Confronting Wenshu, Verbal Sparring

Wenshu Guangfa Heavenly Venerable's gaze was like an ancient well in a deep pool—calm and rippleless, yet containing the wisdom to see through all things and an unfathomable majesty.

His eyes did not linger on Taiyi, nor did he look toward the golden statue within the shrine. Instead, they fell directly upon Xuan Chuan, assessing him from head to toe.

"Xuan Chuan of Jiejiao?" Wenshu spoke calmly, but his voice carried a force that pierced straight into the heart. "Recently, your name has been mentioned quite often in Yuxu Palace."

"To catch Yuxu Palace's discerning eye is Xuan Chuan's honor." Xuan Chuan stood with sword in hand, neither humble nor overbearing. The Fate-Cutting Sword hummed softly, offsetting the invisible pressure radiating from the two Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals.

"I only wonder why Uncle-Masters Wenshu and Taiyi have come together to Chentang Pass. Could it be for the trivial matter of a mortal father and son as well?"

"A trivial mortal matter?" Taiyi raged. "Xuan Chuan! Time and again, you have ruined my plans, bewitched my disciple, and now you spout demonic words to deceive the masses and drive a wedge between master and disciple! Today, I will not let this rest!"

Wenshu raised a hand, signaling Taiyi to remain calm, while his gaze stayed fixed upon Xuan Chuan.

"Nephew Xuan Chuan, since you call me Uncle-Master, I shall question you as an elder. Does not Jiejiao's doctrine speak of 'seizing a thread of life'?"

"It does," Xuan Chuan answered frankly.

"As for Nezha, his matter was originally Yuxu Palace's internal affair, and also an arrangement of Heaven's mandate. He committed murderous sins and should naturally have been punished.

His soul had nowhere to turn, yet his master had arrangements to reshape his Dharma body and complete Heaven's mandate. The thread of life in this had long since been destined."

Wenshu's voice remained even, but every word struck like a nail. "Yet you forcibly interfered, obstructed his father's rightful punishment, and used words to beguile his soul.

You forcefully altered the course of his fate. This is acting against Heaven and forcibly seizing life. Does that not run contrary to your sect's doctrine of 'seizing'?

In my view, what you have done is not 'seizing,' but 'forcibly taking' and 'tampering'!"

What formidable rhetoric! He had directly branded Xuan Chuan's actions as "defying Heaven" and "tampering," claiming the moral and doctrinal high ground!

Xuan Chuan's heart tightened, but his expression did not change. "Uncle-Master, your words are mistaken.

Where does that 'thread' in 'seizing a thread of life' lie? It lies in the struggle of all living beings to survive, in their own choices! Nezha killed first, and his master indulged him afterward. That was not Heaven's mandate, but man-made calamity!

General Li Jing was misled by others and wished to sever his own son's final thread of life. That was a tragedy of human bonds, not rightful punishment!

I spoke to awaken him, protected his soul, and gave him a choice. It was precisely amid these layers of 'man-made calamity' and 'tragic predicaments'—

that I seized for Nezha, and for Chentang Pass as well, that genuine thread of life which should have existed, yet had been concealed by conspiracy! How was that tampering? How was that defying Heaven?"

He paused, and his voice turned cold. "Rather, Uncle-Master Wenshu and Uncle-Master Taiyi, as Golden Immortals of Yuxu, stand above worldly affairs. You ought to be quietly reciting the Huangting Scripture and comprehending the Great Dao.

Yet now you repeatedly meddle in mortal affairs, using 'Heaven's mandate' as a name while carrying out schemes in truth. You indulge disciples in violence, beguile mortals, and even do not hesitate to bully the small with the great, joining hands to exert pressure.

Is this the pure cultivation path of Yuxu Palace, the orthodox Xuanmen? Is this the bearing of immortals who follow Heaven's mandate?"

A direct counterattack! He accused them of betraying their duty of pure cultivation, interfering in mortal affairs, and even laid bare the truth of "joining hands to exert pressure" and "bullying the small with the great"!

At last, a faint ripple crossed Wenshu's ancient-well-still face, as though he were surprised by Xuan Chuan's sharpness and courage. Taiyi's face turned purple with rage.

"Impudent!" Taiyi shouted. "Xuan Chuan! You are merely a Taiyi Golden Immortal, yet you dare make wild judgments on the Dao of Golden Immortals?

Senior Brother Wenshu has come to uphold the righteous path and cleanse the sect! Nezha is my disciple. How he is dealt with is mine to decide! Remove your restriction at once and hand over Nezha's soul, otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?" Xuan Chuan cut him off, his gaze sharp as a sword.

"Will Uncle-Master Taiyi bring out the Nine-Dragon Divine Fire Hood once more, or will Uncle-Master Wenshu personally act and 'clean up' this 'Heaven-defying' disciple of yours as well?"

