Chapter 444: The members of the Heavenly Court Sect are all righteous, how could they be a demonic cult?

"You're the Heavenly Court Cult Master?!" Qiu Jin'an sprang to his feet, his eyes wide in disbelief, his voice suddenly rising eight octaves.

The others reacted similarly; even the Abbot of the Hanging Temple lost his composure. They feared Yunzhi would flash a cryptic, cold smile, declaring, "This concerns the Heavenly Court Cult's million-year plan; no mistakes are permitted," before eliminating all five of them.

A ripple of confusion flickered in Yunzhi's calm eyes.

You asked for my opinion on the Heavenly Court Cult, and I spoke honestly. Why are you reacting so strongly?

Their strong reaction was understandable. This was the Great Xia Imperial Palace, the stronghold of the righteous path, and everyone present was a leader of the righteous path. They had spent half the day analyzing and citing scriptures, concluding that the Heavenly Court Cult harbored ambitions to subvert the world, making it a new, extremely dangerous demonic cult that would form the new "Four Great Demonic Cults" with the other three.

For you to suddenly declare yourself the Heavenly Court Cult Master at this moment, anyone would react this way.

Most crucially, you were also the most powerful among the six present.

Seeing their overly strong reactions, Yunzhi felt it necessary to explain: "There's no need to worry, everyone. The Heavenly Court Cult is an internal organization of the Dao Seeking Sect, safe and reliable. My junior disciple, Lu Yang, proposed its formation, and its purpose is to infiltrate the Nine Nether Cult."

"Lu Yang?" Qiu Jin'an and Luo Hongxia were fine, as they knew of Lu Yang's existence, but Emperor Xia, the Abbot of the Hanging Temple, and the Sect Master of the Prison Guard Sect were unfamiliar with his name.

Lu Yang's talent was indeed exceptional; he could calmly defeat even cultivators who had regressed to restart their cultivation, making him deservedly the foremost among the younger generation. However, his cultivation realm was too low for him to be noticed by these great figures.

Of course, he would easily become famous if he appeared as an ancient historian.

Lu Yang had the monumental achievement of destroying the Immortal Cult, but since Yunzhi had acted in that battle, no one would attribute the success to Lu Yang, a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"Lu Yang is my master's newest disciple, my junior brother. He is extremely talented in spells and cultivation, and he was crucial in the destruction of the Immortal Cult."

Everyone was astonished. For Yunzhi to praise his talent in spells and use the word "extremely," how terrifying must Lu Yang's spell talent be?

What else did Fellow Daoist Yun say? She stated Lu Yang played an extraordinary role in the destruction of the Immortal Cult. Could it be that Lu Yang was the key factor in the Immortal Cult's downfall?

What was Lu Yang's cultivation realm then, and how did he manage it?

"I have met Lu Yang; he is indeed a rare genius, and his thinking is extraordinary," Qiu Jin'an also vouched for Lu Yang's talent. "He once defeated a Great Yu Body Integration realm cultivator who had regressed to restart cultivation, while both were in the same realm."

"Defeated a Great Yu Body Integration realm cultivator who had regressed to restart?!" Luo Hongxia covered her mouth. Everyone present had been exceptionally talented in their youth, but achieving this feat would still be difficult.

"Not only that," Qiu Jin'an continued to drop bombshells, "when the Five Elements Sect and the Dao Seeking Sect were exchanging information, the Dao Seeking Sect also said Lu Yang's combat power was exceptional. As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he fought across realms and defeated cultivators in the Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Soul Transformation realms!" This news was even more shocking than defeating a cultivator who had regressed.

"Fellow Daoist Yun, is this true?"

Yunzhi hesitated, a rare occurrence, then nodded, which elicited even greater gasps of astonishment from everyone.

Yunzhi felt the conversation had drifted too far and needed to steer it back. "I am the Heavenly Court Cult Master. The cult has nine Heavenly King Protectors: the First Elder to the Eighth Elder, plus my master. However, my master doesn't currently know he has joined the Heavenly Court Cult."

"In addition to them, there are also Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, Tao Yaoye, Mang Gu, and Li Haoran—five newly recruited disciples of the Dao Seeking Sect."

Yunzhi did not reveal the existence of the Immortal Fairy.

