The sharp pain in his ear, combined with the anger of being woken up halfway through a nap,
sent the Pig Demon into a towering rage.
He clenched his fist and punched Haotian in the stomach.
BAM!
After the loud crash, the scene the Pig Demon had expected—of the cultivator before him being sent flying—never happened.
Realizing something was wrong, the Pig Demon looked up at Haotian, who was still gripping his ear.
As he raised his head, he caught a faint smile on Haotian's face.
Seeing the Pig Demon look up at him, Haotian said calmly, "Go on!
Put a little more strength into it!"
Haotian's words made the Pig Demon's face turn red with anger.
Humiliation!
Utter humiliation!
What kind of "storms" hadn't Lord Pig weathered since the day he was born?
He'd even come close to losing his life in a tiger's jaws.
And now he was being humiliated by some Rogue Cultivator from who knew where.
A gentleman might endure this, but a pig wouldn't!
Kill him!
He had to kill this bastard!
Lord Pig had his pride, too!
In his fury, the Pig Demon gathered all his Mana into his fist.
Then he slammed it into Haotian.
BAM!
After another loud crash, the Pig Demon's expression finally changed.
His face, red with anger just moments ago, had turned deathly pale.
Only then did the Pig Demon finally realize that the cultivator before him was far stronger than he was.
Don't ask how he figured it out.
The man stood there and let him attack, yet he couldn't even break through his defenses.
Wasn't that obvious enough?
Only then did fear finally well up inside him.
After swallowing nervously, the Pig Demon forced a strained smile.
He said sheepishly, "Immortal!
I... I say this was a misunderstanding.
Would you believe me?"
Haotian replied with a pleasant smile, "What do you think?"
As he spoke, Haotian released the Pig Demon's ear.
Then he continued, "What's your name...
Never mind!
Your name doesn't matter.
I'll give you two choices: live or die.
Which do you choose?"
Hearing Haotian's words, the Pig Demon asked apprehensively, "What are the conditions for living?"
Haotian frowned at that. "You ask a lot of questions. Looks like you want to choose death.
Fine!
I'll grant your wish!"
As he spoke, Haotian raised his hand as if to strike the Pig Demon dead.
The Pig Demon hurriedly said, "Immortal, wait!
This little demon won't ask any more questions!
I choose to live!
I choose to live!"
Only after hearing his answer did Haotian lower his hand.
He said sternly, "Since you've chosen to live, you'll do as I say.
I grant you the name Gao Zhen!
Separate out a wisp of your primordial spirit and hear my decree!"
As soon as Haotian finished speaking, he brought out the Investiture of the Gods.
He wrote the characters for "Gao Zhen" on the list.
The Pig Demon still didn't quite understand what was going on.
Even so, he obediently separated out a wisp of his primordial spirit.
There was no way he'd dare resist again.
Disobey, and he'd die.
This lord couldn't even be bothered to answer one more question.
If he resisted, wouldn't he be reduced to ashes on the spot?
It was only because Lord Pig was weaker than the other man. Otherwise, he'd have shown this bastard what he was capable of.
Only after Haotian sent Gao Zhen's wisp of primordial spirit into the Investiture of the Gods did he proclaim, "In the name of the Heavenly Emperor, I decree that Gao Zhen shall become the Chamber of the House's Pig, a True God of the Fire Department, and one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions!"
By then, Gao Zhen understood what was going on.
He'd been conscripted.
But what good did understanding do?
His life and death were in someone else's hands. All he could do was obey.
The whole Primordial World had already heard that this lord before him dared to stand against the Sages.
Forget it!
Better to live badly than die well!
Though he thought this to himself, Gao Zhen didn't dare slack off for even a moment.
He bowed low and said, "Your subject receives the Imperial Decree!"
Haotian raised a hand to help him up.
"Rise!
Now that you've accepted the appointment, go to the Heavenly Court and take up your post.
Once you arrive, find Zhu Zhao at the South Heaven Gate.
He'll show you how to transform the demonic aura in your body into immortal energy."
"Yes!"
With that, Gao Zhen headed straight for the South Heaven Gate.
After pondering for a moment, Haotian flashed out of the cave and began delivering the Lost Souls from their suffering.
This time, Haotian increased the amplification to a thousand.
That was twice as much as before.
Naturally, the effect was twice as great as it had been the first two times.
The area he could cover now stretched ten million li.
Seated cross-legged atop the mountain,
Haotian parted his lips, and the Duwang Sutra slowly emerged.
"Thus it was..."
After several recitations, all the Lost Souls regained their clarity.
Next came the Rebirth Mantra.
Again, he recited it several times.
Haotian raised his hand slightly, and the gates of the Underworld opened.
The assembled Lost Souls bowed to Haotian three times before filing through the gates in orderly fashion.
After the Lost Souls had departed, Haotian didn't leave right away.
Instead, he circulated his Mana and chanted the newly deduced Pure Heaven and Earth Divine Mantra.
"Heaven and earth are pure and natural; foul energy disperses..."
As Haotian recited the mantra, the surrounding Yin energy and foul energy melted away like ice beneath the blazing sun.
The Yin energy and foul energy in the area didn't simply vanish on their own.
Rather, Haotian used the power of the divine mantra to summon the righteousness of heaven and earth and dispel them.
A short while later,
the surrounding Yin energy and foul energy had dissipated. Only then did Haotian continue on his journey north.
Meanwhile, in the Underworld, Empress Pingxin had finally finished establishing the Yin Si.
In an instant,
several enormous streams of Merit descended from the heavens.
One of the smaller streams fell straight toward Haotian, who was still traveling.
The rest headed for the Underworld.
Seeing Merit descend upon him once again, Haotian was slightly taken aback.
The Merit from delivering the Lost Souls had already arrived earlier.
Why was more coming now? What was this about?
A thought crossed Haotian's mind, and he immediately understood.
Pingxin had finished establishing the Yin Si.
From now on, the Underworld's operations would be on the right track.
Establishing order in the Underworld naturally benefited the Primordial World, so it was only right for Merit to be bestowed.
Haotian thought nothing of it and calmly gathered up the Merit.
But the Six Sages of the Primordial World weren't so calm.
The Six Sages had gathered at the Heavenly Court earlier to pressure Haotian, and in doing so, they'd already offended him.
Now Haotian was earning Merit again and again, while they, the Sages, had gained nothing.
Didn't that imply that their contributions to the Primordial World were inferior to Haotian's?
That alone wasn't much of a problem.
It was just a blow to their pride.
As long as the Six Sages pretended not to notice, who would dare say it to their faces?
The real problem was that Haotian kept earning Merit.
Their ability to keep him in check would only grow weaker.
Those blessed with great Merit were always favored by the Heavenly Dao of the Primordial World.
Given Haotian's attitude toward them, if another dispute arose in the future, they might have to think through the consequences themselves before the Dao Ancestor ever had to intervene.
With great Merit to rely on, Haotian would only grow more brazen in their presence.
If things continued this way, what authority would the Sages have left?
This was especially true of Primordial Heavenly Venerate on Kunlun Mountain.
At that moment, he felt an inexplicable agitation.
He'd merely let his disciples probe Haotian.
He hadn't expected that one step to land on an Innate Supreme Treasure.
He'd directly made an enemy of Haotian, the Heavenly Emperor.
He had no idea where Haotian might strike next to make life difficult for the members of the Chan Teachings.
Given Haotian's position, if he truly decided to make things hard for the Chan Teachings, Primordial Heavenly Venerate himself had nothing to fear, but it would still bring plenty of trouble.
Especially now that Haotian's trump cards were growing stronger.
Before you continue