In Biyou Palace, Master Tongtian watched Zhao Xuan, whose face was frighteningly calm.
He pressed him again.
"How will we test it?"
Zhao Xuan said:
"Since Haotian went to Zixiao Palace to complain that the Heavenly Court had no one, he'll surely use the Dao Ancestor's authority to demand people from the Three Teachings."
"The Human Sect has only Xuandu. Uncle-Master Taiqing won't give him up."
"Chan Sect disciples are precious. Uncle-Master Yuanshi won't give any up either."
"The Two Western Sages will only plead poverty and look for a chance to draw people away from the East. They certainly won't give him anyone."
"So the first place Haotian will truly dare to reach into is our Interception Sect."
Master Tongtian gave a cold laugh.
"He dares?"
Zhao Xuan replied calmly:
"He might not have dared before."
"But now that the Dao Ancestor has spoken of the Investiture of the Gods, he will."
"He won't even think he's asking the Interception Sect for a favor."
"He'll think this is the tide of the Heavenly Dao, the Dao Ancestor's decree, and that the Interception Sect ought to cooperate with the Heavenly Court."
Master Tongtian's gaze cooled slightly.
Zhao Xuan continued:
"So I ask Master not to close the island off completely just yet."
"Instead, issue the first decree."
"Recall every branch disciple of the Interception Sect serving, taking orders, or assisting in the Heavenly Court."
"Also recall everyone suppressing demons in the East Sea for the Heavenly Court, tending the waterways of the four seas, managing minor star officials, or patrolling the lower realm for evil spirits."
"The reason is simple."
"The Investiture of the Gods List will soon appear. Interception Sect disciples must return to Golden Turtle Island, quietly recite the Yellow Court, and enter seclusion to avoid the calamity."
"No one can find fault with that reason."
Master Tongtian's eyes stirred.
He understood Zhao Xuan's meaning at once.
Zhao Xuan did not intend to break with the Heavenly Court immediately.
He merely wanted to reclaim the people who belonged to the Interception Sect but whom the Heavenly Court had been using for free.
It was perfectly reasonable.
And perfectly underhanded.
Because the moment those Interception Sect disciples withdrew, the Heavenly Court would learn what a shortage of people truly felt like.
Hadn't Haotian said the Heavenly Court had no one?
Fine.
Then let him see just how empty the Heavenly Court really was.
Master Tongtian could not help glancing at Zhao Xuan.
His senior disciple had not seemed like this before.
The Zhao Xuan of old had been steady, but never this devious.
Now, though...
Once he made a move, he struck straight at the Heavenly Court's weak spot.
"What if Haotian sends someone to ask about it?"
Tongtian asked.
Zhao Xuan said evenly:
"Then tell him the Investiture of the Gods List will soon appear, the Great Calamity is upon us, and Interception Sect disciples fear death too. They also need to avoid the calamity."
"If Haotian objects, have him come to Golden Turtle Island and ask in person."
"If he doesn't dare come, he can spare us the talk."
"And if he truly does dare..."
Zhao Xuan raised his head and looked at Master Tongtian.
"Then please ask him one question, Master."
"Is the Heavenly Court short of people because the Heavenly Court is incompetent..."
"Or because the Interception Sect is guilty?"
At last, a hint of a smile appeared in Master Tongtian's eyes.
"Good."
"I'll leave this matter to you."
Zhao Xuan bowed.
"As you command, Master."
Before long, a Supreme Clarity Dharma Decree spread from Biyou Palace.
Its contents were simple.
The Investiture of the Gods List would soon appear, and the Great Calamity was approaching.
Members of the Interception Sect were to quietly recite the Yellow Court and enter seclusion to avoid the calamity.
All Interception Sect disciples serving, taking orders, assisting, or providing support in the Heavenly Court, suppressing demons, patrolling the lower realm, tending waterways, or managing miscellaneous affairs of the stars were to return to Golden Turtle Island, effective immediately.
No delays.
No disobedience.
When the decree was issued, countless Interception Sect disciples on Golden Turtle Island froze.
They knew, of course, that many of their fellow disciples helped out in the Heavenly Court.
They were supposedly serving there, but many did not even have an official place on its register of immortals.