His words were naked provocation and mockery.

Wenshu Guangfa Heavenly Venerable slowly shook his head. Wisdom gleamed in his eyes, as though he had seen through something.

"Nephew Xuan Chuan, your words are sharp, your courage exceptional, and you possess an unusual treasure with a peculiar Dao rhyme. You are indeed fine jade of rare quality.

What a pity that you have entered a crooked path, clinging to petty techniques of the Outer Dao, unable to see the greater tide or comprehend Heaven's numbers. Today's matter is not born of personal grievance. It is truly dictated by Heaven's numbers and required by the righteous path."

He no longer debated reason with Xuan Chuan, because he knew words could no longer suppress him.

He stepped forward, and the aura around him abruptly sharpened, like an ancient sword long sealed in dust suddenly drawn half an inch from its sheath, cold light flashing forth!

"Nezha's soul should rightfully be handled by Yuxu Palace, so that Heaven's numbers may be fulfilled. Since you remain stubbornly deluded, Nephew Xuan Chuan, I have no choice but to act and set chaos right."

As his words fell, Wenshu Guangfa Heavenly Venerable flicked open his sleeve. A streak of golden light flew from within, growing against the wind and instantly transforming into a pillar some thirty feet high—

entirely golden, carved with nine golden dragons coiling around it, which crashed down into the open ground between Xuan Chuan and Nezha Shrine!

The pillar struck the earth with a dull boom, making the ground quake.

The nine golden dragons seemed to come alive. Their mouths opened wide in soundless roars, and a terrifying pressure that imprisoned space, seized all things, and specifically suppressed the Dragon Clan and countless transformations of divine abilities spread outward!

An acquired spirit treasure—the Dragon-Binding Pillar!

This treasure did not attack directly. Instead, it locked down an area with overwhelming binding force, suppressing enemies, rendering them unable to move and obstructing their divine abilities!

The moment the Dragon-Binding Pillar appeared, Xuan Chuan felt his entire body grow heavy, as though he had sunk into a swamp. Even the circulation of his mana slowed, while the spiritual light of the Fate-Cutting Sword in his hand dimmed by several degrees.

Shiji gave an even more muffled groan and staggered. Her true form was earth and stone, making her resistance to this kind of binding treasure even weaker.

"Wenshu! Are you going to bully the small with the great and forcefully attack?" Xuan Chuan forcefully circulated the power of The One That Escaped and Merit, resisting the Dragon-Binding Pillar's suppression. His voice was ice-cold.

"This is not bullying you. It is restoring matters to their proper source."

Wenshu Guangfa Heavenly Venerable spoke blandly, as though he were stating something utterly insignificant. "Junior Brother Taiyi, go collect Nezha's soul. This child will be watched over by me."

Taiyi's face brightened at this. He answered, then moved to circle around Xuan Chuan toward the shrine.

A fierce glint flashed through Xuan Chuan's eyes.

Facing Wenshu alone placed him under immense pressure. But he had not come unprepared!

"Junior Sister Shiji!" Xuan Chuan called in a low voice. At the same time, his hands swiftly formed an enigmatic hand seal, and a hidden ripple silently spread outward from him!

Several hundred miles away, among seemingly ordinary reefs in the sea and clouds in the sky, prearranged formation nodes were instantly activated!

Faint formation patterns flashed through the void, then vanished!

A simplified Myriad Immortals Joint Defense Formation—remote guidance, localized manifestation!

Though the distance was great and the disciples participating in the formation were absent, Xuan Chuan could still use the prearranged formation foundations and the resonance of the core Dao rhyme to briefly draw upon part of the formation's power, strengthen himself, and resist a powerful foe!

Purple-gold phantom formation patterns began to emerge beneath Xuan Chuan's feet and around his body. Though faint, they carried the unyielding intent of myriads of immortals defending together, their fortunes linked as one, and slightly offset the Dragon-Binding Pillar's suppressive force!

"A formation?" A sharp gleam flashed in Wenshu Guangfa Heavenly Venerable's eyes, and for the first time, he showed a trace of seriousness.

"So I had underestimated you. But do you think this lingering echo of a formation can contend with the Dragon-Binding Pillar?"

Before his words had faded, the nine phantom golden dragons upon the Dragon-Binding Pillar raised their heads in unison. Dragon roars rang across the land, and the binding force suddenly doubled!

The phantom formation patterns that had just appeared around Xuan Chuan shook violently. His face went pale, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. Shiji was suppressed to the point that she could barely move.

Yet Xuan Chuan's eyes remained sharp as swords, fixed upon the steadily approaching Taiyi and the unfathomable Wenshu Guangfa Heavenly Venerable.

The true trial had only just begun.