No More Three Pure Ones

Brahma sounds rolled in.

"Great Enlightened Golden Immortal, peerless in his time; Bodhi, ancestor of the wondrous Western Dharma.

Neither born nor extinguished, traversing the thirty-three realms; whole in qi and spirit, boundless in compassion.

Empty and tranquil, naturally changing with all things; true suchness and original nature, free to act as it pleased.

A solemn body as eternal as Heaven, a great Dharma master who had clarified his heart through countless tribulations."

A Daoist wearing a red flower upon his head approached, holding the Seven Treasure Tree, Buddhist light shining above him.

The two first bowed to Laozi when they arrived before him. "Greetings, Dao Brother."

"Greetings, the two leaders of the Western Religion."

Jie Yin and Zhun Ti looked at Tongtian again. "Dao Brother."

A trace of displeasure appeared on Laozi's face. He had not expected Yuanshi Tianzun to summon the two from the West. No matter how the three fought, it was still a matter of the East. Even if he had called that hen, it would still have counted as an Eastern matter. But bringing in the West made things unsightly.

Yuanshi's eyes shifted, and he understood Laozi's meaning. He secretly transmitted, "Senior Brother, do not blame me. The two from the West have no demands this time. They only came to help."

"Oh? They came only to help, with no demands?"

Laozi did not quite believe it. The West was so barren they were nearly eating rats. Why would they help without conditions?

"Not entirely. They only said that after the Killing Tribulation, they wished to ferry away those with affinity."

Laozi frowned. Was that not a demand?

But it was an Innate Spiritual Vein.

How could they not care about it?

Tongtian looked at the two of them, pain flashing in his eyes. "Do you two intend to join forces with the West against me?"

Laozi could not quite bring himself to look at Tongtian and remained silent. He knew this was wrong, but that did not mean he would give up the Innate Spiritual Vein.

Yuanshi merely sneered.

Jie Yin smiled faintly. "Dao Brother Tongtian, do not put it that way. We are all fellow cultivators under the Dao Ancestor. Why distinguish between us?"

"Exactly," Zhun Ti hurriedly said.

Seeing their expressions, how could Tongtian not understand what was happening?

"Good, good! Since that is the case..."

Suddenly, Tongtian slapped the crown of his head, and a spiritual radiance split into three.

One flew toward Laozi, one toward Yuanshi, and one returned above his own head.

Laozi was startled. Yuanshi Tianzun did not know what it was and took a step back.

When he saw clearly what it was, Laozi cried out, "Junior Brother Tongtian!"

Tongtian's face was deathly pale. "The karma between us has been severed. There shall be no more Three Pure Ones in the Primordial World!"

Yuanshi Tianzun's expression changed. He had not expected Tongtian to be so unyielding, to actually divide his spiritual radiance into three and sever their karma.

Then Tongtian's voice thundered across the Primordial World. "I, Master Tongtian, have divided my spiritual radiance into three and severed karma. There shall be no more Three Pure Ones in the Primordial World. From this day onward, Golden Turtle Island shall have only Master Tongtian. There shall be no more Upper Pure One!"

The three people cultivating in Fire Cloud Cave suddenly opened their eyes, shocked. "No more Three Pure Ones?"

Nüwa Palace.

The embroidered ball before Nüwa trembled slightly. She opened her eyes and calculated with her fingers for a moment before finally sighing.

Jie Yin froze. He had not expected Tongtian to do this. Only deep within Zhun Ti's eyes was there pure delight. The Three Pure Ones had severed their karma? What an enormous boon this was for the West!

It would surely be much easier to come to the East in the future.

Yuanshi Tianzun gritted his teeth. "Fine! Since you have severed karma, I shall follow your lead!"

With that, he struck his spiritual radiance, splitting it into three. One strand rushed toward Master Tongtian. Seeing Yuanshi do the same, Laozi knew matters could no longer be salvaged. He also struck the top of his head, and a strand of spiritual radiance rushed toward Tongtian.

However, Laozi and Yuanshi had not divided their karma.

Tongtian looked calmly at the four people before him.

"Come! Let us fight in Chaos!"

After saying that, he tore through the Thirty-Three Heavens and headed straight into Chaos.

Laozi patted his azure ox and also entered Chaos.

Yuanshi followed closely behind.

Zhun Ti and Jie Yin exchanged a glance and entered Chaos as well.

