Disciples of the Righteous Path

The Thunder Commandery Domain was shrouded year-round beneath thunderclouds that filled the sky, never seeing the sun.

Once a cultivator at the Three Flowers and Five Qi level entered, they would inevitably suffer endless lightning tribulations. The closer they came to the city the Divine Dynasty had left behind, the more severe the punishment became, at times approaching the level of a single heavenly tribulation.

Heavenly tribulations only occurred between Refining Spirit to Return to the Void and Void Refinement to Merge with the Dao, and each was more terrifying than the last.

That was because they concerned the enormous changes to heaven and earth brought about by "ascension."

But back then, the Divine Dynasty's ruler in the upper realm had held authority over the "Thunder Ministry." Even after his death, his remaining might endured.

Two cultivators stood amid the thunderclouds as endless lightning surged toward them, blotting out heaven and earth. Yet "the two colors of yin and yang" poured simultaneously from their bodies, rotating around each other to withstand the lightning tribulation.

It was just that the male cultivator bore more of the "yang color," while the woman's "yin spirit" was stronger.

The "yin spirit" feared lightning tribulations most of all, so the woman showed clear signs of discomfort and could not help asking:

"Senior brother, is this Demon-Subduing City the stronghold of that 'Thunder God'?"

Her somewhat older senior brother, who was dressed as a Daoist, nodded, but his gaze remained fixed on the Bagua diagram in his palm.

The Bagua diagram had two sides: the front bore the Innate Bagua, and the back the Later Heaven Eight Trigrams. As the two sets of trigrams rotated against each other, treasured light spilled in every direction, stirring the spiritual potential of heaven and earth into turmoil.

In particular, whenever the "Zhen" trigrams in the Innate Bagua and the Later Heaven Eight Trigrams lit up at the same time, continuous, mighty rumbles rang out from the lightning-tribulation clouds that covered thousands upon thousands of miles.

This was no ordinary Law Treasure. This was an Innate Law Treasure!!

After a while, Daoist Yun Shuo put away the Bagua diagram and sighed. "It seems we were one move short and our fellow Daoist Zhang Zhixian of the Heavenly Edict Manor got here ahead of us."

"We're all from the seven sects, yet fellow Daoist Zhang has acted far too improperly. He deliberately turned heaven and earth upside down and muddled the workings of heaven, sending us on a great many detours for nothing!"

Even Bai Ningjie, whose Daoist name was "Fairy Yundu," could not help feeling a measure of anger now, however good-tempered she usually was.

The emergence of an Orthodox God was a major matter concerning the righteous path's plans!

"Junior sister, there's no need to get so worked up. Didn't we have our senior martial uncle divine it back at the sect? The Thunder God here is most likely a 'false god.'"

"But there's still some chance, however small."

"Mm, you're right, junior sister. If that 'Thunder God' can absorb all the Innate Thunder Qi in this domain, he might yet defy heaven and change his fate, turning the unreal into the real. When the forty-nine Orthodox Gods of this realm complete their merits and ascend to the upper realm, he could snatch a divine seat for himself."

"Moreover, thunder governs 'birth,' presides over 'Zhen,' and corresponds to 'Dui,' the 'marsh.' Whether it's the 'Midwife Goddess,' who governs the birth of all things, the 'Earth God,' or even the 'Marsh God,' none of those positions is beyond his reach."

Daoist Yun Shuo spoke calmly.

At his words, the frost on Bai Ningjie's face deepened. A white sword like jade at her back began to hum, and a jade-like tone that swept away demons rang out with it, momentarily quieting the surrounding thunder considerably.

"Still, I know fellow Daoist Zhang's disposition fairly well, so I asked three friends of mine, 'Rogue Person Yunxiu,' 'Immortal Guest Zhenxia,' and 'Zongfengzi,' to follow him in secret. And during the time we were deliberately led astray, our fellow Daoist Zhang did quite a few things."

Daoist Yun Shuo revealed the truth, leaving even Bai Ningjie astonished.

"Fellow Daoist Zhang Zhixian first used a Secret Method of the Heavenly Edict Manor to activate the workings of heaven and earth in Demon-Subduing City. Then he deliberately spread rumors of a secret treasure, drawing large numbers of Rogue Cultivators here to search for it."

"The reason he did this isn't complicated."

"The 'Thunder God' here is most likely still unformed, and Rogue Cultivators are all different in temperament. Some are good, some evil; some admire a life as pure as the breeze, some delight in lewdness, and others are obsessed with worldly power. Attachments, wealth and honor, scheming, greed, fear, clinging to life and dreading death, disowning one's own kin—all these assorted impulses converge here."

"And this Thunder God is a god who subdues demons and safeguards the Dao. While still unformed, he instinctively absorbs these assorted impulses and desires, so his consciousness is bound to be muddled and unable to distinguish things clearly."

"Next comes fellow Daoist Zhang's second move. He joined forces with the two junior brothers from the Thunder Manor, Zhen'ezi and Mingting, and instructed them to use threats and enticements or ruthless measures. In any case, they captured the entire families, young and old, of quite a few cultivators of unorthodox paths and threw them all into Demon-Subduing City."

"These cultivators of unorthodox paths had one thing in common: all had been rumored to practice Devil Cultivation Methods and demonic arts in secret."

"According to the means the Divine Dynasty used to suppress the devil path back then, once these people were thrown into Demon-Subduing City, they were bound to trigger the city's various demon-subduing measures."

"And since this 'Thunder God's' divine power was being nurtured and manifested through this city, such expenditure would inevitably weaken his foundation further."

"It's like a person whose mind is in chaos and whose vitality is constantly declining. Even if such a person were born, they would most likely be a deformity."

