The trait force field of All Things Are As Me had already enveloped the surroundings, allowing Jiang to perceive that Zhou and the others were not lying.
Thus, it was now his turn to find the situation hard to accept.
He naturally knew about the disturbance at Alliance Headquarters five years ago. However, that incident had been quelled quickly, and the only outcome had been that the Dharma Transmitters in charge of administering political affairs were swapped out for a different batch. No casualties had occurred.
With his primary duty being to safeguard the security and stability of the Xuanhuang Realm, he had not stepped in to intervene.
In his view, so long as the Alliance's operation remained unaffected, who held the reins made no real difference.
After all, those fellows in the Council of Dharma Transmitters were pretty much cut from the same cloth.
However, if remnants of the Profound Heaven Sect had infiltrated the Council of Dharma Transmitters, and they were secretly plotting something detrimental to the Xuanhuang Realm...
...the nature of the matter became completely different.
The Heavenly Venerable had entrusted him with the heavy responsibility of overseeing the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals. For such a massive oversight to occur on his watch was unquestionably dereliction of duty!
"I will thoroughly investigate this matter," he promised with a grim expression, looking at Zhou, Huang, and Wei.
"Time is of the essence. Please return with me to Alliance Headquarters."
Saying so, Jiang looked toward the immortal puppet Li Fan beside them. "This fellow Daoist, please come along as well. If not for your warning this time, I'm afraid I would still be kept in the dark."
It was merely a puppet body, so Li Fan naturally had nothing to fear, promptly agreeing.
Dharma Transmitter Jiang waved his hand lightly, opening a spatial passage leading to Alliance Headquarters out of thin air, and stepped in first.
Feeling the long-lost yet familiar aura on the other end of the passage, Dharma Transmitter Zhou and the other two all wore complex expressions.
Taking a deep breath, they filed inside one after another.
Just as Immortal Puppet Li Fan followed them into Alliance Headquarters, three distant, resonant tolls of a bell carried over from the horizon.
"The Great Bell of the Dharma Transmitters. Three strikes of the bell echo across Xuanhuang. No matter where they are, whether willing or not, as long as they hear this tolling, all Dharma Transmitters must return to Alliance Headquarters within a single day."
"It has been a long time since I last heard it," Dharma Transmitter Wei said with deep emotion.
In the eyes of Zhou and Huang was an identical sense of wistful melancholy.
Alliance Headquarters entered a state of emergency martial law: entry permitted, exit forbidden.
In the deepest space of Alliance Headquarters, a circular assembly hall materialized out of thin air.
One Dharma Transmitter after another arrived at the venue, their expressions solemn.
Although they did not know why Jiang had summoned everyone, since the great bell had tolled, something monumental was bound to occur.
As the attendees grew in number, quiet murmurs gradually began to rise across the hall.
"Huh? Even Hua came? Ever since she indulged herself in that paradise pocket world of hers, I haven't seen her in over a thousand years, have I?"
"Never mind Hua. Even Zhou and the other exiled ones have returned."
"When was the last time we had such a lively gathering?"
...
Once all the surviving Dharma Transmitters in the Xuanhuang Realm were present, the assembly officially commenced.
Including Dharma Transmitter Jiang, there were twenty-eight in total.
With the addition of Immortal Puppet Li Fan, a total of twenty-nine individuals took part in the assembly.
Li Fan stole a glance at Dharma Transmitter Feng—in other words, Mo Rubin.
Curiously enough, Feng showed no fear on his face.
Even upon seeing Li Fan appear, he displayed neither panic nor surprise, merely nodding slightly in greeting.
*Interesting,* Li Fan sneered inwardly, returning the nod.
Succinct and to the point, Dharma Transmitter Jiang laid out to everyone the possibility that a Profound Heaven Sect Dharma King had infiltrated their ranks.
This instantly caused an uproar among the Dharma Transmitters.
"The Profound Heaven Sect? When we launched our uprising, hadn't they been dead and gone for ages? After so many years, their ghosts still linger?"
"This... possessing someone without triggering the Heavenly Venerable's restrictions? Isn't that being a bit alarmist?"
"Fascinating, truly fascinating. What an ideal plaything, jie jie jie..."
Reactions varied across the room.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Dharma Transmitter Zhou produced the puppet figurine Li Fan had provided, which continuously circulated Profound Heaven Sect techniques.
*Buzz, buzz, buzz...*
The moment the figurine appeared, it reacted immediately.
As if alive, its eyes snapped open, glaring directly one after another at four people in the hall, including Dharma Transmitter Feng.
*Previously, only three Dharma Transmitters triggered a reaction. Has another one been possessed in such a short span of time?* Zhou thought, shocked and furious.
"Everyone, here is the proof!" Zhou then announced in a ringing voice, briefly explaining the puppet figurine's operating principle.
Gaze after gaze locked onto Feng and the other three.
Dharma Transmitter Jiang's face darkened as well. "You..."
Before Jiang could finish his questioning, Feng cut him off: "I object to Zhou's assertion."
"Techniques prove nothing."
"The techniques of the Profound Heaven Sect are passed down from the Immortal Realm. I had the good fortune to obtain several scrolls of them and, tempted by novelty, began cultivating them thereafter. What is improper about that?"
"Upon cultivating them, I discovered they were indeed extraordinary. So, I shared the remaining techniques with my brothers."
"Is there something wrong with that as well?"
Feng spoke with resonant conviction.
Looking around, his eyes burning bright, he showed not the slightest embarrassment of having a plot exposed. "Brothers, ask yourselves honestly: if immortal techniques were placed before you, could you resist the urge and refrain from cultivating them?"
"I'm afraid not many of us could do so, could they?"
The moment those words were spoken, an uncanny silence fell over the hall.
After a moment of contemplation, the Dharma Transmitters surprisingly found that Dharma Transmitter Feng had a point.
Indeed, what fault was there in a cultivation technique?
Could guilt really be established solely on the basis of cultivated techniques?
If so, hardly any of the Dharma Transmitters sitting here could be considered entirely innocent.
Even Dharma Transmitter Jiang was plunged into contemplation for a moment.
"As for the accusation of being possessed by Profound Heaven Sect fiends and harboring malicious intent toward the Alliance..."
After the brief quiet, Dharma Transmitter Feng spoke impassionedly once more: "I am willing to voluntarily submit to the examination of the Oath of the Dharma Transmitters to demonstrate that I have never forgotten my original purpose."
He spoke with resolute determination.
"I am willing as well."
"My heart will never waver."
The other three Dharma Transmitters detected with the aura of the Profound Heaven Sect also voiced their agreement with fervent righteousness, one after another.
Li Fan exchanged a glance with Dharma Transmitter Zhou and the others, a bad premonition suddenly rising in his heart.
Yet now, the arrow was nocked on the string and had to be loosed.
Under Jiang's presiding, the examination of the Oath of the Dharma Transmitters officially began.
Within the circular assembly hall, the Dharma Transmitters all kept their eyes half-closed, murmuring incantations under their breath.
Above in the void, the phantoms of countless fallen and sacrificed pioneering Dharma Transmitters seemed to materialize.
Densely packed, they occupied almost the entirety of the hall's space.
Dharma Transmitter Feng stood tall in the center of the circular hall, facing the scrutiny of countless gazes, steadfast and immovable.
"I, Dharma Transmitter Feng."
"My original intent to deliver Xuanhuang from dire distress has never changed."
"It is so now, and so it shall remain forever."
He began with this opening declaration, and then spoke with poise and fluency, speaking straight from his heart.
Chapter 1071