Consolidating His Cultivation in the Ancient Battlefield, His Divine Sense's First Probe of the Investiture of the Gods

The western outskirts of the Primordial World, the ruins of the Ancient Battlefield.

The dark-red land stretched endlessly, as if it had been soaked in boundless blood and left to harden. Broken war chariots, rusted divine weapons, and enormous skeletons lay scattered everywhere, silently telling of the brutality of some ancient battle. The air was thick with the stench of rust, a faint scent of blood, and a desolate stillness that sank deep into the bones. The spiritual energy here was thin and violent, mixed with all kinds of lingering baleful energy, resentment, and shattered Law Fragments. Ordinary immortals and gods who came here would find it difficult to cultivate; they might even have their Dao Hearts eroded and fall into madness.

However, for Tongtian, who had just undergone tempering in the Netherworld Cold Pool and whose magic power now possessed both Chaos and Netherworld qualities, this hostile environment was instead an ideal place to hide and cultivate. The violent spiritual energy and baleful energy could both be easily devoured and transformed by his Primordial Dao Fruit, becoming nourishment for his cultivation.

Tongtian found a natural cave formed by enormous beast bones and toppled stone pillars, then waved his hand and laid down several layers of restrictions. One layer of Chaos Flow distorted light and Spiritual Sense probes; another of Netherworld Death Qi imitated the surrounding environment; the innermost layer drew upon the Ancient Battlefield's lingering baleful energy to form a natural barrier. With all three layers in place, no one would discover anything amiss unless a Saint came in person and searched carefully.

"Wudang, stand guard at the cave entrance and use the baleful energy to temper yourself and consolidate your Golden Immortal realm," Tongtian instructed.

"Yes, Master!" Saint Mother Wudang accepted his order. Having recently advanced to Golden Immortal, she needed to hone her cultivation. Though the baleful energy here was fierce, it was also an excellent way to temper her will and magic power.

Tongtian entered the depths of the cave and sat cross-legged. He did not immediately begin refining the Otherworld Fragment, but first closed his eyes and focused his mind, fully circulating the Primordial Unity Scripture.

His newly attained Late Quasi-Saint realm needed to be consolidated, his magic power—which had only just begun to merge with the Netherworld Death Qi—needed further purification, and the minute injuries to his Saint Body and Nascent Soul needed to be fully repaired. More importantly, he had to thoroughly digest and absorb the vast, chaotic trove of information in Ksitigarbha's memories.

A phantom of the Chaos Bead appeared above his head, slowly rotating like a miniature Chaos Vortex as it began to greedily devour the baleful energy and thin spiritual energy pervading the Ancient Battlefield. These energies, poison to others, were swiftly ground down, purified, and transformed after entering the Chaos Bead. They became pure, dark-gray Chaos Netherworld Magic Power, nourishing his limbs, bones, dantian, and Nascent Soul like a spring rain.

His aura visibly grew steadier, more restrained, and deeper. Faint Chaos Marks and Netherworld sigils occasionally surfaced on his skin, interweaving in a mysterious and powerful display. Within his dantian, the Primordial Dao Fruit, now the size of a dove's egg, had completely stabilized. Its color was deep, and the lotus-petal patterns on its surface had grown increasingly distinct. As it revolved, it circulated magic power on its own, forming a perfect cycle with the energy outside.

Time slipped by as he cultivated.

Several days later, Tongtian opened his eyes, their depths brimming with divine light. His essence, energy, and spirit had all been restored to their peak. His Late Quasi-Saint realm had fully stabilized, and he had even made faint progress.

"It's time." He took a deep breath and brought out the Otherworld Fragment he had obtained at the bottom of the Netherworld Cold Pool.

The fragment was black and heavy, cold to the touch. Its strange markings seemed to flow in the dim cave, and the aura of destruction and devouring it gave off caused the surrounding space to warp faintly.

Tongtian's expression grew grave as he carefully extended his Spiritual Sense into it.

Boom! It was as if he had plunged into a Chaos Sea filled with a violent Will of Destruction! Countless chaotic, frenzied, bloodthirsty fragments of thought surged toward his Spiritual Sense like billions of steel needles! This was the manifestation of chaotic laws utterly unlike those of the Primordial Heavenly Dao—laws that even repelled them!

Tongtian grunted, a stabbing pain flaring between his brows, but his eyes shone all the brighter. He steadied his mind and fully circulated his Chaos Dao Fruit. His powerful Spiritual Sense stood firm like a rock against the assault of the Chaotic Will, while carefully analyzing and deciphering the shattered information about its laws.

