The Deathtrap Was Set from the Beginning!

Jie Sect.

Two words hung above the Nine Heavens.

The golden light was not fierce.

Yet it made the eyes of every Jie Sect disciple sting.

Beyond Golden Turtle Island.

The three Accountability Steles still stood upon the sea.

Their inscriptions were perfectly clear.

Where did the disaster come from?

Who should have handled it?

Who bore the merit, karma, and consequences?

Yet at this moment, the Golden Light of Merit upon the three steles was being pressed down inch by inch by the phantom of the Investiture of the Gods List above the Nine Heavens.

It was not that the merit was insufficient.

It was that the list was too heavy.

So heavy that it seemed as though the Heavenly Mandate of the entire Primordial World was pressing down upon Golden Turtle Island.

Holy Mother Guiling raised her head and looked at those two words.

The fury on her face slowly froze.

Then it turned into something colder.

"Jie Sect?"

Her voice was hoarse.

"The Investiture of the Gods List has not even officially appeared."

"Yet Jie Sect is written on it first?"

No one answered.

Nor could anyone answer.

Because the answer was already in the sky.

Whosoever was written at the top of the list.

Would be the first to face the blade.

Zhao Gongming stared fixedly at those two words.

His chest heaved.

All along, he had believed the Investiture Great Calamity was a future crisis.

One that could be avoided.

Evaded.

Changed.

But now, the Investiture of the Gods List had merely been forced into revealing a phantom by his master's single sword strike, and the first thing to emerge within it was actually Jie Sect.

What did that mean?

It meant that list had been watching them from the very beginning.

It meant the so-called joint deliberation of the Three Sects, the so-called depth of one's roots and cultivation, the so-called Heavenly Court needing more people—were all merely cloth draped over the outside.

Beneath that cloth, the blade had long since been sharpened.

Bi Xiao's eyes reddened.

"What did we do wrong?"

As soon as those words were spoken.

The area beyond Golden Turtle Island grew even quieter.

In the distance, the Dragon Clan, Water Department Immortal Officials, and overseas independent cultivators who had yet to leave all dared not make a sound.

They had seen it as well.

Jie Sect had appeared first on the Investiture of the Gods List.

Those two words were crueler than every account book Zhao Xuan had produced before.

Account books could still be disputed.

But how could these two words be disputed?

Zhao Xuan stood before the three steles.

He looked at the phantom list above the Nine Heavens, his gaze terrifyingly cold.

After a long while, he spoke.

"See it clearly."

His voice was not loud.

Yet it spread across Golden Turtle Island.

"This is what they call the Heavenly Mandate."

The Ten Thousand Immortals looked up.

"The Heavenly Court lacks people, so the list says Jie Sect."

"The Chan Sect avoids calamity, so the list says Jie Sect."

"The Western Sect is impoverished, so the list says Jie Sect."

"The Primordial World is in chaos, so the list says Jie Sect."

"We, the disciples of Jie Sect, guard the Sea Eye, protect humanity, quell demon tides, mediate disputes among independent cultivators, patch the holes in the Heavenly Court, and take on the dirty work of the Primordial World."

"After all that."

"The list still says Jie Sect."

Each sentence fell.

The breathing across Golden Turtle Island grew heavier and heavier.

Zhao Xuan raised a hand and pointed at the Investiture of the Gods List.

"They used to say Investiture depended on one's roots and cultivation."

"Where are those roots and cultivation now?"

"They used to say Investiture depended on merits and demerits."

"Where are the merits and demerits now?"

"They used to say the Three Sects would deliberate together."

"Where is the Human Sect now? Where is the Chan Sect? And where is the Western Sect?"

No one spoke.

Only the sea wind swept past the three steles.

The words upon the three steles lit up.

As though they were answering Zhao Xuan.

Where did the disaster come from?

Who should have handled it?

Who bore the merit, karma, and consequences?

Zhao Xuan's voice grew colder.

"We of Jie Sect erected steles to demand accountability."

"The Heavenly Court dared not answer."

"We of Jie Sect settled old merits."

"The Dragon Palace dared not speak."

"We of Jie Sect questioned the merits and demerits of the Three Sects."

"Guangchengzi dared not sign."

"Now, this is good."

"The Investiture of the Gods List has answered for itself."

He paused.

"It says, Jie Sect."

Boom!

It was as though thunder exploded in the hearts of the Ten Thousand Immortals.

Not fear.

Rage.

Rage that had been suppressed for far too long.

They had once believed they were practicing the Dao.

That they were seizing a thread of survival.

That they were shielding the Primordial World from chaos.

Only now did they understand.

The more they did, the tighter the threads wound around them.

The greater their merits, the easier it was for their names to be written on the list.

So they had never been meritorious officials.

They were expendable materials marked in advance.

Daoist Duobao's face turned pale.

He looked at those two words in the sky, and for the first time, obvious wavering appeared in his eyes.

He cared for the bigger picture.

He cherished the shared origins of the Three Sects.

He had always believed there was still room for compromise.

But the words "Jie Sect" on the Investiture of the Gods List tore apart the last trace of hope in his heart.

The sword intent in Holy Mother Jinling's hand surged.

