Full-Time Magister: One System, One Forbidden Spell, the Strongest Divine Gift

Chapter 64 Calamity Descends, the Zhou Family Colludes with Hajihei?!
Zhou Tai's knuckles turned white from gripping the fist, and a fierce aura surged between his brows: "Trial Council? What's wrong with these mad dogs now!"

First there was that arrogant Chen Yuan, and now a bunch of henchmen from the Inquisition have inexplicably appeared.

Do they really think his Zhou family home is some backwater market, where anyone can come and go as they please?!

"Zhou Li!" he shouted sternly, "Take some men and throw these blind fools out! My Zhou family acts with integrity and uprightness; it's none of their business to tell us what to do!"

"Yes, sir!" Zhou Li clasped his hands in acceptance, and as he turned around, his robes billowed with a sharp gust of wind.

However, in less than half a cup of tea's time—

"boom!!"

Amidst a deafening explosion, Zhou Li crashed through the palace door like a rag doll, leaving a trail of blood more than ten feet long on the ground.

"Zhou Tai! How dare you!"

The chilling shout was like a thunderclap.

Dozens of elite members of the Tribunal filed in, instantly surrounding the main hall like an iron barrel.

The leader was Li Yan, the chief judge of the Imperial Capital, who possessed extraordinary power and had three super-level cultivation levels!

"Li Yan!" Zhou Tai slammed his fist on the table, his overwhelming pressure like a mountain collapsing. "You've brought your henchmen and forced your way into my Zhou family! Is your Judgment Council trying to rebel?!"

"Search for me!"

At Li Yan's command, the dozens of judges behind him immediately dispersed.

He raised his hand and revealed a scroll of golden legal documents, his voice like the clash of cold iron: "Three days ago, my Trial Committee captured a member of the Hajihei."

Driven by magical energy, the document floated in mid-air, revealing a dense record of incriminating evidence.

"During interrogation, this person confessed that the Zhou family secretly sheltered the remnants of the Hajik gang."

Li Yan pointed his sword, and the document unfurled into a three-zhang-long scroll. "For the safety of the capital, I have come with the highest judicial decree to conduct a search. If Patriarch Zhou dares to obstruct me—"

His body suddenly erupted with both ice and fire magical energy, which condensed into a scale of judgment interwoven with red and blue on the dome of the hall.

"They shall be punished as accomplices!"

"Hajihei?!" Zhou Tai's expression changed drastically, his previous rage instantly turning into astonishment.

The Zhou family has been in the medicinal herb business for generations, and they have always valued their reputation above all else. How could they...
He suppressed his shock and anger, raised his hand to signal his clansmen to step back: "Judge Li, there must be a misunderstanding in this matter."

His five fingers had already dug into his palms from his sleeves. "How could my Zhou family's century-old foundation associate with those rats in the gutter?"

(P.S.: Just a side note, "Hajihei" refers to the Black Vatican. This term is too easily modified, so I simply changed it to "Hajihei".)
Li Yan toyed with a trial badge between his fingers, the cold metallic light reflecting a dangerous arc in his eyes: "Patriarch Zhou, mere words cannot clear one's name."

He suddenly leaned closer, the ice and fire magic patterns interwoven on his robe illuminating Zhou Tai's ashen face: "If no evidence is found..."

The badge snapped open from his fingertip. "I will certainly apologize."

The moment the badge returned to his palm, his voice suddenly turned icy: "But what if we find it?"

Suddenly, a loud crash of collapsing objects came from outside the hall, mixed with the judge's stern shouts.

Li Yan's lips curled up uncontrollably, a sound that was clearly the unique echo of discovering the secret passage.

"Then don't blame this judge." He slowly stroked the judgment decree, his demonic energy rising steadily. "I'm acting on behalf of Heaven."

"Judge Li, please proceed."

Zhou Tai stood with his hands behind his back, his expression calm. His Zhou family acted with integrity and honesty, so naturally they had no fear of any search.

