Golden Cloud Crown Shines on Causality Threads, Otherworldly Demonic Traces Shock Saintly Hearts

After seeing off the smiling-on-the-surface Maitreya Buddha, the atmosphere in the backyard of Wuzhuang Temple didn't ease much. The invitation to the Ginseng Fruit Gathering was like a meticulously woven net, already cast.

"The Western Teachings have grand ambitions; this fruit gathering is likely a feast with no good intentions," Zhen Yuanzi stroked his beard and mused, his gaze falling on Tongtian. "Fellow Daoist, will you remain hidden, or..."

Tongtian stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the Ginseng Fruit Tree in the courtyard, which emanated a radiant treasure light. A cold arc curved on his lips. "Since they've set up the stage, why wouldn't I go up and perform? This is a perfect opportunity to meet my friends from the Great Desolation and let them know that Tongtian has returned."

His tone was calm, yet it held unparalleled confidence and sharpness. After a significant improvement in his cultivation, he needed a whetstone to test the sharpness of the Chaos Great Dao! The Western Teachings had proactively offered their faces; not striking would be a betrayal of their "kindness."

A flicker of admiration flashed in Zhen Yuanzi's eyes, but he also cautioned, "Maitreya is not to be feared, but behind him are Zhunti and Jieyin. It's likely that more than just the Western Teachings will make a move. Fellow Daoist, you must prepare yourself."

"Naturally," Tongtian nodded. He never placed his hopes on the mercy of his enemies. Strength was the greatest confidence.

He returned to the quiet room in the west wing. Instead of continuing to cultivate his magical power, he sank his consciousness into the now-solidified Primordial Dao Fruit and began to deduce another profound Divine Ability recorded in the Chaos Derivation Scripture—Trace Causality, deducing Heavenly Secrets!

The Chaos Great Dao, encompassing all things, was not about brute force but also excelled in calculation. Using the Chaos Dao Fruit as a foundation, disturbing Heavenly Secrets could, paradoxically, allow one to glimpse the most fundamental causal threads amidst the chaos.

He intended to use this Ginseng Fruit Gathering not only to deal with the Western Teachings but also to take the initiative, to set up a scheme. Perhaps he could use this opportunity to save one or two more disciples on the Investiture of the Gods, or even... stir up greater turmoil!

The Chaos Dao Fruit slowly rotated. The nascent, unformed Chaos within it trembled slightly, emitting an aura of primal mystery. Tongtian's consciousness attached itself to it, following the countless causal threads connected to him in the unseen world, and began to deduce forward.

The first to become clear was, naturally, the causality related to the Western Teachings, Maitreya, and the impending Ginseng Fruit Gathering. It was chaotic and complex, with hidden killing intent. Tongtian skimmed over these, focusing his consciousness on the faint but tenacious causal threads connected to the disciples on the Investiture of the Gods.

One, two, countless dim threads led to the Investiture of the Gods, suspended high in the Thirty-Three Heavens. The other ends connected to suffering True Spirits.

Deducing these causes and effects was extremely taxing on the mind and a defiance of heaven, easily detectable by the Heavenly Court or even the Saints. But with the Earth Book concealing him, Tongtian had no reservations and went all out!

Gradually, fragmented blurry images began to flash before his "eyes"...

Golden Light Cave, the Eight Trigrams Furnace, phantom images of various magic treasures, struggling True Spirits.

The Heavenly River dam, chaotic airflow, dim soul lights, and a trace of a fluctuation extremely similar to the Western Teachings' salvation power.

Tongtian's brows furrowed tighter and tighter. Through the causal threads, he could not only perceive his disciples' suffering but also vaguely "see" that as their True Spirits were extracted and filled into the Heavenly River, they seemed to have been tampered with by a hidden force, imprinted with undetectable marks! This was not merely torture, but more like a malicious refinement? Or perhaps... a prepared vessel?

Just as his consciousness surged, attempting to see more clearly, an extremely faint causal thread, carrying a hint of familiar sharpness, suddenly trembled slightly!

