Beat Miaozhen to death? Surely not… Xu Qi’an raised his brows, changed direction, and flew towards the east-north-east. If he remembered correctly, the Heaven Sect wasn’t far from Jianzhou.
That was what Li Lingsu had revealed.
Among the Daoist three sects, the Heaven Sect lived in seclusion and had almost no contact with the mortal world. Only every few decades, or every ten years or so, would they send a Holy Son or Holy Maiden down the mountain to travel and temper their hearts in the mortal world.
Because of that, Xu Qi’an had never deliberately tried to find out where the Heaven Sect was. He had put it off for later, originally intending to wait until he was strong enough, then go to the Heaven Sect in person to ask about the truth behind the successive Heavenly Venerables’ strange disappearances.
But later, he had uncovered for himself the secret of the Heavenly Venerable merging into the Heavenly Dao.
When they saw Li Lingsu’s written plea for help, the members of the Heaven and Earth Society were startled. Then Chu Yuanzhen sent a message questioning:
【FOUR: Beat you to death, or beat Li Miaozhen to death? You two are six of one and half a dozen of the other. Could it be the Heaven Sect favours men over women, and only wants to beat Miaozen to death, not you?】
Li Lingsu thought, what kind of thing is that to say? Isn’t the key issue that those old thieves want to beat Miaozen to death? Why does it matter to you that I won’t be beaten to death?
While grumbling inwardly, he didn’t slow his messaging at all, and quickly explained:
【SEVEN: The Heavenly Venerable thinks that Miaozen and I have become entangled in too much karma, and are destined to sink and fall, unable to attain the Supreme Detachment from Emotion. So he intends to cut away our memories. A wise man doesn’t suffer a loss when it’s right in front of him, so I agreed. But you all know Miaozen’s temper, she’d sooner die than agree.
【She even argued with the Heavenly Venerable, saying he could kill her or cripple her, but he mustn’t humiliate her.】
This really is the sort of foolish thing Li Miaozhen would do… the members of the Heaven and Earth Society sighed inwardly.
That woman had none of the bearing a Holy Maiden of the Heaven Sect ought to have. Her nature was fierce and unyielding, she would rather break than bend.
Daoist Jinlian sent a message:
【NINE: The Heavenly Venerable judged accurately. Given the state you and Miaozen are in, it’ll be hard for either of you in this lifetime to attain the Supreme Detachment from Emotion.】
【EIGHT: If the Heavenly Venerable has already attained the Supreme Detachment from Emotion, why is he still so fixated on whether his disciples have forgotten emotions?】
Al-Asura asked when he didn’t understand.
Though he had lived for several hundred years, Buddhism and the Heaven Sect were far apart, and there had been no contact between them for thousands of years. Even he knew little of the Heaven Sect’s circumstances.
【NINE: To pass on the incense of the lineage and continue the sect, in the Heavenly Venerable’s eyes, is a matter of rules, not emotion. It’s like the alternation of sun and moon, the changing of the four seasons. They have their own rules of operation. What does that have to do with emotions?
【Li Miaozhen is the Holy Maiden, one of the future successors to the position of Heavenly Venerable. When the Holy Maiden strays from the sect’s doctrines and principles, the Heavenly Venerable intervenes.
【Just as battles between beyond-mortals cause the natural elements to fall into disorder, at such a time the rules of heaven and earth intervene to restore the elements to normal.】
Al-Asura understood.
【No wonder the successive Heavenly Venerables merged into the Heavenly Dao.】
He had gained a deeper understanding of the Heaven Sect.
The news that the successive Heavenly Venerables had merged into the Heavenly Dao was intelligence Xu Qi’an had prised out of Baidi during the tribulation battle, and al-Asura had been there at the time.
Afterwards, it had been shared with the members of the Heaven and Earth Society.
【SEVEN: My sect gave Miaozen one day to reflect, but she still refuses to submit. The Heavenly Venerable has decided to administer the thunder-whip punishment at noon, to scatter her soul and spirit.】
Li Lingsu thought, stop chatting and save the child already!
