Long-Ears's Two Paths, You Came Too Late

Holy Mother Guiling was furious.

"You still dare use the Outer Sect to pressure us!"

Long-Ears raised his head.

There was no ferocity on his face.

Only an indescribable weariness.

"Senior Disciple Brother."

"I accept the punishment."

"Strip me of my cultivation."

"Expel me from the island."

"Send me to Clear Gate Hall for judgment."

"I accept it all."

"But if you kill me merely over two letters I never agreed to."

"This disciple refuses to accept it."

He looked at those Outer Sect disciples.

"The Outer Sect may not accept it either."

The silence before the hall was oppressive.

Daoist Duobao's expression was ugly.

The killing intent in Holy Mother Jinling's eyes surged.

But at this moment, they could not act rashly.

Because Long-Ears had once again hidden himself among people's hearts.

Killing him.

Would be like killing everyone who was afraid.

Zhao Xuan looked at him.

Then suddenly smiled.

Faintly.

Coldly.

"Finished?"

Long-Ears's throat tightened.

Zhao Xuan said, "Being afraid of death."

"Is not a crime."

"Leaving yourself a way out."

"Is not a crime either."

The immortals before the hall were stunned.

A glimmer of light suddenly appeared in Long-Ears's eyes.

But in the next moment.

Zhao Xuan's voice fell.

"Putting the Interception Sect up for sale."

"That is the crime."

The light on Long-Ears's face shattered on the spot.

Zhao Xuan raised his hand.

The third Jade Slip fell.

There were no images within it.

Only Long-Ears's voice.

"There are many Jie Sect disciples, and the Outer Sect's hearts are divided."

"If the Investiture of the Gods begins, chaos will come most easily."

"If I can stabilize the Outer Sect."

"Is the Yuxu Pure Tranquil Body truly guaranteed?"

The air before the hall turned cold at once.

The few Outer Sect disciples who had just wanted to speak for Long-Ears all changed expression.

Long-Ears froze where he stood.

Zhao Xuan did not look at him.

The fourth Jade Slip lit up.

It was still his voice.

"The Seven Attendant Immortals are close to Master."

"There are some matters I can learn earlier than others."

"If the Western Sect truly has a Lotus Throne position."

"I am willing to trade at equal value."

Equal value.

The moment those two words emerged.

Everything Long-Ears had said just now became a joke.

Afraid of death?

Leaving himself a way out?

Neither.

He was selling.

Selling the Outer Sect.

Selling his master's trust.

Selling the Interception Sect's future.

The Outer Sect disciple who had spoken for Long-Ears slowly lowered his head.

He did not speak again.

Nor could he.

He finally understood why Long-Ears remembered that his cave abode lacked spirit materials.

It was not because Long-Ears valued friendship.

It was because such favors could be used sooner or later.

Holy Mother Guiling stepped forward.

"Equal value?"

She grabbed Long-Ears by the collar.

"What do you have to trade?"

Long-Ears's lips trembled.

"I didn't—"

Gui Ling punched him in the face.

Long-Ears crashed onto the stone steps.

No one stopped her.

Duobao did not move.

Wudang did not move.

Nor did anyone among the Seven Attendant Immortals.

Long-Ears lay prone on the ground, his knuckles digging into the cracks between the stones.

He knew it was over.

But he still wanted to live.

He suddenly raised his head and looked deep into Biyou Palace.

"Master!"

"This disciple knows his error!"

"This disciple has served Master for many years. Even without merit, I have endured hardship!"

"If Master no longer wants this disciple today."

"Then what were all these years worth?"

As those words fell.

The immortals before the hall all felt their hearts sink.

He was still using old affection to block the blade.

Holy Mother Guiling's gaze turned completely cold.

"You still dare force Master?"

Long-Ears slammed his forehead against the ground.

"This disciple only begs for a way to live."

Master Tongtian's voice soon came from deep within Biyou Palace.

"Zhao Xuan oversees Clear Gate."

"He will decide."

The last trace of light vanished from Long-Ears's eyes.

Zhao Xuan walked up to him.

"Your merits were rewarded."

"Your sins will be settled today."

"Merit does not offset betrayal."

"Affection does not offset debts."

Long-Ears trembled all over.

