Starting to Play Dirty? This Debt Can Still Be Settled!

Haotian's gaze turned cold.

The immortal official knelt down immediately.

"This subject spoke out of turn."

Haotian sat back upon the Imperial Throne.

His expression was grim.

Every time he issued an invitation, he had to sign his name.

Every time he signed his name, another debt was added to the ledger.

What Zhao Xuan was waiting for now was for the Heavenly Court to keep on inviting.

He could not go begging the Jie Sect to plug every single hole.

The Investiture of the Gods List had yet to appear, and the Heavenly Court was already accumulating a mountain of unpayable debts.

This would not do.

Taibai Jinxing lowered his voice.

"Your Majesty, perhaps there is another way."

Haotian looked at him.

"Speak."

Taibai Jinxing deliberated for a moment.

"The Jie Sect currently holds the moral high ground because the Heavenly Court is the one actively begging them."

"But the chaos in the Primordial World will eventually harm all living beings."

"Therefore, aside from our Heavenly Court."

"The East Sea Dragon Palace can go and beg."

"Human tribes can go and beg."

"Overseas rogue cultivators can go and beg."

"Immortal sects everywhere can also go and beg."

"And what we must do is."

"Not stand in their way."

The hall fell silent.

Haotian understood.

This move was equivalent to pushing the mess right to the doorstep of Golden Turtle Island.

The Heavenly Court would not speak.

It would let the masses speak.

If the Jie Sect intervened, they would be entangled in karma once again.

If the Jie Sect closed their doors, the resentment of the masses would naturally rise.

After a long while.

Haotian said slowly:

"Pass down the order."

"If there is chaos in any region, they may go to Golden Turtle Island to seek help on their own."

"The Heavenly Court will not stop them."

Taibai Jinxing bowed his head.

"This subject obeys the decree."

Yet, he sighed inwardly.

Once this order went out.

The last shred of goodwill between the Heavenly Court and the Jie Sect would vanish.

Kunlun Mountain.

Yuxu Palace.

Guangchengzi knelt in the hall.

His face was pale.

Yuanshi Tianzun sat upon the cloud dais, his expression indifferent.

The Twelve Golden Immortals were all present in the hall.

No one spoke.

The matter of the East Sea had already reached Kunlun.

Guangchengzi had been driven to silence by Zhao Xuan.

Even with Yuanshi speaking out in person, he had only managed to bring the man back.

For the Chan Sect, this affair was a disgrace.

Guangchengzi said in a low voice:

"This disciple is incompetent."

Yuanshi looked at him.

"Where did you lose?"

Guangchengzi's fingers tightened.

"This disciple should not have engaged in a war of words with Zhao Xuan."

Yuanshi said coldly:

"Wrong."

Guangchengzi was taken aback.

Yuanshi continued:

"You lost because you tried to settle accounts with him."

The immortals in the hall felt a jolt in their hearts.

Yuanshi went on:

"What Zhao Xuan wanted was never just to win a few words against you."

"He wanted to drag the Chan Sect before the ledger."

"The more you argued with him."

"The more he remembered."

"The more you tried to suppress him."

"The more he could claim the Chan Sect was guilty of a guilty conscience."

"This was not a battle of dharma."

"This was a trap."

Guangchengzi lowered his head even further.

"Please, Master, enlighten me."

Yuanshi did not speak immediately.

He raised his eyes to look in the direction of the Heavenly Court.

Inside Yuxu Palace, the clouds fell silent.

A moment later.

Yuanshi said coldly:

"Haotian has already made his move."

Guangchengzi was startled.

"Master means..."

Yuanshi said:

"He dares not invite the Jie Sect again."

"So he lets the living beings of the Primordial World beg for themselves."

The expressions of the immortals in the hall shifted slightly.

Chijingzi whispered:

"That is indeed a move."

"If the living beings beg before Golden Turtle Island and the Jie Sect saves them, they will be drawn back into the web of karma."

"If the Jie Sect does not save them, they will lose the hope of the masses."

A trace of coldness flashed in the depths of Guangchengzi's eyes.

"Zhao Xuan could force the Heavenly Court to put words to paper."

"Could he also force the living beings of the Primordial World to do the same?"

Yuanshi glanced at him.

"That is why your defeat today was not unjust."

Guangchengzi's face turned pale, and he immediately lowered his head.

Yuanshi's voice was calm.

"Zhao Xuan knows how to settle accounts."

"Then do not entangle yourselves with him over the ledgers."

"He wants evidence."

"Then let the cries of the living drown out the gates of Golden Turtle Island."

"See if he dares to ignore them."

The hall fell silent.

Guangchengzi spoke in a low voice:

"What if he continues to insist on his rules?"

Yuanshi said indifferently:

"The more rules he sets,"

"The faster the resentment of the living will grow."

"When lives are at stake, no one wants to look at the ledgers first."

"They will only look to see if the Jie Sect opens its doors."

Guangchengzi finally understood.

This time, there was no need for the Chan Sect to step forward personally.

The Heavenly Court had already pushed the living toward Golden Turtle Island.

Yuxu Palace only needed to watch the changes unfold.

Wait for the resentment to rise.

Wait for the pleas for help to multiply.

