Next, Chang'er Dingguang Xian!

Next, Chang'er Dingguang Xian!

Ma Yuan froze.

Zhao Xuan looked at Yun Xiao.

"Apportion the guilt."

Yun Xiao stepped forward.

She had already finished going through the Jade Slip.

Her voice was soft.

"Those who personally took lives: three."

"Those who shared the spoils: four."

"Those who knew and concealed it: two."

"Those coerced into following but who took no lives: one."

The expressions of the disciples behind Ma Yuan finally changed.

Zhao Xuan said, "Those who acted."

"Pay with their lives."

"Those who shared the spoils."

"Cripple their cultivation."

"Those who concealed it."

"Expel them."

He looked at the last person.

"The coerced who did not kill."

"Enter Clear Gate Hall."

"Face the wall for a hundred thousand years."

6

Dead silence descended before the hall.

The provocation on Ma Yuan's face froze.

Those Outer Sect disciples who had just claimed that "the law does not punish the multitude" were all rooted to the spot as well.

They had thought sheer numbers would be their talisman.

Yet Zhao Xuan had separated them one by one.

Who had acted.

Who had shared the spoils.

Who had concealed it.

Who had been coerced.

Each account was divided with absolute clarity.

Ma Yuan suddenly stepped forward.

"Senior Disciple Brother!"

"Are you really going to kill them?"

Zhao Xuan looked at him.

"You think."

"I don't dare?"

Ma Yuan's expression changed completely.

Just as he was about to speak.

Holy Mother Jinling had already drawn her sword.

The sword light fell.

With one slash, the foundation of Ma Yuan's sinister cultivation art was severed.

He screamed and dropped to his knees.

Zhao Xuan said, "Execute them."

Ma Yuan jerked his head up.

For the first time, fear appeared in his eyes.

"Senior Disciple Brother!"

"I am the Outer Sect's fighting strength!"

"The Investiture Great Calamity is approaching. If you kill me, you'll be weakening Jie Sect's fighting strength!"

Zhao Xuan said, "You are the blade."

"Not fighting strength."

Holy Mother Jinling's second sword descended.

Ma Yuan's voice cut off.

The three Outer Sect disciples who had personally taken lives instantly collapsed limply.

"Spare us!"

"Spare us, Senior Disciple Brother!"

"We were only following orders!"

Holy Mother Jinling looked at them.

"Do you admit your guilt?"

The three trembled so violently they could not even raise their heads.

"We admit it!"

"This disciple admits it!"

Holy Mother Jinling asked no further questions.

Sword-light fell once more.

The three died.

Those who had divided the spoils had their cultivation abolished.

Those who had covered it up were expelled.

Those who had been coerced into following along but had not taken lives were taken by the Enforcement Disciples to Clear Gate Hall.

At that moment, no one before the hall spoke.

That earlier claim—"the law does not punish the multitude"—seemed to have been cleaved to pieces by a single sword.

Holy Mother Guiling stared at the corpses on the ground.

"The law does not punish the multitude?"

She sneered.

"That depends on whose law it is."

Daoist Duobao lowered his head.

His face had gone pale.

At last, he understood why Zhao Xuan had said they could not wait.

If Heavenly Court had uncovered this matter first, then what all beings of the Primordial World would see would not be Ma Yuan alone.

They would see Jie Sect's disciples.

They would see the Shangqing Orthodoxy.

They would see the evil bred by "teaching without distinction."

The Clear Gate Register opened.

Ma Yuan's name was crossed out in vermilion ink.

His crimes were entered into the register.

His name was removed from the sect.

His body was sealed away.

The evidence remained in the hall.

Only then did Zhao Xuan raise his eyes.

"Next."

Daoist Duobao's fingers tightened.

His gaze fell upon the second name.

This time, he remained silent for even longer.

Holy Mother Guiling frowned.

"Who?"

Daoist Duobao slowly spoke.

"Chang'er Dingguang Xian."

The moment those five words were spoken.

The atmosphere before the hall became even more chaotic than before.

Ma Yuan's reputation was too terrible.

When he died, no one truly cried injustice for him.

But Chang'er was different.

One of the Seven Attendant Immortals.

He had served Tongtian for many years.

He smiled at everyone in ordinary times.

He was also the most attentive toward the Outer Sect.

Quite a few Outer Sect disciples had received small favors from him.

Even several of the Seven Attendant Immortals raised their heads at this moment.

Some frowned.

Some were puzzled.

Some looked toward Daoist Duobao.

"Senior Brother Chang'er?"

"Could there be some mistake?"

"He has always been exceedingly cautious."

"Someone like Ma Yuan deserved to die, but Senior Brother Chang'er—"

This time, Holy Mother Guiling did not immediately curse.

Because even she knew.

Chang'er Dingguang Xian's standing in the Jie Sect was not something Ma Yuan could compare to.

Daoist Duobao looked at Zhao Xuan.

"Senior Disciple Brother."

"Chang'er is, after all, one of the Seven Attendant Immortals."

"This affects too much."

"If the evidence is insufficient, we cannot act rashly."

Holy Mother Wudang also raised her eyes.

Her voice was very soft.

"He has served Master for many years."

"This matter must be handled cautiously."

The moment those words were spoken.

The Outer Sect disciples before the hall seemed to have finally found something to rely on.

Someone said in a low voice, "Even Senior Sister Wudang says so."