"Senior Disciple Brother—"

Zhao Xuan did not let him finish.

"You asked just now who it would be tomorrow."

He looked at the immortals before the hall.

"Whoever trades the Interception Sect for a path forward."

"Will be that person."

No one before the hall spoke again.

Zhao Xuan turned around.

"Jin Ling."

Holy Mother Jinling stepped forward with her sword.

"Here."

"Sever his body."

"Yes."

"Erase his name."

The Clear Gate Register opened on its own.

The five characters Chang'er Dingguang Xian appeared.

The vermilion brush descended.

One stroke crossed them out.

Chang'er Dingguang Xian screamed as the Shangqing aura on his body was forcibly stripped away.

From this moment onward.

He was no longer a Jie Sect disciple.

Nor was he one of the Seven Attendant Immortals.

Jin Ling's sword light fell.

Chang'er Dingguang Xian's fleshly body shattered.

A wisp of True Spirit fled out in panic.

The instant it emerged, that True Spirit instinctively fled toward the Western Sect.

Holy Mother Guiling sneered.

"What loyalty."

The True Spirit struggled frantically.

"I am willing to enter the Investiture of the Gods List!"

"I am still useful!"

"I know many things about the Interception Sect's Outer Sect!"

"I can give them to the Western Sect—"

His voice cut off.

Investiture of the Gods Accountability Ledger opened.

A page of black words pressed down.

Zhao Xuan clenched his hand.

The True Spirit shattered inch by inch.

Long-Ears's final trace of voice vanished before Golden Turtle Island.

He had found two paths for himself.

Zhao Xuan left him neither.

The hall remained silent for a long time.

On the Clear Gate Register,

Chang'er Dingguang Xian's name

was completely crossed out.

The Yuqing Talisman Letter was sealed away.

The Western Sect Golden Letter was sealed away.

Daoist Duobao looked at those two items and said nothing for a long while.

Holy Mother Wudang closed her eyes.

The remaining members of the Seven Attendant Immortals silently took out their Jade Slips and placed them before the Clear Gate Register.

The Outer Sect disciples lowered their heads one after another as well.

No one cried out that their hearts had gone cold anymore.

And no one asked who would be next tomorrow.

Zhao Xuan said, "Continue the investigation."

"If the Clear Gate Register does not match."

"Golden Turtle Island will not open."

The moment his words fell,

the bells outside the Mountain Gate rang.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Bi Xiao's voice carried over.

"Senior Disciple Brother."

"Heavenly Court Immortal Officials have arrived."

"Jade Emptiness Gate disciples have arrived as well."

Holy Mother Guiling raised her eyes.

"They came quickly enough."

Zhao Xuan said, "Bring them in."

Very soon,

Several Heavenly Court Immortal Officials stepped onto Golden Turtle Island.

Two Yuxu disciples followed behind them.

The leading Heavenly Court Immortal Official unfolded a jade register the moment he reached the front of the hall.

He did not immediately look clearly at the things behind the table.

Nor did he rush to look at Zhao Xuan.

His gaze first swept over Duobao, Jin Ling, and Wudang.

Finally, it settled before the Clear Gate Register.

As though he had come bearing the laws of the Heavenly Court.

"By His Majesty's command."

"We have come to investigate the crimes committed outside by Ma Yuan and Chang'er Dingguang Xian, disciples of the Interception Sect."

No one in front of the hall answered.

The Heavenly Court Immortal Official continued reading.

"Ma Yuan, an Outer Sect disciple of the Interception Sect."

"He borrowed the Interception Sect's name to commit violence outside."

"He seized the spiritual treasures of independent cultivators."

"He killed innocent living beings."

"He cultivated with blood offerings."

"He tarnished the Interception Sect's reputation."

"He disrupted the order of the East Sea."

He paused.

Seeing no one refute him, his voice became steadier.

"Such evil deeds were not the failings of a single day."

"The Heavenly Court has received reports more than once."

"It was only out of consideration for the Interception Sect's gates that we did not act rashly."

"Today, by order, we have come to ask Golden Turtle Island one question."

"This man's crimes."

"Did the Interception Sect know of them or not?"

When those words fell,

someone among the Outer Sect disciples darkened their gaze.

