Outside Golden Turtle Island.
The East Sea Dragon Palace had sent someone, and he had already been waiting for half an hour.
He was an old minister of the Dragon Palace.
His hair and beard were white, and he still carried the fishy tang of the sea.
Several times, he wanted to peer into the island, but he didn't dare barge in.
Because Holy Mother Guiling was standing not far away.
She stood with her arms folded, watching the old minister from the Dragon Palace.
"What's the hurry?"
"Isn't the Sea Eye part of your East Sea?"
The old minister's face was full of bitterness.
"Immortal Guiling, if the Third Sea Eye really collapses, even the East Sea Dragon Clan won't be able to hold it back."
"Then go find the Heavenly Court."
Holy Mother Guiling sneered.
"Don't you always say the Heavenly Court governs the Four Seas?"
The old minister's lips moved, but he didn't dare argue.
In the past, they really had said that.
When trouble arose, they claimed the Heavenly Court had issued an order.
When it was time to divide the spoils, they claimed the Dragon Clan had earned merit by guarding the sea.
But when they encountered a Sea Eye they couldn't control, they came begging the Jie Sect disciples.
The more Holy Mother Guiling thought about it, the angrier she became.
"When Qingxiaozi guarded the Sea Eye, why wasn't your Dragon Palace in such a hurry?"
The old minister lowered his head.
"This matter is a debt owed by my Dragon Palace."
"A debt?"
Holy Mother Guiling gave a mocking laugh.
"'A debt owed'—those words sure come cheap."
Inside the hall.
Zhao Xuan hadn't gone out.
He sat in a side hall, looking at the Jade Slip in his hand.
The Jade Slip recorded Qingxiaozi's two thousand years guarding the Third Sea Eye.
The year the spirit tide surged out of control.
The year the Dragon Palace requested aid.
The year the Water Department shirked its responsibility.
The year Qingxiaozi was injured.
Every single thing was recorded inside.
Holy Mother Jinling stood nearby and said softly:
"Senior Disciple Brother, the East Sea's spirit tide is still rising."
"The Dragon Palace has already sent three groups to urge us."
Zhao Xuan didn't look up.
"Let them wait."
Holy Mother Jinling nodded.
She didn't try to persuade him.
She already understood what Zhao Xuan meant.
This time, they couldn't do things the way they had before.
Whenever someone asked, the Jie Sect went.
Once the Jie Sect went, the trouble was contained.
Once the trouble was contained, the credit disappeared.
So did the account.
In the end, everyone thought it was only right for the Jie Sect to do it.
The Jie Sect wouldn't do that anymore.
Zhao Gongming stood to one side, frowning as he asked:
"Will Haotian come?"
Zhao Xuan closed the Jade Slip.
"He will."
"If he doesn't, the Third Sea Eye will come for him."
High Heaven Hall.
By the time Taibai Jinxing returned, the hall was already in an uproar.
The Water Department Immortal Officials knelt in rows.
One message after another flew in on Jade Slips.
"Your Majesty, the seal on the Third Sea Eye has cracked by thirty percent!"
"Urgent report from the East Sea Dragon Palace: baleful qi from beneath the sea has already surged into the outer sea!"
"Divine General Xuan Lang is missing, and the Water Department's formation has failed!"
"The spirit tide has reversed across three thousand li of nearby sea. If this drags on, it may harm the coastal living beings!"
Haotian sat on the imperial throne, his face dark.
He didn't speak at once.
The more critical the moment, the less he could afford to lose his composure.
The Heavenly Court was the orthodox authority of the Three Realms.
If the Heavenly Emperor lost his composure first, those below him would only fall into greater disarray.
But every urgent report pointed to the same thing.
The Third Sea Eye couldn't hold out.
And the one person who could stabilize the Third Sea Eye was still on Golden Turtle Island.
Taibai Jinxing walked into the hall and bowed.
"Your Majesty."
Haotian looked at him.
"What did Zhao Xuan say?"
Taibai Jinxing was silent for a moment.
Immortal Zhao Xuan said, "This isn't a matter of the Jie Sect stepping in."
"It's the Heavenly Court asking the Jie Sect to step in."
The hall fell silent at once.
Many Immortal Officials' expressions changed.
Ask.
That word carried too much weight.
If the Heavenly Court asked, it was admitting that it couldn't hold things together.
It was also admitting that the Water Department had been wrong to charge Qingxiaozi before.
A Water Department Immortal Official couldn't help saying:
"Your Majesty, we mustn't set this precedent."
"If the Heavenly Court bows to the Jie Sect today, how will the various departments command the Primordial World in the future?"
Taibai Jinxing glanced at him.
"Then you go stabilize the Third Sea Eye?"
The Water Department Immortal Official immediately fell silent.
Taibai Jinxing's voice wasn't loud.
"This isn't the time to worry about whose pride gets hurt."
"If the Third Sea Eye collapses and disaster strikes the East Sea, the Heavenly Court will lose face all the same."
Haotian lightly tapped the armrest with his fingers.
Once.
Twice.
No one spoke in the hall.
