The system's cold notification kept echoing through Chen Changsheng's mind.
After thinking for only a moment, he revealed everything.
No one was particularly surprised or doubtful. Chen Changsheng had demonstrated his ability to foresee danger before.
After speaking, he immediately put on a performance of suffering backlash from his prediction, growing visibly weaker and even paler.
Yet the moment this news came out, it was like a basin of icy water dumped over their heads, instantly extinguishing the fervor across Golden Ao Island.
The smiles of the tens of thousands of disciples who had just been ecstatic over the procedural reforms froze at once.
It was as though all the air had been sucked away.
"Chan Sect?"
"All Twelve Golden Immortals are mobilizing?!"
Daoist Duobao stepped forward, and the aura he had just restrained surged into the heavens once more. Rage blazed in his eyes.
"This is going too far!"
Zhao Gongming directly summoned all twenty-four Sea-Calming Divine Pearls. They orbited around him, radiating boundless treasure light as an immense fighting spirit shot into the sky.
"Dao Protector! Give the order!"
Zhao Gongming's voice boomed like a great bell, reverberating through the entire area.
"When have we disciples of the Interception Sect ever feared battle!"
"Fight! Fight! Fight!"
The disciples who had just undergone the baptism of procedural reform had their innate Interception Sect ferocity ignited once more.
Tens of thousands of gazes converged on Chen Changsheng, burning with trust.
Yet Chen Changsheng merely raised a hand slightly.
All sound abruptly ceased.
He did not look at the furious Daoist Duobao, nor did he pay attention to the battle-ready Zhao Gongming.
He simply spoke calmly. His voice was not loud, yet it clearly drowned out everyone's heartbeats.
"What are you panicking for?"
"Everything proceeds according to process."
He turned toward Daoist Duobao, his expression utterly unchanged.
"Senior Brother Duobao, convey my orders as Siling."
"The Calamity Aversion Department will immediately activate the 'Level 1 External Conflict Emergency Plan'!"
Daoist Duobao froze.
An emergency plan?
Wasn't that something written in Chapter Seventeen of Volume Three of the General Rules of Procedure, meant only for theoretical simulations?
It was even divided into three levels, with Level 1 being the highest, corresponding to a Sage Personal Arrival.
And now they were activating the highest level just to deal with the Twelve Golden Immortals?
Before he could think further, Chen Changsheng issued his second order.
"Senior Brother Zhao, I order the Center for Tactical Wargaming and Data Analysis to project all data on the Chan Sect Twelve Golden Immortals onto the Assessment Wall within one incense stick's time."
"I want to see everyone's weakness analysis, personality profile, and... embarrassing history."
"Yes!"
Though Zhao Gongming did not understand, he immediately accepted the order, transforming into a streak of light and rushing toward the newly established Data Center.
Golden Ao Island became like a precise war machine, operating in orderly fashion under Chen Changsheng's successive commands.
The disciples stopped shouting about battle and returned to their respective posts.
Those responsible for arrays inspected the array foundations.
Those responsible for logistics inventoried the pills.
A tense but absolutely orderly atmosphere enveloped the entire island.
One incense stick later.
Inside the main hall of the Calamity Aversion Department.
Light flowed across the enormous Mission Assessment Wall.
Portraits of the Chan Sect Twelve Golden Immortals appeared side by side.
[Name: Guangchengzi] [Realm: Peak Grand Unity Golden Immortal] [Treasures: Heaven-Turning Seal (top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure), Soul-Dropping Bell, Cloud-Sweeping Robe...] [Personality Profile: Extremely concerned with appearances. Claims to be the Chan Sect's foremost disciple. Values rules and ceremony, with a moral fastidiousness.] [Embarrassing History: Once stormed off in anger because Emperor Xuanyuan's salute was insufficiently respectful, nearly delaying a major matter concerning the human race.] [Name: Chi Jingzi] [Realm: Peak Grand Unity Golden Immortal] [Treasures: Yin Yang Mirror, Purple Ribbon Immortal Robe...] [Personality Profile: Hot-tempered and impulsive, but soft-hearted and easily swayed by words.] [Embarrassing History:...]
Line after line of data was displayed with absolute clarity.
It was more than a hundred times more detailed than that Dragon Clan report.
It even clearly noted the colors of Daoist robes each person preferred and their habitual catchphrases.
The Interception Sect's core disciples in the hall all gaped at the outrageously detailed intelligence.
They felt that the Chan Sect Twelve Golden Immortals were no longer lofty mighty figures before them, but twelve... data models stripped naked, with even the number of body hairs clearly counted.
