Heavenly Court.
High Heaven Hall.
Taibai Jinxing had just returned when he saw Haotian standing in the hall.
More than a dozen urgent reports lay scattered across the floor.
The Water Department, Dou Department, Thunder Department, and Lower Realm Heaven Patrol Division were almost all calling for aid.
And after hearing Taibai Jinxing's report from Golden Turtle Island, Haotian's expression grew colder and colder.
When he heard that Zhao Xuan wanted him to personally go to Golden Turtle Island, Haotian finally could not suppress his anger.
"Insolence!"
"Who does Zhao Xuan think he is, daring to make me go invite him in person?"
Inside High Heaven Hall, the Immortal Officials lowered their heads even further.
No one dared to persuade him.
Trying to persuade him now would be like running straight into the line of fire.
Taibai Jinxing said nothing either, merely presenting the Jade Slip Zhao Xuan had given him.
Haotian gave it a cold glance.
"What is this?"
"Zhao Xuan asked this old servant to present it to Your Majesty."
"He said this was the debt the Heavenly Court had owed Jie Sect disciples over the years."
Haotian's eyes darkened.
"A debt?"
He raised a hand, seized the Jade Slip, and swept it with his divine sense.
The next instant, Haotian's expression changed.
The Jade Slip recorded everything in painstaking detail.
In a certain year, Jie Sect disciple Qingxiaozi guarded the Third Sea Eye of the East Sea and held back a demon tide for the Water Department. His Dao foundation was injured. The Heavenly Court recorded the merit as first-class, while the actual reward was three low-grade spirit pills.
In a certain year, Jie Sect disciple Daoist Chisong patrolled the North Star Domain and discovered displaced stellar nodes. He repaired them alone for thirty-six days, only for the credit to be claimed by a Star Official of the Dou Department.
In a certain year, Jie Sect disciple Yu Hua assisted the Thunder Department in capturing evil cultivators. Afterward, the remnants of the evil cultivators' sect retaliated, killing two young attendants under Yu Hua. The Thunder Department did nothing.
In a certain year, Jie Sect disciple Immortal Lingya helped the Heavenly Court mediate a battle between rogue cultivators overseas. Both sides held a grudge against him, and after the Heavenly Court withdrew its people, Immortal Lingya was left to clean up alone.
In a certain year...
Case after case.
Incident after incident.
None of them were earth-shattering matters.
Yet every single one struck where it hurt.
Because they were too specific.
Specific down to the time.
Specific down to the names.
Specific down to which Heavenly Court department's Immortal Officials had taken over.
Specific down to who ultimately claimed the credit and who took the blame.
The more Haotian read, the worse his expression became.
Of course, he could not possibly have known such minor details.
After all, the Heavenly Court was so vast. As the Heavenly Emperor, he could not keep watch over the rewards and punishments of every assistant disciple.
But not knowing did not mean those things had never happened.
Now that Zhao Xuan had laid them out, it was equivalent to tearing off a piece of the Heavenly Court's glamorous outer skin.
Taibai Jinxing said quietly:
"Your Majesty, Zhao Xuan also said that if the Heavenly Court does not give an explanation for Qingxiaozi's matter, the Jie Sect will seek one itself."
Haotian suddenly clenched the Jade Slip.
Crack.
A fissure appeared in the Jade Slip.
"He's threatening me?"
Taibai Jinxing said in a low voice:
"Your Majesty, the problem now is not Zhao Xuan's threat."
"It is that these debts cannot be allowed to spread."
Haotian looked at him coldly.
Taibai Jinxing forced himself to continue:
"If they spread, it will be difficult for the Heavenly Court to borrow people from the Jie Sect again."
"Not just the Jie Sect."
"Other rogue cultivators will also wonder whether working for the Heavenly Court will leave them with the same fate."
Haotian said nothing.
The atmosphere in the hall was heavy.
After a long while, Haotian suddenly said:
"Where are the people from the Water Department?"
Taibai Jinxing hurriedly replied:
"They are waiting outside the hall."
"Bring them in."
Before long, several Water Department Immortal Officials were brought into the hall. Xuan Lang led them, and the moment they entered, they fell to their knees.
"Your Majesty."
Haotian threw the cracked Jade Slip before him.
"Regarding Qingxiaozi's matter, who told you to arrest him?"
"Your Majesty, we merely wished to bring him back to the Water Department for questioning."
"Questioning?"
Haotian sneered.
"Bringing Heavenly Soldiers to arrest a Jie Sect disciple outside Golden Turtle Island is called questioning?"
"And did you ever report this matter to me?"
General Xuanlang's forehead broke out in sweat.
"Your Servant acted in haste."
"The Sea Eye had an incident. Seven Immortal Officials died, and the Water Department had to determine the cause."
Haotian stared at him.
"So was there actually a problem with the formation map?"
General Xuanlang opened his mouth.
He did not dare answer.
Haotian understood.
"Idiot!"
General Xuanlang immediately kowtowed.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me!"