【THREE: I’m on my way to Jianzhou. I’ll arrive before noon.】
Perfect. I can take this opportunity to have a talk with the Heavenly Venerable about the secrets of the Daoist Venerable, the secrets of the conflict between Heaven and man, and the secrets of the successive Heavenly Venerables.
Xu Qi’an believed the Heavenly Venerable definitely knew other inside details.
【NINE: I’ll go as well. Miaozen is a member of our Heaven and Earth Society, not merely the Heaven Sect’s Holy Maiden.】
【EIGHT: I happen to be free.】
Ah, this… Li Lingsu felt both delighted and worried. Delighted because he hadn’t expected everyone to be so loyal, and now this crisis was basically settled.
Worried because he felt too many beyond-mortals were coming. He only wanted to save himself and Li Miaozhen, not have this gang from the Heaven and Earth Society tear the Heaven Sect apart.
【ONE: I’ll notify Luo Yuheng!】
Huaiqing cut in.
Although she didn’t much like that Lady Flying Swallow who always wanted to stab the Emperor of the Great Feng to death at the drop of a hat, since they were members of the same organisation, she was still willing to help.
Besides, that Xu was about to get married, so of course he had to invite Li Miaozhen for a cup of wedding wine.
”…”
Li Lingsu had only one thought in his heart:
I can’t stay in this Heaven Sect any longer!
…
Heaven Sect.
Li Lingsu let out a breath of relief, tucked the Earth Book fragment back into his robes, and quietly withdrew from his master’s meditation chamber.
After returning to the Heaven Sect, their Earth Books had been confiscated by their respective masters. The Holy Son had seen with his own eyes Daoist Xuancheng place the Earth Book fragment into a wooden box.
Taking advantage of Daoist Xuancheng’s absence, he had sneaked in to send messages to the members of the Heaven and Earth Society for help.
As for now, Xu Qi’an would arrive very soon, and he would surely leave the Heaven Sect together with his junior sister. There was no need to put the Earth Book fragment back.
Li Lingsu quietly left the courtyard and headed towards his own residence. Halfway there, he happened to run into Daoist Xuancheng returning.
“Master!”
Li Lingsu saluted respectfully, revealing just the right trace of gloom.
Whether it was what Li Miaozhen was about to suffer, or the punishment of having his memories cut away, neither was anything pleasant.
Daoist Xuancheng gave a slight nod and said expressionlessly:
“The elders have already summoned the disciples of the sect to gather outside the Hall of the Heavenly Venerable and watch the thunder-whip punishment.
“You will come with me. Once the Holy Maiden has been dealt with, the Heavenly Venerable will cut away your memories.”
Li Lingsu kept up his gloomy expression and said softly:
“Yes!”
…
Outside the Hall of the Heavenly Venerable, in the square.
Li Miaozhen sat cross-legged atop the high platform, meditating with eyes closed.
Below the platform stood more than three hundred inner sect disciples of the Heaven Sect, men and women, old and young. They looked at Li Miaozhen on the platform. Most remained silent, while a few whispered among themselves.
There were very few in the Heaven Sect who could attain the Supreme Detachment from Emotion. Even the Holy Son and Holy Maiden had not forgotten emotions, let alone these inner sect disciples.
“Master, what’s happened to the Holy Maiden? What wrong has she committed?”
A little girl with chubby cheeks tugged at her master’s sleeve.
“The Holy Maiden went down the mountain to travel and lost her Dao heart. The sect is going to execute her.”
Her master sighed.
The chubby-cheeked girl was eleven or twelve. Hearing this, she was so shocked that her little face turned anxious.
“How can the Holy Maiden be executed?”
In her eyes, the Holy Maiden was one of the future successors to the position of Heavenly Venerable, a lofty figure. In the Heaven Sect, her status was second only to the Heavenly Venerable and the elders.
