Enforcing the Law on Heaven's Behalf

Blood rained through the main hall, yet Zhou Wuji stood sword in hand, his expression still calm.

For more than ten years, he had followed his master in slaying demons and exorcising devils. He had seen blood before.

Having slain Zhang Wuding with a single stroke, Zhou Wuji felt neither panic nor discomfort. On the contrary, his heart was filled with satisfaction.

But before all these people, there was no need to appear so cruel and vicious.

Zhang Wuding was, after all, an eighth-rank martial artist who had developed Hidden Force. His vitality was tremendous, and he had yet to die, though all his strength was gushing out along with his blood.

Instinctively, Zhang Wuding wanted to reach up and cover his wound, but his spine had been severed. Where would he find the strength to raise his hand?

He looked toward Zhou Wuji opposite him, unwilling to accept his fate. Without his spine to support it, his head drooped, leaving him able to see only the hem of Zhou Wuji's blue Daoist robe, with fleeting glimpses of his cloud socks and square-toed Daoist shoes...

However great an eighth-rank martial artist's vitality might be, it could not withstand such a grievous wound.

Zhang Wuding's tall, powerful body, tempered through countless trials, swayed before pitching headfirst beside Li Yiyuan's corpse. He breathed no more.

Seeing his eldest senior brother die, Fang Wuzhen grew even more terrified.

He knew full well how formidable his eldest senior brother was. His skin, flesh, sinews, bones, and organs were all extraordinarily tough, like iron. When he exerted himself, the internal and external forces throughout his body twisted into a single strand, giving one punch a full thousand jin of force.

Though Siming County was no small place, Zhang Wuding could still be called the foremost expert of the younger generation.

Such a man had been killed by a single stroke from Zhou Wuji. Had Fang Wuzhen not seen it himself, he would never have believed it.

He was also utterly baffled. Zhou Wuji's abilities had always been mediocre. Just earlier in the main hall, Zhou Wuji had resorted to trickery and fled in panic.

How had Zhou Wuji become so formidable in such a short time?!

Try as he might, Fang Wuzhen could not fathom the reason, nor did he have time to dwell on it.

He knew perfectly well that after killing Zhang Wuding, Zhou Wuji would not spare him either.

His most urgent concern was to run as far as he could, but Zhang Wuding's Tiger Roar Thunder Sound had left his entire body weak. In his terror, his legs trembled all the harder.

Everyone else was much the same. The Tiger Roar Thunder Sound had sent their worlds spinning, and seeing Zhou Wuji slit Zhang Wuding's throat with one stroke left them even more stunned.

The fellow disciples of Hidden Dragon Temple had always gotten along fairly well.

No one had imagined that their eldest and second senior brothers would suddenly turn on each other and fight, with life and death decided in their very first exchange.

Zhou Wuji was usually mild-tempered, chatting and laughing with everyone. Whenever someone asked him for help, he always did what he could.

In the minds of the many disciples and menial workers, Zhou Wuji was merely an ineffectual nice guy.

When Zhang Wuding had accused Zhou Wuji of betraying his master and ancestors earlier, none of them had really believed it.

Yet this nice guy had killed their highly skilled eldest senior brother with a single stroke.

The brutal battle shocked them deeply, while also filling their hearts with a profound fear of Zhou Wuji!

Zhou Wuji noticed the change in their expressions, but this was not the time to explain.

Before Fang Wuzhen could react, Zhou Wuji slid silently forward, sweeping the Seven Star Sword horizontally across. It was precisely the Flowing Cloud Sword.

Seeing the sword approach, Fang Wuzhen tried in terror to beg for mercy, but before he could speak, the blade had swept smoothly through his neck.

A head tumbled down with the sweeping blade. Fang Wuzhen's headless body swayed and fell forward, blood swiftly staining the main hall's blue-brick floor red, along with Zhang Wuding in front of him.

Zhou Wuji glanced at Fang Wuzhen's head rolling across the floor. Had this fellow not suddenly decided to stir up trouble, the two sides would never have torn off all pretense and come to blows.

It was all because of Fang Wuzhen's greed and viciousness. Now the fellow was having his fun, rolling all over the floor to his heart's content...

His heart brimmed with pleasure and relief. One stroke to lop off that dog's head. That felt so fucking good!

Perhaps because of the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, both men's true spirits of innate nature dissipated as soon as they died.

Zhou Wuji glanced at his master's body lying before the incense altar. The old man lay securely enough, but quite a bit of blood had splashed onto him too, adding red to the black and making him look even more frightening.

Still, his master's soul and spiritual essence had both been extinguished. It was only a foul sack of flesh; whatever it became no longer mattered.

Zhou Wuji turned his gaze toward his junior brothers. They had witnessed him kill Zhang Wuding and Fang Wuzhen in succession, yet his expression remained calm, as though nothing had happened. This made them fear him even more.

