The candle flame in Ruined Temple's Great Hall flickered twice, but the tea bowl on the table was still full and no one was drinking.
Tongtian is sitting on the chair on the left hand side. Chaos Marrow-Washing Pill's prescription is rolled up on his lap and not opened.
Yang Jian stood at the door. The medicine bandage on his right arm had been removed. His fingers could fully make a fist, but they were not holding it. His five fingers were loosely resting on the handle of the knife at his waist.
Nezha squatted on the threshold and gnawed on a fruit he picked up from nowhere. The juice dripped down his chin and onto the stone of the threshold.
Kelān was placed on a stool in the corner of the Great Hall. He did not take off his gray cloak, the hood pressed down on his eyebrows, and his silver-grey eyes looked out from under the brim of the hat.
Gu Changqing was sitting on the Taishi chair, with his right hand on the armrest, and his left hand took out the black Chip from his sleeve and placed it on the table.
Next to Chip is the picture of the tin dog. The folded paper is unfolded, and the fake Xiaotian Dog and the plastic brand welded by the iron mouth reflect a layer of oil under the candlelight.
Xiaotian Dog stood up from the foot of the chair, put his nose next to the portrait and sniffed, and another low growl rolled out of his throat.
"Are they all here?" Gu Changqing scanned around.
Tongtian nodded, Yang Jian didn't move, so he agreed.
"Then I'll keep it short."
Gu Changqing's finger tapped on Chip.
"The results of Soul Searching match the system's analysis. Behind Origin Temple is not just Thief Race. Thief Race is just an errand. The real mastermind is behind the door of the Great Thousand Origin Realm."
Tongtian answered.
"Behind the door? Not outside the door?"
"Yes, behind the door."
Gu Changqing moved his fingers from Chip to the plastic sign on the portrait.
"There is a scene in Kelān's memory. There is something looking out from the crack in the door. It is not Thief Race, nor any race we know."
Yang Jian spoke at the door.
"What level?"
"Can't judge, Soul Searching only saw one eye, the system couldn't analyze the specific Cultivation, and only gave an evaluation."
"What assessment?"
"The evaluation limit for all known entries in the current database was exceeded."
No one in the Great Hall is talking.
Nezha threw the half-eaten fruit into the yard, wiped his mouth and stood up.
"The system has talked nonsense about exceeding the upper limit more than once. Last time, the ball also exceeded the upper limit. As a result, Master was held down with one hand."
"The ball was a piece of debris that escaped from the crack in the door."
Kelān's voice came from the corner, just enough for everyone to hear.
"The thing looking at the crack in the door is the owner of the fragment."
Nezha turned his head and glared at her.
"Where are you now?"
"I'm just telling the truth."
Tongtian stood up from the chair and stuffed the prescription paper into his sleeve.
"Master, you saw something else when you just said Soul Searching."
"Yes."
Gu Changqing picked up the tea bowl, took a sip, and put it back.
"First Sequence of Origin Temple said something to Kelān, saying that I am not an aborigine of this Myriad Worlds."
Tongtian's hand stopped in mid-air.
Yang Jian finally grasped the handle of the knife at the door and let go.
Nezha stepped in from the threshold, walked to Gu Changqing and stood still.
"Master, do you believe this?"
"It doesn't matter whether you believe it or not."
Gu Changqing's fingers drew a circle on the armrest.
"The important thing is the letter from the other party. They thought there was something wrong with my background, so they spent so much effort collecting more than 30,000 pieces of information about Ruined Temple."
Tongtian's face darkened.
"There are more than 30,000 pieces of information, and we haven't noticed any of it."
"So the Undercover Agent system has deeper penetration capabilities than we thought."
Gu Changqing stood up from the chair, walked to the table, and placed his palms on Chip and the portrait.
"But they made a mistake."
"What's wrong?"
"They shouldn't touch Xiaotian Dog."
Xiaotian Dog's growl at the foot of the chair was two points louder, and his teeth were exposed from under his lips, which were very white.
Gu Changqing touched its head and traced his fingers along its back to the base of its tail.
"Vow Power I can handle it as a business dispute, and stealing the soul mark can be treated as a criminal case."
He turned around and faced everyone in the Great Hall.
"But if my dog is made into a tin toy and hung with a sign as an insult, there is no business in it."
Nezha's mouth opened.
"Master I love hearing this."
