Final Judgment, Clear Rewards and Punishments

Great Wall Prefecture, the Merit Office.

Inside the imposing black hall, even the air seemed bound by an invisible order of law.

At the center of the hall hung an enormous plaque, black as ink, its lettering gleaming gold—the Merit Mirror.

Those four characters were more than the Merit Office's sign. They were a sword hanging over every judge's heart.

Here, they weighed the merits and crimes of those under their jurisdiction and decided cultivators' futures. Their greatest fear was making a mistake. One careless stroke of the brush could ruin an innocent cultivator's lifelong Dao Path—or let a monster of evil escape the Law Net.

Cases where the boundaries blurred and merit tangled with wrongdoing were the hardest to judge.

Behind his desk, Zhu Wuji, director of the Merit Office, held his vermilion brush suspended for a long time, unable to bring it down.

His gaze swept over the thick dossier on Chu Bai. His brows drew together, as though he were weighing the evidence—and marveling at it.

"Trained at the Dao Academy, born to a poor family in Anping... Even counting generously, he's cultivated for only a few years..."

Zhu Wuji murmured to himself, tracing the startling milestones in the dossier with one finger—entry into the Dao Academy, receipt of White Ordination, the Demon-Slaying Token, and Foundation Establishment.

"Such progress is extraordinary."

"If this dossier is genuine, this boy's talent makes him a peerless prodigy the Great Wall Prefecture hasn't seen in a thousand years!"

At that thought, Zhu Wuji set down the dossier and fixed a lightning-sharp gaze on a middle-aged judge standing below.

"Li Dean, has this record been thoroughly verified? Is any of it inflated?"

Principal Eighth Rank Merit Judge Li Dean stepped forward and bowed, his expression certain.

"My lord, every word is true.