This letter.
Was Jade Emptiness pure or not?
Zhao Xuan's voice fell.
Silence descended before the hall.
The Yuqing Talisman Letter hung in midair.
Its clear radiance was faint.
Yet it made the Yuxu disciple's face stiffen.
Just moments ago, he had been questioning the Interception Sect.
Questioning Ma Yuan.
Questioning Long-Ears.
Questioning whether Golden Turtle Island knew anything.
Now it was his turn.
The jade register in the Heavenly Court official's hands paused in midair.
He did not continue reading.
Nor could he.
The Yuxu disciple stared at the talisman letter.
After a moment, he spoke.
"The authenticity of this letter remains unverified."
Holy Mother Guiling sneered.
Zhao Xuan did not smile.
He merely asked two words.
"Fake?"
The Yuxu disciple's throat tightened.
He did not dare call it fake.
The Yuqing Talisman Letter bore the Yuxu Dharma Seal.
The seal itself could be forged.
Its Dao resonance could not.
If he called it fake,
The disgrace would not be his alone.
It would be Jade Emptiness's disgrace.
He said in a deep voice, "The talisman letter is genuine."
"But it may not mean what you claim."
Zhao Xuan nodded.
"Genuine is enough."
The Yuxu disciple's expression darkened.
"Zhao Xuan."
"Jade Emptiness is a Sage's sacred ground."
"The Interception Sect purging its own house is the Interception Sect's affair."
"Matters of Jade Emptiness are not for Golden Turtle Island to judge."
The fury in Holy Mother Guiling's eyes surged.
She was just about to speak.
Zhao Xuan raised a hand.
Guiling stopped.
Zhao Xuan looked at the Yuxu disciple.
"I am not judging Jade Emptiness."
The Yuxu disciple's gaze relaxed slightly.
The next moment,
Zhao Xuan said, "I am judging the hand that reached into the Interception Sect."
The atmosphere before the hall turned ice-cold.
The Yuxu disciple's face completely sank.
Holy Mother Jinling gripped her sword.
"You used Ma Yuan to question the Interception Sect just now."
"You used Long-Ears to question the Interception Sect."
"You questioned us so thoroughly."
She raised her eyes.
"Now it is Jade Emptiness's turn."
"And you say there will be no judgment?"
The Yuxu disciple said coldly, "Senior Sister Jinling, this matter concerns Jade Emptiness. Watch your words."
Holy Mother Jinling looked at him.
"I just slew Long-Ears."
"My sword has not even cooled."
"And you tell me to watch my words?"
The Yuxu disciple's expression changed.
The Heavenly Court official immediately stepped forward half a pace.
"Everyone."
"Since the Interception Sect has already cleared itself of Ma Yuan's and Long-Ears's crimes,"
"The Heavenly Court will naturally report this matter to His Majesty."
"Let us end today's proceedings here first—"
"You need not be in such a hurry either."
Zhao Xuan looked at him.
The Heavenly Court official's voice stopped.
Zhao Xuan said, "You were reading out the charges just now."
"You read them very clearly."
"Ma Yuan's crimes."
"Long-Ears's crimes."
"Whether the Interception Sect knew."
The Heavenly Court official's expression shifted slightly.
Zhao Xuan pointed at the Yuqing Talisman Letter.
"Now this letter."
"Is also evidence of a crime."
"Will the Heavenly Court investigate?"
The silence before the hall deepened.
The Heavenly Court official clenched the jade register.
The Yuxu disciple looked coldly at him.
That glance was like a blade.
The Heavenly Court official's throat went dry.
He could not say they would investigate.
Nor could he say they would not.
He himself had brought That Ruler into Golden Turtle Island earlier.
Now Zhao Xuan had handed that ruler back to him.
Would he use it to measure Jade Emptiness?
Zhao Xuan did not press him.
He merely looked at the Yuqing Talisman Letter.
"Long-Ears is dead."
"The one who delivered the letter is still alive."
The Yuxu disciple's expression finally changed.
"Zhao Xuan!"
"Are you trying to forcibly pin Long-Ears's crimes on Jade Emptiness?"
Zhao Xuan looked at him.
"Was it not Jade Emptiness that delivered it?"
The Yuxu disciple faltered.
Zhao Xuan said, "Then who was it?"
The Yuxu disciple fell silent.
Zhao Xuan asked again, "Was it not the Yuxu Pure Tranquil Body?"
The Yuxu disciple's face grew even uglier.
Zhao Xuan's voice was very soft.
"Then who gave him the Pure Tranquil Body?"
Three questions.
Each shorter than the last.
The Yuxu disciple could not answer.
The talisman letter was genuine.
The Pure Tranquil Body was genuine.
And this hand was genuine too.
He could only grit his teeth and say, "This letter was merely meant to test his Dao heart."
"Test?"
Holy Mother Guiling laughed in anger.
Zhao Xuan did not grow angry.
He merely repeated it.
"Test his Dao heart."
The Yuxu disciple immediately said, "Correct."
"Chang'er Dingguang Xian's temperament was unstable."
"Jade Emptiness detected distracting thoughts in his heart."
"So this letter was used to test him."
"If he were truly loyal to the Interception Sect, he should have handed over this letter."
"He did not."
"Then that is his own problem."
By this point, his voice had steadied somewhat.
"So what this proves is not that Jade Emptiness was at fault."
"It proves that Long-Ears had always harbored wicked intentions."
"The Interception Sect purged him."
"And did not purge him wrongly."
The expressions of those Outer Sect disciples before the hall slowly changed.
