The Primordial World's Biggest Meddler

Above the Netherworld Blood Sea, blood waves surged. A Blood God Son avatar surfaced and was spotted by Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

"Hmph!"

He snorted and used an unsurpassed Buddhist divine ability to knock the Blood God Son avatar back.

When something this serious had happened, he'd already sent word to the Two Sages of the West.

After leaving the Netherworld Blood Sea, he'd waited on the shore to welcome them.

Two figures appeared on the horizon and crossed the distance in a single step, arriving beside Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

"Greetings, Venerable Ones!"

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva hurriedly bowed to the Two Sages of the West.

Daoist Jieyin looked grim. Ever since Ksitigarbha had left the Underworld, the steady stream of merit had dried up.

That was the last thing they wanted to see.

But the Netherworld Underworld belonged to Empress Pingxin, and they didn't dare underestimate her in the slightest.

Though she couldn't leave the Underworld, dealing with the two of them would be as easy as reaching into a pocket.

There were nine levels of Sainthood, and even Saints varied in strength.

When the Two Sages of the West had founded their sect and achieved Dao, they'd lacked sufficient merit. They'd had no choice but to make forty-eight grand vows, which had only just been enough for them to become Saints together.

As a result, they were the weakest of the Saints in the Primordial World.

Daoist Jieyin had reached the late stage of the First Heaven of Sainthood, while Daoist Zhunti was slightly weaker, at the middle stage of the First Heaven.

Empress Nuwa had become a Saint by creating humanity, and had also gained vast merit from Mending the Heavens with refined stones. She had reached the Third Heaven of Sainthood.

The Three Pure Ones were incarnations of the Great God Pangu's Primordial Spirit, split into three. They'd been born with the vast merit Pangu had gained from creating the world.

Their strength far surpassed that of the other Saints.

Among the Three Pure Ones, Laozi had the highest cultivation, at the Fifth Heaven of Sainthood.

Sect Master Tongtian and Venerable Primordial were both at the Fourth Heaven.

Empress Pingxin, within the Underworld, possessed strength comparable to Heavenly Dao Hongjun. At the very least, she was at the Seventh Heaven of Sainthood.

Though magic treasures could make up for the gap between Saints, the Western World was barren, and they had few such treasures.

They'd never heard of any connection between Ye Changqing and Empress Pingxin.

The Two Sages of the West decided to take a gamble: they'd bet she wouldn't protect Ye Changqing.

In the Netherworld Underworld, the Ten Palace Yama Kings had gathered together, all looking ill at ease.

The Eighteen Levels of Hell had been emptied, leaving them with nothing to do.

Ye Changqing sat in the main hall and casually opened the Book of Life and Death. He found that many entries had been left blank.

They must have been the evil spirits Ancestor Minghe had killed.

He turned to the page about the monkey, but the immortal stone that would give birth to Sun Wukong hadn't yet developed a spirit.

Bang!

He tossed the Book of Life and Death onto the table, frightening the old Yama Kings below.

They couldn't afford to offend either Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva or the formidable figure before them.

What if he took it into his head to drive them out of the Netherworld? What would they do then?

They'd already sent someone to report to Empress Pingxin, but still hadn't heard back.

That damned fellow. Once he returned, they'd throw him into the boiling oil!

King Qin Guang, the leader of the Ten Palace Yama Kings, forced a smile and cupped his hands to Ye Changqing. "May I ask what instructions you have for us, Immortal?"

They'd once been masterless, wandering souls gathered in the Netherworld Blood Sea. After Houtu had sacrificed herself to create reincarnation, they'd been appointed as the Ten Palace Yama Kings.

In essence, they were still ghost immortals, which made their status rather low.

Ever since Old Ancestor Hongjun had sent Haotian Shangdi to take charge of the Heavenly Court once more, they'd been under its jurisdiction.

The turmoil in the Underworld had been reported to the Heavenly Court as well.

But no word had come from Empress Pingxin, and the ghost messenger sent to the Heavenly Court hadn't returned either.

This left them on edge.

Ye Changqing paid no heed to their unease. He simply turned his gaze into the distance.

The Two Sages of the West had finally arrived!

Those two were the Primordial World's biggest meddlers.

Back then, Ancestor Hong Yun had yielded his seat of Sainthood to them, leaving them indebted to him by an enormous karmic debt.

Since they couldn't solve the problem, they'd decided to eliminate the person who'd raised it.

