You don't want your secret to be revealed by others, right?

If it were a matter of just judgment, and sufficient evidence is presented, leaving the Empress and both Commanders speechless, then that would be acceptable.

But if the evidence is insufficient and a severe punishment is meted out, that would be disrespecting the Empress and both Commanders.

"Does Imperial Master intend to severely punish these three?"

Lin Yue pondered for a moment and asked, "Since the value of these mutant beast materials can't be accurately measured, could it be they are merely ordinary materials? How can Imperial Master be sure that these three have indeed committed a serious crime?"

Imperial Master glanced at him and said, "These three hold high positions, and after a hard journey back from Eternal Night, would they secretly hoard these mutant beast materials just to earn this bit?"

Lin Yue slightly raised his eyebrows, then suddenly smiled, "I guess their defense is personal interest, so they hoarded it privately?"

"Exactly." Imperial Master nodded indifferently, "But these three were intercepted during a transaction, and the buyer brought along a 'Heavenly Void Life Elixir.'"

"Heavenly Void Life Elixir?" Lin Yue raised his eyebrows slightly.

It was a highly prized Immortal Pill, capable of replenishing a vast amount of Vitality Essence, extending one's life by sixty years!

The Cultivation World regarded this Immortal Pill as legendary, classified as a Seventh Grade Immortal Pill.

The value of a First Grade Spirit Pill was already high, treasured by many at the Four Symbols Peak as a piece of great luck, usually only Great Cultivators treated it as solid currency.

However, the value of an Immortal Pill, even a Ninth Grade one, was ten or a hundred times more precious than the most valuable First Grade Spirit Pill, not to mention a Seventh Grade Immortal Pill!

Even the Duke Heng's residence didn't possess many Immortal Pills.

"Actually using a Seventh Grade Immortal Pill for the transaction?"

Lin Yue looked surprised at the mutant beast materials on the ground and said, "It seems these privately sold mutant beast materials are quite valuable."

The value of these privately sold materials matched a Ninth Grade Immortal Pill, jurisdiction would normally impose a hundred years in prison.

And if it matched the value of a Seventh Grade Immortal Pill, even exile to Eternal Night would be considered normal.

"Of course, these three and the buyer all insist that they were not trading, that the Immortal Pill was merely taken out for appraisal," said Imperial Master as he looked toward Lin Yue. "Does the Seventeenth Prince now understand the difficulty of my judgment?"

"I understand."

Lin Yue nodded, "Imperial Master wants to judge fairly, but these three have extensive backgrounds and there isn't enough potent evidence, so at the end, we might only be able to release them?"

"As the Seventeenth Prince serves as Inspector, naturally, he should also strive for fairness," Imperial Master said calmly. "If the Seventeenth Prince's decision is less than just, I, as the Military Leader, must mark this test low."

Lin Yue slightly raised his eyebrows.

This first inspection test was to be determined by the Imperial Master, with a maximum of two thousand Earth Merit points, but if he wasn't fair, naturally he would receive fewer points.

"Is the judgment entirely up to me?" Lin Yue asked.

"Correct."

Imperial Master said indifferently, "The Seventeenth Prince could opt for a lighter sentence, giving face to the Empress and both Commanders, or he could use the Seventh Grade Immortal Pill as the transaction item to forcefully impose a severe punishment on these three individuals... it's all up to the Prince."

Lin Yue shook his head upon hearing this.

If he opted for a lighter sentence, the rating from Imperial Master would likely be very low, garnering him little Earth Merit.

And if he imposed a severe sentence without sufficient evidence, that would be a slap in the face to the Empress and both Commanders!

The competitors of a Prince are none other than Princes themselves.

The four commanders of Dawn Platform were all Saint-level beings; though they officially steered clear of factional disputes, having close relationships brought manifold advantages. The Princes were eager to win them over; how could they afford to make them displeased?

And the Empress, though she was the Mother of the Country and held a position as sacred as the commanders of the Dawn Platform, she hadn't given birth to any son nor supported any specific prince, almost never involving herself in factional strife.

The Empress was also a Saint-level powerhouse, an important figure who had helped the Divine Emperor in conquering the world!

"I understand."

Lin Yue shook his head, "This test means either I offend the Empress and both Commanders, obtaining two thousand Earth Merit, or I offend the Imperial Master, foregoing the rewards to favor the Empress and both Commanders, correct?"

Imperial Master glanced at him and said neutrally, "The Seventeenth Prince may also choose a middle ground in handling this."

"What's the point?"

