The Story's Ending: Breaking One's Word

Zheng Fa was shocked when he heard Xuanding admit his mistake.

To be fair, as things have unfolded to this point, the Four Sects don't actually have much to hide in this matter:

It's not that the Four Sects didn't make mistakes, but rather that everything they did had reasons that didn't need to be hidden.

From his perspective, the Four Sects never consider themselves moral paragons; sometimes they even admit their mistakes and act domineeringly.

They didn't care much about the opinions of the Xuanwei cultivators.

Why then did the Tianhe Upheaval become a taboo in the Xuanwei Realm?

The answer is obvious— Four Sects, involving actions that were even more egregious and shameful than before.

"Wrong?" The voice of the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor rang out in the live broadcast.

But Xuanding True Immortal fell silent again.

He stared at the white light on the Three Lives Stone, his gaze unfocused.

After a while, he finally spoke, "When we discovered that the Three Devil Ancestor were also hunting down you, Nine Nether Devil Ancestor, we knew we had been deceived."

Zheng Fa almost lost his composure.

This Nine Nether Devil Ancestor is truly in a sorry state.

It seemed that he was about to unite the Venerable Tianhe Xuanwei, and accomplish a great feat for all time.

As a result, Venerable Tianhe disappeared without explanation.

As the heir to the Tianhe Sect, the most powerful force in the Tianhe Sect world, he found himself in a rebellion.

They were hunted down by both the righteous and demonic factions, and had almost nowhere to hide in Xuanwei. It took them hundreds of thousands of years before they dared to show their faces.

This experience was truly a rollercoaster ride, a fall from heaven to hell.

If Zheng Fa were to encounter this situation, he would also want to slaughter the Immortal Sect.

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor remained silent for a long time.

When he spoke again, his tone was like a raging storm, filled with barely concealed anger:

"You know you were wrong, so what?"

The response to this anger was yet another silence.

After a long silence, it was Nishang Yuanjun who spoke:

"We discovered something was wrong, and our Four Sects immediately discussed it."

"Yes... True Immortal Lu of Vast Sun Mountain said that things have come to this."

A white light emanated from the Three Lives Stone, proving that these words were true.

"Lu Mo? You mean things have come to this?"

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor murmured softly.

He seemed a little unfamiliar with the name.

It's clear that in that era, Vast Sun Mountain wasn't considered a main character in Xuanwei's story.

After all, on the surface, the First Ancestor of Vast Sun Mountain was just a True Immortal.

But Zheng Fa frowned.

Lu Mo's terror lies in:

In terms of talent, he is comparable to Venerable Tianhe, and his Dharma Body Method are also profound and extensive.

In terms of origin, Lu Mo is comparable to the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor, and may even be more ancient than the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor.

Judging from the reaction of the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor, he didn't even have much of an impression of Lu Mo.

Perhaps even Venerable Tianhe didn't notice anything special about Lu Mo?

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor then asked, "What does it mean that things have come to this?"

Upon hearing this, the four members of Zhitong fell silent.

They had been subtly undermining each other, but now they tacitly kept quiet.

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor, however, had already understood.

He said coldly:

"Make the best of a bad situation?"

"If you're going to do something, might as well go all the way?"

"Even, in alliance with the Devil Ancestor?"

Zhitong and the others fell silent.

Cloud True Immortal blushed and said:

"Is this the decision of our Vast Sun Mountain sect? The First Ancestor only made a suggestion."

"You should know that it was the Supreme Dao that united the Four Sects to issue the Dao decree."

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor then asked, "What Dao Token?"

Xuanding True Immortal's expression immediately turned ugly.

The four members of Zhitong were already unable to solve the Prisoner's Dilemma, and after a few words, the contradictions between the Four Sects could no longer be concealed.

Nishang Yuanjun was subtly implying that Lu Mo was responsible.

Cloud True Immortal is now preparing to drag Supreme Dao mess.

Zhitong then added insult to injury, "The Severing of the Celestial River Method."

"All cultivators are forbidden from practicing the fundamental techniques of the Tianhe Sect."

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor's voice was somewhat cold.

