Tianhe Orthodoxy, Prisoner's Dilemma

The doors to the sect leader's Sect Leader hall were open, letting in light that shone on the face of the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor.

It's hard to describe what this face looks like:

Hundreds of faces, men and women, young and old, rapidly grew and crumbled on his face.

The only thing that remained unchanged was the indifference in his eyes, an indifference even more chilling than the murderous intent condensed by the Immortal-Slayer Formation Diagram.

"I told you, I am not your Founder."

Sect Master Yan paused for a moment, then said, "Patriarch Tianhe once passed on his teachings to you..."

"Heh." The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor chuckled coldly, raising his eyes to look at the Immortal-Slayer Formation Diagram in the sky. "Is that so? But they don't acknowledge it."

"This disciple previously believed that the Immortal-Slayer Sword was merely the token of our Tianhe Sect Leader," Sect Master Yan said softly. "It was only after you, Founder, subdued the four Founder that I realized the Immortal-Slayer Formation Diagram is the true heirloom of the Tianhe Sect."

"Back then, the Patriarch Tianhe passed it on Founder you, and you became the second Founder of our Tianhe Sect."

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor gazed into the distance, seemingly looking at something unknown.

After a while, he slowly said:

"Back then, the Tianhe Sect was the undisputed hegemon of the Xuanwei, and the Immortal-Slayer Formation Diagram was an ultimate treasure for slaughter; possessing it was enough to dominate the world."

"Such a lineage, such a treasure—this is the culmination of Tianhe's life's work."

"He didn't give it to any disciples, and even broke the barrier between immortals and demons, entrusting it to me."

Sect Master Yan lowered his head and said, "That's because Patriarch Tianhe believed in you, Founder."

He trusted me, but I couldn't protect these things.

Sect Master Yan remained silent.

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor closed his eyes:

"I watched helplessly as my disciples, loyal to Tianhe, were slaughtered one by one."

"So many disciples of the Tianhe Sect, such a prosperous Tianhe Sect."

"Bone fragments stained with blood, scattered across the mountains and fields..."

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor seemed unable to continue and shut his mouth.

But the faces on their bodies resembled vengeful ghosts, as if recounting the tragic events of that year.

"I was extremely anxious at the time, not expecting that the Four Sects had already laid an ambush. Caught off guard, I was almost completely destroyed and could only rely on the Book of Life and Death to hide."

"The Tianhe Sect has been seized by a group of traitors and has become a lackey of the Four Sects."

He opened his eyes and looked at Sect Master Yan:

"It was my fault."

Sect Master Yan advised, "The Four Sects have betrayed their alliance, Tianhe has been taken over by traitors. There is no way anyone can reverse this situation."

"So I've returned." The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor pointed to his face and said, "I've returned with my fallen disciples."

After saying that, without waiting for Sect Master Yan's reply, he took out a Comprehensive Mirror a type of historical document).

When Zheng Fa received the message from the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor, he was studying the runes on the talisman cage.

Sensing the trembling of the Creation Jade Disc, he probed it with his Divine Sense and asked in surprise:

"Devil Ancestor?"

"I want you to spread the word about everything that happened within the Immortal-Slayer Sword Formation, without missing a single detail."

"Ah?"

Zheng Fa was stunned.

He had long known that the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor needed his Creation Jade Disc.

But he had previously guessed it was something like attaining enlightenment.

I didn't expect you to be planning a live stream of an escape room challenge?

But this is a bit troublesome.

Once the live stream started, it almost certainly confirmed his connection to the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor.

It's hard to say what Supreme Dao and Jade Pool will think in the future.

"Devil Ancestor, I want to know, what do you intend to do?"

I want to find the truth.

"The truth?"

Zheng Fa was a little confused.

He never imagined that the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor and the four True Immortal were looking for some kind of truth.

"The truth behind the chaos of the Tianhe Sect back then, and the falling out between the Four Sects and us."

Turning against each other...

Zheng Fa became increasingly confused as he listened.

He had only just learned that Vast Sun Mountain had been involved in the forging of the Four Immortal-Slayer Swords.

