Kill Miao Zhen? Surely not… Xu Qi An raised an eyebrow, changing direction to fly northeast. If he remembered correctly, the Celestial Sect wasn’t far from Sword Province.

This was information Li Ling Su had revealed.

Among the three major Daoist sects, the Celestial Sect lived in seclusion, having almost no contact with the mortal world. They only sent their Holy Sons and Holy Daughters down the mountain every few decades, or every dozen years or so, to experience the mortal realm and temper their hearts.

Therefore, Xu Qi An hadn’t deliberately investigated the Celestial Sect’s location before, putting it on the “back burner.” He had originally planned to personally visit the Celestial Sect when his strength was sufficient to inquire about the truth behind the mysterious disappearances of successive Heavenly Sovereigns.

But later he had solved the secret of the Heavenly Sovereigns merging with the Dao himself.

Seeing Li Ling Su’s plea for help, the Heaven and Earth Society members were startled, then Chu Yuan Zhen sent a questioning message:

[Four: Are they killing you, or killing Li Miao Zhen? You two are equally bad. Don’t tell me the Celestial Sect discriminates against women, only killing Miao Zhen but not you?]

Li Ling Su thought, what kind of question is that? Isn’t the key issue that the old foxes want to kill Miao Zhen? Does my not being killed somehow bother you?

While internally grumbling, he continued sending messages quickly to explain:

[Seven: The Heavenly Sovereign believes Miao Zhen and I are too entangled in karma, destined to sink into it, unable to achieve Supreme Emotional Transcendence, so they plan to sever our memories. I’m a practical man who knows when to yield, so I agreed, but you know Miao Zhen’s personality—she refuses.

[She even argued with the Heavenly Sovereign, saying they could kill or cripple her, but not humiliate her.]

Indeed, this was exactly the kind of foolish thing Li Miao Zhen would do… the Heaven and Earth Society members sighed internally.

That girl completely lacked the proper bearing of a Celestial Sect Holy Daughter, with her unyielding personality that would break rather than bend.

Master Jin Lian sent a message:

[Nine: The Heavenly Sovereign sees clearly. In your and Miao Zhen’s situation, achieving Supreme Emotional Transcendence in this lifetime will be difficult.]

[Eight: If the Heavenly Sovereign has already achieved Supreme Emotional Transcendence, why obsess over whether disciples achieve it?]

Asura asked out of confusion.

Though he had lived for several hundred years, Buddhism and the Celestial Sect were far apart, with no interaction for thousands of years. Even he didn’t know much about the Celestial Sect’s situation.

[Nine: Passing on the lineage and continuing the sect is a rule in the Heavenly Sovereign’s eyes, not an emotion. It’s like the alternation of day and night, the cycle of seasons—it has its operating rules, what does that have to do with emotion?

[Li Miao Zhen is the Holy Daughter, one of the future inheritors of the Heavenly Sovereign position. When the Holy Daughter deviates from the sect’s teachings and purpose, the Heavenly Sovereign will intervene.

[Just as battles between supernatural beings will disturb the natural elements, at which point the rules of heaven and earth will intervene to restore the elements to normal.]

Asura understood:

[No wonder successive Heavenly Sovereigns merge with the Dao.]

He gained a deeper understanding of the Celestial Sect.

The news about successive Heavenly Sovereigns merging with the Dao was intelligence that Xu Qi An had extracted from the White Emperor during the tribulation battle when he had been present.

He later shared it with the Heaven and Earth Society members.

[Seven: The sect gave Miao Zhen one day to reflect, but she still refuses to submit. The Heavenly Sovereign has decided to administer the lightning whip punishment at noon, to scatter her soul.]

Li Ling Su thought, stop chatting and save the child!

[Three: I’m heading to Sword Province, I can make it before noon.]

Perfect timing—he could take this opportunity to discuss with the Heavenly Sovereign the Dao Sovereign’s secrets, the secrets of the Heaven-Human Contest, and the secrets of successive Heavenly Sovereigns.

Xu Qi An believed the Heavenly Sovereign knew some other inside information.

[Nine: This poor Daoist will go too. Miao Zhen is a member of our Heaven and Earth Society, not just their Celestial Sect’s Holy Daughter.]

[Eight: I happen to be free.]

Ah, this… Li Ling Su was both delighted and worried. Delighted because he hadn’t expected everyone to be so loyal—this crisis seemed stable now.

Worried because he felt too many supernatural experts were coming. He just wanted to save himself and Li Miao Zhen, not have this group from the Heaven and Earth Society tear down the Celestial Sect.

