Kunlun Mountain, Yuxu Palace.
The Gathering Immortals Bell's lingering chime still echoed across the immortal mountain. In the solemn, stately main hall of Yuxu Palace, Primordial Heavenly Venerate sat high upon his Cloud Bed, surrounded by the profound, cool light of Yuqing Immortal Light.
As the Saint manifested, all the Chan Sect disciples gathered there—Immortal Elder Nanji, Daoist Randeng, Guangchengzi, Chijingzi, True Person Yuding, True Person Taiyi, True Person Huanglong, and the other eleven direct disciples among the Twelve Golden Immortals—
along with Virtuous True Immortal Yunzhongzi, Baihuangshi, and the other inner disciples—all held their breath and paid their respects to the Saint who presided over the Yuqing Lineage.
Cool Yuqing Immortal Light flowed around Primordial Heavenly Venerate. His gaze was profound as it swept across the disciples below.
He spoke slowly. His voice, like a decree descending from the Ninth Heaven, carried an unquestionable majesty that instantly stilled every trace of serenity in the hall.
"I summoned you here today to tell you of a matter concerning the survival of our Chan Sect's Dao Lineage and the life or death of your paths to the Dao."
At those words, the hall fell silent enough to hear a pin drop.
Every disciple, regardless of cultivation, held their breath. An inexplicable tension tightened in their hearts.
The foreboding sense of slaughter that had built during the lecture turned, in an instant, into a palpable chill.
"A few days ago, the Dao Ancestor Hongjun issued an edict in the Palace of Purple Heaven."
"Karmic entanglements have spread across the Primordial World, karmic burdens have piled up, the Heavenly Court's authority has fallen into other hands, order has broken down, and the Heavenly Dao's workings have grown sluggish.
"Thus, another Heaven and Earth Calamity has begun!"
The words "Calamity" rang out like Nine