The Despicable Victim: A First-Rank Official Pretending to Be Fifth-Rank

"Wait for you to add a few more strokes, wait for you to play a few more tunes~~"

"Wait for you to return to your hometown, wait for you to top the golden rankings and set the questions~~"

"Three or five strokes on the inkstone, the ink falls as the partridges cry~~"

As the melodious song echoed through the Hall of Judgment, nearly all the divine envoys froze in place.

These lyrics, this melody... it struck a chord, itching at their hearts!

Meanwhile, the Taiji Immortal Elder, who had been brought in for trial, cast a resentful glance at Ye Wuchen, who was lounging arrogantly on the victim's seat with his legs crossed.

Back then, it was this very man who had barged into his sacred grounds with a loudspeaker blasting this very tune, striding in like a whirlwind—under the guise of being a victim—and arrested him outright!

A first-rank celestial being, resorting to such underhanded tactics! Truly, he had never seen someone so shameless in all his years!

Damn it all to—

"What the hell are you looking at?!" Ye Wuchen felt provoked and pointed aggressively at the Taiji Immortal Elder. "The nation has its laws, the heavens have their rules—you broke the damn law, you hear me?!"

"Not happy? Want a piece of me? Then come at me, one-on-one!"

The Taiji Immortal Elder's lips twitched, his flowing white beard trembling in agitation. But in the end, he obediently took his seat in the defendant's dock. Under the scorching gazes of the crowd, he remained silent for a moment before suddenly breaking into a laugh.

"Hahaha, sitting here today must be the heavens' punishment for me."

"How should I put it? In our Jiangbei region, does a little faction like the Hanxi Gang really exist among celestial officials?"

"Perhaps not in intention, but in reality, it does. Take, for example, appointing the Black Bear Spirit—a non-water-aligned creature—as the sixth-rank River God of Lingyuan. Though it violated celestial law, since he was the nephew of the Sun Touring God, I helped him secure the position. In return, wouldn’t the Sun Touring God extend favors to my own nephew?"

"If you don’t look too closely, it just seems like friends helping each other out. But in truth, it’s a blatant case of celestial cronyism!"

"Ah... Back when I was cultivating, my master would occasionally give me and my senior brother a few taels of silver to buy Hanxi-style stuffed buns—eight coins each, no bigger than a palm, but so delicious it felt like a feast. I’ve never forgotten that taste!"

"Later, when I became a mountain god, I accepted tributes from others. Below me, banquets were held with tables laden with offerings worth tens of thousands of strands of incense. Yet, I could never recapture the joy of those eight-coin buns."

"My downfall? It all boils down to one word—greed. I—"

Before he could finish, Gu Yuan cut him off. "You giving me a lecture, old man? Bring up the former River God of Lingyuan, the Black Bear Spirit Mo Xiong, and the Sun Touring God!"

Hiss—

The entire hall gasped in shock.

They had thought implicating a third-rank celestial was already the limit. But now, even a second-rank Sun Touring God had been arrested?!

How bold was this little Jiangbei Investigation Bureau?!

Were they trying to tear the heavens apart?!

Even with a newly ascended first-rank celestial backing them, the Sun Touring God had the support of a veteran first-rank powerhouse!

Did they truly dare?!

Watching the stunned faces in the hall, Ye Wuchen and his companions struggled to suppress their smirks.

Why wouldn’t they dare?!

So what if it was an old-school first-rank celestial?

Just a late-stage True Immortal at best!

Gu Yuan, at half-step True Immortal, might be lacking, but Ye Wuchen wasn’t the least bit intimidated!

Though only a mid-stage True Immortal, he had climbed to his strength through sheer cultivation—brutally powerful. Beating up a pampered, incense-fed deity with no real combat prowess would be child’s play!

The only one he feared was the supreme Heavenly Dao of the Divine Land!

But now? Even their biggest backer had been subdued by his own patron. What could they possibly do?!

Stay mad. As long as the Heavenly Dao didn’t intervene, Ye Wuchen could take them all on single-handedly!

Soon, the former fifth-rank River God of Lingyuan and the former second-rank celestial official, the Sun Touring God, were brought forward.

Judging by their slightly swollen faces, they had been subjected to the "Great Memory Restoration Technique" more than once. Their shifty eyes made it clear—they’d been thoroughly broken.

The moment they sat in the defendant’s dock, both exhaled in relief.

Confess everything, repent sincerely—leniency for cooperation. Resistance would only mean another trip to the black room for a brutal "reminder"...

Mo Xiong, the Black Bear Spirit, whose lower rank meant a weaker constitution, spoke first:

"I am the River God of Lingyuan. I gained sentience and began cultivating barely a thousand years ago. At 1,008 years old, just three days after my birthday, I received my appointment. Back then, among all fifth-rank deities in Jiangbei, I was the youngest!"

"Though my uncle is the Sun Touring God, no one can deny the Taiji Immortal Elder’s kindness in promoting me—greater than the heavens themselves!"

"As his vanguard, when the inspection team arrived, how could I not charge ahead?"

"At first, we tried to corrupt them through banquets and gifts, just to make them go through the motions. But this inspection team was different. So we resorted to threats, hoping to scare them off. Never did I imagine their leader, supposedly a fifth-rank like me, would turn out to be a first-rank powerhouse..."

"I yield. I truly yield!"

"I’ll confess everything! Over the years, I’ve sold divine positions, traded authority, secretly raised monsters, and extorted massive bribes—totaling 152.1 billion strands of incense. Because of me, millions of lowly mortals..."

His voice abruptly cut off.

But within three seconds, it returned, and he continued vomiting out every dirty deed he’d ever committed.

Each word dripped with blood and tears, each sentence a stab to the heart!

Outside the Hall of Judgment...

Countless lowly beings—humans, spirits, demons, and monsters alike—knelt and kowtowed, wailing in anguish.

"Sob... It’s him! It’s him!!! My little sister, only three years old, was born under a triple-yang alignment. His wolf minions took her for a sacrifice!"

"That year of drought, when no crops grew, we could’ve tightened our belts and survived on stored grain. But the Lingyuan River’s annual sacrifices couldn’t be skipped. They took our last food. My family of eight... only I survived. My wife, my eldest, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth—all gone! Sob... I want him DEAD!!!"

"Wah... Just because he loves honey, the mountain gods under him forced my bee tribe to gather till we dropped. That day, I watched my kin work themselves to death. I couldn’t take it anymore! I really couldn’t!!!"

"Righteous lords of heaven, EXECUTE THIS SCOUNDREL!!!"

"Righteous lords..."

"... ..."

Slap!

Chen Yi casually swiped at the sky and said calmly, "See? They dared to do it, but you don’t even dare to listen. You’d rather cover it up. And this is just one state. Extrapolate this—what of the other thirty-five?"

Buzz...

The heavens trembled faintly as the Heavenly Dao of the Divine Land replied with restraint, "Enough with the scolding—it’s not that I don’t want to change, but reforms are easiest to implement only in the early stages of establishment. Now, the Divine Land is deeply entrenched, and merely keeping it functioning smoothly is an achievement. Rash alterations would only lead to chaos, causing the land to collapse..."

"So, how do you intend to modify the fundamental laws of the incense merit system? I only hope the lessons I’ve learned can shine in this new world. Carry on with my blessings!"

Hearing this, Chen Yi’s eyes filled with disappointment. "You’d rather whitewash reality than face its harsh truths. What a failure of a Heavenly Dao you are!"