[High concentration of foreign law information detected. Analyzing energy attributes: destruction, devouring, chaos, distortion. Similarity between law structure and Primordial World: below 17%. Weak coordinate information detected. Residual biological activity detected. Warning: Analysis may trigger unknown risks.]

The system's alerts rang out continuously, helping him process the vast quantity of information.

The refining process was far more dangerous than absorbing Netherworld Death Qi. The energy and will within this Otherworld Fragment were extremely invasive. The slightest misstep could cause them to turn on him or even corrupt his Dao Foundation.

Tongtian focused completely. Using the Chaos Bead as his core, like the most precise of furnaces, he gradually stripped away the Chaotic Will within the fragment. With great care, he extracted its pure, fundamentally potent foreign destructive energy and slowly merged it into his Chaos Netherworld Magic Power.

This was a slow, painstaking process. He could not rush it.

After an unknown length of time, the black gleam on the Otherworld Fragment had completely faded, leaving it looking like ordinary iron. At last, Tongtian completed the initial refinement.

He slowly exhaled a breath of foul air. It was faintly black and red, and carried an aura of destruction. When it struck the cave wall, it corroded a deep pit into the stone.

His magic power now possessed not only the vastness of Chaos and the stillness of the Netherworld, but also a deeply hidden, highly destructive quality. Though it was extremely faint, it had elevated the very essence of his power to another level!

More importantly, from the fragment he had caught a vague sense of coordinates pointing toward some direction in the Chaos Depths, along with a few broken images that revealed the forms and fighting methods of the foreignworld's lifeforms.

"So it really is a world filled with invasion and destruction..." Tongtian murmured, his wariness growing. For the Western Teachings to seek dealings with such beings was no different from inviting a wolf into the house.

He put away the fragment, which had lost all its energy. Its material was unusual; perhaps it would prove useful another day.

Now that his cultivation had been consolidated and he had initially refined the Otherworld Fragment, the next step was the most important attempt of all—communicating with the Investiture of the Gods!

The risk was immense! The Investiture of the Gods had been bestowed by Dao Ancestor Hongjun and was held by Haotian Shangdi. It contained the power of the Heavenly Dao and was connected to the Auspicious Qi of the Saints. Any attempt to contact it by force could easily be noticed, or even provoke retaliation from the Heavenly Dao and the Saints' thunderous wrath!

But Tongtian had to try! He could not stand by and watch his disciples' true spirits remain trapped in the Heavenly Court forever, reduced to tools for providing incense merits!

He adjusted his breathing and brought himself to peak condition. The Chaos Bead's light dimmed above his head, while streams of energy descended from it to protect him. Then he formed an intricate, mysterious hand seal—the "Heaven-Deceiving Seal," which he had devised for this operation using the deductions of his Primordial Dao Fruit and a concealment method provided by the system.

"In the name of the Primordial, I trace the Karma Thread and sense the true spirit of my disciple..."

Tongtian silently focused his mind. Rather than forcefully assaulting the Heavenly Dao, he followed the deepest bond between master and disciple—the Karma Thread connecting him to Zhao Gongming—and cautiously reached toward the Investiture of the Gods, suspended somewhere beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens.

The process was unimaginably difficult. It was like searching among billions of interwoven Heavenly Dao laws for the one thread that belonged to him, all while avoiding the countless "feelers" on guard.

His Spiritual Sense struggled through the invisible web of the Heavenly Dao, enduring immense pressure. Fine beads of sweat gradually formed on Tongtian's forehead.

Finally, after an unknown length of time, his Spiritual Sense touched an incomparably vast, icy presence that shone with golden light—the phantom of the Investiture of the Gods!

Even as a mere phantom, its immense Heavenly Dao pressure nearly crushed his Spiritual Sense! Countless points of light, the true spirits of the gods, were embedded in it like stars. Most were dim and numb as they went through the motions; only a few shone more brightly, representing the favored gods.

Tongtian endured the pain and pressure surging through his Nascent Soul and followed the Karma Thread. With great difficulty, he found one of the brighter points of light, though it was steeped in profound exhaustion and oppression—Zhao Gongming!

Daring not make any unnecessary move, he devoted all his focus and strength to maintaining the faint link, then sent across a thread of thought, so weak it was almost imperceptible, imbued with Primordial Dao Rhyme and deep concern.

"My disciple, Gongming."

Heavenly Court, the main hall of the Department of Wealth.

