If the Investiture of the Gods Is Fair, Why Fear a Name Check?!

Zhao Xuan looked at the tattered List.

"You say it cannot be moved by human hands."

"Then let me ask again."

"Who sent Zhao Gongming's past deeds to the Wealth Department?"

"Who sent Holy Mother Jinling's reputation to the Dou Department?"

"Who sent the Water Department's old Outer Sect achievements into the All-Department Preliminary Register?"

The gray-white aura of the List Shadow churned without end.

Yet it could not answer a single word.

Zhao Xuan said, "If the Heavenly Mandate is truly impartial,"

"it would not know that Zhao Gongming could manage wealth and goods."

"Nor would it know that Holy Mother Jinling was suited for the Dou Department."

"And it certainly would not know that Lu Qing was familiar with the Third Sea Eye."

Lu Qing's breathing caught.

Zhao Xuan's voice turned heavy.

"These things."

"They were all written in by people."

The space before the hall fell utterly silent.

Written in by people.

Not something the Heavenly Mandate knew on its own.

Not names that appeared from nowhere on the Investiture of the Gods List.

Someone had fed the Investiture of the Gods List the Jie Sect disciples' old achievements, abilities, reputations, whereabouts, and causes and effects, stroke by stroke.

Holy Mother Guiling could no longer suppress her killing intent.

"Who?"

"Who wrote them in?"

The incomplete List Shadow gave no answer.

But the gray-white aura above the Nine Heavens suddenly pulled three extremely faint threads toward the Western Sect, Kunlun, and Lingxiao.

The threads were fine.

They almost scattered in the blink of an eye.

Yet Zhao Xuan raised his hand.

The Clear Gate Register suddenly unfolded.

"Hold them."

The vermilion brush struck down like a nail.

The three fine threads were forcibly pinned to the register's pages.

One led to Lingxiao.

One led to Kunlun.

One led to Mount Sumeru.

Every Jie Sect disciple before the hall changed expression at the same time.

The Heavenly Court.

Jade Emptiness.

The Western Sect.

Three lines.

All connected to the Investiture of the Gods List.

Zhao Xuan looked at the three threads.

His voice was cold and utterly flat.

"So."

"It isn't just one side writing."

The moment those words fell,

the entire Golden Turtle Island seemed to be pressed beneath dead water.

The Heavenly Court supplied old achievements.

Jade Emptiness passed over the Pure Serenity Body.

The Western Sect supplied a Lotus Throne position.

The three sides supplied different things.

Yet in the end, they all fed into the Investiture of the Gods List.

Daoist Duobao's expression completely changed.

"They're all feeding the List?"

Zhao Xuan did not answer.

The three fine threads on the Clear Gate Register had already provided the answer.

Within Lingxiao Hall,

Haotian abruptly rose to his feet.

He had seen that thread as well.

It came from the List Shadow of the Investiture of the Gods List.

It reached the Heavenly Court.

It also landed on the shadow account page before him.

Haotian's expression became dreadful.

"Who did this?"

No one answered.

The Water Department Immortal Official knelt on the ground, trembling all over.

The Wealth Department Immortal Official pressed his forehead to the floor.

Taibai Jinxing, however, looked outside the hall.

He knew that this was no longer something the Water Department or Wealth Department could shoulder.

Someone had to come forward and sever the Heavenly Court's thread.

Otherwise, Zhao Xuan's next stroke would be written upward from Lingxiao Hall.

Kunlun Mountain.

Deep within Yuxu Palace,

Antarctic Immortal looked at the thread pinned in the void by the Clear Gate Register, and his expression changed for the first time.

The Yuxu disciple beside him whispered, "Senior Brother."

"This thread—"

Antarctic Immortal raised a hand and stopped him.

He said nothing.

He merely looked deeper inside.

That was where Yuanshi Tianzun sat in meditation.

The void was silent.

But Antarctic Immortal knew.

Once Zhao Xuan continued writing along this thread, the Pure Serenity Body that Jade Emptiness had passed to Long-Ears would no longer be merely a private message.

