Prosperous Yet Heterogeneous, Destined to Be Cut Down! Past Merits Are Not Crimes, Shangqing Is Innocent!

Inside Yuxu Palace.

None of the Twelve Golden Immortals spoke.

Zhao Xuan's question—"Have Chan Sect disciples, who never enter the mortal world, ever shouldered a single burden for the Interception Sect?"—had rooted them to the spot.

The quiet seclusion they had always taken such pride in

had become something else in Zhao Xuan's telling.

They did not enter the mortal world.

They did not shoulder responsibility.

They did not do the dirty work.

They kept clear of the Killing Tribulation.

Then they stood on the shore and condemned those who waded in for being covered in mud.

The words were harsh.

What made them sting was that they were true.

On Golden Turtle Island,

Zhao Xuan turned another page.

The third page.

The general record of the Merits and Demerits of the Three Sects.

The Interception Sect's column

was densely filled.

Requests for aid from the Heavenly Court.

Requests for aid from the Four Seas.

Requests for aid from the Human Race.

Requests for aid from wandering cultivators.

Requests for aid from the Mountain and Earth Gods.

A total stood beside every category.

The Chan Sect's column.

Secluded cultivation.

Avoiding calamity.

Quiet cultivation.

Keeping clear of the mortal world.

Below that,

nothing.

The Western Sect's column.

Barren lands.

Looking on.

Waiting to guide those with whom they had a karmic connection.

Below that,

nothing.

A chill ran through the Ten Thousand Immortals as they read.

So this was how glaring the accounts looked when laid bare.

Zhao Xuan said, "The Investiture of the Gods List intends to decide the fate of disciples from the Three Teachings."

"Fine."

"First, audit the merits and demerits of all three."

"Who earned merit?"

"Who committed wrongs?"

"Who benefited?"

"Who bore responsibility?"

"Who should enter the tribulation?"

"Who should avoid it?"

"Write it all down clearly."

He raised his head toward the List Shadow.

"Is that so difficult?"

The Investiture of the Gods List gave no answer.

On the third page, the Chan Sect's column remained glaringly empty.

Zhao Xuan lifted his brush and added a line beneath it.

The Chan Sect had earned no equivalent merit, yet enjoyed an untarnished reputation.

He added another line.

The Chan Sect had shouldered no equivalent responsibility, yet avoided the Killing Tribulation.

Then another.

Chan Sect disciples had not entered the mortal world to the same degree, yet claimed the Interception Sect's worldly sins were grave.

His final stroke fell.

High above the Nine Heavens, the line stating the grounds for guilt abruptly froze.

It seemed ready to fade.

Zhao Xuan looked up.

"Don't disappear."

"You've already written the charge."

"The accounts aren't settled yet."

"If you vanish now, I'll add another entry."

"The Investiture of the Gods List condemned the Interception Sect but refused to audit the merits and demerits of the Three Teachings."

"That entry goes in the General Ledger too."

The line of words stayed where it was.

At last, the Ten Thousand Immortals felt a little of the pressure in their chests ease.

Before, the Heavenly Mandate had driven them along.

Now Zhao Xuan was using his ledger to hold the Investiture of the Gods List in place.

You want to condemn us? Fine.

But you don't get to leave once you've done it.

Settle the accounts.

Master Tongtian stood behind Zhao Xuan without saying a word.

He watched the writing in the General Ledger.

He watched the List in the Nine Heavens as well.

The coldness in his eyes deepened.

Zhao Xuan opened the fourth page.

The moment he did, another line finally appeared beneath the Investiture of the Gods List.

The Interception Sect's Ten Thousand Immortals were prosperous yet heterogeneous.

The great tribulation must cut them down.

As those words appeared,

all of Golden Turtle Island fell silent.

Prosperous yet heterogeneous.

The great tribulation must cut them down.

There it was at last.

The earlier charges—too deeply involved in worldly affairs, too heavily burdened by the Killing Tribulation—had been a facade.

The real reason was right there in those words.

The Interception Sect had too many disciples.

Its disciples came from too many different backgrounds.

Its influence had grown too great.

So it had to be cut down.

So they had to die.

Holy Mother Guiling could no longer contain the killing intent in her eyes.

"Prosperous yet heterogeneous?"

"Does even our being alive offend them?"

Holy Mother Jinling's voice was icy.

"So this was never about judging wrongdoing."

"It was about cutting down our power."

Daoist Duobao remained silent for a long time.

As he stared at those words, his face finally paled.

Only now did he truly understand.

The Investiture of the Gods had never been about waiting for Interception Sect disciples to commit a wrong.

The Interception Sect had been marked from the start.

The reason was simple.

It had grown too powerful.

Inside Yuxu Palace,

Yuanshi Tianzun's expression finally changed.

Those words should not have appeared so soon.

The Investiture of the Gods needed a pretext.

Its stated grounds had to be the Killing Tribulation.

They had to be innate disposition.

They had to be failure to understand the Heavenly Mandate.

They could not be "The Interception Sect has grown too powerful, so it must be cut down."

