That thick stack of Jade Slips lay quietly on the jade table before Guangchengzi.
Each volume exuded the fresh scent of ink, along with a strange aura known as "Process" that could make even a Grand Unity Golden Immortal feel suffocated.
The smile on Wang Youcai's face was humble yet professional, making him look exactly like the shrewdest bookkeeper in a mortal capital.
"Martial Uncle, please don't rush."
"These forms may seem numerous, but they are all meant to clarify the facts, define both parties' rights and responsibilities, and prevent unnecessary disputes later on."
"Look, this first Inter-Sect Dispute Resolution Application Form is mainly for our Calamity Aversion Department to formally open a case..."
Wang Youcai's words continued to chatter in his ears.
Yet Guangchengzi could not take in a single word.
His eyes remained fixed on that stack of Jade Slips, and deep within them burned a fury capable of incinerating the heavens and boiling the seas.
He recalled the teachings of his master, Primordial Heavenly Venerate.
Disciples of the Chan Sect should follow Heaven and heed the people, carry out Heaven's mandate, wield supreme divine power, walk the grand and righteous path, and sweep away all demons and monsters.
But what about now?
He, the Chan Sect's foremost disciple, a Grand Unity Golden Immortal wielding the Heaven-Turning Seal and carrying out Heaven's punishment, had been blocked at a desk by a junior True Immortal and told to fill out forms.
And he even had to fill out an Armed Conflict Risk Intent Statement!
This was practically taking the Chan Sect's supreme righteousness, pressing it into the dirt, and trampling it over and over in the most absurd and humiliating manner possible!
"Enough."
Guangchengzi's voice was terrifyingly low.
He slowly raised his eyes toward Wang Youcai. There was no longer the slightest trace of emotion in his gaze, only a pure, icy intent to destroy.
"Scram."
That single word was like a cold wind blowing up from the Nine Netherworlds.
The smile on Wang Youcai's face instantly froze.
He felt an irresistible, terrifying pressure descend upon him. His primordial spirit ached, his Dao heart threatened to shatter, and his entire body flew backward beyond his control.
Bang!
He crashed heavily to the ground, and the Management Regulations in his hand scattered everywhere.
"Senior Brother!"
"Wang Youcai!"
The surrounding Interception Sect disciples cried out in alarm and hurried forward to help him up.
The atmosphere across the entire plaza instantly dropped to freezing point.
"Guangchengzi!"
With an angry shout, Daoist Duobao stepped forward, unleashing the aura of a Grand Unity Golden Immortal without reservation.
"You dare injure my disciple on my Golden Ao Island?!"
Without another word, Zhao Gongming suspended twenty-four Sea-Calming Divine Pearls above his head. They radiated boundless divine light, ready to strike at any moment.
Yet Guangchengzi did not even spare them a glance.
His gaze passed through everyone and settled upon Chen Changsheng, whose face was growing increasingly pale as disciples supported him.
He knew that this man was the instigator behind everything!
If he did not shatter these so-called "rules" today, the Chan Sect would become the laughingstock of the Primordial World for all eternity!
"Rules?"
Guangchengzi slowly rose to his feet, a sinister sneer curling across his lips.
"In the Primordial World, fists are the rules!"
"Magic treasures are reason!"
The moment his words fell, he abruptly raised his hand, but did not attack anyone.
Instead, he slammed his palm fiercely toward the jade table and that thick stack of forms before him!
He would destroy all of it!
He would use the most direct and violent method to tell the Interception Sect, to tell all living beings in the Primordial World!
Before absolute power, every Process and every rule was a joke!
This palm contained the supreme divine power of a Grand Unity Golden Immortal, enough to shatter a Primordial Divine Mountain!
Space fractured inch by inch beneath his palm, exposing black chaos.
Yet just as his hand was about to descend.
The ordinary-looking jade table, along with the harmless stack of Jade Slips atop it, simultaneously lit up with a layer of incomparably profound array runes!
Bzzzz—!
A deep hum rang out.
The entire Golden Ao Island, together with the Mountain Protection Array covering it, trembled lightly.
