The once-a-decade Tribunal begins in a vast jade hall carved into the mountain, with galleries, lanterns, elders, disciples, and the crime ledger at the center.

Wanlin enters as Wanqing under the eyes of the hall; key observers are established.

Sect Master Shen opens the enchanted ledger and states the public rules of the Tribunal.

The ledger’s red script names Wanqing’s charges one by one while the hall reacts.

Wanlin silently endures the charges by focusing on Wanqing’s body and the forty-day threat.

Sect Master Shen moves toward judgment before Qin Luo interrupts.

Qin Luo publicly confesses to stealing access to the manual.

Qin Luo provides concrete details: the route, copied pages, and reason for the theft.

Qin Luo admits Wanqing discovered his trail but denies causing her fall.

Sect Master Shen explains how the ledger can accept a correction, making the stakes clear.

Wanlin is called to countersign; Mu Zhao’s concern and Bai Shumei’s scrutiny tighten the pressure.

Wanlin begins signing Yu Wanqing’s name; the first two strokes hold.

On the third stroke, Wanlin’s Water-line foundation leaks into the signature for the smallest moment.

Sect Master Shen orders Qin Luo bound and Wanqing’s body prepared for burial, seeming to fulfill Wanlin’s goal.

Mu Zhao and Bai Shumei react to the apparent clearing of Wanqing’s theft charge.

Lan Xiyan breaks the relief by standing to challenge the signature.

Xiyan specifies that she is not challenging the written shape, but the qi pressure in the third stroke.

Lan Xiyan explains in plain terms the difference between Heron-line and Water-line pressure in a sworn mark.

The hall reacts; Wanlin tries to answer as Wanqing while Shen tests the seriousness of Xiyan’s accusation.

Xiyan presses the accusation to its consequence: the cold-storage cave must be opened.

Sect Master Shen weighs the accepted ledger against Xiyan’s challenge and places his hand on the record.

The Tribunal physically turns toward the mountain interior, and Wanlin’s mask begins to fail under the next threat.

Far below the Tribunal, Wanqing’s expiry talisman cracks in the cold-storage cave as the order to open it begins to move through the mountain.