To him, the symbolic significance of being a ritual vessel outweighed his practical significance!
Tongtian possessed the Chaos Spirit Treasure bestowed by Senior Lin Dong, and so did the Eight Great Disciples.
Moreover, they had easily refined those Chaos Spirit Treasures into their natal treasures.
With Chaos Spirit Treasures like these, they truly did not think much of the Immortal Slaying Sword Array's power...
But no one would believe that if they said it aloud.
Naturally, there were people in the Primordial Era who could look down on the Immortal Slaying Sword Array's power.
That was Dao Ancestor Hongjun, reclining high above the nine layers of clouds.
The Dao-Protecting Divine Weapons of the Three Pure Ones had all been bestowed by Hongjun.
But Tongtian was absolutely not included among them!
The saints merely assumed Tongtian was boasting.
Yet they accepted it!
If they had discovered such a situation in advance as Tongtian had, they would have bragged even more extravagantly than him!
Compared to the lines they had come up with in an instant,
Tongtian was already being as low-key as could be!
The two Western Saints had just sighed inwardly when they suddenly realized something was wrong.
What had they come here for?
To sing Tongtian's praises? Dream on!
They had come to save their disciples!
Zhunti immediately grew anxious. "Tongtian, hurry and have Duobao withdraw the Immortal Slaying Sword Array!"
Yuanshi sneered. "Just now, Martial Nephew Duobao and Fellow Daoist Minghe agreed that one side would pose a question and the other would answer it!"
"Why are you denying it now?"
"No wonder Junior Brother Tongtian said your character was lacking!"
Zhunti flew into a rage!
Just as he was about to flare up, he suddenly felt someone standing in front of him.
Zhunti focused his eyes and saw that it was none other than his senior brother, Jieyin!
Jieyin took a deep breath and smiled. "The fellow Daoists are right. The two of us were indeed too hasty!"
Zhunti stared at Jieyin in shock!
He completely failed to understand what Jieyin was saying!
However, the two of them had been inseparable since taking form.
Zhunti trusted Jieyin completely.
Since his senior brother had changed his tune, there had to be something else that he could not see.
The two Western Saints bid farewell to the Mystic Gate saints.
In an instant, they returned to Mount Sumeru.
Jieyin said:
"Junior Brother, we were too hasty!"
Hm?
Jieyin's gaze flickered.
"The teachings of Western Teachings are to cultivate this life and seek the next."
"Junior Brother, you should understand the Karma carried by the Ten Thousand Immortals of Western Teachings."
Zhunti nodded gravely.
The Ten Thousand Immortals of Western Teachings carried immense Karma!
If this had been an ordinary peaceful era, Western Teachings would have had plenty of time to slowly resolve it, and that would have become their boundless Merit.
But this was the time of the great calamity. Conventional methods simply would not work.
Yet they could not bear to part with the immense Merit that lay in their future.
After much thought, they had found an unconventional method—taking control of the Six Paths of Reincarnation!
The result needed no further explanation. Saint Pingxin had given them a brutal beating.
Their original plan to resolve part of their disciples' Karma had also failed.
A look of immense compassion appeared on Jieyin's face.
"The Immortal Slaying Sword Array can only be broken by four saints when one saint sets it up. If Fellow Daoist Tongtian were the one arranging it, we would truly have no way to deal with it."
"But if Duobao sets the array, we still have a sliver of hope!"
Zhunti nodded.
Yet his expression remained ugly.
"Duobao is a Quasi-Saint!"
"To break the array, we would need four Quasi-Saints as well."
"But the sect only has Minghe and Lu Ya. Where would we find two more?"
The compassion on Jieyin's face deepened, carrying a faint trace of sorrow.
"This is the Karma and calamity of all those disciples!"
Zhunti was left speechless!
When they had hit a wall at the Six Paths of Reincarnation, they had already anticipated that such a day might come!
This was the Karma of all those disciples!
Even someone as powerful as Tongtian, faced with the Karma of the Ten Thousand Immortals, could only expel them, abolish his own saintly position, disband the Interception Sect, and preserve the core disciples.
Although Western Teachings had unique methods for resolving Karma,
there was simply too little time to resolve it.
Tongtian could decisively cut off his own arm with great courage and resolve,
but the two Western Saints could not bear to do so—those were all Merit! It hurt too much!
Jieyin consoled him. "As long as we sacrifice some of the disciples, the Immortal Slaying Sword Array can be broken—then the Investiture of the Gods Calamity will end!"
Zhunti nodded fiercely!