[One: I’ll notify Luo Yu Heng!]

Huai Qing chimed in.

Although she didn’t particularly like that Flying Swallow Heroine who was always threatening to kill the Great Zhou Emperor, she was still willing to help a fellow organization member.

Besides, that surname Xu was about to get married—they needed to invite Li Miao Zhen to drink a wedding toast.

“…” Li Ling Su had only one thought:

Can’t stay at the Celestial Sect anymore!

…

At the Celestial Sect.

Li Ling Su breathed a sigh of relief, tucking the Earth Book fragment back into his clothes as he quietly left his master’s meditation room.

After returning to the Celestial Sect, their Earth Books had been taken by their respective masters. The Holy Son had personally seen Master Xuan Cheng put the fragment in a wooden box.

Taking advantage of Master Xuan Cheng’s absence, he had sneaked in to send messages asking the Heaven and Earth Society members for help.

As for now, with Xu Qi An coming soon, he would leave the Celestial Sect with his junior sister, so there was no need to return the Earth Book fragment.

Li Ling Su quietly left the courtyard, walking toward his quarters. Halfway there, he happened to run into Master Xuan Cheng returning.

“Master!”

Li Ling Su bowed respectfully, showing just the right amount of melancholy.

Whether it was the fate awaiting Li Miao Zhen or his punishment of memory severance, neither were pleasant matters.

Master Xuan Cheng nodded slightly and said expressionlessly:

“The elders have gathered all the sect’s disciples outside the Heavenly Sovereign Hall to witness the lightning whip punishment.

“Come with me. After dealing with the Holy Daughter, the Heavenly Sovereign will sever your memories.”

Li Ling Su maintained his melancholy expression and said softly:

“Yes!”

…

Outside the Heavenly Sovereign Hall, in the square.

Li Miao Zhen sat cross-legged on the high platform, eyes closed in meditation.

Below the platform were over three hundred inner disciples of the Celestial Sect, both male and female, old and young. They looked up at Li Miao Zhen on the platform, most remaining silent, while a few whispered among themselves.

Very few in the Celestial Sect could achieve Supreme Emotional Transcendence. Even the Holy Son and Holy Daughter hadn’t transcended emotions, let alone these inner disciples.

“Master, what happened to the Holy Daughter? What crime did she commit?”

A young girl with chubby cheeks tugged at her master’s sleeve.

“The Holy Daughter lost her way while traveling in the mortal world, lost her dao heart. She’s to be executed by the sect.”

The master sighed.

The chubby-cheeked girl was eleven or twelve years old. Hearing this, she was shocked, her little face anxious:

“How can they execute the Holy Daughter?”

In her view, the Holy Daughter was one of the future inheritors of the Heavenly Sovereign position, a lofty figure whose status in the Celestial Sect was second only to the Heavenly Sovereign and the elders.

“With her death, don’t you have a chance?” A middle-aged Daoist priest nearby sneered:

“Not just you, all female disciples have a chance to become Holy Daughter. Our Holy Daughter here wasn’t content being the Celestial Sect’s Holy Daughter, she’d rather be the Flying Swallow Heroine instead.”

As they waited, noon approached.

At this time, the white-haired elder standing under the eaves of the Heavenly Sovereign Hall spoke in a loud, cold voice:

“Holy Daughter, I’ll give you one more chance. If you agree to have your memories severed, we’ll let bygones be bygones.”

On the high platform, Li Miao Zhen opened her eyes, looked at the sky with some disappointment, then withdrew her gaze and said:

“Great Elder, my mind is made up. No need for further words.”

The Great Elder indeed said no more. He shifted his gaze to the dense crowd and announced in a loud voice:

“Holy Daughter Li Miao Zhen, during her time traveling in the mortal world, ignored sect rules and her sect’s instructions, becoming too deeply entangled in karma. She has no hope of achieving Supreme Emotional Transcendence.

“The Heavenly Sovereign was willing to give her a chance, but she remained stubborn and repeatedly defied authority.

“Today we will scatter her soul with the lightning whip as a warning to others.

“Let this be a lesson to you all—do not follow in her footsteps.”

In the crowd, many disciples chimed in with angry accusations:

“Looks like the Holy Daughter has fallen into demonic ways, that’s why she’s so stubborn.”

“Look at what she did in the mortal realm—suppressing bandits in Cloud Province, quelling rebellion in Yong Province, enjoying being revered by others, almost forgetting her surname. The sect raised and nurtured her, and this is how she repays the sect?”

