Silence fell before the hall for a moment.
Someone raised his head.
Then quickly lowered it again.
It was a question many people wanted to ask.
But no one dared.
The veteran disciple continued, "I'm not speaking up for Long-Ears."
"Long-Ears deserved to die."
"So did Ma Yuan."
"And the Jade Emptiness Talisman Letter and the Western Sect Golden Letter need investigating all the more."
He paused.
His voice dropped lower.
"But Outer Sect disciples travel abroad. We're bound to deal with other immortal sects, wandering cultivators, and cultivation grounds."
"If an invitation or a token of thanks can become a crime,"
"then from now on, is there no one an Outer Sect disciple may meet?"
"No one we may listen to?"
"Nothing we may accept?"
"If that's the case,"
"what will be left of the Outer Sect after the purge?"
Those words carried weight.
But no malice.
Holy Mother Guiling did not scold him.
Nor did Holy Mother Jinling draw her sword.
The eyes of many Outer Sect disciples before the hall shifted.
This was exactly what they feared.
Long-Ears was guilty.
They accepted that.
Ma Yuan deserved to die.
They accepted that too.
But if the purge went so far that everyone in the Outer Sect feared for their own safety,
how much life would remain on Golden Turtle Island?
Zhao Xuan looked at the veteran disciple.
"Finished?"
The veteran disciple lowered his head.
"Yes."
Zhao Xuan said, "Good question."
Everyone before the hall froze.
The veteran disciple was startled too.
Zhao Xuan looked at the talisman letters and invitations laid before him.
"A purge of the sect."
"It is the paths we purge."
"Not human ties."
The Outer Sect disciples held their breath.
Zhao Xuan said, "If someone invites you to hear a sermon,"
"you may go."
"If you save someone and they thank you,"
"you may accept."
"Dealings between immortal sects."
"Requests for an audience from wandering cultivators."
"Travel through the Primordial World."
"All are permitted."
His voice gradually chilled.
"But three things"
"are not."
"Using the Interception Sect's name for private gain."
"Accepting benefits from outsiders and speaking on their behalf."
"And when securing yourself a way out, putting the Interception Sect on the bargaining table."
As those three statements fell,
the Outer Sect disciples lowered their heads together.
Zhao Xuan looked at them.
"Break any of these three rules,"
"and you will be the next Long-Ears."
The veteran Outer Sect disciple's throat worked.
"This disciple understands."
Every Outer Sect disciple behind him understood as well.
Senior Disciple Brother did not mean to close every path to them.
He meant to show them which paths they must never take.
Once they took such a path, the Interception Sect would pay the price in lives.
Zhao Xuan looked at the Clear Gate Register.
"From this day forward,"
"Golden Turtle Island will establish three Clear Gate Regulations."
The Clear Gate Register unfolded.
The Vermilion Brush rose into the air.
Everyone looked up.
Zhao Xuan said, "First."
"Attending sermons, going to banquets, and associating with fellow cultivators as usual are not forbidden."
"But if any outside sect, immortal sect, the Heavenly Court, the Dragon Clan, or the Western Sect privately writes to you or asks you to pass on the Interception Sect's internal affairs, track a disciple's movements,"
"or inquire about orders issued within the sect, you must register it within three days."
"If it happens again after that, you must report it to the Clear Gate Register."
The Vermilion Brush descended.
The first rule was set.
"Second."
"Anyone who accepts benefits from outsiders, speaks for them, or uses the Interception Sect's name for private gain"
"will, at minimum, have their cultivation abolished and be expelled."
"In severe cases, they will be slain and their name erased."
The second rule was set.
The air before the hall grew colder.
Zhao Xuan continued, "Third."
"Anyone who trades the Interception Sect's loyalties, arts, movements, or their master's trust for a path elsewhere"
"will be judged a traitor."
The Vermilion Brush descended.
The third rule was set.
Hum.
The Clear Gate Register trembled faintly.
The three rules were fixed upon its pages.
There was no strange phenomenon.
Yet they seemed like three blades hanging above Golden Turtle Island.
The veteran Outer Sect disciple bowed his head heavily to the ground.
"This disciple accepts the regulations."
The Outer Sect disciples lowered their heads together.
"We accept the regulations."
Their voices were not in unison.
But they were solemn.
Daoist Duobao stood at the front of the crowd.
From beginning to end, he had said nothing.
Only when the three rules were settled
did he slowly step forward.
Everyone turned toward him.
Daoist Duobao raised a hand.
A weighty jade ledger flew from his sleeve
and landed before Zhao Xuan.
The ledger was old.
It recorded the names of countless Outer Sect disciples, along with requests, dealings, and disputes he had mediated.
Much of it was written in Duobao's own hand.
Holy Mother Guiling froze.
"Senior Brother?"
Daoist Duobao did not look at her.
He looked at Zhao Xuan.
"Over the years, I managed many Outer Sect affairs."
"I relayed many messages."
"I granted many favors."
"And I buried many matters for the sake of the so-called greater good."
His voice was low.
But everyone before the hall heard him clearly.
"Long-Ears was able to weave that web"
"because I failed to see it."
"The Outer Sect came to value favors above rules"
"because I allowed it."
Daoist Duobao raised his hand.
Another jade seal descended.
It bore the personal mark he used when mediating Outer Sect affairs.
"If we are to purge the sect,"
"investigating only the Outer Sect"
"is not enough."
