After a bout of sputtering and sputtering, the Black Bamboo Warlock King failed to provide a reasonable explanation. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he incessantly made a grinding sound, his molars nearly shattering into fragments. The enraged Black Bamboo Warlock King finally roared shamelessly, "Regardless of the reason, Red Feather Junior Brother died by your hand, you owe the Three Warlock Sect an explanation! Attacking a cultivator at the Divine Transformation stage, violating the Declaration of Seclusion—you brat Gu Xiachen, and you, Corpse Emperor, your Nine Nether Dao must face joint punishment from all signatories of the Declaration of Seclusion!"

With a slight cough, the Corpse Emperor, who had been furious, regained his composure. He smiled humbly and asked lightly, "Black Bamboo, can you give this seat an explanation as to why Red Feather encountered Xiachen?"

Gu Xiachen's eyes lit up. He quickly cried out, "Master, you must deliver justice for your disciple! This disciple has suffered immense grievance in this matter! It’s just that I just returned from the Third Colony Star, and upon arrival, I found two subordinates nearly dead while merging the Christo Crystal Sphere. I was protecting them the entire time, which is why I couldn't report this to you immediately. You absolutely must seek justice for your disciple!"

The Corpse Emperor boomed protectively, "This seat will seek justice for you; no one can bully this Master's good disciple! Tell me, what exactly happened?"

True Man Lie looked at the Black Bamboo Warlock King on the light screen in astonishment. He whispered to the representative of the Asian Dao Alliance beside him, utterly perplexed, "How strange. I also wonder, why would Warlock King Red Feather go to the Third Colony Star? Has this old man's hearing failed? What did that charlatan Guderri just say? Warlock King Red Feather was slain by that kid Gu Xiachen on the Third Colony Star?"

The fat bald monk from the Pestilence Dispelling Temple chuckled softly, "Heh, let’s see what Black Bamboo has to say! He truly has no shame. A Grandmaster at the Divine Transformation stage was killed by a junior—and he's publicly broadcasting this? He truly has no decency!"

Gu Xiachen babbled on and on, recounting how Warlock King Red Bamboo ambushed him on the Third Colony Star. Naturally, since Warlock King Red Bamboo was dead and could not offer a defense, Gu Xiachen's narrative was liberally seasoned with artistic license, omitting and embellishing as needed. The few conditions Red Bamboo had proposed were inflated by Gu Xiachen into eighteen—from betraying his sect and stealing Nine Nether Dao secrets to cooperating with the Three Warlock Sect to assassinate the Corpse Emperor—all sorts of bizarre terms tumbled from his mouth without taking a single breath.

The Corpse Emperor's expression grew increasingly grim. The killing intent in his gaze toward Warlock King Black Bamboo intensified.

The Black Bamboo Warlock King’s nose was nearly distorted by rage. He roared, "Nonsense! When did we propose so many conditions to you?"

Gu Xiachen immediately responded lightly, "Oh? We didn't? Swear on your true name heart-demon that you never taught me to betray my master and destroy my lineage? That you never forced me to defect from my sect? That you never compelled me to act as a spy within the Nine Nether Dao? If you dare swear on your true name heart-demon, I will slap myself right now and declare everything I said a lie!"

The Black Bamboo Warlock King was silenced. They had indeed coerced Gu Xiachen into betraying the Nine Nether Dao, and they had forced him to operate as a mole within it, but they absolutely had not compelled Gu Xiachen to cooperate with them in assassinating the Corpse Emperor!

However, Gu Xiachen had artfully trapped him with that retort, leaving the Black Bamboo Warlock King momentarily speechless, which only made the Corpse Emperor’s expression darken further.

With a few cold sneers, the Corpse Emperor turned toward True Man Lie, smiling, "Old Ox-Nose, listen to this—Black Bamboo Warlock King wants this old man's life!"

True Man Lie chuckled a few times, not daring to utter another word.

The Corpse Emperor shook his head, sighed, his expression now utterly calm, the killing intent in his eyes completely vanished. He smiled at Gu Xiachen and said, "What else? My good disciple, just say it all; this seat will see justice done for you!"

Archbishop Guderri gathered his courage and stated solemnly, "Your Excellency, Corpse Emperor, you cannot be so protective of your own... After all, Warlock King Red Lily is dead... a cultivator at the Divine Transformation stage is dead... This is not just a loss for the Asian Dao Alliance; this is a heavy loss for our Earth Dark Alliance! We... we must pursue this matter to the very end!"

Salotman seized the opportunity and laughed loudly, "I swear in the name of the Roman Pantheon! We must uphold the sanctity of the 'Declaration of Seclusion.' Whoever destroyed the Declaration of Seclusion by killing Warlock King Red Bamboo has violated it, and he must be punished!"

The fat bald monk from the Pestilence Dispelling Temple glared at Salotman with displeasure. It was obvious the Romans wanted to muddy the waters. The Declaration of Seclusion strictly forbade the Earth Dark Alliance and the Roman Pantheon from laying lethal hands on the Grandmaster-level experts of the other side, to prevent a third religious war. But an internal conflict within the Asian Dao Alliance—what did that have to do with the Pantheon?

A Dark Mage from the delegation of the Pantheon also spoke up, his voice cold, strange, and sing-songy, "We agree with the opinion of Vice-Chief Priest Salotman. The 'Declaration of Seclusion' is sacred and inviolable; no one can touch its sanctity. To maintain the security baseline for the Earth Federation and the Roman Kingdom, and to prevent another religious war that could completely annihilate both sides, anyone who violates the 'Declaration of Seclusion' must receive severe punishment!"

Archbishop Guderri glanced smugly at the Corpse Emperor, nervously touching the wound on his neck. He stated sternly, "That is correct. This matter must be pursued to the end!"

The Corpse Emperor frowned and looked toward True Man Lie and the other representatives of the Asian Dao Alliance. True Man Lie and the others subtly nodded their heads, signaling that this matter had nothing to do with them.

Clearly, the Three Warlock Sect was colluding with the Church, and the Church had a tacit understanding with the Pantheon; they intended to use this incident to stir up certain matters. But the Pantheon? They were purely reveling in chaos, just adding fuel to the fire, as long as the Earth Dark Alliance was in turmoil, it would only benefit the Pantheon.

After a moment of silence, the Corpse Emperor gave a cold smile and said to Gu Xiachen, "Disciple, continue. Besides these eighteen conditions, what else was there?" At this moment, one could not detect any killing intent or malice emanating from him; he smiled amiably, appearing like a gentle old scholar, a far cry from the number one demon of the Asian Dao Alliance.

Gu Xiachen channeled his true energy into two fine needles, piercing his tear ducts. The intense stinging made him nearly scream. With tears and snot streaming down, Gu Xiachen 'wept piteously' as he cried out to the Corpse Emperor, "Master, isn't this exactly what your disciple was about to report to you? How could your disciple commit such a heinous, lineage-ending betrayal of the sect?"

Amidst his lamentations, Gu Xiachen righteously denounced Warlock King Red Bamboo and nobly refused Red Bamboo’s excessive demands. Out of loyalty and affection for the Corpse Emperor, and out of loyalty and love for the Nine Nether Dao, Gu Xiachen, disregarding the vast power disparity between himself and Warlock King Red Bamboo, summoned his Boundary Puppet to fight Warlock King Red Bamboo to the death.

After a fierce battle, both sides shattered the crust of the Third Colony Star, descending into an underground lava lake...