"Dao Protector... this intelligence..."
Daoist Duobao swallowed with difficulty.
He could not imagine how secrets that even the Chan Sect itself might not know had been gathered.
"Data is power."
Chen Changsheng did not explain. He slowly walked over to the Assessment Wall and picked up a cinnabar brush.
He ignored their realms and treasures, instead heavily circling the sections marked "Personality Profile" and "Embarrassing History" beneath the Twelve Golden Immortals' names.
"Do you see?"
He pointed at the red circles, his voice calm.
"They are strong, but even more than that... they are arrogant."
"They have come to 'enforce Heaven's punishment,' to display the Chan Sect's prestige and teach us unruly junior brothers a lesson."
"What they want is a grand battle, followed by judging our sect from the position of victors."
Chen Changsheng set down the brush and turned around. A smile that sent a chill through everyone's hearts appeared on his face.
"So we will give them exactly the opposite."
He drew a deep breath and issued a series of commands that left the entire hall stunned.
"Convey my orders as Siling!"
"Order the Technology Research and Development Department of the Calamity Aversion Department to take out all stockpiled Nine-Turn Bewildering Soul Incense and Seven-Treasures Illusionary Spirit Smoke, and connect them to the Xun Wind Array Eye of the Island Protection Array!"
"Order the Ten Heavenly Lords to activate the Ten Ultimate Arrays. But not for killing."
"Change the Golden Light Array into the Myriad-Colored Glazed Celebration Immortal Light Array."
"Change the Blood Transformation Array into the Guest-Welcoming Agarwood Purification Array."
"Change the Red Water Array into the Nine-Bend Jade Pool Hot Spring Array."
"In short, remove all killing intent! Replace it with auspicious energy! It must be festive, peaceful, and make everyone who enters the arrays feel right at home!"
"Pass down the order: no disciple may summon a treasure or reveal killing intent. Everyone will change into the most ceremonial Welcoming Daoist Robes of our Interception Sect!"
"And finally..."
Chen Changsheng looked outside the hall, his voice spreading across all of Golden Ao Island.
"Hang a banner before the mountain gate."
"The banner will read—"
"'A warm welcome to the direct disciples under Uncle-Master Yuanshi of the Jade Void Palace on Kunlun Mountain, arriving at Golden Ao Island for inspection and guidance!'"
Three hours passed in the blink of an eye.
Golden Ao Island had changed completely.
The Sage's sacred ground, once shrouded in immortal aura and naturally resonant with Dao Charm, was now decorated with lanterns and streamers, brimming with festivity.
Above the enormous mountain gate, a crimson banner stretching a thousand zhang fluttered in the wind, its golden characters gleaming beneath the sunlight.
From the mountain gate to the Jade Palace, a straight avenue paved with flowers and immortal herbs stretched ahead.
Every ten zhang along both sides of the road stood an Interception Sect disciple in a uniform outfit, smiling warmly.
They held neither swords nor treasures.
Only... fruit platters, immortal wine, and brand-new Jade Slips.
Several large words were clearly engraved upon the Jade Slips' covers.
Golden Ao Island Visitor's Guidebook and Introduction to Interception Sect Administrative Processes.
Not the slightest trace of gunpowder could be smelled anywhere on Golden Ao Island.
In its place was an absurdity so thick it could not be dissolved.
Daoist Duobao and Zhao Gongming stood before the mountain gate, their mouths still twitching uncontrollably at the sight.
Just then.
Twelve incomparably brilliant streaks of golden light tore through the sea of clouds from the horizon, charging over with unparalleled pressure and fury.
Before the golden light arrived, its unstoppable killing aura had already sent the waters of the East Sea rolling backward and made the boundless blue waves boil.
At their head was Guangchengzi.
He held the Heaven-Turning Seal in his hand, his face dark as water, his eyes filled with the righteous majesty of enforcing Heaven's punishment.
He had already made up his mind.
The moment he reached the skies above Golden Ao Island, he would immediately unleash the Heaven-Turning Seal and give that overconfident Mountain Protection Array of the Interception Sect a sharp warning!
However.
When his divine sense swept over Golden Ao Island and he clearly saw every word on that enormous red banner.
Guangchengzi's figure abruptly halted in midair.
The towering rage on his face instantly froze.
The hand preparing to unleash the Heaven-Turning Seal also stiffened in the air.
Chi Jingzi and the others behind him stopped as well, each wearing an expression as though they had seen a ghost.
Welcome...
Inspection and guidance work?
Before you continue