Chapter 533: The True Arbiter

Chapter 533: Chapter 533: The True Arbiter

"Is this person really Lord Taboo? No way... He looks more like a charlatan."

"So young! In his early twenties? I thought he would be an older senior..."

"That’s fine, it doesn’t seem hard to deal with."

"Great, soon I can also live forever!"

Chen Xuan stood before them, and a myriad of thoughts rushed into his mind. With the increasing frequency of using his ability and absorbing Spiritual Qi, the effectiveness of his "Mind Reading Technique" had also grown. Now, he no longer needed physical contact to hear their inner voices; he could capture the most intense thoughts of those involved from two to three meters away.

To these six people, he seemed like a completely ordinary young man—dressed in the same cotton clothes as the villagers, without a single beard on his chin, his image far removed from that of an immortal master with divine demeanor. His Spiritual Qi sensing was also quite plain, not matching the powerful and mysterious "Lord Taboo" described by Li Mo.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Chen Xuan glanced over the group, now no longer needing to personally state his identity.

"State your names, backgrounds, and purposes in one sentence."

"Xu Yan, from Youzhou, seeking further advancement on the path of cultivation!" spoke a middle-aged man in his forties first.

"Xu Ping, I’m his brother, with the same purpose."

"My name is Zhou Zheng, originally a merchant from Pei State... I heard from Boss Li that there are opportunities for immortality here, so I came to have a look..." said the third person, somewhat nervously.

The others couldn’t help but let out low chuckles upon hearing this.

It was because Zhou Zheng was not old, he even seemed to be the youngest among the six.

"You might as well go home early and stay out of this mess," said the fourth person, towering like an iron tower, with a voice like rolling thunder, "We three are together, so I’ll report for all of us. I’m ’Continuous Fire’ Gao Gang, this is ’Ghost Without Shadow’ Xiao Yue beside me, and finally, we have ’Eight-sided Exquisite’ He Xiahe. We are the Nine Department Judges, here to investigate the chaos caused by the Demon Fiends!"

Why do they have titles... Did I encounter rare elites?

Chen Xuan remained indifferent, but Li Mo and the other three showed looks of astonishment.

"Are you really the Nine Department Judges?!" Xu Yan subconsciously took a step back.

"Indeed, we have this plaque as proof!" Gao Gang took out a golden lion-headed plaque from his sleeve and held it up high, "Now, kindly cooperate with our investigation, or else don’t blame us for being ruthless!"

"Alright, we know your names and backgrounds. Now for the second question," Chen Xuan said indifferently.

"Wait, didn’t you hear our identities?" Gao Gang’s gaze sharpened, his voice now laden with a strong warning, "Or are you saying you’ve never heard of the Nine Department Judges?"

Li Mo, disregarding any impoliteness, quickly ran to Chen Xuan’s side and whispered in his ear, "Lord Xuan, if they aren’t lying... these three are exorcists from the Royal City."

Chen Xuan realized, so they were from the Royal City, no wonder they even reported their names with such formalities.

But if there’s chaos caused by demons, shouldn’t the local officials handle it themselves? Why are cultivators from Luoguo Royal City getting involved?

Furthermore, from their tone, the Nine Department Judges seem to be a loose cultivator organization with official ties, which violates the rules of the Lotus Cloud Sect.

Considering the immortal master of Luoguo is Lan Qin, Shuyue’s senior, perhaps their ability to act so openly makes sense—since Lan Qin herself wasn’t one to follow the usual path, after amassing power for five years, her first major act was to invade a neighboring country.

"If you don’t wish to receive a blessing, you may leave now. There’s no demon chaos in Baihe Village, perhaps you’ve come to the wrong place," Li Mo negotiated loudly.

"For a small village, how could so many people with Qi Sensing appear?" Xiao Yue clicked his tongue in wonder, "Don’t tell me you really think this is your and that Lord Taboo’s doing?"

"Since you’re not leaving, answer the second question," Chen Xuan ignored his words, "Have you ever—using your abilities and spells—murdered innocent civilians?"

The three were furious, having traveled the Jianghu for over ten years, this was the first time they’d been treated with such disdain. Not only did the other party ignore their warning, but he also seemed to be attempting some trick right in front of the Nine Department Judges!

This young man was too arrogant!

Gao Gang shouted, "This is outrageous! Disrespecting the Nine Department Judges is disrespecting the current emperor! Enough talk, seize him!"

He finally stopped concealing his hostility.

"Sorry, my apologies." He Xiahe drew a talisman from her waist, "If you don’t resist, you might suffer less."

"The Nine Department Judges are capturing demons, unrelated persons disperse!" Xiao Yue shouted to the others.

It’s over, Li Mo couldn’t help facepalming.

Of course, it wasn’t Lord Taboo who was finished. Even though he’d long heard the reputation of the Nine Department Judges, knowing that the cultivators joining this team were no ordinary people, they were still just people, not even considered immortals. Compared to Lord Xuan, who could dominate flesh and blood, they were like fireflies under the bright moon.

The disparity in strength was secondary; the worst part was that they’d announced the demon exorcism name.

That was a forbidden taboo!

So these three were done for.

And another one finished was himself, for recommending such unlucky fellows to Lord Xuan. Even though he hadn’t conducted identity checks before, if he displeased the employer, surely those handling matters would be in trouble!

As expected, just as Li Mo anticipated, as soon as the three assumed a stance, Chen Xuan immobilized them in place, unable to move.

The other three loose cultivators were caught in the impact, unable to escape before their limbs stiffened completely.

Then tendrils sprung from the ground, tightly binding all six of them.

Xu Yan and Xu Ping were utterly stunned, while Zhou Zheng was scared out of his wits, the whites of his eyes showing.

The Nine Department Judges fared slightly better, at least they still managed to express indignation, hatred, and hostility with their gazes, though their mouths couldn’t utter a sound.

"Now I announce the result." Chen Xuan walked to the Xu brothers, "Your first kill was thirty years ago, the victim was a beggar, killed only to test a newly developed spell."

The two were dumbfounded.

They seemed to have just remembered that they were still amidst the blessing ceremony.

The previous upheaval seemed to have no impact on the forbidden taboo.

"The most recent murder was two months ago, when you were spending the night in Pei State mountains, you killed a family of three hunters, because you didn’t want to pay for lodging."

The tendrils’ entanglement allowed Chen Xuan to continually read the thoughts emerging from their innermost hearts, whether or not they were willing to confess, these memories connected like strings of beads.

"And your current defense is that you are cultivators, what’s wrong with killing a few ordinary people? This is a world where the strong prey on the weak. It’s their misfortune to die, as long as you’re not caught, no one can control you."

With each sentence Chen Xuan spoke, fear deepened on Xu Yan and Xu Ping’s faces.

They suddenly realized these were indeed the truest thoughts of their hearts!

"Unfortunately, the evaluation has not passed. Blessings cannot be given to people like you, so disappear now." Chen Xuan clenched a hand into a fist, and the tendrils binding the two brothers transformed into a net of flesh, swallowing them whole.

Everyone else watched as Xu Yan and Xu Ping’s outlines grew smaller and smaller, until within ten seconds, they and the net of flesh seeped into the ground.