Dressed in his divine robes, Zhao Gongming sat expressionlessly behind his desk, handling the endless documents and regulations concerning the circulation of wealth throughout the Primordial World. Divine power flowed around him, befitting his divine office as God of Wealth. He appeared imposing, but deep in his eyes lay only numbness and exhaustion.

Bound by the Investiture of the Gods, he had gained a divine office and eternal life, yet he was no more than a puppet on strings, denied his freedom. The pride and independence he had once possessed as the Interception Sect's Senior Disciple had long since been ground away by endless years and the Heavenly Laws.

As he mechanically reviewed a document, a voice that seemed to come from the depths of a distant memory—yet was so familiar, so impossible to hear again—suddenly pierced through the Investiture of the Gods' layers of restraints like a faint but clear electric current, ringing directly in the deepest part of his Nascent Soul!

"My disciple, Gongming."

Zhao Gongming abruptly went rigid. The divine brush in his hand slipped free and clattered onto the jade desk.

His pupils contracted sharply. His face filled with utter shock and disbelief, along with a trace of... joy he scarcely dared hope for!

"Master?!" He instinctively replied within his Nascent Soul, his voice trembling, as if afraid this was an illusion that would shatter at the slightest touch.

"It's me..." Tongtian's thought came in broken fragments, clearly struggling. "I've returned. I know what you've all suffered. Hold on. Your master will..."

Before he could finish, the link suddenly grew extremely unstable!

The Investiture of the Gods seemed to have sensed the faint disturbance, and the Heavenly Dao pressure surged! At the same time, an icy, detached, and powerful Spiritual Sense swept over the Department of Wealth's divine hall!

"Impudent! What demon dares to spy on the Heavenly List?" Haotian's furious shout seemed to explode on the level of the Heavenly Dao!

A muffled groan came from Tongtian's end, and the link instantly teetered on the verge of breaking!

Zhao Gongming panicked. He came to his senses amid the immense shock and joy, realizing that his master was in grave danger! He clenched his teeth, a look of resolve flashing in his eyes!

He couldn't let his master get dragged down!

He forcibly roused most of the divine power suppressed by the Investiture of the Gods—not to resist, but to do something utterly reckless. He abruptly struck at the connection between his true spirit and the Investiture of the Gods!

Pfft! Zhao Gongming's face turned deathly pale in an instant, and he spat out a mouthful of golden divine blood. His aura suddenly faded, and his Nascent Soul suffered severe damage!

But that self-destructive act triggered a sudden, violent fluctuation in the Investiture of the Gods, cleverly masking the faint disturbance caused by Tongtian's link!

"Hmm?" Haotian's Spiritual Sense swept over him and saw only Zhao Gongming's true spirit shaken and the blood he had spat out after "making a mistake in his cultivation." It did not detect the foreign link of Spiritual Sense. His Spiritual Sense circled the Department of Wealth several times in suspicion, then slowly withdrew.

"Master, go..." Zhao Gongming sent those words in broken fragments with the last of his strength. Then he fell completely unconscious.

Inside the Ancient Battlefield cave.

Tongtian abruptly opened his eyes. His face was pale, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but burning fury and deep sorrow blazed in his eyes!

"Gongming, you've suffered so much." He wiped away the blood at the corner of his mouth, his voice low and hoarse. In that final instant, he had clearly sensed Zhao Gongming damage his own true spirit to shield him!

Though the link had been forcibly severed and he had nearly been discovered, he had achieved his goal! He had confirmed Gongming's condition and conveyed the news of his return. More importantly, he had tested that, with the Primordial Dao Fruit and the Heaven-Deceiving Seal working together, it was indeed possible to briefly evade the surveillance of the Heavenly Dao and Haotian and establish a connection with a disciple on the list!

Though the attempt had been extremely dangerous and, for now, did not allow for a meaningful conversation, it was undoubtedly the first ray of dawn in the darkness!

"Haotian. Saints." Tongtian slowly clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms. "Sooner or later, you'll repay this debt a hundredfold!"

He suppressed the churning blood and murderous intent within him, his gaze growing razor-sharp and resolute.

The plan to communicate with the Investiture of the Gods was viable, but it required more thorough preparation and greater strength. Perhaps it also required some special opportunity or medium.

Next, he would not only continue to increase his strength, but also begin laying plans and seek the leverage that could pry open the Investiture of the Gods!

He looked beyond the cave, his gaze seeming to cross ten thousand miles and settle on the Hall of Miraculous Mist, which had received Heaven's mandate and ruled over the gods.

The contest had only just begun.