In Purple Palace, the gathering had ended in discord. With Dao Ancestor Hongjun's decree issued, the outcome of the Investiture of the Gods Scroll's ownership, to be determined through the evolution of the Tribulation, was now set.
The bonds forged over countless eons among Pangu Sanqing had finally been torn to shreds by the choice between the Hunyuan Limitless Dao Fruit and the survival of their Dao Lineages. There was no room left for reconciliation.
A murderous, savage tribulation aura swept across the Primordial World like an invisible cold tide.
After divining the secrets of Heaven, all the powerful immortals and gods understood that a great calamity encompassing the cosmos had begun.
Shouyang Mountain, Eight Sceneries Palace.
The Daoist aura of Pure and Wu Wei that had filled the place in the past was now veiled in an indescribable heaviness.
The Six Ding Divine Fire in the Furnace continued to burn quietly, its light casting shifting shadows across the placid face of Sage Taiqing Laozi.
Yet a trace of weariness, almost imperceptible in his deep eyes, had ultimately not been entirely concealed.
Grand Master Xuandu stood to one side, feeling an oppression unlike anything the palace had ever known.
"Xuandu." Sage Taiqing Laozi's voice rang out, calm and even, yet bearing an unquestionable authority, like the Heavenly Dao's Edict.
"This disciple is here." Xuandu's heart tightened, and he bowed his head.
His gaze settled on the leaping flames. Sage Taiqing spoke indifferently, each word weighing a thousand catties.
"Three thousand years from now, the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation will begin. This is the cycle of Heaven's Will and the reckoning of cause and effect. It cannot be avoided.
"Those in the three Mysterious Gate sects who have not Severed the Three Corpses will all be caught in the Tribulation.