Time passed in a stifling atmosphere.

ten minutes later--

"Your Honor, no leads have been found related to Hajihei." A judge knelt on one knee and reported respectfully.

"Hahaha!" Zhou Tai laughed loudly, the gloom between his brows vanishing instantly. "Judge Li, I've said it before, my Zhou family is upright and honorable; how could we associate with such lowly scoundrels?" Li Yan frowned slightly, a hint of resentment flashing in his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure: "It seems the intelligence was wrong. Everyone, evacuate immediately—"

"presiding judge!"

A sharp shout abruptly interrupted his command.

A judge dragged a man in grey robes into the hall and casually tossed him to the ground. The man was shrouded in a chilling aura, and his black robes were embroidered with eerie Haji black emblems!

"This person was found in a hidden compartment in a side room of the Zhou family. After verification, he is undoubtedly a member of the Hajihei!"

--boom!

The entire Zhou family hall erupted in an uproar!

"This is impossible!" Zhou Tai's pupils shrank sharply, and all the color drained from his face.

"who is it?!"

Zhou Tai was furious, and a powerful magical energy erupted, causing the beams and pillars in the hall to creak.

His bloodshot eyes swept over every elder present, not even sparing the unconscious Zhou Wen: "Who is framing my Zhou family?!"

"Why is Patriarch Zhou so angry?"

Li Yan leisurely stroked the judgment order. The five judges had quietly sealed off all the exits. "Why don't we wake him up and hear what he has to say?"

Suddenly, an ice spike shot out from his fingertip and pierced the philtrum of the Haji Black member with pinpoint accuracy.

"Wake him up!" Zhou Tai roared.

Several members of the Zhou family rushed forward. One of them made a hand seal to cast a spell to awaken the spirit, while the other took out an incense stick to awaken the soul and lit it.

The gray-robed man convulsed violently a few times, emitting a hoarse "hoarse" sound from his throat, and slowly opened his cloudy eyes.
A flash of silver light appeared in Li Yan's eyes, and the high-level mind-based magic "Soul Control" was instantly activated.

The Hajik member's eyes glazed over, and his whole body began to tremble violently.

"Speak!" Li Yan's voice was like a demonic whisper, "Who ordered you to infiltrate the Zhou family?"

The gray-robed man's face contorted, and his withered fingers suddenly twitched violently as he pointed at Zhou Wen in the corner.

Just as everyone was in shock, black blood suddenly gushed from his seven orifices. With a cry of "Ah!", he collapsed to the ground and died on the spot!

"Zhou Wen!" Zhou Tai's hair and beard stood on end, and a dazzling ball of lightning instantly condensed in his palm, a violent surge of lightning magic. "You dare to collude with Hajihei!"

The lightning bolt struck down with a roar, but was blocked by an ice crystal barrier before it could reach Zhou Wen.

The flying lightning bolts blasted scorched craters into the ground. Li Yan, holding the judgment warrant, walked slowly over: "Patriarch Zhou, aren't you in a bit too hasty to silence them?"

He lightly traced the runes flowing across the judgment decree with his fingertips, and said meaningfully, "A living traitor is far more valuable than a dead one."

Li Yan walked slowly forward, his judge's boots making a dull thud on the bluestone slabs. He looked down at Zhou Wen, who lay slumped on the ground, his fingertips shimmering with a captivating, spiritual silver light.

"Zhou Wen." His voice was soft, yet it caused the temperature in the entire hall to plummet. "I will give you three breaths."

As he spoke, an ice crystal hourglass condensed in Li Yan's palm, and fine ice sand began to fall softly.

"One breath."

The cold light refracted by the hourglass danced across Zhou Wen's pale face, illuminating his violently contracted pupils.

"Two breaths."

Li Yan suddenly leaned down, the cold edge of the judgment order pressed against Zhou Wen's trembling Adam's apple: "Will you be a loyal servant who dies a quick death?" A sudden surge of spiritual silver light appeared, "Or will you be a clever person who survives?"

Just as the last grain of ice was about to fall—

"I"

(End of this chapter)