High Heaven Hall.
Haotian stood before the imperial throne.
His face was livid.
All the immortals in the hall had their heads bowed.
No one dared speak.
Because they had just seen it too.
The merit from the Southern Wilderness had sunk into the stone stele outside Golden Turtle Island.
The Heavenly Court had lost face.
And lost merit, too.
More frightening still, those three steles had already been seen across the Primordial World.
Where had the disaster come from?
Who should have handled it?
Who would bear the credit and the karma?
Those three questions were simple.
Yet they were like three blades.
Each one slashed right across the Heavenly Court's face.
When the Heavenly Patrol Bureau Immortal Official returned to the Heavenly Court,
Haotian's gaze fell upon him.
"Who told you to write that down?"
The Immortal Official knelt in the middle of the hall, trembling all over.
"Your Majesty, Zhao Xuan questioned me in front of the Southern Wilderness envoys and many wandering cultivators."
"If I hadn't written it down, I feared..."
Haotian said coldly,
"You feared what?"
The Immortal Official's lips quivered.
"I feared it would look even worse."
Haotian laughed in anger.
"And writing it down made it look better?"
The Immortal Official didn't dare answer.
Taibai Jinxing stood to one side, his expression grave as well.
He said quietly,
"Your Majesty, those three steles could cause trouble."
Haotian looked at him.
Taibai Jinxing continued,
"If every request for aid from every region has to first state the cause of the disaster and who is responsible,"
"then I fear all the unresolved matters the Heavenly Court's various departments have accumulated over the years will be dug up."
"And the merit has already settled on the steles."
"That means Heaven and Earth approve of this."
The hall fell even quieter.
Haotian understood, of course.
Heaven and Earth approved.
Those four words were harder to deal with than anything Zhao Xuan could say.
If Zhao Xuan argued with reason, they could still refute him.
But who could refute the merit bestowed upon the Three Steles?
Haotian stared in the direction of the East Sea.
"I'd like to see"
"how long those three broken steles can hold out against the Heavenly Court."
He raised his hand.
A Heavenly Emperor Decree appeared.
Taibai Jinxing's expression changed.
"Your Majesty."
Haotian said,
"Pass down my order to the Heavenly Patrol Bureau."
"The three steles outside Golden Turtle Island are disrupting order in the Three Realms."
"Order them to be removed."
Taibai Jinxing's heart sank.
"Your Majesty, I fear this is unwise."
Haotian's eyes turned cold.
"What is unwise about it?"
Taibai Jinxing braced himself.
"The Three Steles have just received merit."
"If the Heavenly Court orders them removed now, what will the people of the Primordial World think?"
Haotian said coldly,
"I am the Heavenly Emperor."
"The Heavenly Court determines order in the Three Realms."
"Erecting steles outside Golden Turtle Island to call the Heavenly Court to account"
"is a disruption of order."
Taibai Jinxing's lips moved.
In the end, he still lowered his head.
"This subject obeys."
Kunlun Mountain.
Yuxu Palace.
Yuanshi Tianzun opened his eyes.
His gaze fell toward the East Sea.
After a long while,
he said coldly,
"What a Zhao Xuan."
Guangchengzi stood below the dais, his expression dark.
"Master, if those three steles remain standing,"
"then whenever the people of the Primordial World seek aid, their first thought will be to ask who is responsible."
"The Heavenly Court will suffer."
"And so will the Chan Sect."
Yuanshi did not deny it.
Because Guangchengzi was right.
Zhao Xuan's Three Steles did not target any single matter.
They targeted the muddled accounts of the Primordial World's past.
In the past,
whoever held the higher position could claim to stand for righteousness.
Whoever had the loudest voice could pin the blame on someone else.
Whoever had the most disciples could send them to plug the holes.
Not anymore.
First, write it down.
Then, once it's written, provide aid.
Once this rule was established, it would no longer be so easy for the Chan Sect to stand on the shore and say that the Interception Sect had become entangled in karma.
Chijingzi said quietly,
"Master, the Heavenly Court is going to remove the steles."
Yuanshi said indifferently,
"Let them try."
Guangchengzi looked up.
"Master, do you think the Heavenly Court won't be able to remove them?"
Yuanshi did not answer.
His gaze passed over the East Sea and settled in the direction of Biyou Palace.
"Zhao Xuan dared to erect the steles."
"Tongtian will dare to protect them."
Guangchengzi's heart jolted.
Yuanshi continued,
"Stop watching those three steles."
"Watch Tongtian."
"Zhao Xuan has been laying the groundwork for a long time."
"If it was only for those three steles, you would be underestimating him."
Bajing Palace.
Saint Taiqing slowly opened his eyes.
Xuandu stood at his side.
"Master."
"Those three steles in the East Sea..."
Taiqing glanced toward the East Sea.
"Karma has returned to its proper place."
Xuandu was taken aback.
Taiqing did not explain further.
He only said softly,
"That child from the Interception Sect..."
