"Due to special circumstances, this gathering of Dao Seed is temporarily canceled. Please come with me."
System Number Three spoke urgently, activating the connection channel before Zhang Yu could react.
"What?"
On Earth, Zhang Yu, hidden among the crowd, and several other hosts of the Rebellious Dao Seed scattered in various places, all underwent a drastic change in expression.
The Dao Seed System within their bodies also simultaneously issued the highest-level alarm and evacuation order.
Before Zhang Yu could even think, he felt a strange distortion in the space around him.
A temporary spatial passage, shimmering with a faint light, opened unexpectedly beside him, and an irresistible, gentle yet resolute suction force pulled him inside.
"Etc..."
Zhang Yu instinctively wanted to resist; he could still see his family if he returned to Earth.
"No time, let's go."
In his mind, the voice of System Number Three carried an unquestionable decisiveness.
At the same time, Zhou Hengliang, the new vessel of the Hong Yue, was also swallowed up by another similar portal of light, leaving him in a state of astonishment.
The suction suddenly increased.
Zhang Yu and Zhou Hengliang were dragged into their respective spatial passages almost simultaneously.
In the final instant before they completely disappeared into the passage, they looked back—
The enormous Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram that covered the Earth suddenly became a million times brighter.
The Earth at the center of the Formation Diagram, and even the entire Solar System, is becoming increasingly blurred amidst this dazzling light, as if it is about to be completely hidden from this dimension of space and time.
The moment the passage closed, Zhang Yu felt the presence of Earth vanish.
The space of the Solar System, where Earth originally resided, underwent extremely bizarre changes.
The sun that has shone on Earth for billions of years, the eight planets orbiting it, and countless asteroids, satellites, dust... the entire Solar System.
At the moment the light of the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram reached its peak, the virtual image, as if the delete key had been pressed, vanished without a trace.
A moment of deathly silence.
"Sizzle--!"
A powerful and ruthless force tore open the void, creating a dark rift tens of thousands of miles long.
At the edge of the crack, purplish-black chaotic lightning danced wildly like mad snakes, exuding an aura of destruction and savagery.
A tall, upright figure, dressed in a faded blue Confucian Robe, stepped out from the crack.
Behind him, three figures, also dressed in Confucian Robe but slightly less imposing, yet still possessing a profound and dignified bearing, followed closely behind and stood respectfully in attendance.
"Master,"
On the left, a Middle-aged Confucian Scholar with a square face bowed to the old man in the blue robe and said in a deep voice:
We're too late.
The elderly man in the blue robe, referred to as "Master," was none other than Confucius, the Supreme Sage of Kong Qiu Confucianism.
Upon hearing this, his expression did not change much, but a sharp, cold glint flashed in the depths of his eyes, which seemed to be able to see through all the truths of the world, before he returned to his calm and composed state.
It's alright.
Confucius's voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable certainty:
"Just a bunch of cowardly Remnants who only dare to stir up trouble in the gutter."
To steal the legacy of the High Antiquity and attempt to Defy Heaven and Change Fate is ultimately wishful thinking.
They can run once, but they can't run a second time.
Before he finished speaking, the void beside him began to twist and ripple violently once more, like a boulder being thrown into a calm lake.
"Kong Lao'er, what's wrong with you?"
A sharp, urgent voice, filled with dissatisfaction and sarcasm, rang out from the still unstable spatial rift.
Immediately afterwards, a hunched figure, completely shrouded in a wide, pitch-black cloak, staggered out of the crack.
This person exuded a cold and unpredictable aura, completely opposite to Confucius's dignified and upright Righteous Qi.
It was none other than Guiguzi, the Patriarch of the School of Diplomacy, renowned for his unpredictable and infallible strategies.
As soon as Guiguzi appeared, two eerie green lights beneath his hood fixed intently on Confucius, his tone full of mockery:
"You finally managed to detect the aura fluctuations leaked by those High Antiquity Remnants, and you didn't even manage to capture them? You're utterly incompetent."
Confucius remained calm in the face of Guiguzi's blunt accusations, though the dignified scholarly aura around him seemed to solidify slightly.
He glanced at Guiguzi indifferently, his voice remaining calm:
"Why did you rush here so hastily, and why are you so eager to capture the High Antiquity remnants? Are you afraid that the old grievances will be brought up again, and they will come back to seek revenge on you?"
