Old Achievements and Sins? Dragging All Parties In!

"Jie Sect."

"What is their crime to be on the list?"

As the final word fell from Zhao Xuan, the first page of the Investiture of the Gods Accountability Ledger flipped open on its own.

The page was blank.

Yet, the Investiture of the Gods List high above the nine heavens could no longer remain silent.

Tongtian had already asked once.

Zhao Xuan asked again.

The four characters "What is Jie Sect's crime?" had already been carved upon the Three Steles.

This inquiry carried the decree of a Saint, as well as the old debts of the Three Steles.

The Investiture of the Gods List could no longer pretend not to hear.

However, this question was truly difficult to answer.

The Investiture of the Gods List trembled for a long time, yet showed no changes.

"My master asks you, what is Jie Sect's crime!"

Zhao Xuan suddenly let out a thunderous roar.

Combined with the will of the Ten Thousand Immortals of the Jie Sect and the decree of the Saint Tongtian, the pressure crashed toward the Investiture of the Gods List.

The Investiture of the Gods List shook violently.

Beneath the two characters "Jie Sect" on the list, the first line of greyish-white text finally emerged.

The Jie Sect has many disciples.

They are deeply involved in the world.

Their karmic killing is heavy.

They should be on the list.

Zhao Xuan stared at those words.

His gaze grew cold, bit by bit.

"Heh."

"Many disciples?"

"Deeply involved in the world?"

"Heavy karmic killing?"

"Should be on the list?"

"If that is the case, then..."

He raised his brush and wrote four characters on the first page of the Investiture of the Gods Accountability Ledger.

"Past merits become crimes."

As the four characters landed, the expressions of the Ten Thousand Immortals on Golden Turtle Island changed in unison.

Because these four words were far too precise!

Their past merits were, in fact, their original sin!

At this moment, the Ten Thousand Immortals stared at those lines of accusations, their voices trembling.

"Deeply involved in the world?"

"Who was it that made us enter the world?"

Zhao Gongming's voice was heavy.

"Heavy karmic killing?"

"Who was it that made us quell the chaos?"

Holy Mother Jinling's fingers, gripping her sword, turned slightly white.

"Many disciples? Does that actually count as a crime?"

Zhao Xuan did not turn back.

He only stared at the Investiture of the Gods List.

"Today, I am not here to retry old cases."

"I am only looking at the ledger."

"Since the Investiture of the Gods List claims my Jie Sect is guilty."

"Then let it be written out, item by item."

"Entering the world—who invited us?"

"The tribulation of slaughter—who bestowed it?"

"Our numbers were too great—whose eyes did that offend?"

As he finished speaking, he turned a page in the ledger.

There were no detailed cases.

Only the grand totals.

Within ten thousand years.

Jie Sect disciples received requests for aid from the Heavenly Court, the Four Seas, mountain gods and earth deities, human tribes, and rogue cultivators from overseas, totaling three thousand nine hundred and seventy-six instances.

Among these, disaster relief, quelling chaos, protecting the Dao, mediation, patrolling, reinforcing formations, calming the seas, and clearing ley lines accounted for over ninety percent.

Those with formal letters of request were less than one in twenty.

Those with explicit records of merit and reward were less than one in ten.

Responsibility borne by those who requested aid.

Blank.

Repayment made by those who benefited.

Blank.

Merit verified by the Investiture of the Gods List beforehand.

Blank.

The three blanks were like three slaps to the face.

They struck the line listing their crimes.

The Ten Thousand Immortals finally understood.

Before, they thought they were merely being slandered.

Now they knew they had been used for free.

And once used, they were to be condemned.

Zhao Xuan looked up.

"The Investiture of the Gods List says my Jie Sect has entered the world too deeply."

"Then shouldn't those who invited my Jie Sect into the world be written down as well?"

"Should the Heavenly Court be written?"

"Should the Dragon Palace be written?"

"Should the human tribes be written?"

"Should the mountain gods and earth deities be written?"

"Should those who usually enjoy the protection of my Jie Sect, yet later claim my Jie Sect is tainted by the mortal world, be written?"

The Investiture of the Gods List remained silent.

Zhao Xuan asked again, "If you do not write them."

"On what grounds can the term 'entering the world' be counted solely as a crime of the Jie Sect?"

No one answered.

That line of greyish-white text remained.

But its color had faded by a fraction.

High Heaven Hall.

Haotian suddenly looked up.

The Haotian Mirror before him reflected the scene on Golden Turtle Island.

Taibai Jinxing stood below the hall, his expression already changed.

The thing they feared most had happened after all.

Zhao Xuan did not curse the Heavenly Court.

Nor did he strike the Heavenly Court.

He simply made the Investiture of the Gods List write clearly: "Who invited the Jie Sect to enter the world?"

Once this sentence was written clearly, the Heavenly Court would no longer be clean.

Haotian's fingers tightened bit by bit.

He is trying to drag Me into the karma of the Investiture of the Gods as well.

Taibai Jinxing lowered his head and remained silent.

Because this was not dragging.

This was an old debt that had always existed.

It was just that, before now, no one had dared to lay it out in the open.

Inside Yuxu Palace.

