And this was all they had chosen?!
Yuanshi immediately understood. He had forgotten the most important aspect of cultivators: the Dao Heart!!
In truth, as disciples of Saints, innate talent and comprehension were not the most important things.
Saints had plenty of methods to improve their aptitude.
But the heart that sought the Dao was something Saints could not bestow.
It was innate!
The Great Dao was boundless, and countless tribulations lay along the way.
Without a steadfast heart in pursuit of the Dao, one would sooner or later perish upon that path.
When cultivators stepped onto the path of Dao, what mattered was endurance.
Only cultivators who could walk to the very end were good cultivators.
No matter how astonishingly gifted one was in the early stages, if one ultimately stopped at a certain realm and was surpassed by those who came later, that was failure!
Yuanshi reflected deeply. "From now on, Chan Jiao must take Dao Heart into account when accepting disciples!"
He understood that he could no longer count on his own disciples.
The cultivators of Western Teachings had not even arrived before them, yet they were already this cowardly.
Once they truly faced each other, would they not surrender immediately?
If that really happened, Yuanshi decided he might as well slap them to death!
At least they would stop bringing shame upon him.
At this point, he instead calmed down.
Since Junior Brother Tongtian said his disciples could be trusted, then he would trust Junior Brother Tongtian completely!
Minghe felt exceptionally refreshed.
Pointing at the disciples of the Four Saints of the Mystic Gate and cursing them viciously,
this was something he had not merely never done before—he had never even dared to imagine it!
Those were Saint disciples!
Yet now, he was doing exactly that.
So what if they were Saint disciples?
He, Minghe, was also a Saint disciple!
Minghe was about to mock the Mystic Gate a few more times.
Then he heard a steady voice rise. "We of the Mystic Gate have come merely to experience the Supernatural Powers of our fellow Daoists from the West!"
Minghe's laughter came to an abrupt halt!
He had not finished venting his emotions yet!
And someone had actually interrupted him?
Damn it!
He wanted to see who was so bold!
Then eight immortals rose into the air above Jin'ao Island in the East Sea. They were Tongtian's Eight Great Disciples.
The appearances of these eight people gave Minghe a fright at once—each and every one of them had a massive Golden Wheel of Merit suspended above their heads.
The golden wheels turned slowly, radiating peaceful, tranquil light.
Minghe's eyes reddened with envy!
How much Merit would it take to condense such Golden Wheels?
He wanted them so badly!
Minghe suddenly came to his senses, and his wariness surged. "These eight are actually True Immortals of Fortune and Virtue. My Blood God Sons... cannot be used!"
Even amid a great calamity, one could not simply kill whoever one wished to kill.
There was a saying in the Primordial Era: whenever one encountered a mighty figure with a Golden Wheel of Merit above their head, one must become their friend and never their enemy!
These True Immortals of Fortune and Virtue were favored children of the Heavenly Dao. Making enemies of them was effectively the same as making enemies of the Heavenly Dao.
To a certain extent, before their Merit was completely exhausted, they truly could do whatever they pleased!
It was not that such True Immortals of Fortune and Virtue could not be killed.
But to kill them, one first had to pay twice the Merit they possessed.
Merit was hard to come by. Who would be willing to do something so thankless?
Minghe's Blood God Sons were a Demon Sect Supernatural Power, innately restrained by the light of Merit.
If he truly used the Blood God Son Great Method, he would only be humiliating himself.
The moment Duobao, Zhao Gongming, and the other eight true disciples of Biyou Palace appeared, Minghe's arrogant momentum was checked!
Minghe was extremely displeased. Just as he was about to say something harsh to salvage his pride, he suddenly heard the voices of two Saints arrive almost simultaneously. "Fellow Daoist, be careful. Their cultivation is equal to yours!"
Hiss!
Minghe stared at the Eight Great Disciples in shock!
Their cultivation realm was equal to his...
Did that not mean all eight of them were Peak Quasi-Saints?!
At that moment, Minghe was slightly flustered—this had to be fake, right?!
When the Eight Great Disciples of Biyou Palace appeared,
aside from Tongtian, the Three Saints of the Mystic Gate and the Two Sages of the West all had the same thought as Minghe:
"True Immortals of Fortune and Virtue, Peak Quasi-Saints! This has to be fake, right?!"
This was far too outrageous!
How many True Immortals of Fortune and Virtue were there in the Primordial Era?
The Three Sage Emperors in Huoyun Cave counted!
Yun Zhongzi of Chan Jiao counted!
Were there any others? No!