Lin Yue shook his head, not saying much else.

"Compromise?"

For instance, symbolically sentencing someone to decades of prison wouldn't raise too many objections from the Empress and the commanders, it would indeed equate to several decades of incarceration, and even if Imperial Master wasn't satisfied, he wouldn't say much. Some recognition for contributions would also be granted.

However, with this approach, not only would neither side be pleased, but the recognition earned would also be limited.

"What does the Seventeenth Prince plan to choose?"

Imperial Master slightly turned his head, looking towards Lin Yue.

"I naturally hope to severely punish these three people, hoping that Imperial Master can grant me more recognition for my contributions, and also hoping that the Empress and the two commanders have no objections," Lin Yue said casually.

Imperial Master slightly furrowed his brow and said, "Seventeenth Prince, there is no perfect solution in this world."

"Who knows."

Lin Yue lowered his head, looking at the mutant beast materials on the ground, and said, "The main issue still lies with these mutant beast materials, doesn't it? Why can't the Dawn Platform judge the value of these materials?"

There were many mutant beast materials in here that seemed somewhat familiar to him.

"Does the Seventeenth Prince not know?"

Imperial Master glanced at him and said, "When my Dawn Military campaigned against Eternal Night, besides encircling and capturing mutant beasts and the Demon Clan, we also launched surprise attacks on the nests of the Demon Clans, such as the last time when we swept through the tribes of the Green Fire Wolf, White Thunder, and Red Luo Bird, confiscating a large amount of the Demon Clan's collection of mutant beast materials."

Her gaze swept over the mutant beast materials on the ground, "These hard-to-recognize mutant beast materials are almost all from the collections of the Demon Clan, having been processed and broken down, so it's quite difficult to recognize which mutant beasts these materials originally came from."

Lin Yue suddenly understood.

Indeed, the Human Clan was already at a disadvantage in Eternal Night, and with the unique darkness of Eternal Night, once dead, bodies were easily consumed by the darkness of Eternal Night.

Thus, the Human Clan's knowledge about mutant beasts was always limited.

Moreover, the Human Clan had experienced several major calamities, with breaks in transmission and knowledge; as years passed, some mutant beasts and their current names also differed, naturally making them hard to recognize.

"But..."

Lin Yue said, "Since such trade exists, it seems those three must have been able to recognize them, and the buyer probably could too."

If no one recognized these mutant beast materials and they were useless, how could these materials be worth an Immortal Pill of the seventh grade?

"The buyer must certainly recognize these materials."

Imperial Master said indifferently, "Perhaps they obtained ancient secret texts or exclusives, or maybe information known from memories of past lives, so they could identify these materials...but it's so coincidental that Dawn Platform's Scripture Pavilion does not have detailed records of these mutant beast materials."

Lin Yue nodded.

According to the pricing rules for mutant beast materials, those that cannot be recognized are priced at the bare minimum.

The part of these materials that could be recognized just happened to have a low enough value to be negligible.

Including the part they could not recognize, calculated at the lowest value, the total was not even worth a Spirit Pill of the third or fourth grade, perfectly enabling them to evade punishment.

The three people selling the mutant beast materials privately, as well as the buyer, were definitely very familiar with the penalty regulations for selling mutant beast materials secretly and had confirmed that Dawn Platform had no related records, hence setting up this clever method to evade punishment.

"Imperial Master, is there a deadline for this inspection test?"

Lin Yue squatted down, carefully looking at these mutant beast materials, examining each one and occasionally turning them over, memorizing their appearances clearly.

Fortunately, after breaking through the Four Symbols Heaven Barrier, his mind had also transformed, making an eidetic memory just basic skills.

"The deadline is seven days."

Imperial Master saw him memorizing these mutant beast materials and slightly furrowed her brow, asking, "Does the Seventeenth Prince intend to investigate on his own?"

"That's one way to put it," Lin Yue nodded lightly.

Imperial Master shook her head slightly and said, "That probably won't be very effective. I know that the Seventeenth Prince is the Main Hall Master's disciple and can freely browse the Ancestor Hall's Book Collection Hall, but my Dawn Platform is already familiar with Eternal Night and has inherited the collections from Firewood Tower and Ancestor Hall. Sadly... due to the many great calamities in human history causing gaps, much has been lost. What isn't recorded in my Dawn Platform surely won't be found in the Ancestor Hall either."

"I must still try," Lin Yue revealed a slight smile.

He was somewhat familiar with many of these mutant beast materials, perhaps having seen them in the Black Jade Coffin Illusion Realm?