The Immortal Celestial was glad he possessed the memories of all his believers, especially those of a series of outstanding disciples represented by the Cult Master who were well-versed in criminal law.
A huge help!
His situation was an exceptional case. In the cultivation world, children matured early, so the age of criminal responsibility in the Great Xia Dynasty's penal code was set very low. But no matter how low it was, it would never stipulate that a five-day-old infant could commit a crime.
He truly had only been born five days ago; he simply possessed formidable power and knew many things right from birth. Currently, the Great Xia Dynasty's penal code had no provisions for dealing with someone like him.
Generally, when there were no explicit statutory provisions, legal principles would be considered. And under the principle of protecting minors, his actions did not constitute a crime.
Even taking a step back, even if it did constitute a crime, attempted body seizure was not a capital offense.
These renowned righteous sects were bound to be law-abiding. They wouldn't be like the demonic cults, killing people to silence them and destroying corpses without a trace at the drop of a hat.
The Immortal Fairy frowned. She felt the Immortal Celestial made some sense, but thinking carefully, it felt off, though she couldn't pinpoint what was wrong.
She knew very little about contemporary mortal law.
Lu Yang pondered, muttering, "You do have a point. But as long as we bump you off right here, cleanly and without leaving a trace, criminal law wouldn't seem to apply to us, would it?"
Naturally, things the Great Xia Dynasty knew nothing about were beyond its jurisdiction.
"Oh~ That works too! Lu Yang, you really are smart!" The Immortal Fairy praised Lu Yang. As expected of the Cult Founder she personally designated—his mind was truly nimble.
Immortal Celestial: "!!!"
Was this something someone from the righteous path should say?!
After learning Lu Yang was from the Dao Seeking Sect, the Immortal Celestial had assumed all his antics during the Foundation Establishment stage competition were deliberately staged.
Seeing this now, it was simply him unleashing his true nature!
Yun Zhi had a different approach for dealing with the Immortal Celestial: "The Five Great Immortal Sects all possess law enforcement authority. In theory, you can be remanded to the Dao Seeking Sect for handling. You possess the memories of all your cultists, which will be useful to the Dao Seeking Sect. As long as you confess honestly, you can be imprisoned in the Dao Seeking Sect."
Hearing he wouldn't die, the Immortal Celestial was overjoyed. See! This was the righteous path! As for imprisonment, that was a trivial matter.
"However, if there is any falsehood in your confession, your soul will be searched directly."
The Immortal Celestial hurriedly gave his guarantees, declaring he would definitely be loyal to the Dao Seeking Sect, answer every question truthfully, mend his ways, and turn over a new leaf.
He even swore an oath to the true immortal—Huang Doudou.
"Senior, please return the rudimentary Immortal Dao fruit to him."
Understanding Yun Zhi's intention, the Immortal Fairy gave a gentle nod and stuffed the rudimentary Immortal Dao fruit back into the Immortal Celestial's soul.
Sensing the recovered rudimentary Immortal Dao fruit, the Immortal Celestial felt his power steadily returning, and the pain from the earlier beating eased considerably.
To even return something like a Dao fruit to me, there truly are plenty of good people in this world.
Yun Zhi added, "Senior, as the ruler of the Immortal lineage, you can control anyone who possesses a rudimentary Immortal Dao fruit. With you here, we can keep the Immortal Celestial in check."
Immortal Celestial: "..."
Is the status of a rudimentary Dao fruit actually this low?
This was knowledge neither Lu Yang nor the Immortal Celestial had known.
When Lu Yang stepped out of the secret chamber, the Great Xia Dynasty had already swung into action.
Having received the intelligence from Eldest Senior Sister, the Great Xia Dynasty attached immense importance to the matter. A courier was dispatched to deliver the report directly to Emperor Xia, whose expression shifted upon reading it.
To think the Dao Seeking Sect had actually located the headquarters of a demonic cult, and the demonic cult was completely unaware! A once-in-a-millennium opportunity!