"Senior Brother Chang'er can't possibly be like Ma Yuan, can he?"

"Senior Brother Chang'er once even passed a message to a direct disciple for me."

"My cave abode lacked spiritual materials, and he was the one who helped make the connection."

"If even he is guilty, then us Outer Sect disciples—"

The voice did not finish.

But the meaning was already clear.

The Qingmen had just killed Ma Yuan.

And now they were going to move against one of the Seven Attendant Immortals.

The hearts of the Outer Sect were already wavering.

And when Chang'er Dingguang Xian was brought up, there was not the slightest trace of dishevelment on him.

He first bowed to Zhao Xuan.

Then he bowed to Daoist Duobao, Jin Ling, Holy Mother Wudang, and Holy Mother Guiling.

At last, he actually looked toward the Outer Sect disciples.

"Junior Brothers."

"Do not panic."

His voice was steady.

And gentle.

As though he were not the one being escorted under guard.

As though he were the one soothing everyone else.

Holy Mother Guiling's gaze sharpened.

"You certainly know how to talk."

Among the four direct disciples.

She was the one most repulsed by Chang'er Dingguang Xian.

The reason was simple.

Though Chang'er Dingguang Xian was extremely well-liked within the sect.

And cared for his junior brothers while respecting his senior brothers.

She had always felt that Chang'er Dingguang Xian was a hypocrite.

Even without evidence.

She still believed so.

Chang'er Dingguang Xian gave a bitter smile.

"Senior Sister Guiling."

"I only feared the Outer Sect would fall into chaos."

Then he turned to Zhao Xuan.

"Senior Disciple Brother wishes to investigate."

"This disciple would not dare refuse."

"But this disciple has one question."

"I wish to ask all my senior brothers and sisters."

Zhao Xuan did not stop him.

He merely watched him.

As though granted permission, Chang'er Dingguang Xian slowly raised his head.

"Today, it is Ma Yuan."

"Now, it is me."

"Tomorrow, who will it be?"

Dead silence fell before the hall.

The words were soft.

Yet they stabbed into the hearts of every Outer Sect disciple.

Chang'er continued, "I have served Master for many years."

"I have also run errands and spoken up for my junior brothers and sisters of the Outer Sect."

"I do not dare claim that I am without fault."

"But if even I can be condemned by a single page of the Clear Gate Register."

"Then what of all of you? How can you rest easy?"

Among the Outer Sect disciples, some faces changed.

Even among the Seven Attendant Immortals, some fell silent.

Daoist Duobao's brows furrowed even more deeply.

Chang'er Dingguang Xian lowered his head.

"Senior Disciple Brother."

"If I am guilty, then present the evidence."

"If the evidence is insufficient..."

""

"Then I ask Senior Disciple Brother not to chill the hearts of the Outer Sect disciples."

Once those words fell.

The entire scene was completely suppressed.

He had bound himself to the Outer Sect.

And placed the honor of the Seven Attendant Immortals on display as well.

If Zhao Xuan were touched, it would be like disturbing the last layer of security in the hearts of countless Outer Sect disciples.

Clearly, Chang'er Dingguang Xian had come prepared!

Holy Mother Guiling immediately furrowed her brows.

"Are you using the Outer Sect to pressure Senior Disciple Brother?"

Chang'er Dingguang Xian hurriedly lowered his head.

"This disciple would not dare."

At last, Zhao Xuan spoke.

"Are you finished?"

Chang'er Dingguang Xian froze.

Zhao Xuan looked at Qiong Xiao.

"Evidence."

Qiong Xiao raised her hand.

The first Jade Slip lit up.

An overseas Rogue Cultivator's cave abode.

Chang'er Dingguang Xian stood outside the cave abode.

That Rogue Cultivator knelt on the ground, his face smeared with blood.

Two corpses lay nearby as well.

At the sight of this scene, Chang'er Dingguang Xian's gaze flickered slightly, but he quickly steadied himself.

"That Rogue Cultivator insulted our Jie Sect."

"This disciple stood up for his fellow disciples."

Zhao Xuan said nothing.

Qiong Xiao opened the second one.

Deep within the cave abode, a spiritual spring had been forcibly excavated.

Several Outer Sect disciples stood to one side.

Chang'er Dingguang Xian slipped a jade box into his sleeve.

Then, he said quietly to the two people behind him, "If anything happens, say that he insulted our Jie Sect."

"The Outer Sect will speak for me."

"The direct disciples will consider the greater good as well."

The moment these words came out, the faces of the several Outer Sect disciples who had spoken for him earlier instantly turned pale.

Daoist Duobao's gaze darkened.

Holy Mother Wudang no longer spoke either.

Everyone's eyes fell upon Chang'er Dingguang Xian.

Yet Chang'er Dingguang Xian merely steadied himself slightly before speaking again.

"Senior Disciple Brother."

"This disciple was greedy at the time."

"But this disciple was at a critical juncture of breaking through then, so I had no choice but to take that spiritual spring."

"For this, this disciple is willing to accept punishment."

"However, for many years, this disciple has also been utterly loyal and tirelessly devoted to the Jie Sect."

"My contributions are plain for all Ten Thousand Immortals to see."

"So I ask that Senior Disciple Brother reward and punish fairly."

"Do not deny this disciple's achievements simply because this disciple committed a few offenses."

As those words fell, silence abruptly descended before the hall.