They Did Not Care About Justice, Only About Taking Your Lives!

The phantom of the Investiture of the Gods List still hung in the Nine Heavens.

The words "Jie Sect" weighed down the very top of the list.

The Three Steles stood outside Golden Turtle Island.

That newly added question shone with a piercing brilliance.

At the head of the Investiture of the Gods List, why was the Jie Sect written first?

Heaven and earth fell silent.

Yet Calamity Qi churned.

Zhao Xuan stared into the depths of the list's phantom, and his gaze suddenly shifted.

"Step back."

Holy Mother Guiling frowned.

"Senior Disciple Brother?"

Zhao Xuan's voice deepened.

"The Calamity Qi is about to flow backward."

The moment he spoke.

The phantom of the Investiture of the Gods List above the Nine Heavens suddenly trembled.

Gray-white Calamity Qi followed the severed break in the Old Merit Karma and pressed down toward Golden Turtle Island.

It was not an attack.

It was more like a backlash from the Heavenly Secret.

Tongtian had severed the Old Merit Karma, and the portion of the Heavenly Mandate within the list that had originally used it to draw in Jie Sect disciples lost its support.

Thus, the Calamity Qi surged back.

It rushed toward the Jie Sect disciples whose destinies carried the greatest weight in the Investiture of the Gods.

Duobao.

Jin Ling.

Wudang.

Gui Ling.

Zhao Gongming.

The Three Xiao Sisters.

And many other core disciples.

Gray-white Calamity Qi flashed above their heads.

Blurry scenes suddenly exploded before their eyes.

Zhao Gongming was the first to let out a muffled groan.

The world before him changed.

He saw a military tent.

He saw a sinister lamp.

He saw a straw effigy.

He saw the Seven Arrows.

He also saw his own name, nailed bit by bit onto the straw effigy's chest by blood-red runes.

With every arrow that fell.

His primordial spirit dimmed a little more.

After seven arrows.

The Twenty-Four Sea-Calming Pearls wailed mournfully.

A dignified Great Firmament Golden Immortal had not died in a direct battle.

Nor had he died openly before the armies.

Instead, he had been cursed from afar, his soul scattered into nothingness.

Zhao Gongming's eyes instantly reddened.

"Big Brother!"

Yun Xiao reached out to steady him.

Yet Zhao Gongming suddenly raised his head and stared fixedly at the Investiture of the Gods List.

"So this is my Heavenly Mandate?"

His voice suppressed his fury.

Suppressed it until it trembled.

"I, Zhao Gongming, never avoided the mortal world."

"I valued my fellow disciples, valued my siblings, valued loyalty."

"And in the end, what I received was underhanded arrows and a curse that scattered my soul?"

He stepped forward.

The Sea-Calming Pearls appeared behind him.

Twenty-four streams of five-colored divine light shot into the sky.

"I want to ask the Investiture of the Gods List!"

"What crime have I, Zhao Gongming, committed?"

"Is valuing loyalty and affection a crime?"

This furious question shook the East Sea into rolling waves.

The Three Xiao Sisters' expressions changed at once.

The next moment.

Scenes appeared before their eyes as well.

The Nine-Bend Yellow River Formation.

Yellow sands stretched for thousands of miles.

The Chan Sect's Twelve Golden Immortals had their Three Flowers atop their heads and Five Qi within their chests stripped away.

At that moment, they had won.

They had won openly and honorably.

But the next moment.

The Saints arrived.

Taiqing unleashed a diagram.

Yuqing brought down his pressure.

The formation broke.

Yun Xiao was suppressed.

Qiong Xiao and Bi Xiao died.

Within the Yellow River Formation, only the shattered Primordial Golden Dipper wailed mournfully.

Bi Xiao's eyes were red-rimmed.

"We took revenge for Big Brother. Was that a crime too?"

Qiong Xiao gritted her teeth.

"Chan Sect disciples could kill our Big Brother."

"But when we injured them, the Saints personally intervened?"

Yun Xiao was the calmest.

Yet her fingertips had already turned white.

She looked at the Investiture of the Gods List in the Nine Heavens.

Then said, one word at a time:

"So this so-called Heavenly Mandate."