“If she dies, won’t that give you hope?” a middle-aged Daoist priest beside them sneered.
“And not just you, all the female disciples will have a chance to become Holy Maiden. Our Holy Maiden here would rather play at being Lady Flying Swallow than properly be the Heaven Sect’s Holy Maiden.”
As they waited, noon drew near.
At this moment, the grey-haired old Daoist priest standing beneath the eaves of the Hall of the Heavenly Venerable spoke in a loud voice, his tone cold and detached:
“Holy Maiden, I’ll give you one more chance. If you’re willing to have your memories cut away, your past deeds will be forgiven.”
On the high platform, Li Miaozhen opened her eyes, glanced at the sky, then withdrew her gaze with some disappointment and said:
“Great Elder, Miaozhen’s mind is made up. There is no need for further words.”
The Great Elder indeed said no more. Shifting his gaze, he looked at the densely packed crowd and declared loudly:
“Holy Maiden Li Miaozhen, during her journey down the mountain, disregarded the sect rules and ignored the sect’s instructions, becoming too deeply entangled in karma. She no longer has any hope of attaining the Supreme Detachment from Emotion.
“The Heavenly Venerable was willing to give her a chance, yet she remained stubborn and repeatedly talked back.
“Today, her soul and spirit will be dispersed by thunder-whip, to serve as a warning to others.
“You must all take this as a warning and not repeat her mistakes.”
In the crowd, quite a few disciples echoed in agreement, indignantly condemning her:
“It seems the Holy Maiden really has fallen into deviation, that’s why she’s this obstinate.”
“Just look at the things she did in the mortal world, suppressing bandits in Yunzhou, putting down rebellion in Yongzhou, enjoying the feeling of being admired by others. She’s nearly forgotten her own name. The sect raised her, nurtured her, and this is how she repays it?”
“The Heavenly Venerable gave her a chance, and she didn’t cherish it. Does she really think the sect rules are just for show? She deserves to die!”
“No one can save her.”
“A few years ago I even begged my master to ask the Heavenly Venerable to let me become Dao companions with the Holy Maiden. Looking at it now, thank goodness it never happened.”
The successive Holy Sons and Holy Maidens had always been carefully selected by the Heaven Sect, trained with every resource lavished upon them, personally taught by beyond-mortal experts, and held in high esteem by the disciples.
In the eyes of the Heaven Sect disciples, Li Miaozhen’s conduct in “preferring death to submission” was a betrayal of the Heaven Sect, a hateful selfishness.
The Great Elder turned his head and looked towards Bingyi Yuanjun beside him.
“Carry out the sentence!”
This had already been agreed yesterday, when Bingyi Yuanjun had pleaded with the Heavenly Venerable.
If the Holy Maiden refused to repent, then she herself would act.
Bingyi Yuanjun rose on the wind. Her Daoist robes fluttered, her sleeves billowed, and she looked down at her beloved disciple from on high. She reached into the void with her right hand and seized a crimson soft whip.
“Rise!”
Bingyi Yuanjun formed a hand seal with one hand and raised the soft whip in her grasp.
Boom!
A finger-thick bolt of lightning split down from the sky and struck the soft whip head-on. The lightning gathered without dispersing, and the entire whip turned into a gleaming thunder whip, arcs of electricity dancing along it.
Bingyi Yuanjun took a long look at the disciple on the high platform, then flicked her wrist.
In the eyes of the onlookers, the dazzling thunder whip flashed and vanished. Immediately after, the crack of it rang in everyone’s ears.
It was as if Li Miaozhen had been struck by a brutal sweeping kick. Her whole body flew like a ripped sandbag and smashed heavily onto the platform.
The robes on her back split apart. What was revealed was not fair tender skin, nor a mangled bloody wound, but a charred black mark like burnt coal.
Yet compared with the pain of the flesh, what had truly nearly killed the Holy Maiden on the spot was that this lash had torn her primordial spirit and struck deep into her soul.