Even Zhen Yuanzi, one of the three top Quasi-Saints and a giant of the Mystic Gate, was not a Golden Immortal of Fortune and Virtue!
Yet Biyou Palace had produced eight of them at once!
After his shock, Yuanshi immediately relaxed.
He sighed inwardly.
"Junior Brother Tongtian's achievements in teaching and guiding others are indeed superior!"
"Chan Jiao must change its strategy for accepting disciples."
"The Twelve Golden Immortals... cannot be relied upon!"
Yuanshi was extremely resolute. Once he decided something was right, he would never easily change his mind.
No one knew that, at this very moment, the future of the Twelve Golden Immortals in Chan Jiao had already come to an end.
"With these eight Quasi-Saints, the Mystic Gate may not necessarily lose!"
In Yuanshi's view, the Mystic Gate was still not at an advantage. At best, they were evenly matched with the West.
But as soon as he thought of what Tongtian had said,
Yuanshi secretly calculated. "In this battle, our Mystic Gate shall win!"
"Even if all the current Chan Jiao disciples are lost, it will still be worth it."
He was an unparalleled sage.
In his eyes, even if the Twelve Golden Immortals were not rotten wood, they were not much better...
If sacrificing them could bring victory in this great calamity, Yuanshi would absolutely be willing!
What he feared was the severance of his orthodoxy. It was not that he truly cared about what happened to his disciples.
To a certain extent, the Twelve Golden Immortals of Chan Jiao were already bound to Chan Jiao itself and enjoyed abundant Luck.
That was why Yuanshi was reluctant to give up the Twelve Golden Immortals,
not because he could not bear to part with any particular individual among them!
In the history of the Primordial Era before Lin Dong transmigrated, who became the second-generation leader of Chan Jiao?
Yun Zhongzi!
And who became the third-generation leader?
Jiang Ziya!
It was not any of the Twelve Golden Immortals!
That was a matter for later!
The expressions of the Two Sages of the West were even uglier than Yuanshi's!
They had never expected the Mystic Gate to possess another eight True Immortals of Merit!
Even more absurdly, they were not merely True Immortals—they were all Quasi-Saints!
Tongtian had hidden his intentions deeply!
No wonder he dared to abolish his own Saint position and disband the Interception Sect.
As long as these Eight Immortals remained, the legacy of Biyou Palace could not be severed!
No wonder Tongtian had disbanded the Interception Sect.
If he had not, the Karma of those abandoned disciples would certainly have drained the Merit of the Eight Immortals completely,
and might even have caused the Eight Immortals to perish in the great calamity!
Jieyin and Zhunti exchanged glances, both feeling fortunate!
Luckily, they had forcibly taken Kunpeng and had Lu Ya join them.
Otherwise, with these Eight Immortals alone, their Western Teachings would never have had an easy time.
But now, although Western Teachings could no longer crush them as directly as they had expected,
they still had an overwhelming chance of victory.
Eight Quasi-Saints were shocking, but they were still only eight Quasi-Saints!
Jieyin and Zhunti were full of confidence in the Ten Thousand Immortals of Western Teachings!
Duobao slowly stepped forward and smiled. "There are rather a lot of fellow Daoists from Western Teachings. How about this? I shall set up an array. If you win, how things are handled will be entirely up to you!"
"How about it?!"
Before the Two Sages of the West could say anything, the expressions of Chan Jiao's mighty figures changed drastically!
How dared Duobao represent them?
If they lost, would they agree even if the other side demanded that Chan Jiao be disbanded?
Just as the Twelve Golden Immortals were about to speak, they suddenly sensed an incomparable force bearing down on them, making their breathing quicken.
The words of opposition they had intended to say were forcibly trapped in their throats!
They were all too familiar with this feeling—it was the pressure of a Saint!
Yuanshi had acted!
Taishang, Tongtian, Nuwa, Jieyin, and Zhunti looked at Yuanshi strangely.
Yuanshi's face turned red—with embarrassment!
He wished he could slap the Twelve Golden Immortals to death on the spot!
The Ten Thousand Immortals of Western Teachings, led by Minghe, had challenged the Mystic Gate, while Chan Jiao, which should have been the main force confronting them, could not even utter a word.
With no other choice, the Eight Immortals of Biyou Palace had stepped forward.
It did not matter if the Twelve Golden Immortals of Chan Jiao were incapable, but they could not drag everyone down!
Those Twelve Golden Immortals had actually wanted to object to Duobao's proposal just now!
