I can't even take care of their aftermath...

The glow of fire spread across the sky as the Human Emperor's Imperial Guards rapidly took control of the entire city.

Wu Wang stood before the main hall, feeling numerous gazes upon him—gazes filled with reverence, fear, shock, curiosity, and some that had even turned zealous.

But Wu Wang paid them little heed. He stepped forward half a pace, looked up at the clouds above, and suddenly let out another low shout, "Vice Pavilion Master Wang, you have obstructed and schemed at every turn since this matter began, with malicious words and a cunning tongue. Now you still want to simply leave? I suspect you are the protector of the Southeast Division! Come down and stand trial!"

Behind Wu Wang, several officers immediately stepped forward, raising their heads and glaring angrily at Wang Jian.

Feng Zhizi stroked his beard, his gaze intent, showing no particular expression at this moment.

Wang Jian's expression was unsettled, his eyes reflecting the flame-formed White Jade Seal, his forehead drenched in cold sweat.

"Vice Pavilion Master Wu Wang, there must be some misunderstanding!" Wang Jian immediately said. "Please, Vice Pavilion Master Wu Wang, investigate thoroughly. Both of us are dedicated to maintaining the peace and prosperity of the Human Domain, to upholding this glorious era!"

"Take him down!"

The Vice Pavilion Master on the cloud spoke with righteous conviction, his panic lasting but a moment before he responded, transforming himself into an embodiment of justice.

Wu Wang, however, refused to waste any more words. He raised his hand, pointed at Wang Jian, and shouted loudly!

In an instant, Immortal Soldiers from all sides moved as one, and masters from eight directions advanced! Furious gazes fixed on Wang Jian, as if, at that moment, he had been convicted as the mastermind behind the scenes, ready to be executed on the spot! Within this world, in this Southeastern region, within this great city, it seemed a mighty momentum had gathered, pressing down from above. What could even a Transcendent Realm cultivator do against such power!?

Xia Official Fire Plume, who had come galloping from high above, rushed forward with her spear, her eyes already locked onto Wang Jian.

But before Fire Plume could strike, a dark shadow flickered. Ming Snake had eerily appeared before Wang Jian, emanating fluctuations of Heaven and Earth, one palm strike conjuring a gale. Her black dress and long hair remained still, yet the descending palm sealed off all of Wang Jian's escape routes...

THUD!

Wang Jian plummeted from the sky, crashing into the group of over a hundred people who had been tried and whose crimes did not warrant death. His body was entwined in chains as he struggled to rise, his eyes filled with bewilderment.

Immortal Soldiers had already surged forward, surrounding Wang Jian and keeping him confined, though they did not physically restrain him further.

"Hmph!" Wu Wang flicked his sleeve and sat back down in the wooden chair. The Yan Emperor Seal, following his movements, flew to hover above his shoulder.

He let out a light breath and sat there, pondering the current situation.

Before this, he had his hesitations. Deep down, several paths had always been open to him, each leading to a different outcome.

The path he was now taking was perhaps not the most advantageous for himself. But this was a path his conscience could accept.

Cursing people was not his true objective.

At this moment, countless thoughts surged into Wu Wang's mind, but he methodically sorted through each one.

Parts of the Human Domain's mid-level leadership had begun to rot.

The Human Domain's own systems were too outdated.

Emperor Shun had already begun to continuously attempt to upgrade the order of Heaven and Earth, thereby sealing off the Human Domain's future paths.

His previous three rewinds had already given him many answers.

That powerful force which had invisibly chosen him was indeed protecting the Human Domain. It was protecting the very backbone of the Human race, preserved down the line by Suiren, Fu Xi, and Shennong. It was protecting this flame destined to contend with the Innate Gods.

Because the one constantly pulling him back through time, causing him to rewind, was very likely Emperor Fuxi, standing upstream in the River of Time.

That Great Emperor Fuxi, who had faded with the passage of ages yet still worried for the Human Domain and the plight of the Human race, had placed himself in a realm beyond the picture, at the very end of time and space...

What immense loneliness that must be. And what helplessness!

Today's incident was an opportunity. He had now stirred the anger of the cultivators in the Human Domain and gathered this force.

Next! He absolutely had to escalate this, to make the situation so big it would be difficult to resolve, thereby drawing in all the major powers of the Human Domain as witnesses!