“The Heavenly Sovereign gave her a chance, but she didn’t cherish it. Does she think the sect rules are just for show? She deserves death!”

“No one can save her now.”

“A few years ago I even begged my master to ask the Heavenly Sovereign to let me become dao partners with the Holy Daughter. Looking at it now, thankfully that didn’t happen.”

Successive Holy Sons and Holy Daughters were carefully selected by the Celestial Sect, cultivated with all available resources, personally taught by supernatural experts, enjoying the respect of disciples, high above others.

In the Celestial Sect disciples’ view, Li Miao Zhen’s “rather die than submit” behavior was a betrayal of the Celestial Sect, a despicable act of selfishness.

The Great Elder turned his head to look at Sovereign Bing Yi and said:

“Execute the punishment!”

This had been agreed upon yesterday when Sovereign Bing Yi had pleaded with the Heavenly Sovereign.

If the Holy Daughter didn’t repent, she would personally carry out the execution.

Sovereign Bing Yi rose into the air, her Daoist robes and sleeves fluttering. She looked down at her beloved disciple from above, her right hand reaching into space to grasp a crimson soft whip.

“Swift!”

Sovereign Bing Yi made a hand seal with one hand and raised the soft whip.

Boom!

A finger-thick lightning bolt struck down from the sky, hitting the soft whip directly. The lightning condensed without dispersing, turning the entire whip into a brilliant, arc-dancing lightning whip.

Sovereign Bing Yi took a deep look at her disciple on the high platform, then flexed her wrist.

The brilliant lightning whip flashed past in the observers’ eyes, followed by a “crack” that echoed in everyone’s ears.

Li Miao Zhen, as if struck by a powerful kick, was thrown like a broken sandbag onto the platform.

Her back robes split open, revealing not delicate white skin or bloody wounds, but a charcoal-black burn mark.

Compared to the physical pain, what nearly killed the Holy Daughter on the spot was how this whip tore at her primordial spirit, striking deep into her soul.

Cold sweat instantly poured from her pores. Li Miao Zhen curled up on the high platform, face deathly pale, lips bleeding from where she bit them, stubbornly refusing to make a sound.

Sovereign Bing Yi’s beautiful cold face showed no expression as her wrist flexed, delivering the second lash.

“Crack!”

Another lash struck Li Miao Zhen, leaving another scorched mark as electric arcs sizzled and jumped.

Li Miao Zhen’s body suddenly stiffened, then went limp. Her pupils began to dilate, the light in her eyes rapidly dimming—signs of her primordial spirit dying.

If the lashing continued, she would become a living corpse—body alive but primordial spirit destroyed—until her physical body gradually died as well.

Among the watching Celestial Sect disciples, those who were close to Li Miao Zhen couldn’t bear to watch and turned away.

“Junior Sister…” Seeing this scene, Li Ling Su cried out.

While internally cursing why that bastard Xu Qi An hadn’t arrived yet, he looked toward Sovereign Bing Yi, trying to buy time:

“Aunt Bing Yi, you raised her yourself. Your mortal heart is invested in her—how can you be so cruel as to put her to death?”

Sovereign Bing Yi held the lightning whip but didn’t strike this time. She looked at Li Miao Zhen with a cold expression and said flatly:

“Your master will make the decision. I’ll give you one more chance. If you’re willing to have your memories severed and cut ties with the mortal realm, you can remain the Celestial Sect’s Holy Daughter.

“If you’re willing, just nod.”

Under the eaves of the Heavenly Sovereign Hall, the elders watched indifferently, neither supporting nor opposing Sovereign Bing Yi’s initiative.

But the silence was the only response.

“Holy Daughter, just nod!”

“Cultivation is not easy, don’t ruin yourself!”

Before Li Miao Zhen could speak, disciples who were close to her or couldn’t bear to see the Celestial Sect lose a Holy Daughter called out.

A female Daoist wiped tears as she cried:

“Ho… Senior Sister, just nod! What’s more important than living? It’s just severing memories—can’t you tell which weighs more between memories and life? Senior Sister quickly nods, don’t make it difficult for Master.

“You spent three years traveling the mortal world, being a heroine for three years. You saved so many people, but who will come save you?”

Li Miao Zhen’s consciousness gradually returned. Hearing the crying voices around her, she said weakly:

“Master, in my three years down the mountain, I did not return empty-handed. I have found my way. The sage said, ‘To hear the Way in the morning and die in the evening would be enough.’

“Miao Zhen can die without regret.”

During her time back at the Celestial Sect, she had already thought everything through clearly.

