Desolate Devouring Art

Without delay, the Huang Clan's elders called on Huang Zechang to explain what had happened.

Huang Zechang gave them a complete account, withholding nothing. Both elders accepted his words without suspicion. They knew his character. If he had done wrong, he would have owned up to it.

"Gentlemen, we represent the Huang Clan of Mulberry Sea City. Our clan has enjoyed friendly relations with the Azure Jade Palace for generations. Could there be a misunderstanding?" the two Immortal Kings asked, setting aside their own standing to address two mere Golden Immortals with respect.

Even an ordinary inner disciple of the Azure Jade Palace outranked an elder from a third-tier clan. In the celestial realm, just the name of a superpower conferred that kind of authority.

Learning that Huang Zechang came from the Huang Clan made the two disciples uneasy.

"And what makes the Huang Clan so special? We're members of the Ji Clan," the three thieves declared, hastening to invoke their own backing. With an Immortal Lord at its head, the Ji Clan stood above the Huang Clan in status.

Both clans served as subsidiaries of the Azure Jade Palace and paid tribute every year. Throughout the surrounding region, countless others likewise sheltered beneath its protection. Such arrangements extended throughout the Celestial Realm, where clans aligned themselves with superpowers for security.

"We're carrying out our duties. Unless you can establish your innocence, the rules leave us no choice but to expel all of you and revoke your qualifications for the assessment," the two Azure Jade Palace disciples stated. That restrained answer was already a concession to the Huang Clan's elders.

Before the elders intervened, they had been ready to drag Liu Wuxie and Huang Zechang out by force.

"We may not have hard evidence, but anyone with eyes can see what's happening! That brat is only at the Profound Immortal Realm. He must have wanted the immortal rice to raise his cultivation!" The three Ji Clan disciples protested, rushing forward as they realized that they, too, now faced disqualification.

The Ji Clan disciple in the middle shot Liu Wuxie a sneer, but all he received in return was a calm smile.

"They have a point. What's a Profound Immortal doing at a superpower's recruitment? Could another force have sent him here as a spy?" Suspicion rippled through the gathering. Liu Wuxie's low cultivation had become an excuse to invent charges against him.

Huang Zechang's face reddened in fury. Right and wrong meant nothing to these people. The Celestial Realm permitted the strong to devour the weak, but did that leave no room for conscience or basic decency?

The spectators wanted a spectacle, nothing more. Each participant who drove out a rival improved their own prospects of entering the Azure Jade Palace. An opportunity to strike at someone already under pressure was too tempting to waste.

"Elder Huang, does this man belong to your Huang Clan?" one Azure Jade Palace disciple asked.

Until then, the two Immortal Kings had concentrated on Huang Zechang and given Liu Wuxie scarcely a glance. Once they looked more closely, it was obvious that he was not one of their party.

"He isn't one of ours," the two Immortal Kings replied, shaking their heads.

The answer gave the Azure Jade Palace disciples an immediate solution. Liu Wuxie had no protection from the Huang Clan.

"We have reason to suspect you're a spy for another force. Since this is your first offense, leave the Azure Jade Palace immediately. You are never to return," they ordered, directing their accusations at Liu Wuxie. As overseers of the rice paddy fields, they owed the sect an explanation for the stolen immortal rice.

Liu Wuxie laughed. "How convenient. Is this how the Azure Jade Palace conducts itself? Weak cultivators are yours to manipulate, bully, and throw out whenever it suits you?" He had held his tongue to see how the Azure Jade Palace would handle the dispute. Instead, it had shown him the same treatment he could expect from other sects, judging him solely by his low cultivation.

Anger sharpened every word. If this was the measure of the Azure Jade Palace, he had little reason to join it. At worst, he could make for the Cloud Weave Mountain Range and join the Elven Race.

"You dare insult the Azure Jade Palace, brat? Do you think we won't kill you where you stand?!" the two disciples roared, unleashing a surge of murderous intent toward him.

The growing commotion attracted still more spectators. They packed themselves around the confrontation in successive rings.

"Elders, neither Liu Wuxie nor I did anything wrong. We have to speak up," Huang Zechang urged, eager to reason with the two Azure Jade Palace disciples. They were innocent. Why should either of them submit to false accusations?

The Huang Clan's two Immortal Kings hauled him back, preventing him from approaching or saying anything further. Liu Wuxie was only a rogue cultivator. Taking his side did not justify making an enemy of the Azure Jade Palace.

"Go on, then. Try it!" Liu Wuxie challenged. Explanations would serve no purpose. He had ways to prove his innocence, but he had intentionally withheld them, letting the confrontation reveal how the Azure Jade Palace would respond.

One more provocation could send the entire dispute erupting into violence.

The spectators could scarcely believe Liu Wuxie's defiance. "Has that brat lost his mind? Challenging Azure Jade Palace inner disciples in front of everyone? Does he want to die?!" Even Immortal Kings showed those inner disciples courtesy. What right did a mere third-level Profound Immortal have to stand against them?