"Sees too clearly."
Xuandu's heart stirred.
He had rarely heard his master praise a disciple of the Three Teachings like this.
After a moment,
Taiqing added,
"He sees too clearly."
"That can also make the Heavenly Dao disfavor him."
Xuandu lowered his head.
"Master, do you think he'll back down?"
Taiqing closed his eyes.
"If he were going to back down,"
"he wouldn't have erected those three steles."
Outside Golden Turtle Island.
The Heavenly Court's decree arrived.
This time, it was not Taibai Jinxing who came.
It was the Chief Official of the Heavenly Patrol Bureau.
He brought thirty-six Heavenly Soldiers.
They stood before the three stone steles.
His face was pale.
Because he didn't want to come either.
But the Heavenly Emperor's decree had been issued.
He had no choice but to come.
"Immortal Zhao Xuan."
The Chief Official of the Heavenly Patrol Bureau spoke with forced courage.
"His Majesty has issued an order."
"Three Steles outside Golden Turtle Island, disrupting the order of the Three Realms."
"Please, Immortal, remove them."
Holy Mother Guiling laughed outright.
"Disrupting the order of the Three Realms?"
"So asking you to make clear who neglected their duties is called disrupting order?"
Holy Mother Jinling's gaze turned icy.
Zhao Gongming tightened his grip on the Golden Whip.
Zhao Xuan, however, remained calm.
He looked at the Chief Official of the Heavenly Patrol Bureau.
"Have you seen the inscriptions with your own eyes?"
The Chief Official of the Heavenly Patrol Bureau froze.
"I have."
"Which line has thrown the Three Realms into disorder?"
The Chief Official of the Heavenly Patrol Bureau fell silent.
Zhao Xuan pointed to the first stele.
"Where did the disaster come from—is that disorderly?"
He pointed to the second.
"Who should have been in charge—is that disorderly?"
He pointed to the third.
"Who bears the karma for the merit—is that disorderly?"
Sweat beaded on the Chief Official of the Heavenly Patrol Bureau's forehead.
Zhao Xuan stepped closer.
"You've come to remove the steles today."
"Then you must write it down, too."
The Chief Official of the Heavenly Patrol Bureau jerked his head up.
Zhao Xuan said:
"Write it clearly."
"The Heavenly Court forbids the people of the Primordial World from asking where disasters come from."
"Forbids the people of the Primordial World from asking who should have been in charge."
"Forbids the people of the Primordial World from asking who bears the karma for the merit."
"Once you've written it, you can remove them."
The Chief Official of the Heavenly Patrol Bureau's face turned deathly pale.
How could he possibly dare write that?
If those three lines were written down,
the Heavenly Court would look even worse than it did now.
Zhao Xuan looked at him.
"What?"
"You don't dare write it?"
The Chief Official of the Heavenly Patrol Bureau's throat went dry.
"Immortal, this humble official is only following orders."
Zhao Xuan nodded.
"Then go back and tell the Heavenly Emperor."
"If he wants the steles removed,"
"he can come and write it himself."
The Chief Official of the Heavenly Patrol Bureau looked as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He turned to leave.
But just then,
above the Nine Heavens,
a surge of the Heavenly Court's Fortune suddenly descended.
A Heavenly Emperor Decree fell from the sky.
It hovered above the Three Steles.
Golden Light streamed down.
It sought to forcibly erase the inscriptions.
Holy Mother Guiling's expression turned cold.
"Haotian actually dares!"
Zhao Xuan looked up at the sky above Golden Turtle Island.
There had been nothing there before.
But as the Heavenly Emperor Decree pressed down on the Three Steles, a golden thread of karma, so faint it was almost invisible, was finally forced into view.
One end connected to the Heavenly Court.
The other connected to the Interception Sect.
Along it lay the Sea Eye.
The stars.
Human Race tribes.
Disputes among rogue cultivators.
Every task the Jie Sect disciples had done for the Heavenly Court over the years.
Holy Mother Guiling's expression changed.
"What is this?"
Zhao Xuan's voice was cold.
"Old Merit Karma."
"Normally, it's merit."
"But after the Investiture of the Gods List appeared, it became a chain."
"The more someone does for the Heavenly Court, the easier they are to drag onto the list."
The faces of the Interception Sect immortals all changed.
Master Tongtian's voice came from Biyou Palace.
"So that's how it is."
Zhao Xuan looked up.
"Master."
Tongtian's voice came from Biyou Palace.
It was icy cold.
"Cut it."
Sword intent descended.
Clang!
The Old Merit Karma linking the Heavenly Court and the Interception Sect snapped on the spot.
The next moment,
above the Nine Heavens, the phantom of an ancient scroll trembled violently.
The Investiture of the Gods List had actually been forced into view by that single sword strike.
Golden Light flowed across the list.
One by one, names not yet fully formed lay buried in the depths of the Golden Light.
At the very top, two characters slowly appeared.
Interception Sect.
Before you continue