The Four Great Demonic Cults were an endless scourge. Presented with an opportunity to thoroughly eradicate one of them, Emperor Xia could not let it slip away no matter what. He immediately issued orders to mobilize troops and dispatch generals, coordinating with the Dao Seeking Sect's operation, determined to round up the Immortal Cult without letting a single one escape!
The Great Xia Dynasty dispatched forces to seal off every exit, with over a dozen Body Integration stage powerhouses holding the line. They ordered their subordinates to advance and arrest everyone.
In this critical moment of life and death, the Immortal Cult displayed an exceptionally high level of discipline—they took the initiative to lay down their weapons and turn themselves in.
"We surrender!"
All effort bore fruit; even the seemingly pointless surrender drills played a crucial role at this very moment.
For Great Xia to dare come arrest them, they had surely made thorough preparations. Those dozen-plus Body Integration cultivators were merely the figures out in the open; Tribulation Transcendence powerhouses were bound to be lurking in secret.
Against such a lineup, every single cultist had zero chance of escape. Rather than resist, it was better to surrender meekly; with enough luck, they might even keep their lives.
"Lu Yang, how dare you betray the Immortal Cult!" Seeing Lu Yang, the Cult Master longed to tear him to shreds. Unfortunately, he had been sealed, his mana frozen and his cultivation stripped, rendering him completely unable to move.
Even now, he still didn't know Lu Yang was actually an undercover agent sent by the Dao Seeking Sect.
"Cult Master, this is where you are wrong. Overthrowing superiors is a time-honored tradition of our demonic cult!" Lu Yang explained, feeling that the Cult Master failed to thoroughly grasp the true essence of the demonic path. How could someone like that lead the Immortal Cult?
The eyelids of the two Body Integration stage experts escorting the Cult Master twitched. As expected of the Dao Seeking Sect—disguising himself as a demonic cultivator without the slightest hint of incongruity.
Space distorted, and a figure stepped through a spatial gate, arriving before Lu Yang.
The figure was slender, a delicate-featured youth. Cupping his hands toward Lu Yang, he said, "I am Ming Ge. I request Fellow Daoist Yun Zhi to come forth for a meeting."
Yun Zhi emerged from Lu Yang's spiritual world and returned the courtesy: "Lord Ming."
Ming Ge hurriedly replied, "Before Fellow Daoist Yun Zhi, I dare not claim the title of lord."
Ming Ge was a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator belonging to the Great Xia Dynasty and the officer in charge of this operation. Though he appeared youthful, he was actually older than Daoist Buyu.
As a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator, he knew far more than ordinary people—for instance, he knew the depths of Yun Zhi's strength.
Ming Ge knew that even if the Great Xia Dynasty hadn't lifted a finger, Yun Zhi alone was enough to round up the entire Immortal Cult in one fell swoop.
Whether in terms of strength or merit in this operation, Ming Ge dared not put on airs before Yun Zhi.
Just as Ming Ge was about to speak, a subordinate arrived to report:
"Reporting to Your Lordship, we have captured two Immortal Cultists. Their cultivation is merely at the Foundation Establishment stage, yet they already hold the rank of Branch Master. They appear to be demonic seedlings meticulously cultivated by the Immortal Cult's higher-ups, but the two of them insist they are undercover agents sent by the righteous path and not real cultists.
"We also received intelligence that the Immortal Cult recently held a Foundation Establishment stage competition, where these two took second and third place respectively. With results like that, it is truly difficult to believe they belong to the righteous path."
Lu Yang: "..."
Why wouldn't I be someone of the righteous path?!
Ming Ge rubbed between his brows in pain and sighed, "Is one of those two named Meng Jingzhou? He is the young scion of the Meng Family; I even attended his one-month celebration banquet. Both of them are undercover agents from the Dao Seeking Sect.
"Meng Jingzhou is both a Meng Family scion and a member of the Dao Seeking Sect, so thriving like a fish in water in the Immortal Cult is completely normal. Release them."
"Understood."
Chapter 201