Liam Leshan’s Explanation

Later, the Celestial Emperor piped up again, "Honestly, I brought you here for two reasons: first, your talismans totally fascinate me. Second, I’ve got a couple questions I need you to answer."

"Fire away, Your Majesty." Liam Leshan replied, cool as a cucumber.

The Celestial Emperor produced a Clarity Charm—the very same one Lucia Lu once recorded in the underground cave of Evercrest Immortal Mountain.

In it, Liam Leshan was helping Marcus Xuanchen set up an array to dodge the Phoenix Clan’s bloodline tracking technique.

"That’s the first thing," the Celestial Emperor said. "Second, there was a similar array in the Cangwu maze. Marcus Xuanchen tried to bump off my son Sean Shaw in that one. Chief Leshan, care to explain what’s up with that?"

"What? Someone tried to kill the Fifth Highness?" Liam Leshan’s jaw practically hit the floor. He scrambled to explain, "Okay, guilty as charged—those arrays were my handiwork! Look, our Leshan Clan is stuck out in the boonies of the Lowwilds, and honestly, we’re not rolling in cash. As chief, it’s on me to keep the lights on, so I sell my custom talismans and charge for setting up arrays. Gotta keep the clan afloat somehow!"

He whipped out a Jade Permit and handed it to the Celestial Emperor with both hands. "This has all my client info—who bought what, when, how much. Even Evercrest Immortal Mountain’s orders are in here. Honestly, I never ask what folks do with my stuff... That’s on me for being careless. Swear I’ll tighten up and stop selling to just anyone!"

"So you’re saying it was just business? You had zero to do with the Xuanchen Clan’s mess?" Divine Lord Tanya Quinn deadpanned.

"I won’t dodge responsibility," Liam Leshan said. "If Your Majesty and Divine Lord want to punish me, I’ll take it. No complaints here."

He bowed, totally unfazed and ready for whatever came next.

Tanya Quinn shot the Celestial Emperor a look, then triggered the Jade Permit with a flick of magic. Sure enough, it was a whopper of a transaction ledger.

Some of those dates stretched back centuries.

He’d been hawking talismans and arrays to all the big sects and noble families for ages.

And he charged a pretty penny, too.

No wonder the Leshan Clan’s been climbing the ranks lately...

The Celestial Emperor and Divine Lord Tanya Quinn were about to say something when Lord Noctis popped up in human form and scoffed, "Liam Leshan, your performance is pathetic! You say your records go back centuries, but you used a Jade Permit instead of a real ledger. Who knows if you just cooked it up now to dodge blame, or if it’s legit?"

If it were a real ledger, centuries of records would show the ink getting old and pages worn.

But a Jade Permit’s just a storage artifact—no way to tell if it’s fresh or ancient.

So basically, nobody can tell if this ledger was whipped up to pacify the Celestial Emperor, or if it’s the real deal.

Liam Leshan looked at Lord Noctis, still cool and respectful. "Lord Noctis, doesn’t His Majesty have a Divine Crimson Pill? And I’ve heard the Sigil Sect’s got Soulbinders, which His Majesty can use on me. If I so much as fib, Retribution Lightning’s all yours!"

"Ha! You’re kidding, right? Who do you think you are?" Lord Noctis snorted. "Even if you’re their sidekick, you’re not worth burning a Divine Crimson Pill on! You know that, and you’re only saying it to sound righteous, aren’t you?"

Liam Leshan just shook his head, exasperated. "Lord Noctis thinks everything I do is calculated, but honestly, I’m out of ideas! Especially in front of Divine Lord Tanya Quinn—I really don’t want her thinking the worst of me. So if you’re gonna slap me with some made-up crime, at least show some proof."