On the Dragon-Slaying Platform, I was executed and became Yang Jian's brother-in-law.

Wen Zhong dared not think any further.

But the doubts and shock in his heart were impossible to suppress!

"Could it be..." he muttered to himself, "that the relationship between this senior brother and our master is a bit off?"

Just as everyone was discussing it—

boom!

A terrifying aura suddenly descended upon the Lingxiao Palace!

That aura was vast and boundless, containing the power of the stars of the Big Dipper, causing all the immortals and gods present to feel a chill in their hearts!

"It's Yuanjun!"

"Doumu Yuanjun has arrived!"

All the immortals rose and bowed respectfully.

Outside the main hall, purple light filled the air and stars twinkled.

A female immortal dressed in purple robes slowly walked in.

She possessed unparalleled beauty and noble bearing, radiating a vast starlight. She was none other than Doumu Yuanjun, the Mother of the Big Dipper!

Behind her followed a female immortal dressed in a golden Taoist robe.

It is none other than the Holy Mother Jinling!

"Yuanjun!" The Jade Emperor quickly rose to his feet. "Thank you for your presence, Yuanjun."

Doumu Yuanjun nodded slightly, her gaze falling on the water mirror. After looking at it for a moment, she turned to look at Jinling Shengmu.

"Jin Ling, what's going on?"

The Holy Mother of the Golden Spirit stared at the screen expressionlessly, remaining silent for a moment.

Upon seeing this, the Jade Emperor cautiously asked, "Golden Spirit Mother, is that dragon in the picture... your disciple?"

The room fell silent upon hearing this.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the Golden Spirit Mother's answer.

If the Holy Mother of Golden Spirit admits it, then this matter becomes complicated...

If she denies it, how can we explain everything in the picture?

The Holy Mother of Golden Spirit remained silent for a moment, then raised her head and looked coldly at the Jade Emperor.

That face, which was always cold and aloof, now looked even more frighteningly so.

"disciple?"

She gave a cold laugh, her voice full of disdain.

"I have never accepted this disciple!"

"Just a wicked dragon!"

Inside the Lingxiao Palace, all the eyes of the immortals and gods were focused on the Golden Spirit Mother.

The moment the words "just a wicked dragon" were uttered, the Golden Spirit Mother's body visibly stiffened.

A barely perceptible hint of pain flashed across her usually icy face.

The pain was like being pierced through the heart by a sharp blade, causing her to hold her breath for a moment.

Scenes kept uncontrollably flashing through my mind.

That was a deep trench in the East China Sea, where a dying young dragon was saved by her golden light...

That was by the spirit pool on Penglai Immortal Island, where the little dragon opened its eyes and looked at her for the first time with those clear, bright eyes...

For countless days and nights, the little dragon coiled around her, listening attentively to her teachings...

Under the moonlight, the boy knelt beside her and whispered, "Jiao'er will always stay with Master..."

Scene after scene, incident after incident.

Every image was like a needle, piercing her heart.

"No..."

The Holy Mother of Golden Spirit let out a mournful cry.

Her fingers trembled slightly, hidden in her wide sleeves, clenched into fists.

My fingernails were almost piercing my palm.

Why...

Why let her see these things...?

Why expose her scars, hidden for millennia, before all beings in the Three Realms...?

She thought she had forgotten.

She thought she would never feel pain again.

But now...

Looking at the exquisitely handsome young man in the picture, watching him lean against her and say, "I will always stay with Master"...

Her heart began to ache again.

That pain was a thousand times worse than when I was ambushed by Ran Deng during the Great Tribulation of the Investiture of the Gods!

"Golden Spirit?"

Doumu Yuanjun's voice rang out, tinged with concern.

She noticed the unusual behavior of the Golden Spirit Mother.

The Holy Mother of Golden Spirit suddenly came to her senses, took a deep breath, and forcibly suppressed the turmoil in her heart.

cannot...

We absolutely cannot reveal any flaws here...

She raised her head, and her beautiful face hardened like iron once more.

All the pain and struggle were forcibly suppressed in the deepest part of her heart.

Inside the Lingxiao Palace, all the immortals and gods were waiting.

They watched the complex changes in the expression of the Holy Mother of the Golden Spirit, their hearts filled with curiosity.

What story does this one of the four direct disciples of the Jie Sect have with that dragon?

Why did she make that pained expression?

"Golden Spirit Mother, since you say she's not your disciple..." Taibai Jinxing asked cautiously, "then how do you explain everything in the scene?"

The Holy Mother of Golden Spirit remained silent for a moment.

Then, she spoke slowly, her voice icy cold and devoid of any warmth.

"Indeed, I once saved a young dragon in the East Sea."

"Indeed, I once brought him back to Penglai and taught him cultivation."

"but..."

The voice of the Holy Mother of the Golden Spirit suddenly became sharp, as cold as ice.

"That beast is unruly! Its vicious nature is incorrigible!"

"I taught him the righteous path, but his heart remains wicked!"

"I imparted my supernatural powers to him, yet he plotted to wreak havoc on the Three Realms!"

"Since they're beasts, they can't change their beastly nature!"

The Holy Mother of Golden Spirit spoke slowly and deliberately, each word seemingly squeezed out from between her teeth.

"Therefore, I hereby expel him from the sect!"

"Kill him with my own hands!"

The words fell.

Inside the Lingxiao Palace, all was silent.

All the gods and immortals were shocked by this answer.

To kill him with one's own hands?

The Holy Mother of Golden Spirit... actually killed her own disciple with her own hands?

Venus opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately remained silent.

A thoughtful glint flashed in the Jade Emperor's eyes.

Looking at the cold, hard expression on the Golden Spirit Mother's face, he vaguely sensed that things weren't so simple...

But since the Holy Mother of Golden Spirit had said so, he couldn't ask any more questions.

Just then—

"Hahaha!"

A mocking laugh rang out.

Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun stepped forward, his face full of mockery.

"Fellow Daoist Jin Ling, I underestimated you," he said sarcastically. "I didn't expect you to have such an impartial side?"

"Personally killing one's own disciple? Truly, putting righteousness before family!"

Lingbao Tianzun also sneered, "That's true, creatures born from moisture and eggs are ultimately just animals!"

"No matter how much you try to teach them, you can't change their animalistic nature!"

"Cold-blooded and ruthless, turning against one's own sect—what is this if not the nature of a beast?"

"No wonder the Jie Sect suffered a crushing defeat in the Investiture of the Gods!"

"What kind of disciples have you taken in? Demons and monsters, all sorts of scoundrels, utterly despicable!"

Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun chimed in, "Exactly! Unlike our Chan Sect, we are strict in accepting disciples and value their backgrounds!"

"They dare to take in just any Tom, Dick, or Harry; no wonder the Jie Sect is defeated!"

The two celestial beings exchanged barbs, employing every possible means of mockery.

Other immortals of the Chan Sect echoed this sentiment.

"Yes, yes, yes! Things that hatch from eggs in damp places are unreliable!"

"An ungrateful wretch who can't be tamed!"

"The Jie Sect was too soft-hearted back then, which is why it brought so much trouble upon itself!"

"Serves them right for that crushing defeat!"

The mocking voices of the immortals of the Chan Sect rose and fell.

Zhao Gongming was so angry that he trembled all over and was about to stand up and refute.

But then they discovered—

The Holy Mother of Golden Spirit remained silent.

She stood there, expressionless and cold as ice.

No matter how the immortals of the Chan Sect mocked her, she did not react in the slightest.

as if...

These words didn't hurt her at all.

It's as if...

She's become numb.