Cold sweat burst from every pore in an instant. Li Miaozhen curled up on the high platform, her face deathly pale, her lips bitten until they bled, stubbornly refusing to make a sound.
There was no expression on Bingyi Yuanjun’s cold and beautiful face. Her wrist flicked, and the second lash followed at once.
Crack!
Another lash struck Li Miaozhen’s body, drawing another charred scar as arcs of electricity crackled over it.
Li Miaozhen’s body suddenly stiffened, then went limp. Her pupils began to lose focus, and the light in her eyes dimmed rapidly. Her primordial spirit was perishing.
If this continued, she would become a living corpse, her body still alive while her primordial spirit had already perished. After a time, even the body would slowly die as well.
Among the Heaven Sect disciples watching, those who were close to Li Miaozhen could not bear to look and turned their heads away.
“Junior Sister…”
Seeing this, Li Lingsu cried out.
While cursing Xu Qi’an, that dead bastard, for not having arrived yet, he looked towards Bingyi Yuanjun and shouted, trying to stall for time,
“Senior Uncle Bingyi, she was raised by your own hand. Your mortal heart is bound to her, so how can you be so ruthless as to put her to death?”
Bingyi Yuanjun held the thunder whip. This time she did not bring it down. She looked at Li Miaozhen with an indifferent expression and said lightly,
“As your master, I shall make the decision and give you one more chance. If you are willing to sever your memories and draw a clear line between yourself and the mundane world, you will still be the Holy Maiden of Heaven Sect.
“If you’re willing, then nod.”
Under the eaves of the Heavenly Venerable Hall, the elders watched impassively. None showed displeasure at Bingyi Yuanjun’s acting on her own initiative. They neither supported nor opposed it.
But what answered her was silence.
“Holy Maiden, nod!”
“Cultivation isn’t easy. Don’t ruin yourself.”
Before Li Miaozhen could speak, those in the crowd who were close to her, or who could not bear for Heaven Sect to lose a Holy Maiden, all began calling out.
A female Daoist wiped away tears and cried,
“Holy… Senior Sister, nod! What could be more important than staying alive? It’s only cutting away your memories. Can you really not tell which matters more, memory or life? Senior Sister, hurry and nod. Don’t make Master suffer like this.
“You spent three years travelling down the mountain, and three years righting wrongs and helping the weak. You saved so many people, but who will come and save you?”
Li Miaozhen’s consciousness gradually returned. Hearing the cries around her, she said weakly,
“Master, in these three years down the mountain, your disciple did not return empty-handed. I have already found my own Dao. As the Sage said, to hear the Dao in the morning and die in the evening is enough.
“Miaozhen will die without regret.”
During this period after returning to Heaven Sect, she had long since thought it through.
To be precise, on the day she had died in Yongzhou, she had suddenly understood many things. The reason she was determined not to sever her memories today was not only because there were people and things she could not forget, but also because she had already found her own Dao.
She was the Holy Maiden of Heaven Sect, but Heaven Sect’s Dao was not necessarily her Dao.
Rather than live in violation of her true heart, it was better to die with clear understanding of herself.
Li Miaozhen’s eyelashes trembled. She glanced at the blue sky. The daylight was rather glaring. She did not see the person she had wanted to see, and so she closed her eyes in disappointment.
Only then did the Grand Elder slowly say,
“The Holy Maiden is set on death. Bingyi, do it!”
At last, not the slightest ripple remained on Bingyi Yuanjun’s exquisite face. She snapped her hand and lashed out with the thunder whip… and at that very moment, the sky above everyone’s heads suddenly began to tremble violently.
Space rippled like the surface of water, wave after wave spreading outward.
“Someone is attacking the mountain-guarding grand array!”
The disciples were shocked, and found it hard to believe. Someone actually dared strike at Heaven Sect’s mountain gate? Were they tired of living?
