After returning to Pangu Temple, Qin Xuan did not delay and immediately entered seclusion, devoting himself fully to deducing the grand formation.
Time went uncounted in the Primordial World, and in the blink of an eye, ten thousand years passed.
One day, above the Eastern Sea in the east of the Primordial Continent, two figures suddenly soared into the sky.
They were Duke Dong, personally appointed by Hongjun as the leader of the male immortals, and Queen Mother of the West, leader of the female immortals.
Standing above the Ninth Heaven, their majestic voices rolled across the land and resounded throughout the Primordial World:
"Let the Heavenly Dao bear witness! I am Duke Dong, leader of the male immortals!"
"I am Queen Mother of the West, leader of the female immortals!"
"Today, we establish the Immortal Court to command the male immortals and female immortals of the Primordial World, govern its affairs, and uphold the order of Heaven and Earth. With the top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, the Dragon Head Staff, we suppress the Immortal Court's destiny!"
"Immortal Court, arise!"
As soon as their words fell, the voice of the Heavenly Dao echoed through the void of the Primordial World:
"Granted!"
As the voice faded, vast Merit Golden Light poured down from the Ninth Heaven, forming a thick pillar of golden radiance.
Its scale and momentum were even greater than when the Demon Court had first been established!
Sixty percent of the Merit Golden Light entered Duke Dong and Queen Mother of the West, while twenty percent flowed into the Dragon Head Staff.
The remaining twenty percent descended upon the immortals who had followed the two of them in making the proclamation.
"Sever the Good Corpse!"
As merit descended upon them, Duke Dong and Queen Mother of the West shouted at the same time.
Immediately afterward, two figures resembling them appeared, then merged back into their bodies.
In an instant, Duke Dong and Queen Mother of the West's auras surged wildly as they stepped directly into the Quasi-Sage realm.
Meanwhile, all the immortals within the Immortal Court who had bathed in the Merit Golden Light also saw their cultivation rise sharply under its blessing.
Duke Dong rose into the air, high-spirited and full of vigor. Channeling his Quasi-Sage power, his voice rolled across the land:
"Our Immortal Court was established in accordance with the will of the Heavenly Dao!"
"The demon race is cruel and lawless, wantonly slaughtering living beings and leaving the Primordial Continent littered with misery."
"Any who are unwilling to suffer the demons' oppression and cannot live in peace may join our Immortal Court. The Immortal Court shall protect you!"
His mighty voice, carrying the pressure of a Quasi-Sage and the destiny of the newly established Immortal Court, spread to every corner of the Primordial World.
Countless races that had long suffered under the oppression of the demon race began rushing toward the Eastern Sea upon hearing his words.
However, amid the grand momentum of the Immortal Court's founding,
deep within the void of the Primordial World, a faint and almost undetectable trace of tribulation aura had already begun to spread silently.
At the same time, within Mount Sumeru in the west of the Primordial World,
Jieyin gazed at the Merit Golden Light soaring into the heavens in the east. A hint of blood-red appeared in his eyes as he said enviously:
"Junior Brother, that's so much merit!"
"Do you think we brothers could also make a proclamation to the Heavenly Dao, establish a sect, and obtain some merit?"
Within Zixiao Palace,
Hongjun saw Duke Dong and Queen Mother of the West successfully establish the Immortal Court and nodded in satisfaction.
He thought to himself:
Fortunately, fortunately, nothing went wrong with the arrangements for the Immortal Court...
However, before he could fully relax,
Hongjun's expression suddenly changed, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
At his ear, he once again heard two grand proclamations coming from the void:
"Let the Heavenly Dao bear witness! I am Jieyin!"
"I am Zhunti!"
"Today, we observe that all living beings suffer, without support or refuge, enduring endless hardship. Therefore, we establish the Western Sect, wishing to save all living beings, guide them toward goodness, and seek the path of liberation!"
"Western Sect, arise!"
Hongjun was completely dumbfounded!
His head buzzed as his thoughts fell into chaos.
Jieyin and Zhunti, those two idiots.
How had they gone and established the Western Sect?
He trembled with rage, then his lips moved slightly as though he were saying something to the Heavenly Dao.
Mount Sumeru.
After making their proclamation, Jieyin and Zhunti stood there with bewildered expressions.
"Where's the merit?"
"Where's the Heavenly Dao Merit we were promised?!"
"Why hasn't it come down yet?"
Just as they were puzzled,
the void of the Primordial World suddenly churned again, and a vast, indescribable pressure descended.
In the next instant, an enormous Eye of the Heavenly Dao, devoid of any emotional fluctuation, manifested above Mount Sumeru.
Jieyin and Zhunti's faces lit up with joy.
The merit was about to descend!
Overcome with excitement, they shot into the air, ready to bathe in the Merit Golden Light.
However, the golden pillar of light they expected did not appear.
The Eye of the Heavenly Dao merely shifted slightly, and cold purple light flashed within it.
Immediately afterward, endless Purple Heaven Divine Lightning, carrying an aura capable of destroying Heaven and Earth, crashed down!
Like a torrential downpour, it densely struck the two of them.
The crackling thunder never ceased, resounding between Heaven and Earth.
Lightning flashed, illuminating Mount Sumeru.
After an unknown amount of time, the violent thunder gradually faded away.
The Eye of the Heavenly Dao in the void also vanished.
Jieyin and Zhunti's figures appeared once more.
At that moment, their bodies were charred black, their robes torn to shreds, black smoke pouring from their mouths as they convulsed nonstop.
They looked at each other, both utterly bewildered.
Why?
Why could Duke Dong and Queen Mother of the West obtain merit and see their cultivation soar by establishing the Immortal Court?
Yet when they established the Western Sect, all they got was being struck by lightning?
Wasn't the Heavenly Dao far too unfair?
Jieyin, his face blackened, spat out a puff of dark smoke and said to Zhunti:
"Junior Brother, since we can't get merit from the Heavenly Dao, why don't we go take a look at the Immortal Court and see if we can gain some benefits?"
Zhunti nodded.
"Senior Brother is right. We still owe Duke Dong karma, so we can't owe it for nothing!"
With that, the two endured the pain in their bodies and flashed away, heading toward the Eastern Sea in a bedraggled state.
At Kunlun Mountain, Yuanshi, who had originally wanted to establish a sect as well, awkwardly withdrew his hand after sensing the disturbance in the west.
Pangu Temple.
Qin Xuan laughed outright.
These people really had some nerve, trying to fleece the Heavenly Dao itself.
At the same time, he secretly sighed in relief.
It seemed Hongjun had run out of options and could only support the Immortal Court against the demon race.
For now, there was hope of avoiding the tribulation.
With a thought, a magical treasure in the form of two yin-yang fish appeared in his hand. It was the Primordial Supreme Treasure, the Taiji Diagram.
Over the course of ten thousand years, he had successfully deduced a method for using the Taiji Diagram to set up a formation.
With a flash, he vanished directly from Pangu Temple.
Moments later, he appeared atop Buzhou Mountain.
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