The hall fell utterly silent.
Daoist Duobao looked at Zhao Xuan.
Word by word, he said, "Investigate me first."
At those three words,
everyone froze.
Holy Mother Guiling opened her mouth.
But no words came out.
Holy Mother Wudang raised her eyes, a slight tremor passing through them.
Even Holy Mother Jinling's sword hand stilled for a moment.
Daoist Duobao lowered his head.
"If I have done no wrong,"
"then investigate the Outer Sect."
"If I have,"
"deal with me according to the regulations."
The hall fell deathly silent.
Zhao Xuan looked at Duobao.
For a long time, he said nothing.
Daoist Duobao did not look away.
His expression was grave.
Yet he was steadier than he had ever been.
In the past, he had always spoken of considering the greater good.
Today, for the first time, he had placed himself within it.
At last, Zhao Xuan spoke.
"Have you thought this through?"
Daoist Duobao said, "I have."
Zhao Xuan said, "Once the Clear Gate Register is opened,
"direct disciples will be no exception."
Daoist Duobao nodded.
"I know."
Zhao Xuan looked at him.
"If we find you passed along words you should not have,
"granted favors you should not have granted,
"or protected people you should not have protected,
"I will not spare your dignity."
Daoist Duobao was silent for a breath.
Then he bowed deeply.
"Please investigate me, Senior Disciple Brother."
The eyes of the Outer Sect disciples before the hall suddenly reddened.
This blade would not fall on the Outer Sect alone.
Direct disciples stood beneath it too.
This time, Golden Turtle Island was cutting out its own long-festering disease.
Zhao Xuan raised his hand.
The Clear Gate Register turned to a new page.
The Vermilion Brush hovered.
Everyone held their breath.
Zhao Xuan said, "Record it."
The Vermilion Brush descended.
[Direct disciple Daoist Duobao.] [To surrender the old records of Outer Sect dealings.] [To surrender the direct disciples' Mediation Seal.] [Volunteered to be investigated.]
As the last four characters were written—
Volunteered to be investigated.
Something unseen seemed to weigh upon the hall.
Daoist Duobao slowly closed his eyes.
He had no regrets.
Zhao Xuan looked at the page.
His voice was soft.
"From this day forward,
"the Clear Gate will make no distinction between those close to us and those who are not.
"Only between accounts that are clean and accounts that are not."
As those words fell,
a soft sigh came from deep within Biyou Palace.
It held no anger.
Nor disappointment.
Every Jie Sect disciple looked up at once.
The next moment,
a strand of Shangqing Sword Intent descended from the palace.
It pressed down on no one.
It killed no one.
It merely settled upon the Clear Gate Register.
The Clear Gate Register trembled faintly.
The three Clear Gate Regulations,
and the page recording Duobao's request to be investigated,
were fixed in place by the Shangqing Sword Intent.
Master Tongtian's voice came from deep within Biyou Palace.
"Approved."
One word.
All of Golden Turtle Island fell silent.
Approved.
Their master had approved.
Direct disciples would be investigated.
The Outer Sect would be entered into the register.
The Clear Gate Regulations were settled.
Zhao Xuan bowed.
"This disciple obeys."
Every Jie Sect disciple before the hall bowed with him.
"This disciple obeys."
Amid those low voices,
an Outer Sect disciple suddenly crawled out from the crowd on his knees.
His face was deathly pale.
In both hands, he held a black message talisman.
There was no Yuqing Immortal Light upon it.
Nor was there any Buddhist light from the Western Sect.
Only a barely perceptible trace of the Heavenly Court Divine Pattern.
He was trembling violently.
"Senior Disciple Brother.
"This disciple... has a letter too."
Every gaze before the hall fell upon his hands.
The disciple's voice shook.
"Three years ago,
"someone asked this disciple to pass along a message.
"They said that if the Heavenly Court ever needed to enter Jie Sect disciples into its register,
"they would give this disciple a post as a righteous god in the Water Department."
Holy Mother Guiling's expression changed sharply.
Holy Mother Jinling's sword shot from its sheath.
Daoist Duobao jerked his head up as well.
The Heavenly Court.
A letter from Jade Emptiness.
An invitation from the Western Sect.
And now,
even a divine post from the Heavenly Court had arrived.
Zhao Xuan looked at the black message talisman.
There was no surprise in his eyes.
Only coldness.
He held out his hand.
The message talisman flew into his palm.
The Clear Gate Register opened.
Zhao Xuan said, "Record it."
The Vermilion Brush descended.
[Heavenly Court Private Register.] [Offered a Jie Sect Outer Sect disciple a post as a righteous god in the Water Department.] [Did not inform the Interception Sect.] [Approached a sect member in secret.]
The hall fell deathly silent.
Jade Emptiness offered the Pure Serenity Body.
The Western Sect offered a Lotus Throne.
The Heavenly Court offered a divine post.
Three roads.
Three prices.
All had reached into Golden Turtle Island.
Zhao Xuan raised his eyes toward the Nine Heavens.
His voice was calm.
"The Jade Emptiness account gets three days.
"The Western Sect account gets three days.
"And this Heavenly Court account
"gets three days as well."
He lowered his gaze to the fresh words on the Clear Gate Register.
"The Investiture of the Gods has not begun.
"But everyone looking to buy lives has already arrived."
Before you continue