Tongtian looked at Gu Changqing's face and confirmed one thing.
This is not a tantrum.
Losing your temper is an emotion, and the emotion will subside.
This is a decision made.
"What are Master going to do?"
Gu Changqing walked back to the Taishi chair and sat down, tapping his fingers three times on the armrest.
"System."
"Ding, yes."
"The Firmament Realm direct combat power list is called up."
"Ding, the combat power that can be mobilized directly under the Firmament Realm is as follows."
"Heavenly Soldiers and Generals Standing Corps: 60 million."
"Elite monk establishment: eight million."
"Immortal Emperor Level and above: seventeen people."
"Immortal Emperor Level: There are three people, named Sect Master Tongtian and Yang Jian. The other one is in retreat."
"Super Immortal Emperor Level: one person."
Nezha raised his hand.
"What about me?"
"Ding, Third Prince Nezha's combat power is evaluated as Quasi-Immortal Emperor Peak, stay on the line."
Nezha's face turned dark again.
Gu Changqing ignored him, and the rhythm of his fingers on the armrest changed, from three taps to one even tap, like some kind of countdown.
"Send me Edict."
The candlelights in the Great Hall all tilted in the same direction, as if there was some invisible pressure pushing out in all directions from where Gu Changqing was sitting.
"The Firmament Realm's entire territory's elite cultivators have entered the first level of preparation for war."
"Heavenly Soldiers and Generals standing corps mobilized 30,000,000 people and formed three Expeditionary Army regiments."
"All members of Immortal Emperor Level and above will cancel their current tasks and report to Ruined Temple headquarters within three days."
"The one in retreat, wake him up."
Tongtian took the last sentence.
"He has a bad temper and will scold others when his retreat is interrupted."
"Let him scold."
Gu Changqing stood up, and the wrinkles on his white clothes pulled out several lines of different shades in the candlelight.
"Target: The city Savage Star Domain, and the components of the gate in the city."
He walked to the table and pressed his finger on Chip. All the unknown Runes on the surface of Chip lit up, and the light cast a layer of cold Cyan One on his face.
"The next goal."
He raised his head, and the candlelight in his eyes went out.
It's not that the candle flame really went out, it's that the pupils absorbed the light. They were Black Hole holes and nothing could be seen.
"Great Thousand Origin Realm."
It was so quiet in the Great Hall that you could hear Xiaotian Dog's breathing clearly.
Kelān stood up in the corner, the legs of the stool scraped on the stone floor.
"Mr. Gu."
"Say."
"Great Thousand Origin Realm is not a Star Domain, not a territory. It is the central axis of Myriad Worlds, the convergence point of all world lines."
"I know."
"You lead the troops there. The door is not open and you cannot enter the central area."
"So I'll go to Savage Star Domain first."
Gu Changqing puts Chip into its sleeves.
"There are components of the door in the city. Once I get the components, I will have a bargaining chip to negotiate with that door."
Kelān's lips moved.
"You mean negotiation?"
"Yes."
"Negotiating with the door?"
"Negotiate with what's behind the door."
The Star Map spinning in Kelān's silver-gray pupils suddenly accelerated to a frequency that she couldn't even control.
"That thing won't negotiate with you."
Gu Changqing walked to the door of the Great Hall, and the hem of his white clothes brushed over the threshold, making a very light friction sound.
He didn't look back, and the voice drifted in from outside the door.
"Then let's not talk about it."
Nezha picked up Fire-Tipped Spear and followed him out. Wind-Fire Wheels's flame burned two new marks on the threshold.
Tongtian took the prescription roll out of his sleeve, looked at it, stuffed it back, and said something to Yang Jian.
"Go call someone."
Yang Jian turned around and walked into the night, and soon the footsteps were no longer heard.
Kelān was the only one left standing in the Great Hall. The light of the candle cast her shadow on the wall, which was twice as long as her own.
She looked down at her palms, and the scales on her gray skin were floating one by one in the candlelight.
Xiaotian Dog did not go out with Gu Changqing. It squatted next to the Taishi chair, its nose pointed in the direction of Kelān, and the growl in its throat never stopped.
Kelān glanced at it.
"Your master is about to do something very dangerous."
Xiaotian Dog's roar became louder.
Kelān pulled the hood back up to cover his face.
Nezha's loud voice came from outside the door, far away, carrying the sound of wind.
"Master, where does that old man in seclusion live? I'll kick the door down."