Chapter 823

Who is the demon?

Who is the righteous path?

Wu Tie's head, three treasures representing the orthodox true transmission of the White Lotus Palace, floated silently within that straight, soaring vast righteous qi.

Eight-End Inkstone, Mind-Ape Paperweight, Three Powers Ruler.

These three treasures are innate spiritual treasures formed by the nurturing of heaven and earth; obtained by the White Lotus Palace's ancestral masters, they have been carried constantly for countless years, nurtured by endless literary qi and their own spirit, thus becoming the White Lotus Palace's supreme treasures.

The Eight-End Inkstone represents humanity's 'Eight Extremities'; it is faith, it is totem, and it is the highest standard of mental cultivation promoted by the White Lotus Palace in the Fire Dynasty.

The Mind-Ape Paperweight is shaped like a spiritual monkey; it is also a treasure for cultivating the mind. It binds the mind-ape, restrains the will-horse, settles the heart and nurtures nature; even if heaven collapses, one is not startled. A true man, a genuine gentleman, is unmoved by wine, lust, wealth, and qi; he cannot be bent by force, nor indulged by riches—with the mind-ape and will-horse fully under control. This is also an extremely high demand placed on White Lotus Palace disciples.

As for the Three Powers Ruler, it is even the White Lotus Palace's supreme instrument of discipline; its status is comparable to a nation's criminal law, bearing extremely high symbolic significance.

The Three Powers Discipline Ruler has always been held by successive White Lotus Palace masters; over countless years, countless White Lotus Palace disciples have been punished by it, and even many White Lotus Palace masters, when they were just entering the sect, have tasted the bitter-sweet sting of being struck on the palm, forehead, and buttocks by the Three Powers Discipline Ruler.

The Eight-Sided Inkstone represents the highest standard of the White Lotus Palace.

The Mind-Monkey Paperweight represents the daily norms of a gentleman.

The Three Powers Discipline Ruler represents the sect's precepts and rules.

The three treasures representing the White Lotus Palace's orthodox transmission, moral standard, and disciplinary rules were abandoned by the current White Lotus Palace master, who fled to the chieftain of a barbarian small state...

Tens of thousands of White Lotus Palace disciples, including Bai Su Xin, all spat blood, their front garments soaked in blood, each face twisted like a vengeful ghost, countless terrifying thoughts flashing through their minds.

The ancestral graves of all past White Lotus Palace ancestors... were all blown up.

In the White Lotus Palace's mountain gate, all the archways erected generation after generation, honoring the many senior gentlemen of the White Lotus Palace, have also collapsed.

If this matter were to spread back to the Flame Dynasty, the foundation of the White Lotus Palace would shake; without the Red Lotus Temple and Green Lotus Temple needing to add insult to injury, the condemnations of all scholars across the Flame Dynasty would be enough to leave Bai Su Xin and the tens of thousands of White Lotus Palace disciples before me with no place to bury their dead.

"Who is the demon?" Wu Tie let out a fierce, long howl: "Who is the righteous path?"

Wave after wave of mighty, upright qi burst forth from the Eight-Sided Inkstone, its powerful and solemn pressure forcing tens of thousands of White Lotus Palace disciples, including Bai Su Xin, to lose their footing and continually stumble backward.

Moreover, some White Lotus Palace disciples had their internal energy thrown into chaos, unable even to maintain levitating flight, falling like stones from the sky, their white robes instantly stained with dust, looking utterly disheveled.

Bai Su Xin staggered backward dozens of steps, and in his ear came Feng Rong's urgent shriek: "Uncle, think of a way, uncle… you must not fall… even if you die, you cannot die carrying infamy!"

Feng Rong restrained his voice, used a secret technique to send a mental transmission to Bai Su Xin, and sternly rebuked: "Uncle, even if you die, you must die in a grand and glorious manner, die heroically and tragically, die with righteous vigor, die so that all under heaven are grief-stricken to the point of despair."

"You cannot die carrying infamy!"

"If you must die, die pure and clean, your name shaking mountains and rivers!"

"If, because of your infamy, I, the king, am unable to inherit the position of Divine Emperor… then the consequences are for you to ponder."

