Before the dumbfounded saints, a magical treasure truly rose from within Tongtian's primordial spirit!
Jieyin and Zhunti retreated faster and faster.
They felt that this scene was far too similar to when Duobao had unleashed his power earlier!
Nuwa was overjoyed.
Fellow Daoist Tongtian had indeed not disappointed the saints of the Mystic Gate!
Taishang and Yuanshi were dumbfounded. Their faces flushed as the two saints stared in shock at the supreme magical treasure emerging from Tongtian's primordial spirit.
"Th-this is..."
Yang Mei was just as agitated as they were.
Great Immortal Yang Mei was utterly stunned. Pointing at that magical treasure, he asked uncertainly, "How do you possess this magical treasure?"
With a casual motion, he produced a Taiji Diagram and a Pangu Banner.
The Great Immortal looked at the two magical treasures in his hands, then at the one opposite him.
He was thoroughly bewildered. "That makes no sense! The Taiji Diagram and Pangu Banner are clearly in my hands!"
Yang Mei casually put away the two Innate Supreme Treasures and shouted sternly,
"Tongtian, what trick are you playing?!"
Tongtian caught the axe in one hand. His magical treasure was an axe, mystic yellow in color, dull gray, and shrouded in mist!
He spun it in a flourish.
No one saw him use any Supernatural Powers.
Wherever the axe passed, space immediately shattered.
Endless Mystic Yellow Qi and the four calamities of Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind were about to pour in.
Yet with the axe present, neither the Mystic Yellow Qi nor the four calamities of Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind dared appear!
The saints were even more shocked!
Yang Mei screamed inwardly, This absolutely cannot be that damned axe. It absolutely cannot be!
A reverent expression appeared on Tongtian's face.
"Long ago, I encountered an unparalleled Great God by chance!"
"He pitied my low cultivation and personally expounded the Dao and demonstrated its methods for me. My attainments greatly improved, and I came to understand the general course of the Heavenly Dao..."
The saints all felt that this was absurd.
Tongtian was a saint!
One of the eight most supreme beings in the Primordial Era.
Who would think Tongtian's cultivation was too low?
Just how profound would that great expert's cultivation have to be?
Yet the saints also knew that Tongtian's attainments had soared rapidly for a period of time.
It did seem to match what he had said.
Zhunti in particular had the greatest right to speak on the matter!
Back when the Investiture of the Gods had been discussed at Zixiao Palace, Zhunti had seen that Tongtian was not a saint and wanted to use him to establish his authority.
The result... had been too horrible to look at!
"Later, I had another opportunity to visit that senior. This time, I did not go alone—I brought eight disciples with me."
"The Great God took pity on my disciples, expounded the Dao and demonstrated its methods for them, and laid down supreme Dao foundations for them."
"Before we left, he specially gave them several magical treasures."
Tongtian raised the axe in his hand.
"I benefited from my disciples and was granted one as well."
Huh?!
The saints' expressions became increasingly strange.
Tongtian had actually obtained it by benefiting from his disciples?
The saints of the Primordial Era had always enjoyed holding all manner of Dao assemblies and gathering fellow cultivators.
The Great Dao was boundless; no one dared claim that the Dao they had obtained was the most correct one.
A stone from another mountain could polish one's jade. Discussing great methods with fellow cultivators was essential.
When they encountered juniors, they would usually grant them some small gifts—either Dao teachings or magical treasures.
This was especially true for juniors they met for the first time.
That was simply human courtesy.
But when the saints carefully looked at the axe in Tongtian's hand,
they wished they could punch Tongtian in the face.
That axe had merely been swung once, yet it had shattered the space of the Earth Immortal Realm!
One had to know that, for the convenience of the saints fighting in the Investiture of the Gods,
Dao Ancestor Hongjun had used the Authority of the Heavenly Dao to reinforce the Earth Immortal Realm, especially the Investiture of the Gods Battlefield.
Even someone as powerful as Yang Mei had not damaged the Earth Immortal Realm in the slightest.
Yet Tongtian's axe had shattered the space of the Earth Immortal Realm with a casual swing!
And you called a supreme treasure like this some little trinket??
No one had ever seen anyone show off like this!
"According to the Great God, he had created it based on the legends of Great God Pangu, imitating the supreme treasure Great God Pangu used to split open heaven and earth—the Pangu Sky-Opening Axe."