It would become evidence that Jade Emptiness had supplied the Investiture of the Gods List with a roster of the Jie Sect's escape routes.

Mount Sumeru.

--

A Lotus Throne swayed gently.

Daoist Zhunti lowered his eyes.

The trace of amusement on his face finally faded.

"Zhao Xuan."

"You really know how to find a thread."

Daoist Jieyin did not open his eyes.

He merely said in a low voice, "If he writes the thread into fact,"

"the Lotus Throne's golden notice will also enter the List's accounts."

Mount Sumeru fell silent for a moment.

Golden Turtle Island.

The three threads were pinned to the Clear Gate Register.

--

Everyone watched.

No one spoke.

Zhao Xuan raised his brush.

A line of writing appeared.

[The Investiture of the Gods List has not yet emerged.]

A second line.

[The three lines from the Heavenly Court, Jade Emptiness, and the Western Sect are already connected.]

A third line.

[The Jie Sect's old achievements, escape routes, and Lotus Throne positions have all entered the List Qi.]

Before the fourth line could appear,

the incomplete List Shadow suddenly shook violently.

It seemed intent on forcibly breaking free of the Clear Gate Register.

The gray-white aura churned into waves.

Above Golden Turtle Island, an extremely cold heavenly voice faintly rang out.

[The Great Calamity cannot be reversed.]

[The Investiture of the Gods cannot be defied.]

[The name has already entered the calamity.]

[No more questions.]

This time,

the words did not come from the List Shadow.

They were a voice.

When the voice fell,

the hearts of every immortal on Golden Turtle Island sank at once.

Several weaker Outer Sect disciples instantly went pale.

That was not the pressure of any immortal official.

Nor was it the anger of any Sage.

It was the rule behind the Investiture of the Gods List bearing down on them.

Making them shut up.

Making them accept their fate.

Making them stop asking questions.

Daoist Duobao looked up.

His eyes trembled.

Holy Mother Guiling shouted, "No more questions?"

"You wrote the names of our Jie Sect disciples, and you won't let us ask?!"

Holy Mother Jinling stepped forward.

Sword intent soared into the sky.

Yet that heavenly voice continued pressing down.

[No more questions.]

[No more questions.]

[No more questions.]

Each voice caused the Clear Gate Register to tremble.

Zhao Xuan stood before the Clear Gate Register.

His sleeves snapped loudly beneath the pressure.

He did not retreat.

Nor did he raise his head to look toward Zixiao Palace.

He merely watched the incomplete List Shadow.

Then he suddenly spoke.

"The more you forbid questions,"

"the more problems there are with this account."

The Clear Gate Register suddenly shook violently.

Zhao Xuan lifted his brush.

The moment that heavenly sound suppressed the area, he wrote the fourth line.

[Investiture of the Gods List Refuses to Answer.]

The fifth line.

[And in the name of the Great Calamity, forbid the Interception Sect from inspecting accounts.]

The two lines of characters fell.

The fragmented list shadow trembled violently.

The gray-white aura was on the verge of exploding.

Yet Zhao Xuan's brush did not stop.

His voice was cold to the extreme.

"Today."

"I do not ask Purple Heaven."

"I do not ask the Dao Ancestor."

"I only ask this list of yours."

He spoke word by word.

"The list has not emerged."

"The names are recorded first."

"Three parties feed the list."

"And refuse to answer the accounts."

The vermilion brush fell.

The final line firmly nailed itself onto the register pages.

[Is this list fair?]

Boom!

The sky above the entire East Sea instantly lost all sound.

The fragmented list shadow suddenly stiffened.

The three thin threads tightened simultaneously.

Inside Lingxiao Hall, the account shadow in Haotian's hand suddenly grew scalding hot.

On Kunlun Mountain, Antarctic Immortal's complexion turned pale.

Above the Mount Sumeru lotus throne, cold intent flashed in the depths of Daoist Zhunti's eyes.