"Even without me lifting a finger, Feng Shang could exterminate your nine clans."

"Over these years, how much trouble have you caused Feng Shang, how much evil have you done, how much disgust have you added for him, how many personnel and material losses have you inflicted—figure it out yourself!"

Feng Rong has completely disregarded uncle-nephew affection, his original demeanor and temperament flaring up as he scolds Bai Su Xin like one would reprimand a grandson.

If Bai Su Xin implicates him, causing him to lose this great aid of the White Lotus Palace, Feng Rong could not care less about familial ties; he will absolutely not let Bai Su Xin's vast family behind him off the hook.

Given Feng Rong's nature, even in death he would surely drag countless people to be buried with him.

Bai Su Xin gritted his teeth, stared fiercely at Feng Rong, and spat another mouthful of blood: "Really, my fine nephew… hehe, these years I've taught you those things… hehe, only the poisonous make a man… hehe, really, my fine nephew."

"Only the poisonous make a man, only the poisonous make a man, only the poisonous make a man…" Bai Su Xin's eyes flashed with a fierce light as he suddenly straightened his waist, a domineering sword qi erupting from the top of his head, accompanied by a piercing screech; heavenly sword light like countless meteors crisscrossed and pierced, sweeping away the shattered, weak righteous qi above his head without a trace.

"White Lotus Palace disciples, hear my orders!" Bai Su Xin shouted sternly: "Form the Bai Su Xin White Lotus Sword Array!"

Bai Su Xin's pupils flickered with a strange, dark light as he hurriedly said: "This is an unsurpassable great demon, never seen before, a demonic tribulation the White Lotus Palace has never faced!"

"Do you disciples know that I, long ago three thousand years, already ascertained that in the history of the White Lotus Palace, several masters have had mysterious and suspicious whereabouts… Out of respect for the venerable, I have merely hidden the clues I found in my heart, not daring to speak them before others."

"Today, demonic flames rage, demonic might burns fierce; for the sake of the White Lotus Palace's inheritance, for its reputation, for that breath of righteous qi in the hearts of the myriad billions of scholars of the Flame Dynasty, I… can no longer concern myself with the posthumous names of those few ancestral masters."

A tortoise-patterned blue-steel sword appeared in his hand; Bai Su Xin raised the sword to the heavens and let out a long, gritted-teeth roar.

"The eleventh-generation master of the White Lotus Palace is a heavenly demon possessing a body."

"The fifteenth-generation master of the White Lotus Palace is an incarnation of an evil demon."

"The nineteenth-generation master of the White Lotus Palace is a reincarnation of a demonic star."

"These three masters have infiltrated our White Lotus Palace, leaving demonic methods in the Eight-Sided Inkstone, the Mind-Monkey Paperweight, and the Three Powers Discipline Ruler; their aim is to, today, sully the White Lotus Palace's pure name, disrupt its laws, ruin its inheritance, and vainly attempt to overthrow my Bai Su Xin White Lotus Palace!"

The tens of thousands of White Lotus Palace disciples gathered here are all Bai Su Xin's lineage's close disciples.

Originally, the righteous qi in their hearts had already completely collapsed, their dao hearts shattered; they were now at a loss, their souls not knowing where to settle.

Their White Lotus Palace's three symbolic treasures actually actively abandoned Bai Su Xin and defected to the barbarian chieftain!

Upon suddenly hearing Bai Su Xin's words, the tens of thousands of White Lotus Palace disciples were as if a guiding star had suddenly appeared before them, and at once that wavering heart found a steady place to rest.

All set!

Filthy water, and let's splash it on those ancestors who have been dead who knows how long, or whose whereabouts are unknown!

The eleventh-generation master of the White Lotus Palace crafted the Eight-Sided Inkstone stand.

The fifteenth-generation master of the White Lotus Palace crafted the Three Powers Discipline Ruler.

The nineteenth-generation master of the White Lotus Palace crafted the Mind-Monkey Paperweight.

As it turns out, these three masters were all incarnations of evil demons, having thousands of threads of connection with demons; long ago they had already laid ambushes with plots and schemes against the White Lotus Palace!