How could Yuanshi allow them to voice their opposition?
Where would that leave his dignity?!
Would that not be humiliating?!
This was the Immeasurable Calamity, the Investiture of the Gods Battlefield.
Mighty figures from the Three Realms were all watching!
If the Twelve Golden Immortals caused internal strife within the Mystic Gate, Yuanshi would truly lose all face!
No one knew disciples better than their master!
The moment the expressions of the Twelve Golden Immortals shifted, Yuanshi knew what they intended to do.
At that moment, he could not care how the other Saints would view him,
and immediately used his aura to suppress the Twelve Golden Immortals viciously!
Yuanshi wanted to save face!!
Yuanshi made a decision inwardly. "After this Investiture of the Gods ends, I will properly punish the Twelve Golden Immortals!"
Naturally, the Ten Thousand Immortals of Western Teachings could not sense the movements of the Saint of Chan Jiao.
But the Eight Immortals of Biyou Palace, Minghe, and Lu Ya were Quasi-Saints, so they could vaguely sense it.
However, these ten immortals were all shrewd people. None of them would make trouble for themselves.
Minghe and Lu Ya exchanged a glance and nodded at the same time.
The former Interception Sect had indeed been exceptionally skilled in arrays.
If it had been anyone else, they truly would not have dared to agree to Duobao's proposal.
But Minghe and Lu Ya had sufficient confidence to accept it.
Ninety-nine percent of the Ten Thousand Immortals of Western Teachings came from the Interception Sect!
Tongtian had always taught without discrimination and accepted all who came.
Though he had divided disciples into inner and outer sects, and established personal disciples as well as eight true disciples.
In truth, as long as one had a steadfast heart in pursuit of the Dao,
one could freely listen whenever he preached the Dao.
Most importantly,
among Western Teachings, there were also Tongtian's former Attendant Immortals!
Not one, nor two or three,
But a full five!
What were Attendant Immortals?
They were the immortals closest to a saint's side. Though they lacked the title of a saint's personally transmitted disciples, in substance, they were not much inferior.
Whatever the true disciples knew, they knew as well!
Minghe and Lu Ya simultaneously looked toward Chang'er Dingguang Xian, Piluxian, Lingya Xian, Qiushou Xian, and Jinguang Xian.
They had originally been the Attendant Immortals before Tongtian's seat!
After joining the Western Teachings,
They had won the deep trust of the two leaders of the Western Teachings. Among the Ten Thousand Immortals, their cultivation was exceptional, and they had hopes of becoming Quasi-Saints!
With a casual gesture, Minghe summoned the five immortals before him—he was clearly trying to disgust Duobao and the others!
"Fellow Daoists, I will have to rely on you from here on."
Chang'er Dingguang Xian and the others all saluted and loudly replied, "We obey the decree!"
Only after doing this did Minghe leisurely reply to Duobao, "Very well!"
Duobao stared fixedly at Chang'er Dingguang Xian and the others until their scalps prickled.
Only after quite a while did he finally shift his gaze away.
Duobao said leisurely, "I originally had no intention of making things difficult for you, but since Fellow Daoist Minghe is so interested, I'll raise the difficulty a little!"
He lightly formed a hand seal,
And an array diagram flew out from the crown of Duobao's head, immediately expanding without limit.
The array diagram swooped downward,
And the entire Investiture of the Gods Battlefield was instantly enveloped!
The Two Sages of the West were horrified and lunged forward together. "How dare you!"
The moment Jieyin and Zhunti, the two Western saints who had been sitting steadily by, saw the array diagram descend,
Their expressions changed drastically at once,
And they both rushed over.
"Duobao, how dare you?!"
But while they were fast, when had the Four Saints of the Mystic Gate ever been slow?
The Four Saints of the Mystic Gate had been watching them all along!
In the blink of a thought, the Two Sages of the West were surrounded by the Four Saints of the Mystic Gate!
Yuanshi stared gloomily at Jieyin and Zhunti. "We saints had an agreement beforehand. Do you intend to go back on it?!"
The Twelve Golden Immortals had utterly disgraced him just moments ago!
He had been worrying over having no chance to vent his anger.
Now that the Two Sages of the West had delivered themselves to his door, they could not blame him!
Zhunti's hair stood on end, his eyes splitting with fury as he shouted at Yuanshi, "Duobao is cheating!"
Without caring about Yuanshi's expression,
He turned and glared fiercely at Tongtian.
"You actually gave the Immortal Slaying Sword Array to Duobao to use?!"
"What deep scheming!"