There has never been a revolution without bloodshed. A bottom-up revolution was destined to be a storm of blood and gore, inevitably affecting those innocent cultivators and mortals who originally cherished beautiful hopes and looked forward to the future. But he could enact reform from the top down, leveraging the power he had accumulated step by step to this day, to right the great edifice of the Human Domain.

Starting with the Benevolent Emperor Pavilion, starting with the Human Emperor, starting today!

Perhaps what His Majesty Shennong had envisioned long ago was the reshaping of the Human Domain after the dark turmoil. But no matter His Majesty Shennong's intentions, or which way he leaned, this sword, Wu Wang was determined to become! He would even forcibly thrust the hilt of this sword into the Human Emperor's hand, leaving him no choice but to wield it!

You like to scheme? You like to make arrangements? You like to cast a wide net, with a grand giveaway of Yan Emperor Seals? All your chess pieces, chessboards, and players... I'll smash them all and establish a new set of rules!

"Fire Plume, where are you!"

A Heavenly Horse neighed piercingly. A fiery red pillar of light streaked across the sky, and Fire Plume stood before Wu Wang, her tall, slender figure clad in battle armor, her eyes brimming with fighting spirit.

"Your subordinate is here!"

"Order!" Wu Wang's eyes narrowed slightly. "Immediately activate all teleportation arrays in the Human Domain! Summon all the Military Families of the Human Domain! Summon the decision-makers from all medium-sized and larger sects! They must arrive here within three days! Any who dare to delay will be held accountable by the Benevolent Emperor Pavilion!"

"Yes!" Fire Plume declared without hesitation, bowing with a clasped fist. She turned and shouted a series of commands, and the Imperial Guards surrounding the area immediately dispatched numerous experts in all directions.

Within the great city, a veritable sea of cultivators had already gathered. Now, hearing Wu Wang's words and Fire Plume's shouts, many experts voluntarily stepped forward, announcing their sect affiliations. Indeed, a large number of figures such as Supreme Elders, Sect Masters, and Sect Leaders from various sects had already come to witness the commotion. They had previously chosen to remain silent, secretly applauding from the shadows.

Wu Wang had only given three days, which was actually quite tight. The Human Domain was immensely vast. If the decision-makers of the sects were not at the Heavenly Immortal Realm, they wouldn't be able to reach this place in time even if they burned their Primordial Spirits.

Fortunately, the Human Emperor's Imperial Guards, to facilitate their own rapid deployment, had established numerous fixed grand teleportation arrays throughout the Human Domain. These grand teleportation arrays were not usually active, as the Spirit Stone consumption was truly enormous. Only when major events like this occurred, with the Human Emperor personally issuing an order that included phrases like 'swiftly reinforce,' would these arrays be activated one by one.

The decision-makers from the sects and the leading figures of the Military Families in each region, after arranging their sect or military affairs, would be guided to the nearest teleportation array. In this manner, by teleporting them in batches, they could conserve Spirit Stones while also gathering the leaders of all powers, large and small, throughout the Human Domain before Wu Wang in the shortest possible time.

「During these three days.」

Fires erupted from the earth, far and wide; dark clouds from the East Sea pressed down on Dragon City.

Wu Wang remained seated before the main hall, his expression stern, not uttering a single word to anyone. Ming Snake and the Grand Elder stood behind him, one to his left and one to his right. The former's eyes always held a cold indifference, while the latter... had already decided to upgrade the old Sect Master's grave into a grand mausoleum.

「The first day.」

Pavilion Master Liu Baiyi of the Benevolent Emperor Pavilion, along with hundreds of experts from the Main Hall of Benevolent Emperor Pavilion, arrived. Wu Wang rose to greet them, his expression serious, without a smile.

Liu Baiyi's gaze was complicated. He deliberately stepped forward, grasped Wu Wang's wrist, and asked via sound transmission, "Can this be concluded properly?"

"Trust me," Wu Wang offered these two words to the Pavilion Master.

These two powerful officials of the Human Domain, who had sparred countless times in the training grounds beneath the Main Hall of Benevolent Emperor Pavilion, seemed to reach a tacit understanding in that instant. Liu Baiyi released Wu Wang's wrist—or, to be precise, he pushed it away.

He said, "Vice Pavilion Master Wu Wang, this Pavilion Master understands your anger. Upon learning of this matter, I, too, was so enraged that I nearly fainted.

"This Southeast Division shall be destroyed and then rebuilt!

"If there are any of their ilk within the Main Hall, you may deal with them impartially, but remember to leave them a measure of dignity."

