As Daoist Jieyin finished speaking, the gloom that had covered Daoist Zhunti's face vanished in an instant. His eyes gleamed with calculation.
"Senior Brother, I understand! I completely understand!" Zhunti slapped his thigh, his voice rising an octave. "This is a godsend!"
He paced back and forth a few times, growing more excited with every step until the wrinkles on his face had gathered into a smiling chrysanthemum.
"Think about it, Senior Brother! Yuanshi is an old stubborn mule who cares deeply about his reputation. Now his twelve precious disciples have been wiped out in one fell swoop, their cultivation stripped away. He's lost face on a scale greater than the heavens! How could he let this go? Of course he won't!"
"And that old Taishang has come out to smooth things over again, babbling about the bonds between the Three Pure Ones and stopping Yuanshi. Now the two of them are fighting each other in there, and neither has time to worry about what's happening outside."
Zhunti rubbed his hands together, practically drooling. "What's inside the Nine Bends Yellow River Formation? Three powerful but not particularly clever demonesses! Twelve Golden Immortals of the Sect of Explanation, reduced to mortals and unable to hurt a fly! And, and a whole pile of glittering Innate Spiritual Treasures! The Primordial Golden Dou! The Sky-Turning Seal! The Yin Yang Mirror! The Immortal Slaying Sword!"
With each treasure he named, his eyes shone brighter.
"Those things are practically lying on the ground, waiting for someone to pick them up, aren't they? Yuanshi and Taishang are fighting in there, and Tongtian can't get out. It's as if they're waiting for me to 'pick them up'! No, wait—to 'enlighten' them! They're destined for our Western Teachings!"
Watching his junior brother looking so greedy, Daoist Jieyin managed a rare smile despite his sorrowful expression. He knew that although Zhunti often seemed unreliable, there was no one in the Primordial Era better at this sort of thing.
"Good." Daoist Jieyin nodded, his voice tinged with compassion for all living things. "Though the Three Firmament Fairies are ruthless in their actions, they were avenging their elder brother and are burdened with the sin of killing. They are precisely the sort of people our Buddhist school should enlighten. Enlightening them would cleanse them of their sins. It would be a great merit."
"And the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Sect of Explanation have fallen from the clouds to the mortal realm in a single day, their Dao Hearts shattered. This is the perfect time for them to see through the mundane world, understand their true nature, and take refuge in our Buddha. If they join our Western Teachings and rebuild their golden bodies, their future achievements need not fall short of those in the Mystic Gate."
"Junior Brother," Daoist Jieyin said, his voice growing more solemn, "when you go, remember that compassion must guide you. The teachings of our Western Teachings are meant to save all living beings. Use your compassion to move them, and 'invite' all these destined souls back to the Western Paradise. The water of the Eight Treasures Merit Pond will cleanse them of their sins and worldly dust."
"Senior Brother, you can rest easy!" Zhunti grinned and thumped his chest. "Your junior brother is the most compassionate of all! I guarantee I'll 'invite' every last one of them back, safe and sound! I won't harm a single hair on their heads!"
As for those treasures, they were naturally "destined objects" as well. It was only right that he, a saint of compassion, safeguard them for a while, lest they end up outside and gather dust.
With Jieyin's command in hand, Zhunti could hardly contain himself. His mind was full of visions of the Primordial Golden Dou and the Sky-Turning Seal beckoning to him. As for Daoist Randeng, slippery as an eel, Zhunti had long since banished him from his thoughts.
"Senior Brother, I'm off!"
Before the words had faded, Daoist Zhunti's figure flickered and turned into a barely perceptible streak of golden light. He tore through the void and slipped silently toward Xiqi in the Eastern Land.
In his eyes, this was a perfect setup.
Yuanshi and Taishang were the mantises fighting to the death.
The Three Firmament Fairies and the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Sect of Explanation were the poor cicadas waiting to be eaten.
And Zhunti was the canny oriole, ready to swoop in at the last moment and claim everything!
Yet none of them knew—
Behind that self-satisfied oriole lurked an even shrewder, far more ancient hunter.
Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, in Wa Huang Palace.
Deep within the palace, Empress Nuwa sat on a cloud bed, idly teasing a resplendent nine-colored luan bird. Her expression was detached, as if none of the conflicts in the world had anything to do with her.
Ever since the War Between the Lich Clans and the decline of the Yao Race, she, the Yao Race Saint, had lived in isolation from the world.
When she saw her people, once the protagonists of heaven and earth, reduced to other people's mounts or skinned and dismembered for materials to forge treasures, it wasn't that her heart didn't ache.
But what could she do?
The greater trend of Heaven's Way was for the Mystic Gate to prosper and the Human Race to rise. It was predetermined.
Though she was a saint, she was powerless to turn the tide. The helplessness of watching her people suffer while being unable to do anything was a thorn lodged deep in her Dao Heart, one that had not faded in countless eons.
Suddenly, her fingers stopped in midair as she teased the luan bird.
Her saintly eyes, as still as an ancient well and seemingly reflecting the stars of every heaven, shifted slightly toward the empty space before her.
"Hmm?"
The air before her rippled like water. A golden edict appeared out of nowhere, without a sound.
The edict was peculiar. It held not the slightest trace of magical energy—not even the most basic Great Dao Runes. Yet it hung there quietly, radiating a sacred aura of supreme authority, as if it could wield the authority of Heaven's Way and command the gods of every heaven.
Empress Nuwa's expression changed at once.
For the first time, her beautiful, cool face took on an expression of solemnity.
She recognized that aura.
This was... the aura of the Investiture of the Gods!
The supreme Heavenly Dao treasure bestowed personally by Master Hongjun before he merged with the Dao, a peerless weapon meant to establish the divine order and determine the Great Tribulation of Investiture of the Gods!
Wasn't this supposed to be with Venerable Yuanshi? Why had it appeared in her Wa Huang Palace as a separate edict?
Moreover, the aura emanating from the edict seemed purer, more primordial, and more... supreme than the version she remembered Venerable Yuanshi possessing.
As if this were the message of the true master of the Investiture of the Gods!
A tempest surged in Empress Nuwa's heart, but outwardly she remained calm. She extended a slender jade finger and gently tapped the golden edict.
There was no earth-shaking sound, nor any dazzling radiance.
The moment the edict touched her fingertip, it became a gentle golden light and quietly entered the space between her brows.
Immediately afterward, a message rang out in the depths of her primordial spirit, like a command from Heaven's Way.
The message was simple, yet filled with boundless power.
"Fellow Daoist Nuwa, do you wish to restore the Yao Race to its former glory?"
The simple question rang through Empress Nuwa's mind like a primordial thunderbolt!
Restore the Yao Race to its former glory!
Those four words embodied her obsession of countless eons, the deepest pain in her heart!
For the first time, her saintly eyes, long accustomed to the rise and fall of seas and the birth and death of all things, could not conceal their shock and elation.
She almost thought she was hallucinating.
But the unmistakable message in the depths of her primordial spirit, imbued with the majesty of Heaven's Way, told her that it was all real.
She forcibly suppressed her excitement and continued reading the message.
"If you are willing, go to Xiqi and help the Three Firmament Fairies of the Interception Sect hold Taishang back."
"Afterward, of the three hundred and sixty-five righteous gods on the Investiture of the Gods, the Yao Race may claim three hundred!"
"The Yao Race may enter the Heavenly Court and enjoy incense offerings for countless generations. Reestablishing the Yao Race's Heavenly Court is not out of the question!"
Before you continue