Pay me back?
Pay me back!
Yuanshi Tianzun heard those words and laughed in fury.
"Good! Very good, Tongtian! You sharp-tongued wretch!"
He fixed his eyes on Xiruan and asked, each word deliberate, "What kind of wicked thing did Tongtian give you to make you so brazen?"
"What wicked thing?"
Xiruan blinked her big, bright eyes, looking utterly confused.
"This is my Milk Bottle! It's how I eat!"
She pointed at Yuanshi Tianzun and warned him in a fierce, babyish voice:
"I'm telling you, bad Second Uncle!"
"If you ever team up with that bad Big Uncle to bully my Daddy again, I'll tear down this broken house of yours and turn it into an outhouse!"
"Just like that bad village bully's house!"
Turn it into... an outhouse?!
At those three words, Yuanshi Tianzun's mind went blank with a buzzing sound.
What a disgrace!
This was the most vicious, most blatant insult to him as a Saint and to the teachings of his Chan Sect!
"You... are... dead!"
At that moment, Yuanshi Tianzun's reason was utterly swept away.
He reached into the void and summoned his trump card.
A battered banner, ancient and desolate, seemed to bear all the murderous aura from the dawn of the universe. Its phantom slowly appeared behind him.
The Pangu Banner!
The moment it appeared, every magic treasure in the Primordial Three Realms that was an Innate Spirit Treasure or higher let out a groan under the strain.
"Today, I shall act in Heaven's stead and cleanse the family!"
Yuanshi Tianzun's voice rang across the nine heavens.
The Saints watching in secret all changed expression.
"The Pangu Banner! Yuanshi actually used the Pangu Banner!"
"It's only a phantom, but that power... is enough to seriously injure a Saint!"
"That little girl is in danger!"
Inside Zixiao Palace, Master Tongtian rammed himself against the restrictions like a madman.
"Yuanshi! Don't you dare! If you so much as harm a hair on my daughter's head, I, Tongtian, will turn to the Devil Dao and perish with you!"
But none of it could stop Yuanshi Tianzun.
Hearing his brother's furious roar, Yuanshi merely scoffed in disdain.
The phantom of the Pangu Banner behind him swayed gently.
A blast of chaotic sword energy, powerful enough to cleave the entire Primeval World in two, surged toward Xiruan.
Facing this world-destroying strike, Xiruan wrinkled her nose.
"Hmph! You think you can hit me with a scrap of cloth?"
Her face was full of disdain. Why did everyone like fighting with cloth?!
"Just you wait! I'll tear it to shreds!"
The chaotic sword energy and the Chaos Baby Bottle—two supreme powers both dating back to the dawn of creation—crashed together atop Kunlun Mountain!
At the point where they met, space, time, laws, the Great Dao... everything, tangible or intangible, was annihilated in an instant, leaving behind absolute nothingness.
For the first time, Xiruan felt an immense, unstoppable force surge from the bottle, sending her tiny body flying backward.
"Huh?"
She barely steadied herself. For the first time, surprise showed on her little face.
"This scrap of cloth is pretty strong."
She said it lightly, but alarm bells were ringing in her heart.
Waaah, that really hurt!
Xiruan's big eyes reddened a little. She held back her tears and tried to encourage herself.
I have to protect Daddy!
If I can't even beat this bad Second Uncle, they'll bully Daddy every day from now on. They'll lock him in the Small Dark Room and keep him from eating!
If I lose, they'll take Daddy away to pay his debt!
Absolutely not!
[ Ding! The host is desperate to protect her father and collect his debt, daring to challenge a Saint's authority! Her filial devotion has moved Heaven and Earth! ]
[ God-Level Choice System activated! ]
The icy mechanical voice rang in Xiruan's mind like heavenly music.
It's here! It's here!
I knew the system wouldn't abandon me as long as I was filial!
[ Option One: Immediately kneel and apologize to Yuanshi Tianzun, then loudly admit that your father is a gambler who lost all his family's wealth. Reward: Top-grade Innate Spirit Treasure · One Turtle Shell (MAX Defense). ]
[ Option Two: Run away crying, shouting "Daddy, help!" as pitifully as you can. Reward: One-use · Thousand-Mile Travel Talisman. ]
[ Option Three: Point at Yuanshi Tianzun and tell him that today you won't just collect the debt—you'll empty his entire household! Reward: Complete · Zhuxian Formation Diagram! ]
Xiruan looked at the three options and pouted.
The first was too embarrassing. She wouldn't be a coward, and she definitely wouldn't badmouth Daddy!
The second was embarrassing too. What kind of hero ran away crying? She was going to protect Daddy!
Only the third matched her status as "the Most Filial Daughter in the Primeval World"!
"I choose three!"
She raised her head and shouted in a fierce, babyish voice:
"Bad Second Uncle! Just you wait! Today, I'm not only collecting rent from you—I'm emptying your whole house and leaving you without a single hair!"
[ Ding! The host has made her choice. Reward issued! ]
[ Congratulations, host! You have received: Complete · Zhuxian Formation Diagram! ]
As the system's notification sounded,
a mysterious, ancient scroll appeared in Xiruan's little hand, as if it bore the fate of the universe's end and all things returning to the void.
The instant the scroll appeared, the Jade Pure Immortal Light that had flowed across Kunlun Mountain for countless ages froze in place.
An indescribable aura of slaughter leaked from the tiny scroll.
Just a trace was enough to make the entire Kunlun Mountain Range groan under the strain.
The invincible phantom of the Pangu Banner behind Yuanshi Tianzun began to vanish, inch by inch, as though it had met its natural enemy.
Yuanshi Tianzun's Dharma Body froze. He stared at the utterly ordinary-looking scroll in Xiruan's hand.
The Zhuxian... Formation Diagram? And it was... complete?!
How... how was that possible?!
How?!
Yuanshi Tianzun couldn't believe his eyes.
Hadn't they joined forces to destroy the Zhuxian Formation Diagram during the Investiture of the Gods Calamity?
How could Tongtian... how could he still have a complete Formation Diagram, one even more terrifying than before?!
Where had he gotten it?!
What he found most impossible to understand, what he couldn't accept, was that Tongtian had given such a heaven-defying treasure of slaughter to a three-and-a-half-year-old baby?!
What was he trying to do?
What was he trying to do?!
Was he declaring war on Yuanshi Tianzun? On the entire Heavenly Dao?!
Yuanshi Tianzun felt a chill shoot from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. Since when had his third brother become so bold?!
If he'd been this bold during the Investiture of the Gods, could the Interception Sect have been destroyed?!
Meanwhile, at Zixiao Palace,
Master Tongtian stared blankly at the familiar scroll in his daughter's hand, completely dumbfounded.
The instant the Formation Diagram appeared, he had sensed it clearly.
Hongjun had long since taken his Four Swords of Immortal Execution.
"I... I don't have it..."
Master Tongtian reflexively looked down at his empty hands, his mind turning to mush.
Where had this Formation Diagram come from?
The system?
Hadn't his daughter just said something about a system reward?
And what was a system?
Just as he was racking his brains over it, several intense, murderous Saint Divine Senses locked onto him again.
Master Tongtian shuddered and immediately came to his senses.
It's over!
There's no clearing my name now!
(Thanks so much, dear readers, for enjoying the story and asking for more! I received a gift today, and I'm so happy.)
(Thanks to 'Xixi...' for the bonus-update talisman! I'll work hard to post five chapters a day these next few days~~~~)
(Please, dear readers, leave lots of comments and hit the "more updates" button! Could I also get a few free "power of love" gifts?)
(Please~~~ This affects whether I can keep writing later.)
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