High Heaven Hall.
Taibai Jinxing hurried in.
Haotian frowned.
"What has you so alarmed?"
Taibai Jinxing said with a pained look, "The Interception Sect has issued a decree."
Haotian's eyes flickered.
"Is Senior Brother Tongtian willing to send disciples to the Heavenly Court?"
Taibai Jinxing looked even more miserable.
"No."
"The decree says the Investiture of the Gods List will soon appear and the Great Calamity is approaching. Interception Sect disciples must return to Golden Turtle Island to quietly recite the Yellow Court and enter seclusion to avoid the calamity."
"Every Interception Sect disciple serving, taking assignments, assisting, or helping with defense in the Heavenly Court—whether suppressing demons, patrolling the lower realms, tending the waterways, or handling the affairs of the stars—must return to Golden Turtle Island."
Haotian's expression changed. He shot up from his throne.
"What did you say?"
"The Interception Sect is recalling every disciple helping the Heavenly Court?"
Taibai Jinxing steeled himself and nodded.
"Yes."
Anger flashed across Haotian's face.
"How dare they!"
"How could they!"
The words had barely left his mouth when Haotian stopped.
Because he realized the Interception Sect really did dare.
And strictly speaking, there seemed to be nothing wrong with its decree.
The Investiture of the Gods List would soon appear. The Great Calamity was approaching.
Disciples of all Three Teachings could be drawn into it.
What was wrong with the Interception Sect recalling its disciples to avoid the calamity in seclusion?
They were not formally appointed Heavenly Court officials.
Many merely assisted, took assignments, or helped with defense.
Put plainly, they were temporary help called in whenever the Heavenly Court lacked manpower.
And if they no longer wished to help, what could he do?
Haotian's expression darkened further.
He had never considered those peripheral Interception Sect disciples particularly important.
After all, they handled only odds and ends.
None wielded the Heavenly Court's core authority.
But when Taibai Jinxing handed him a roster, Haotian realized something was wrong.
Interception Sect disciples helped defend the Third, Seventh, and Ninth Sea Eyes of the East Sea.
Of the thirty-six stellar nodes in the North Star Domain, they helped patrol twenty-one.
Along the border between Southern Jambu Continent and Eastern Victory Continent, they had suppressed countless rogue cultivators and demons in passing.
They mediated the waterways of the four seas and disputes among overseas cultivators. Interception Sect disciples even accompanied some Heavenly Court officials as protectors when they went out on business.
Taken separately, none of it seemed significant.
But losing them all at once would be disastrous.
It was like a magnificent palace suddenly having countless inconspicuous beams pulled from beneath it.
One missing beam meant little.
But with every beam gone, could the palace still stand?
A vein throbbed at Haotian's temple.
"What is Senior Brother Tongtian trying to do?"
Taibai Jinxing said quietly, "The Interception Sect says that if Your Majesty objects, you may go to Golden Turtle Island and ask them to return in person."
"What?"
Haotian's face turned black.
Go to Golden Turtle Island and ask them himself?
He was the Heavenly Emperor. Did his dignity mean nothing?
But if he did not go...
Haotian looked down at the roster and felt a sudden surge of frustration.
He finally understood one thing.
The Heavenly Court depended on the Interception Sect more than he had imagined.
Or rather, over the years, Interception Sect disciples had quietly taken on many thankless tasks that someone still had to do.
Even he, the Heavenly Emperor, had forgotten those people did not belong to the Heavenly Court.
They were Interception Sect disciples.
Their help had been a favor, not an obligation.
Now they were simply declining to continue.
Worse, he could not immediately lash out.
Haotian took a deep breath and forced down his anger.
"Go. Order the Water Department, Dou Department, and Thunder Department to fill the vacancies the Interception Sect disciples leave behind at once."
Taibai Jinxing looked more miserable still.
"Your Majesty, the Water Department is already short-handed."
"The Dou Department is the same."
"The Thunder Department has some spare hands, but its divine generals are hot-tempered. If we send them to patrol the stellar nodes, I'm afraid..."
Haotian gave him a cold look.
"Afraid of what?"
Taibai Jinxing fell silent.