This thread was not connected to the Investiture of the Gods but led to Chentang Pass? And was it related to the Innate Spirit Treasure, the Golden Cloud Crown, which he had once admired?

Tongtian's heart stirred, and he immediately focused his consciousness on this thread, following it to deduce further.

The scene suddenly became clearer!

Deep within the Chentang Pass Commander's mansion, in a secret chamber, Commander Li Jing was respectfully bowing to a golden helmet enshrined on an incense table. The helmet shimmered with golden light, it was the Innate Spirit Treasure gifted by his Master, True Master Du'e—the Golden Cloud Crown, capable of emitting golden light to conceal one's form and tracks!

What made Tongtian's pupils contract was that within the golden light of the crown, he actually saw an extremely faint fragment of a True Spirit belonging to Biyun, the attendant of Empress Shiji of the Jie Teachings! The True Spirit was tightly imprisoned within the crown, fused with the magic treasure, becoming "fuel" to enhance its spirituality!

Years ago, Nezha had accidentally killed Empress Shiji's attendant with the Heaven-Shaking Arrow, and Taiyi True Person had arrogantly protected his disciple, killing Empress Shiji in turn. Her attendant had also met a tragic end. He hadn't expected that the remnant soul of Biyun the attendant would be secretly collected by True Master Du'e and refined into the Golden Cloud Crown gifted to Li Jing!

"Well done, Du'e! Well done, Li Jing!" Tongtian's eyes shot out icy light! To kill his Jie Teachings disciples, refine their souls to enhance their own treasures, and then dare to worship them day and night? Such actions were no different from those of demons!

This causal thread, due to a certain connection between the Golden Cloud Crown and Li Jing's son, and the residual aura Tongtian had collected in Chentang Pass while gathering wish power, was now precisely captured and amplified by the Chaos Dao Fruit!

"Since that's the case," Tongtian's thoughts raced, and a plan instantly took shape.

He immediately withdrew his consciousness, ceasing his deduction to avoid alerting the enemy. Then, he took out a blank jade slip and, using his divine sense, recorded in detail the scene he had just witnessed regarding the Golden Cloud Crown and Biyun's remnant soul, as well as the actions of True Master Du'e and Li Jing.

Afterward, he did not leave any of his own aura on the jade slip. Instead, he simulated a very faint fluctuation belonging to the Jade Pure Immortal Method of Kunlun Mountain, mixed with a trace of "contempt" for the Western Teachings' salvation power.

Having done all this, he moved his mind and communicated with the System: "System, direct targeted deployment this anonymous jade slip. Target: White Bone Cave of Skeleton Mountain, the residual obsession of Empress Shiji."

[Instruction received. Scanning for weak obsession aggregate. Deployment successful.]

Tongtian sneered. Empress Shiji was dead, but within her dojo, the White Bone Cave of Skeleton Mountain, her unwilling resentment and obsession must remain. This "grand gift" sent over would cause the obsession aggregate to instinctively seek out the Golden Cloud Crown based on causality!

At that time, Chentang Pass would surely descend into chaos! And Li Jing, his son, True Master Du'e, and even the Chan Teachings and Western Teachings behind them, would all be dragged into this storm! This was enough to plant a thorn between them and could also divert the Western Teachings' attention from the Ginseng Fruit Gathering!

"Stir it up, the muddier the better!" a trace of glee flashed in Tongtian's eyes.

However, just as he completed this arrangement and his mind slightly relaxed, a sudden change occurred!

Through the vast causal network, an extremely distant, extremely dim, yet terrifyingly devouring and destructive causal thread began to tremble violently without warning!

It was the causal thread connecting to the One-Eyed Demon God, and even the terrifying alien world behind it!

Tongtian's mind trembled violently. He instinctively followed that thread and deduced with all his might!

Boom! His "vision" seemed to instantly pierce through endless Chaos, seeing a scene that made his soul tremble:

It was a dark purple world of indescribable vastness and terror! Countless powerful demon gods shuttled like locusts, devouring and warring with each other! At the center of the world, within a colossal palace built from countless white bones and twisted metal, a terrifying existence that defied description, whose mere outline made Tongtian's Dao heart almost shatter, seemed to have just awakened from its slumber!

