Each Family Gets Their Share, While the Jie Sect... Gets Death!

Inside Biyou Palace.

Holy Mother Guiling's words made Daoist Duobao frown, and he hurriedly spoke to remind her:

"Junior Sister Guiling, watch your tongue."

Holy Mother Guiling let out a cold laugh.

"Watch my tongue?"

"Eldest Senior Brother has already hit the nail on the head, and Haotian has already run to Zixiao Palace to complain; with the Investiture of the Gods List about to appear, what is there left for me to be cautious about?"

"Could it be that if I shut my mouth now, this Investiture of the Gods List won't appear?"

"Could it be that if I say a few pleasantries, Uncle-Master Yuanshi will send the Twelve Golden Immortals to the list?"

"Could it be that if I kowtow to those two from the Western Sect, they will voluntarily offer up their disciples to fill the vacancies in the Heavenly Court?"

Daoist Duobao's expression turned somewhat unsightly.

However, he did not immediately refute her.

Because he also knew that although Holy Mother Guiling's words were harsh, they were not necessarily without merit.

Zhao Gongming sat to one side and could not help but let out a long sigh.

"Thinking back now, the way Eldest Senior Brother looked at us three hundred years ago was indeed strange."

"Especially when he looked at me and my three younger sisters, that gaze... sigh, I can't quite put it into words."

Bi Xiao said with dissatisfaction:

"Big Brother, don't be so dejected."

"Even if the Investiture of the Gods List is truly going to appear, and even if someone wants to scheme against our Jie Sect, so what?"

"Our Jie Sect has Master, we have the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords, and we have ten thousand disciples."

"At worst, we just fight!"

"Are the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect really that formidable?"

"If they truly dare to come, I will make them taste the power of the Nine-Bend Yellow River Formation!"

If this were any other day, Zhao Gongming would likely have laughed heartily and praised his little sister for speaking well.

But today, he could not bring himself to smile.

Because three hundred years ago, Zhao Xuan had once looked at him and said one thing.

"Junior Brother Gongming, valuing righteousness is a good thing, but sometimes, it is precisely your righteousness that others are scheming against."

At the time, Zhao Gongming had not understood.

Now, he vaguely began to grasp it.

The so-called Investiture Great Calamity was likely never something that could be solved simply by fighting.

It involved the schemes of Sages, the conflicts between sects, and the maneuvering between the disciples of Sages.

One slight misstep, and the entire game would be lost.

He, Zhao Gongming, valued loyalty and righteousness; it was likely that what Eldest Senior Brother Zhao Xuan had said before was a warning to him.

He had to plan ahead.

And just as the atmosphere inside Biyou Palace grew increasingly heavy, the doors to the rear hall finally opened slowly.

A figure stepped out from within.

Dressed in dark robes, his black hair tied up in a crown, his face was refined and handsome, his expression calm and composed.

It was none other than Zhao Xuan.

Yet, at this moment, Zhao Xuan seemed somewhat different compared to three hundred years ago.

There was no sharp killing intent on his body, nor any deliberately released pressure.

But when he walked out, the entire Biyou Palace inexplicably fell silent.

It was as if all noisy emotions were suppressed by something heavier the moment they saw him.

It was a temperament born of extreme calmness.

"Eldest Senior Brother."

Daoist Duobao was the first to bow.

The others also spoke one after another.

"Greetings, Eldest Senior Brother."

Zhao Xuan nodded, his gaze sweeping over everyone.

Duobao.

Jin Ling.

Wudang.

Gui Ling.

Zhao Gongming.

Yun Xiao, Qiong Xiao, and Bi Xiao.

These people were all standing alive and well before him at this very moment.

But after the future Investiture of the Gods...

As a transmigrator, Zhao Xuan was incomparably familiar with the fate of the Jie Sect in the Primordial World.

Daoist Duobao would enter Buddhism.

Jin Ling would end up on the Investiture of the Gods List.

Gui Ling would perish, her soul scattered.

Zhao Gongming would be cursed to death by the Nail-Head Seven-Arrow Book.

The Three Xiao Sisters would be suppressed by the saints themselves.

Wudang would luckily survive, only to watch helplessly as the Ten Thousand Immortals of the Jie Sect withered away and their orthodoxy was nearly severed.

As for the other Jie Sect disciples, there was no need to even mention them.

The two shameless saints of the Western Sect alone had converted countless Jie Sect disciples.

Ten Thousand Immortals coming to pay homage, only for the Ten Thousand Immortals to enter the calamity in the end.

How tragic!

What was even more laughable was that even after the Jie Sect paid such a miserable price, whenever the beings of the Primordial World mentioned the Jie Sect, it was always with the phrase, "They did not recognize the heavenly mandate."

