The Heavenly Dao Oath

"Now that's unfortunate."

Feng Zhuo chuckled softly and actually took eleven stalks of Spirit-Cleansing Grass from his storage ring.

Five were a hundred years old, five were a thousand years old, and one was ten thousand years old. All eleven stalks of spirit grass were accounted for.

"I have quite a stock of Spirit-Cleansing Grass here. Surely you won't say I found more elsewhere in the Illusion Forest after stealing yours?"

The air in the Law Enforcement Hall instantly froze.

Xuanfeng's face turned deathly pale. If Feng Zhuo had so much Spirit-Cleansing Grass himself, why would he have stolen Su Ruanruan's single stalk?!

Bai Wuxia, however, added as though in passing, "Everyone knows the older a spirit medicine is, the better. Perhaps Spirit-Cleansing Grass over ten thousand years old can even purify a Spirit Root."

"Senior Brother Feng might have already had that Spirit-Cleansing Grass in his storage ring. How does that prove he didn't forcibly take the ten-thousand-year-old stalk from Junior Sister Ruanruan?"

That was outright bandit logic.

"Ah..."

Feng Zhuo sighed softly and put all the Spirit-Cleansing Grass away again. "Senior Brother Bai and Junior Sister Su have always had overbearing logic."

He swept his gaze over everyone present, his tone tinged with helplessness. "In that case, if the examination later shows that Junior Sister Su was never poisoned, I suppose you'll say I cured her beforehand. Either way, it's my fault, so there's nothing more to say."

Su Ruanruan was very pleased. It seemed this third senior brother wasn't all that stupid!

Even though she knew full well that Feng Zhuo had most likely obtained this Spirit-Cleansing Grass in the secret realm, how could she admit it?

Besides...

Looking at the rare spirit grass of varying ages, Su Ruanruan burned with jealousy.

In the original story, Feng Zhuo had obtained only one stalk of ten-thousand-year-old Spirit-Cleansing Grass, yet now he had gained so much!

She became even more certain that Feng Zhuo was not a reincarnator. Rather, the Heavenly Dao had realized someone had invaded and was repairing the plot.

When Su Ruanruan thought of the single stalk of Spirit-Cleansing Grass she had gone through countless hardships to find, she practically ground her teeth with hatred.

"You worry too much, Senior Brother Feng."

Su Ruanruan raised a hand and removed her veil. "These bloody marks on my face were caused by poison. An examination will reveal the truth."

She turned to Bai Wuxia. "And Senior Brother Bai can testify that, in the secret realm, my meridians really were blocked by toxins, preventing me from using spiritual power."

Looking at Su Ruanruan's face, covered in gruesome bloody scabs, the crowd couldn't help believing her somewhat.

With Bai Wuxia nodding in corroboration, Su Ruanruan's accusation immediately seemed more credible.

Feng Zhuo suddenly sneered. "You're asking your own senior brother to testify for you? Then can I also ask Nangong Tang to testify for me, to prove I didn't poison you together with her?"

"And you've decided I poisoned you just because of the bloody marks on your face and your blocked meridians? Junior Sister Su, you'd better think about whether you've offended anyone. Don't go looking for the wrong enemy after someone secretly harms you."

With that, he said no more. He flicked a fingertip, and an image-recording jade floated into the air.

The scene in the secret realm that day appeared clearly in light and shadow.

Fifty cultivators stood in formation, brimming with killing intent, all clamoring to "carry out justice on Heaven's behalf."

And standing against the fifty was none other than Feng Zhuo alone!

Although Yunxiaozi knew his disciple had been hunted in the secret realm, he had not known that as many as fifty people had blocked the secret realm's exit!

He was so furious that he laughed. "Good! Very good!"

The sword at his waist rang as it left its sheath, and Sword Intent rarely seen in a thousand years shot straight into the clouds. "If I still don't draw my sword today, won't my disciple die unjustly in the wilderness someday?!"

His sword pointed straight at Chixiao. "Your disciple bullied mine, so today you'll face my sword!"

Madman!

Chixiao's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly summoned a protective Dharma treasure and barely managed to stand firm amid the Sword Qi.

Seeing the sword's onslaught grow ever fiercer, he hastily cried out, "Senior Brother Lingxiaozi...!"

