew Meng, even with someone in tow, is far faster than me?"

"Meng Chuan, what you're doing is reckless! Everything has its rules," Marquis Gong Xu transmitted angrily.

"Martial Uncle," Meng Chuan also transmitted. "This junior knows that everything has rules, but this matter concerns my father's innocence and his life! This junior can only act impulsively this one time. Once we reach Yuanchu Mountain, I will also confess my sin to my master! But my father's case must be thoroughly investigated. If my father truly colluded with demons, then his death would be well-deserved. But if he is innocent, I must clear his name!"

"Martial Uncle, this time your junior was in the wrong. After this matter is resolved, I will personally come to apologize."

Immediately, he transformed into a bolt of lightning with his father and quickly vanished into the horizon.

Marquis Gong Xu stood atop the city wall, annoyed yet helpless. What could he do? He couldn't catch them!