Invincible Soul Emperor

However, just as Ye Qingchen removed his long coat and approached the girl, bending down to cover her and conceal her exposed skin—

"Stop! You lecher, are you looking to die?" A sudden, furious shout echoed, startling Ye Qingchen.

He only paused for a moment before continuing, hastily wrapping the girl in his coat to prevent her indecent state from being seen by others.

Seconds after the shout, a group of a dozen people appeared, every one of them glaring angrily at Ye Qingchen. Among them, besides several young men and women, were four elders well past their fifties, all sizing up Ye Qingchen.

Without a doubt, everyone who appeared here was from the Central Celestial Academy. The younger ones were certainly students, while the four elders were very likely teachers.

"What’s your name? Which academy are you from?" one of the elders, a man with a graying beard and an unfriendly gaze, asked Ye Qingchen coldly.

Ye Qingchen frowned, realizing they had clearly misunderstood his actions. But facing a teacher’s question, he had no choice but to answer, "I am a disciple of the Divine Wood Academy. My name is Ye Qingchen."

"Nonsense! Since when has the Central Celestial Academy had a Divine Wood Academy? Speak! Who are you, and how did you sneak into the Training Mountain Range?" a rather handsome young man yelled, pointing at Ye Qingchen. It was obviously him who had just called Ye Qingchen a lecher.

While Ye Qingchen would show due respect to the academy’s teachers, he felt no obligation to answer the aggressive questioning of a fellow student. So, he replied with a sharp tone of his own, "Your ignorance of the Divine Wood Academy only reveals your own lack of knowledge. The Central Celestial Academy is heavily guarded; do you really think someone could just sneak in? You have the face of a gentleman, but do you ever use your brain before you speak or act?"

"You... you bastard, you’re looking for death!" The young man was stunned into silence by Ye Qingchen’s words. Humiliated in front of so many people, he became enraged, drawing his sword to attack. However, he was stopped by the elder who had spoken first.

"Liu Feng, he is correct. There is indeed a Divine Wood Academy in the Central Celestial Academy. It just began accepting new disciples a few days ago," the elder said slowly after stopping Liu Feng, not bothering to hide the disdain in his eyes. "I’ve also heard that the Divine Wood Academy accepted one disciple named Ye Qingchen. If they hadn’t taken him, he would have become the first candidate in our academy’s history to be eliminated after passing the assessment. I imagine that’s him."

Liu Feng was momentarily stunned, but seeing the elder’s expression, he understood that this so-called Divine Wood Academy must be the lowest of the low. His indignation returned in full force as he said passionately, "Dean Liu, you saw it with your own eyes! This lecher was about to violate Senior Sister Zi Xing! If we hadn’t arrived in time, the bastard would have succeeded. Anything less than death by a thousand cuts would be insufficient to appease our fury! I beg you, Dean Liu, order his immediate execution on the spot!"

Liu Feng’s words found agreement among the other disciples. The male disciples, in particular, were filled with righteous anger, looking as if they wanted to tear Ye Qingchen limb from limb. The female disciples, meanwhile, gathered tightly around the girl they called Zi Xing, seemingly afraid that another glance from Ye Qingchen would defile their senior sister.

Ye Qingchen sighed helplessly. My luck is truly rotten. I saved her with the best intentions, and now these self-proclaimed ’protectors of virtue’ are treating me like a Flower Thief.

He felt deeply wronged. It’s frustrating. Although I accidentally saw everything, I never had a single improper thought about her. So he spoke up to explain, "Dean Liu, I was training in the Training Mountain Range when I happened to find Senior Sister Zi Xing in danger. I intervened and rescued her. It is not as this student claims; I had no indecent intentions."

Before Dean Liu could reply, Liu Feng snorted coldly. "Senior Sister Zi Xing is immensely powerful. Would she need saving from a good-for-nothing rookie who nearly got eliminated? Hmph! Stop making things up!"

"That’s right," another student chimed in. "We were training with Senior Sister Zi Xing when we encountered a Willow Soul Tree Demon. We were no match for it, so Senior Sister Zi Xing held it off herself while we went to get reinforcements. We didn’t expect her to be so powerful as to actually slay the Willow Soul Tree Demon, but she fainted from exhausting her Spiritual Energy. Then you, a scoundrel, just happened to pass by and were about to take advantage of her. Tell me, am I right or wrong?"

Ye Qingchen shook his head, a part of him almost admiring Liu Feng’s wild imagination. Not only had he spun a coherent tale, but he had also delivered it with such passion. Although Ye Qingchen didn’t normally care what others thought of him, he wouldn’t tolerate such blatant slander. He retorted, "I have already said that I was the one who killed the Willow Soul Tree Demon and saved Senior Sister Zi Xing. Believe it or not, the truth will be revealed when she awakens."

"Hahaha! There should be a limit to your boasting! Senior Sister Zi Xing is one of the top students of our Ferocious Fire Academy, and her strength has reached the Eighth Layer of the Martial King Realm. Does she need a worthless Third Layer Martial King Realm cultivator like you to save her?" Liu Feng jeered, convinced Ye Qingchen was just twisting words to save himself.

Ye Qingchen glanced at Liu Feng. Arguing with someone like him would only drag me down to his level. He instead clasped his hands toward the elder. "Dean Liu, I ask for your fair judgment. Alternatively, we can wait for Senior Sister Zi Xing to wake up, and everything will be made clear. As for the claim that I intended to take advantage of her, it is entirely fabricated. I am an engaged man. I would never do something to betray my fiancée."

Dean Liu looked from the indignant students to Ye Qingchen and said with a cold smile, "Ye Qingchen, we saw what you were doing with our own eyes. There is no point in trying to argue. If Zi Xing were to wake up and learn that someone committed such a base act while she was unconscious, it would only traumatize her further. As for you having a fiancée, that proves nothing of your innocence. Everyone here saw you take off your clothes in front of Zi Xing."

Ye Qingchen was speechless. He pointed to the girl on the ground. "Dean Liu, you all saw it. I took off my clothes to cover the torn parts of her garments."

Liu Feng sneered, "Cover them? Hmph, save your pathetic tricks! I think you were just putting on a show because we caught you. Do you really think we’re stupid enough to believe you?"

Ye Qingchen shook his head with a helpless, bitter smile. To be falsely accused after saving someone with good intentions... What is this farce?

Liu Feng continued smugly, "Senior Sister Zi Xing is renowned as the Beauty of the Central Domain, one of the Three Great Beauties. Your fiancée is just some homely village girl. How dare you even compare her to Senior Sister Zi Xing? In my life, what I, Liu Feng, despise most is a coward who won’t take responsibility for his own actions!"

Ye Qingchen’s eyes turned cold, and an astonishing killing intent erupted from him as he roared at Liu Feng, "Say what you just said one more time!"

Ye Qingchen could tolerate being doubted or insulted, but he would absolutely not allow anyone to speak a single ill word about Qin Yue.