"Me... ptooey!"
Zhao Gongming summoned all his strength and spat a mouthful of bloody saliva toward Zhunti.
He raised his head and glared at Zhunti with bloodshot eyes. His voice was hoarse, yet filled with defiance.
"Shameless bald donkey! If you want to kill me, then do it! You think I, Zhao Gongming, will betray my sect and become your dog? In your dreams!"
"Alas, you're incorrigible."
Zhunti shook his head, a trace of "regret" on his face.
"Since that's the case, I have no choice but to take you back to the Western Teachings by force and have you chant scriptures day and night in the Eight-Treasure Merit Pond, washing away your stubbornness and karmic burdens."
With that, he reached out to seize Zhao Gongming.
But just as his hand was about to touch Zhao Gongming—
A sudden change!
"Hey, you Daoist over there! Leave your treasures behind!"
A crisp shout, brimming with reckless bravado, came from the distant horizon.
Immediately afterward, a streak of golden light shot through the air with blinding speed!
The golden light was an ordinary-looking copper coin with a pair of wings and mysterious runes engraved upon it.
Its target was neither Zhunti nor Zhao Gongming on the ground, but the Twenty-Four Sea Calming Divine Beads and Qiankun Ruler, still wrapped in Zhunti's multicolored radiance and not yet put away!
"Hm?"
Zhunti furrowed his brows and instinctively tried to put the treasures away.
But the coin was too fast!
Moreover, it carried an extremely strange innate Dao charm that specifically countered all the magical treasures under heaven!
"Fall!"
At the shout from afar, the coin struck the bundle of treasures wrapped in multicolored radiance with unerring precision.
Humm—
A strange humming rang out.
The Sea Calming Divine Beads and Qiankun Ruler had been forcibly suppressed by the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree and had already lost their spiritual nature. The moment the coin struck them, they seemed to be drawn by some mysterious law. They jolted violently and broke free of the multicolored radiance!
Then, under Zhunti's stunned gaze, they dropped straight from midair like stones with nothing to support them.
The sudden turn of events left everyone present dumbfounded.
Zhunti was stunned.
He was a mighty Saint, and the treasures he had brushed into his possession with the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree—his proof-of-sainthood treasure—had just been knocked away by a tiny copper coin?
What was the logic behind that?
What kind of treasure was this?
Zhao Gongming on the ground was stunned too.
He stared blankly at the Sea Calming Divine Beads and Qiankun Ruler falling from the sky straight toward him.
What... was going on?
At that moment, two figures were speeding over from the distant horizon on clouds.
Leading the way was a young Daoist, gesticulating wildly with excitement written all over his face.
"Senior Brother! Did you see that? My Treasure Dropping Golden Coin really is unstoppable! Look, I knocked that Daoist's treasures right out of his hands!"
The slightly older Daoist beside him was also delighted, though a trace of solemnity lingered in his eyes.
"Junior Brother, don't let your guard down! That Daoist has such a formidable treasure—he's no ordinary person! Let's grab the treasures and leave at once. We mustn't get bogged down in a fight!"
These two were the rogue cultivators Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao from Mount Wuyi.
After refining the newly acquired Innate Spiritual Treasure, the Treasure Dropping Golden Coin, they had gone out to wander around and test its power.
From far away, they sensed astonishing treasure light and energy fluctuations here, and curiosity had drawn them over.
As soon as they arrived, they saw Zhunti holding the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree and suppressing a dazzling pile of magical treasures.
Xiao Sheng was young and hot-blooded, and full of confidence in his Treasure Dropping Golden Coin. Without a second thought, he had attacked.
He had no idea that the treasures he had knocked down belonged to a Saint—and were his spoils of war.
In the critical instant, while everyone was still stunned by the sudden turn of events, an unexpected figure appeared beside the falling Sea Calming Divine Beads and Qiankun Ruler like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, moving with a speed that surpassed space and time!
The newcomer wore a Daoist robe. His features were ancient and austere, and his eyes glittered with boundless greed and delight.
He was none other than the Sect of Explanation's Deputy Leader, Daoist Randeng!
He had been lying in wait here for a very long time.
All of this was part of a scheme!
A massive scheme personally laid by Shen Zhaochi, master of the Investiture of the Gods, for himself, for Zhao Gongming, for Zhunti, and for Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao!
And Randeng was the one in the scheme tasked with reaping the rewards!
"Hahaha! Zhao Gongming! Zhunti! I thank you both for your generous gifts!"
Randeng let out a laugh of utter triumph.
He swept his wide sleeve, unleashing the power of the universe, and instantly swept all twenty-four Sea Calming Divine Beads and the Qiankun Ruler into it.
Having done so, he didn't linger for even a moment. He didn't so much as glance at Zhao Gongming on the ground or the stunned Zhunti.
He turned, tore open the void, transformed into a streak of light, and fled madly in the opposite direction from both Kunlun Mountain and Golden Ao Island!
"My Twenty-Four Heavens!"
Saint Zhunti finally snapped out of it.
His leering face twisted instantly, becoming more hideous than the most vicious demon god of the Primordial Era!
He was furious!
Furious beyond anything he had ever felt before!
He had worked himself to the bone, lowered himself and acted in person, and finally managed to suppress Zhao Gongming and seize the treasures.
He was on the verge of success, about to bring back the foundation that would allow the Western Teachings to flourish.
But first, two idiots had appeared out of nowhere and knocked his treasures away with a worthless copper coin.
Then, a Randeng had come crawling out of nowhere and snatched away the duck he was about to have—right in front of him!
This was a humiliation beyond measure!
It was as if someone had slammed Saint Zhunti's face to the ground and ground it underfoot!
"Randeng!"
A roar brimming with boundless murderous intent and rage burst from Zhunti's mouth, reverberating throughout the Primordial Era!
"How dare you steal my treasures! Stop right there!"
Zhunti no longer cared about Zhao Gongming on the ground, nor about Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao, who were still rushing over.
There was only one thought in his mind now.
Catch up to Randeng!
Kill him!
Take back the Twenty-Four Heavens!
The Sixteen-Foot Golden Body behind him blazed with light. It tore through the void as well and pursued Randeng at an even greater speed!
For a moment, all that remained at the scene was Zhao Gongming, gravely wounded and on the brink of death, his treasures gone and his Dao Heart shattered.
And the two "culprits," Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao, who had just arrived and were staring at the scene in utter bewilderment.
Before you continue