So, with their scheme in motion, Ancestor Hong Yun had died at the hands of Demon Master Kunpeng.

During the Witch-Demon Tribulation, Daoist Zhunti had tricked the ten Golden Crows into leaving Tang Valley, leading to Hou Yi Shoots the Suns.

After the Witch-Demon War, they'd taken the opportunity to abduct many members of the Demon Race's Heavenly Court and bring them back to the Western World.

Then, during the future Investiture of the Gods Tribulation, they'd bewitched King Zhou and made him write a lewd poem in Nuwa Temple, angering Empress Nuwa.

That was what caused the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation to play out amid a change of dynasties in the mortal human world.

When Sect Master Tongtian had set up the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation, which required four Saints to break, they'd helped Venerable Primordial and Laozi destroy it.

In the final battle, the Myriad Immortals Formation had been broken, and they'd taken more than three thousand Jie Sect Disciples.

Ye Changqing felt he had to scheme against them somehow.

Daoist Jieyin looked sorrowful. The moment he arrived, he was the first to accuse Ye Changqing. "Ye Changqing, you've fallen into the Devil Dao!"

"Those countless evil spirits had committed sins, but they could still have turned over a new leaf. Why did you kill them?"

Daoist Zhunti echoed him. "We'll spare you the time you have left. Come with us at once to Purple Heaven Palace and admit your fault to Teacher Hongjun!"

As long as they could get Ye Changqing out of the Netherworld Underworld, they could do whatever they wanted with him.

They even wanted to kill Ye Changqing outright, bringing the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation forward.

According to the Heavenly Dao, once the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation had passed, the Western World would enter an era of great prosperity.

They could hardly wait for that day to come!

Ye Changqing remained at ease, unmoved. Someone would soon arrive to vent his anger for him.

After all, Empress Pingxin was Houtu Ancestral Witch of the Witch Race. They still had a score to settle over what had happened back then.

"Oh no!"

Daoist Zhunti sensed something was wrong and immediately tried to flee with Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

"What's the meaning of this, fellow Daoist?"

Daoist Jieyin cried out too, though he already knew the answer.

"Today, I'll see justice done for Hou Yi and Kuafu!"

Empress Pingxin gave a soft reprimand. The aura around her had grown so terrifying that the Two Sages of the West trembled in fear.

Without hesitation, they turned and fled, not caring in the least about the dignity of Saints.

Or perhaps their dignity had vanished long ago, when they first said, "This treasure is fated to belong to our Western World."

The power of the Netherworld Dao was vast. The Two Sages of the West felt the earth itself rejecting them.

In the blink of an eye, they fled trillions of miles—yet when they looked back, they were still in the Yama Hall.

Was this the Netherworld Dao's ability to shrink the earth and make the ends of the world seem close at hand?

With no other choice, they decided to fight back, bringing out their magic treasures to stand against Empress Pingxin.

Ancestral Witches had no Primordial Spirit and couldn't use magic treasures. So after Houtu Ancestral Witch had become Empress Pingxin, she hadn't had any decent treasures of her own.

They only had to hold out until their reinforcements arrived, and it would all be over.

In Jade Void Palace on Kunlun Mountain, Venerable Primordial opened his eyes in surprise.

He'd never dreamed the Two Sages of the West would provoke that figure in the Underworld.

At Eight Sceneries Palace on Shouyang Mountain, everything had returned to normal. Laozi was answering Grand Master Xuandu's questions about cultivation.

After receiving the Two Sages of the West's plea for help, he paused for a moment, then continued explaining things to Grand Master Xuandu.

Neither of them wanted to provoke that troublesome figure.

Better for a fellow Daoist to die than oneself. That was the first rule of survival in the Primordial World.

Bang!

Empress Pingxin's blow, brimming with fury, sent the Two Sages of the West flying.

Daoist Zhunti gritted his teeth and charged forward again with the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree.

Daoist Jieyin was no less determined. He waved the Jieyin Treasure Banner, unleashing boundless Buddha-light as he tried to ambush Empress Pingxin.

But against overwhelming strength, everything was futile.

Just as she defeated the Two Sages of the West with a single blow and was about to seize them, a flash of purple light in the sky blocked her sight.

When she opened her eyes again, the Two Sages of the West and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva had vanished without a trace.

"The Heavenly Dao!"

Empress Pingxin slowly uttered those two words.