On Golden Turtle Island.
Zhao Xuan stood with his hands behind his back and spoke softly:
"Many disciples used to think that helping out in various parts of the Primordial World was no big deal."
"Suppressing a Sea Eye was no big deal."
"Patrolling a stretch of the stars was no big deal."
"Protecting a few Human Race cities was no big deal, either."
"Even mediating disputes between a few rogue cultivators was no big deal."
"So they didn't think they were being used."
"They even thought doing work for the Heavenly Court was a respectable thing."
"But now they should understand."
"Those little tasks, taken together, made up the most fundamental order of the Primordial World."
"And the Heavenly Court couldn't uphold that order on its own."
Zhao Gongming's expression slowly changed.
Zhao Xuan continued:
"If the Interception Sect doesn't understand how important it is, others will lead it around by the nose with talk of the greater good."
"If the Interception Sect doesn't understand what leverage it holds, the Investiture of the Gods List will scare it into losing its head."
"So the first step isn't to force Haotian to back down."
"It's to wake ourselves up."
Zhao Gongming let out a long breath.
"Senior Disciple Brother, I'm convinced."
He spoke with complete sincerity.
"I used to think that whenever trouble arose, we should step in, and whenever an enemy appeared, we should fight."
"Only now do I understand that sometimes holding back your hand hits harder than throwing a punch."
Holy Mother Guiling grinned beside them.
"Gongming, you've finally learned to use that head of yours."
Zhao Gongming shot her a glare.
"Senior Sister Guiling, you can insult me all you like, but don't look so pleased about it."
Holy Mother Guiling looked even more pleased.
Just then, Holy Mother Jinling hurried over.
She held a Jade Slip for sending messages in her hand, her face icy.
"Senior Disciple Brother, something's happened at the Third Sea Eye in the East Sea."
Holy Mother Guiling stopped laughing.
Zhao Xuan turned to her.
"Tell me."
Holy Mother Jinling said:
"The Heavenly Court's replacement couldn't suppress the Sea Eye, so they tried to forcibly activate the Sea-Suppressing Array originally set up by our Interception Sect disciples."
"The array turned on them, and seven Water Department Immortal Officials died."
"Now the Heavenly Court is blaming our Interception Sect disciple Qingxiaozi."
"They claim that before he left, he deliberately failed to hand over all the details of the array's changes."
Holy Mother Guiling's expression darkened at once.
"Bullshit!"
"The Sea-Suppressing Array changes every three years. Qingxiaozi must have left the formation map before he went."
Holy Mother Jinling nodded.
"Qingxiaozi did leave it."
"But the Heavenly Court claims the map was wrong."
Zhao Gongming snapped:
"Isn't that just a frame-up?"
Zhao Xuan didn't lose his temper.
He simply asked:
"Where is Qingxiaozi?"
"He's already returned to the waters outside Golden Turtle Island."
"But the Water Department sent people after him. They say they're taking him back to answer for his crimes."
Holy Mother Guiling rolled up her sleeves.
"I'll go."
Zhao Xuan glanced at her.
"What are you going to do?"
"Beat them up!"
"And then?"
Holy Mother Guiling froze.
Zhao Xuan said:
"If you attack the Water Department's people now, tomorrow they'll claim our Interception Sect disciples resisted arrest out of guilt."
"The day after, Haotian can take the matter to Zixiao Palace and cry about it for the second time."
Holy Mother Guiling gritted her teeth.
"So we just let them bully Qingxiaozi?"
Zhao Xuan smiled.
"Of course not."
He turned and headed for the edge of Golden Turtle Island.
"I'll go myself."
Holy Mother Guiling's eyes lit up, and she immediately followed.
Zhao Gongming and Holy Mother Jinling followed close behind.
Outside Golden Turtle Island.
Qingxiaozi stood on the surface of the sea, his face pale.
He was a branch disciple of the Interception Sect. His cultivation wasn't top-tier—he was an early-stage Golden Immortal.
For years, he had guarded the Third Sea Eye in the East Sea for the Heavenly Court.
It was a miserable place.
The spiritual tides were chaotic, demonic energy ran rampant, and turmoil broke out every ten years, with a major upheaval every hundred.
The Water Department had originally sent several groups of Immortal Officials there, but they had either been injured or found excuses to transfer away.
Then Qingxiaozi took over, and he stayed for two thousand years.
In those two thousand years, his cultivation barely improved. What he did accumulate was a body full of hidden injuries.
Yet he had never complained.
