Taishang Laojun looked at his completely empty alchemy chamber, then at the little girl carrying the Qiankun Cauldron, her face declaring, "I'm standing up for my dad. It's only right!"
His Dao Heart, which had stood firm as a rock for billions of years, shattered in that instant.
He couldn't afford to get entangled in this karma! There was no arguing with that kind of logic!
Meanwhile.
At Kunlun Mountain, in Jade Void Palace.
Yuanshi Tianzun, seated on his Cloud Bed, abruptly opened his eyes. As his divine gaze swept across the world, the universe sprang into being and faded away, while the Great Dao turned in its cycles.
He made a quick calculation, only to find the secrets of Heaven churned into chaos by a brute force!
With a thought, his Divine Sense crossed boundless space and descended upon the Heavenly Court. At the sight before him, his ageless expression finally changed!
The South Heaven Gate lay in ruins. The Haotian Mirror was shattered across the ground, and a terrifying aura lingered there—one that made even him shudder.
Then there was Pantaoyuan: every Peach of Immortality had vanished, the Immortal Vein was severed, and the spiritual roots had withered. How could this place bear any resemblance to what it had once been?!
His gaze shifted to Doushuai Palace. Taishang Laojun was embracing a stone pillar in front of the hall, looking utterly bereft, his Dao Heart on the verge of collapse.
Yuanshi Tianzun furrowed his brow slightly, locking his Divine Sense onto the tiny red figure.
Xiruan was huffing and puffing as she took apart the two golden doors of Doushuai Palace. As she strained, a sharp, terrifying Dao aura surrounded her, one that could Break All Laws and annihilate everything!
"The aura of the Pangu Banner!"
Yuanshi Tianzun's hand clenched abruptly, and the surrounding space twisted soundlessly.
"Tongtian! You cunning Tongtian!"
"Imprisoned in Zixiao Palace, and you still managed to lay such a shocking trap in the outside world!"
A bloodline descendant?!
This little girl was clearly someone he'd refined to break out of this predicament!
The Haotian Mirror was shattered! The Heavenly Court's dignity was trampled!
Pantaoyuan was destroyed! The Heavenly Court's foundations were ruined!
Doushuai Palace was emptied! The Heavenly Court's supplies were cut off!
If this little girl was allowed to keep wreaking havoc, even the Heavenly Court's fortune might be shaken!
The order Hongjun had established in the Primeval World might be thrown into chaos!
Since when had his third brother become so defiant of Heaven?!
In the west, at Mount Sumeru.
Jieyin Daoren wore a mournful expression, while the radiance of the Seven Treasure Wonderful Tree in Zunti Daoren's hand flickered wildly. The two Saints' hearts were in turmoil.
"Senior Brother..."
"I saw it."
They looked at each other, and both saw boundless shock in the other's eyes, along with... a giddy delight they could hardly suppress.
The East was in chaos!
The Heavenly Court had been founded by the Dao Ancestor to suppress the fortune of the East, and now someone was beating it into the ground!
Wasn't this a heaven-sent opportunity for the West to rise?
"Senior Brother, this is the West's chance!"
"...A chance for the West to flourish!"
The two Saints spoke in unison. Yet, amid their delight, a sudden chill ran through them.
...Just what kind of thing was that?
It had withstood the Innate Supreme Treasure Haotian Mirror with its bare body and shattered it with a single blow? Even Senior Brother Taiqing's Taiji Diagram couldn't trap it?
When had that lunatic Tongtian hidden away such a monster?!
The two Saints exchanged another glance, their eyes filled with deep wariness.
This enormous opportunity... was scorching hot to the touch!
At Wa Huang Palace.
Saint Nuwa let out a quiet sigh. Her voice held a trace of helplessness, along with a hint of amusement she couldn't quite conceal.
At the entrance to Doushuai Palace, the little one was still eagerly figuring out how to pack up the two enormous golden doors and take them with her.
Her expression was extraordinarily complicated.
