After listening to the detailed report from his subordinate, the Minister of Justice was sure he hadn't misunderstood.

It was indeed Daoist Buyu, that grandson, who had captured Su Moran.

"Let's go to Ye City, and also, bring some of the Luoshui Guards. Remember to keep it quiet, so as not to alert the Ruthless Sect to our activity!"

Accompanied by a small elite force, the Minister of Justice rushed to Ye City, recalling the scenes of being toyed with by Daoist Buyu in his younger days at Imperial City, seething with indignation.

"He has reached the Transcendence Tribulation Stage? Is there no justice left in this world!"

"Let His Majesty handle the myriad state affairs in the future, I'm going to cultivate!"

...

On the way to Ye City, they joined forces with the men from the Luoshui Guards, led by Luo Changhe from the Nine Palaces, who was at the mid-stage of Transcendence Tribulation.

Regrettably, they were a step too late: Su Moran's soul had already been transferred back to the Seek Dao Sect by the Vast Sea Daoist Lord.

However, they weren't entirely late; Daoist Buyu and his fellow prisoners were still here serving their sentences.

"Old Xu, over here!" Daoist Buyu waved at Minister of Justice Xu Xin below.

Xu Xin realized that he really couldn't see through Daoist Buyu's cultivation level, convinced that he had truly reached the Transcendence Tribulation Stage, rather than temporarily boosting his powers through some secret technique to defeat Su Moran.

As soon as Xu Xin landed, he heard Daoist Buyu say in an old and croaky voice, "Little Xu, you're an old man now, you understand the rules of the cultivation world without me saying them, where the accomplished are revered. Bearing in mind that we were once peers, you just need to call me Daoist Buyu."

Xu Xin rolled his eyes, not wanting to engage with Daoist Buyu.

It was then that he turned his attention to Daoist Buyu's fellow prisoners.

"Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, what are you two doing here?"

He had seen Lu Yang before when he was framed and thrown into jail by Daoist Buyu.

As for Meng Jingzhou, could he not recognize a Meng Family Member, an influential force that had pushed forward the legal progress of Great Xia?

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou opened their mouths but were too embarrassed to admit that they had been stealing from each other and ended up here accompanying their illustrious ancestor.

Seeing Lu Yang and his companion like that, Xu Xin understood they must have been tricked by Daoist Buyu.

"Where's Su Moran?" Xu Xin remembered the purpose of his trip.

"Sent back to our Seek Dao Sect by the Vast Sea Daoist Lord," chuckled Daoist Buyu.

Hearing this, Xu Xin turned to leave for the Seek Dao Sect but was grabbed by Daoist Buyu.

"Hey, wait, wait, wait. I went to great lengths to capture Su Moran, that counts as a major merit, right? Just go through the procedures to get me out of here."

Daoist Buyu's original intention for staying in the prison was to show the Gold Clan Leader what life was like, but since the events in Ye City, it was no longer suitable for experiencing life, so it was better to leave prison.

Daoist Buyu pointed to the Gold Clan Leader beside him: "And my little brother here, just call him Goldie. He also captured a Body Integration Realm member of the Ruthless Sect, which is another major merit."

Xu Xin took a long look at the Gold Clan Leader, wondering who would voluntarily mix with Daoist Buyu – was his brain all right?

"Fine, I will go through the formalities with the City Lord later. Is that everything? If there's nothing else, I'm leaving." Xu Xin was eager to head to the Seek Dao Sect.

"Wait, wait, there's more. You also have to release this person."

"Can't you say everything all at once? Who is this person now?" Xu Xin followed the direction Daoist Buyu was pointing and saw Daoist Xiantian sitting in the corner.

"A disciple of our Seek Dao Sect. He was planning to infiltrate the Ruthless Sect as an undercover operative, but he got caught when Ye City raided their base. He was too ashamed to admit he was from the Seek Dao Sect, didn't want to tarnish our name, so he ended up here."

Xu Xin was amazement personified, never expecting the Seek Dao Sect to have such a pure-hearted disciple. Seemingly having only completed Foundation Establishment, he must have been with the Seek Dao Sect for about a year.