They did not recognize the heavenly mandate.

These four words were truly convenient.

The Heavenly Court lacked personnel, so the Jie Sect had to fill the vacancies; this was the heavenly mandate.

The Chan Sect sought to avoid the calamity, so the Jie Sect had to die; this was the heavenly mandate.

The Western Sect sought prosperity, so the Jie Sect had to be converted; this, too, was the heavenly mandate.

Taiqing was non-action, Yuqing was noble, the Western Sect was compassionate, and the Heavenly Court was orthodox.

In the end, only the Jie Sect failed to recognize the heavenly mandate.

Was the entire grand situation of the Primordial World supposed to be fulfilled by the lives of the Jie Sect disciples?

Zhao Xuan sneered in his heart.

It was precisely because he was a transmigrator.

He knew the tragic state of the Jie Sect in the future.

He knew that the Investiture Great Calamity was never a fair game.

It was a gambling table that had been set long ago.

That was why he claimed to have glimpsed a corner of the future and had spoiled the ending of the Jie Sect in advance.

To put it bluntly, in this Investiture:

The Heavenly Court wanted people.

The Chan Sect wanted to avoid the calamity.

The Western Sect wanted to pick up scraps.

Taiqing wanted to maintain the balance of the Xuan Sect.

The Dao Ancestor wanted to perfect the order of the Heavenly Dao.

Every party wanted to take benefits from this table.

But the question was, who was the stake?

It was the lives of the Jie Sect disciples.

That was the most ridiculous part of it all.

They sat at the table dividing the interests, yet they wanted the Jie Sect to bet with their lives.

By what right?

"Senior Brother, do you already know about the matters of Zixiao Palace?"

Daoist Duobao asked in a deep voice.

Zhao Xuan nodded.

"I know."

"Then, Senior Brother, do you believe the Investiture of the Gods List will truly emerge?"

"It will."

Zhao Xuan answered quickly.

The response was swift, without a hint of hesitation.

The hearts of everyone in the great hall sank once more.

Holy Mother Guiling gritted her teeth and asked, "Is that Investiture of the Gods List truly meant to fill the Heavenly Court's divine positions with the disciples of the three sects?"

"It is."

Zhao Xuan remained calm.

Bi Xiao could not help but ask, "Then why must it be our Jie Sect?"

Zhao Xuan glanced at her and countered, "If not the Jie Sect, then who?"

Bi Xiao was stunned.

Zhao Xuan spoke slowly, "Should we fill it with the Human Sect?"

"Taiqing has only one lone sprout under his tutelage, Xuandu. If Xuandu were to be placed on the list, would the Human Sect's orthodoxy even survive?"

"Should we fill it with the Chan Sect?"

"Yuanshi values lineage above all else. In his eyes, every one of the Twelve Golden Immortals is a virtuous immortal of great fortune. Usually, if a disciple of my Jie Sect so much as glances at them, they act as if their robes have been soiled."

"Do you expect him to send the Twelve Golden Immortals onto the Investiture of the Gods List to serve as subjects for Haotian?"

"Should we fill it with the Western Sect?"

"Those two uncles from the West would sooner uproot every blade of grass in the East and drag it back to Mount Sumeru."

"You expect them to hand over their own people?"

"They would likely weep enough to fill their eight-hundred-mile Merit Pool on the spot."

At this, Zhao Xuan let out a laugh.

"So, if not the Jie Sect, then who?"

These words were spoken with brutal honesty.

They were so blunt that they bordered on being disrespectful to the sages.

If this were not Biyou Palace, the dojo of the sage Tongtian, they would surely have been sensed by the sages instantly, resulting in divine retribution!

Yet, despite such irreverent words, none of the immortals in Biyou Palace spoke up to refute him.

Because they knew that Zhao Xuan was right.

Taiqing would never part with Xuandu.

Yuanshi would never part with the Twelve Golden Immortals.

The two from the West would only seize the opportunity to convert others; they would never voluntarily offer their own.

Then, who was left?

The Jie Sect.

It could only be the Jie Sect.

They had the most disciples, the most diverse origins, and were the easiest to slander and frame.

"Fur-clad and horn-bearing."

"Born of wetness and eggs."

"Lacking in virtue."

"Ignorant of the heavenly mandate."

Look, the excuses were already laid out.

Zhao Xuan continued, "You think the Investiture of the Gods is about conferring divinity?"

"You are wrong."

"It is not about conferring divinity; it is about carving up the meat."

"The Heavenly Court divides the manpower, the Chan Sect divides the tranquility, the West divides the fortune, Taiqing divides the balance, and the Dao Ancestor divides the order of the Heavenly Dao."

"And what does my Jie Sect divide?"

Zhao Xuan looked at the crowd and said, word by word, "We divide the death."