Their wager was this: one side would pose a question, the other would solve it. The loser would grant the winner any one request.
Zhunti's eyes suddenly lit up. "As long as Fellow Daoist Minghe comes out, we can directly demand their disciples!"
Jieyin smiled faintly. "The Eight Immortals of Biyou Palace would be quite suitable!"
Zhunti also smiled faintly. "Excellent!"
The Eight Immortals of Biyou Palace were eight True Immortals of Fortune and Virtue!
And all of them were Quasi-Saints!
Just thinking about it made the two Western Saints wildly excited!
Within Zixiao Palace beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens,
Hongjun looked rather speechlessly at the smiling Two Sages of the West. That smile made it seem as though Western Teachings already had victory in hand!
Dao Ancestor's face darkened!
He simply could not understand it.
The Eight True Immortals of Biyou Palace were eight Peak Quasi-Saints!
Peak Quasi-Saints who were like True Immortals of Fortune and Virtue, no less!
What did Western Teachings have to win with?
After thinking for a moment, Hongjun's expression changed again. He had understood the reason—the cultivation of the two Western Saints was insufficient, so they could not see through Duobao and the others' true cultivation!
Logically, this should have been impossible.
But Hongjun happened to know the reason—Penglai Immortal Island!
The Merit possessed by Biyou Palace's Eight Great True Immortals was absurdly abundant!
Hongjun silently estimated that if their cultivation reached Hunyuan and they possessed Primordial Violet Qi, they would have enough to directly attain the Dao!
Other than Penglai Immortal Island, who else could display such extravagance?
To the mysterious Master of Penglai Immortal Island, this amount of Merit might have been a casual gesture!
But this seriously disrupted his plans!
What Hongjun had not expected even more was that Tongtian had passed the Immortal Slaying Sword Array to Duobao!
This had originally been Hongjun's great weapon for plotting against Tongtian.
Yet after all the twists and turns, Duobao was using it against the Ten Thousand Immortals who had originally belonged to the Interception Sect!
Hongjun's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.
In his design, sixty percent of the Ten Thousand Immortals of the Interception Sect were indeed meant to be slaughtered.
But Duobao was not supposed to be the one doing it!
It was supposed to be the Two Saints of the Mystic Gate, Taishang and Yuanshi!
Furthermore, times had changed.
When Hongjun had designed this, he had not expected that the Ten Thousand Immortals originally belonging to the Interception Sect would be handed directly to Western Teachings.
To him, this was a tremendous blessing.
Hongjun did not want the Ten Thousand Immortals to be slaughtered at all!
It was just that...
He glanced at the Four Saints of the Mystic Gate, who were glaring fiercely at the two Interception Sect saints.
Making Western Teachings win would be rather difficult!
No!
He had to think of a way.
Appearing in person was definitely impossible.
Then he would have to take a roundabout route!
Hongjun made up his mind!
The Immortal Slaying Sword Diagram drew all the mighty experts on the Investiture of the Gods Battlefield inside.
Every Mystic Gate disciple was overjoyed.
The Western Teachings disciples turned pale in shock!
They shouted in unison, "The Immortal Slaying Sword Array!"
But their tones were entirely different.
The Eastern Mystic Gate disciples were delighted.
The Western Teachings disciples were terrified!
Minghe froze. When he came to his senses, his face turned livid. "Duobao, you actually borrowed the Immortal Slaying Sword Array of the Master of Biyou Palace?!"
Duobao suddenly understood. "Ah? So this was the Immortal Slaying Sword Array you wanted!"
"As you wish!"
What?
What did that mean?
So the question Duobao had posed earlier was how to leave the Immortal Slaying Sword Diagram?
It was not about breaking the Immortal Slaying Sword Array?
Then what had his earlier words amounted to?
Had he increased the difficulty for himself?
Just as Minghe was about to speak, four treasured swords flew out from Duobao's crown!
They were arranged in the east, west, south, and north.
They were precisely the four peerless vicious swords: the Immortal Slaying Sword, Immortal Slaughtering Sword, Immortal Trapping Sword, and Immortal Vanquishing Sword!
The moment the four swords took their positions, the Immortal Slaying Sword Array underwent a drastic change.
Endless killing intent and murderous aura arose from nothing as the four calamities of Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind surged forth.
Minghe's expression changed in horror as he roared, "Form up! Bring out your defensive treasures!"
But how could there possibly be time?
Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind were the four calamities of the creation of heaven and earth. Even Great Luo Golden Immortals had to deal with them carefully.