Tongtian faced four opponents alone, Qingping Sword in hand, his figure desolate yet proud.

Jie Yin thought to himself, So be it. Tongtian truly deserves to be called the most temperamental of the Three Pure Ones. If not for the many calculations surrounding the West, I would have liked to speak more with Master Tongtian. Unfortunately, beneath the Heavenly Dao, everyone is merely someone being calculated against.

Zhun Ti's eyes shifted. He had come from the West and had been invited by Yuanshi, so he ought to demonstrate something. Besides, he also wanted to see Master Tongtian's abilities.

Although he did not know why Laozi and Yuanshi had both failed to defeat Tongtian, Zhun Ti was somewhat unconvinced. He felt that those of the West were not necessarily inferior to others. Furthermore, he and Tongtian were both at Enlightenment Second Heaven, so he wanted to see just how capable Tongtian truly was.

With that thought, he stepped forward. "Fellow daoist Tongtian, I have long heard that your sword dao is profound. This daoist wishes to seek instruction today."

Tongtian looked calmly at Zhun Ti. "If you want to fight, then fight. Why are you dawdling around like a woman?"

Zhun Ti froze and looked at Tongtian in confusion. "What do you mean, Dao Brother?"

...I picked that habit up from Uncle. This idiot obviously does not understand the slang of Chaos Demon Gods. Sigh, the West is barren—it has affected his intelligence.

"Hmph!"

Tongtian did not waste words. Qingping Sword swept forward, and a streak of azure sword qi, like a bolt of lightning, slashed toward Zhun Ti.

Zhun Ti smiled faintly. "A trivial technique."

He brushed the Seven Treasure Tree forward, and the sword qi vanished, effortlessly swept away by the Seven Treasure Tree. The Seven Treasure Tree was a rare treasure that combined offense and defense, as well as Zhun Ti's accompanying supreme treasure. He wielded it with complete ease.

Although the sword qi had been swept away, Tongtian was still surprised. This was their first exchange, and he had not expected this flower-wearing demon to actually have some skill.

What Tongtian did not know was that Zhun Ti was the truly shocked one. His hand, hidden behind his back, trembled slightly. Though the Seven Treasure Tree had swept away the sword qi just now, the force behind it had felt like brushing against a star.

Why was Tongtian so powerful?

He secretly became vigilant. At that moment, Tongtian closed in again, and the two began exchanging blows.

Every time the Seven Treasure Tree struck Qingping Sword, Zhun Ti felt as if he had collided with a star.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

The heavy impacts made his chest feel as though a mouthful of blood was trapped inside.

Suddenly, Tongtian shouted, "Good! Zhun Ti, you are somewhat interesting! It is time for me to show my true abilities!"

Zhun Ti froze. What? This was not even his true strength? What else was he planning to do??

Yet he also noticed that Tongtian's aura had changed. An aura surpassing his own erupted from Tongtian's body.

"This..."

Zhun Ti was puzzled. Had they not said Tongtian was at Enlightenment Second Heaven? Why was his aura so powerful?

Yuanshi's eyes shifted. "I heard Tongtian recently made a breakthrough..."

"Junior Brother, be careful!" Hearing Yuanshi's words, Jie Yin grew anxious and hurriedly warned him.

"I know!"

Jie Yin also became serious and went all out.

Bang!

Qingping Sword and the Seven Treasure Tree collided once more.

Whoosh...

"Ah! What an incredible technique! Tongtian! You actually made my Seven Treasure Tree disappear!" Zhun Ti lowered his head, staring blankly at his empty hands.

Jie Yin covered his face. "Junior Brother, the Seven Treasure Tree is over there..."

He pointed into the distance.

Only then did Zhun Ti see it. The Seven Treasure Tree was flying far away...

The force of that strike had been so great that his hands had gone numb, leaving him unaware that Qingping Sword had knocked the Seven Treasure Tree flying.

Zhun Ti hurriedly summoned the Seven Treasure Tree, but Tongtian had already closed in again. It was too late for the tree to return.

Zhun Ti immediately revealed his Dharma body, with twenty-four heads and eighteen hands, holding jeweled necklaces, parasols, flower garlands, fish-gut swords, golden bows, silver halberds, the Blessing Pestle, jeweled files, and golden bottles.

The enormous golden Dharma body stood between Heaven and Earth, three of its hands reaching out to meet Qingping Sword.