Yuanshi Tianzun watched the Cloud Mirror Reflection, his expression turning cold.

Guangchengzi stood below, his face looking exceptionally grim.

He recognized the ledger in Zhao Xuan's hand.

He recognized even more where those accounts had originated.

Qingxiaozi.

The Third Sea Eye.

The petition from the East Sea.

Guangchengzi's refusal to sign.

These debts had originally been buried under past events.

Now, Zhao Xuan was not recounting the old cases.

He was simply pressing the grand total onto the Investiture of the Gods List.

This was more ruthless than retrying the old cases.

Because old cases could still be argued.

But once the general ledger was out, no one could bypass it.

Guangchengzi said in a low voice, "Master, if we let him continue to question, the Chan Sect will also be dragged into this."

Yuanshi Tianzun did not look at him.

He only said coldly, "You have already been dragged in once."

Guangchengzi's face turned pale.

He dared not speak again.

On Mount Sumeru.

The smile on the face of the Daoist Zhunti also faded.

"This Zhao Xuan is truly ruthless."

The Daoist Jieyin sighed.

"He is not overturning the old cases."

"He is only asking for the general ledger."

"That is what makes it difficult to handle."

Zhunti frowned.

"If he continues to ask about the debts of the Western Sect's bystanders—"

Jieyin closed his eyes.

"That would be even uglier."

On Golden Turtle Island.

Zhao Xuan had already turned to the second page.

The second page.

The General Ledger of Killing Tribulation.

The words on this page were even colder.

When Jie Sect disciples quelled demons, the Killing Tribulation was recorded against the Jie Sect.

When Jie Sect disciples suppressed disasters, the Killing Tribulation was recorded against the Jie Sect.

When Jie Sect disciples protected humans, the Killing Tribulation was recorded against the Jie Sect.

When Jie Sect disciples filled vacancies for the Heavenly Court, the Killing Tribulation was still recorded against the Jie Sect.

When Jie Sect disciples suppressed the seas for the Dragon Palace, the backlash was also recorded against the Jie Sect.

Yet, the columns below were entirely blank.

After the Heavenly Court requested aid, had they ever shared the burden of the Killing Tribulation?

After the Dragon Palace benefited, did they ever share the karma?

After the human tribes were saved, did they ever return the merit?

The disciples of the Chan Sect do not enter the mortal world, but have they ever shouldered a single debt for the Jie Sect?

Zhao Xuan pointed to the page.

"Look closely."

"For whom do my Jie Sect disciples slay demons?"

"When my Jie Sect disciples quell chaos, who is it that comes to invite them?"

"When my Jie Sect disciples suppress disasters, who is it that reaps the benefits?"

No one answered.

Zhao Xuan's voice grew colder.

"When they invite us, they say it is for the greater good of the Three Realms."

"When trouble arises, they say it is the Jie Sect's killing tribulation."

"When they enjoy the benefits, they say the Heavenly Court governs with excellence."

"When they calculate the sins, they say the Jie Sect is too bloodthirsty."

He looked up at the Investiture of the Gods List.

"And in the end, when the Investiture of the Gods arrives, all karma and killing prohibitions fall solely upon the Jie Sect."

"Yet those who invited us into this game enjoy the merit and profit."

"Is this what you call the Jie Sect's heavy killing tribulation?"

On Golden Turtle Island, the eyes of the immortals turned completely cold.

This time, they understood.

The so-called heavy killing tribulation could be summed up in one sentence.

The Jie Sect does the dirty work.

Others take the benefits.

The Jie Sect takes the blame.

Zhao Gongming whispered, "So it is not that our killing tribulation is heavy."

"It is that we have been carrying too much for them."

Holy Mother Guiling gritted her teeth and sneered.

"What a fine Investiture of the Gods List."

"It doesn't even record who did the inviting, who hid away, or who took the benefits."

"It only writes that the Jie Sect's killing tribulation is heavy?"

"Therefore, the rules must be changed!"

Zhao Xuan raised his brush and added a line under the General Ledger of Killing Tribulation.

If a killing tribulation arises due to a request for aid, the one who requested it shall share the burden.

He added another line.

If karma is born from receiving benefits, the one who received them shall be recorded accordingly.

The final line.

One must not only punish those who took action while ignoring those who reaped the rewards.

He looked up.

"Whoever invites, bears the burden."

"Whoever gains, enters the ledger."

"Whoever hides in the back pretending to be clean is merely using others as a blade to kill."

"If it is like this, is it reasonable?!"

As these words fell.

Inside the High Heaven Hall, the surface of the Haotian Mirror shuddered.

Several immortal officials turned pale.

Whoever invites, bears the burden.

Whoever benefits, pays the bill.

If one were to calculate by this logic, every single thing the Heavenly Court had asked the Jie Sect to do over these years could not be escaped.

Taibai Jinxing's throat went dry.

"Your Majesty—"

Haotian did not speak.

He knew that Zhao Xuan's words were not meant for the Jie Sect.

They were meant for the Heavenly Court.

And they were meant for the Investiture of the Gods List as well.

If it were truly so.

The Heavenly Court would likely be dragged into this as well!