They would probably be less useful than the Interception Sect disciples.
Naturally, he did not dare say that aloud.
But Haotian understood.
His expression darkened even further.
After a long silence, Haotian said through gritted teeth, "The Interception Sect. What a fine Interception Sect!"
"I haven't even asked you for places on the Investiture of the Gods List, and you've already withdrawn your people."
"Are you trying to put me in my place?"
Taibai Jinxing kept his head down, not daring to answer.
Haotian paced back and forth across the hall.
With every step, his irritation grew.
He suddenly realized this move was not open defiance, but it was infuriating.
Could he say the Interception Sect had disobeyed an order?
No.
They were only helping; they were not formally appointed Heavenly Court officials.
Could he say the Interception Sect had disrespected the Heavenly Court?
Not easily.
They had a perfectly sound reason.
The Investiture Calamity was approaching. Was there anything wrong with disciples returning to their mountain to avoid it?
No.
If Haotian tried to stop them, he would look like an unreasonable Heavenly Emperor forcing Interception Sect disciples to work for the Heavenly Court amid the Great Calamity.
If word spread and Master Tongtian truly lost his temper, Haotian might not be able to withstand it.
For the first time, Haotian felt utterly stifled.
He was the Heavenly Emperor.
Yet he could not keep even a handful of peripheral Interception Sect disciples.
What kind of Heavenly Emperor did that make him?
Kunlun Mountain, Yuxu Palace.
Yuanshi Tianzun soon heard that the Interception Sect was recalling its disciples.
After listening, he frowned.
"What is Tongtian doing?"
"The Investiture of the Gods List has yet to appear, and he is already rushing to recall his disciples."
"Does he truly think shutting his doors will let him escape the Investiture Great Calamity?"
Yuanshi Tianzun gave a cold snort.
To him, Tongtian's move fell somewhat short of a sage's bearing.
His was a sage's lineage, attended by the Ten Thousand Immortals, yet he was recalling disciples to avoid the calamity before the Investiture of the Gods List had even appeared.
Was that not telling the entire Primordial World that the Interception Sect was afraid?
Yet even as Yuanshi Tianzun scoffed inwardly, something felt faintly wrong.
Something was off.
Very wrong.
Tongtian was straightforward, but he was no coward.
On the contrary, given his temperament, his first response to anyone plotting against the Interception Sect should have been to draw his sword.
Why would he suddenly recall his disciples and hide from the calamity?
That did not sound like Tongtian.
It sounded more like someone within the Interception Sect had advised him.
Yuanshi Tianzun narrowed his eyes.
"Duobao?"
"Unlikely."
"Jin Ling?"
"Even less likely."
"Then who?"
Suddenly, a name came to Yuanshi Tianzun.
Zhao Xuan.
Tongtian's earliest disciple, who had kept such a low profile for years.
Yuanshi Tianzun remembered Zhao Xuan.
After all, Zhao Xuan had already been following Tongtian back on Kunlun Mountain.
He had always been reserved and rarely joined the disputes among the disciples of the Three Pure Ones.
But Yuanshi Tianzun had dealt with this martial nephew.
Zhao Xuan was meticulous and deeply calculating, far from as simple as he appeared.
Yet he was a junior who had shown no exceptional talent in cultivation.
Over time, Yuanshi Tianzun had stopped paying him much attention.
Now, though, Tongtian's actions seemed remarkably in keeping with Zhao Xuan's ways.
Yuanshi Tianzun frowned.
"Crooked schemes."
"As if the Interception Sect disciples' lack of virtue weren't enough. Now they've learned to plot and scheme."
For all that, he felt no relief.
The Interception Sect's withdrawal had indeed put the Heavenly Court in a difficult position.
And the harder things became for the Heavenly Court, the more urgent the Investiture of the Gods would become.
The more urgent it became, the more pressure would fall on the Three Teachings.
But the Human Sect had only Xuandu, while the Western Sect was adept at pleading poverty.
In the end, the pressure would still fall on the Interception Sect and the Chan Sect.
That displeased Yuanshi Tianzun.
Tongtian's retreat had somehow pushed the Chan Sect half a step forward.
He did not like it one bit.
Before you continue