"Unable to cultivate the Celestial River Method? Tianhe is not a sectarian person. Many of the cultivators who followed him back then were taught the Celestial River Method. As far as I know, there are over a thousand."

Xuanding True Immortal lowered his eyes and remained silent.

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor seemed to have realized something as well:

"Besides the Tianhe Sect, there are quite a few people who practice the Celestial River Method!"

"Aren't there Four Sects?"

"How can you possibly ban it?"

Zheng Fa was jolted awake, finally understanding what the Four Sects were trying so hard to hide:

Venerable Tianhe was more magnanimous than he had imagined.

The problem with the Celestial River Method is too serious.

If what the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor said is true, then the Venerable Tianhe has been cooperating with the Four Sects and has not even been stingy with the Celestial River Method.

Instead, they passed it on.

Given Venerable Tianhe's prestige, he probably had quite a few followers back then.

There are quite a few cultivators from Four Sects.

Perhaps at the beginning, the Four Sects Dao Fruit enlightenment were obscured.

But the moment they learned the truth, their choice was not to turn back, but... to cleanse themselves.

An unprecedented purge that swept through the Xuanwei cultivators and even within the Four Sects.

This kind of dark history, even if the Four Sects don't care about their reputation externally, must be kept completely silent internally.

The Yang Spirit Method, the Dharma Body Method, and the Celestial River Method do not seem to be incompatible.

But only the Celestial River Method was hidden in history.

This secrecy stems partly from the bloodshed of this period of history, and partly from the fact that the Celestial River Method is a taboo among taboos.

Xuanding True Immortal raised his eyes and looked at the Three Lives Stone: "Who isn't afraid of the Venerable Tianhe's resurrection?"

The Three Lives Stone shone dazzlingly.

This statement is undeniably true.

Zheng Fa fell into deep thought.

He seemed deaf to even the arguments and excuses made by Zhitong and the others.

From what we hear now, the Tianhe Upheaval, from beginning to end, was almost an irreversible tragedy:

The fear and suspicion brought about by Venerable Tianhe's cultivation of the Celestial River Method and his destruction of mountains and temples are the root cause of this incident.

To put it bluntly, everything that happened afterward was only a secondary reason, not the fundamental contradiction.

As for the rumors that Venerable Tianhe colluded with the Demonic Sect and even Qi Deviation, without this premise, it probably wouldn't have much of an impact.

Even without these events, Venerable Tianhe and the Four Sects would inevitably have had a conflict.

When Venerable Tianhe passed away, the contradictions he had been suppressing with his strength were finally unleashed.

Zheng Fa was even 80% certain that Lu Mo was the person behind it all.

Although he didn't know what the Divine Lord Lingxi Jade Pool was all about.

But Lu Mo's identity as the Original Devil Ancestor is too suspicious.

He just couldn't figure out the original reason:

What caused Venerable Tianhe to destroy mountains and temples, and ultimately disappear?

"If it really Lu Mo did it, then the most terrifying thing about this is not that he spread any false information, but that... he really figured out Four Sects."

Within the Nine Mountains Realm, Senior Sister Zhang commented with a cold face.

The Heavenly Emperor Body nodded with a grim face. "Let the Four Sects discover that the Demonic Sect is hunting down the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor..."

"This matter was probably deliberately exposed as the truth."

Xie Qingxue suddenly looked up, her face showing a complete shock to her worldview. "On purpose?"

"Lu Mo accurately predicted the reactions of the Four Sects, and indeed, the Four Sects did not disappoint him."

Inside the Heavenly Palace Hall, Senior Sister Zhang and the others fell silent.

After a while, Uncle-Master Pang sighed and said:

"Putting myself in their shoes, if I were one of the Four Sects, knowing that I had misunderstood Venerable Tianhe and killed Tianhe disciple and successor, what would I choose?"

"If Venerable Tianhe were to be resurrected, my sect and my family and friends would all face his revenge."

"I might make the same choice."

Senior Sister Zhang suddenly looked at Zheng Fa, her eyes filled with worry.

If this was indeed Lu Mo's doing, then it's really not good news for Zheng Fa.

This person's scheme doesn't seem sophisticated at all.