Haotian was so furious that his fingers trembled.
The Jie Sect had only just withdrawn its people, and the Water Department had immediately shifted the blame.
Shifting the blame would have been one thing, but Zhao Xuan had caught them red-handed.
They had handed the hilt of a blade to the Jie Sect, which could point its edge at the Heavenly Court at any time!
Haotian took a deep breath.
"Pass down the order."
"Xuan Lang handled this improperly. He is to be punished by guarding the Third Sea Eye of the East Sea for a thousand years."
"All Water Department Immortal Officials involved are to be thoroughly investigated."
General Xuanlang's face turned deathly pale.
"Your Majesty!"
Haotian did not look at him.
"Drag him away."
Heavenly Soldiers stepped forward and dragged Xuan Lang out of High Heaven Hall.
Xuan Lang's voice gradually faded into the distance.
The Immortal Officials in the hall felt chills in their hearts.
They knew Haotian was giving the Jie Sect an explanation.
But he gave that explanation grudgingly.
Because it was not something he wanted to give willingly.
It was something he had no choice but to give.
Taibai Jinxing said softly:
"Your Majesty, then Golden Turtle Island..."
Haotian fell silent.
Go to Golden Turtle Island himself?
He did not want to go.
He was the Heavenly Emperor.
If word got out that he had personally gone to invite Jie Sect disciples, where would his dignity remain?
But if he did not go, the hole on the Heavenly Court's side would only continue to widen.
Haotian closed his eyes, only opening them again several breaths later.
"Transfer more people."
"Hold on for three days first."
"I refuse to believe that without Jie Sect disciples, the Heavenly Court truly cannot function."
Taibai Jinxing's lips moved, but in the end, he merely lowered his head.
"Yes."
The first day.
The Heavenly Court forcibly transferred Thunder Department Divine Generals to the East Sea to suppress the Sea Eye.
The Thunder Department Divine Generals really could fight.
When their Thunder arts crashed down, a huge portion of the demon tide was instantly blasted apart.
But the Sea Eye was not a demon.
Keeping the sea stable required more than knowing how to fight.
While the Thunder Department Divine Generals blasted apart the demon tide, they also shook the already unstable Sea Eye into greater chaos.
In less than half a day, the spiritual tide of the Third Sea Eye surged threefold.
The East Sea Dragon Palace submitted an urgent memorial overnight.
It stated that if this continued, more than a dozen nearby islands would be dragged beneath the sea.
The second day.
The Dou Department sent Star Officials to repair the nodes in the North Star Domain.
Those Star Officials were not poor at deductions, but they were unfamiliar with the formation patterns Jie Sect disciples had left behind over the years.
After forcibly making repairs, three of the seven nodes stabilized, while four fell into disorder.
One small star veered from its orbit and crashed toward an overseas immortal mountain.
The mountain's owner was a Daluo rogue cultivator. Enraged, he charged directly outside the Heavenly Court and cursed at the South Heaven Gate for half a day.
And because the Heavenly Court was in the wrong, it had no choice but to endure it.
The third day.
Evil cultivators wreaked havoc in the lower realm.
The Heavenly Court sent Heavenly Soldiers to surround and eliminate them.
The evil cultivators were not fully killed. Instead, because the Heavenly Soldiers caused too great a commotion, they alerted several nearby demon lairs.
Demons and evil cultivators joined forces, throwing the situation into even greater chaos.
What three Jie Sect disciples could originally have resolved quietly became a small-scale military disaster after the Heavenly Court sent three thousand Heavenly Soldiers.
Report after report returned to Golden Turtle Island.
After hearing them, Holy Mother Guiling laughed so hard that she kept slapping the table.
"Trash!"
"What a bunch of trash!"
"I truly never realized before that the Heavenly Court was this incompetent."
Zhao Gongming was also rather speechless.
"Sending the Thunder Department to suppress a Sea Eye... how did they even think of that?"
Holy Mother Jinling said coldly:
"It is not that they could not think of it. It is that they have no one to use."
Holy Mother Wudang said softly:
"Before, people did the work for them, so naturally they never had to learn."
Those words left everyone silent for a moment.
Yes.
There had once been people to do these things for them.
Jie Sect disciples guarded the Sea Eye for them, patrolled the starfields, captured wicked cultivators, and mediated disputes among independent cultivators.
After so long, even the Heavenly Court itself had forgotten how to do it.
Holy Mother Guiling looked at Zhao Xuan.
"Senior Disciple Brother, it has been three days."
"Haotian still hasn't come."
Zhao Xuan flipped through the Jade Slip in his hand without even looking up.
"He's waiting."
"Waiting for what?"
"Waiting for the Heavenly Court to patch up the hole itself."
Holy Mother Guiling sneered.
"Have they patched it?"
"No."
"Then he's still waiting?"
Zhao Xuan finally looked up.
"Because he is the Heavenly Emperor."
"The Heavenly Emperor needs to save face."
Zhao Gongming asked,
"Then what about us?"
"Wait."
Before you continue