A vast and boundless power, as though it had fused with the entire island and the whole East Sea, surged into the sky from the jade table!
Guangchengzi's palm struck that thin Light Screen, yet it felt as though he had struck a piece of Chaos Divine Iron!
A terrifying rebounding force surged back along his arm!
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Guangchengzi let out a muffled grunt and actually staggered half a step backward.
The ground beneath his feet cracked inch by inch!
The entire plaza fell deathly silent.
Everyone stared at the scene in utter disbelief.
The savage sneers on Chi Jingzi and the others' faces froze at the corners of their mouths.
Daoist Duobao and Zhao Gongming also halted mid-motion just as they were about to strike.
No one had expected this tiny table to be a top-tier array treasure... connected to the Island Protection Array!
Guangchengzi looked at his slightly numb palm, then at the jade table, which remained completely unharmed and did not even have a speck of dust on it. His mind buzzed, turning utterly blank.
He had lost.
He had used the power he was proudest of to challenge the other side's "rules."
In the end, he had not even managed to shake the table that embodied their "rules" in the slightest.
This humiliated him even more than losing a direct battle of magic!
However, the true humiliation had only just begun.
At the very moment his strike missed and the entire scene fell silent.
Light began to flow over the jade table he had attacked.
A red Light Screen automatically rose from the tabletop and floated in midair.
Upon it, a line of enormous golden words condensed from divine power slowly appeared, clearly reflected in everyone's eyes.
[Warning: Visitor Guangchengzi has been detected intentionally damaging Golden Ao Island public property (Express VIP Window Desk No. 01). The conduct is vile, and the circumstances are severe.]
[In accordance with Article 72 of the Golden Ao Island Public Property Management Regulations, punishment is hereby imposed.]
[The punishment decision is as follows:]
[1. The party concerned, Guangchengzi, is ordered to immediately cease the infringing conduct.]
[2. A fine is imposed: one High-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, or Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures of equivalent value.]
[3. Until the fine has been paid in full, all eligibility to conduct business on the island shall be suspended.]
[The Interception Sect Calamity Aversion Department reserves the right of final interpretation.]
Those lines of golden text hung openly in midair.
They resembled an astronomical fine notice.
They resembled, even more, an incomparably resounding slap, fiercely striking Guangchengzi's face—and the faces of every Golden Immortal of the Chan Sect—again and again.
"Pfft—"
Chi Jingzi could no longer endure it.
He did not cough up blood.
He simply failed to catch his breath, rolled his eyes, and fell stiffly backward. True Master Yuding caught him, pinched his philtrum for a long while, and only then did he slowly regain consciousness.
He would rather have coughed up blood!
He would rather have fought the Interception Sect for three hundred rounds and been beaten until his soul and spirit were annihilated!
Even so, he could not accept the absurd scene before him, absurd enough to make his Dao heart collapse!
Damaging public property?
A fine?
And they wanted a High-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure as payment?!
Th-this Interception Sect... had they gone mad from poverty?!
How dared they?!
How dared they issue such a... fine notice to a direct disciple of a Sage, the Chan Sect's foremost disciple?!
Guangchengzi's body began to tremble violently.
He was not enraged, nor was he humiliated.
Instead, he felt an unprecedented... bewilderment that seeped into his bones.
He discovered that his worldview, one that had operated for countless eons on the principles of the weak being prey to the strong and the strong being honored, was crumbling inch by inch on this island, before this unheard-of Process.
He wanted to attack, but he could not even defeat a table.
He wanted to reason with them, but he could not argue against their rules.
He could not advance.
He could not retreat.
He felt like an ant that had stumbled onto a chessboard, every step landing precisely in a trap the other side had laid long ago.
And the instigator who had arranged all of this was now slowly approaching, supported by disciples.
Chen Changsheng looked at the red fine notice Light Screen and nodded in satisfaction.
Then he turned toward Guangchengzi, whose face had gone ashen, and revealed an exceptionally warm and sincere smile.
He cupped his hands toward Guangchengzi and slowly spoke in a businesslike yet faintly concerned tone.
"Senior Brother Guangchengzi."
"Look at the mess this has become."
"Will you be paying by card or cash?"
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