Nightfall

Cheng Lixue hesitated for a moment before shaking his head.

The God of Revelation reminisced about the past and said indifferently, “Did you know, that Mr. Ke of the Academy had once exhibited Divine Skills?”

Cheng Lixue was shocked speechless to find that there were others outside of the West-Hill Divine Palace who could cultivate Divine Skills. He had barely accepted the things that had happened to Ning Que thanks to Sangsang. But when the God of Revelation told him that someone else had already learned the Divine Skills, he found it too hard to accept that even though the person was the legendary Mr. Ke.

The God of Revelation said, “It makes no difference to the Taoist sect whether Ning Que had learned the West-Hill Divine Skill from Sangsang or he had inherited the mantle of Mr. Ke.”

“But… Mr. Ke’s belief in Haotian could not possibly be firm. How could he cultivate the Divine Skills? If Ning Que had learned it from him, what exactly are Divine Skills then?”

Cheng Lixue said thoughtfully, “Since Ning Que was a student of Yan Se, we have to be more vigilant.”

“One’s beliefs have always been a complicated issue. As for what a firm belief is, only the great Haotian can make the judgment.”

The God of Revelation said blandly, “Your doubts are not the responsibility of the Revelation Department but the Judicial Department. Pen a letter back to West-Hill and have them settle it themselves.”

Cheng Lixue agreed and thought of the earlier message from West-Hill. He frowned slightly and said, “I heard that the God of Judgement has not yet fully healed and his mood recently…”

The God of Revelation looked into his eyes silently. He said, “Of the responsibilities of the three departments in the Divine Hall, the Judicial Department’s has barely anything to do with you. Yet, you seem to be affected by it.”

Cheng Lixue said surprisedly when he heard that, “I do not understand.”

The God of Revelation looked at the dark floors before him as if he was seeing the dark prison in the depths of the Peach Mountain. He lamented, “The original intention of the Judicial Department when they advocated for Ning Que was to anger the Sword Garret. The crux of the matter was that the battle at the Academy’s doors originated from here, and was planned by the Judicial Department. However, those who are used to using violence have never understood that this was a matter between the Academy and Liu Bai. It was the Divine Hall’s mistake when they interfered in it. The more they did, the more mistakes they committed.”

Cheng Lixue only knew then, that the West-Hill Divine Palace had a hand in today’s battle.

The God of Revelation lowered his lids. The creases at the corner of his eyes deepened and he said wearily, “Senior Brother Guang Ming has already passed on. I am already old. I feel somewhat uneasy knowing that something serious is about to happen to the Judicial Department.”

Cheng Lixue asked anxiously, “Since you already know that something is about to happen, why not stop it from happening before it does?”

The God of Revelation raised his head and looked at Cheng Lixue pityingly. He said, “You have been following me for over two decades. And you’ve been in the Revelation Department for a long time. Do you still not know, that Revelations are from the Heavens? We might be able to know about certain incidents earlier than secular men. But those are things that Haotian allowed us to know. Stop it in advance? Wouldn’t that mean going against the will of Heaven? Furthermore, the thing that will happen to the Judicial Department might not necessarily be bad for the Divine Hall.”

…

…

The Zhishou Abbey was an Unknown Place.

Not many knew of the existence of this rundown Taoist temple.

Even if they did, they did not know that this Taoist temple in the clouds of the Haotian Taoism Gates was but a mere distance from the Peach Mountain. They did not know that it watched the grand and majestic Taoist temples quietly.

There was a little straw hut by the lake behind the Taoist temple.

The lake breeze entered through the windows once more, flipping open the first page of the “Ri” book of the Tomes of Arcane. It stopped on a page.

The middle-aged Taoist by the table looked at the name on the page. He did not say anything.

He had watched over the Tomes of Arcane for many years, but he had never seen something like this happening to the “Ri” book.

The name had disappeared three months ago.

The name appeared once more yesterday. However, it did not return to its original spot. It moved with the lake breeze, and appeared on the page before it sometimes. It would occasionally appear on the page after that, but it never stayed. It only returned to its original page at the very end, but its position had changed.

The name used to be in an inconspicuous corner, but now, it appeared on the top of the page. It was like a smoke rising from the wild, almost touching the skies.

“The Headmaster of the Academy is indeed incredible…That person had raised from the lower Seethrough State to threshold of the Knowing Destiny State.”

The middle-aged Taoist looked at the name that would not stay in one spot. He smiled and said, “I have watched over the Tomes of Arcane for years, and the rate at which your state had risen could be ranked in the top five. However, the elusiveness of your state is definitely in the first place.”

Not far away, Prince Long Qing’s name was just as faint as before. However, the last stroke of his name seemed to be darker than before, as if someone had added a drop of ink on it.

The middle-aged Taoist did not notice the change in Prince Long Qing’s name.

His attention was fully on the name that would not stay still.

Then, he lifted his head to look at the highest spot on that page of the Tomes of Arcane and nodded with satisfaction.