Among the Western Teachings disciples, there were more than three thousand Grand Unity Golden Immortals. Over half failed to react in time and were touched by the four calamities.
In an instant, they were reduced to ashes!!
All the Western Teachings disciples fell silent!
They were stunned by this sudden change!
Minghe's heart was bleeding.
He was the successor whom the two Western Saints had focused on cultivating.
He knew all too well what those three thousand Grand Unity Golden Immortals represented—an ocean of Merit!
Yet in the blink of an eye, they were gone!!
The confidence of the Western Teachings disciples was shattered outright by the four calamities of Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind!
If these disciples had been killed or fallen on an open battlefield,
none of the Western Teachings disciples would have batted an eye.
The teachings of Western Teachings were to cultivate this life and seek the next. Even death was not despair to them!
But those who perished to the four calamities of Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind could not even let their True Spirits escape. They were utterly annihilated in body and soul!
What next life could there be then?!
They were afraid!
Having been fortunate enough to comprehend and enter the Dao, who did not wish to attain ultimate liberation?
The cultivators of the Western Teachings were immortals as well, and naturally, they too longed to attain great liberation.
Falling to the four calamities of Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind was not something they could bear!
Duobao looked at Minghe strangely.
"Daoist friend, I had only wanted you to explain how to leave this Immortal Slaying Sword Diagram."
"But you insisted on the Immortal Slaying Sword Array, so I had no choice but to satisfy you!"
"By the way, I did not borrow this Immortal Slaying Sword Array from Master. He bestowed it upon me long ago."
He smiled faintly.
"My junior brothers and sisters can all testify to that!"
Minghe's heart instantly sank!
He did not believe a single word Duobao said!
What satisfying his request?
What Tongtian having bestowed the Immortal Slaying Sword Array upon him long ago?
Did he take him for an idiot?!
The Immortal Slaying Sword Array had been the treasure that upheld the former Interception Sect. Even Saints would covet it.
Would Tongtian casually give it to Duobao?
He must have merely lent it to Duobao for this battle.
But there was no point in saying that!
Duobao said with a smile, "This is the question I have set."
"So long as you can break the Immortal Slaying Sword Array, then the fate of us Mystic Gate disciples will be yours to decide!"
"But if you cannot..."
Duobao's smile vanished.
"Then please take your places on the Investiture of the Gods List!"
He instructed them.
"Junior Sister Qiongxiao, guard the Immortal Slaying Sword with me!"
"Junior Sister Jinling, Junior Sister Bixiao, guard the Immortal Slaughtering Sword!"
"Junior Sister Wudang, Junior Sister Yunxiao, guard the Immortal Trapping Sword."
"Junior Sister Guiling, Junior Brother Zhao Gongming, guard the Immortal Vanquishing Sword!"
The seven immortals bowed in unison. "We obey Senior Brother's command!"
Duobao gave another order.
"Teacher Randeng, please lead the Daoist friends of Chan Jiao and Wa Imperial Palace as a mobile force, moving beneath the various swords."
Randeng did not dare put on airs and readily complied.
The Twelve Golden Immortals of Chan Jiao had just suffered pressure from Yuanshi, so they dared not say anything either.
Moreover, this was the legendary supreme killing sword array. Their sense of security surged greatly.
Everyone in Chan Jiao was filled with renewed courage.
Only after Duobao finished his arrangements did he smilingly tell Minghe.
"Daoist friend, this is the Immortal Slaying Sword Array."
"I will tell you directly how to break it."
"So long as you can remove the Immortal Slaying Four Swords simultaneously, the grand array will be broken!"
"But... even if you remove three swords, as long as a single sword remains..."
"This sword array cannot be broken!"
Duobao added with a smile.
"I am telling the truth. Believe it or not, that is up to you!"
Lu Ya sneered. "Would you be so kind-hearted?!"
He said to Minghe, "Teacher, you must not believe this bastard's words—he looks honest enough, but his belly is full of schemes!"
The Two Sages of the West had treated Minghe extremely well and addressed him as a Daoist friend.
Thus, everyone in the Western Teachings called Minghe Teacher.
Minghe nodded.
He stared fixedly at the Immortal Slaying Four Swords, rapidly considering countermeasures in his mind.
The Immortal Slaying Sword Array was renowned throughout the Primordial Era and was the palace-protecting treasure of Biyou Palace.
Yet very few people truly knew how to break it.
This was a Heavenly Secret!
Minghe asked Chang'er Dingguang Xian—he had originally been Tongtian's most trusted Attendant Immortal.