Wherever Zhou Wuji's gaze passed, their scalps prickled with fright, and they lowered their heads and eyes. None dared meet his gaze.

Zhou Wuji was quite satisfied with this. Ordinarily, everyone was polite to him on the surface, but none took him very seriously.

Now these fellows would know what he was capable of!

In truth, these fellows had nothing to do with the matter, and he would not do anything to them.

He said, "Those two traitorous disciples, Zhang Wuding and Fang Wuzhen, plotted against and murdered their master. With the North Pole Heavenly Emperor above and my honored master's blessing, I slew those two traitors with my own hands."

Zhou Wuji looked at them and said, "You are all witnesses."

Whether they believed him or not, faced with Zhou Wuji's icy gaze, they could only nod and murmur their agreement.

Seeing their cowering manner, Zhou Wuji felt all the more gratified.

But he knew very well that killing Zhang Wuding and Fang Wuzhen had not ended this matter. Instead, it marked the beginning of serious trouble.

The Zhang Household was the foremost clan in Siming County, a great tree with deep roots, and even had a seventh-rank martial artist presiding over it.

Zhang Wuding was an outstanding member of the Zhang Household's direct line, with a strong chance of advancing to a seventh-rank martial artist. Having lost such an important scion to his sword, how could the Zhang Household let the matter rest?

Had his master lived, there would still have been room to maneuver. With his master gone, the Zhang Household would never let him off.

Fang Wuzhen's situation was similar, though his standing in the Fang Household was not as high, and the Fang Household was not as powerful.

Zhou Wuji had returned to take revenge and vent his anger, intending all along to leave after killing them. He had no intention of fighting the Zhang Household and Fang Household to the bitter end.

With an unparalleled divine artifact in his hands and limitless prospects ahead, there was no need to concern himself with such immediate gains and losses.

With this in mind, Zhou Wuji did not care what the others thought or how they saw him.

The most important thing now was to arrange his master's funeral.

Powerful clans had few limits to what they would do. Burying his master nearby would be extremely unsafe.

Zhou Wuji said to the disciples, "Master has met with misfortune. Junior brothers, please join me in seeing him off..."

This time, everyone answered in unison.

Li Yiyuan had always treated others generously. Disciples and menial workers alike deeply respected the temple master.

Regardless of how Li Yiyuan had died, his funeral arrangements still had to be handled properly.

Under Zhou Wuji's direction, they carried Li Yiyuan's body onto a bluestone slab beside the Huamei River.

They piled up firewood, poured on oil, and lit a roaring blaze.

Watching the flames engulf his master, Zhou Wuji could not help recalling the past.

When he was seven, a corpse demon had come to his village and bitten everyone there to death. Had his master not happened to arrive and dealt with the corpse demon, he would have died too!

From then on, he had followed his master. In the blink of an eye, fourteen years had passed.

The old man who had treated him better than anyone else in the world was simply gone...

Even now, it felt illusory and unreal, as though he were trapped in a nightmare...

In the end, Zhou Wuji did not cry. He did not like crying. It was too weak.

Especially at a time like this, with so many people watching. Once someone thought him weak, countless troubles would immediately arise.

Zhou Wuji silently said in his heart, Master, rest assured. I will go and see what lies above the Nine Heavens, for you and for myself!

At this thought, something suddenly stirred in his heart, and he focused on the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment hidden deep within his mind.

How would this divine artifact react to his killing Zhang Wuding and Fang Wuzhen?

The ancient black book opened. On two blank pages, the names Zhang Wuding and Fang Wuzhen had actually appeared.

Zhou Wuji was somewhat surprised. The Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment had stated it clearly: command ghosts and gods, slay demons and destroy devils, execute the wicked and eliminate evil, enforce the law on Heaven's behalf.

Though Zhang Wuding and Fang Wuzhen were bad people, they had nothing to do with ghosts, gods, demons, or devils.

So did killing those two count as executing the wicked and eliminating evil? Or did it count as enforcing the law on Heaven's behalf?

Zhou Wuji did not understand the scope of enforcing the law on Heaven's behalf either. Ghosts, gods, demons, and devils all had clear characteristics and were easy to distinguish.

Dividing people into good and bad was far too difficult. Even immortals and Buddhas probably could not manage it.

At this thought, understanding suddenly dawned on Zhou Wuji. The Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment was the foremost divine artifact of slaughter in the Daoist tradition. Its foundation lay in slaughter.

That was it. Slaughter in accordance with the precepts was enforcing the law on Heaven's behalf.

He had awakened the wisdom of his past lives and possessed the might to enforce the law on Heaven's behalf, yet he was not bound by the precepts...

The Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment could not restrain him, but he had his own precepts in his heart. He had killed those two with a clear conscience!