Everyone was waiting for him to decide.
Haotian knew exactly what Zhao Xuan wanted.
Zhao Xuan didn't just want Qingxiaozi to return.
Nor did he want a few bottles of pills.
He wanted the Heavenly Court to admit it openly.
The merits of the Jie Sect's disciples could no longer be brushed aside.
Haotian raised his eyes.
"Prepare the chariot."
An Immortal Official in the hall was startled.
"Your Majesty, are you really going to Golden Turtle Island in person?"
Haotian gave him a cold look.
"If I don't go, should I send you?"
The Immortal Official immediately lowered his head.
Haotian rose to his feet.
"I'm going not to bow to the Jie Sect."
"I'm going for the sake of the East Sea's living beings."
At those words, the Immortal Officials in the hall all breathed a sigh of relief.
At least, in name, the Heavenly Court still had a way to save face.
But Taibai Jinxing knew all too well.
A way to save face was still just that.
The moment Haotian set foot on Golden Turtle Island, he would already have lost half the ground.
Outside Golden Turtle Island.
The sky suddenly darkened.
The sea of clouds parted.
The Celestial Emperor Chariot descended from the Nine Heavens.
There was no grand procession.
Nor were there ranks of heavenly soldiers.
Only a handful of Immortal Officials followed Taibai.
But the moment the aura of the Heavenly Emperor descended, the entire East Sea still seemed to sink.
The old minister from the Dragon Palace jerked his head up, joy appearing on his face.
"His Majesty is here!"
Holy Mother Guiling glanced at him.
"What are you so happy about?"
"It's not as if he's the one who'll stabilize the Sea Eye."
The old minister's face stiffened.
He didn't dare say anything.
Zhao Xuan walked out of Golden Turtle Island.
The Jie Sect disciples followed behind him.
Haotian stepped down from the chariot.
The two faced each other across the sea.
One was the Heavenly Emperor.
The other was the Senior Disciple Brother of the Jie Sect.
Neither spoke first.
In the end, Haotian spoke first:
"Zhao Xuan, the Third Sea Eye concerns the lives of the East Sea's people."
"This is no time for a fit of pique."
Zhao Xuan looked at him.
"Your Majesty is mistaken."
"The Water Department is the one throwing a fit."
"The Heavenly Court is the one shirking responsibility."
"Those who follow the rules—that's what makes us the Interception Sect."
Haotian's gaze darkened slightly.
Zhao Xuan continued:
"Qingxiaozi guarded the Third Sea Eye for two thousand years."
"When he left, he handed over the formation diagram, the token, and the records of the spirit tides, all in perfect order."
"But now the Water Department can't handle it, so they come to take him."
"When they can't take him, they go back to the Heavenly Court and claim the Interception Sect disrespects it."
"Now the Sea Eye has collapsed, and the Heavenly Court wants him to go back again."
Zhao Xuan's tone was even.
"Your Majesty, what would you call that?"
Haotian did not answer at once.
Taibai Jinxing stood beside him, sweat faintly beading on his forehead.
Those words were too blunt.
But every single one of them was true.
Haotian said slowly:
"The Water Department was at fault. I have already punished them."
"Xuan Lang has also been taken under guard to the Third Sea Eye to serve out his punishment by standing watch."
Holy Mother Guiling sneered.
"And then he was swept inside."
"That punishment was certainly quick."
Haotian glanced at her, frowning.
Holy Mother Guiling did not yield an inch.
Zhao Xuan raised a hand to stop her.
"Whom Your Majesty punishes is an internal matter for the Heavenly Court."
"I have only one question."
Haotian said:
"Go ahead."
Zhao Xuan looked at him.
"If Qingxiaozi returns to the Third Sea Eye, in what capacity will he go back?"
Haotian frowned.
"Of course, to assist the Heavenly Court in suppressing the Sea Eye."
Zhao Xuan shook his head.
"Assisting won't do."
"Helping won't do either."
"From now on, Jie Sect disciples won't take on muddled assignments."
Haotian's expression finally darkened.
"Then what do you want?"
Zhao Xuan took out a blank Jade Slip and tossed it into the air.
The Jade Slip immediately turned into a streak of light and landed steadily before Haotian.
"The Heavenly Court must issue a formal petition."
"It must state that the Heavenly Court is requesting Jie Sect disciple Qingxiaozi to temporarily take over the Water Department's post guarding the Third Sea Eye."
"All credit during that time will belong to Qingxiaozi."
"The Heavenly Court will bear the karmic consequences."
"If the Sea Eye lashes out again and damages Qingxiaozi's Dao foundation, the Heavenly Court will compensate him."
"And his future divine position, authority, and fortune will be settled separately as well."
The sea fell utterly silent.
The old Dragon Palace officials had gone pale.
This was no mere request for Qingxiaozi to come bail them out.
This was making the Heavenly Court admit, in front of the East Sea and the Interception Sect, that it owed a debt.
At that moment, Haotian stared at the Jade Slip for a long while, then looked coldly at Zhao Xuan.
"Are you forcing me to put it in writing?"
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