Jiang Ziya prostrated himself and knocked his head against the ground. His ecstatic gratitude was plain to Yuanshi, who remained hidden in the void of the Nine Heavens.
In an instant, the Jade Purity Saint's face darkened. The aloof expression with which he had always looked down upon the Three Realms vanished beneath a heavy shadow.
The Clear Qi around him went still. Chan Sect's pale Dao Resonance stirred around the saint, betraying a cold anger he could barely contain.
Yuanshi had long since decided how everything would end.
Ever since the Investiture of the Gods Calamity began and Jiang Ziya descended the mountain with the Investiture of the Gods, he had acted with stubborn ineptitude, made poor decisions, misjudged the situation, and repeatedly ruined Yuanshi's plans. Far from bringing glory to the Chan Sect, he had made the Daoist Sect a laughingstock across the Three Realms.
In Yuanshi's eyes, his former Direct Disciple had long since proved useless. He was nothing but a burden.
Yuanshi had already made up his mind:
Once God Conferment was complete, all 365 rightful gods had taken their places, and the Measure Tribulation had settled, he would abandon Jiang Ziya for good.
There was no need to strip him of his cultivation or punish him. Yuanshi would simply ignore him and leave him in the Mortal Realm to fend for himself.
Let the deeds and failures of his life, along with all his humiliation, fade from memory. Let the world gradually forget him. That would be the best way to preserve the Chan Sect's dignity and erase its blemishes.
From then on, the Chan Sect would have no such mediocre disciple. Its record would be clean and unblemished.
That was the ending Yuanshi had chosen. No one was supposed to interfere, and no one