Chaos Demon God? No, Innate Dao Child!

The Sage's voice seemed not to issue from a throat, but to ring out from the very source of the Great Dao.

Each word carried the supreme authority of speech becoming law, freezing the space and time around Chen Changsheng entirely.

Chaos Demon God reincarnation?

These six words, like six immortal-slaying swords, instantly pierced through all of Chen Changsheng's disguises, pinned his Primordial Spirit, and left him nowhere to hide.

A chill a thousand times more terrifying than facing the Heaven-Turning Seal shot from his tailbone straight to the crown of his head.

He knew this was the greatest life-or-death crisis he had faced since his transmigration.

Everything before—whether facing Zhang Feng's harassment, Daoist Duobao's interrogation, or the Chan Sect Twelve Golden Immortals' "executing heaven's punishment on his behalf"—had been nothing more than child's play.

Because all of that still fell within the bounds of "rules."

But now, he faced a Sage who made the rules!

Sages did not abide by rules.

Their will was the rule!

If Sect Leader Tongtian harbored even a shred of suspicion, a single thought would be enough to annihilate his form and spirit, erasing him completely from the Primordial World without leaving a single trace.

Under the Sage's gaze, which pierced through the ages and saw straight to the essence, Chen Changsheng felt that all his secrets, including the system deep within his sea of consciousness, were stripped bare, exposed nakedly before him.

"Thud!"

Chen Changsheng's legs could no longer support his body's weight, and he collapsed limply to his knees.

It wasn't that he wanted to kneel, but the Sage's Pressure had exceeded the limit his flesh and Primordial Spirit could bear.

His face shifted from deathly pale to ashen gray, his whole body trembling like a sieve, unable to utter a single complete sentence.

"M-master... disciple... disciple does not know..."

His voice was broken, hoarse, filled with the purest fear and bewilderment.

This was not entirely an act.

Facing a Sage who might decide to kill him at any moment, even with a system at his side, the terror born from the instinct of life was enough to shatter any strong will.

Sect Leader Tongtian said nothing.

He merely watched Chen Changsheng quietly, those unruly eyes as calm as an ancient well, revealing neither joy nor anger.

But the more he acted this way, the more Chen Changsheng's fear multiplied exponentially.

It's not that you fear being hit or scolded.

What you fear is the silence.

In the distance, Daoist Duobao and Zhao Gongming, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, felt their hearts leap into their throats once more.

They too had heard their master's question.

Chaos Demon God?

This guess was too shocking and extraordinary!

But upon careful thought, the Protector's series of unbelievable methods, completely unlike anything a Primordial World being could possess, seemed... only this explanation was the most reasonable.

For a moment, their gazes toward Chen Changsheng became complicated as well.

Chen Changsheng could feel that the entire Golden Ao Island, and even the vital energy of the whole world, had locked onto him tightly.

He knew he had to give an explanation.

One that could convince a Sage, a perfect explanation.

Otherwise, today would be his death!

Beg for mercy? Useless.

Argue? Even more suicidal.

The only path to survival was to cover the Sage's suspicion with a larger, more reasonable "truth"!

In a flash of lightning and sparks, countless thoughts raced through Chen Changsheng's mind. In the end, he made the most dangerous decision—the only one that might succeed.

He abandoned all excuses, all pretense.

He lifted his head, meeting Sect Leader Tongtian's gaze, which could crush the heavens, and two clear streams of tears flowed from his eyes.

In those tears, there was no fear, no grievance.

Only a great sorrow, a great compassion.

"Master!"

His voice was still weak, but it carried a power that struck straight at the heart.

"Disciple is not a Chaos Demon God."

"Disciple is merely... a Jie Sect disciple who had a nightmare!"

With that, he burst into loud sobs, crying like a child who had suffered a terrible injustice.

"Disciple dreamed... dreamed that Golden Ao Island ran with rivers of blood, that within the Myriad Immortals Array, our sect's disciples were cruelly slaughtered one by one under the blades of the Chan Sect!"

"This disciple dreamed... that Senior Sister Three Xiāo was crushed beneath Qilin Cliff, that Senior Brother Zhao Gongming was cursed to death by the Seven Arrows Book of the Nail Head! Senior Brother Duobao... Senior Brother Duobao was taken away by the Western Sect, renamed, and became that Sakyamuni Tathagata!"

"This disciple dreamed... that you, Master, were besieged by four Sages, the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation was broken, and in utter despair, you took the Saint-Slaying Pill, only to be imprisoned by the Dao Ancestor in the Purple Firmament Palace, never to emerge for eternity!"

"Our Jie Sect... Myriad Immortals Paying Homage, the greatest sect in the Primordial World... just... gone like this!"

Every word from Chen Changsheng's mouth was like a cuckoo spitting blood, every syllable carried a heart-wrenching sorrow.

His cries echoed before the empty mountain gate, filled with despair and unwillingness.

Sect Leader Tongtian's eternally unchanging, icy face trembled violently upon hearing "Three Xiāo crushed beneath Qilin Cliff," "Zhao Gongming cursed to death," and "Duobao converted"!

When he heard of himself besieged by four Sages and imprisoned in the Purple Firmament Palace, a terrifying killing intent that could destroy heaven and earth erupted from his unruly eyes!

"Silence!"

A furious roar exploded like a thunderclap from the nine heavens.

The entire East Sea's waters churned backward!

Chen Changsheng's crying stopped abruptly.