"Good."

She laughed once.

Her smile was as cold as a blade.

"So in their eyes, the Ten Thousand Immortals of Jie Sect had long been nothing but names on the list."

Holy Mother Wudang said softly:

"No wonder Senior Disciple Brother wanted to withdraw."

"If we do not withdraw now."

"We will not even know how we ended up on the list."

Holy Mother Guiling suddenly raised her head.

"Master!"

Within Biyou Palace.

Master Tongtian did not appear.

Yet his voice rang throughout all of Golden Turtle Island.

"I have seen it."

Just five words.

Cold to the extreme.

The next moment.

Immortal Execution Sword Intent surged up from the depths of Biyou Palace.

It did not strike toward the Investiture of the Gods List.

Because the phantom list was still connected to the decree of Zixiao Palace and the Calamity Qi of the Heavenly Dao.

If Tongtian struck it by force.

He would be directly tearing apart the greater trend established by the Dao Ancestor.

But the sword intent descended beyond Golden Turtle Island.

It fell before the three steles.

Boom!

The three Accountability Steles trembled at once.

The light of merit upon them blazed brilliantly.

That light was not for attack.

It was for recordkeeping.

It was the witness of heaven and earth.

It was all the old merits of Jie Sect that had been suppressed over the years, being lifted bit by bit from the mire of karma.

Zhao Xuan looked at the three steles.

Then he suddenly spoke.

"Add another question to the steles."

Holy Mother Guiling immediately raised her head.

"Senior Disciple Brother, what shall we add?"

Zhao Xuan said each word distinctly:

"Why is Jie Sect written first on the Investiture of the Gods List?"

Boom!

As those words fell.

The three steles let out a simultaneous roar.

A new inscription slowly emerged.

Why was the Jie Sect written first on the Investiture of the Gods List?

Above the Nine Heavens.

The phantom of the Investiture of the Gods List shuddered violently.

Those two words shook as well.

They had not been erased.

They had been questioned into silence.

Heavenly Dao Calamity Qi churned.

Streams of gray-white vapor descended from the depths of the list's phantom, as though they sought to suppress the new question upon the Three Steles.

Yet Golden Light of Merit forcefully pushed back from atop the Three Steles.

One was Calamity Qi.

One was merit.

One sought to seal the coffin.

One sought accountability.

For the first time, such a deadlock appeared between heaven and earth.

High Heaven Hall.

Haotian abruptly rose to his feet.

He stared at the list's phantom in the Nine Heavens, his expression grim to the extreme.

"Why has the Investiture of the Gods List manifested at this time?"

No one dared answer.

Taibai Jinxing's face went pale.

"Your Majesty, the Old Merit Karma has been severed."

"That thread originally connected the Heavenly Court and the Jie Sect."

"Now that Saint Tongtian has cut it, the Heavenly Secret once suppressed within the Investiture of the Gods List has been forced out."

Haotian stared at those two words.

Jie Sect.

Of course he wanted Jie Sect disciples to fill the Heavenly Court.

But such things could be done, not laid bare.

Once laid bare.

The Heavenly Court's justification for demanding people would be tainted.

Yuxu Palace.

Yuanshi Tianzun watched the list's phantom, and his expression darkened as well.

The Twelve Golden Immortals stood within the hall.

No one spoke.

They had seen it too.

The Jie Sect had appeared first on the Investiture of the Gods List.

This should have been a good thing.

Yet it had happened after Zhao Xuan's accountability, after the Three Steles had risen, after Guangchengzi had just been humiliated.

At a time like this.

It was like tearing away that last veil of shame before the entire Primordial World.

Guangchengzi lowered his head.

His face turned even paler.

Mount Sumeru.

Daoist Zhunti's gaze flickered.

"The Jie Sect stands at the head of the list."

"It seems the Heavenly Mandate truly is so."

Daoist Jieyin, however, sighed.

"The Heavenly Mandate may be so."

"But it should not have appeared so plainly."

Zhunti's smile slowly faded.

He understood.

This had become troublesome.

Once the Heavenly Mandate was seen in advance, it was no longer merely the Heavenly Mandate.

It would become evidence.

Outside Golden Turtle Island.

Zhao Xuan raised his head and looked at the Investiture of the Gods List.

He did not smile.

Nor did he roar in fury.

He merely spoke slowly.

"Junior brothers and sisters."

"From today onward, remember this."

"The Investiture of the Gods List is not choosing people."

"It chose long ago."

"It chose the Jie Sect."

"And what we need to do is very simple."

He raised a hand and pointed at the Three Steles.

"Question it."

"Why?"

As his words fell.

The Ten Thousand Immortals all raised their heads.

The next instant.

Countless voices erupted across Golden Turtle Island at once.

"Why!"

The waves of sound surged into the heavens.

They slammed into the phantom of the Investiture of the Gods List.

Golden light churned in the depths of the list's phantom.

For the first time, the words "Jie Sect" trembled faintly beneath the fury of the Ten Thousand Immortals.

Zhao Xuan watched the scene.

The chill in his eyes deepened.

"The first layer of skin has been torn away."

"Next."

"Let them see exactly how the names written on the list will die."