A trace of that existence's consciousness seemed to sense Tongtian's "gaze" across infinite space and time, and it "looked" over abruptly!

"Ant, boundary marker, found..." A cold, greedy, and endlessly destructive intent slammed into him along the causal thread!

Pfft! Tongtian felt as if he had been struck by a heavy hammer. He spat out a mouthful of golden blood, his body swayed violently, and his face instantly turned as pale as paper! The Chaos Dao Fruit also trembled violently, its brilliance dimming by a third!

A mere clash of consciousness across space had inflicted a serious Dao injury on him, a late-stage perfected Quasi-Saint possessing a Chaos Supreme Treasure!

The power of that alien world's ruler far exceeded imagination! It likely surpassed that of the Heavenly Dao Saints!

"Master!" Yun Xiao, who was guarding the door, cried out in alarm upon sensing the anomaly within the room and rushed in.

"I'm fine!" Tongtian forcibly suppressed the churning Blood Essence and soul shock, but his eyes were filled with unprecedented solemnity and dread!

His deduction had unexpectedly alerted the terrifying ruler of that alien world! And the other party seemed to have locked onto the coordinates of the Great Desolation world more precisely through this encounter!

The time for the great tribulation to arrive would likely be greatly advanced!

What made him even more uneasy was that in that fleeting glimpse, he seemed to see, beneath that alien world's ruler, several somewhat familiar, twisted figures prostrating, emitting faint Heavenly Dao auras.

Were these some great beings who went missing in the Great Desolation in earlier years? They've actually been corrupted and enslaved?! Just as Tongtian's mind was in turmoil, struggling to process this terrifying information.

Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, deep within the Chaos, Zixiao Palace.

Dao Ancestor Hongjun, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, embodying the Heavenly Dao, suddenly opened his eyes. Endless Heavenly Dao runes spun madly within them, collapsing and reforming!

"An anomaly! A variable! A tribulation!"

He uttered the three words expressionlessly, his gaze seeming to pierce through the endless Chaos, seeing the terrifying shadow accelerating towards them. He then looked at the Great Desolation world before slowly closing his eyes again. Only the aura around him became even colder and more indifferent.

Kunlun Mountain, Jade Void Palace.

Venerable Lord of Primordial Beginning abruptly opened his eyes on his cloud bed. He quickly calculated with his fingers, his expression turning extremely grim: "The Heavenly Secrets have suddenly fallen into chaos! The Chaos is in turmoil! Has an external force forcibly interfered with the Heavenly Dao's operation? Could it be..."

Shouyang Mountain, Eight Sceneries Palace.

Grand Supreme Elder Laozi's motion of gently wiping his staff paused slightly. He raised his eyes to gaze at the void, a faint ripple appearing on his face, which was as calm as an ancient well. Finally, it turned into a sigh so faint it was almost inaudible.

Western Spirit Mountain.

Both Zhunti and Jieyin were startled awake from their meditation, looking at each other. They saw surprise and unease in each other's eyes.

Empress Nuwa, Empress Pingxin, and other top existences in the Great Desolation all sensed something at this moment, and simultaneously turned their gazes towards the depths of the endless Chaos!

Tongtian's unexpected deduction and confrontation was like dropping a giant stone into a calm lake. The ripples it caused had already alerted the most powerful beings in the Great Desolation!

The dark clouds of the approaching catastrophe instantly enveloped the hearts of all the great beings.

In the quiet room on the west side, Tongtian slowly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes became incredibly sharp and resolute.

"Time is even shorter..."

He glanced towards the West, then towards the direction of the Heavenly Court.

"If that's the case, then the Ginseng Fruit Gathering must be made to turn the world upside down!"

"Perhaps, this is also an opportunity, an opportunity to tear open a corner of the truth of the catastrophe and make it public!"

The storm was now unavoidable. And he would be the one to stir up the winds and clouds!