Wei Zhao instinctively drew out the Marquis Wu Star Disk.

Aside from synthesizing divine equipment, the Star Disk's most fundamental core function was appraising divine equipment.

The crucial point was that this thing had been given to him by the Lane Master God.

Could it be that the Star Disk's appraisal was not as shallow as it seemed—that this was in fact the heaven-granted divine equipment bound to the alternative limit-breaking method known as quantum entanglement?

Wei Zhao was instantly thrilled.

Before this, though he had known the Marquis Wu Star Disk was enormously valuable, he had always assumed its core worth lay in synthesizing divine equipment.

As for appraising divine equipment, that was at best an incidental function.

Thinking about it now, he had probably gotten it completely backwards.

Wei Zhao at once began studying it anew.

Yet a full day passed, and he still could not puzzle it out.

Wei Zhao was not the least bit discouraged; on the contrary, he grew more and more elated.

There were no concrete results as yet, but a powerful intuition told him he had found the right direction, and only the final step remained.

Just as Wei Zhao was buried in his research, a strange and powerful aura suddenly descended upon Tianjun.

Before long, Zhang Baiyu led a man inside.

The newcomer was a middle-aged man, tall and upright, of imposing bearing, with a towering sense of righteousness between his brows. Merely standing there with his hands clasped behind his back, he projected an aura of authority that inspired awe without any display of anger.

"Tao Zhibai, of the Academy of the Sin God."

After that brief self-introduction, the man went straight to the point: "I have come this time on the matter of Xing Jun."

Wei Zhao frowned slightly. "Oh? This criminal rehabilitation program of yours even has a criminal follow-up visit stage?"

By invoking Xing Jun's matter, the Academy of the Sin God had all but written its intention to stick its hand into Tianjun plainly across its face.

Especially at this juncture, when the headless Xing Jun had just been taken down by him—for such a man to appear out of nowhere and name Xing Jun outright, the meaning was only too clear.

But the man's next sentence stunned Wei Zhao outright.

"The criminal rehabilitation program was a mistake."

Tao Zhibai spoke calmly: "A vicious criminal of this caliber has no right to join the criminal rehabilitation program, nor is there any need to rehabilitate him, and still less may we let him return to his place of origin to wreak havoc on a region."

Wei Zhao regarded him oddly. "What exactly does your Academy of the Sin God mean by this?"

Tao Zhibai said with a solemn face, "Even the mightiest academy can make mistakes, and mistakes must be corrected. I have come today precisely to correct this one."

"Interesting."

Wei Zhao caught the undertone.

From the look of things, the Academy of the Sin God was hardly a monolithic bloc internally.

In fact, this was well within his expectations.

For any faction, and especially a large one, internal disagreement was inevitable.

Especially this so-called criminal rehabilitation program—any normal person could tell at a glance it was unreliable. The Academy of the Sin God had always been a hallmark conservative force; if there were not a single dissenting voice, that would be the real miracle.

This Tao Zhibai before him was plainly of the opposition.

Wei Zhao asked meaningfully, "Does Your Excellency come this time representing the Academy of the Sin God, or merely representing yourself?"

Tao Zhibai answered with certainty, "I am a man of the Academy of the Sin God, so what I do naturally represents the Academy of the Sin God."

Wei Zhao smiled faintly. "Understood."

From that tone alone, it was clear that even if the man was not entirely alone within the Academy of the Sin God, he was certainly a suppressed minority.

Tao Zhibai frowned and spoke in the tone of an official notice: "I will deal with the criminal Xing Jun personally, and should he cause any losses during this period, the Academy of the Sin God will be responsible for them."

Wei Zhao nodded.

If that could truly be done, then at the very least, the Academy of the Sin God's reputation in Tianjun might well be salvaged by a good measure.

Wei Zhao then asked, "Do you need me to provide assistance?"

Tao Zhibai shot him a glance. "No need."

Wei Zhao kindly reminded him, "This Xing Jun is no small matter. With only Your Excellency alone, are you certain you can take him down?"

This was not deliberate provocation on his part.

Judging by the intensity of the aura the man gave off, he was certainly no ordinary figure, but under Tianjun's layers of restrictions, he might not necessarily be able to overpower Xing Jun.

Even if the present Xing Jun was nothing but a single head.

Tao Zhibai gave a cold snort. "The affairs of my Academy of the Sin God have their own means of being handled. If I cannot even manage such a trifling matter, where would the Academy of the Sin God's face be?"

"..."

Wei Zhao at once said no more. "Then I wish Your Excellency all success."

The man plainly wanted to save face, and Wei Zhao naturally would not go out of his way to press a warm cheek against a cold backside.

He watched Tao Zhibai depart.

Zhang Baiyu suddenly remarked, "That one is very likely to come off the worse."

Wei Zhao nodded in agreement. "By the look of him, he's a decent sort, a pity he's so stiff-necked."

Though the whole exchange had amounted to only a few sentences, his ability to read people was enough to see the man's true colors more or less entirely.

"I thought the Academy of the Sin God was really going to repent, but from the stance he's taking, even his own position within the academy is probably hard to hold."

Anyone with half a brain could tell that the so-called criminal rehabilitation program was being pushed by the new chief of the Academy of the Sin God, and was absolutely the core project of the entire academy.

How could it turn on a dime just like that?

If it truly did turn course and want to make amends by hauling Xing Jun back, they would never have sent just one man.

Tao Zhibai's move was, if not entirely his own wishful thinking, then very close to it.

Zhang Baiyu said with interest, "Still, since he has that much confidence, he should at least have a way to catch Xing Jun—which saves us a bit of trouble."

Wei Zhao smiled. "Let's wait and see."

After leaving the New Heavenly Palace, Tao Zhibai drew a dark golden token from his bosom, carved with the character "Sin," cold and solemn in its air of authority.

"Go!"

Tao Zhibai formed a hand seal with one hand, and the dark golden token in his grasp immediately transformed into a solid pillar of light that enveloped his entire body.

The very next second, wrapped in the pillar of light, Tao Zhibai vanished from where he stood.

When he opened his eyes again, he was already standing in an unfamiliar secret realm.

Tao Zhibai glanced left and right, and a trace of mockery surfaced on his face. "Quite good at hiding."

He then activated the Sin-character token once more.

Another pillar of light descended, landing precisely ten meters in front of him.

At first it was empty, but in less than a breath, a hideous head emerged from the ground, pinned dead within the pillar of light.

Tao Zhibai was not the least surprised.

Within the Academy of the Sin God, he had at least once been a core elder holding real power, and had several times received personal baptism from the Sin God himself, enough to wield a portion of the Sin God's authority on his behalf.

The Sin-character token in his hand was precisely the iconic physical manifestation of the authority of sin and punishment.

Across the entire Academy of the Sin God, no more than five people possessed this token.