To remain untainted such a short while after joining the Seek Dao Sect was impressive.

"That can be arranged."

Xu Xin was about to leave when he suddenly stopped in his tracks, "There is nothing else this time, is there?"

"No, no more, off you go."

Soon, the Dynasty's people left the prison. Daoist Buyu, the Gold Clan Leader, and Daoist Xiantian also left the prison, leaving only Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou behind.

The two looked at each other in dismay. In the blink of an eye, the once-bustling cell was left with just the two of them.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Think about it, it seems we really don't have a reason to be released."

Neither of them had contributed during the fight, and they weren't wrongfully imprisoned like the Ancestral Master.

"So how much longer do we have to be locked up?"

"Ten days."

The two shook their heads and sighed. Well, they'd just have to honestly cultivate here for ten days.

"There's not even a place to shelter from the wind and rain." Lu Yang looked up to see a clear starry sky. The roof had been ripped off by someone from the Ruthless Sect who was in the Body Integration Realm earlier.

He was still cultivating in his Spiritual Space with shackles on, enviously watching Fairy Eternity on the other side of the cage enjoying life.

"So much for good people getting good rewards."

...

After Vast Sea Daoist Lord brought Su Moran's soul back to the Seek Dao Sect, he immediately called for the children's Grandmaster at Captive Peak, Elder Tao from the Scripture Pavilion, and invited Yun Zhi.

Wu Lei's body was handed over to the Fifth Elder, who was told to refine it into a magic artifact at his convenience.

Su Moran's body wasn't refined; after all, it was Daoist Buyu's spoils of war, which could be used to strengthen his personal sword.

The upper echelons of the Seek Dao Sect's combat power gathered to directly search Su Moran's soul and obtained all of his memories.

At that moment, the Ministry of Punishments and the Luoshui Guards arrived posthaste to discuss matters related to the Ruthless Sect with the Seek Dao Sect.

Vast Sea Daoist Lord shared the intelligence and said with a frown, "The Ruthless Sect really is hard to deal with. According to Su Moran's memories, the appearance and age of the Master of the Ruthless Sect are unclear, suspected to be a Semi-Immortal.

Based on Su Moran's guess, the purpose of establishing the Ruthless Sect was to gather all the heartless people to observe their insights on the path of ruthlessness, to complete himself."

"Does that mean that the Master of the Ruthless Sect has been the same person since its establishment?" Luo Changhe from the Luoshui Guards was surprised. The Ruthless Sect was the oldest among the Four Great Devil Sects, existing since the beginning of Great Xia.

"Highly likely!"

"Enough of that for now. According to Su Moran's memories, the Ruthless Sect's headquarters has his life token. Once the soul leaves the body, the life token will shatter, and the high ranks of the Ruthless Sect will immediately abandon the headquarters and relocate."

"I'll open a space portal to the headquarters. With some luck, we might still make it in time."

The group stepped through the portal and arrived at the headquarters of the Ruthless Sect, at the bottom of the Canglong Lake in Yun Province.

Unfortunately, by the time they got there, the Ruthless Sect had already evacuated, and the entire lakebed was moved by Great Divine Skill, which also lowered the water level of the Canglong Lake by several tens of meters.

"Then let's go to the various branches!"

With all the locations of the branches in Su Moran's memory, Vast Sea Daoist Lord immediately opened countless space passages to those branches.

The Ruthless Sect branches were all guarded by strong cultivators, the weakest being at the Nascent Soul Stage.

But such cultivation levels were insignificant in the face of the combined forces of the Seek Dao Sect and the Dynasty.

Some branches were of higher status and had direct means of communication with the high ranks of the Ruthless Sect. Learning that the Vice Sect Hierarch had been captured, they immediately fled.

These branches were very few, only one-tenth of the total. The Dynasty and the Seek Dao Sect uprooted ninety percent of the branches and conducted overnight interrogations.

The situation for the remaining one-tenth of the branches wasn't much better either. They could run, but due to cultivation level restrictions, they were too slow, and many were caught by the Body Integration Realm cultivators who had arrived.

The Ruthless Sect was shaken to its core and severely wounded.