Wu Shattered Star River

The Celestial Court, with its thousands of palaces and myriad towers, stretched out endlessly.

The Celestial Court had eighteen palaces, each managing different duties, serving as the administrative offices overseeing tens of thousands of immortal kingdoms and billions of immortals.

Qintian Palace!

This was an unremarkable office among the eighteen palaces, usually responsible for sacrifices and rites. For the Celestial Court, sacrifices weren't particularly meaningful, because they were the celestial gods in the eyes of mortals, and mortals usually worshiped them.

Therefore, Qintian Palace didn't have significant authority. The palace lord was just a mumbling immortal emperor, always drunk, often talking to himself, acting crazy.

This immortal emperor was granted the title of Heavenly Mystery Daoist.

"Bang!"

Today, in the main hall of Qintian Palace, an incense stick suddenly went out, and then a tortoise shell on the main table shattered.

Two powerful figures had been sitting in meditation, guarding the main hall. Both were old men dressed in Daoist robes. The two old men suddenly opened their eyes, their gazes fixed on the extinguished incense stick and the shattered tortoise shell.

The extinguishing of the heavenly incense was a warning from the Heavenly Dao, but since it only went out and didn't break, it wasn't particularly serious.

A yellow-robed Daoist stood up, picked up the shattered tortoise shell, closed his eyes to sense it, and said, "Senior brother, it seems there are fugitives from the Ancient God Star Region entering."

Another brown-robed Daoist nodded slightly, frowning, and said, "How audacious, daring to sneak into the Celestial Court. Junior brother, go to the Heavenly Punishment Palace and report this to the Western Heavenly Emperor."

The yellow-robed Daoist hesitated for a moment and said, "Senior brother, should we consult with our master first?"

The brown-robed Daoist thought for a moment and said, "Alright, go report to our master."

The yellow-robed Daoist hurriedly left the palace and walked towards a tall octagonal building in the backyard.

This building was very straight, reaching a height of several hundred zhang. The yellow-robed Daoist didn't dare to fly up, but entered inside and followed the stone steps, spiraling upwards.

At the top of the octagonal building was an octagonal altar. On the altar, a purple-robed Daoist with disheveled hair was sitting on the ground.

He held a gourd in his hand, half-眯着 his eyes and looking at the sky. As the yellow-robed Daoist approached, he took another sip from his wine gourd, splashing wine and wetting his robe.

The yellow-robed Daoist didn't care at all about this scene and said respectfully, "Master, the heavenly incense has gone out, and the Kun-character jade tortoise has shattered. It should be someone from Jiang Henshui's group who has entered, most likely one of the Heavenly Hunchback, Heavenly Abyss, or Heavenly Demon."

The purple-robed Daoist was the lord of Qintian Palace, the Heavenly Mystery Daoist. He didn't react to the yellow-robed Daoist's words, still squinting and staring at the dim sky, lost in thought.

The yellow-robed Daoist waited for a moment, then bowed again and said, "Master, senior brother asked me to report to the Heavenly Punishment Palace. Do you have any instructions?"

The Heavenly Mystery Daoist still didn't speak, just waved his hand. The yellow-robed Daoist immediately understood, bowed, and turned to walk down.

But just as he turned around, a drunken voice sounded in his ear: "The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao; the name that can be named is not the constant name; there is no need to pursue it."

The yellow-robed Daoist paused. He pondered for a moment, bowed to the Daoist, and said, "Master, do you mean I should only report to the Heavenly Punishment Palace and not help them with the pursuit?"

The Heavenly Mystery Daoist didn't reply, just waved his hand casually. The yellow-robed Daoist went down the stone steps and walked towards the Heavenly Punishment Palace.

After the yellow-robed Daoist left, the Heavenly Mystery Daoist's half-眯着 eyes suddenly opened.

He looked up at the void and murmured, "Vast and boundless, who dominates this great earth? It cannot be said, it cannot be asked, it cannot be pursued..."

...

Having arrived at the Heavenly Punishment Palace, a director welcomed him in. The yellow-robed Daoist reported the matter, and the director didn't dare to be careless, and immediately reported it to the Western Heavenly Emperor.