This was not a question about Ma Yuan.

It was a question about the Interception Sect.

If they knew,

then they had condoned him.

If they did not know,

then they had failed in oversight.

Zhao Xuan did not speak.

Daoist Duobao did not speak.

Holy Mother Jinling did not speak either.

The Heavenly Court Immortal Official assumed the Interception Sect had been suppressed.

He turned to the second page of the jade register.

"Chang'er Dingguang Xian."

"One of the Seven Attendant Immortals."

"He had long attended Saint Tongtian at close hand."

"He conveyed the Interception Sect's orders to the Outer Sect."

"He mediated disputes among disciples."

"He possessed considerable prestige."

"Yet he privately formed ties with the Outer Sect and used favors and obligations to win people's hearts."

"He used the Interception Sect's prestige to protect his own interests."

"The number of those implicated by him was not small."

At this point,

The Heavenly Court Immortal Official looked up.

"If Ma Yuan alone committed evil, he could still be called an unworthy disciple."

"But Chang'er Dingguang Xian was one of the Seven Attendant Immortals."

"If even the Seven Attendant Immortals were like this,"

"then the Interception Sect today could hardly account for it with merely the words 'unworthy disciples.'"

The air before the hall turned another degree colder.

The Yuxu disciples spoke at this moment.

Their voices were not loud.

Yet they were more piercing than the Heavenly Court Immortal Official's.

"Shangqing Junior Uncle teaches all without distinction."

"That is a Saint's Great Dao."

"But if teaching all without distinction means only accepting and never cleansing,"

"then it is not a Great Dao."

"It is filth concealed."

Holy Mother Guiling's gaze abruptly turned cold.

Several Outer Sect disciples suddenly raised their heads.

But Zhao Xuan did not move.

Nor did Holy Mother Jinling allow anyone to speak.

The hall remained silent.

Seeing this, the Heavenly Court Immortal Official continued reading.

"The Heavenly Court has not come to humiliate the Interception Sect."

"We seek only an explanation."

"Ma Yuan's crimes must be made clear."

"Long-Ears's crimes must be investigated."

"If the Interception Sect cleanses itself, the Heavenly Court will naturally report back to His Majesty."

"If the Interception Sect finds it inconvenient to conduct its own investigation,"

"the Heavenly Court can act in its stead—"

"Are you finished reading?"

Holy Mother Jinling suddenly spoke.

The Heavenly Court Immortal Official's voice halted.

The Yuxu disciples looked at her as well.

Holy Mother Jinling raised a hand.

From behind the hall, two Interception Sect disciples emerged.

A corpse was carried to the front of the hall.

Its bloody aura had already been sealed.

A tablet of guilt hung above the corpse.

Ma Yuan.

The Heavenly Court Immortal Official's pupils constricted.

Holy Mother Jinling said, "Ma Yuan."

"Has been executed."

She raised her hand again.

The Clear Gate Register flipped open on its own.

The five characters of Chang'er Dingguang Xian's name had already been crossed out in vermilion.

Two Jade Slips hung beside it.

Further to the side,

were the Yuqing Talisman Letter

and the Western Sect Golden Letter.

The Yuxu disciples' expressions finally changed.

Holy Mother Jinling looked at them.

"Long-Ears."

"His name has been erased."

Her voice was icy.

"The evidence of his crimes."

"Has been sealed."

The Heavenly Court Immortal Official froze in place.

The jade register in his hand remained suspended in midair.

All the words he had spoken just now suddenly had nowhere to land.

They had come to demand punishment.

But the Interception Sect had already executed the guilty first.

They had come to offer a blade.

But its edge had already found nothing to cut.

Ma Yuan was dead.

Long-Ears was dead as well.

Holy Mother Jinling raised her eyes and looked at them.

"You came too late."

The hall fell silent for a moment.

The Yuxu disciples looked at the Yuqing Talisman Letter.

Their expressions could no longer remain composed.

Only then did Zhao Xuan look at him.

"Long-Ears's crimes."

"The Interception Sect has cleansed them."

He raised his hand.

The Yuqing Talisman Letter rose into the air.

It landed before the Yuxu disciple.

Zhao Xuan said, "This letter."

"Is Jade Emptiness clear or not?"