Primeval Lord of Heaven's cold gaze and undisguised contempt pierced straight into the hearts of the Two Sages of the West.
His single word, "Please," had laid bare his intent of making them go first.
The fervor on Daoist Zhunti's face instantly froze, as though someone had seized him by the throat. His mask of compassion for all living beings nearly shattered.
Daoist Jieyin's bitter expression deepened, as if bitterness might drip from his face.
"Senior Brother Yuanshi, this... this is not right!"
Zhunti hurriedly spoke, his voice carrying a trace of barely perceptible panic as he tried to explain himself.
"My Senior Brother and I have come here with one heart and one purpose alongside our fellow Dao Friends, all to verify the path of Eternal Grand Unity! How could we possibly act alone?"
"Pangu Father God's divine might is boundless. It is precisely Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters such as yourselves, Pangu's True Lineage and Leaders of the Xuanmen, who must use your supreme mystic arts and Great Dao to verify it with him. Perhaps then we may earn a trace of his favor, thus displaying our sincerity!"
"The Western Lands are barren, and our Dao arts are shallow. We truly cannot bear the heavy responsibility of serving as pathfinders, lest we ruin our fellow Dao Friends' great undertaking."
Between the lines, he sought both to distance himself from his petty scheme of reaping the fisherman's profit and to lavish praise upon the Three Pure Ones and Nuwa.
He implied that only they were qualified to "verify" it, while he was fit only to wave the banner and cheer them on.
However, the Immortal Light around Primeval Lord of Heaven suddenly surged.
The terrifying pressure belonging to a Heavenly Dao Saint was no longer restrained. Like a tangible Chaos divine mountain, it crashed down upon the Two Sages of the West.
Even the surrounding Chaos Gas Flow was forced aside by that imposing might, forming a vacuum.
Yuanshi's gaze was cold as ice that had endured ten thousand years. His voice was not loud, yet it carried an unquestionable will.
"Barren? Shallow? Having attained the fruition of a Heavenly Dao Saint, how can one speak of barrenness or shallowness? Could it be that you two Junior Brothers doubt that the Heavenly Dao is fair?"
"Or are your claims of seeking a path of transcendence for the Prehistoric World merely empty words? Do you truly intend to borrow our strength to pull off a sleight-of-hand scheme?"
Yuanshi's pressure was incomparably heavy, making Jieyin and Zhunti feel as though even their Bodies of a Sage were about to be crushed, while the light of their primordial spirits swayed violently.
This was not merely suppression through strength. It was also a crushing blow to their Dao Hearts, aimed directly at the calculations hidden within them.
"Hmph!" Sect Master Tongtian had long found the Two Sages of the West displeasing. Now that Yuanshi had made his move, he could no longer hold himself back.
With a cold snort, the Qingping Sword at his waist sprang half an inch from its sheath with a sharp clang.
A terrifying sword intent capable of cleaving Chaos and destroying all laws burst forth, merging with Yuanshi's pressure.
Like two Destruction Torrents, they locked tightly onto the Two Sages of the West.
Battle intent blazed in Tongtian's eyes, and his words were even more blunt and domineering.
"What are you babbling about? Either go ahead and scout the way now, or this poor daoist will test the weight of your Western Lands' wondrous arts right here!"
"Let's see whether your Bodies of a Sage can withstand a few of this poor daoist's swords as well as that Chaos Demon Ape!"
Laozi remained silent, but above his head, the Heaven and Earth Xuanhuang Exquisite Pagoda released hundreds of millions of streams of Mysterious Yellow Qi, radiating a heavy aura that suppressed the cosmos and defied all laws.
Though he said nothing, his indifferent gaze swept across the Two Sages of the West as if declaring: beneath the Heavenly Dao, there was no such thing as luck.
His mere presence was the greatest pressure of all, making the Two Sages of the West understand that the Three Pure Ones were absolutely united at this moment.
The expressions of the Two Sages of the West changed completely.
Yuanshi's pressure, Tongtian's sword intent, and Laozi's silence intertwined into an invisible Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare, trapping them firmly with no path of escape.
They did not doubt that if they dared utter a single word of refusal, the Three Pure Ones would truly join forces and suppress them here, right before Pangu's eyes as he created Heaven!
Though they were all Saints, Immortal and Indestructible beneath the Heavenly Dao, being suppressed and sealed away—thereby missing this once-in-an-eternity opportunity—would be more painful than death!
They were already the weakest. If their strength suffered further losses, the gap between them and the other Saints would only grow wider in the future!
Zhunti still tried to turn his gaze toward Empress Nuwa, hoping that this soft-hearted Holy Mother would speak to ease the situation.
Yet Nuwa merely glanced at them faintly. Her peerlessly beautiful face carried a trace of weariness and deep detachment.
Her mind was clearly not here at all. Her gaze drifted once more toward the embryonic Prehistoric World taking shape, as though searching for something. She merely shook her head lightly, too unwilling even to say a word.
Their last shred of luck had been shattered.
They had intended to set up Nuwa and the Three Pure Ones, only to end up trapping themselves instead!
Jieyin and Zhunti exchanged a glance, both seeing the bitterness, resentment, and... a trace of resolute helplessness deep in the other's eyes.
"Forget it..." Daoist Jieyin let out a long sigh, his sorrowful expression nearly solidifying into substance.
"Since the three Senior Brothers insist, we... shall scout the path for our fellow Dao Friends first!"