He lifted his head, tear-filled eyes gazing at Sect Leader Tongtian, yet his gaze was incomparably firm.

"Master! This is the root of all this disciple's actions!"

"This disciple is of little consequence and low cultivation—how could I persuade the senior brothers and sisters? How could I change your decision, Master?"

"This disciple could only use these... these seemingly absurd 'procedures,' these laughable 'rules,' to slowly, bit by bit, reform our sect's fondness for violence and strife!"

"This disciple knows these methods are unworthy of the stage! This disciple knows they harm our Jie Sect's reputation!"

"But what is reputation? What is face?"

"Compared to the entire sect being listed on the rankings and the Dao lineage being severed, what does all this... amount to?!"

He stretched out a trembling hand, pointing at his own heart, his voice hoarse.

"If Master does not believe me, feel free to search this disciple's soul, examine this disciple's spirit!"

"Everything this disciple has done is for one purpose—to let our Jie Sect... survive!"

"Survive!"

The last three words were nearly screamed out.

After roaring, he collapsed limply to the ground, as if all his energy and spirit had been drained, his breath faint, as if he might dissipate at any moment.

Heaven and earth fell into utter silence.

Sect Leader Tongtian stood there quietly, his chest heaving violently.

He looked at Chen Changsheng, collapsed and seemingly mad, his eyes filled with an unprecedented, intense struggle.

Search the soul?

With his Sage-level cultivation, he could easily do so.

But he did not.

Because from the fluctuations of Chen Changsheng's Primordial Spirit, he sensed a purity to the extreme, containing no impurities... sincerity.

That resolve to risk everything for the survival of the Dao lineage, even moved him, the sect leader, slightly.

More importantly, the "dreams" Chen Changsheng described were too real, too detailed, precisely striking the deepest fears in his heart—fears he himself had never fully considered.

Besieged by four Sages...

That, indeed, was the only fatal weakness of his Jie Sect!

After a long time.

Sect Leader Tongtian looked up to the sky and let out a long, hearty laugh.

"Ha... hahahaha!"

That laughter was filled with delight, with appreciation, and even more with... a relieved gratitude.

"Good! Good! A fine 'survive'!"

He took a step forward, instantly arriving before Chen Changsheng, and a gentle Power of Creation flowed into Chen Changsheng's body, instantly restoring his nearly collapsing flesh and Primordial Spirit to their original state.

He helped Chen Changsheng up, patted his shoulder, his eyes no longer holding a trace of doubt, only boundless admiration.

"Foolish child, it was your master who wronged you."

"Chaos Demon Gods? Hmph, a bunch of brutes who only know slaughter and cannot adapt—how could they conceive such a refined 'way of procedures'?"

Sect Leader Tongtian's eyes blazed with sharp light.

"You are no reincarnation of a Demon God!"

"You are... an Innate Dao Child! A protector of the Dao sent by Heaven itself, unwilling to see our Jie Sect fall!"

He had already concocted a perfect explanation in his own mind.

Chen Changsheng's appearance was surely a variable of Heaven's Dao, a sliver of life for his Jie Sect!

Those so-called "dreams" were surely warnings from the Heavenly Mechanism!

And the "Process" Dao he had pioneered was precisely the Supreme Wonderful Method to deal with this Investiture of the Gods Tribulation!

Having figured all this out, Sect Leader Tongtian felt his thoughts flow smoothly, and even his Dao heart stabilized somewhat.

He looked at this treasured disciple before him, growing more satisfied the longer he gazed.

"Chang Sheng, from this day forward, you shall be the eighth personal disciple under my Tongtian!"

"Your master bestows upon you the Dao name 'Wuwei'!"

"As for the Calamity Aversion Department, you have full authority! From personal disciples down to outer sect members, should anyone disobey, you may wield your master's Qingping Sword and execute first, report later!"

Upon hearing these words, Daoist Duobao and Zhao Gongming in the distance both trembled violently, their faces showing uncontrollable ecstasy.

A personal disciple!

Equal in status to them!

And the Qingping Sword had been bestowed!

This meant that from this day forward, Chen Changsheng's position in the Jie Sect was truly second only to one, above ten thousand immortals!

Just then, a series of cold system notification sounds rang out in Chen Changsheng's mind.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, for successfully completing the hidden mission: Ultimate Trial of the Sage!]

[Mission Evaluation: Perfect!]

[With an Oscar-worthy performance and a perfectly self-consistent explanation, you have completely dispelled the sage's suspicions, allowing him to fill in the gaps himself and rationalize your identity!]

[Rewards being calculated...]

[Reward One: Obtained sage-level Heaven-Deceiving Divine Ability Great Freedom Head-Shrinking Technique Second Layer!]

[Reward Two: Obtained fragment of the innate supreme treasure "Chaos Bell" (1/3)!]

[Reward Three: Obtained a vast amount of Heavenly Dao merit, cultivation base raised to... Primordial Unity Golden Immortal Peak!]

[Ding! Detected that host has successfully pioneered the prototype of the "Process Dao" and received sage recognition, officially connecting to the Heavenly Dao operation system!]

[System is upgrading to version 3.0...]

[New functions unlocking...]

[Warning! Detected abnormal Heavenly Dao fluctuations from the direction of Purple Firmament Palace!]

[Dao Ancestor Hongjun seems to have developed a certain interest in the 'Process' you have newly pioneered...]

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