All the saints' hearts skipped a beat at once!
Sure enough, the Pangu Sky-Opening Axe!
They had known from the start that this axe was extraordinary!
Taishang and Yuanshi in particular could even sense a certain "familiarity" from this axe!
The Imitation Pangu Sky-Opening Axe?!
They clearly knew Tongtian was telling the truth!
Yet why did the saints feel as though Tongtian was lying?
It was as though what Tongtian held was the true accompanying spiritual treasure of Great God Pangu—the Pangu Sky-Opening Axe!
Tongtian spoke to Yang Mei with particular seriousness.
"Though this axe was imitated by that senior, with my attainments, I still cannot fully wield it."
"I can only swing it three times."
"Great Immortal, dealing with this axe should be no problem for you!"
Yang Mei was so shocked that his long brows flew upward!
His primordial spirit throbbed violently, and a warning surged through his heart.
His heart stirred with foreboding; his primordial spirit sounded the alarm!
Yang Mei cursed inwardly,
"You are a Great Sage of the Tenth Heaven of Dao Integration Realm, yet even you can only swing it three times."
"How could I possibly deal with it easily?"
"I am Hunyuan, not a saint!"
Yet he could not say a single word now.
Tongtian had already aimed that "Imitation" Pangu Sky-Opening Axe at him.
Though the axe had not yet struck,
Yang Mei's face instantly turned pale!
Deathly pale!
He suddenly realized something.
The space-time, Karma, Fate, and Three Thousand Great Daos around him had all been locked down and suppressed.
He could not use any Supernatural Powers or methods.
Tongtian roared. His muscles bulged, his body expanded by a full size, and his Daoist robe stretched tight around him.
The Pangu True Body appeared.
The Nine Revolutions Profound Technique was pushed to its limit.
The laws of the Great Dao of Strength empowered him.
All three powers merged and empowered the axe.
Then, an incomparably immense force suddenly flowed back from the axe.
Tongtian's face filled with wild joy.
As that power circulated into his body, it forcibly raised his cultivation to the Eleventh Heaven of Dao Integration Realm!
A breakthrough in battle!
A blade-light rose from the axe.
The instant that light appeared, heaven and earth lost their color.
It seemed capable of cleaving apart all chaos. No matter who stood in its path, there was only one outcome—shattering into pieces!
The saints involuntarily lowered their heads, not daring to look at the axe-blade light.
Even the saints' souls felt searing pain as they stared at that blade—it was a sign that their souls had suffered slight injuries.
The saints were horrified and bewildered.
"Is this axe truly an Imitation Pangu Sky-Opening Axe? Then what must the real Pangu Sky-Opening Axe be like?!"
Tongtian took a deep breath.
"Yang Mei, resign yourself to your fate!"
With great effort, he raised the axe with both hands, aimed it at Yang Mei, and swung it down fiercely.
A phantom blade flashed past.
The Three Thousand Great Daos ceased to exist.
Yang Mei howled in despair, "Hongjun, save me!"
The phantom blade arrived in a flash.
A voice, resonant as a great bell, rang out anxiously.
"Tongtian, stop!"
A Silver Dragon descended from the heavens, trying to seize the phantom blade.
Crack!
The Silver Dragon instantly shattered. The blade encountered no resistance at all and sliced Yang Mei in half as easily as cutting tofu.
With a thunderous boom, a boundless Willow Tree appeared upon the lands of the Primordial Era, only to be absorbed by the earth and transformed into immeasurable spiritual energy.
Tongtian withdrew his axe and looked up at Dao Ancestor Hongjun, who had manifested in the Earth Immortal Realm.
The Earth Immortal Realm fell completely silent.
Boundless spiritual energy surged forth like the tides.
For a time, the Earth Immortal Realm was filled everywhere with blessed lands and heavenly grottoes.
This was the wondrous phenomenon produced by the fall of Yang Mei, a Peak Dao Integration Realm expert.
The energy contained within a Peak Dao Integration Realm Hunyuan was boundless and vast.
That was especially true for Yang Mei, one of the oldest Dao Integration Realm Hunyuan beings in the entire Chaos Void and even the Primordial Era.
Strictly speaking, even a single strand of Yang Mei's hair was equivalent to an entire world.
He had fallen.
And directly benefited an entire realm.
The Primordial Era absorbed his body—the boundless Willow Tree—and became even more radiant.
