Tongtian's Choice

Biyou Cave Heaven, beside the spirit pool, azure lotus holy light flowed.

Lord Tongtian tapped the strand of Azure Dao Rhyme into Cheng Xi's consciousness. Like a Sea-Stabilizing Divine Needle, it not only stabilized his Dao Heart, which was on the verge of collapse, but also elevated his perception to an unimaginable dimension. The gray light of the Chaos Origin Point resonated with the pure witchfire awakening within Yan Lingji, and the edge of the Break Delusion Rebellious Intent Sword Intent began to emerge.

"This crack... is our glimmer of hope!" Cheng Xi's will pierced through layer after layer of void, locking firmly onto the tiny crack in the Heavenly Dao net that had formed from the collision between the Pangu Will and the Chaos Demon Gods. Like a spark in the darkness, hope ignited his unyielding fighting spirit.

"Good."

Lord Tongtian's voice rang directly within Cheng Xi's consciousness, calm yet carrying a trace of barely perceptible approval.

"To see the subtle and understand the whole, to seek opportunity amid tribulation. Such a temperament can bear the foundation of my Dao. However..."

Before he could finish, the figure united with the Dao swayed faintly atop the green lotus. It was not his physical form that had faltered, but the void behind him, which carried the Dao Rhyme of countless ages, suddenly rippled violently! As if a huge boulder had been cast into a tranquil lake!

Rumble—!

A vast, icy Terrifying Will filled with merciless order and the meaning of confinement descended as though it had crossed endless time and space! This will was not an attack, yet it carried supreme scrutiny and suppression! It ignored the cave heaven's barriers, locking directly onto Lord Tongtian before sweeping through him toward Cheng Xi below, whose consciousness resonated with Yan Lingji's!

[Alert! Encountered a Heavenly Dao-level will scan! Linked target: Lord Tongtian... Intensity: Suppressive!... Warning! Host faces risk of exposure!... Chaos Origin Point activating deep concealment mode...]

The system's warning was so shrill it nearly tore Cheng Xi's consciousness apart! The gray light of the Chaos Origin Point instantly withdrew to the extreme, and the Break Delusion Rebellious Intent Sword Intent lay dormant like a hibernating serpent. Before such a will, any movement would be courting death!

"Humph! Hongjun!" Clear fury appeared on Lord Tongtian's usually placid face for the first time! His cold snort exploded through the cave heaven like nine heavens' thunder! His seated figure abruptly straightened, and a defiant sword intent that severed all restraints and destroyed all laws soared into the sky, turning into a brilliant azure light condensed to the utmost as it fiercely slammed into the descending Heavenly Dao's Will!

Hiss—!

A soundless clash of wills erupted on the level of the void! The entire Biyou Cave Heaven shook violently! The stalactites on the ceiling flashed wildly, the spirit pool's waters rose into raging waves, and the phantom of the World Purifying Green Lotus Flickered Unsteadily! Space groaned beneath the strain, while tiny black cracks flash and disappear throughout the void!

"Tongtian! You dare invoke Pangu's lingering will, disrupt Heavenly Dao Order, and even shelter an anomaly, becoming tainted by Calamity Qi! Do you wish to repeat the disaster of the Investiture of the Gods?!" A vast, cold, utterly emotionless voice rang directly in the depths of Lord Tongtian's and Cheng Xi's consciousnesses like a Heavenly Dao decree! This was the voice of Dao Ancestor Hongjun, filled with supreme majesty and rebuke!

"Order? An order that imprisons all living beings and treats all things as mere dogs?" Lord Tongtian's voice carried the resentment and defiance of countless ages, while his azure sword-intent light grew ever more brilliant. "Hongjun! You sit in Zixiao, willingly serving as a Heavenly Dao Puppet! Have you ever seen whether this Primordial Era Heaven and Earth still has even a shred of life beneath your order?! Did Father God Pangu create the world merely to forge such a dead end?!"

"Presumptuous!" The pressure of the Heavenly Dao's Will suddenly intensified, as though the weight of the entire Primordial Era crushed down! Lord Tongtian's brilliant azure sword-intent light bent slightly beneath the suppression, but he remained upright like a sword, not retreating even half a step! The cave heaven shook even more violently!