"Junior brother..."

Lingxiaozi sighed deeply, his throat as though stuffed with cotton.

His thin, withered fingers rubbed the armrest of his seat unconsciously.

As his senior brother...

He knew he should not interfere again today.

But...

As the sect master of the Supreme One Divine Sect...

In the end, Lingxiaozi still helped Chixiao out of his predicament.

"Senior brother!"

The tip of Yunxiaozi's sword trembled slightly, his voice hoarse. "Must you protect Chixiao today?!"

He was insisting that Lingxiaozi choose a side.

Taisu, seated below and to the right of the head seat, opened her eyes and glanced at the two fellow disciples. She seemed about to say something, but ultimately turned her face away.

A pin could have been heard dropping in the Law Enforcement Hall. Everyone held their breath.

Lingxiaozi looked at his junior brother's white hair, dry as withered grass, and seemed to see again the child who had once babbled his first words before him.

"Junior brother..."

His voice trembled. "Must you... truly force your senior brother to this point?"

Yunxiaozi suddenly smiled, but that smile was colder than the edge of a sword.

He remembered his old friend entrusting six-year-old Cang Wuya to him, remembered Ye Wuhen's shining eyes when he first called him Master, remembered Ling Shuanghua sticking out her tongue when he caught her secretly drinking the spirit wine he treasured...

And then there was Feng Zhuo-

His youngest disciple, who had been in the sect for less than a year, had already suffered so much bullying.

What about the other three children?

How much injustice had they suffered where he hadn't noticed?

"Good. Very good."

Yunxiaozi slowly lowered his sword, but the Sword Qi around him grew ever colder and sharper.

A thousand years ago, Lingxiaozi had abandoned him for the sake of the sect. Now, a thousand years later, their hundred years of companionship would end here!

He looked at Lingxiaozi as though he were looking at a stranger. "After today, Lingxiaozi and I..."

"Master!"

Feng Zhuo interrupted what Yunxiaozi was about to say.

If he severed their relationship before everyone today, Yunxiaozi would truly have no room left to turn back!

His master was willing to protect him, but Feng Zhuo was unwilling to have his master sever relations with his direct senior brother of the same sect for his sake.

"A Heavenly Dao Oath. Do you dare?"

Feng Zhuo's cold, clear voice echoed through the Law Enforcement Hall.

He abandoned his original plan, choosing the most perilous course at this moment.

Amid an uproar throughout the hall, the red-robed youth cut open his palm without hesitation.

Crimson drops of blood fell into the Soul-Oath Cauldron at the center of the Law Enforcement Hall, splashing against its bronze walls like bleak, vivid flowers.

"I, Feng Zhuo, swear upon my Dao Path: if I poisoned Su Ruanruan in the secret realm and forcibly stole her Spirit-Cleansing Grass, may my cultivation never advance another inch in this lifetime!"

The wooden sword Awakening of Insects was drawn, stained with blood, and pointed straight at Su Ruanruan's throat. "Your turn-just say, 'If I have spoken so much as half a false word today, may my cultivation stagnate for the rest of my life.' How about it?"

Yunxiaozi lightly brushed his sleeve, and the bloody cut on Feng Zhuo's palm healed instantly.

He looked at the disciple standing before him and, in the end, remained silent.

A heavenly Dao oath was the highest karmic contract in this world. If there was the slightest falsehood in Feng Zhuo's words, his Dao Path would be severed forever.

More terrifying still, the power to judge this oath lay entirely with the Heavenly Dao!

Even if Feng Zhuo truly had not poisoned her, as long as the poison afflicting Su Ruanruan had the slightest connection to him, it would be considered a breach of the oath.

The hand with which Feng Zhuo held his sword was as steady as a rock.

He knew full well that the Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Vine's blood-grudge Qi was not traditionally classified as poison, but if the Heavenly Dao insisted on favoring Su Ruanruan, it could simply force it to be deemed "poison"!

The Soul-Oath Cauldron suddenly erupted with dazzling golden light, and the Heavenly Dao's pressure enveloped everyone present.

Cold sweat beaded on Feng Zhuo's temples, but he kept his back straight throughout.

The golden light gradually faded. No punishment descended.

-Fortunately, he had won his gamble.