Now, judging from what the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor said, it turns out that Four Sects had cooperated with Venerable Tianhe?

So, Venerable Tianhe was betrayed by his disciples and the Four Sects together?

"Were the Four Sects allies of the Venerable One back then?"

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor did not answer, but only said:

"You have the jade Jade Pendant from the Tianhe."

"..."

This Nine Nether Devil Ancestor knows far too much.

However, Zheng Fa wasn't surprised by his statement.

The Nine Nether Talisman Edict was still inside his sea of consciousness.

He was still hesitant.

It's clear that the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor is about to do something big.

Let's do it, but if Zheng Fa gets involved, it'll cause some trouble.

If the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor could kill the Four Sects, he would submit; otherwise...

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor might be able to withstand the retaliation from the Four Sects.

The Nine Mountains Realm is not like that.

"Are you going to betray Tianhe too?"

Looking at the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor's questioning, Zheng Fa could feel the anger within it.

I had intended to spare your life.

ah?

What does it mean to spare one's own life?

"If you help me, I will cleanse the Immortal Way, slay the cultivators, and naturally resurrect you."

Zheng Fa looked at the Nine Nether Talisman Edict in his sea of consciousness and thought to himself, "This is outrageous."

He hadn't expected that the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor was planning something so big.

It seems this Devil Ancestor is planning to wipe out all the Immortal Way cultivators at once?

I don't know where he got his confidence from.

"You possess the Tianhe Jade Pendant," the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor sent Spirit Message. "I'll give you one more chance to consider."

Zheng Fa sighed inwardly.

Good news: The Devil Ancestor has indeed come to regard him as one of his own.

Bad news: Apart from himself, none of the members of the Hundred Immortals Alliance are considered human by the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor.

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor didn't say whether he wanted to kill all the cultivators of the Nine Mountains Realm, but it's highly likely he did.

After all, even Zheng Fa, one of their own, had to be brought back from the dead and put through some trouble.

This shows just how much hatred the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor towards the current Immortal Way.

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor remained silent for a long time, seemingly waiting for Zheng Fa to make a decision.

Zheng Fa pondered for a moment before saying, "I grant Devil Ancestor Nine Mountains News Live Broadcasting Permission."

He also felt a headache at that moment.

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor had lived for several eras, and his will was so firm that he could neither persuade him nor stop him.

He didn't even know that he had angered the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor, who had killed him. Could the Heavenly Emperor Body revive him? Even the Great Freedom Devil Ancestor, who was an immortal Dao Fruit, was still killed by the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor.

On the other hand, he had no other choice.

The Devil Ancestor has won; the Nine Mountains Realm may face annihilation.

But the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor was defeated...

Once the fact that the Jade Pendant was in his possession was exposed, Zheng Fa was in deep trouble.

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor quickly figured out how to do the live stream.

A moment later, all cultivators who possessed the Comprehensive Mirror received a live broadcast notification.

Currently, the number of cultivators in the Xuanwei Realm who possess the Comprehensive Mirror) exceeds forty thousand.

Including the disciples from the Nine Mountains Realm.

The number is already extremely large.

It can be said that in every place where cultivators gather, there exists Comprehensive Mirror.

Within the Nine Mountains Realm, the Heavenly Emperor Body, Xie Qingxue, and the others watched the light screen together.

The light screen did not contain the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor, but was divided into four sections, each containing a group of cultivators.

As Zheng Fa expected, each piece contained only one True Immortal Dao Fruit.

Xuanding True Immortal is in the upper left corner, Nishang Yuanjun is in the upper right corner.

Zhitong and Cloud True Immortal are located on the lower left and right sides respectively.

To Zheng Fa's surprise, their Comprehensive Mirror seemed to have malfunctioned again—it appeared they couldn't see the live broadcast.

However, Zheng Fa's Creation Jade Disc can display live footage.

His doubts were somewhat dispelled:

The ability of the Comprehensive Mirror Tongjian to transmit Communication Talisman.

This thing can't travel through time either.

