Wei Zhao grimaced. "If someone really is pulling the strings behind the scenes, then those aren't choices at all—they're a trap."

A vision of Jiang Wushe flickered unbidden through his mind.

As a unique entity in all the world, an undying divine armament was inherently extraordinary; under normal circumstances, no matter how skilled a synthesist might be, there was no way to exert any influence over one.

Jiang Wushe was certainly no minor figure, but for him to reach such a level—that Wei Zhao sincerely doubted.

Wei Zhao shifted tack. "Of course, there's another possibility: we're both overthinking it."

"Maybe those two options really are just that absurd. Plenty of things in this world don't follow logic—and even if this is an undying divine armament, it's hard to claim it has no flaws at all."

As the two were still deliberating, Zhang Baiyu suddenly received a message, and his expression shifted. "My lord—riot at the celestial prison!"

Wei Zhao raised his eyes to him. "What's the situation?"

Zhang Baiyu said grimly, "Just now, every defensive formation in the celestial prison failed at once. All the inmates are rioting, the guard lines have been breached, and more than a thousand criminals have already escaped."

Wei Zhao's expression changed slightly.

To be imprisoned in the celestial prison—especially in its deepest levels—was no ordinary criminal's fate.

To call them utterly vicious would be flattery.

So many violent criminals escaping at once would inevitably deal a grave blow to order throughout Tianjun Prefecture; if it were not handled quickly, it could easily give rise to any number of atrocities.

Wei Zhao said, his expression strange, "The celestial prison's formation system is an impregnable fortress. Even if some active formation developed a flaw, there's more than one backup formation to take its place."

"For it to fail right at this moment—does that strike you as normal?"

Zhang Baiyu shook his head. "The odds of that are infinitesimal."

Here Wei Zhao had just encountered a fusion option involving personally slaying nine hundred ninety-nine vicious criminals, and there the celestial prison riots, spilling over a thousand of the most heinous convicts into the streets.

To call that a pure coincidence—no sane person would believe it.

Wei Zhao frowned. "But if someone really is deliberately steering me toward the second option, what do they stand to gain?"

Zhang Baiyu mused, "There's a question more important than what they stand to gain."

Wei Zhao nodded. "Just who is this person?"

Before Wei Zhao could make his move, the escaped convicts scattered in all directions, and public opinion across Tianjun Prefecture swiftly erupted.

At first it was only ordinary alarm, but before long, fanned by some unseen force, the sentiment throughout Tianjun coalesced with startling speed into a single conspiracy theory.

"Could this be a scheme Lord Wei Zhao set up on purpose?"

"Let those criminals loose to wreak havoc everywhere, and he'll have an excuse to move against the clans that oppose him!"

"Surely not? Everyone in Tianjun has more or less submitted to Lord Wei Zhao by now—why go to such lengths?"

"You're all too naive. On the surface they've submitted, yes, but these clans have held Tianjun for a thousand years—do you think they'd give up so easily?"

"Exactly. They're only feigning compliance. Lord Wei Zhao must see right through them—it's just that they play their parts too well on the surface, leaving him no opening to deal with them."

"Well, now it's perfect. Whichever clan's territory the criminals run into, Lord Wei Zhao can act against them as the situation demands—with full justification, and no one can say a word against it!"

After that round of conspiracy-mongering, even the citizens of Tianjun who trusted Wei Zhao found themselves half-convinced, half-doubtful.

After all, that chain of reasoning did sound rather plausible at first hearing.

For a time, every clan in Tianjun was gripped by panic.

Never mind the clans that were indeed two-faced, as the rumors claimed—even those genuinely loyal to Wei Zhao were deeply worried.

Their loyalty to Wei Zhao was real, but the problem was: did Wei Zhao believe in their loyalty?

The human heart is hard to fathom.

Once a man in power grows suspicious, it could well spell utter ruin for the likes of them.

By now Zhang Baiyu had quickly completed his assessment. "My lord, there really are people fanning these flames, but the methods are highly professional—it'll be very hard to trace the source in the short term."

Wei Zhao nodded and rose. "You take charge of the overall situation. I'm stepping out for a while."

Zhang Baiyu blinked slightly. "My lord intends to carry out the second option?"

Wei Zhao spoke as he walked. "Whoever's behind this, I'll do what needs doing first."

Zhang Baiyu opened his mouth, then thought better of it.

The matter looked considerable, but with the strength Wei Zhao's faction now commanded, it would not be difficult to handle.

Wei Zhao could simply send out Zhou Yuan or Gu Tianque, and either alone would be more than enough to suppress all the escaped convicts—there was no need for him to act personally.

But that would inevitably cut efficiency drastically.

In the interim, the people of Tianjun would inevitably suffer.

To hold an office is to discharge its duties.

Since Wei Zhao sat in the seat of Tianjun's ruler, he would naturally fulfill his responsibilities and safeguard the peace of the land.

He had no intention of being a ruler who occupied his post and did nothing.

With a flicker of movement, Wei Zhao appeared at the highest point of the New Heavenly Palace, surveying the four directions.

At this moment, Tianjun Prefecture was indeed in utter chaos; even around the New Heavenly Palace, fleeing convicts could still be seen darting about.

Some were locked in combat with the palace guards; others had already charged into residential districts, sparking riots on the spot.

On the streets and in the alleys, not a single citizen of Tianjun remained.

Every door was shut tight, and behind every window, pairs of eyes watched tensely.

Wei Zhao raised his hand and made a light flick toward the southwest.

At once a surge of energy at an exceedingly high level shot from his fingertip; in flight it split from one into ten, from ten into a hundred, each locking onto its own target, and in the blink of an eye it struck down dozens of fleeing convicts on the spot.

That single gesture left every faction in Tianjun that had been watching closely utterly aghast.

The citizens who witnessed it, meanwhile, breathed a collective sigh of relief and burst into cheers.

In the end, the Wei Zhao of today had far outgrown what Tianjun could measure.

Even these vicious criminals—every one of them, in their day, a name to be reckoned with in Tianjun—were no more than feeble chicks and ants before Wei Zhao.

Had they not scattered and fled, suppressing them all would have been a mere thought for Wei Zhao, with not the slightest uncertainty about it.

Wei Zhao turned his gaze to another direction and frowned slightly.

One convict, sensing trouble, had burst into a home and seized a five-year-old child as a hostage.

The child's parents went pale with terror.

But before they could even beg for mercy, the convict burst into a mist of blood in midair, not a scrap of him left behind.

At the same moment, Wei Zhao cradled the five-year-old in his arms and gently covered the child's eyes with his hand, so that he might not see a single trace of bloodshed.

Wei Zhao turned and handed the child back to the parents; before they could pour out their endless thanks, he had already vanished from where he stood.