Chapter 809: The Cellmates Have All Left

After listening to his subordinate's detailed report, the Minister of Justice was certain he hadn't misunderstood: it was indeed that grandson, Immortal Buhui, who had captured Su Moran.

"Let's go to Ye City," he commanded. "Also, summon the Luoshui Guard. Remember not to draw too much attention, lest the Emotionless Sect notice our movements!"

The Minister of Justice led a small contingent of elites to Ye City. Recalling the times Immortal Buhui had made a fool of him in the Imperial City when he was younger, he felt a surge of indignation.

"He can even reach the Tribulation Transcending stage," he muttered, "Is there no justice left!"

"So many government affairs," he thought. "From now on, let His Majesty handle them; I'm going to cultivate!"

On the way to Ye City, the Luoshui Guard met up with the Minister of Justice. The leader was Luo Changhe, one of the Nine Palaces of the Luoshui Guard, who was at the mid-stage of the Tribulation Transcending realm.

Unfortunately, they arrived a step too late; Su Moran's soul had already been transported back to Wen Dao Sect by Dao Lord Hanhai.

However, it wasn't a complete loss; Immortal Buhui and his cellmates were all serving their sentences there.

"Old Xu, over here, over here!" Immortal Buhui waved from below, calling out to Xu Xin, the Minister of Justice.

Xu Xin found he truly couldn't discern Immortal Buhui's cultivation level, confirming that he had genuinely reached the Tribulation Transcending stage, and not just temporarily boosted his power through some secret method to defeat Su Moran.

As soon as Xu Xin landed, he heard Immortal Buhui speak with an old-fashioned air: "Little Xu, you're an old-timer; you know the rules of the cultivation world without me needing to say much. In the cultivation world, the stronger are revered. Considering we were once peers, you can just call me Senior Buhui."

Xu Xin rolled his eyes, unwilling to humor Immortal Buhui.

It was then that he noticed Immortal Buhui's cellmates.

"Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, how are you two here as well?"

He had seen Lu Yang visiting the prison before, when he himself had been tricked into jail by Immortal Buhui.

As for Meng Jingzhou, how could he not recognize someone from the Meng family? They were another major force in advancing the laws of Great Xia.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou opened their mouths, too embarrassed to say they had mutually stolen from each other and ended up here to keep their Ancestor Grandmaster company.

Seeing the two of them, Xu Xin understood. They must have been tricked into coming here by Immortal Buhui.

"Where is Su Moran?" Xu Xin recalled the purpose of his visit.

"Ancestor Hanhai sent him back to our Wen Dao Sect," Immortal Buhui chuckled.

Upon hearing this, Xu Xin turned to leave for Wen Dao Sect, but Immortal Buhui grabbed him.

"Hey, wait, wait, wait!" Immortal Buhui said. "I worked so hard to capture Su Moran; that counts as a major meritorious service, right? Go through the procedures and release me."

Immortal Buhui's original intention for staying in prison was to let Patriarch Jin experience life. After the events in Ye City, however, this place was no longer suitable for such an experience, so he decided he might as well be released.

Immortal Buhui pointed to Patriarch Jin next to him: "And my little brother, just call him Jinzi. He also captured an Integration stage cultivator from the Emotionless Sect, which is also a major meritorious service."

Xu Xin gave Patriarch Jin a deep look, wondering if anyone who willingly associated with Immortal Buhui in this day and age had something wrong with their head.

"Alright, I'll go to the City Lord's office shortly and handle the paperwork," Xu Xin said. "Anything else? If not, I'm leaving." He was eager to go to Wen Dao Sect.

"Oh, and one more thing," Immortal Buhui added, "you need to release this person too."

"Can you please just say everything at once?" Xu Xin asked. "Who is this person now?" He followed the direction Immortal Buhui was pointing and saw Immortal Xiantian sitting in the corner.

"He's a disciple of our Wen Dao Sect," Immortal Buhui explained. "He originally intended to infiltrate the Emotionless Sect as an undercover agent, but unexpectedly, the Emotionless Sect's stronghold was raided by Ye City. He was too embarrassed to reveal he was from Wen Dao Sect, fearing it would bring shame to our sect, so he got arrested."

Xu Xin was astonished, marveling that Wen Dao Sect had such a pure-hearted and kind disciple. Seeing that he had just reached the Foundation Establishment stage, he likely had only been in Wen Dao Sect for about a year.

To have stayed in Wen Dao Sect for a year and still remain untainted, like a lotus emerging pure from the mud.

