As Chen Changsheng's words fell, the fervor that had just risen in the great hall because of the Provisional Measures for Primordial Credit Management was instantly frozen by an invisible chill.
Zhao Gongming's outstretched hand, ready to accept the Official Letter, froze in midair.
The excitement and boldness on his face receded as swiftly as tides scorched beneath a blazing sun, leaving behind only stunned disbelief.
Eight Views Palace?
That was the Eight Views Palace!
The abode of Grand Supreme Moral Heavenly Venerate, the Head of the Three Pure Ones and their Senior Uncle-Master!
The residence of that supreme being who dared to doze off even during the Dao Ancestor's sermons, who seemed forever beyond the Three Realms, pure and effortless!
Conducting a census at the Dragon Palace was overwhelming them with a higher level of power.
Going to the Sea of Blood or the Demon Master Palace meant relying on Heavenly Dao Momentum to suppress others with force.
But going to the Eight Views Palace...
What was that?
It was building a dam called "Process" at the source of a great Dao called "Wuwei," one that had surged onward for countless eons!
"Junior Brother!"
Zhao Gongming withdrew his hand with difficulty, his Adam's apple bobbing.
"Is this... is this perhaps... too hasty?"
He was not afraid.
Rather, he simply could not imagine what it would look like when he stood before that Senior Uncle-Master—whose every breath seemed to be one with the Great Dao—holding a form that needed filling out.
"Indeed."
Daoist Duobao also recovered from his overwhelming shock. He stepped forward, his expression graver than ever.
"Although Uncle-Master Yuanshi is arrogant, there are traces to his conduct. It always remains within the bounds of the word 'rules.' But Senior Uncle-Master..."
Duobao paused, as though searching for an appropriate term.
"Senior Uncle-Master himself is 'without rules.'"
A core disciple of the Calamity Aversion Department dressed in gray unconsciously nodded. Another disciple nervously gripped the jade brush in his hand, his palm already drenched in cold sweat.
Because of the three words "Eight Views Palace," the atmosphere throughout the great hall became oppressive once more.
Seeing the mixture of reverence and confusion on everyone's faces, Chen Changsheng merely placed the Official Letter calmly on the desk.
"I understand my senior brothers' concerns."
He spoke slowly. His voice was not loud, but it carried a power that settled hearts.
"But today, we are not going there as members of the Interception Sect."
"We are the Three Realms Population Census Office, carrying out a census on behalf of the Heavenly Dao under the Dao Ancestor's decree."
He swept his gaze around the hall and laid out his reasoning with clarity.
"This matter cannot avoid anyone. Since no one can be avoided, there must be an order. Senior Uncle-Master is the Head of the Three Pure Ones. By both sentiment and reason, his sacred abode should be the first one we visit. That is 'respect.'"
"Second, Senior Uncle-Master cultivates the Dao of purity and effortlessness. What is Wuwei? Wuwei does not mean doing nothing. It means following the Great Dao, leaving nothing undone. What we are doing today has received the Heavenly Dao's recognition; it is the momentum of the Primordial World. Following the greater momentum is itself part of Wuwei."
Everyone was left dumbfounded by those words.
Even Sect Leader Tongtian's eyes flashed with surprise when he heard that twisted logic.
It could be interpreted that way?
"Most importantly."
Chen Changsheng emphasized his words, his eyes glinting with an air of seeing through everything.
"Uncle-Master Yuanshi cares about his dignity, so we used the Process to make him lose face. Naturally, he became enraged."
"But what does Senior Uncle-Master want?"
Without waiting for an answer, he continued.
"What he wants is 'reason.'"
"The 'principle' behind the operation of the Heavenly Dao."
"And the 'Process' we have established today, this Credit System that has just received the Dao Ancestor's recognition, is the newest and most unassailable 'reason' in the Primordial World right now!"
"We are not going to challenge Senior Uncle-Master's Dao."
"We are going to show this elder, who understands 'reason' better than anyone, the new 'reason' we have discovered."
Chen Changsheng's voice struck the ground like a hammer.
"He may find it dull. He may wave us away."
"But he will never become angry over it, much less act to stop us."
"Because that... would not accord with his 'reason.'"
The great hall fell deathly silent.
Daoist Duobao and Zhao Gongming stared blankly at Chen Changsheng. Every word from his mouth seemed to contain a kind of magic they could neither understand nor refute.
He had forcibly described an incomparably domineering bureaucratic system as... a respectful academic report to an elder?
"Haha... Hahahaha!"
Sect Leader Tongtian's hearty laughter was filled with boundless delight.
"Good! What a fine 'reason'!"
"Wuwei, go ahead and do it! If anything happens, your master will bear it for you!"
With a Sage's approval, the last trace of doubt in Zhao Gongming's heart vanished completely.
He stepped forward and solemnly lifted the Official Letter from the desk.
