Langya Academy's victory over Weiyang Academy caused a huge sensation and was met with overwhelming public acclaim.
With this, Langya had thoroughly made a name for itself in the Southern Domain. Almost all forces in the Southern Domain wished to forge connections and strengthen their relationships with it.
However, Song Weiqian remained as she always was, paying no heed to any of it.
When you were down and out, you were ignored; in glory, you naturally couldn't reach them.
Many people secretly cursed Song Weiqian for being ungrateful, yet they could do nothing about it.
Langya's rise was unstoppable, securing first place in the current Academy Ranking Competition without any suspense.
Now, Langya Academy possessed both the qualifications and the confidence to look down upon the entire Southern Domain.
In a few more years, once Lin Mengmeng, Xuanyang, and Wang Wenjian entered the Mortal Immortal realm, these three would become the leading figures of the Southern Domain. At that time, Langya Academy would become the strongest force in the entire Southern Domain.
Perhaps, only the Human King Luo family could contend with it then.
The subsequent days of the competition proceeded exactly as everyone had anticipated.
Langya Academy was invincible, decisively sweeping aside all opponents and securing victory in every match without any suspense.
Under the covert manipulation of the Tang family, Shenling Academy successfully avoided Langya and also defeated all its opponents.
Finally, the finalists for the Southern Domain Academy Ranking Competition were announced.
They were Langya Academy and Shenling Academy.
Meanwhile, the wager between Zeng Qiyan and Ji Mo began to spread.
Everyone was waiting to witness Zeng Qiyan's humiliation.
Shenling had absolutely no chance of winning and was destined to lose.
Therefore, Zeng Qiyan, the traitor of Langya, would likely have no choice but to kneel at the gates of Langya Academy to beg for forgiveness, shouting ten thousand times that he was an idiot.
However, just as everyone was awaiting the commencement of the finals.
The Tang family pulled a shocking move, stripping Langya Academy of its finalist qualification the day before the finals.
They then dispatched a large number of experts to surround the Fulai Inn, effectively placing the members of Langya Academy under house arrest.
The outside world was in an uproar.
Upon understanding the inside story, it ignited an even greater storm.
The Tang family declared that Ji Mo was the murderer of Tan Yun'ao, the Holy Son of Floating Mountain.
As soon as this news broke, everyone believed that Ji Mo was finished, and Langya Academy would likely follow suit.
Was Langya Academy, having just risen, to be utterly destroyed?
This turn of events exceeded everyone's expectations!
To prevent Langya Academy from winning the championship, the Tang family resorted to any means necessary, directly framing Ji Mo as the murderer without any evidence.
Despite this predicament, Ji Mo showed no panic. He instructed Song Weiqian and the others to stay in their rooms and then walked out of the Fulai Inn alone.
Outside the inn, Tang family cultivators densely surrounded the Fulai Inn, making escape impossible for Ji Mo.
Many cultivators also gathered around to watch the spectacle.
"What right does your Tang family have to strip my Langya of its finalist qualification?"
Ji Mo looked at Tang Heng, who was strutting arrogantly amidst the crowd, and questioned him loudly.
The Tang family was merely one of the organizers of the Southern Domain Academy Ranking Competition; they had no right to make such a decision.
Tang Heng remained silent, but Zeng Qiyan, standing beside him, spoke up, "This is a decision made after careful deliberation by all the academies, and it carries authority. It includes Weiyang Academy, Shenling Academy..."
Zeng Qiyan listed a large number of academy names. Some sounded familiar; they were the defeated opponents of Langya Academy. Others simply disliked Langya and were taking the opportunity to kick them while they were down.
It had to be said that society was realistic; when a wall fell, everyone pushed it. Many academies wanted to step on Langya.
Ji Mo frowned and sneered, "What authority? Our Langya has not violated any competition rules. You are so shameless. Langya is ashamed to associate with you. Keep your trash competition to yourselves."