He made it sound tragic and heroic, as though he were truly sacrificing himself for the greater good.
Daoist Zhunti also forced a trace of reluctant resolve onto his face.
"To verify Eternal Grand Unity and open a path of transcendence for the Prehistoric World, even if we perish and suffer Dao Annihilation, our souls returning to the void, we shall not hesitate!"
Once again, he elevated their actions to the lofty cause of seeking blessings for the Prehistoric World, trying to salvage a little dignity.
The two took a deep breath, and dazzling Buddhist light erupted from around them.
Above Daoist Jieyin's head, Jieyin's Treasure Banner shone with boundless golden light, attempting to stabilize the violent Chaos Gas Flow around him.
Daoist Zhunti revealed his Dharma body, wielding the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree. Seven-colored radiance flowed around it as he swept it before him, attempting to carve out a relatively stable path.
They stirred all their sacred power and transformed into two dazzling streams of light.
Gritting their teeth, they charged without hesitation—though under duress—toward the core battlefield of Pangu's Opening of Heaven and Earth, toward the place where countless Chaos Demon Gods had fallen!
The closer they came, the more terrifying the pressure of Opening of Heaven and Earth became.
This was a place no living being of later generations had ever reached!
Because none had possessed strength like theirs; most had been torn to powder by Pangu's terrifying Heaven-Opening might before they could even approach these places.
The Two Sages of the West witnessed even more Chaos Demon Gods, powerful enough to make Saints tremble, melt and collapse like snow beneath the blazing sun under Pangu's seemingly casual axe light.
The laws wailed, and the Great Dao collapsed!
Every stroke of Pangu's axe seemed to lay an unshakable cornerstone for the entire Great Desolation World.
Their gazes pierced through the chaotic torrents of energy and locked tightly onto one direction.
That was precisely Pangu's incomparably towering chest, the place that would become Western Mount Sumeru in the future!
It contained the core power of Opening of Heaven and Earth, and it was also the place most "familiar" to them.
Braving pressure sufficient to crush stars, they painstakingly approached that region, attempting to draw upon their own origins and form a trace of resonance with that undivided "chest."
A sudden change occurred!
The Pangu giant, who stood between Heaven and Earth and seemed wholly immersed in the great undertaking of Creation of Heaven, appeared to hesitate for an instant in an exceedingly subtle manner.
He seemed to sense some disturbance from the "future" approaching the embryonic Prehistoric World that he was protecting with all his strength, still fragile as it formed!
This was a reaction born of the instinct to create a world and protect a newborn one!
Pangu did not turn fully around, yet an indescribable, irresistible will instantly locked onto the Two Sages of the West!
It was not deliberate killing intent. It was more like a giant casually swatting at insects that might interfere with a sapling's growth.
In the direction from which the Two Sages of the West were charging, he casually swung two axes backward!
There was no earth-shattering spectacle, nor any energy eruption capable of Heaven's Destruction.
There were only two plain, unadorned trajectories, yet they seemed to contain the meaning of "creation" and "ending" all things as they cut through Chaos!
Just as the axe light was about to touch the two Sages, Pangu's vast and boundless will seemed to clearly catch the life imprints upon them that belonged to the "future Prehistoric World"—living beings nurtured by the world he had created!
More than ninety percent of the destructive might contained within the trajectories of the axe light instantly dissipated!
Yet even this remaining Heaven-Opening Power, less than a tenth of its original force, stood at a level far beyond the limits of what Saints could comprehend!
Fast!
So fast that it surpassed the limits of space and time!
The Two Sages of the West felt a terrifying warning from the very origin of their lives explode within them, and even their primordial spirits screamed!
All their schemes and ambitions became the purest instinct to survive in that instant!
It was the despair that rose from the deepest depths of the soul when faced with absolute suppression from a higher level!
Pangu's merely instinctive reaction to protect the newborn world, and the residual force it contained, made them feel a complete and insurmountable chasm!
"Hah—!"
"Namo—!"
Daoist Jieyin roared madly as hundreds of millions of layers of Golden Light of Merit piled atop one another, attempting to construct an absolute defense.
At the same time, a Sarira containing immeasurable wisdom and compassion shot out from above his head, blooming with boundless light.
He attempted to use his own Dao fruition to directly resist the true meaning of the Great Dao contained within the axe light's trajectory.
Daoist Zhunti was even more frenzied. The Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree swept madly, its seven-colored radiance condensing into seven roaring law dragons that twisted toward the axe light.
His Dharma body swelled, countless arms waving—some forming seals, others wielding Dharma treasures—as he unleashed every divine ability he possessed, even at the cost of burning his Origin Sacred Power!
Yet before the remaining axe intent of Creation of Heaven, it was still useless!
An absolute sense of powerlessness instantly engulfed them!
Wherever the axe light's trajectory passed, all laws became void!
The seven-colored radiant dragons vanished like bubbles!
The hundreds of millions of streams of Golden Light of Merit were effortlessly torn apart like thin paper!
The Sarira containing supreme Dao fruition instantly dimmed, emitting a mournful cry under unbearable strain!
Daoist Zhunti's Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree, the Innate Spiritual Treasure said to sweep away anything, let out a crisp crack the instant it touched the phantom of the axe light, and a clear fissure appeared across its trunk!
The golden light of Daoist Jieyin's treasure banner melted and evaporated instantly like ice thrown into magma!
"No!!!"
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