Looking back, everyone involved was making what they thought was the right choice.

During the live stream, the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor remained silent for a long time, seemingly sorting out the ins and outs of everything.

Suddenly, Li Sanxian spoke up, "Lu Mo? It's the Original Devil Ancestor!"

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor was stunned.

"What?" His voice was even more surprised than before, "Lu Mo merely True Immortal, how could he be the Original Devil Ancestor?"

In the live stream, Zhitong and Cloud True Immortal's faces darkened.

"Who has slandered my Vast Sun First Ancestor!"

Cloud True Immortal roared angrily.

They couldn't hear Li Sanxian's words, but they heard the doubts of the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor.

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor seemed to realize something and said, "If you say no, come to the Three Lives Stone."

Cloud True Immortal remained motionless.

The answer is obvious.

Li Sanxian seemed to understand that the people from Vast Sun Mountain were refuting him, and quickly said:

"Sect Leader Zheng of the Nine Mountains Sect can testify to this. When he was at the Spirit Transformation, Lu Mo used his Dharma Body Method to obstruct his path."

"Lu Mo practiced the Dharma Body Method?"

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor glanced at the Comprehensive Mirror and simply asked the True Immortal Xuanding, "Are you certain about this?"

Xuanding True Immortal nodded and said:

"After the Tianhe Upheaval, we realized we had been deceived, but we didn't know who it was. In fact, we've been investigating all along."

That's normal.

The Supreme Dao are selfish, but they're not stupid.

The cause will naturally be investigated.

"The Dao Venerable decree stated that Lu Mo was highly suspicious, but at that time, Lu Mo had already gone to Thunderclap Temple."

"Later, Zheng Fa proved his Dao, Lu Mo appeared in the world, and only then did we understand a little of the whole story."

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor asked in a cold voice:

"Lu Mo, is he the Original Devil Ancestor?"

The two men remained Zhitong.

Silence is an admission.

As soon as the Creation Jade Disc moved, the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor actually asked him a question.

At this point, Zheng Fa was like a non-stick pan. "Whatever Li Sanxian says, then it is."

After all, he didn't have any concrete evidence.

"Vast Sun Mountain, Thunderclap Temple..."

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor murmured softly.

It's clear that Li Sanxian successfully shifted the blame.

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor has likely already locked onto the two factions of Vast Sun Mountain.

Zheng Fa glanced at Zhitong's unpleasant expression and chuckled inwardly.

Initially, the blame for the Tianhe Upheaval seemed to lie primarily with the Supreme Dao and Jade Pool...

After all, the message came from the Supreme Dao.

A message came from Jade Pool.

It's easy to guess that there was some deliberate arrangement involved.

However, Zheng Fa's Spirit Transformation Tribulation inadvertently revealed a trace of Lu Mo's true identity.

This became the Achilles' heel of Vast Sun Mountain and Thunderclap Temple.

The two factions of the Supreme Dao naturally did nothing good.

But let's not discuss whether Lu Mo was the instigator of the Tianhe Upheaval.

His identity as the Original Devil Ancestor alone is already tainted.

Within the Nine Mountains Realm, the Heavenly Emperor Body looked towards the Three Enclosures and Four Symbols, and saw the disciples of the Nine Mountains discussing amongst themselves.

In the live stream, the disciples of the Four Sects seemed even more astonished than they were.

The disciples of Vast Sun Mountain, in particular, were filled with bewilderment.

My Vast Sun Mountain, once one of the Four Sects and a top-tier Immortal Sect, has suddenly become Demonic Sect?

Especially the Vast Sun disciples beside Cloud True Immortal.

She looked at him, wanting a negative answer.

But Cloud True Immortal's silence only fueled their despair.

But now, both Cloud True Immortal and Zhitong of Thunderclap Temple seemed to be gritting their teeth and unwilling to speak.

However, the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor suddenly laughed, "None of you lied, I'm very satisfied. Keep moving forward, and you'll be able to escape the sword formation."

"..."

The Old Monk Zhitong suddenly looked up, his expression somewhat surprised.

Clearly, no one expected that the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor would actually keep his promise.