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
The mountain-guarding grand array did not hold for long before it collapsed into a howling storm and spiritual power that swept in all directions.
In the azure sky, several figures stood floating in the air. At the front was a tall and imposing man in an azure robe embroidered with cloud patterns, with handsome features.
Behind him were, respectively, an Earthly Immortal dressed in feathered robes, cold and stunningly beautiful, an old Daoist with greying hair, and al-Asura, nine feet tall, with prominent brow bones and a face that was ugly in a strangely handsome way.
It was worth mentioning that al-Asura had already changed out of his kasaya, and his bald head was now covered with a lustrous crop of black hair. He had returned to secular life.
“Luo Yuheng, it’s her.”
“And Jinlian of the Earth Sect? Why have the two of them come?”
“Who’s that young man? Why are the two Daoist Leaders standing behind him?”
The Heaven Sect disciples did not recognise al-Asura, and some could not even recognise Xu Qi’an, but they identified Luo Yuheng and Jinlian at a glance as fellow members of the Daoist sects.
Daoist Xuancheng said flatly,
“Xu Qi’an, what have you come to Heaven Sect for?”
Xu Qi’an?
Silver Gong Xu of the Great Feng?
The expressions of the Heaven Sect disciples changed. Although they had little contact with the outside world, they were not completely cut off. The Heaven Sect still kept some watch on the changing situation across Jiuzhou and on notable figures.
Otherwise, Heaven Sect would not have known what Crouching Dragon and Young Phoenix had been doing in the jianghu.
The greatest recent event in Jiuzhou had been the suppression of the Central Plains rebellion, and Luo Yuheng and Xu Qi’an advancing to first rank. From then on, Jiuzhou had gained two true peak experts.
Why had he come to Heaven Sect?
In the crowd, Li Lingsu felt an immense weight lift from him. He almost wanted to throw himself into Xu Qi’an’s arms and pound his chest with his fists, saying, “You dead bastard, what took you so long!”
Li Miaozhen half-opened her eyes. In her no longer bright gaze was reflected the figure of the young man in azure robes. She slowly closed her eyes again.
So you’ve come!
“If the Heaven Sect wants to touch one of my people, did you think to ask me first!”
Xu Qi’an stood with his hands behind his back.
Bingyi Yuanjun said coolly,
“My disciple, since when did she become one of your people?”
“Li Miaozhen rendered meritorious service in putting down the rebellion. His Majesty rewarded her according to her merits and appointed her as a Cavalry General of the court, a fifth rank official. The Heaven Sect wants to lay hands on a court official of our Great Feng, do you take this Silver Gong so lightly?”
Xu Qi’an seized the initiative at once and slapped a huge charge on them.
Of course, what he said was all true. Li Miaozhen really did hold the military post of Cavalry General, personally conferred by Emperor Huaiqing’s brush.
Daoist Jinlian chuckled and chimed in,
“Li Miaozhen is a member of our Heaven and Earth Society. This poor Daoist cannot simply watch her die and do nothing. I hope Heaven Sect will do us the small favour of showing some face.”
This…
Four Beyond-rank experts had joined hands and come to the door to pressure them for the sake of the Holy Maiden?
The Heaven Sect elders exchanged glances with little expression, then turned towards the Heavenly Venerable Hall and said in unison,
“We ask the Heavenly Venerable to decide!”
There was no bluster and no rebuke. Out of pure calm and reason, after weighing the situation, they felt this matter ought to be left for the Heavenly Venerable to handle.
The assembled disciples all fell silent, as quiet as cicadas in winter.
They only found it unbelievable that these beyond-mortal experts would actually risk enmity with Heaven Sect for the sake of the Holy Maiden.
“This is the blessing Senior Sister has cultivated for herself. It’s her blessing.”
That young female Daoist covered her mouth, laughing and crying at once.
The Heavenly Venerable’s majestic and grand voice came from within the hall, free of emotion, as if he had long expected this:
“And what do you intend?”
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