[The seats were assigned long ago.]
The words hung above the Clear Gate Register.
The old council seat shadow had not dispersed.
The Twelve Tribulation Lamps had not gone out either.
Their light had merely dimmed a shade.
Zhao Xuan did not rush to ask who had assigned the seats.
Watching the gray marking beneath Shangqing's seat, he changed his question.
[Shangqing sacrifices lives; who emerges whole?]
The Vermilion Brush descended.
Within the old council seat shadow, several familiar fragments of writing surfaced again.
[Heavenly Court gains divinity.] [Jade Emptiness Avoids Tribulation.] [Western Sect gains power.] [Xuan Sect gains order.] [Mortal Realm Becomes the Arena.] [Interception Sect sacrifices life.]
The same structure, appearing now, felt colder than before.
It was no longer merely the arrangement of the Investiture Table.
It was the order by which lives were apportioned beneath the Purple Heaven Old Council Seat Shadow.
Each line bore the weight of a beneficiary.
The Heavenly Court gained divinity, so people had to enter the List.
Jade Emptiness Avoids Tribulation, so the Interception Sect had to sacrifice lives.
The Western Sect gained power, so it could withdraw from the Xuan Sect's tribulation and reap the benefits.
The Xuan Sect gained order, so someone had to pay the blood price for that order.
Mortal Realm Becomes the Arena, so Chaoge, Xiqi, Feudal Lords, and Popular Grievance could all be written down as grounds for entering it.
And the final line held only four words.
The Interception Sect sacrificed life.
There was no gain.
Only sacrifice.
Zhao Xuan did not dissect it all again.
He asked only one question.
[When the Interception Sect sacrifices lives, who escapes their tribulation?]
Three of the Twelve Tribulation Lamps dimmed a fraction at once.
The Jade Emptiness Tribulation