In his hands, that Official Letter no longer seemed like a death warrant, but an unparalleled weapon capable of prying at a Sage's Dao heart.
"Junior Brother, how should I proceed?"
"Neither servile nor overbearing. Follow the rules."
Chen Changsheng gave him only those eight words.
Zhao Gongming gave Chen Changsheng a deep bow.
"I understand."
The next moment, without bringing a single attendant, he transformed into a streak of light and shot out of Golden Ao Island alone, heading straight beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens.
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Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens lay a place of pristine stillness.
An ancient, unadorned palace floated quietly amid the currents of chaos.
There were no myriad rays of immortal light, no thousand strands of auspicious radiance.
There was only an eternal tranquility, as though even time had lost its meaning here.
Before the palace gates, a Green Ox lay lazily on the ground. Every so often, he flicked his tail, stirring wisps of Great Dao aura.
Zhao Gongming descended while still ten thousand zhang away from the palace gates.
He dispersed the immortal light protecting his body, changed into a plain gray Daoist robe, and held the Official Letter in both hands as he walked forward step by step.
His gait was steady.
Every step seemed measured by a ruler.
The Green Ox slowly opened one eye. Those seemingly muddy eyes appeared to reflect the birth and death of all heavens, the cycles of countless ages.
He merely glanced at Zhao Gongming before closing his eye again, as though he had seen nothing more than a speck of dust drifting past.
Just as Zhao Gongming was about to reach the palace gates—
The palace gates silently opened a crack.
A young Daoist in an Eight Trigrams Daoist Robe, his face as still as an ancient well, emerged from within.
He was Grand Master Xuandu, the Ren Sect's sole disciple.
Xuandu's gaze fell upon Zhao Gongming, tranquil and detached.
"Junior Brother Gongming, it has been a long time."
Like the man himself, his voice revealed no emotion.
Zhao Gongming stopped and gave Xuandu an impeccably formal Daoist salute.
He did not address the other man as senior brother, nor did he reminisce as a fellow disciple.
He merely raised the Official Letter in his hands slightly.
"I, Zhao Gongming, have come under the decree of Dao Ancestor Hongjun of the Purple Cloud Palace to deliver the Notice Regarding the Launch of the First Household Registration Information Drive to the Eight Views Palace."
His voice was not loud, yet it rang clearly through that utterly silent void.
The moment his words fell—
The Green Ox's chewing stopped for an instant.
Far away above the sea of clouds, a white crane that had been leisurely napping abruptly lifted its head and let out an uncertain cry.
Even a barely perceptible ripple appeared deep within Xuandu's eternally unchanged eyes.
He neither grew angry nor questioned him.
His gaze swept over the Official Letter before finally returning to Zhao Gongming's face.
He remained silent for a long time.
So long that Zhao Gongming began to think he might stand there until the end of time.
At last, Xuandu slowly spoke.
He asked a question that made even Zhao Gongming's primordial spirit tremble.
"Is Master's Dao also within the Process?"
The question was calm and direct.
Yet it seemed to contain supreme power, striking straight at the core of everything behind this visit!
Zhao Gongming's mind violently stirred at that moment.
But he instantly recalled Chen Changsheng's calm eyes before his departure, as well as the answer that had long been prepared.
He raised his head, met Xuandu's profound gaze, and replied word by word, neither servile nor overbearing.
"In answer to Grand Master."
"The Process exists to sort out the Dao of all things."
"Senior Uncle-Master's Dao is the foremost of all Daos. Naturally... it is the starting point of the Process, not its endpoint."
"We have not come today to register anything, but to... calibrate."
Calibrate.
When those two words left his mouth, Xuandu's pupils contracted imperceptibly.
What a calibration!
Using a Sage's Dao as the foundation upon which to set the Process!
What utterly mad—and utterly flawless—logic!
He sank into silence again.
This time, the silence lasted even longer.
At last, he slowly extended his hand toward Zhao Gongming.
"Leave the Official Letter."
"You may go."
A great weight lifted from Zhao Gongming's heart.
He respectfully handed over the Official Letter and watched Grand Master Xuandu receive it, turn around, and walk through the palace gates.
Throughout the entire exchange, there had not been the slightest hint of mundane commotion.
Yet it was as though an earthshaking invisible confrontation had just taken place.
Zhao Gongming bowed once more toward the slowly closing palace gates, then prepared to turn and leave.
The task was complete.
However, just as he turned around—
The gates of the Eight Views Palace, which had remained shut for countless Yuanhuis, slowly opened inward once again amid an ancient, drawn-out creak.
An ethereal, distant voice, as though it had drifted from the very source of the Great Dao, floated out through that crack.
The voice held neither joy nor anger, neither karma nor consequence. It contained only a faint interest that seemed able to see through all things.
"Xuandu."
"Let this... Flow Official come in and sit for a while."
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