At the edge of this vortex created by the clash between a saint and the Heavenly Dao, Cheng Xi was like duckweed in a raging sea. His consciousness was battered senseless, and only Lord Tongtian's Azure Dao Rhyme protected him from collapse. He stared fixedly at the tiny crack in the Heavenly Dao net, which had been struck again by the aftershocks of both sides' clashing wills. Under the terrifying pressure, the crack had not only failed to close, but... widened by another tiny fraction!

"Calamity Qi... the Calamity Qi is pouring in faster!" Cheng Xi's heart shook violently! He clearly sensed that Hongjun's forceful descent and suppression had instead stimulated the crack, like an ant hole in a dike rapidly widening beneath the impact of a flood! More violent, chaotic Chaos Calamity Qi filled with variables seeped in through the crack in wisps, merging into the Primordial Era!

"Do you see it?" Lord Tongtian's voice sounded within Cheng Xi's consciousness, carrying a trace of weariness but even more of an all-seeing resolve. "The more the Heavenly Dao suppresses, the stronger the backlash from the shackles, and the faster Calamity Qi breeds! This is... Drinking poison to quench thirst! This tribulation is no longer something Hongjun can stop! What the Primordial Era needs is not suppression, but... Break and then establish!"

His voice abruptly rose, like a final declaration—not only to Cheng Xi, but also to the descending Heavenly Dao's Will:

"Hongjun! Guard your rotten wood and withered vines! The Dao of my Jie Sect lies in a glimmer of hope, and that hope is found in breaking the deadlock! This child is the blade I have chosen... to break the deadlock!"

The instant his words fell, Lord Tongtian raised two fingers like a sword and pointed through the air at Cheng Xi's physical body beside the spirit pool below!

"Cheng Xi! The opportunity has arrived! The path lies beneath your feet! Choose—!"

Buzz!

With Lord Tongtian's gesture, the enormous phantom of the World Purifying Green Lotus at the center of the spirit pool suddenly erupted with unprecedented radiance! The dense essence of Innate Ren Water boiled like mad! Before Cheng Xi's physical body, three bridges formed from pure spiritual energy and Dao Rhyme appeared out of nowhere above the spirit pool's tranquil surface!

The first bridge: the Golden Grand Path!

Broad, straight, and resplendent with golden light! Its surface was carved with profound runes, emitting an aura of dignity, righteousness, obedience to fate, and enduring blessings. It was as though stepping onto this bridge would allow one to inherit heaven's mandate, gain the protection of heaven and earth, walk an unobstructed immortal path, rise to the highest ranks, and enjoy lasting fortune and longevity. This was the bridge of "Following Heaven"! It represented accepting Heavenly Dao Order, integrating into established rules, and seeking the greatest stability and blessings within the framework.

The second bridge: the Jade Stair Rainbow Bridge!

Seven colors flowed across it, Auspicious Clouds coiled around it, and countless streams of auspicious qi filled the air! The bridge was crystal-clear, as though carved from fine jade, emitting an ethereal immortal intent of tranquility, nonaction, carefree freedom, and detachment from worldly strife. To step onto it was to transcend the mundane, remain unstained by karma, roam freely between heaven and earth, and watch the clouds gather and disperse. This was the bridge of "avoiding tribulation"! It represented moving away from conflict, preserving oneself alone, and seeking personal transcendence and serenity beyond tribulation.

The third bridge: the Solitary Wood Suspension Bridge!

Narrow! Perilous! It was entirely bluish-gray, neither gold nor stone, covered with jagged edges and sharp protrusions! Beneath it was not pool water, but a bottomless Chaos Vortex of roaring, churning Chaos Qi! The entire bridge hung alone above chaos, emitting a supreme edge and solitary intent that severed all things, destroyed all laws, and seized a thread of life from desperate circumstances! This was the bridge of "Sky-Severing"! It represented facing tribulations head-on, carving out a path to survival from the impossible, seizing that escaped one—even if shattered to pieces, one would still cleave apart the shackles!

Three bridges, three Dao Paths, three completely different futures, were laid clearly before Cheng Xi!

Lord Tongtian's voice rang like a Resounding Bell in the depths of his soul, carrying final resolve and expectation:

"Following Heaven? Avoiding tribulation? Sky-Severing? Where your heart turns shall be the beginning of your Dao! Choose!"

Almost at the same moment Lord Tongtian revealed the three bridges, the descending Heavenly Dao's Will seemed to be utterly enraged! A cold snort containing the Heavenly Dao's fury crashed down like world-ending thunder!

"Stubbornly unrepentant! You shall be punished!"