The two Western saints were nearly driven mad with panic!
No matter how much they thought about it, they had never expected Duobao to set up the Immortal Slaying Sword Array!
The number one slaughter array of the Primordial Era!
It had originally been the supreme spiritual treasure Tongtian used to suppress the Luck of the Interception Sect.
Yet Tongtian had actually lent it to Duobao during the Investiture of the Gods Calamity!
He was trying to wipe out the Western Teachings!
The Immortal Slaying Sword Array was the supreme grand array once possessed by Luohu.
Once the grand array was set, sword qi flowed endlessly like great rivers and mighty streams, without limit.
Unless one could remove all four Immortal Slaying Four Swords at once, breaking the array would be impossible!
After Luohu was executed, Hongjun passed the Immortal Slaying Sword Array to Tongtian,
Saying, "When one saint sets this array, it cannot be broken without four saints. It is the greatest slaughtering array in the Primordial Era. Use it with caution!"
One important reason the two Western saints had agreed to Yuanshi's wager was the Immortal Slaying Sword Array!
Just as Yuanshi was about to refute him, Tongtian asked in puzzlement,
"Are cultivators in the Primordial Era not permitted to use their own magical treasures when fighting?"
"When did the Dao Ancestor issue such a rule? Why did I not know of it?"
Hm?!
All the saints looked toward Tongtian.
Zhunti was so angry that he laughed. "Tongtian, every fellow Daoist knows this is your magical treasure. Do you dare say it belongs to Duobao?"
Tongtian answered solemnly,
"It is merely the Immortal Slaying Sword Array!"
"I passed it down to him long ago!"
He frowned slightly.
"I can swear upon the Heavenly Dao that if there is even half a false word in what I say, let me suffer Heavenly Punishment!"
Hiss!
The saints' expressions changed again!
Tongtian actually dared to make such a harsh oath?
The saints could not help but raise their heads toward the sky!
Even they had subconsciously assumed Tongtian was lying!
Yet the skies over the Earth Immortal Realm were perfectly clear!
There was not even a cloud, let alone Heavenly Punishment!
Seeing the saints' reactions, Tongtian could not help shaking his head. "My character is not so poor as to be on the same level as those two Western fellow Daoists, is it?"
Zhunti was about to go mad with anger.
"Tongtian, don't slander me! How is my character poor?"
Tongtian casually pointed beneath their feet.
"You go back on your word. Your character is poor!"
That left the two Western saints so choked up they could barely breathe!
A killing blow!
Jieyin pressed his palms together and coldly said to Tongtian,
"Fellow Daoist, your calculations run deep indeed!"
Tongtian cried out in bewilderment, "What have I calculated?"
"Your plans reach far ahead. You relinquished your saintly position, disbanded the Interception Sect, and passed the Immortal Slaying Four Swords to Duobao so early. You must have foreseen this day long ago, correct?"
"Truly impressive!"
Huh?!
Tongtian waved his hand. "In terms of wisdom, Senior Brother Yuanshi ranks first among the saints. I am far inferior!"
He said with particular sincerity,
"When I passed down the Immortal Slaying Sword Array, I merely regarded it as a token of identity. There was no other meaning."
The two Western saints curled their lips. Clearly, they did not believe him!
At this point,
Even Taishang, Yuanshi, and Nuwa stopped speaking up for Tongtian.
They were convinced!
All the saints shared the same thought:
Tongtian truly possessed unmatched scheming!
Driving out unworthy disciples, relinquishing his saintly position, disbanding the Interception Sect.
Could anyone without great wisdom accomplish such things?
At any rate, the saints could not!
Passing the Immortal Slaying Sword Array to Duobao so early clearly meant he had anticipated this day long ago!
That nonsense about the Immortal Slaying Sword Array merely being Biyou Palace's token of identity...
It was fine to hear it, but no one could take it seriously!
The Immortal Slaying Sword Array was the Primordial Era's foremost lethal array, as declared by the Dao Ancestor.
Even the saints envied it—this was a weapon capable of facing many opponents alone!
Who would casually hand it over to someone else?
At any rate, the saints would not!
Judging others by themselves, the saints easily arrived at a conclusion:
Tongtian had foreseen today's Investiture of the Gods Calamity with supreme wisdom. That was why he had made preparations in advance and could remain so at ease!
But how could they know that Tongtian had spoken the truth!
In the eyes of Tongtian and the Eight Great Disciples, the Immortal Slaying Sword Array truly was not the highest-ranked magical treasure.
Before you continue