Chapter 40: The Grand Marshal Canopy in Person

Li Xuan had set up the ritual altar of the Three Emperors and One Marshal, using the Fengdu Treasure Seal to strike the Dongyue Token. Since the procedures and rituals were both incorrect, he had long mentally prepared himself for punishment.

Although the Three Emperors and One Marshal were closely connected, the spells and ritual implements he mastered were still too scattered and needed further integration.

Li Xuan never expected that when the deity-summoning incantation was cast, there was indeed a response, but the very first move was to drive a long sword straight through his chest, nailing him right onto the rooftop parapet...

The intense impact, coupled with the divine sword piercing his heart—though he did not know why he was still not dead—was truly agonizing...

The moment he opened his mouth, a mouthful of fresh blood gushed out!

Divine radiance faintly surged within the deity tablet, and in a trance, a burly divine figure could be seen stepping out!

He was clad in crimson-gold dark-iron beast-face armor that covered his entire body, surrounded by tricolor lightning. His facial features were indistinct, save for his eyes where chaos seemed to flow.

Around his waist was wound a nine-foot-long white jade belt.

On his feet were Nine-Dragon battle boots, and in his hand, he held a snow-white long sword. However, compared to the one impaling Li Xuan, the sword in the divine being's hand was far more esoteric; a single glance made one feel as if ten thousand silver needles were piercing one's eyes, making it impossible to look directly at it!

Enveloped in divine light, the divine being's figure alternated between solid and illusory. His "gaze" swept across the surroundings, as if surveying this realm, and then he nodded slightly, uttering an ambiguous "Hmph..."

He came before Li Xuan, looked at this young and brazen junior, and said:

"In the path of cultivation, grounding oneself in reality is of the utmost importance; do not aim too high or chase the distant. Since you have received scriptures personally imparted by the Dongyue Emperor and hold his decree, you ought to practice diligently and fuse that supreme power into your own body—that is the fundamental way. Yet today, to deal with such weak ghosts, why did you chant the incantation of the Lord of the Nine Prisons, recklessly strike seals and tokens, and disturb the order of Fengdu?"

Li Xuan honestly replied, "I dare not conceal the truth from the Divine Lord. Because this disciple has no mortal master to guide me into the gate, having received lineages from both Fengdu and Dongyue, I felt it lacked systematic integration and had no one to resolve my doubts. Therefore, I dared to tentatively summon the divine generals of the Fengdu netherworld while slaying demons and subduing fiends, hoping to receive some guidance."

Hearing this, the divine being sneered: "Truly, you were untaught and therefore ignorant and untutored! When you chanted the incantation of the Lord of the Nine Prisons, you ought to have held the Seal for Inspecting the Ghosts and Spirits of the Three Realms and struck the Command of the Nine Springs to summon the ghosts and spirits of Fengdu. Yet you used the Seal of the Fengdu Treasure Seal to strike the token of the Great Emperor of Dongyue. The sequence was utterly inverted and supremely absurd. Do you know your fault?"

Li Xuan lowered his head and said, "This disciple knows his fault!"

After lecturing him for a while, the divine being looked around once more and said: "Your origins are extraordinary, not belonging to the Three Realms, and your heavenly destiny is profound. The Northern Emperor has decreed that I come to pardon your transgressions, and specially bestows upon you the Command of the Nine Springs, the Seal for Inspecting the Ghosts and Spirits of the Three Realms, and two volumes of precious scriptures: the *Dark Rules Spiritual Book of Supreme Mystery and Demon Suppression of Northern Yin* and the *Ritual Standards of the Dark Rules of Taiyin and Fengdu*. These scriptures contain the essentials of cultivation and law enforcement in the Fengdu lineage, the regulations of laws for ghost and spirit judges, and various divine arts. You ought to make good use of them!"

Hearing these words, Li Xuan felt as if the dark willow trees had led him to a bright new village; he knew his gamble had succeeded.

Joy could not help but well up in his heart.

He had roughly guessed who the divine being before him was.

However, having entered the Fengdu lineage, he would inevitably have to face the constraints of the Fengdu Dark Rules in the future.

He said, "This disciple accidentally obtained the ability to travel across the heavens. The rules of the heavens vary from realm to realm, and I may have to face many complex and tricky matters. Furthermore, I might encounter worlds where no deities exist, and in desperation, I may need to use some methods that violate the laws of the judges in the *Dark Rules*..."

Without waiting for him to finish, the divine being already knew what Li Xuan meant.