Ye Hongyu’s name hung high up on the page as if it would leap out of the page anytime. The other names on the page trailed behind it at a distance.

…

…

There was a gap in the cliffs of the Peach-Mountain of West Hill that looked as if it had been cleaved by a divine ax. And between that cliff, there was a large Taoist temple made from several large black rocks. A figure clad in blue stood on the stone steps before the temple which made him particularly small.

Ye Hongyu no longer wore those bright red and beautiful dresses after returning from the Wilderness. Perhaps she had tired of the red that was the color of blood, or she wanted to hide the two terrifying wounds on her shoulders. Instead, she wore the greed taoist robes that the lowly taoist servant women wore.

The deacons of the Divine Hall Judicial Department watched her with a myriad of expressions. Some were scornful, dismaying, pitying, mocking, disdainful and even angry. They were mostly negative.

She used to be the Grand Master of the Judicial Department, second only to God. Everyone in the Haotian Taoism spoke highly of her. She was proud and cold. Even though she handed over the tasks of the Judicial Department to Prince Long Qing, she would punish the deacons mercilessly should they commit any mistake.

Everyone in the Judicial Department respected her due to her coldness and strength. However, now everyone had found that the Tao Addict was no longer the same person, and that she was neither cold nor strong anymore, no one respected her. Some even looked at her with deliberately mocking expressions.

The West-Hill Divine Palace had sent most of their powers into the Wilderness last year for the “Ming” Handscroll of the Tomes of Arcane. The Judicial Department was in charge of it, or in other words, Ye Hongyu was in charge.

The Judicial Department had planned for a long time, but eventually failed. The general of the cavalryman of Divine Hall was punished, two deacons had mysteriously disappeared, Prince Long Qing had been ruined, they had failed at stealing the Tomes of Arcane. The Judicial Department that had once been cold and powerful now seemed weak.

No one in the Divine Hall would have cared about the competing of the “Ming” Handscroll of the Tomes of Arcane before. What had originally been something between cultivators had turned into a matter between the World Wayfarers of the Academy and other Unknown places. Ye Hongyu was no longer qualified to participate in a battle of that level, and she shouldn’t. Everyone thought that since she was the Grand Master of the Judicial Department, the failure was her fault.

The West-Hill Divine Palace believed in the light of Haotian. But it was complete darkness in Temple Taoism. The ability of the Judicial Department to work in the dark was a revered ability. That was why all those things that had happened would not have affected her should she still be the strong Tao Addict of the West-Hill Divine Palace.

The issue was, Ye Hongyu wasn’t strong anymore.

She had encountered the terrifying Master Lotus at the Front Gate of the Devil’s Doctrine during her trip to the Wilderness. Master Lotus had used the practice of Taotie to devour her flesh. She had unleashed a secret sect skill to decrease her state just as she was on the brink of death to exchange for a momentary light. She had managed to escape death and return by working together with Ning Que and Mo Shanshan.

However, she had just entered the Knowing Destiny State at the snow cliff and her State was unstable. A fearful backlash had occurred when she forced her State to decrease. It continued falling and did not even manage to stay in the upper Seethrough State.

Judging from the current trend, her State might fall to even below the lower Seethrough State before stabilizing. What was scarier was, she might never return to the Knowing Destiny State.

Was the Tao Addict still the Tao Addict if she was no longer strong?

Those from the Judicial Department who only respected power no longer respected her as before. However, Ye Hongyu became more silent and calm in the face of these changes. She moved into a quiet and secluded stone house as if she had wanted to convey a message to the masses through this act.

However, it led to more people feeling that she no longer had the right to be respected.

The emotions in gazes of those people in the West-Hill Divine Palace turned even more complicated. The mocking expressions in their gazes turned more and more plain, and a saying begun to spread in the Judicial Department.

Prince Long Qing was dead, so was the Tao Addict.

The girl standing before the temple in green was just a useless person called Ye Hongyu.

…

…

A deacon walked out of the Judicial Hall and invited her in with a warm expression.

Ye Hongyu nodded slightly, and then walked into the black hall.

It was wide and open in the black hall. There was a curtain woven with jade beads in the deepest part of the hall.

Ye Hongyu walked very slowly and it took her a long time to reach the curtain.

Behind the curtains was a divine throne carved from an entire piece of South Sea ink Jade. The color of the jade was like that of congealed blood.

The God of Judgement held his head in his hands and sat on the throne. He looked as if he was resting and did not speak.

Ye Hongyu stood behind the curtains quietly and did not speak as well.

The air was still in the empty hall, and the silence dragged on.

She seemed to comprehend something.

Then, she lifted the front of her green taoist robes and knelt before the God behind the curtains.

Everyone in the Judicial Department had to kneel before the God of Judgement to show their respect and obedience.

Only the Tao Addict did not have to do that in the past because she was proud and strong.

But she was no longer the Tao Addict. And that was why she had to kneel, and she had to kneel more respectfully than the others.