As Liu Baiyi finished speaking, the expressions of many people behind him turned somewhat stiff.

"Pavilion Master, please be understanding," Wu Wang said. "Today, I brought out the Yan Emperor Seal solely for convenience, with no intention whatsoever of disrespecting you, Pavilion Master. Please, Pavilion Master, come inside."

"Hmm," Liu Baiyi nodded calmly. He turned his head to glance at the hovering ark atop a tall building not far away, a flicker of surprise in his heart. His sound transmission to Wu Wang just now seemed to have been overheard. The Sleep God? To possess such prying abilities? Could it be a spy deliberately planted by the Heaven Palace...?

With these doubts, Liu Baiyi resumed his previous cold demeanor. Supporting his slightly protruding belly and dressed in magnificent robes, he led a large contingent of experts from the Main Hall of Benevolent Emperor Pavilion into the spacious main hall.

Wu Wang did not follow, instead sitting back down in his seat. As experts passed by him on either side, nearly half kept their heads bowed, avoiding eye contact. The majority, however, especially the middle-aged men and women who did not appear old, performed a clasped-fist salute to Wu Wang, observing the etiquette of subordinates, before stepping into the main hall.

Figures hurried past; the clouds in the sky also hurried along with the wind. The sun on its daily round slowly traversed the sky. As the first day passed, the Southeast Division was packed three layers deep above and below with figures. They saw the bloodstained ground and heard of the butcher's knife already raised in this place. Wu Wang's furious denunciations, uttered while pointing to the heavens, circulated verbatim among the crowd, like scriptures revered by the world.

「The second day.」

The Pavilion Masters and Vice Pavilion Masters of the Human Emperor's Eight Pavilions had all arrived. Several hundred Military Families had mostly assembled, arranged in sequence before the main hall according to their respective regions. By nightfall, ninety-eight percent of those expected had arrived.

Yet Wu Wang's seated posture remained unchanged, as if he were petrified.

Ling Xiaolan kept her gaze fixed on Wu Wang's figure. She had never imagined that she would one day find herself at the center of such a vortex, yet be protected by a gentle force that prevented her from being torn apart by it. She had also never imagined that her Dao Heart could tremble so profoundly.

She had originally thought her feelings for him were admiration, tinged with a little respect. But now, the irresolvable emotion deep in her heart left her at a loss, unsure how to express it.

If he were to be harmed today, to fall here, then I'll collect his body, and we'll be buried together. Such an absurd thought had barely surfaced before it made Ling Xiaolan frown slightly. So much so that she felt something might be wrong with her, that her Dao Heart had encountered a demonic obstacle.

"Xiaolan, come here."

A familiar voice called out beside her. Ling Xiaolan looked up to her left and saw an auspicious cloud drifting from the horizon. She immediately hurried to greet it.

Not only Ling Xiaolan, but many others present also stepped forward to pay their respects. Even those too far away to move shouted loudly, announcing their affiliations and names.

The arrivals were none other than Sect Master Jingyue of the Xuan Nu Sect, along with more than a dozen Supreme Elders and hundreds of sect members. Most of them remained in the city, while Jingyue, leading more than ten Elders and Ling Xiaolan's master, Jue Tian Fairy Immortal, advanced.

Jue Tian Fairy Immortal, taking advantage of the recent fall of the Thunder God and the waning of the Heavenly Punishment, had successfully surpassed the Transcendent threshold, achieving the Transcendent Realm, and had also solidified her position as a candidate for Sect Leader.

Ling Xiaolan rode a cloud forward, curtsied gracefully, and verbally paid her respects, saying, "Greetings, Sect Leader. Greetings, Master. Greetings, esteemed Grand-Elders."

The elderly Fairy Immortals revealed knowing smiles, and each, in turn, offered words of encouragement to Ling Xiaolan. It didn't matter that she hadn't performed any meritorious deeds; they praised her extravagantly nonetheless, to demonstrate the importance and support that their Tianyan Xuan Nu Sect—a 'maternal home' representing nearly half the powers in the Human Domain—placed on Ling Xiaolan.

Jingyue, the formidable leader of the Xuan Nu Sect, the closest attendant to the late Lady Ting Huan, and the Human Emperor's 'own family,' as Sect Master, went so far as to thrust the Sect Leader's ceremonial sword, the 'Heavenly Essence Maiden Sword,' into Ling Xiaolan's hands.

Jingyue said, "Go where you want to go, do what you want to do.

