Venerable Lord Yuanshi Pleads for Mercy, Dao Ancestor Hongjun Coldly Refuses: Heaven's Will Cannot Be Defied!

Kunlun Mountain.

Jade Void Palace.

That palace, which was shrouded in endless, pure, sacred aura, was now enveloped by an extreme, icy silence.

Venerable Lord Yuanshi had returned and was merely sitting quietly upon the unchanging Cloud Bed, his entire aura replaced by an anger suppressed to its absolute limit.

Immortal Official Nanji had fallen, and the Twelve Golden Immortals had all perished.

His lineage, the foundation of his Chan Sect, had been uprooted in a single day.

"Heh heh..."

An ambiguous chuckle escaped Venerable Lord Yuanshi's lips. In that vast, deathly silent palace, it sounded especially eerie.

After a long while, he slowly raised his hand.

Buzz!

A golden light emerged from the void, transforming into a scroll that quietly floated before him.

The Investiture of the Gods.

On the golden scroll, names flickered with faint light. Each name represented a True Spirit locked within it.

Venerable Lord Yuanshi's gaze slowly swept across the scroll.

When he saw the familiar names—Immortal Official Nanji, Guang Chengzi, Chi Jingzi, True Lord Taiyi, True Lord Yu Ding...—

The muscles on his eternally unchanging face twitched uncontrollably.

His disciples.

His twelve most valued personal disciples, along with the Immortal Official Nanji he trusted most, had all now become names on the scroll.

An indescribable fury and killing intent surged madly in the deepest part of his heart, yet he suppressed it with all his might.

Venerable Lord Yuanshi stared at the scroll. For the first time, a trace of struggle appeared in those eternally unchanging eyes.

The Investiture of the Gods had been bestowed by the Dao Ancestor and established by the Heavenly Dao. Those whose names appeared on the scroll would have their True Spirits bound by it, never again knowing freedom.

But he was Venerable Lord Yuanshi.

As a Sage who