No one else could see clearly.
But she could see it plainly.
That little bronze cauldron being used as a sack was unmistakably the Qiankun Cauldron she had used to Mending the Heavens back then!
The treasure had been lost in the chaos. How had it ended up in Tongtian's hands—and being used... like this?
"Ah..."
"This little one is even more troublesome than those two lawless Demon Emperors back then."
Still...
Seeing Haotian's face beaten into a pig's head was truly satisfying!
And that Taishang Laojun...
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... That expression..."
"Pfft—"
Nuwa couldn't help laughing out loud.
Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, in the endless void.
Several supreme wills quietly collided in that moment.
Shock, solemnity, wariness, killing intent... countless emotions exchanged billions of times in an instant.
A silent understanding formed in the hearts of all the Saints.
Tongtian—the one they had joined forces to suppress, never to rise again...
He had flipped the table.
Not only had he flipped it, he'd also called in an unreasonable little brat who could bash them all to death to cause chaos.
At Zixiao Palace.
Master Tongtian shuddered violently, every hair on his body standing on end.
Saints' Divine Senses, filled with wariness, fear, and murderous intent, locked onto him.
Tongtian was utterly bewildered.
What had happened?
What... what had I done?
At the same time, outside Zixiao Palace.
Haotian, disheveled and bruised, rushed to the palace gates.
"Dao Ancestor! Save me!"
He fell to his knees with a thud, wailing in anguish.
"Dao Ancestor! Someone smashed the Heavenly Court you personally established!"
"Your Haotian Mirror is broken!"
"Saint Taiqing's Doushuai Palace has been emptied!"
"Tongtian... Tongtian has gone too far! He's letting his daughter run wild and commit violence, acting with utter disregard for the law!"
"Please, Dao Ancestor, uphold justice for your disciple!"
Haotian's wails echoed through the chaos, filled with endless grievance and indignation.
Yet the gates of Zixiao Palace remained firmly shut.
After a long while.
A young attendant's voice came from within.
"My lord decrees: the Heavenly Dao has its cycles, and every tribulation has its destined course. Take care of yourselves, and do not disturb his cultivation."
Haotian's wailing cut off abruptly.
He knelt there in a daze, as if he'd been struck by lightning.
Take care of yourselves?
Do not disturb him?
That was it?
He was the Heavenly Emperor! Someone had come right to his door and beaten him until his face was nearly pulp. The Heavenly Court's foundations were almost dug up!
And the result?
He'd come to report it to his lord, and his lord hadn't even opened the door—he'd just sent back eight words?
Haotian was instantly swallowed by absurdity and despair.
Why?
Why wasn't the Dao Ancestor doing anything?
Could it be... that even the Dao Ancestor feared Tongtian's hidden weapon?
No! Impossible!
The Dao Ancestor had joined with the Heavenly Dao and was impervious to all tribulations. How could he possibly be afraid?!
Then why?
Haotian's mind raced, countless thoughts crashing against one another.
Could this be the Dao Ancestor's test for him?!
The Dao Ancestor wasn't refusing to act. He was using Tongtian and that little monster to temper him!
When Heaven entrusts a great task to a person, it first tests their resolve and exhausts their body...
Yes! That had to be it!
The Dao Ancestor thought he'd had it too easy as Heavenly Emperor, so he'd personally arranged an unprecedented, supercharged trial for him!
That little monster hadn't shattered the Haotian Mirror—she'd shattered his cowardice!
She hadn't emptied Doushuai Palace—she'd emptied him of his dependence!
Once he understood this, the tears in Haotian's eyes gradually stopped.
He gazed fervently at the tightly shut gates of Zixiao Palace, a smile spreading wider and wider across his face.
"My lord! Your disciple... understands!"
Inside Zixiao Palace.
Hongjun, just about to meditate, nearly toppled off his Cloud Bed.
Wait, what have you understood now?
I didn't say anything at all?!
Before you continue