Even Zheng Fa was quite puzzled.

He is the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor, and at this moment he should hate the Four Sects to the extreme.

If Zheng Fa were to truly let go of these cultivators from the Four Sects, he felt that the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor shouldn't destroy the Immortal Sect; he could simply go to Thunderclap Temple and become Buddha Ancestor.

It's obvious that this person is still alive.

The four True Immortal in the live stream were all hesitant.

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor then said:

"I swear in the name of the Tianhe, once I cross this bridge, I will be free from the Immortal-Slayer Sword Formation."

"I will never kill you."

Upon hearing this, not only Zheng Fa, but even Zhitong showed more trust on his face.

Suddenly, Black-White Mystic Light surged from the arched bridge in front of everyone, and the stone bridge under the light flickered incessantly, as if it were about to disappear.

The cultivators from the Four Sects became even more anxious.

Before Zhitong could speak, several disciples of the Supreme Dao rushed forward.

Zheng Fa thought for a moment, then continued walking forward:

He wasn't too afraid of things going wrong. Putting aside the goodwill brought by the Yin-Yang Fish Jade Pendant, the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor even needed to use his live stream.

To this day, he still hasn't figured out why the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor was livestreaming.

Even if the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor had truly gone mad, Zheng Fa was confident that he wouldn't kill him... cough, at least he would kill him in the end.

As soon as Zheng Fa made a move, the disciples of Vast Sun Mountain followed suit.

Zhitong seemed to have figured it out as well. After all, while moving forward might not be a true path to survival, moving backward was definitely a dead end.

Why not give Nine Nether's suggestion a try?

A group of people flew towards the opposite bank, with several disciples of the Supreme Dao moving the fastest.

As soon as they flew over the river, they plummeted downwards, as if someone were pulling them by the ankles and dragging them into the water.

"Senior brother!"

The remaining Supreme Dao cultivators behind them hurriedly stopped and shouted.

Zheng Fa looked into the river and saw that as soon as these Supreme Dao disciples touched the water, their flesh peeled off piece by piece, leaving only a few skeletons that slowly swam away with the current.

Similar situations occurred in three other locations within the live stream.

The voice of the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor came again. "This river is called the River of Forgetfulness, even birds cannot cross it."

There was an undisguised joy in his voice.

"Cross the bridge!"

Zhitong gave a cold shout and led several Thunderclap Temple disciples toward the bridge.

The others naturally followed suit.

When they first stepped onto the bridge, everyone's faces were tense.

Even Zhitong's expression was cautious.

The River of Forgetfulness kills without a trace, so this bridge must be no ordinary object either.

To everyone's surprise, the arched bridge seemed to have no magical properties at all; the group of people crossed it safely and reached the other side.

Zheng Fa was also somewhat surprised and doubtful. He turned back to look at the arched bridge, and his expression froze.

The arched bridge, the River of Forgetfulness, and the Three Lives Stone have all vanished.

It seemed that everything that had just happened was nothingness.

The Old Monk Zhitong did not turn around, but looked ahead.

Before me stood the Tianhe Sect.

The Sect Leader hall of the sect leader, the Scripture Tower, and the layered pavilions can be seen in the distance.

At the foot of the mountain, there is also a large city, which is where the disciples and relatives of the Tianhe Sect reside.

But it's not the Tianhe Sect.

The mountainside was devoid of Spiritual Qi, and a Yin Wind wind swept through the valley. All the palaces and pavilions were closed and shut.

There was not a sound in the city, as if no one was alive.

The ground beneath their feet was wet, muddy, and reeked of blood.

Zhitong's face darkened, seemingly unsurprised, but he sneered, "Nine Nether Devil Ancestor, you truly broke your word!"

"Breaking your promise?" The figure of the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor suddenly appeared on a distant mountaintop. He looked down at Zhitong and the others, his imposing aura as deep as an abyss.

"I said I would let you out of the sword formation, and you are no longer in the formation. How can you say I broke my promise?"

"..."

The Old Monk Zhitong asked loudly, "Where is this place?"

Zheng Fa heard two familiar place names:

"Yin Mountain, the Wrongful Death City."