Jade Emptiness sent the letter.
Long-Ears received it.
In the end, it had become Jade Emptiness testing his Dao heart.
Zhao Xuan looked at him.
"What happened after the test?"
The Yuxu disciple froze.
Zhao Xuan asked, "Who would the Pure Tranquil Body belong to?"
Silence fell before the hall again.
The Yuxu disciple's lips moved.
But he did not answer.
Zhao Xuan continued, "If Long-Ears had truly led the Outer Sect's hearts away."
"Would that mean his Dao heart was unstable?"
"Or that Jade Emptiness had tested him well?"
The Yuxu disciple's face turned pale.
Holy Mother Jinling said coldly, "Jade Emptiness tested someone."
"And tested one of the Seven Attendant Immortals of my Interception Sect."
Holy Mother Wudang raised her eyes.
"It even tested out the Yuxu Pure Tranquil Body."
Holy Mother Guiling stared at the Yuxu disciple.
"Is the Dao heart of you Chan Sect disciples
also tested this way?"
The Yuxu disciple finally failed to suppress his anger.
"Presumptuous!"
Holy Mother Guiling stepped half a pace forward.
"Say that again."
The Yuxu disciple's breath caught.
He had dared to pressure the Interception Sect earlier
because he held Ma Yuan and Long-Ears's crimes in his hand.
Now, the evidence of their crimes had turned back on him.
If he said another word, it would no longer be an interrogation.
It would be shielding the letter.
The Heavenly Court official stood to one side, utterly unwilling to speak anymore.
Yet Zhao Xuan looked straight at him.
"Heavenly Court."
The Heavenly Court official's heart sank.
Zhao Xuan said, "You said earlier that if the Interception Sect found it inconvenient to investigate, the Heavenly Court could do it on our behalf."
He pointed at the Yuqing Talisman Letter.
"Now it is Jade Emptiness's turn."
"Will the Heavenly Court do it on their behalf?"
The Heavenly Court official's expression stiffened.
The Yuxu disciple abruptly turned to look at him.
That look was like a blade.
The Jie Sect disciples before the hall all looked at him as well.
The Heavenly Court's laws
had just been pressed down upon the Interception Sect.
Now they had been placed back in his own hands.
The Heavenly Court official remained silent for a long while.
"This matter—"
"Must be reported to His Majesty."
Zhao Xuan nodded.
"Fine."
The Heavenly Court official had just sighed in relief
when Zhao Xuan added, "Then remember this clearly."
He raised a hand, and the Investiture of the Gods Accountability Ledger slowly opened.
There was no Thunder.
There were no strange phenomena.
There was only the turning of pages.
Yet everyone before the hall felt their hearts sink.
The Yuxu disciple stared fixedly at the General Ledger.
Zhao Xuan did not look at him.
"Accounts of cleansing the Clear Gate."
"First entry."
"Ma Yuan committed evil. The Interception Sect has already executed him."
"Second entry."
"Long-Ears betrayed the sect. The Interception Sect has already dealt with him."
He paused.
The Yuqing Talisman Letter slowly descended above the General Ledger.
Zhao Xuan said, "Third entry."
"Jade Emptiness sent a letter."
"Luring my Interception Sect's attendant into leaving himself a way out."
The Yuxu disciple's expression changed drastically.
"Zhao Xuan!"
Zhao Xuan raised his eyes.
"Was I wrong?"
The Yuxu disciple's words caught in his throat.
Was he wrong?
The talisman letter was real.
The Pure Serenity Body was real.
Long-Ears had indeed treated it as a way out.
Zhao Xuan looked at him.
"If you think it is wrong,
change it now."
The Yuxu disciple's face turned ashen.
Changing it meant admitting it.
Not changing it meant having it entered into the ledger.
The silence before the hall was terrifying.
Zhao Xuan did not press him further.
He sealed the Yuqing Talisman Letter into a supplementary page of the General Ledger.
Then he looked at the Yuxu disciple.
"Take a message back."
"Tell the Antarctic Immortal."
"Long-Ears's crime has been dealt with by the Interception Sect."
"This hand of Jade Emptiness—
will it be cleansed or not?"
The Yuxu disciple gritted his teeth.
"You want Senior Brother Antarctic to give you an explanation?"
Zhao Xuan said, "Not to me."
He looked at the Jie Sect disciples before the hall.
"To the Interception Sect."
The Yuxu disciple's chest heaved.
He wanted to speak.
But he could not say anything.
The Heavenly Court official was right beside him.
The Yuqing Talisman Letter had already been entered into the ledger.
And every Jie Sect disciple had heard those words, "testing the Dao heart."
This matter could no longer be suppressed.
Zhao Xuan looked at the Heavenly Court official again.
"You, too, take a message back."
The Heavenly Court official's heart tightened.
Zhao Xuan said, "The Heavenly Court wants to investigate the Interception Sect."
"Fine."
"The Interception Sect has already cleansed itself for you to see."
He pointed at the General Ledger.
"Then Jade Emptiness—
will you investigate them or not?"
The Heavenly Court official lowered his head.
He did not answer.
Nor could he.
Zhao Xuan did not look at him again.
He raised a hand.
He closed the Investiture of the Gods Accountability Ledger.
His voice was calm.
"Long-Ears is dead."
"The one who sent the letter is still alive."
The wind before the hall seemed to stop at that moment.
Zhao Xuan looked at the Yuxu disciple one last time.
"The next entry."
"Will Jade Emptiness cleanse itself,
or will the Interception Sect cleanse you for them?"
Before you continue