"Means they can scheme against us."

"But we cannot strike back?"

Sword Qi burst forth behind Holy Mother Jinling.

Before her eyes, blood-red light filled the Ten Thousand Immortal Formation.

She fought the immortals with all her strength.

But in the end, Randeng's shadow struck from behind.

She saw her true spirit enter the list.

She heard someone say.

The Jie Sect did not understand the Heavenly Mandate.

Holy Mother Jinling sneered.

"Unable to defeat me head-on, they resorted to a sneak attack."

"And after the sneak attack, they still claimed I did not understand the Heavenly Mandate."

"What a fine Heavenly Mandate."

Holy Mother Guiling's body swayed slightly.

She saw a mosquito.

A vast swarm of black mosquitoes blotted out the sky.

A flash of blood-red light.

She did not even receive the chance to enter the list.

She died.

Her Dao vanished.

Even reincarnation was denied to her.

Holy Mother Guiling bared her teeth in a smile.

A smile so chilling that everyone's hearts went cold.

"I was not even worthy of entering the list?"

"Jie Sect disciples entering the list is the Heavenly Mandate."

"If I do not enter the list and die with my Dao extinguished, that is also the Heavenly Mandate."

"So no matter how we die, you get to decide?"

Holy Mother Wudang closed her eyes.

She saw the empty Biyou Palace.

She saw the Ten Thousand Immortals scatter.

She saw her master imprisoned in Purple Heaven.

She saw herself walking alone through the ruined sacred grounds.

She had survived.

But the entire Jie Sect was gone.

Holy Mother Wudang opened her eyes.

Her gaze was filled with ice.

"I understand now."

"Living to watch the Jie Sect perish."

"That too is the Heavenly Mandate they gave me."

Daoist Duobao's aura was in the greatest turmoil.

Before him stood the Bajing Palace.

There was Western Sect golden light.

There was Buddhist chanting.

There was the future image of someone seated high upon a Lotus Throne.

That figure resembled him.

Yet did not resemble him.

The master of the Buddhist sect.

Duobao Tathagata.

Duobao's face turned pale.

He had always considered the greater picture.

He had always wished to leave room for compromise.

Yet in the end, he had become a cornerstone for the Western Sect's rise.

"Senior Disciple Brother."

Duobao's voice was hoarse.

"Is this truly the path that awaits me?"

Zhao Xuan looked at him.

"If you still believe in their Heavenly Mandate."

"Then it is."

Duobao's body shuddered.

Those words weighed more heavily than any curse or rebuke.

Because he finally understood.

The so-called Heavenly Mandate was not something that simply fell from Heaven on its own.

It had been pushed forward step by step.

Someone had used the greater good to pressure them.

Used the bonds of fellow disciples to pressure them.

Used their master's dignity to pressure them.

Used the goodwill of Jie Sect disciples to pressure them.

In the end, they had been pressed onto a path everyone believed they had no choice but to take.

And what Zhao Xuan needed to do

was let them first see the corpses at the end of that path.

On Golden Turtle Island.

More and more Jie Sect disciples were being drawn by Calamity Qi.

Some saw themselves escorted into the Heavenly Court by celestial soldiers.

Some saw their true spirits listed on the Investiture of the Gods List.

Some saw themselves taken away by the Western Sect.

Some saw their treasures seized within the Ten Thousand Immortal Formation.

Some saw themselves cursed as sinful abominations.

Some saw that although they had saved Human Race tribes, they were ultimately dragged into the killing calamity for "being tainted by the mortal world."

No cries rang out.

Nor did angry shouts erupt at once.

The entire Golden Turtle Island sank into a deathly silence.

This silence was more terrifying than roaring fury.

Because everyone had seen it.

They had not lost in a battle of spells.

They had lost within the scheme.

Zhao Xuan waited for a moment.

Then he spoke.

"Do you see clearly now?"

The Ten Thousand Immortals looked up.

Zhao Xuan pointed at the Investiture of the Gods List.

"This list does not wait for you to make mistakes."

"It condemns you first."

"When you guard the Sea Eye, you are tainted by karma."

"When you protect the Human Race, you are deemed unable to cultivate serenity."