It is not Bai Su Xin who has a problem!

It is not these tens of thousands of Bai Su Xin's disciples who have a problem!

But rather, those three ancient masters from who knows how many years ago—they themselves are demons!

Excellent, excellent, the White Lotus Palace's inheritance is fine, the current White Lotus Palace master is fine, and the direct disciples under the current master are absolutely without problem!

Everything is the fault of those three old masters; all the blame lies with them.

Marvelous, marvelous.

Thus Bai Su Xin's pure name can be preserved.

Thus the White Lotus Palace's prestige is without worry.

Thus the interests of the current tens of thousands of White Lotus Palace disciples are also as stable as Mount Tai.

Quite a few of Bai Su Xin's true transmission disciples, stalwart close disciples, and behind them stood the scions of immensely powerful family clans; their eyes flashed with a vicious light, and their minds had already been filled with countless vicious thoughts.

Of the three Mountain Chiefs, aside from the eleventh-generation Mountain Chief who was a lone solitary with no family left, the fifteenth- and nineteenth-generation Mountain Chiefs each had a sizable family lineage still existing in the world.

Since those two Mountain Chiefs are both incarnations of evil demons… in order to make the people of the world believe this fact, then the clansmen they left behind, the descendants they left behind, must be evil demons.

They are evil demons, therefore they must be evil demons.

Even if they are not evil demons, once evidence is found, they must also be evil demons.

If there is no ready-made evidence, then we will fabricate evidence, then find evidence, immediately publish the evidence, using solid ironclad proof, so that everyone in the world understands that every member of those two families are evil demons!

Several hundred of Bai Su Xin's close disciples quickly exchanged a glance; then a faint light flickered in their sleeves, and they had already begun transmitting information to their families behind them.

Several hundred true transmission disciples of the White Lotus Palace had over a hundred royal families and several hundred powerful clans standing behind them.

With several hundred clans joining forces, the families left behind by those two Mountain Chiefs cannot protect their entire households; the extermination of their nine kinships is imminent.

Bai Su Xin's words had already convinced himself.

His gaze became extremely firm; he had even come to firmly believe that what he said was the 'fact', was the 'truth'.

Having served as Mountain Chief of the White Lotus Palace for so many years, Bai Su Xin had developed a very remarkable ability—the words he had just spoken had already become an 'unshakable' 'solid truth', like an indestructible archway planted in his heart.

He firmly believed that what he said was the truth, was the truth, his words were golden and jade, beyond dispute.

Therefore, the righteous aura above Bai Su Xin's head condensed once again; his hand-held tortoise-pattern azure steel sword emitted a righteous and pure sword qi, spotless and flawless, like a surging sword qi resembling a white lotus rising from water.

The sword qi tore through the air, pointing directly at Wu Tie.

Accompanied by the piercing sound of sword qi splitting the air, Bai Su Xin shouted loudly: 'Fellow disciples, follow me, exterminate the demons!'

Tens of thousands of White Lotus Palace disciples saw their righteous aura surge above their heads; they drew their swords, sword qi soared, righteous qi rose to the heavens, and a magnificent, glorious, grand sword formation instantly formed.

Tens of thousands of White Lotus Palace disciples with blood still dripping from their chins, proud as bloated lion-headed geese, stood tall-chested behind Bai Su Xin, sword qi crisscrossing in their hands, sword light shining a thousand miles, each chanting loudly: 'Between heaven and earth there is righteous qi, mingling and giving form to all things…'

Wu Tie shivered violently, goosebumps rising all over his body.

He could not imagine how this group of White Lotus Palace disciples, after just splashing filth water on their own ancestor's grave, could still so righteously sing such words of righteous aura!

'You lot, desecrating the sages!' Wu Tie's forehead and cheeks bulged with veins, his face twisted, like a vicious ghost.

'Evil demons and heretics, how could you understand us?' Bai Su Xin's hair flowed, his wide sleeves fluttered; he was handsome, his whole body like a beautiful jade, his skin seeming to glow in the sunlight.

Such bearing, such elegance, such extraordinary demeanor.