He said indifferently:

"The heavens and worlds each have their own distinct qualities; ghosts and deities are bizarre and treacherous, and good and evil are intertwined. Although the Emperor can perceive the heavens, he also requires capable juniors to enter the great worlds and achieve new immortal status. You are passable, and the Emperor has the intention to nurture you, but you must pass through tribulations before you can attain the Dao."

"Mindful of your situation and deeply aware of your predicaments, the Northern Emperor has specially bestowed upon you a certain degree of exemption authority. Provided that you do not slaughter the innocent, act with violence and evil, or damage the prestige of Fengdu, you may handle all other matters as circumstances dictate without being overly rigid!"

"Yet if you ignore admonitions and act willfully, the karma of all heavens and myriad worlds shall fall upon you. In the end, the fruits of good and evil must be borne by yourself."

Li Xuan was overjoyed in his heart. To obtain such a special amnesty was truly unprecedented.

However, certain matters still required a bottom line; if he went too far, the Dark Rules would not let him off.

Be it known that annotations to the *Dark Rules Spiritual Book* state that in the first year of Longhan, when the ancient Heavenly Master gathered the great demons of the Six Caverns, his actions did not align because of excessive slaughter. When the Northern Emperor recorded these evils, the Master of the Profound Center protected the good and memorialized the Emperor, thus attaining the rank of Grand Master of the Three Heavens.

The Master had done so precisely to admonish future generations.

Troubled times call for severe codes; the existence of the *Dark Rules* was to prevent certain people from acting willfully by relying on the methods of the Taiyun Daoist sect, rather than turning the disciples of the Dark Rules lineage into puppets that only knew how to act in blind obedience to the Dark Rules.

It was precisely because of this historical precedent that Li Xuan had dared to summon the divine general.

Now it seemed indeed to be the case...

The divine being remained, his right hand unfolding to reveal a jade slip. He said, "Since you have already cultivated Qi, obey the decree of the Emperor and receive your register!"

As his voice fell, the jade slip shot forward and sank straight into the center of Li Xuan's brows. Instantly, his entire body grew scorching hot, and in a hazy trance, his spirit wandered beyond the heavens, dimly witnessing the location of the Ninefold Heavenly Court.

Yet it lasted merely a single instant.

When he recovered his senses, the myriad phenomena of the Heavenly Court had vanished without a trace.

The divine being said: "You are granted the Initial Grade of the Initial Tier, taking the office of the Primordial Disciple of the Three and Five Evil-Slaying Secret Register of the Most High, Right Adjudicator of the Grand Records Bureau of Fengdu, and Administrator of the Official Business of Ghosts and Spirits in the Palaces of the Six Heavens! In all your actions, think three times before you act!"

The divine light on the deity tablet began to dim, flickering uncertainly.

Seeing this, the divine being said: "You are able to break through boundaries and wander the heavens. Although you have received the Emperor's amnesty, you must still maintain righteousness and exert yourself. If you can achieve the Dao and attain truth, I shall secure a suitable immortal position for you in the Heavenly Court."

"The ghosts of this realm possess quite a bit of interest; I shall take them away first. Remember, unless you are in a situation of life and death and there is truly no other alternative, do not set up an altar to summon the ghosts and spirits of Fengdu. Otherwise, the Dark Rules will record a major demerit against you, and if they accumulate too heavily, I too shall be forced to punish you!"

Powerful though he was, he could not linger too long in a world that did not belong to him.

The divine being glanced at Ruan Shiyin, and a pitch-black iron chain instantly shot out from the divine tablet, binding her and pulling her inside! Facing such tyrannical, cross-dimensional crushing divine power, Ruan Shiyin had no power to resist; she could not even move her eyeballs, and vanished from this world in an instant.

As for the other student ghosts, they were swept up by a cold wind and likewise entered the deity tablet one after another.

The rooftop, previously filled with ghosts, instantly became empty and deserted.

The snow-white divine sword impaling Li Xuan's chest was slowly withdrawn, flying backward into the deity tablet. The blood that had previously flowed out flowed back into his wounds as if time were reversing, healing them completely. Aside from his torn clothes, not a trace remained on his skin.

The divine sword piercing his chest had merely been a minor punishment and warning for Li Xuan's reckless altar-setting and blind striking of seals and tokens.

The divine being's figure grew translucent and walked toward the deity tablet.

With the divine sword no longer pinning him, Li Xuan fell from the parapet, hurriedly knelt and kowtowed, and asked: "May I ask the honorific title of the Divine Lord?"

The divine being's figure dissipated.

Leaving behind two words: "Tianpeng..."