"This matter is easily arranged," Xu Xin replied.

As Xu Xin was about to leave, he suddenly stopped. "No other matters this time, right?" he asked.

"None, none!" Immortal Buhui waved. "Go ahead!"

Soon, the imperial delegation left the prison. Immortal Buhui, Patriarch Jin, and Immortal Xiantian also left, leaving only Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou behind.

The two looked at each other in confusion. In the blink of an eye, how had the lively prison cell been reduced to just the two of them?

"If you think about it," Lu Yang said, "it seems neither of us actually has a reason to be released."

They hadn't contributed to the battle, nor were they unjustly imprisoned like their Ancestor Grandmaster.

"How many more days do we have to be locked up?" Meng Jingzhou asked.

"Ten days."

The two brothers shook their heads and sighed. "Well, then, we'll just honestly cultivate here for ten days."

"There's not even a roof to shelter us from the elements," Lu Yang said, looking up at the clear, starry sky. The roof had been torn off by an Integration stage cultivator from the Emotionless Sect at the very beginning.

In his mental space, he was still cultivating while shackled, gazing enviously at the Immortal Fairy of Immortality enjoying life at the other end of the cage, which made him incredibly jealous.

"Good deeds truly go unrewarded," Lu Yang sighed.

After Dao Lord Hanhai brought Su Moran's soul back to Wen Dao Sect, he immediately summoned the Child Grandmaster of Prison Peak and Elder Tao of the Scripture Repository, and invited Yunzhi.

Wu Lei's corpse was given to the Fifth Elder, allowing him to refine it into a magical artifact as he wished.

Su Moran's corpse was not refined; after all, it was Immortal Buhui's trophy, and could be used to enhance Immortal Buhui's sword.

The high-level combatants of Wen Dao Sect gathered there, directly searching Su Moran's soul to retrieve all his memories.

At this time, people from the Ministry of Justice and the Luoshui Guard quickly arrived to discuss matters concerning the Emotionless Sect with Wen Dao Sect.

Dao Lord Hanhai shared the intelligence, frowning as he said: "The Emotionless Sect is indeed difficult to deal with. According to Su Moran's memories, the sect leader's appearance and age are unknown, and they are suspected to be a Half-Immortal. Based on Su Moran's speculation, the purpose of establishing the Emotionless Sect was to gather all emotionless individuals, observe their insights into the Dao of Emotionlessness, and thereby perfect themselves."

"So, the sect leader has been the same person since the Emotionless Sect was founded?" Luo Changhe of the Luoshui Guard asked in surprise. The Emotionless Sect was the oldest of the Four Great Demonic Sects, existing since the very beginning of Great Xia.

"Highly likely!" Dao Lord Hanhai confirmed.

"Alright, let's not discuss this for now," Dao Lord Hanhai continued. "According to Su Moran's memories, his life token is at the Emotionless Sect's headquarters. Once a soul leaves the body, the life token shatters, and the Emotionless Sect's high-ranking members would immediately abandon the headquarters and relocate their stronghold."

"I'll open a spatial gate to the headquarters," Dao Lord Hanhai announced. "If we're lucky, we might still make it in time."

Everyone stepped into the spatial gate, arriving at the Emotionless Sect's headquarters, located at the bottom of Canglong Lake in Yun Province.

Unfortunately, by the time they arrived, the Emotionless Sect had already vanished. The entire lakebed had been moved away by powerful divine abilities, causing the water level of Canglong Lake to drop by dozens of meters.

"Then let's go to their various branch strongholds!" Dao Lord Hanhai declared.

Su Moran's memories contained the locations of all the branch strongholds. Dao Lord Hanhai immediately opened countless spatial passages to those strongholds.

Each branch of the Emotionless Sect had powerful cultivators stationed there, with at least a Nascent Soul stage cultivator. However, such cultivation was utterly insufficient when facing the combined forces of Wen Dao Sect and the imperial court.

Some branch strongholds had higher status, possessing means to directly contact the Emotionless Sect's high-ranking members. After learning that the Vice Sect Leader had been captured, they immediately fled.

These branch strongholds were very few in number, accounting for only one-tenth. Nine-tenths of the strongholds were completely uprooted by Wen Dao Sect and the imperial court, with interrogations conducted overnight.

The situation for the remaining one-tenth of the strongholds was not much better. While they could flee, their cultivation limited their speed, making them too slow. Many were caught by the Integration stage cultivators who arrived.

The Emotionless Sect's foundation was shaken, and its vitality severely damaged.