"Ji Mo, you are utterly wicked, having murdered Tan Yun'ao, and you still dare to be so arrogant?" Tang Heng accused loudly.
Ji Mo calmly asked, "Who saw me kill Tan Yun'ao?"
"I witnessed it with my own eyes."
Tang Heng insisted, shamelessly lying with his eyes wide open.
Then, seeing the sneer on Ji Mo's lips, he panicked and quickly added, "Vice Principal Zeng Qiyan also saw it."
Zeng Qiyan was taken aback, then glared fiercely at Tang Heng, cursing him inwardly with every profanity imaginable!
Why drag him into this?
He knew Tang Heng was deliberately framing Ji Mo and didn't want to get involved. But now, forced into a corner, he could only brace himself and say, "That's right, I also saw it."
Upon hearing this, Ji Mo revealed a playful smile.
He questioned, "Then you are truly cold-blooded. If you are so righteous, why did you not intervene to save him when you witnessed me committing murder on the street? What is the reason for that?"
As soon as he said this, countless suspicious glances were cast from the surrounding crowd.
They were not fools; they immediately detected the flaw in Tang Heng's words.
If they witnessed the event, why didn't they save him at the time, and why did they only come forward to accuse Ji Mo after such a long period?
"There's a conspiracy, there must be a conspiracy. The Tang family and Shenling Academy are framing Mr. Ji. This is truly despicable."
Someone shouted, it was an elder from one of the academies that had a good relationship with Langya Academy.
Immediately, the crowd began to murmur, and many believed there was a conspiracy.
Tang Heng felt guilty, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
Zeng Qiyan felt like killing Tang Heng on the spot. What an idiot! He couldn't even frame someone properly without thorough preparation. Utterly foolish.
He, however, reacted swiftly and argued, "At that time, you used a secret technique to conceal your appearance. We only confirmed you were the killer after a series of investigations."
Zeng Qiyan's expression was calm because, although he had no evidence, he was very sure that the killer was Ji Mo.
"That's right, you used a secret technique to conceal your appearance."
Tang Heng declared loudly, speaking with conviction, even making a solemn oath to prove his words were not false.
This move immediately gained the trust of many.
"Tang Heng, well done, daring to make a solemn oath. Aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"
Ji Mo smiled, then generously admitted, "When I beat that bastard to death, I didn't use any secret technique to hide my appearance at all. I openly beat him to death on the street. Moreover, there were no witnesses around."
This statement shocked the entire audience.
No one expected Ji Mo to say such a thing, actually admitting his crime in public.
Since there were no witnesses, why admit anything? It was too foolish.
"Haha, he admitted it, he admitted it himself. Everyone heard it clearly, Tan Yun'ao was indeed killed by Ji Mo."
Tang Heng laughed excitedly. Ji Mo was finished.
"Shut up, you liar. You even made a solemn oath in public. You'll be struck by lightning sooner or later."
Ji Mo rebuked Tang Heng, then said to Zeng Qiyan, "And you, how dare you be a vice principal? For your own selfish desires, you spew lies so easily. Shameless."
These words hit the mark, causing Tang Heng and Zeng Qiyan immense shame.
Ji Mo continued, "So what if I killed that bastard? Is it only permissible for him to kill me, but not for me to kill him?"
"I can testify that at the Dragon Tiger Auction House that day, Tan Yun'ao was arrogant and overbearing, intending to kill people in public and seize Mr. Ji's Multi-Treasure Snake."
From the crowd, someone spoke about what happened at the Dragon Tiger Auction House that day.
Tang Heng snorted, "Nonsense. Tan Yun'ao is the Holy Son of Floating Mountain, with an incomparably noble status. How could he do such a thing?"
"Mr. Ji's status is even more noble. Tan Yun'ao deserved his death; he died a fitting death."
At this moment, a group of people appeared. Someone actually supported Ji Mo.