Compared to the one with veins bulging all over his face, Bai Su Xin and the White Lotus Palace disciples were like banished immortals who descended to subdue demons, while Wu Tie was truly a demon and monster.

The sword formation composed of tens of thousands of White Lotus Palace disciples surged toward Wu Tie.

White Lotus Palace disciples cultivate righteous aura and read the sages' classics, but what they are best at using to resist enemies in daily practice is still a mighty Pure Heart White Lotus Sword Formation.

This Pure Heart White Lotus Sword Formation is also acclaimed as the number one sword formation of the Blaze Dynasty!

A group of scholars, without using righteous aura to intimidate enemies, without using lofty words to persuade enemies, but instead drawing their knives to hack enemies to death…

Red Lotus Temple and Green Lotus Observatory both have old monsters mocking the White Lotus Palace, saying each generation is worse than the last, claiming they are all hypocritical gentlemen and fake scholars.

The White Lotus Palace disciples couldn't care less about those…

A gentleman may deceive with tactics… whether it's righteous aura, lofty words, or even hacking with chaotic knives, whatever can kill the enemy is a good method.

The magnificent sword formation surged forward, sword qi filling the sky, tens of thousands of strands of white, vast sword qi brimming with righteous aura converged together; instantly, white lotuses of all sizes wailed down from the sky, instantly enveloping Wu Tie.

Wu Tie 'hahaha' laughed madly.

The black sword in his hand emitted a piercing sword hum; Wu Tie shouted loudly: 'What a bunch of righteous gentlemen! In the Blaze Dynasty, with you lot running amok, I finally understand what the Blaze Dynasty is!'

'Do you measure up to your ancestors, the Sage of Humanity, Sui Ren Shi?'

Wu Tie strained his throat, exerting all his strength, and let out a roar like thunder.

Feng Rong saw the magnificent formation already engulfing Wu Tie, and immediately, with hands behind his back, calm and composed, he chuckled softly: 'Sage Sui Ren Shi? Heh, what a fool… I am a descendant of Sage Sui Ren Shi; my words and deeds represent the Sage's will!'

'You barbarians… understand jack shit!'

Sword qi rained down from the sky, white lotuses frantically cutting Wu Tie's body.

'Clang clang' loud noises continued without cease; white lotuses cut Wu Tie's body, sparks flying everywhere, yet not a single sword qi could cut his skin.

If it were an ordinary person trapped in the Pure Heart White Lotus Sword Formation, their body would certainly be ground to pieces by the sword qi, and their divine soul would also be shattered by the supreme righteous aura contained in the sword qi, their soul scattered and spirit dissipated, right before their eyes.

But… Wu Tie's divine soul was steadfast as a mountain, heavy as the earth, and furthermore protected by true righteous aura; how could the so-called righteous aura displayed by these White Lotus Palace disciples possibly shake his mind even a bit?

His divine soul cannot be shaken, his body cannot be injured; the methods of these White Lotus Palace disciples are completely useless against Wu Tie.

Sword qi crisscrossed, righteous qi raged; Wu Tie stood in the Pure Heart White Lotus Sword Formation, merely continuously infusing magical power into his black sword. The low hum of the sword, carrying boundless killing intent, rolled within the blade; suddenly, a murderous intent as if to slaughter all living beings and destroy all things surged to the heavens.

A single strand of black sword gleam easily pierced through the Pure Heart White Lotus Sword Formation.

Bai Su Xin and tens of thousands of White Lotus Palace disciples roared in unison: 'Demon… world-ending… great demon!'

'Clang'— tens of thousands of long swords snapped in unison, tens of thousands of right arms broke at the shoulder in unison.

The entire Pure Heart White Lotus Sword Formation collapsed; tens of thousands of White Lotus Palace disciples, faces ferocious, bodies covered in blood, fell from the air, each clutching wounds bleeding like springs, rolling and struggling on the ground.

Bai Su Xin trembled as he stood in midair, blankly staring at Wu Tie holding the black sword.

'No…'

Bai Su Xin let out a great roar.

The Three Powers Ruler flew out violently, a strike came down from above, splitting his head, causing his brains to burst and his divine soul to shatter.