On one side, Lu Ding was tallying his spoils of war.

On the other side, reinforcements from Tai Island, Wei Gao, and Zhenla had just arrived above Whaleguard Island, where smoke still billowed from the battlefield.

Seeing the devastation below, the Tai Island forces could hardly believe their eyes.

How could things have deteriorated so badly in such a short time!

They had rushed here immediately after receiving the distress signal!

With so many Heavenly Perception operatives stationed on Whaleguard Island and defensive formations capable of resisting Heavenly Perception attacks, how could this have...

From their ranks, the youngest-looking Heavenly Perception operative burst forward, shouting toward the island in denial:

"Teacher!!!!"

"Where are you!!!"

"Can you hear me!!"

His voice carried his unwillingness to accept reality. As a Heavenly Perception operative, he could clearly sense that his teacher's life force had completely vanished from this island...

After just three shouts, ten members of Great Han's cleanup team arrived and hovered steadily in formation.

"What's all the shouting about?" came Saw-Buddha Incense Lu Youhan's voice. "This is now Great Han's international waters garrison island. Your teacher isn't here, but if you insist on finding someone, we could reluctantly arrange a father figure for you."

His words immediately drew laughter from the other nine.

Kunisada Kazuma's eyes instantly reddened as he glared at the Great Han Heavenly Perception operatives. Unable to contain himself, he roared: "WHY!!!"

"Why must you be so cruel! As Heavenly Perception operatives yourselves, why would you attack the battlefield below? Heavenly Perception battles should stay between Heavenly Perception operatives!"

"My... my teacher was only at the Earth Observation realm!!"

Listening to his outburst, Guan Zhongsheng looked around at his comrades.

"Who attacked his teacher? Who would bother with an Earth Observation realm cultivator?"

"You?"

Lu Youhan waved his hand: "Big brother, you know me - I own up to my actions. If I didn't do it, I didn't do it."

Peng Chang similarly gestured: "Big brother, you know me - if I had done it, I'd have already extracted his teacher's soul to play with right in front of him."

Their gazes fell on Xiao Duan: "Big brother, you know me - if I had done it and he dared speak to me like this, I'd have lost my temper already."

Guan Zhongsheng looked exasperated: "Then who could it be... this is really..."

At that moment, Lu Ding flew up to join them.

Guan Zhongsheng went "Ah!" in realization.

He slung an arm around Lu Ding's shoulders: "It was him! Yes, definitely him who did it."

Lu Ding's portrait had long been circulated among all Heavenly Perception operatives and stationed forces on the battlefield. By now, hardly anyone in this combat zone didn't recognize him, especially with his distinctive scholar-warrior sleeves.

The moment Guan Zhongsheng spoke, Kunisada Kazuma's fury immediately redirected:

"Lu Ding!! Why did you kill my teacher!! He had no grudge against you!!"

Lu Ding crossed his arms: "Are you stupid? This is a battlefield. We're enemies. Should I not kill him but worship him instead?"

Was there anything wrong with this logic?

Absolutely not. When enemies meet on the battlefield, it's kill or be killed. What's this talk about grudges and grievances? How did this guy even become a Heavenly Perception operative?

Suddenly, Lu Ding understood.

This person was Kunisada Kazuma, age 26, literally nicknamed "The Surging Tiger" - Tai Island's youngest Heavenly Perception operative. But his youthfulness wasn't due to ability.

It was account theft.

Rumors said he used to be a tuna fisherman who fell into the ocean and received what was euphemistically called "the sea's blessing" - actually just stumbling upon an ancient Heavenly Perception operative's legacy.

All his cultivation had been pre-sealed, waiting for a destined inheritor.

And he happened to dig it up.

The guy enjoyed reading shonen manga to pass time on fishing boats.

As everyone knew, at least 80% of Tai Island's shonen manga protagonists weren't quite right in the head, their thinking divorced from reality.

But so heroic!!

And he'd absorbed that mentality.

A real person acting like a manga character... that he'd survived this long was sheer luck.

With this realization, Lu Ding understood completely.

"Since when does meeting on the battlefield automatically make us enemies!!!!?" Kunisada Kazuma continued roaring.

"Can't we fight fair and square with mutual respect, like in the manga 'The Thousand-Year War'?!"

"Instead of killing an elder who dedicated his life to teaching! Do you know how many students he nurtured? He was... he was a truly good person, you bastard!!!"

Facing this tirade, Lu Ding remained unmoved: "What's that to me? Did he teach me?"

"You—"

As Kunisada Kazuma tried to continue, another Heavenly Perception operative pulled him back: "Kazuma, don't be fooled by Great Han's rhetoric. Our focus should be on Great Han's Heavenly Perception operatives attacking the battlefield below, not who killed your teacher."

Kunisada Kazuma immediately shifted tactics: "You... as Heavenly Perception operatives standing at humanity's peak, our war is just about resource distribution!!"

"Why attack the battlefield below and cause so many deaths? Those were living beings!!!"

Guan Zhongsheng raised his hand and tossed out a phone: "HD uncensored, full recording. See for yourself."

"When you accuse us, why not consider how your side colluded with Wei Gao's Heavenly Perception operatives to attack Great Han's forces below?"

The Wei Gao Heavenly Perception operatives who'd been keeping silent immediately protested: "Slander! This is pure slander!!"

But as the video played - showing three Wei Gao Heavenly Perception operatives attacking Tai Island, and Cui Zaimin's dying declaration that he was "Kuramaki Zaimin" - the Wei Gao representatives' attitude shifted again.

"My God! Cui... Kuramaki Zaimin was actually from Tai Island? He was a spy! You must give us a proper explanation!!"

They turned to Great Han's side: "The video clearly shows Kuramaki Zaimin was the mastermind behind the attack on Great Han's Tai Island. The other two Wei Gao Heavenly Perception operatives were deceived and misled by him!"

"That's why they attacked Great Han's Tai Island. We won't shirk responsibility, but we must emphasize - without Kuramaki Zaimin, our Heavenly Perception operatives would never have committed such shameless acts!!"

Truly shameless indeed.

From slander to accepting responsibility in seconds.

Initially afraid of bearing full blame, now seeing the video...

Senior Cui Zaimin, you were truly a saint!!!

Even in failure, you planned for Wei Gao's future!!!