Just as the old patriarch forced me to my death, I achieved the unity of Dao and fruition.

Xuandu Taiyi Sect, Sect Master Dao Palace.

The once spacious and quiet hall is now filled with people.

The Lin family patriarch, several elders in charge of various affairs, and high-ranking officials in charge of the Xuan Tian Patrol and sect criminal law all stood in the hall.

The atmosphere inside the main hall was almost frozen.

Xiao Xuanming stood in the center of the hall, his face slightly pale.

Above him sat an old woman dressed in a moon-white dress.

She looked to be only in her early forties, and her face still showed traces of her youthful beauty, but her temples were already streaked with gray, and her brows were filled with an uncontrollable fierceness.

The Lin family's Supreme Being undergoes tribulation.

Lin Hanyue's grandmother.

It is also the true pillar of the Lin family.

The mid-stage Tribulation Transcending cultivation level shrouded the entire hall without any concealment, making the Nascent Soul cultivators below dare not even breathe too heavily.

Xiao Xuanming reorganized the intelligence that had just been delivered, then cupped his hands and said:

"According to the news sent back from the border town, after Junior Nephew Hanyue arrived, he used the pretext of searching the Holy Sect and the Demon Clan to conduct a series of inspections of the two urban areas controlled by the Xuandu Taiyi Sect."

"In ten days, a total of seventy-two shops and sixteen minor sect residences were sealed off."

"Today, she encountered a powerful member of the Holy Church on the long street."

"There are thirteen people on the other side, all of whom are at the Integration Realm, and the leader is even at the late Integration Realm."

"They seemed to have been prepared, and attacked Han Yue's junior disciple directly in the city."

Lin Taishang asked coldly:

"Where are the others in the city?"

"With so many Holy Church entities appearing, are all the local forces and other sects dead?"

Xiao Xuanming paused for a moment.

"None of the local forces have made a move."

"As for the other major sects stationed at the border, they initially made some moves, but later it seems they received orders from their respective sect leaders and retreated."

"From beginning to end, no one helped."

boom!

The long table in front of Lin Tai instantly turned into dust.

The moon-white long dress moves on its own even without wind.

There wasn't much anger on her face, but her eyes were chillingly cold.

"Excellent! Excellent! What a fine example of the ten major sects, helping and supporting each other."

"When dividing up the interests of the Central Plains, everyone says that the major branches of the human race are closely connected and will jointly resist the Holy Church and the demon race."

"Now that the Holy Church is openly besieging and killing my Lin family's prodigy in the streets, they're certainly enjoying a good show."

She raised her head and looked at Xiao Xuanming.

"After this incident, the other sects must give the Lin family an explanation."

"As for the local forces in the border town..."

Lin Taishang's voice was completely calm.

"Since we're watching Hanyue get surrounded and killed, then we'll leave no one alive."

Xiao Xuanming's lips tightened slightly.

Several local forces in the border town have Transcending Tribulation experts stationed there.

No one left?

It's not as simple as it sounds.

But seeing that Lin Taishang was clearly enraged, he didn't dare to refute him on the spot and could only bow and agree.

"The sect will send people to thoroughly investigate this matter."

"A thorough investigation?"

Lin Taishang's eyes turned cold.

"I didn't ask you to investigate whether they are guilty or not."

"I want them to die."

Just as Xiao Xuanming was wondering how to answer, a slightly impatient voice suddenly came from outside the hall.

"Elder Lin... Fellow Daoist Lin, what's wrong with you here?"

Lin Taishang suddenly looked up.

The others in the hall also turned around.

A figure in black robes appeared at the palace gate at some unknown time.

He was a middle-aged man who looked to be around forty years old. His long hair was casually tied up with a wooden hairpin, and he did not wear any magical artifacts.

But as soon as he stepped into the main hall, the overwhelming pressure of the tribulation-crossing aura emanating from Elder Lin was silently pushed away.

Xiao Xuanming's face immediately lit up with joy.

"Disciple greets Master."

The man in black nodded.

He was Xiao Xuanming's master.

He was also the Transcending Tribulation Supreme Elder whom Gu Changjin nominally became a disciple of.

Both are at the mid-stage of the Tribulation Transcending Realm.

Lin Taishang stared at him coldly.

My granddaughter is dead.

"If you're here to laugh, you can get lost now."

The man in black found a seat and casually poured himself a cup of spiritual tea.

"What does your granddaughter's death have to do with me?"

"Do you expect the entire Taiyi Dao Sect of Xuandu to wear mourning clothes with you?"

Lin Taishang's expression grew even more unpleasant.

However, no one in the main hall dared to interrupt.