To be precise, when she died in Yong Province that day, she suddenly understood many things. Today’s refusal to have her memories severed wasn’t just because there were people and things she couldn’t forget—it was also because she had found her way.

She was the Celestial Sect’s Holy Daughter, but the Celestial Sect’s way didn’t have to be her way.

Better to die true to her heart than live against it.

Li Miao Zhen’s eyelashes trembled as she looked at the blue sky. The sunlight was somewhat dazzling. Not seeing the person she wanted to see, she closed her eyes in disappointment.

At this moment, the Great Elder finally spoke slowly:

“The Holy Daughter seeks death. Bing Yi, do it!”

Sovereign Bing Yi’s beautiful face showed no further emotion as she raised the lightning whip… Just then, the sky above everyone’s heads suddenly began to shake violently.

Space rippled like disturbed water, waves spreading outward in circles.

“Someone is attacking the mountain-protecting formation!”

The disciples were shocked and incredulous—someone dared to attack the Celestial Sect. Did they tire of living?

Hum! Hum! Hum!

The mountain-protecting formation didn’t last long before dispersing into wild winds and spiritual power sweeping in all directions.

In the azure sky, several figures stood in the air, led by one in a cloud-patterned blue robe, tall and impressive with handsome features.

Behind him was: a transcendently beautiful woman in feather robes with a cold demeanor; a white-haired old Daoist; and a nine-foot-tall figure with prominent brow ridges, uglily handsome—Asura.

Worth mentioning, Asura had changed out of his kasaya, and his bald head was now covered with beautiful black hair—he had returned to secular life.

“Luo Yu Heng, she’s here.”

“Golden Lotus from the Earth Sect? Why did those two come?”

“Who’s that young man that the two Dao leaders are standing behind?”

The Celestial Sect disciples didn’t recognize Asura or even Xu Qi An, but they immediately recognized fellow Daoists Luo Yu Heng and Golden Lotus.

Master Xuan Cheng said flatly:

“Xu Qi An, what brings you to the Celestial Sect?”

Xu Qi An?

Great Zhou’s Constable Xu Qi An?

The Celestial Sect disciples’ expressions changed. Though they had minimal contact with the outside world, they weren’t completely isolated. The Celestial Sect still paid attention to changes in the Nine Provinces’ situation and notable figures.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have known what the Sleeping Dragon and Young Phoenix were doing in the jianghu.

The biggest recent event in the Nine Provinces was the suppression of the Central Plains rebellion, with Luo Yu Heng and Xu Qi An advancing to Tier 1, becoming two new true peak experts in the Nine Provinces.

Why had he come to the Celestial Sect?

In the crowd, Li Ling Su felt immensely relieved, wanting to throw himself into Xu Qi An’s arms and punch his chest, saying “You bastard, what took you so long!”

Li Miao Zhen half-opened her eyes, her no longer bright gaze reflecting the young man in blue robes, then slowly closed them.

You came!

“The Celestial Sect wants to harm my person—did you ask for my permission?”

Xu Qi An stood with his hands behind his back.

Sovereign Bing Yi said flatly:

“When did my disciple become your person?”

“Li Miao Zhen has rendered meritorious service in suppressing rebellion. His Majesty has rewarded her with the position of Roving General, a fifth-rank official. Does the Celestial Sect intend to harm a court official of my Great Zhou without regard for this Constable?”

Xu Qi An turned defense into offense, immediately placing a big accusation on them.

Of course, he spoke the truth—Li Miao Zhen did hold the military position of Roving General, personally conferred by Huai Qing’s imperial brush.

Master Golden Lotus smiled and chimed in:

“Li Miao Zhen is a member of our Heaven and Earth Society. This poor Daoist cannot stand by and watch her perish. I hope the Celestial Sect will show some consideration.”

This… Are four supernatural experts joining forces to pressure the sect over the Holy Daughter?

The Celestial Sect elders exchanged expressionless glances, then turned toward the Heavenly Sovereign Hall and said in unison:

“We request the Heavenly Sovereign’s decision!”

No stubbornness, no accusations—out of pure calmness and rationality, after assessing the situation, they felt this matter should be handled by the Heavenly Sovereign.

All the disciples fell silent, as quiet as cicadas in winter.

They found it incredible that these supernatural experts would risk enmity with the Celestial Sect for the Holy Daughter.

“This is the blessing Senior Sister cultivated, it’s her blessing.”

That young female Daoist covered her mouth, crying and laughing at once.

The Heavenly Sovereign’s majestic voice came from within the hall, devoid of emotion, as if having anticipated this:

“What do you intend to do?”