That was too blunt.

Too ugly to hear.

And too ugly to see.

Guangchengzi could not help asking, "Master, why did the Investiture of the Gods List reveal that line?"

Yuanshi Tianzun looked coldly toward Golden Turtle Island.

"Because he blocked every excuse that came before it."

Guangchengzi's heart sank.

Zhao Xuan had blocked the charge of entering worldly affairs. He had blocked the Killing Tribulation.

He had blocked the killing tribulation.

He had blocked the mortal world.

That left only the real reason.

The Interception Sect had grown too powerful.

Zhao Xuan stared at those words.

Instead, he grew calm.

"Good."

"That's more honest than the lines before it."

He lifted his brush and wrote a line beside them.

The Interception Sect flourished because it taught all without distinction.

He wrote another.

The Interception Sect's disciples came from many backgrounds because all beings could seek the Dao.

Then another.

If its numbers were a crime, the crime lay in the Interception Sect's founding principle.

And the final line.

If its disciples' varied origins were a crime, the crime lay in the founding of the Shangjing Orthodoxy.

As that stroke fell,

everyone's heart jolted.

This was no longer merely a challenge to the Investiture of the Gods List.

Zhao Xuan had thrust those words before a sage's orthodoxy.

The Interception Sect had many disciples because Master Tongtian taught all without distinction.

Its disciples came from many backgrounds because the Shangjing Orthodoxy asked nothing of their origins.

If even that was a crime,

then the Investiture of the Gods List was not judging the disciples.

The question was aimed at Tongtian.

It was aimed at the Interception Sect's orthodoxy.

It was asking whether "teaching all without distinction" deserved to exist.

Master Tongtian finally spoke.

"Xuan'er."

Zhao Xuan lowered his head.

"Your disciple is here."

Tongtian looked at the eight characters beneath the Investiture of the Gods List.

"Let it write."

Zhao Xuan nodded.

"Yes."

He raised his head.

"Investiture of the Gods List."

"Since you wrote 'Prosperous Yet Heterogeneous, Destined to Be Cut Down in the Great Calamity,'"

"Then keep writing."

"Having too many Jie Sect disciples is a crime."

"Accepting disciples of varied origins is a crime."

"Teaching all without distinction is a crime too."

"The Shangjing Orthodoxy must be cut down."

"Saint Tongtian must yield."

"Do you dare write those words?"

The Nine Heavens fell silent.

The eight characters went no further.

Zhao Xuan smiled.

"You don't dare."

"Because everything you said before was an excuse."

"Too deeply involved in worldly affairs—an excuse."

"Burdened by too much Killing Tribulation—an excuse."

"Poor foundations—an excuse."

"The real reason is that the Interception Sect has grown too strong."

"But you don't dare say it outright."

He pushed the General Ledger forward.

"Then I'll write it for you."

His brush descended.

Conclusion of the first case.

The Investiture of the Gods List's initial grounds for condemning the Interception Sect:

First: too deeply involved in worldly affairs.

Second: burdened by too much Killing Tribulation.

Third: Prosperous Yet Heterogeneous.

Verified against the General Ledger:

Those who entered worldly affairs mostly did so at others' request.

Those burdened by the Killing Tribulation mostly bore responsibility for others.

Its great numbers were the result of the Interception Sect teaching all without distinction.

None of these charges constituted crimes of the Interception Sect.

All were proof of the Interception Sect's past merits and orthodoxy.

Conclusion:

Past Merits Are Not Crimes.

Shangqing Is Innocent.

As the final eight characters appeared,

the eyes of the Ten Thousand Immortals instantly reddened.

Past Merits Are Not Crimes.

Shangjing Is Innocent.

Those eight characters pried open a crack in the resentment that had weighed on their hearts.

What they had done over the years was not a crime.

The people they had saved over the years were not a crime.

Joining the Interception Sect was not a crime.

Their humble origins were not a crime either.

And standing on Golden Turtle Island to seek the Dao was certainly not a crime.

Our Lady Guigu murmured, "Past Merits Are Not Crimes."

Zhao Gongming added,

"Shangjing Is Innocent."

Jingu said nothing.

He only gripped his sword tighter.

Daoist Duobao lowered his head, his chest heaving.

Soon,

those eight characters spread in hushed voices among the Ten Thousand Immortals.

No one shouted wildly.

No one roared.

But everyone heard them.

Past Merits Are Not Crimes.

Shangjing Is Innocent.

On the Investiture of the Gods List, a corner of the words "too deeply involved in worldly affairs, burdened by the Killing Tribulation" finally fell away.

It was as though a brushstroke had cut through the charge, leaving a clear gap in the writing beneath the List.

Inside High Heaven Hall,

Haotian shot to his feet.

Inside Yuxu Palace,

Guangchengzi's face turned deathly pale.

On Mount Sumeru,

Daoist Zhunti could no longer smile.

Because everyone had seen it.

The first charge on the Investiture of the Gods List

had been torn open by Zhao Xuan's questions.