The Heavenly Court had always told him that he was doing his part to keep the Three Realms at peace.
And he had believed them.
That was, until the Interception Sect's decree arrived, ordering him to return to the mountain and avoid the coming calamity.
Qingxiaozi handed over the formation map, the command token, and every record of the Sea Eye's changes from all those years, then left.
He hadn't expected the Water Department's people to catch up with him just after he returned to the waters outside Golden Turtle Island.
One of them was a Water Department Divine General clad in blue immortal armor.
He held a command token and spoke harshly.
"Qingxiaozi, come back with us."
Qingxiaozi frowned.
"I've returned to the mountain under my sect's decree, and I've handed over the Sea-Suppressing Formation Map. What else is there?"
The Water Department Divine General sneered.
"The map was wrong, and seven of our Water Department's Immortal Officials died because of it."
"You still dare to say there's nothing to answer for?"
Qingxiaozi's expression changed.
"Impossible!"
"I checked the Sea-Suppressing Formation Map again three days before I left."
The Water Department Divine General stepped forward.
"You don't get to decide whether it was wrong."
"Come back to the Heavenly Court with us. The Water Department will interrogate you."
Qingxiaozi's face turned grim.
"I'm a disciple of the Interception Sect, not a prisoner of the Heavenly Court."
The Water Department Divine General said coldly:
"You spent years working for the Heavenly Court. Now that something's gone wrong, you think you can just walk away?"
"It can't be that easy."
He raised a hand and waved.
"Seize him!"
Several Heavenly Soldiers immediately stepped forward.
Qingxiaozi instinctively retreated, his fingers already on the hilt of his sword.
But he remembered Zhao Xuan's order and forced himself to hold back.
He couldn't fight.
He couldn't give the Heavenly Court an excuse to pin a charge on him.
Seeing that he didn't dare draw his sword, the Water Department Divine General sneered.
"What?"
"Aren't Interception Sect disciples always so arrogant?"
"Scared now?"
Just as he finished speaking, a voice sounded behind him.
"Who said he was scared?"
The Water Department Divine General spun around.
Zhao Xuan strode across the sea.
Holy Mother Guiling, Holy Mother Jinling, and Zhao Gongming followed behind him.
The Water Department Divine General's expression shifted.
He didn't recognize Zhao Xuan, but he knew Holy Mother Guiling and Holy Mother Jinling.
Neither of them was known for being easy to deal with.
When Qingxiaozi saw Zhao Xuan, he immediately bowed.
"Senior Disciple Brother."
Zhao Xuan nodded.
"Did you hand over the formation map?"
"I did."
"Did you hand over the records?"
"I did."
"Did you hand over the command token?"
"I did."
Zhao Xuan looked at the Water Department Divine General.
"You heard him."
The Water Department Divine General answered through gritted teeth:
"He says he handed them over, so that makes it true?"
Zhao Xuan said:
"Then you say he didn't. Where's your evidence?"
The Water Department Divine General fell silent.
"I asked you, where's your evidence?!"
Zhao Xuan's expression turned cold. He continued:
"The Sea-Suppressing Formation Map was wrong. Who activated the array?"
The Water Department Divine General looked uncomfortable.
"One of our Water Department Immortal Officials."
"Did he understand formations?"
"Of course."
"So how did he activate it wrong?"
The Water Department Divine General's face flushed red.
"The formation diagram must be wrong. Of course it would open the wrong way."
Zhao Xuan sneered.
"Then bring out the formation diagram."
The Water Department Divine General fell silent.
Zhao Xuan looked at him.
"Can't bring it out?"
"Or are you afraid to?"
The Water Department Divine General gritted his teeth.
"The formation diagram is a secret of the Heavenly Court's Water Department. How could I let you see it?"
Zhao Xuan nodded.
"Fine."
"You won't show me the formation diagram, you have no evidence, but you still want to take him away."
"So this is how the Heavenly Court does things."
The Water Department Divine General's expression changed.
"Don't try to pin that on me!"
Holy Mother Guiling sneered.
"Aren't you the ones who are best at pinning things on others?"
"Why are you getting worked up now that it's your turn?"
The Water Department Divine General didn't dare argue with her, so he could only turn to Zhao Xuan.
"This matter concerns the Heavenly Court's Water Department and Qingxiaozi."
"Qingxiaozi guarded the Sea Eye for my Water Department for many years. Now that something has happened to the Sea Eye, he must return and answer for it."
Zhao Xuan's gaze turned even colder.
"You know he guarded the Sea Eye for you for many years, don't you?"
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