Even if it's just a verbal argument between two mid-stage Tribulation Transcending cultivators, it's something these people can't get involved in.

The silence lasted for a moment.

Lin Taishang seemed to have finally suppressed his anger, and said in a stiff voice:

"Help me this once."

The man in black, holding a teacup, froze in mid-air.

He raised his head, and a smug, almost obnoxious smile gradually appeared on his face.

"What did you say?"

Lin Taishang gritted his teeth.

"I will use the Heavenly Shadow Detective Technique."

"Using the lingering spiritual energy of Hanyue in the Soul Lamp, we can trace the cause and effect of her death and find the true culprit."

"This item requires the joint signature of two Transcending Tribulation Supreme Elders to be retrieved from the sect's ancestral treasury."

"Please help me this time."

The man in black was silent for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

"You're begging me?"

"Fellow Daoist Lin, you actually have a day when you need my help?"

"You didn't speak like this back when we were fighting over the Enlightenment Pool of the Great Void!"

"Okay, okay!"

"Just because of what you said today, what harm is there in me helping you?"

Lin Taishang's face darkened.

If he weren't truly needed right now, he probably would have already turned and left.

The Seeking Heaven Shadow is one of the most treasured artifacts of the Xuandu Taiyi Sect.

It lacks the ability to directly kill, but it can use the remnant souls of the dead, karma, and aura to trace back events that occurred within a certain period of time.

Even if the murderer tries to cover up the truth or erase all traces at the scene, it is difficult to completely escape its pursuit.

However, using this treasure requires consuming a large amount of spiritual energy.

The sect will never open its doors unless it is at a truly crucial moment.

Now that a genius at the Integration Realm has fallen, and more than a dozen other Saintly Integration Realm cultivators are involved, he is barely qualified.

Lin Taishang ignored the laughter of the man in black and looked at Xiao Xuanming again.

"Before the 'Seeking Heaven's Shadow' is activated, all those who have had conflicts with Han Yue will be taken to the Hall of Punishments."

"Regardless of rank, no one is allowed to leave the sect even for a moment."

"We'll deal with them one by one after the results are out."

"Better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free."

Just as Xiao Xuanming was about to accept the order, he suddenly remembered someone.

"Your Majesty, there is probably one more person you need to consider regarding this matter."

Lin Taishang's gaze fell down.

"Who?"

Xiao Xuanming looked at his master.

"The disciple that Master recently accepted."

"Gu Changjin".

The man in black raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Oh?"

Xiao Xuanming recounted the entire story of Gu Changjin entering the sect with the token, being accepted as a disciple, and later carrying out missions with Lin Hanyue.

Including Lin Hanyue's secret manipulations, Gu Changjin narrowly escaped from the Black Mist Spider Mother.

The sect originally intended to make Lin Hanyue apologize, but in the end, nothing came of it.

He didn't even hide the results from the Heavenly Mirror.

"The degree of common origin between the grotto-heavens is less than 10%, the laws are mottled, and the internal and external foundations are mutually exclusive."

"According to the calculations of the Heavenly Mirror, Junior Brother Gu has almost no chance of reaching the Integration Stage."

"Before his junior disciple Hanyue had the accident, he had just finished his seclusion."

"Although this matter may not be related to him, there was indeed a conflict between the two parties."

The hall fell silent once more.

Lin Tai looked at the man in black without any expression.

"Your disciple?"

"Then we should bring him here and ask him to clarify."

The man in black did not answer immediately.

He didn't actually have much of an impression of Gu Changjin.

That old friend had once done him a great favor. Before parting ways, the friend left him a keepsake, asking him to take care of a descendant of his bloodline.

However, what he promised at the time was that if anyone came with a token within three thousand years, he would take them as his disciple.

But as the years went by, he almost forgot about it.

It wasn't until Gu Changjin appeared and Xiao Xuanming reported to him that he casually issued a decree to acknowledge this disciple.

In retrospect, a Void Returning cultivator who is almost unable to break through to the Integration stage is indeed not worth it for him to confront the already insane Elder of the Lin family head-on for the sake of that person.

The man in black glanced at Lin Taishang and suddenly asked:

"Xuanming".

"Back then, I promised my old friend that I would take care of his descendants for the next three thousand years."

"How much time has passed since then?"

Xiao Xuanming was slightly taken aback, but then immediately understood his master's meaning.

He lowered his head and calculated for a moment, his expression respectful.

"Respectfully informing my Master."

"Exactly 3001."

The man in black picked up the teacup and gently blew away the steam from the water.

"It's a year too late. It seems we were destined to be apart."

He shook his head, his tone tinged with emotion.

"It is fate."