The Western Heavenly Emperor summoned the yellow-robed Daoist. Although the yellow-robed Daoist's status in Qintian Palace was not low, he still felt a little apprehensive when he saw the Western Heavenly Emperor. He bowed and said, "Greetings, Heavenly Emperor!"

The Western Heavenly Emperor sat behind the black desk, looking at the yellow-robed Daoist with piercing eyes and said, "Huang Qi, who has entered?"

Huang Qi said, "According to the divination, it should be one of the Heavenly Abyss, Heavenly Hunchback, or Heavenly Demon who has entered."

"Oh?"

The Western Heavenly Emperor's two sword-like eyebrows stood up, and a murderous aura swept over him. He asked, "When did they enter? Where did they enter from? Where are they now? Can they be tracked?"

Huang Qi hesitated. He remembered the words of the Heavenly Mystery Daoist and cupped his fist and said, "The divination is a bit vague. The person who entered should be holding a treasure that conceals the secrets of heaven. It can only be determined that they entered within the last half month."

"They should now be in a celestial kingdom to the south, but the specific location cannot be tracked. This matter requires the Heavenly Punishment Palace to arrange manpower to search for them."

"Hmm?"

The Western Heavenly Emperor's tiger eyes flashed, his expression turned cold, and he said coldly, "Think carefully before answering this question. You should know the Jade Emperor's attitude towards fugitives! I will ask you again... can you divine the exact location, can you track them?"

The Western Heavenly Emperor's pressure was extremely terrifying, and he was at the peak of his power, causing Huang Qi's body to tremble, almost kneeling down.

The Western Heavenly Emperor's words clearly showed that he didn't believe Huang Qi's words. If it were an ordinary disciple of Qintian Palace, he would have been so frightened that he would have collapsed to the ground.

Huang Qi gritted his teeth and said, "Heavenly Emperor, every word I say is true. If you don't believe me, you can ask my master."

"Hmph!"

The Western Heavenly Emperor snorted coldly, waved his hand, and let Huang Qi leave.

After Huang Qi left, a man completely shrouded in a black robe appeared. He bowed and said, "Heavenly Emperor, the heavenly incense has gone out, and the Kun-character jade tortoise has shattered, which means they have discovered the whereabouts of the fugitive."

"They are concealing it and not reporting it, which is a heinous crime. We should report this to the Jade Emperor and punish Qintian Palace for their crime."

The Western Heavenly Emperor snorted coldly and said, "The old codger Heavenly Mystery Daoist is best at seeking good fortune and avoiding disaster. He probably hasn't calculated the outcome of the future battle, so he is unwilling to easily take sides."

"Reporting it to the Jade Emperor is useless. The Heavenly Mystery Daoist saved the Jade Emperor's life. No matter how angry the Jade Emperor is, he won't kill the Heavenly Mystery Daoist. What's the point of scolding him?"

The black-robed man said, "Then what should we do? Cast a wide net and secretly search? There are so many celestial kingdoms. If one of the Heavenly Abyss, Heavenly Hunchback, or Heavenly Demon has entered, how can we track them down?"

"Investigate first!"

The Western Heavenly Emperor waved his hand and said, "First, investigate the entrances to the God and Demon Battlefield. Check all the cultivators who have entered in the last month and find out the suspicious people."

"In addition, spread out all the spies to track down suspicious people, and also have Kunshan seal all the entrances to the God and Demon Battlefield. Since they dared to sneak back, then don't think about returning to the Ancient God Star Region."

"Yes!"

The black-robed man flashed and retreated, beginning to mobilize troops and arrange tracking matters.

The Western Heavenly Emperor did not leave. As the master of the Heavenly Punishment Palace, his orders were followed by millions of people, who were driven by him to track down the Heavenly Demon and Jiang Han.

He looked at a map on the wall behind him, looked at it for a long time, and then murmured, "The Heavenly Abyss is rigid in character, and the Heavenly Hunchback is not proficient in spells. It should be the Heavenly Demon who came? What is Jiang Henshui trying to do by taking such a big risk to enter?"

"Could it be that he wants to collude with those traitors under the Azure Emperor and prepare to conspire to start an uprising?"

"But the Azure Emperor shouldn't be so easy to revive. Relying only on Jiang Henshui, it's impossible to succeed. Strange, strange..."