The Interception Sect.
Those two words hung high in the heavens.
The golden light was not fierce.
Yet it stung the eyes of every Jie Sect disciple.
Outside Golden Turtle Island.
The three Accountability Steles still stood upon the sea.
Their inscriptions were perfectly clear.
Where had the disaster come from?
Who should have handled it?
Who bore the credit and the karmic consequences?
But now, the golden light of merit above the Three Steles was being pressed lower, inch by inch, beneath the phantom Investiture of the Gods List high in the heavens.
It was not that their merit was insufficient.
It was that the list was too heavy.
So heavy that it felt as though the Heavenly Mandate of the entire Primordial World was pressing down upon Golden Turtle Island.
Holy Mother Guiling looked up at those two words.
The fury on her face slowly froze.
Then it turned into something colder.
"The Interception Sect?"
Her voice was hoarse.
"The Investiture of the Gods List hasn't even officially appeared yet."
"And it names the Interception Sect first?"
No one answered.
Nor could anyone answer.
Because the answer was already in the sky.
Whoever stood at the head of the list.
Would be the first to face the blade.
Zhao Gongming stared fixedly at those two words.
His chest heaved.
All this time, he had believed the investiture great calamity was a trap that lay in the future.
One they could avoid.
Could evade.
Could change.
But now, their master had merely forced a phantom of the Investiture of the Gods List into view with one sword strike, and the first name to emerge within it was actually the Interception Sect.
What did that mean?
It meant that list had had its sights on them from the very beginning.
It meant the supposed joint deliberations of the Three Teachings, the supposed depth of their spiritual foundations and conduct, the supposed shortage of personnel in the Heavenly Court—all of it was merely a cloth draped over the truth.
Beneath that cloth, the blade had long since been honed.
Bi Xiao's eyes reddened.
"What did we do wrong?"
As soon as those words left her lips.
It grew even quieter outside Golden Turtle Island.
In the distance, the Dragon Clan members, Water Department Immortal Officials, and overseas unaffiliated cultivators who had yet to leave all dared not make a sound.
They had seen it too.
The Interception Sect had appeared first on the Investiture of the Gods List.
Those two words were more ruthless than all of Zhao Xuan's earlier ledgers.
Ledgers could still be disputed.
But how could they dispute those two words?
Zhao Xuan stood before the Three Steles.
He gazed at the List Shadow high in the heavens, his eyes frighteningly cold.
After a long while, he spoke.
"Take a good look, all of you."
His voice was not loud.
Yet it carried across Golden Turtle Island.
"This is what they call the Heavenly Mandate."
The Ten Thousand Immortals raised their heads.
"The Heavenly Court needs personnel, and the list names the Interception Sect."
"The Chan Sect needs to evade the calamity, and the list names the Interception Sect."
"The Western Sect is impoverished, and the list names the Interception Sect."
"The Primordial World is in chaos, and the list names the Interception Sect."
"Our Jie Sect disciples guarded the Sea Eye, protected the human race, quelled tides of demons, mediated disputes among unaffiliated cultivators, patched the Heavenly Court's holes, and shouldered the Primordial World's dirty work."
"And once it was done."
"The list still named the Interception Sect."
Each sentence fell.
The breathing on Golden Turtle Island grew heavier and heavier.
Zhao Xuan raised his hand and pointed at the Investiture of the Gods List.
"They used to say the Investiture of the Gods depended on spiritual foundations and conduct."
"Where are those foundations and conduct now?"
"They used to say the Investiture of the Gods depended on merits and demerits."
"Where are those merits and demerits now?"
"They used to say the Three Teachings 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 answering Zhao Xuan.
Where had the disaster come from?
Who should have handled it?
Who bore the credit and the karmic consequences?
Zhao Xuan's voice grew colder.
"Our Interception Sect erected steles to demand accountability."
"The Heavenly Court dared not answer."
"Our Interception Sect reckoned up our past contributions."
"The Dragon Palace dared not speak."
"Our Interception Sect questioned the Merits and Demerits of the Three Sects."
"Guangchengzi dared not sign."
"Well, now."
"The Investiture of the Gods List has answered for itself."
He paused.
"It says: the Interception Sect."
Boom!
It was as though thunder exploded in the hearts of the Ten Thousand Immortals.
It was not fear.
It was rage.
Rage suppressed for far too long.
Before, they had believed they were following the Dao.
Seizing a single thread of hope for survival.
Shielding the Primordial World from chaos.
Only now did they understand.
The more they did, the tighter the threads bound them.
The greater their contributions, the more readily their names were written on the list.
So they had never been meritorious servants.
They were expendable material, marked out in advance.
Daoist Duobao's face turned pale.
He gazed at those two words in the sky, and for the first time, unmistakable doubt appeared in his eyes.
He had considered the greater picture.
He had remembered the common origin of the Three Teachings.
He had always felt there was still room to maneuver.
But the words "Interception Sect" on the Investiture of the Gods List tore apart the last shred of hope in his heart.
The sword intent in Holy Mother Jinling's hand surged.
"Good."
She gave a laugh.