The fact that the Communication Talisman couldn't be used before, Comprehensive Mirror could, puzzled him.

In retrospect, it was indeed the work of the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor.

The four Dao Fruit in the scene were all confused when the voice of the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor echoed from the sky:

Do you want to go out?

Zheng Fa saw the Old Monk Zhitong suddenly stand up, his face wary, his eyes shooting out two beams of golden light as he looked around.

Seemingly unable to locate the source of the sound, Zhitong shouted, "Nine Nether Devil Ancestor!"

Xuanding and the others in the live stream were also looking around, trying to find traces of the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor.

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor ignored them and continued speaking to himself:

"I'll give you a chance to get out."

The words had barely left his mouth.

Suddenly, a glimmer of light appeared in the darkness before Zheng Fa and the others. The light grew brighter and brighter until it solidified into a narrow path wide enough for three people to walk on.

The same applies to the other three locations.

It seems that the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor wants them to follow the path forward.

The Old Monk Zhitong did not move; instead, his body was tense as he continued to look around.

Not only him, but Xuanding and the others also acted in the same way, clearly unwilling to submit to the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor.

"Reluctant to leave this place?" The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor seemed unperturbed, his voice still carrying a hint of amusement. "You Four Sects are still the same, cowards as mice."

"..."

"Now that we're here, there's no room for refusal."

A pale finger suddenly emerged from the darkness and pointed at the four people, including Zhitong.

Zhitong was prepared. The Buddha reappeared behind him, the light emanating from his Dharma Aspect seven times brighter than before, and the Wisdom Sword in his hand pierced straight at that finger.

The sword tip touched his fingertip, and his all-out strike was like paper, breaking into pieces in the blink of an eye.

During the live broadcast, Xuanding and others' counterattacks or defenses crumbled as easily as Zhi Tong's Wisdom Sword of Zhitong.

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor defeated four True Immortal simultaneously with a single finger!

"Golden Immortal!"

Zhitong cried out in disbelief.

Zheng Fa was also stunned.

Is the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor really that strong?

But he's Golden Immortal, so how come he's wandering around Xuanwei like that?

No wonder this person was confident in destroying the Immortal Way —there are indeed no Golden Immortal cultivators in Xuanwei now.

Zhitong seemed to understand:

"You deliberately lured us in because you can't unleash your Golden Immortal power outside!"

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor didn't answer him at all, but coldly said, "If you don't want to die, then move forward."

The Old Monk Zhitong's face was slightly pale, as if the casual attack from the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor had already injured him.

He thought about it for a moment, and seemed to realize that the situation was beyond his control. Unwilling to lose his life, he walked towards the path ahead.

The other three True Immortal in the live stream made the same choice.

Zheng Fa led the disciples of Vast Sun Mountain, following behind the Old Monk Zhitong.

The group walked on in trepidation and silence.

This road isn't long, only about eighteen or nineteen li.

As they neared the end, they suddenly heard the sound of flowing water. Looking up, they saw that the group had arrived at a riverbank with a stone bridge over it.

There is a large rock next to the bridgehead.

The stone wall directly opposite them was smooth and delicate, like fine jade, so smooth it could reflect one's image.

To Zheng Fa's surprise, Xuanding and the others in the live broadcast also arrived at a river, saw the same bridge, and had the same giant rock in front of them.

Unfortunately, they didn't encounter any people from any of the four directions.

It felt as if we were still in different spaces.

The voice of the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor reached everyone's ears again. "Once you cross this bridge, you will be able to escape this sword formation."

The Old Monk Zhitong frowned, and instead of showing a relaxed smile, his expression became extremely serious.

What do we need to do?

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor laughed, "You, stand before the Three Lives Stone."

"The Three Lives Stone"?

The Old Monk Zhitong looked at the boulder, remaining motionless as if he were wary.

Why would I need this stone to kill you?

The Old Monk Zhitong paused for a moment before asking, "What is the purpose of this Three Lives Stone?"

