His Spiritual Sense had evolved, now able to cover a fifty-meter radius. The process of Washing Marrow hadn’t affected his mind or perception; in fact, they were sharper than ever. He could clearly perceive the changes in his body and hear everything happening around him. Thus, he had noticed the moment Jier Khan entered.

Chu Lingguang had also sensed the shift in Guo Wei’s aura a moment ago.

Chu Lingguang vaguely recalled that when Tie Zhennan had abducted Liu Quan, Guo Wei had only retaliated by using a pebble to shatter one of Liu Lishi’s front teeth.

He had even taken a step back in the face of Xu Haizhou’s provocations, willingly squeezing into a single room with him and Hei Hu.

In over two years, Chu Lingguang had never once seen Guo Wei fly into such a rage.

The only exceptions were when Chu Lingguang had been in danger fighting Samba, at which point Guo Wei had revealed his terrifying Inner Power Cultivation, and just moments ago, when he had used a single palm to render him immobile to make him consume the Bone Marrow Cleansing Liquid.

For the mere mention of Xie Xiaohuan’s name to nearly make Guo Wei lose control, there had to be a hidden story.

Mahmoud seemed certain that this name was enough to hold something over Guo Wei.

Now that his cultivation was successful, having become a Minor Achievement expert of the Qi Sea Realm and just consumed the Bone Marrow Cleansing Liquid, Chu Lingguang realized it was time for him to do something for Guo Wei.

"Tian was exiled to Wolf Valley Pass, sentenced to twenty years of hard labor, all because of him."

Guo Wei said, forcing down his rage.

"So Tian was the one who passed the Day and Night Breathing Technique to Xie Xiaohuan?"

Chu Lingguang already knew that Guo Wei’s son was named Guo Xiaotian. On the road to Jin City, Feng Junyi had told him that his "little senior brother" had leaked the Day and Night Breathing Technique. At the time, Chu Lingguang had assumed the young man was blinded by love and had been deceived, but it seemed the reality was different from what he had imagined.

"Yes."

Guo Wei nodded slightly.

He continued, "Tian and Xie Xiaohuan were sworn brothers. After failing the Martial Examination to become a Martial Arts Scholar twice, Xie Xiaohuan invoked their bond of brotherhood and begged Tian to teach him the Day and Night Breathing Technique. Tian knew how serious it was to share the technique with an outsider, but to help Xie Xiaohuan embark on an official career, he taught it to him anyway.

"But Xie Xiaohuan was impulsive and belligerent. He injured a Martial Arts Scholar in Qinghe County, exposing the fact that he was practicing the Day and Night Breathing Technique. The matter instantly alerted the County Yamen, and the investigation quickly led back to Tian.

"If things had ended there, Tian wouldn’t have been sentenced to twenty years of military exile at Wolf Valley Pass.

"But Xie Xiaohuan refused to confess. Instead, he killed three constables and a Chief Constable and fled all the way into the Turkic Kingdom. In order to gain protection, he leaked the Day and Night Breathing Technique to the Turkic people."

As he finished speaking, Guo Wei’s voice was seething with rage.

"Shameless!"

"Xie Xiaohuan was clearly trying to get Master Guo and his son killed."

Du Juan and Du Wushuang were filled with righteous indignation.

"In truth, the Turkic Kingdom had already obtained the Day and Night Breathing Technique long before Xie Xiaohuan leaked it. Likewise, our Great Yuan Dynasty had long ago acquired their clan’s Divine Beast Breathing Method.

"But the Court’s laws are strict and clear. Leaking the Day and Night Breathing Technique is a capital offense, no matter who does it—let alone leaking it to the Turkic Kingdom.

"To save Tian’s life, I used every connection I had to buy time while I personally snuck into the Turkic lands to capture Xie Xiaohuan. But that bastard was hiding in the Turkic Prince’s Mansion. I staked it out for some time, but I couldn’t get to him.

"In the end, if not for the fact that the old wrongful case involving me and Big Saber Hong was overturned and the Court took pity on me for the injustice I had suffered, Tian would have been executed long ago.

"Still, he escaped the death penalty, but he couldn’t escape punishment.

"Tian was still sentenced to twenty years of military exile at Wolf Valley Pass."

Hearing this, the others didn’t know whether to console Guo Wei or feel relieved for him.

The Court’s laws were strict.

After learning the Day and Night Breathing Technique at the academy, Guo Wei was only permitted to teach it to his son and daughter, Guo Xiaotian and Guo Fang. He couldn’t even teach it to his own wife.

Once Guo Fang and Guo Xiaotian learned it, they were forbidden from teaching it to anyone else—not even their own children in the future—unless those children passed the Martial Arts Examination and earned the right to study at the academy themselves.

Yet Guo Xiaotian taught the technique to Xie Xiaohuan, who in turn gave it to the Turkic Kingdom. Regardless of whether the Turkic Kingdom already possessed the technique, in the eyes of many, Guo Xiaotian’s crime was worthy of death.

The entire Guo Family could have been implicated.

In the end, Guo Xiaotian was merely sentenced to twenty years of military exile at Wolf Valley Pass, while Guo Wei and the rest of the family remained unharmed. It was clear the Court had shown them leniency.

However, the negotiations, the Favors called in, and the price Guo Wei must have paid could not be described in mere words.

Chu Lingguang and everyone else present knew that Guo Wei must have exhausted every resource to save Guo Xiaotian during that period. The overturning of his old wrongful case was also likely related to these efforts.

Otherwise, how could the timing have been so coincidental?

In short, everyone felt that Guo Xiaotian had suffered a great injustice and sympathized with Guo Wei. But more than anything, they felt disgust and fury at Xie Xiaohuan’s actions.

After all, if Xie Xiaohuan had just been willing to confess at the beginning, Guo Wei could have used his connections to resolve the situation.

But Xie Xiaohuan did the exact opposite. He killed three constables and a Chief Constable while on the run, fled all the way to the Turkic Kingdom, and even gave the Day and Night Breathing Technique to the Turkic people. How was that any different from the actions of a beast?

When the matter was exposed, he fled alone, disregarding whether his sworn brother lived or died. While this was infuriating, they could, on some level, understand it.

Killing three constables and a Chief Constable during his escape was detestable, but perhaps he was forced into it by circumstance. They didn’t completely despise him for that.

However, since Xie Xiaohuan had already escaped to the Turkic Kingdom and successfully evaded capture, why did he still need to leak the Day and Night Breathing Technique to them?

If things had stopped there—with Xie Xiaohuan simply taking refuge in the Turkic Kingdom—Guo Wei would have likely still found a way to resolve Guo Xiaotian’s predicament.