The ancestral master's phantom in the clouds smiled and slowly faded into the rosy light, leaving only a divine thought echoing behind: "Uphold the righteous heart, protect all living beings. The Divine Firmament Dao shall endure alongside Heaven."
Li Yunjing gazed in the direction where the ancestral master had vanished. The Divine Firmament Token in his palm suddenly grew hot, and a line of tiny characters appeared on its back: "Where thunder strikes, there lies the Dao Path."
A thought stirred in his heart. Perhaps this was the ancestral master's expectation of him.
Below the altar, the sect leaders of the various factions bowed in unison. "Congratulations to the Divine Firmament Dao Sect on receiving Heaven's mandate and ushering in the flourishing of the righteous path!"
"May the Divine Firmament endure! May the righteous path endure!"
Hundreds of thousands of cultivators knelt as one, their cries shaking the heavens.
"This is the protection of our forebears, and the will of all living beings."
Watching the magnificent scene, Ming Lingchuan scattered the ashes of the golden book across the earth. Then he turned to Li Yunjing. "Yunjing, look upon these vast lands stretching a million li. This is the Dao we must protect."
Li Yunjing looked at the cultivators covering the mountains and plains, then at the Divine Firmament Pass bathed in rosy light. Suddenly, he understood the meaning of this ceremony.
Victory meant more than destroying a sect. It meant carving the mark of the righteous path into Heaven and Earth with blood and loyalty.
At that moment, the image on the Image Recording Stone wall froze on the instant the Nether Valley collapsed. Beneath it appeared a line of large, thunder-patterned characters: "Though demonic flames scorch the heavens, our Dao is not alone; thunder sweeps away filth, and our