The Heavenly Dao absorbed Yang Mei's Great Dao laws, raising the Dao of Space to an even greater level.
The spiritual energy contained within Yang Mei directly more than doubled the spiritual energy density of the Earth Immortal Realm.
In the long run, cultivators of the Primordial Era would basically no longer need to worry about insufficient spiritual energy.
Yang Mei was a Peak Dao Integration Realm Hunyuan, but at his core, he was still a Chaos Demon God.
His fall directly benefited all living beings of the Primordial Era!
Yet the Investiture of the Gods Battlefield was deathly quiet, with only the sound of spiritual energy surging through it.
The saints stared blankly.
Great Immortal Yang Mei—the legendary master of the Space Great Dao, a Peak Dao Integration Realm supreme Hunyuan, the one destined to become the Western Dao Ancestor—
had actually fallen?!
This had to be fake, right?!
No one could deny Tongtian's power.
A saint of the Tenth Heaven of the Dao Integration Realm was in the second of the Upper Four Heavens of the Dao Integration Realm.
He was only a few steps away from ascending to the Peak Dao Integration Realm.
But no saint had ever imagined that Tongtian would send Yang Mei to his death!
Not even the Three Saints of the Mystic Gate, who had placed the greatest hopes in Tongtian.
In their eyes, it would have been enough if Tongtian could withstand Yang Mei's attacks.
Then they could naturally wait for Hongjun to arrive and clean up the mess.
But Tongtian had been unwilling!
That axe, that so-called Imitation Pangu Sky-Opening Axe,
had sent Yang Mei to his death with a single swing.
It was truly beyond imagination!
It was simply terrifying!
Even...
The saints still clearly remembered the instant Pangu's axe blade reached them,
Within Zixiao Palace beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens,
a Silver Dragon descended, trying to seize the axe and save Yang Mei!
The saints' Dharma Eyes did not deceive them. They saw clearly that the Silver Dragon descending from the heavens to stop Tongtian was unmistakably Hongjun's ever-present Innate Bamboo Staff!
Back beneath Treasure Distribution Rock, Hongjun had distributed supreme treasures including the Taiji Diagram, Pangu Banner, and Immortal Slaying Sword Array.
Only the Innate Bamboo Staff in his hand had been kept.
That alone showed how powerful the Innate Bamboo Staff was!
It was an unmatched Dharma treasure!
So what?
It still could not withstand Tongtian's single axe strike.
The power of that strike was something the saints swore they would never forget!
One blow was enough that even a mighty expert at the Peak Dao Integration Realm could not endure it.
Thinking back to Yang Mei's high-spirited arrival, the saints could not help but sigh.
Who could have imagined that Yang Mei, who had been practically destined to become the Western Dao Ancestor,
would end up in such a state!
Even before dying, he had to cry out, "Hongjun, save me!"
He had clearly returned from the void to the Primordial Era,
clearly intending to settle his Karma with Hongjun.
Yet in the end, he still had to bow his head to his mortal enemy and ask Hongjun to save him...
How pitiful!
Huh?!
Something seemed wrong!
Seeing Yang Mei perish, Yuanshi was overjoyed.
But after that burst of joy,
he suddenly felt a chill run through him.
His primordial spirit thudded violently.
Yuanshi struggled to keep his expression steady.
He seemed to have discovered something extraordinary!
His guess appeared to be true!
This... was troublesome!
Hongjun looked at the half of the Innate Bamboo Staff in his hand and sensed the surging spiritual-energy tides around him...
His face turned cold as he questioned Tongtian:
"I issued a clear decree ordering you to stop. Why did you not obey?"
The saints looked at Hongjun in astonishment.
They were completely baffled.
Was there some mistake here?
Yang Mei had clearly come to the Investiture of the Gods Battlefield to cause trouble, tormenting the saints until they were in a miserable state.
They had nearly lost all the dignity of saints of the Primordial Era.
If Tongtian had not acted, who could say what the final outcome would have been?
Moreover, after Yang Mei appeared on the Investiture of the Gods Battlefield, he had cursed Hongjun for a long time!
That was an indisputable fact.
Hongjun was the Dao Ancestor of the Mystic Gate and the Incarnation of Heavenly Dao. For someone to curse him in the Primordial Era was a grave offense!
Even if that person was Yang Mei, it was still an equally grave offense.