Upon hearing this, Guiguzi's body, hidden beneath his wide cloak, seemed to stiffen almost imperceptibly, and the eerie green light beneath his hood flickered erratically.
He chuckled twice, but his voice sounded somewhat hollow despite his outward bravado.
What do I have to be afraid of?
Back then... back then, it was you, Sage Kong, who led the way in pledging allegiance to Pan Yong and submitted the petition to the New Heavenly Court.
Even if they wanted revenge, the first person they would seek out would be you Supreme Sage and Teacher.
When the old stories were mentioned, a complex expression finally crossed Confucius's usually calm face.
There was regret, helplessness, and a fleeting resentment, but more than anything, there was a deep, indescribable weariness.
He paused for a moment before slowly saying:
"If it weren't for your cunning and manipulative words that School of Diplomacy me back then, how could I have..."
"Enough!"
Guiguzi abruptly interrupted Confucius, his voice suddenly becoming shrill:
Kong Qiu, put away your hypocritical attitude.
Now that you've done it and chosen this path, don't put on this pathetic act of regret and as if you've been deceived.
Regret it now?
It's too late.
He took a breath, and the shadow beneath his hood seemed to stir. His voice lowered, carrying a hint of barely concealed annoyance and gloom:
"To be honest, I... I never expected things to turn out this way back then."
My original intention was simply to use the power of the Pan Clan members outside the Three Realms to slightly restrain the arrogant Heavenly Court and the Human Race Holy Emperor.
That's why I joined forces with you to sow discord between the Heavenly Court and the Human Race.
Who would have thought... that both the Heavenly Court and the Human Race were stubborn fools, fighting to the bitter end like hotheads, resulting in mutual destruction and the outsiders reaping the benefits.
Guiguzi's voice grew softer and softer until it was almost inaudible, filled with the bitterness of things not going as planned.
But then, he abruptly raised his head, his eerie green gaze fixed on Confucius, his tone turning cold and resolute once more:
"But there's no turning back once the arrow is released. We're both deeply entangled in what happened back then, and what's on our hands... goes beyond just karma."
Today, our relationship with those people, with that High Antiquity race, is one of irreconcilable conflict.
If they return, the first people they will settle scores with are 'traitors' like you and me.
Therefore, if we can't find them, we'll both die!
Do you understand?
Confucius remained silent, but his hands, which were behind his back, quietly clenched into fists, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force.
He certainly understood this principle.
But over these hundreds of thousands of years, that heavy sense of guilt grew stronger day by day, like a maggot clinging to his bones, gnawing at his sacred heart.
Just as the atmosphere between the two was tense and they each harbored their own thoughts—
Boom!!!
The entire starry sky began to tremble violently without warning.
It wasn't spatial fluctuations, but something more fundamental, as if the "foundation" that supports this universe was trembling.
An aura, so savage, ancient, and unimaginably heavy, descended with a deafening roar, like a sleeping behemoth awakening!
Click!
Not far from Confucius and Guiguzi, the starry sky, like a shattered mirror, was forcibly torn apart by a giant hand covered in blue scales, as large as a star.
Immediately afterwards, a giant, whose height was tens of thousands of miles and whose muscles were as bulging as ancient mountains, stepped out from the torn void.
The giant merely stood there, and the oppressive aura emanating from him dimmed the starlight around him and distorted space, as if it could not withstand his presence.
He looked down at Confucius and Guiguzi, who appeared as insignificant specks below, his enormous, bell-like eyes flashing with undisguised tyranny, disdain, and... rage.
Upon seeing this suddenly appearing giant, both the dignified Confucius and the sinister Guiguzi had their pupils shrink slightly, their brows furrowed involuntarily, and a trace of fear and disgust flashed across their faces.
However, the two quickly composed themselves and bowed slightly, though the gesture seemed rather perfunctory.
"Your Guardian Envoy the Garrison Commander," Confucius said calmly, his tone revealing neither joy nor anger.
"Guardian Pan Qing," Guiguzi shouted in a hoarse voice.
This giant, spanning ten thousand miles, is none other than Pan Qing, one of the Guardian Envoy under Pan Qing Pan Yong, responsible for guarding this remote corner of the universe and monitoring the movements of the "remnants High Antiquity Remnants."
He was a pure-blooded descendant of the Pan Clan. Although not a top-tier expert, he had a special identity, formidable strength, and a notoriously violent temperament.