"When you value your fellow disciples, you are said not to understand the Heavenly Mandate."

"When you strike back against the Chan Sect, you are accused of excessive killing intent."

"When you refuse to be listed, you are defying the greater trend."

"Either way, you are guilty."

"Because what they want is not justice."

"They want your lives."

Boom!

The last layer of hope within the Ten Thousand Immortals' hearts was utterly torn apart.

The next moment.

Zhao Gongming raised his head.

"Then I refuse to acknowledge it."

His voice was heavy.

"This Heavenly Mandate—I, Zhao Gongming, refuse to acknowledge it."

Yun Xiao spoke next.

"The Three Xiao Sisters refuse as well."

Holy Mother Jinling stepped forward with her sword in hand.

"Jin Ling refuses."

Holy Mother Guiling sneered.

"I refuse even more."

Holy Mother Wudang said softly:

"Wudang refuses."

Daoist Duobao remained silent for a long time.

At last, he bowed to Zhao Xuan.

"Duobao also refuses."

With that bow.

The entire Golden Turtle Island seemed to ignite.

One Jie Sect disciple after another raised their heads.

"This disciple refuses!"

"We refuse!"

"The Investiture of the Gods List writes Jie Sect first—we refuse!"

"Why does the Jie Sect do the most, yet die first!"

"Why can the Chan Sect cultivate in seclusion and avoid the calamity, while the Jie Sect enters the world to fill the list!"

"Why is the Heavenly Court incompetent, yet needs Jie Sect disciples to make up for it!"

The furious cries of the Ten Thousand Immortals soared into the heavens.

The Three Steles roared.

The Golden Light of Merit surged once more.

The two words "Jie Sect" upon the phantom image of the Investiture of the Gods List were actually shaken without cease.

High Heaven Hall.

Haotian's face turned livid.

Yuxu Palace.

None of the Twelve Golden Immortals spoke.

Mount Sumeru.

Daoist Zhunti was no longer smiling.

Within Bajing Palace.

Taiqing Saint slowly opened his eyes.

He looked toward the East Sea.

He said only one sentence.

"The Jie Sect has awakened."

Golden Turtle Island.

Deep within Biyou Palace.

Master Tongtian finally appeared.

He took one step forward.

Sword Qi rang out across the entire East Sea.

The Ten Thousand Immortals bowed simultaneously.

"Greetings, Master!"

Tongtian did not look at the Investiture of the Gods List.

He looked at his disciples first.

At Zhao Gongming.

At the Three Xiao Sisters.

At Jin Ling.

At Gui Ling.

At Wudang.

At Duobao.

At those faces filled with anger, yet finally awake.

Only after a long while did he raise his head.

He looked toward the list's shadow in the Nine Heavens.

"Good."

Tongtian's voice was very soft.

Yet the entire Primordial World heard it.

"Since the list writes Jie Sect first."

"Then I will ask one question as well."

"What crime has my Jie Sect committed?"

As those four words fell.

Immortal Execution Sword Intent shot straight into the Nine Heavens.

The phantom image of the Investiture of the Gods List shook violently.

But this time, Tongtian did not strike down the list.

He raised a hand and pointed.

A Saint's decree descended into the Three Steles.

Four more words appeared upon the steles.

What crime has the Jie Sect committed?

Zhao Xuan looked at those four words, and a sharp glint finally surfaced in his eyes.

He knew.

This was the true beginning.

Before this, it had been Jie Sect disciples demanding accountability.

Now, Saint Tongtian himself was demanding accountability.

The next moment.

Zhao Xuan stepped forward.

A Jade Slip appeared in his hand.

That Jade Slip was already filled with the old debts of the Heavenly Court, the old debts of the Dragon Palace, and the Chan Sect's debt for refusing to sign.

And at this moment, he added a new title at the very top.

Investiture of the Gods Accountability Ledger.

Zhao Xuan raised his head and looked toward the Nine Heavens.

"Now that the Investiture of the Gods List has revealed its names."

"Then stop hiding."

"First question!"

His voice was not loud.

Yet it sent a chill through every corner of the Primordial World.

"Jie Sect."

"What crime put it on the list?"