In the Primordial Era, saints reigned supreme; beneath saints, all were ants.
Daring to curse a saint?
That was a heinous crime.
Not even a Hunyuan at the Peak Dao Integration Realm could do so.
That was desecrating a saint!
If the saints possessed Hongjun's strength, how could they have tolerated Yang Mei cursing them like that?
The saints of the Primordial Era were the foundation of Heavenly Dao's rule.
The inviolability of a saint's dignity was a sacred law of Heavenly Dao.
Even if Yang Mei bore immense Karma, that was no reason for him to curse Hongjun.
In the Primordial Era, right and wrong did not matter; only Karma did.
Among the saints, aside from Yuanshi, who vaguely had a suspicion, none of them understood.
Tongtian gripped the axe tightly and looked calmly at Hongjun, smiling with composure.
"This axe is too powerful. I cannot control it."
Huh?!
The saints were stunned again!
There was such a strong smell of gunpowder in Tongtian's answer!
Tongtian's tone was clearly quite mild, and he had not used any harsh words.
Yet for no apparent reason,
they simply felt that Tongtian's words were exceedingly forceful.
Hongjun flew into a rage.
He wanted nothing more than to crush Tongtian with a single palm strike!
Tongtian had utterly ruined his plan!
Yang Mei had been his puppet!
Hongjun had begun laying the groundwork back during the Dao-Devil War.
He had schemed Yin-Yang and Qian-Kun, the two Dao Ancestors, to their deaths,
and severely wounded Yang Mei.
Without Yang Mei noticing, he had controlled him and refined him into a puppet of his own—until his death, Yang Mei never knew that he had actually been Hongjun's puppet!
Yang Mei's return to the Primordial Era this time was Hongjun's backup plan.
Hongjun had not completely refined Yang Mei into his avatar, merely into his puppet.
That was because he knew that under Heavenly Dao's design, a mighty expert was meant to become the Western Dao Ancestor and stand on equal footing with him, the Eastern Dao Ancestor.
Only then could Yin-Yang remain balanced.
This was the true overarching trend of Heavenly Dao, one that could not be altered.
Hongjun would never permit a saint to rise and stand as his equal.
Thus, he had made his move and laid out his plans long ago.
The person Hongjun chose was Yang Mei, his pawn.
To become the Western Dao Ancestor, one had to possess an independent personality and could not be another person's avatar.
Otherwise, Hongjun would have completely refined Yang Mei long ago.
How could he have allowed him to live for so long?
Yang Mei had immense Karma with him.
Having Yang Mei return to quell the Investiture of the Gods Calamity was also part of the plan.
Yang Mei was a Hunyuan at the Peak Dao Integration Realm,
far surpassing the other saints.
As long as Yang Mei acted and pacified the Investiture of the Gods Calamity,
not only could Hongjun properly fulfill his arrangements—allowing the Western Teachings to win a resounding victory—
but afterward, he could personally stage a performance with Yang Mei—after a "great battle," he would subdue Yang Mei and appoint him Western Dao Ancestor in due course.
This would clear Yang Mei's name while also placing the position of Western Dao Ancestor in his own hands.
Then, as long as he completely refined Yang Mei,
the positions of Eastern and Western Dao Ancestor would both be under his control.
With that, he could pursue Hongjun's ultimate objective!
Steal Heavenly Dao and ascend to the Great Dao!
What a perfect plan!
What a grand ambition?!
Yet Tongtian's one axe strike had smashed it all to pieces!
How could Hongjun not be enraged?
He wanted nothing more than to slap Tongtian to death!
But the instant Hongjun's fury touched upon the axe in Tongtian's hand, it vanished without a trace!
Tongtian was no longer the minor saint of the Heavenly Dao Realm he had once been.
He was now a Great Saint of the Eleventh Heaven of the Dao Integration Realm!
The Eleventh Heaven of the Dao Integration Realm!!
Could anyone believe it?!
How much Merit would have to be burned to reach that level?!
Even thinking about it terrified Hongjun!
Most importantly, there was the axe in Tongtian's hand!!
That axe had split Yang Mei, who was comparable to Hongjun himself, in half with a single strike!
Yang Mei could not withstand it—could Hongjun?
What a joke!
Just thinking of the power of that strike made Hongjun tremble with fear.
The Imitation Pangu Sky-Opening Axe?
Before you continue