"In this world today, you are the disciple I favor most.

"Our Xuan Nu Sect has always been protective of our own; whoever dares to bully a disciple of our sect is declaring war against the entire Xuan Nu Sect!"

Ling Xiaolan bit her lip gently and bowed her head. "Disciple thanks the Sect for its care and protection."

"Go then."

"Yes," Ling Xiaolan replied softly. She turned, glanced in Wu Wang's direction, and descended on a cloud with the sheathed longsword in hand. She now stood beside Wu Wang, a few yards away.

Wu Wang chuckled, "Aren't you afraid of being spattered with blood?"

Ling Xiaolan, seeming to radiate a soft glow, nodded slightly and smiled. "Then I will simply change my clothes."

"Hmm," Wu Wang said gently, "Later, I'll make you a few cloud-patterned robes. The styles of these current immortal dresses are too old-fashioned."

Ling Xiaolan averted her gaze. After a moment, she replied via sound transmission, "Attend to important matters first."

Wu Wang smiled but said nothing more.

「The third day.」

Dawn was approaching. Wu Wang suddenly stood up, a faint smile playing on his lips as he looked towards the northern sky.

There, a Flying Shuttle, a hundred zhang in length, came to a halt. Female Immortal Soldiers flew out from within, surrounding several white-haired old ladies. Among these elderly ladies, Wu Wang recognized the familiar figure of the young male cultivator Ji Mo, smiling as he accompanied them, supporting the old woman in the center.

It was indeed the Ji Family, the foremost Military Family in the Human Domain, that had arrived.

A Vice Pavilion Master from the Benevolent Emperor Pavilion naturally stepped forward to welcome them, intending to escort their party to the already overcrowded main hall. However, the Ji Family's old matriarch gave a cold snort and led her people to where the Military Families were gathered.

Maidens, who were Heavenly Immortals with slightly aged appearances, brought chairs. Ji Mo's grandmother, leaning on her dragon-headed cane, slowly took her seat. From her aged body, however, emanated a potent aura, and voices of greeting rose unceasingly from all around.

Matriarch Ji raised her hand to signal. Her voice was unhurried yet resonant and forceful.

"I have come here today for no other reason.

"The Benevolent Emperor Pavilion has a problem, and Vice Pavilion Master Wu Wang has summoned the various powers of the Human Domain here as witnesses. I am here to support Vice Pavilion Master Wu Wang.

"He speaks out against the injustice done to those soldiers who died fighting beyond our borders. This is seeking justice for the countless soldiers of our Human Domain who have fallen on the frontiers!

"How the Benevolent Emperor Pavilion is to be reformed, how it is to be rectified, the matter of corrupt officials—these are not my concern, nor can I manage them.

"But today, if anyone dares to trouble Vice Pavilion Master Wu Wang over the Southeast grain scandal, my Ji Family will be the first to disagree!"

The leaders of the Military Families immediately voiced their agreement, and a clamor erupted before the main hall.

Wu Wang cupped his hands in acknowledgment but did not say much more, nor did he salute these Military Families. He calmly sat back down in his seat.

By noon, all the various powers had gathered. The Fire Emperor's Imperial Guards raised a sky-canopy, using the armor of the Immortal Soldiers as the array foundation to form an immense grand array.

Wu Wang, however, said, "The grand array is deployed. No need for secrecy."

Fire Plume did not hesitate. She immediately turned and gave the order, and the newly erected grand array was swiftly deactivated. Fire Plume stepped forward briskly, offering a fist-and-palm salute. "My Lord, all parties have arrived."

Wu Wang asked, "Where are the members of the Punishment Hall?"

A large group of Punishment Hall officers, their eyes gleaming, bowed low and raised their hands high, holding aloft jade slips onto which the case files, reviewed by Wu Wang, had been specially engraved. They surged in from left and right, the rustling sound of their footsteps surprisingly pleasant to the ear at this moment.

"Greetings, Hall Master!"

"Bring out the case files you have compiled! Read them aloud!" Wu Wang closed his eyes, focused his mind, then exclaimed in a resolute voice,

"No matter who is implicated, no matter who is questioned, investigate them all thoroughly!

"Whether it's a Vice Pavilion Master or a powerful dignitary, today I want all of you to see just how rotten the foundations of this Benevolent Emperor Pavilion can be!

"Read!

"Read it out loud!"

The vast majority of Immortals present, though unrelated to this matter, inexplicably felt a sense of apprehension.

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