Wait for the entire Primordial World to begin questioning why the Jie Sect remained behind closed doors.

That account would naturally be pressed back onto Zhao Xuan's head.

Yuanshi slowly closed his eyes.

"Guangchengzi."

Guangchengzi immediately replied:

"Disciple is here."

"Send word to all Chan Sect disciples across the lands."

"Do not discuss the accounts."

"Do not argue with the Jie Sect."

"If you encounter disaster or chaos, remember only one thing."

Guangchengzi looked up.

Yuanshi's voice was cold.

"Record whether the Jie Sect saves them or not."

Guangchengzi's eyes widened in shock.

He then bowed his head.

"Disciple understands."

Golden Turtle Island.

Zhao Xuan stood outside Biyou Palace.

Holy Mother Jinling handed him a jade slip of communication.

"Senior Brother."

"The Heavenly Court has issued an order to all regions."

"If there is chaos, they may come to Golden Turtle Island for help on their own."

Holy Mother Guiling's expression turned cold.

"How insidious."

"They aren't asking themselves; they've shifted the burden to the living."

"They want to use the living to force our hand."

Zhao Gongming frowned.

"If we do not save them, the outside world will truly call the Jie Sect cold-blooded."

"If we do save them, we fall back into the cycle of karma."

"This situation is not easy to handle."

Zhao Xuan took the jade slip and scanned it.

Then, he smiled.

"It has finally arrived."

Holy Mother Guiling was taken aback.

"Senior Brother, did you foresee this?"

Zhao Xuan replied:

"The Heavenly Court dares not send invitations one by one."

"The Chan Sect is unwilling to step into the fray themselves."

"So, they have no choice but to use the common people to pressure the Jie Sect."

Holy Mother Jinling asked:

"Then what should we do?"

Zhao Xuan looked up toward the direction of the Primordial World.

"They want the common people to beg."

"Then let the common people come."

Holy Mother Guiling grew anxious.

"Are you really going to let them come?"

Zhao Xuan said:

"They may come."

"They may beg."

"But from today on, three steles shall be erected outside Golden Turtle Island."

"On the first, write clearly why the supplicant is suffering."

"On the second, write clearly who is originally responsible for managing this disaster."

"On the third, write clearly who shall bear the credit, the karma, and the cost after the Jie Sect intervenes."

Everyone was stunned.

Zhao Xuan's voice remained calm.

"They want the common people to question my heart."

"Then I shall let the common people see first."

"The suffering they endure."

"Is because of who refuses to care."

As soon as his voice fell.

In the distance, several streaks of light stumbled toward the sea.

The leader's robes were stained with blood, and his body was wreathed in the grey-green mist of the Southern Wilderness Poisonous Miasma.

As soon as he landed outside Golden Turtle Island, he knelt down.

"I beg the Immortals of the Jie Sect to save us!"

"The Southern Wilderness Poisonous Miasma has erupted, and three human tribes have already been forced to flee."

"If this drags on, tens of millions will die in the miasma!"

Holy Mother Guiling's expression changed.

Zhao Gongming also furrowed his brows.

The human race.

And tens of millions of them at that.

This strike came very quickly.

And very accurately.

Holy Mother Jinling looked at Zhao Xuan.

"Senior Brother."

Zhao Xuan did not move.

He merely watched the human envoy kneeling on the sea.

"Who sent you here?"

The man was stunned.

"I... we heard that the Immortals of the Jie Sect have always been compassionate, and in the past, it was the Jie Sect immortals who helped suppress the Southern Wilderness Poisonous Miasma, so..."

Zhao Xuan cut him off.

"I am asking you."

"Who told you to come to Golden Turtle Island to beg the Jie Sect?"

The man's face turned pale.

"It was... the local mountain god who said that the Heavenly Court was short-handed and told us to seek reinforcements ourselves."

Holy Mother Guiling sneered.

"As expected."

Zhao Xuan raised a finger and pointed.

Outside Golden Turtle Island, three stone steles rose from the seabed.

BOOM!

The steles stood upon the surface of the sea.

The first stele: Where did the disaster originate?

The second stele: Who was supposed to be in charge?

The third stele: Who bears the merit and the karma?

Zhao Xuan looked at the human envoy.

"If you want the Jie Sect to intervene, fine."

"Write it down first."

"Why did the Southern Wilderness Poisonous Miasma erupt?"

"Why could the local mountain gods and earth deities not suppress it?"

"Why did the Heavenly Court send you to Golden Turtle Island?"

"Write it clearly."

"Then I will decide whether to save you or not."

The human envoy looked up, his face deathly pale.

"Immortal, saving lives is urgent!"

Zhao Xuan's expression remained unchanged.

"That is exactly why you must write it clearly."

"Otherwise, if my Jie Sect saves people today."

"Tomorrow, someone will say."

"The chaos in the Southern Wilderness was caused by the Jie Sect's delay in providing aid."

"How do you explain that?"

The sea surface fell silent.

The human envoy gripped the brush, his fingers trembling.

Meanwhile, in the clouds in the distance.

The figures of several Heavenly Court officials quietly came to a halt.

Zhao Xuan did not look up.

Yet his voice carried over to them.

"Since you are here."

"Don't hide and watch."

"Come down."