Disbelieving murmurs swept through the crowd as heads shook in every direction. To the onlookers, Liu Wuxie’s actions could only be described as madness.

"He's a reckless idiot. Just wait and see how he meets his end."

Nearby patrolling elders soon noticed the disturbance. Ninety percent of the Azure Jade Palace's elders had emerged from seclusion to patrol the surrounding mountain range.

Three formidable presences descended, spreading terrifying Immortal Venerable Realm auras over the crowd. While passing overhead, they had spotted thousands of people gathered below. The sounds of an argument had drawn them down to investigate.

"What's the meaning of this?" the three elders demanded, frowning at the two disciples.

Seeing them, the disciples finally panicked.

"Elder Kong, Elder Wu, Elder Hai, we caught this man stealing our immortal rice. We were about to expel him," the two reported, their gazes directing the elders toward Liu Wuxie.

As the three elders looked his way, Liu Wuxie recognized one of them. He was the elder who had come during last night's Ivory Wraith Worms attack and wiped out the insects.

"So it's you!" Elder Kong exclaimed, stepping closer.

"My respects, Elder Kong," Liu Wuxie replied, bowing with calm composure.

"Is their accusation true? Did you steal the immortal rice?" Elder Kong asked.

"Once someone decides to condemn you, any excuse will serve," Liu Wuxie replied, leaving no doubt about his position. Accusations could not turn innocence into guilt, nor could they cleanse the guilty.

"Elders, we're innocent! Those men stole the immortal rice!" Huang Zechang cried. When the two Immortal Kings' attention strayed, he slipped free of their grasp and hurried to Elder Kong, relating the incident from beginning to end.

The three elders turned toward the Ji Clan disciples, frowning.

"Is his account true?" Elder Kong demanded, his expression growing cold as he scrutinized the three.

"Bullshit! Where's their proof that we stole anything?" The Ji Clan disciples protested. The Immortal Venerables' suppression stirred panic within them, and they struggled to steady themselves and hold their ground.

Without proof, no one could establish their guilt. If the dispute remained nothing more than accusations, it would eventually amount to nothing.

"You want proof? That's simple enough," Liu Wuxie said with a mocking smile.

Everyone looked at him. The three elders watched alongside the others, waiting to discover what evidence he possessed.

"Do you have proof?" The two Azure Jade Palace disciples went rigid. Huang Zechang was just as astonished. If Liu Wuxie could prove their innocence, why had he waited so long?

The dispute had allowed Liu Wuxie to assess whether the Azure Jade Palace deserved his allegiance. The three elders had given him an answer he could accept. Unlike the two inner disciples who had taken a bribe and turned against him, they had favored neither side. Corruption existed within every sect, and even the superpowers were no exception.

"Then please show us your evidence, young man," Elder Kong invited politely.

Liu Wuxie offered no reply. His hand moved through the air, inscribing a strange rune. With heaven and earth as his medium, he began shaping a talisman before him.

"What's he doing?" the onlookers asked, watching his movements in confusion.

Only the three elders narrowed their eyes in recognition. They understood which talisman he meant to create. Throughout the Celestial Realm, only a few possessed the skill to inscribe it.

"Can anyone explain what he's trying to do?" the spectators asked one another, trading bewildered looks. Even many Immortal Kings found his actions impossible to decipher.

"I have no idea," a Great Golden Immortal replied, shaking his head. He had never encountered such a talisman and recognized nothing about it.

The three Azure Jade Palace elders looked at one another. Each saw the same astonishment in the others' eyes.

"Everyone else, leave immediately!" Elder Kong ordered. He dismissed every uninvolved spectator, including the Huang Clan's two elders. Only Liu Wuxie, Huang Zechang, the three elders, the two Azure Jade Palace disciples, and the three Ji Clan disciples remained.

Liu Wuxie kept inscribing. As the talisman's form became distinct, the character "Truth" appeared upon it. Seeing a word emerge on a talisman was an exceedingly rare occurrence.

"What do we do now, Elder Brother?" the Ji Clan disciples asked, their composure finally giving way. They could not leave, and the pressure grew heavier with every passing moment.

"I've already sent word to the elder. He's coming, and he'll protect us," the eldest assured them. He had secretly contacted a clan elder who occupied a position within the Azure Jade Palace.

The way the two inner disciples had behaved already spoke volumes about the Ji Clan's influence in the Azure Jade Palace.

As the talisman took form, light kindled in the three elders' eyes. Their suspicions had been right. Even so, Liu Wuxie's talent for talismans exceeded their expectations.

The talisman path was not the foundation of the Azure Jade Palace. Yet talismans were indispensable throughout the Celestial Realm, and every force invested effort in developing them.

"Let heaven and earth uphold the truth; let my word become law!" Liu Wuxie declared, setting the final rune into place and completing the Truth Talisman before them.