Her laughter was as cold as a blade.
"So in their eyes, the Ten Thousand Immortals of our Interception Sect were names on that list all along."
Holy Mother Wudang said quietly:
"No wonder Senior Disciple Brother wanted to withdraw."
"If we don't withdraw now."
"We won't even know how we ended up on the list."
Holy Mother Guiling abruptly raised her head.
"Master!"
Within Biyou Palace.
Master Tongtian did not appear.
But all of Golden Turtle Island heard his voice.
"I have seen it."
Just those few words.
Cold to the extreme.
The next moment.
Immortal Execution Sword Intent surged from the depths of Biyou Palace.
It did not strike at the Investiture of the Gods List.
Because the List Shadow was still linked to the decree from Zixiao Palace, linked to the Heavenly Dao's calamity qi.
If Tongtian forcibly struck it down.
It would amount to openly breaking with the grand course ordained by the Dao Ancestor, here and now.
But the sword intent descended outside Golden Turtle Island.
Before the Three Steles.
Boom!
The three Accountability Steles shook at once.
The light of merit upon them blazed.
That light was not an attack.
It was a record.
It was heaven and earth bearing witness.
It was all the Interception Sect's past contributions, suppressed over the years, being lifted bit by bit from the mire of karma.
Zhao Xuan looked at the Three Steles.
Suddenly, he spoke.
"Add another question to the steles."
Holy Mother Guiling immediately raised her head.
"Senior Disciple Brother, what should we add?"
Zhao Xuan spoke each word distinctly:
"Why does the Interception Sect stand first on the Investiture of the Gods List?"
Boom!
As those words fell.
The Three Steles thundered in unison.
A new inscription slowly appeared on the stele.
Why was the Interception Sect written first on the Investiture of the Gods List?
Above the Nine Heavens.
The List Shadow shook violently.
Those two characters trembled with it.
They were not erased.
They had been called into question.
The Heavenly Dao's Calamity Qi churned.
Streams of ashen-white energy descended from the depths of the List Shadow, as if to smother the new question on the Three Steles.
But atop the Three Steles, the Golden Light of Merit forced its way upward.
One was Calamity Qi.
The other was merit.
One sought to nail the coffin shut.
The other demanded an accounting.
For the first time, heaven and earth fell into such a deadlock.
In High Heaven Hall.
Haotian shot to his feet.
He stared at the List Shadow above the Nine Heavens, his expression grim to the extreme.
"Why has the Investiture of the Gods List appeared now?"
No one dared answer.
Taibai Jinxing's face went pale.
"Your Majesty, the Old Merit Karma has been severed."
"That thread once connected the Heavenly Court and the Interception Sect."
"Now that Saint Tongtian has cut it, the Heavenly Secret suppressed within the Investiture of the Gods List has been forced out."
Haotian stared at those two characters.
Interception Sect.
Of course he wanted Interception Sect disciples to fill the Heavenly Court.
But that was something he could do, not something he could lay bare.
Once it was laid bare.
The Heavenly Court's claim to those people would be tainted.
In Yuxu Palace.
Yuanshi Tianzun looked at the List Shadow, his expression darkening too.
The Twelve Golden Immortals stood in the hall.
No one spoke.
They had seen it as well.
The Interception Sect had appeared first on the Investiture of the Gods List.
That should have been a good thing.
But it had happened after Zhao Xuan demanded an accounting, after the Three Steles were raised, and after Guangchengzi had just lost face.
For it to appear now.
It was like tearing away that fig leaf before the entire Primordial World.
Guangchengzi kept his head lowered.
His face grew paler still.
On Mount Sumeru.
Daoist Zhunti's eyes flickered.
"The Interception Sect heads the list."
"It seems the Heavenly Mandate truly is so."
But Daoist Jieyin sighed.
"The Heavenly Mandate may be so."
"But it should not have been revealed like this."
Daoist Zhunti's smile slowly faded.
He understood.
Things had become troublesome.
Once the Heavenly Mandate was seen ahead of time, it ceased to be merely the Heavenly Mandate.
It became evidence.
Outside Golden Turtle Island.
Zhao Xuan looked up at the Investiture of the Gods List.
He did not smile.
Nor did he roar in anger.
He merely spoke, slowly.
"Junior brothers and sisters."
"From this day on, remember this."
"The Investiture of the Gods List is not choosing people."
"It chose long ago."
"It chose the Interception Sect."
"And what we must do is simple."
He raised a hand and pointed at the Three Steles.
"Ask it."
"On what grounds?"
As his words fell.
The Ten Thousand Immortals raised their heads as one.
The next moment.
Countless voices erupted at once across Golden Turtle Island.
"On what grounds!"
The roar surged into the sky.
It slammed into the List Shadow.
Deep within the List Shadow, golden light churned.
For the first time, the fury of the Ten Thousand Immortals made the characters for "Interception Sect" tremble ever so slightly.
Zhao Xuan watched it happen.
The chill in his eyes deepened.
"The first layer of skin has been torn away."
"Next."
"It is time they saw just how the names written on that list would die."
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