"The Three Lives Stone can reflect one's past and present lives to mortals," the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor said frankly. "But you have already attained the Dao Fruit, transcending the Three Realms, and have no more past or present lives."

Zhitong frowned, seemingly disbelieving.

"You only need to stand in front of it and answer a few questions for me," the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor said again. "It can tell me whether your answers are true or false."

What's the problem?

"I want to know, what did your Four Sects do Tianhe Upheaval back then?"

After a long silence, the Old Monk Zhitong slowly said, "I cannot disclose this matter."

"Then you must die."

Zhitong remained silent.

Xuanding and others in the live stream also made the same choice.

The Tianhe Upheaval seems to be a secret that the Four Sects cannot mention.

Now, Zheng Fa understood why the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor had waited for four True Immortal to arrive:

Now, it seems that the least powerful among the Four Sects who experienced the Tianhe Upheaval are all True Immortal.

For example, Li Sanxian attained enlightenment in this era, and he might not be aware of the Tianhe Upheaval.

The live stream seemed to have been muted, falling into silence.

Within the Nine Mountains Realm, the Heavenly Emperor Body looked towards the Three Enclosures and Four Symbols, and saw that each of the Nine Mountains disciples was holding a copy of the Comprehensive Mirror.

He turned to look at Xie Qingxue and Yan Wushuang.

Yan Wushuang watched intently, head bowed, seemingly searching for a certain figure in the live stream.

Xie Qingxue raised her head, frowned, and said, "They'd rather die than talk?"

Senior Sister Zhang frowned, looking at the Heavenly Emperor Body and asking, "What if the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor really intends to annihilate the immortals?"

The Heavenly Emperor Body slowly shook his head. "The Devil Ancestor seems to have come for revenge. With our strength, we cannot stop him even if we wanted to. The only solution is to find out the truth of what happened back then."

"The truth?"

"What exactly happened Tianhe Upheaval?" the Heavenly Emperor Body explained. "Also, why did Venerable Tianhe perish, and what did he do before his death?"

To put it bluntly...

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor has been planning this for so long; he won't give up just because Zheng Fa isn't cooperating.

The only ones who can stop him are either the Four Sects or they have a backup plan.

Or it could be... Venerable Tianhe.

Senior Sister Zhang nodded gently, then asked, "You want to find Venerable Tianhe's lost treasure?"

"Hmm." The Heavenly Emperor Body glanced at Xie Qingxue. "I was thinking that Venerable Tianhe deliberately left behind information about the next step of the Celestial River Method, seemingly to lure me there."

"If Venerable Tianhe has any further arrangements, they might be found in Tianhe Legacy Treasure."

Upon hearing this, Xie Qingxue sighed, "I can only hope so."

The Heavenly Emperor Body smiled and said, "If the Tianhe Sect hadn't left any information, we might still have had time. The first person the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor wants to deal with is obviously the instigator of the Tianhe Upheaval back then."

Xie Qingxue looked at the light screen and sighed, "But no one tells anyone."

"She will talk."

The Heavenly Emperor Body smiled.

He had already figured out what the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor was going to do.

"Not bad, you are not even afraid of death to protect your sect." The voice of the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor rang in the ears of Zhitong and the others again.

The Old Monk Zhitong sat cross-legged on the ground, chanting Buddhist prayers in a low voice. He seemed oblivious to the murderous intent in his tone, his face showing an expression of unwavering defiance.

"Then let me ask you another way." The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor's tone suddenly became somewhat sarcastic, "During the Tianhe Upheaval, do you know what the other three sects did?"

The Old Monk Zhitong's expression changed drastically.

Zheng Fa, standing behind him, thought to himself that the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor's act of separating Zhitong and the other three, even cutting off their contact, was ultimately nothing more than creating Prisoner's Dilemma.

In truth, this scheme is not difficult to crack.

As long as the Four Sects are of one mind and trust each other, everything will be fine.

But mutual trust?

Zheng Fa looked at Zhitong's ugly face and secretly mocked him:

You want me to believe in the unity of the Four Sects?

Then I choose to believe that Four Sects are innocent.