And before Golden Turtle Island.

The Shangqing Sword Intent left behind by Master Tongtian on the Clear Gate Register lit up completely for the first time.

Deep within Biyou Palace.

A soft sound of a sword chimed out.

The next moment.

Master Tongtian's voice descended upon Golden Turtle Island.

"Continue writing."

Three words.

Ten Thousand Immortals raised their heads.

Zhao Xuan grasped the brush.

A new page of the Clear Gate Register slowly unfolded.

A line of bloody characters surfaced at the head of the page.

[Investiture of the Gods Accountability Ledger: New Account.]

[If the Investiture of the Gods List is fair.]

[Why fear the Interception Sect inspecting names?]

The bloody characters fell.

The fragmented list shadow retreated half an inch for the first time.

Zhao Xuan raised his eyes.

"What are you retreating from?"

He lifted his brush and wrote another line.

[No Answer.]

[Then inspect them one by one.]

The final line of characters fell.

Above Golden Turtle Island, that fragmented list shadow suddenly grew still.

It did not scatter.

Nor did it retreat away.

Instead, it looked as though it had been nailed in place by that line of characters.

The gray-white aura surged endlessly.

The three thin threads remained taut against the Clear Gate Register, one thread connecting to Lingxiao, one thread connecting to Kunlun, and one thread connecting to Mount Sumeru.

The threads were very thin.

Yet they looked like three hooks reaching out from the depths of the Investiture of the Gods.

They hooked into the Heavenly Court.

They hooked into Jade Emptiness.

And they also hooked into the Western Sect.

Before Golden Turtle Island, no one spoke.

Master Tongtian's utterance of "continue writing" from just a moment ago still pressed upon the hearts of all the immortals.

That was the Master's voice.

It was also the first time the Shangqing Sword Intent truly stood behind the Clear Gate Register.

Yet at this moment, the immortals of the Interception Sect felt little joy in their hearts.

Because all of them understood.

If Zhao Xuan continued writing with this brush, what he inspected would no longer be just the old ledgers of the Heavenly Court, just the private missives of Jade Emptiness, or just the Western Sect golden letters.

He was going to inspect the Investiture of the Gods List.

Inspecting the names.

And also inspecting where destiny originated.

Daoist Duobao looked at the three thin threads, his throat moving slightly.

"Senior Disciple Brother."

"If we continue inspecting---"

He did not finish his sentence.

Yet all the immortals before the hall understood.

If they continued inspecting, it would no longer be just about questioning accounts.

It meant pulling the names that had already fallen into the list qi back out, bit by bit.

The Investiture of the Gods List could choose not to answer.

The Heavenly Court could shift responsibility.

Jade Emptiness could conceal things.

The Western Sect could rephrase its retreat as compassion.

Yet the names had already manifested.

Zhao Gongming.

Holy Mother Jinling.

As well as those outer disciples of the Interception Sect who had once suppressed Sea Eyes, calmed water veins, and guarded the ancient paths of the Dragon Palace on behalf of the Heavenly Court.

These names would not vanish from the list qi of their own accord simply because the Investiture of the Gods List fell silent.

Zhao Xuan stood before the Clear Gate Register.

His robes whipped violently under the suppression of the gray-white aura.

He did not turn back.

"Are you afraid?"

Daoist Duobao was silent for a breath.

Then he nodded.

"Afraid."

As a single word fell, the area before Golden Turtle Island suddenly grew still.

Holy Mother Guiling abruptly looked toward Duobao.

Had it been any other day, she would have already opened her mouth to retort fiercely.

Yet this time, she did not.

Because as Daoist Duobao looked at the fragmented list, there was not a shred of retreat on his face.

There was only heaviness.

"I am not afraid of the Heavenly Court."

"I am not afraid of Jade Emptiness."

"Nor am I afraid of the Western Sect."

Daoist Duobao's voice was low.

"I am afraid that if we continue this inspection, the names written into the list will be crushed by the list qi first."