"Having displayed his world-shocking wisdom, our senior brother Zhang could then display his heaven-shaking methods."

Daoist Yun Shuo smiled with an air of unruffled ease, though his tongue was rather sharp.

"For example, the Heavenly Edict Manor's fundamental great art, the 'Heavenly Edict General Principles,' was passed down from the Dharma Venerable. It borrows heaven's will to command all the laws and edicts of the world, claiming to act on heaven's behalf: heaven's will is the will of man. The guiding principles of this art reach up to the Purple Empyrean and suppress Jambudvipa below. Cultivated to profound depths, a single law can become the law of the world, and a single decree can determine the guilt of all living beings."

"After exercising heaven's authority and striking this Thunder God dead, whether he's a false god or an Orthodox God, his 'divine office' will fall into Zhang's hands. Senior brother Zhang can then return to his sect and report the job done, while our trip will have been for nothing."

Bai Ningjie stared at him in disbelief.

"Senior brother, you knew everything. Why didn't you tell me any of it?"

"Because I was worried you'd draw your sword and start chopping people down," Daoist Yun Shuo said honestly.

"Although, in the eyes of the righteous path, you're the kind and gentle Fairy Yundu, full of compassion, more merciful even than a bodhisattva of the Empty Realm, and one of the ten great fairies of the righteous path, admired by who knows how many young talents."

"But we know our own affairs. When you were three, you used Demon-Subduing Divine Lightning to blow up a cesspit, blasting us senior and junior brothers into cultivating with 'dung-fired' determination every day. When you were five, even the wild dogs on the mountain took detours at the sight of you. By six, you'd disowned all six kinds of kin and started going after your elders."

"When you went down the mountain to cultivate and earned the title of 'fairy,' we even thought for a time that some witch had taken over your body. It frightened your master, my senior martial uncle, so badly that he was ready to go down the mountain and save you on the spot."

"You have a temper that explodes at the slightest spark, and that Zhang Zhixian is proud and arrogant too. Junior brother Mingting of the Thunder Sect usually looks down his nose at everyone, and his temperament isn't much better than either of yours."

"Put three bolts of divine lightning together, and all it takes is one spark for them to explode, one hundred percent."

"If the righteous-path disciples fought among themselves and ended up with one dead and two wounded before they even encountered the devil path, and word got out, I, your senior brother and the one leading the team, couldn't bear that humiliation."

Bai Ningjie's eyes slowly widened, and a blush spread from her neck to her face.

Daoist Yun Shuo knew her well, so he naturally understood that this blush was anything but shyness. If anything, it was a sign that she might kill him to silence him.

He gave a dry cough, stepped back twice, and went straight to the point.

"Though Zhang Zhixian is a fool, he isn't a fool without ability. He's cultivated the 'Heavenly Edict General Principles' to the fifth level, 'Act on Heaven's Will.' Never mind a 'false god'-even an ordinary 'Orthodox God' would have to take a detour upon seeing him."

"And now Demon-Subduing City is perfectly calm. Clearly, something has gone wrong on Zhang Zhixian's end."

At the mention of serious business, Bai Ningjie recovered herself and frowned.

"What went wrong?"

"I don't know. My contact with those three fellow Daoists was cut off after they entered Demon-Subduing City. Clearly, that 'Thunder God consciousness' wasn't struck dead by Zhang Zhixian's 'Act on Heaven's Will,' and that means trouble."

"However, the last message fellow Daoist Zongfengzi sent back said that the two junior brothers from the Thunder Sect had quarreled and gone their separate ways. Some old monsters of the unorthodox paths who had been captured and brought in were joining forces, trying to surround and kill junior brother Zhen'ezi of the Thunder Sect. The three of them were trying to rescue him, but they're all great cultivators at the Three Flowers and Five Qi level. The moment they make a move, they're bound to suffer lightning tribulations, so it's a real headache."

Bai Ningjie's expression grew serious as well.

"Senior brother, where do you think the problem lies?"

"Aside from the possibility that Zhang Zhixian is a fraud, as I see it, there are only a few possible variables."

"The first possibility is that something is amiss with the 'Thunder God' here. The 'false gods' we've encountered have varied in strength, some stronger and some weaker, but their strength has generally fallen within certain bounds."

"But this 'Thunder God' is different. I checked the records at the sect, and this is where the Divine Dynasty's foremost general, the 'Five-Thunder Demon-Subduing General,' fell. If the Thunder God absorbed even a fragment of his will, Zhang Zhixian would be no match for him. After all, how could 'Act on Heaven's Will' be as formidable as 'heaven's true will'?"

"The second possibility is that something strange is sealed in the city. This city was a prison of the Divine Dynasty, and it held countless demons, monsters, ghosts, and members of the Daoist tradition. Although some were rescued and the rest died back then, who the hell knows whether some old monster deliberately hid inside and turned the workings of heaven upside down?"

"As for the third possibility-"

At this point, Daoist Yun Shuo hesitated to continue.

"Senior brother, is it the devil path?" Bai Ningjie pressed.

"The disciples of the Heavenly Edict Manor and Thunder Sect have made such a commotion. If people of the devil path learned of it and slipped in among them, that wouldn't be surprising at all."

Daoist Yun Shuo paused. "In any case, we can't go wrong by first finding a way to contact my three friends. There's no use sitting here letting our imaginations run wild."

With that, the disciple of the High Heaven Sword Sect transformed into a streak of azure, rainbow-like immortal Qi and shot straight toward Demon-Subduing City.

Bai Ningjie nodded, but soon caught on, her delicate brows knitting.

The third possibility her senior brother had just mentioned wasn't the devil path?