"You all have some misunderstandings about the Heavenly Court Cult," Yunzhi explained. "As the Dao Seeking Sect is a righteous path sect, and the Heavenly Court Cult members are all high-ranking Dao Seeking Sect members and its promising disciples, how could it be a demonic cult?"

Yunzhi stated it as if it were obvious: the Heavenly Court Cult members were all righteous cultivators, so the Heavenly Court Cult was naturally a righteous force.

The corners of the five people's eyes twitched. Given their status and seniority, it was inconvenient for them to complain about Yunzhi.

"Then this Bean Venerable..."

Mid-sentence, Qiu Jin'an suddenly recalled what the Nine Nether Cult Master had said: "The Bean Venerable manipulates stars as if they were beans."

The stars in the sky were all Yunzhi's Golden Cores. This meant Yunzhi could naturally manipulate the stars at will!

And being unrivaled in her realm, along with the feat of fighting one against three—Yunzhi could perfectly achieve these using the power of national destiny!

Lu Yang was also Yunzhi's junior disciple, and Yunzhi secretly protected him whenever he left.

It matched; everything matched!

Everyone present was intelligent and quickly realized that the Bean Venerable was Yunzhi.

Although Yunzhi didn't answer directly, this was something everyone understood tacitly, so not answering was fine.

"The Heavenly Court Cult has already gained the Nine Nether Cult's trust," Yunzhi continued. "I ask that you temporarily do not act against the Nine Nether Cult, to avoid alerting them."

"Of course, of course," everyone smiled and agreed, knowing that the Heavenly Court Cult members were their own, which would make things easier to handle.

"The Heavenly Court Cult and the Nine Nether Cult have reached a preliminary cooperation," Yunzhi explained. "The Heavenly Court Cult provides the technology, and the Nine Nether Cult provides the manpower. Our two factions have partnered to open barbecue restaurants. The business is just starting, and the more cult members work in these restaurants, the less likely the Nine Nether Cult is to commit evil. Therefore, I hope the imperial court can formulate some favorable policies to promote the catering industry and secretly assist the development of the barbecue restaurants."

Emperor Xia considered it for a moment. Promoting the catering industry's development would benefit tax collection and be beneficial to the nation and its people—it was a good thing.

"This matter is not difficult."

"That's good," Yunzhi said. "Also, one more thing: Wu Youdao and the other two are at the Dao Seeking Sect. I have obtained some intelligence from them."

Everyone wore an expression of understanding. As expected, Yunzhi was in Hanshui City; how could she have let Wu Youdao and the other two escape?

Yunzhi repeated what Wu Youdao had confessed, and everyone became serious.

"Just as I expected," Emperor Xia said, letting out a cold snort after hearing the realms of the two Imperial Advisors without much surprise, "since the Great Yu dared to plot for the power of national destiny, they must have Immortal-level combat power."

Great Yu's goal was to replace Great Xia. Knowing full well that the power of national destiny was an Immortal's creation, yet still harboring such intentions, could only mean that Great Yu also had Immortals on their side!

"Great Yu's next step is Jizhou," Emperor Xia continued. "Jizhou is located in the central plains, densely populated with many cities. Searching it thoroughly with just the imperial court's power would be difficult, so I ask that you, the immortal sects, lend your assistance."

To find traces of Great Yu, at least Body Integration realm cultivators were needed. While the imperial court had many Body Integration realm cultivators, they couldn't all be deployed in Jizhou, as other areas also required Body Integration realm cultivators to guard them.

Moreover, the overall quality of the immortal sects' Body Integration realm cultivators was superior to the imperial court's, meaning they would have more ample time to maneuver and send back reports if they encountered Great Yu cultivators.

"This concerns the stability of Great Xia; the Five Elements Sect will not stand idly by."

"The Prison Guard Sect will do the same."

Except for the Abbot of the Hanging Temple, the four immortal sect leaders all expressed their support.

The Abbot of the Hanging Temple could only nod continuously, indicating that their stances were the same.

He was somewhat troubled; the Silent Meditation was indeed difficult to cultivate. Several times he had the urge to speak, but he forcefully suppressed it.

It was better when facing the Silent Daoist; one only needed to fight, with no need to speak.