Daniel silently nodded after hearing Dorek’s warning.

He understood why the prince was worried. Every member of Dorek’s faction now regarded Daniel as their greatest support. If he suffered an accident inside the Oracle Hall, the entire political structure they had built might collapse overnight.

But Daniel did not believe anything inside the hall could truly threaten him.

"My purpose in going there is simple," he said. "I want to see whether I can shake Prince Lucian’s foundation."

Dorek listened closely.

"The force capable of interfering with the imperial appointment and changing my expected position into Inspector of the Oracle Hall must possess considerable influence. If Lucian arranged it, then I will make him taste the consequences of his own scheme."

A cold smile appeared on Daniel’s face.

"If another prince manipulated the appointment instead, then that person clearly hopes Lucian and I will fight until both sides are weakened. No matter which of us suffers, the hidden faction will benefit. Every prince has dangerous figures supporting him, so I must enter the Oracle Hall and discover who created this situation."

He waved a hand dismissively.

"You do not need to worry. Nothing will happen to me."

Daniel’s confidence finally eased some of Dorek’s anxiety.

The Oracle Hall was not physically located inside the Imperial City, yet it could be reached from almost any point within the capital. It existed inside an enormous secret realm personally created by the Eternal Emperor.

That realm was larger than many great worlds. The Eternal Emperor had stood at the peak of half-step Eternal when he opened it, so both its stability and scale surpassed ordinary planes and secret regions by an unimaginable degree.

Daniel’s new office came with a corresponding inspection token. By activating it, he could enter the secret realm directly.

He did not hesitate.

Divine power flowed into the token. Space folded around him, and in the next instant, Daniel appeared within the realm of the Oracle Hall.

A towering sacred mountain dominated the world before him. It was so vast that it seemed to occupy the entire horizon. Palaces, ancient paths, and law formations covered its slopes, while the highest peaks disappeared into clouds filled with divine radiance.

Yet the majesty of the scene could not conceal the corruption.

Daniel immediately sensed an extraordinarily dense aura of tribulation ash.

Even a shallow breath drew gray particles into his body. The Great Dao Tribulation Source planted within him responded to the surrounding fluctuations, and thin traces of ash began appearing across his skin.

Daniel had expected the Oracle Hall to suffer severe tribulation-ash corruption, but the reality exceeded his estimate.

This was the gathering place of the empire’s Oracle-grade experts. The stronger a cultivator became, the more rapidly the declining Great Dao corrupted them. Outside the imperial palace itself, there was probably no location in the Eternal Empire more heavily contaminated than this realm.

Daniel did not remain still.

He moved toward the central mountain. With every step closer, the air grew more repulsive. The scent was not merely physical decay. It carried the sensation of laws weakening and the Great Dao rotting from within.

Powerful formations and restrictions surrounded the outer regions of the Oracle Hall. Daniel’s inspection token opened each barrier automatically, allowing him to pass through layers that would have stopped ordinary Divine-grade experts instantly.

When he reached the base of the sacred mountain, an invisible force descended and pressed him from the sky. Flight was prohibited. Anyone entering the core region had to climb the mountain path on foot.

Daniel landed and began ascending.

Layers of tribulation ash covered the stone steps, palace roofs, and ancient statues. There was almost no living color anywhere.

Countless servants swept the ash day and night. Yet every section they cleaned was covered again almost immediately. Their work never ended.

None of them reacted to Daniel’s arrival. They moved mechanically, neither looking toward him nor speaking.

"Puppets," Daniel murmured. "Every one of them is a Divine-grade puppet."

As he climbed, he saw one puppet suddenly freeze. Long exposure to tribulation ash had corrupted its body and damaged the laws controlling it. Several nearby puppets immediately approached, lifted the broken servant, and carried it away.

Their duties clearly included more than cleaning the mountain. They also removed companions that had become too corrupted to function.

Daniel continued upward until he reached a checkpoint guarded by living experts. He displayed the Inspector Token and passed without difficulty.

The moment he entered the inner hall, a low-stage Oracle-grade expert appeared directly in front of him.

"You are the newly appointed inspector?"

Daniel studied the man.

The Oracle-grade expert’s gaze shifted constantly. His expression was tense, and even his voice trembled slightly. He looked less like someone questioning a subordinate and more like an actor waiting for a signal.

Daniel frowned and prepared to answer.

Before he could speak, the man suddenly threw himself onto the floor. His face twisted into an exaggerated expression of pain and terror.

"What is the meaning of this? You have only just taken office, yet you attacked me without reason! This matter is extremely serious. You will not leave the Oracle Hall today!"

Daniel almost laughed.

It was a crude attempt at framing him, the sort of trick commonly used by petty criminals and corrupt officials. He had not expected to encounter such a ridiculous performance inside the empire’s most revered sacred institution.

"Stop acting," Daniel said coldly. "I am merely Divine-grade, while you are a second-stage Oracle-grade expert. If I claimed to have injured you, do you believe anyone would accept it? End this farce while you still can."

The man remained on the floor, clutching his chest and pretending to struggle for breath.

"If another Divine-grade official attacked me, no one would believe it. But you are the genius who destroyed the Tribulation-Ash Army alone. Everyone in the Oracle Hall has heard that you can defeat enemies above your Rank. It is perfectly reasonable that you could injure me."

Daniel was briefly speechless.

His reputation had spread through the Oracle Hall more quickly than he had imagined. The very achievement that protected his political position was now being used to make the false accusation appear plausible.

A cold smile slowly formed on his face.

He raised his hand.

"Your performance is too poor. Why don’t I help you turn the false injury into a real one?"

The Oracle-grade expert’s expression changed instantly.

"What are you doing? This is the Oracle Hall! How dare you cause trouble here?"

Daniel glanced toward the distance. Several Oracle-grade auras were approaching. They might have been waiting nearby from the beginning, or they might have responded to the staged commotion. Either way, the trap was obvious.

He did not lower his hand.

Law light gathered in his palm.

"You accuse me of creating disorder, yet you deliberately arranged this pathetic scheme the moment I arrived. Since you have already decided that I attacked you, I may as well make your accusation true."

The approaching experts saw Daniel preparing to strike and shouted furiously.

"Bastard! What do you think you are doing?"

They were too late.

Golden light flashed.

The Holy Spirit Stone crossed the hall and pierced directly through the low-stage Oracle-grade expert’s shoulder.

Blood erupted across the floor.

"Aaaah!"

The man who had been pretending moments earlier finally released a genuine scream of agony.

Daniel looked down at him without sympathy.

Inside the Oracle Hall, his first lesson had already become clear.

The people targeting him expected restraint.

They had chosen the wrong opponent.