Much of the Heavenly Court's dirty, exhausting work fell to these branch disciples of the Interception Sect.
Patrolling the lower realm for demons and evil spirits, for instance.
Or guarding star nodes that were not especially important but were still troublesome.
Or helping the Four Seas Dragon Clan tend the waterways.
Or suppressing several unstable Sea Eyes in the East Sea.
Or carrying messages, mediating disputes, and escorting people between the Heavenly Court and unaffiliated cultivators overseas.
None of these jobs seemed all that important.
But leave them undone, and trouble would follow.
No one had thought much of it before.
After all, the Interception Sect had many disciples.
And with so many disciples, some were always willing to go out and gain experience.
The Heavenly Court gave them a title, a little incense, some spirit fruit and immortal wine, then praised Interception Sect disciples for their boundless loyalty. The branch disciples went off happily.
But now that Zhao Xuan had laid it all bare, many of them suddenly realized the truth.
Weren't they just working for free?
You are not an official Immortal Official of the Heavenly Court.
They received hardly any of the Heavenly Court's Fortune.
If something went wrong, the blame landed on their heads first.
If they did well, Haotian said it proved the Heavenly Court was well governed.
If they did poorly, outsiders said Interception Sect disciples were too bloodthirsty and handled things brutally.
In the end, they gained little and accumulated plenty of karmic entanglements.
Had they been treated as nothing but laborers?
The more many Interception Sect disciples thought about it, the angrier they became.
"Well, damn. I used to envy the fellow disciples helping out in the Heavenly Court. I figured they could at least get a share of the Heavenly Court's Fortune."
"A share, my ass!"
"They barely got any fortune, but they sure got every rotten job."
"Haven't our disciples been helping suppress the Third Sea Eye in the East Sea all this time?"
"Exactly. I heard the Heavenly Court's Water Department and the Dragon Clan were supposed to handle it. But the Water Department was short-handed, the Dragon Clan kept making excuses, and somehow it landed on a few of our junior branch disciples."
"And the North Star Domain. The Heavenly Court's Star Officials were supposed to patrol it, but our disciples ended up helping there too."
"Damn it. If Senior Disciple Brother hadn't said anything, I really wouldn't have seen what was wrong."
"Now that I think about it, what does the Heavenly Court take our sect for?"
"Reserve Immortal Officials?"
"No. Reserve Immortal Officials who don't draw a salary!"
At those words, the surrounding disciples fell silent.
Then many of them began to curse.
Not seeing the problem before was one thing.
But once they saw it, the more they thought about it, the more aggrieved they felt.
After all these years of helping everywhere, had Interception Sect disciples gained next to nothing while becoming the Heavenly Court's unpaid labor?
Worse still, when the Heavenly Court needed official divine posts filled, it suddenly remembered the Interception Sect.
So it used them for work on ordinary days, then used them to fill the list when it mattered?
They had gone too far!
The Heavenly Court.
High Heaven Hall.
Haotian had just returned from Zixiao Palace, and his mood had been fairly good.
The attitudes of the Three Teachings' Sages during the discussion of the Investiture of the Gods had displeased him somewhat.
Taiqing Laozi had barely spoken, wearing an air of complete indifference.
Yuanshi Tianzun's face all but declared, "My Chan Sect disciples have deep foundations. They should not be put on the list."
Master Tongtian had looked colder still. From beginning to end, he had hardly given Haotian, the Heavenly Emperor, a civil look.
The Two Western Sages had been eager enough.
But their eagerness seemed directed not at providing people, but at seeing whether they could use the Investiture of the Gods to draw people away from the East.
Haotian saw it clearly.
Not one of those Sages genuinely cared about the Heavenly Court.
But that was all right.
The Dao Ancestor had already spoken.
The Investiture of the Gods List would soon appear.
Disciples of the Three Teachings would enter the calamity.
With the Dao Ancestor's word behind him, the Heavenly Court would eventually fill its divine posts.
When the three hundred and sixty-five ranks of proper gods took their places and the Eight Departments of Immortals obeyed his commands, the Heavenly Court would finally have a foundation from which to govern the Three Realms.
At the thought, Haotian could not help feeling a surge of anticipation.
But before that feeling had lasted long, Taibai Jinxing hurried into High Heaven Hall.
"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!"
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