Rumble!

A phantom of Zixiao Divine Lightning condensed purely from the power of Heavenly Dao Rules, emitting the aura of confinement and annihilation, ignored space and instantly appeared above Lord Tongtian's head, striking viciously toward him and the green lotus beneath him! This strike contained terrifying power capable of binding his saintly position and weakening his cultivation!

Determined sword light erupted in Lord Tongtian's eyes. The green lotus beneath him shone with boundless radiance as it directly withstood the Zixiao Divine Lightning! Within the cave heaven, a scene of apocalypse descended! Vast stretches of space collapsed, and Chaos Qi poured backward!

Cheng Xi's physical body was exposed to the destructive energy aftershocks! The three Dao bridges swayed violently beneath the wild impact, especially the Sky-Severing Solitary Wood Suspension Bridge, which was first to bear the brunt and seemed likely to be swallowed by the Chaos Qi at any moment!

Choose!

He had to make his choice before destruction descended!

Cheng Xi's consciousness instantly returned to his physical body! He abruptly opened his eyes! Within his pupils, the gray light of the Chaos Origin Point flowed while the edge of Break Delusion Rebellious Intent flickered! The Lishan demon calamity, Xianyang's bloody rain, Lu Buwei's savage grin, Ying Zheng's furious face, Yan Lingji's shattered figure, Pangu's sorrowful sigh, the Demon Gods' greedy roars, the Heavenly Dao's cold confinement... countless images flashed before his eyes!

Following Heaven? Become the Heavenly Dao's puppet on strings? Enjoy false blessings within an ordained prison? No!

Avoiding tribulation? Preserve himself alone? Watch all living beings sink into ruin and the Primordial Era collapse? No!

His gaze finally locked onto the Sky-Severing Solitary Wood Suspension Bridge that still emitted an unyielding edge above the Chaos Vortex, amid the aftershocks of Zixiao Divine Lightning and the tearing of Spatial Turbulence!

"My Dao is neither obedience nor avoidance!"

Cheng Xi's voice was hoarse, yet his resolve was absolute as it resounded through the chaotic cave heaven!

"Even if a solitary bridge hangs above chaos, even if I am shattered to pieces and doomed beyond redemption through countless tribulations..."

He took one step forward, using up the strength of his whole body as he strode fiercely toward the Sky-Severing Solitary Wood Suspension Bridge!

"This Thread of Life... I will seize it!"

The instant his foot landed upon that bluish-gray bridge surface bristling with jagged edges and bone-piercing sharpness—

Buzz—!!!

The Qingping Sword Sheath, silent within his arms, suddenly erupted with an unprecedented brilliant white light that seemed ready to tear apart the entire cave heaven! This light was no longer merely sword intent, but... a resonance and awakening originating from the depths of his soul! A vast, ancient, untamed Supreme Will that severed all shackles surged wildly into Cheng Xi's body through the sword sheath like a breached river of stars!

"Ah—!!!"

Cheng Xi released a roar that resounded through his soul! His body floated into the air, wrapped in white light! Within his eyes, chaos-gray light intertwined with Sky-Severing Sword Light! A new power bearing the foundation of Chaos Variable and the beginning of the Sky-Severing Edge crazily bred and roared within him!

As Lord Tongtian withstood the Zixiao Divine Lightning, he looked back through the destructive radiance. In the depths of those eternally silent eyes, a trace of—relief—finally appeared clearly!

Yet amid the wild tide of power flooding his body and his Dao foundation taking shape, a bloody scene that had crossed endless space suddenly stabbed into the Depths of Cheng Xi's Consciousness:

Xianyang's Beacon Tower! Black flames burning!

Meng Tian, fighting drenched in blood!

Three witch-clan warriors standing guard like mountains!

Three Blood God Spikes tearing through space!

And... three... instantly blooming... tragically beautiful blood flowers!

"Hou Ji!!!" A howl mixed with shocked and angered grief burst uncontrollably from Cheng Xi's throat, filled with sword intent!

His newborn power crashed violently through his body, the Sky-Severing Sword Intent resonating fiercely with the Chaos Origin Point. Meanwhile, the blood and flames of Xianyang and the mournful cries of the fallen witch-clan warriors stabbed like icy steel needles into his newly condensed Dao Heart!

His Dao foundation had only just formed, yet his old friends were already stained in blood! The first step on this path of breaking the deadlock was already so heavy!