"Daoist friend, is what Duobao said true?"
Chang'er Dingguang Xian's face was filled with shame. "Teacher, this disciple truly does not know!"
Lingya Xian, however, said, "Teacher, although this disciple does not know how to break this grand array, this disciple is willing to give it a try!"
Minghe thought for a moment and immediately made his decision.
"Sorry for the trouble, five Daoist friends. Go attack the Immortal Vanquishing Sword together!"
"I will arrange for people to block the enemy for you!"
Chang'er Dingguang Xian shot Lingya Xian a vicious glare without anyone noticing, nearly coughing up blood in fury.
This was the Immortal Slaying Sword Array!
How could it possibly be so easy to break?
Yet this fellow was practically begging for a chance to show off!
Chang'er Dingguang Xian did not dare disobey Minghe's order, so he could only bow alongside the other four immortals. "We obey your command!"
The Eight Great Disciples of Biyou Palace all revealed cold gleams in their eyes. "Chang'er Dingguang Xian... he deserves to die!"
Those who followed different paths could not make plans together!
Back then, Tongtian had gathered the Ten Thousand Immortals of the Interception Sect in Biyou Palace and expelled the inferior disciples.
The reasons given were different for each of them.
The other immortals had all committed grave sins and borne overly deep Karma, which was why they had been expelled from the great sect.
Only Chang'er Dingguang Xian, Lingya Xian, Qiushou Xian, Jinguang Xian, and Piluxian had been expelled because they were two-faced fence-sitters!
As for those disciples burdened by grave sins,
the Eight Great Disciples of Biyou Palace, beginning with Duobao, truly did not care much about them.
Those burdened with such deep Karma were fated to turn to ash sooner or later.
It was bad enough to have even the slightest entanglement with them.
But the Eight Great Disciples of Biyou Palace could not let go of their resentment toward the five Attendant Immortals!
The Attendant Immortals of every Saint were the disciples most trusted by their respective Saints—without exception!
The Attendant Immortal of Taishang of the Human Sect was Grand Master Xuandu.
The Attendant Immortal of Yuanshi of Chan Jiao was Antarctic Immortal.
The Attendant Immortal of Nuwa of Wa Imperial Palace was Fairy Qingluan.
The Attendant Immortal of Jieyin of the Western Teachings was Mahasthamaprapta, while the Attendant Immortal of Zhunti was Maitreya.
Though these Attendant Immortals were not nominally direct disciples or true disciples, they were all legitimate disciples!
They understood everything that direct disciples and true disciples understood.
They even understood certain things that those disciples did not!
Tongtian's attendants were the same.
And because Tongtian taught without discrimination and accepted all teachings,
the original Seven Attendant Immortals had relationships with Tongtian that surpassed even those of these true disciples!
Only certain secret matters that disciples in charge of the sect needed to know were beyond their qualification to learn.
Their status was extraordinarily lofty.
Duobao and the others did not know
that in another spacetime, when the Interception Sect was besieged by Four Saints,
Tongtian entrusted the Six Soul Banner, the Interception Sect's hope of turning the tide, to Chang'er Dingguang Xian—not to any of his direct disciples.
That was enough to show how highly Tongtian regarded Chang'er Dingguang Xian.
Otherwise, the Eight Great Disciples of Biyou Palace would have been even more enraged!
But even though they did not know,
the spiritual intuition of Peak Quasi-Saints told them that these five immortals had to die!
The Primordial Era judged only Karma, not right and wrong.
There was also a saying passed down in the Primordial Era: trust only your spiritual intuition, not your logical judgment!
Because the Heavenly Dao existed in the Primordial Era!
And a cultivator's spiritual intuition was an opportunity bestowed by the Heavenly Dao.
At certain times, they would often experience a sudden impulse.
This was the Heavenly Dao issuing a warning!
Duobao, Jinling, Wudang, Guiling, Zhao Gongming, and Sanxiao exchanged glances, then nodded slightly.
No matter which sword the five immortals attacked, they were doomed to die!!
Meanwhile,
Chang'er Dingguang Xian wished he could devour Lingya Xian alive!
Ever since Tongtian had accepted him as a disciple and ranked him alongside the other six as an Attendant Immortal,
he had spent countless tens of thousands of years with Lingya Xian and the others!
How could he not know this fellow's nature?
This fellow possessed an utterly sycophantic temperament.
He was simply a shameless flatterer!
Beyond that, whenever benefits or glory were involved, he often forgot who he was!
But it depended on the situation!
This was the Immortal Slaying Sword Array!
Before you continue