Tongtian Cult Master, the Fifth Personal Disciple

Xuan Liu stood where he was, his pupils suddenly contracting as towering waves surged through his heart.

He had originally thought that the phenomena he had triggered would at most draw the attention of Duobao Daoist and the other four personal disciples.

They might set a few more trials to see whether he was qualified to be brought before a Saint.

Yet he had never expected the shock brought by his heaven-defying comprehension to be so great.

Even Duobao Daoist, the senior brother of the Interception Sect and a Great Luo Golden Immortal, had been stunned.

He actually intended to bring him directly into Jade Tour Palace to face that lofty Heavenly Dao Saint.

That was Tongtian Cult Master, wielder of the Four Swords of Execution, who had sworn to seize a sliver of hope for all beings of the Primordial World.

In this era, where Saints stood above all and the Interception Sect's might shook heaven and earth throughout the Primordial World,

if he could win a Saint's favor, his path of cultivation would truly enter the broad road ahead.

Thus, Xuan Liu drew a deep breath and forcibly calmed the turbulent thoughts in his heart.

Since the great tide had arrived, there was no need to cower and hesitate.

"Then I shall trouble Senior Brother Duobao to lead the way." Xuan Liu bowed with cupped hands and agreed.

"Good." A faint smile appeared on Duobao Daoist's refined face as he nodded slightly.

Then he turned toward Golden Spirit Holy Mother at his side and instructed in a solemn voice, "Junior Sister Jinling, you, Junior Sister Wudang, and Junior Sister Guiling will continue presiding over the disciple acceptance ceremony here. There must be no mistakes."

"Rest assured, Senior Brother. Leave this place to us." Golden Spirit Holy Mother nodded slightly.

"Fellow Daoist Xuan Liu, please follow me." Duobao Daoist flicked his sleeve.

Immediately afterward, he transformed into a stream of bright yellow light and streaked toward the deepest reaches of Golden Ao Island.

Seeing this, Xuan Liu shifted his feet slightly as emerald Upper Clear mana flowed around him.

The next moment, he too transformed into a jade-green streak of light and followed close behind.

The two traveled through the river of void, moving at extreme speed.

The countless scenes of heaven and earth around them visibly sped backward.

The deeper they ventured into Golden Ao Island, the more stable the laws of heaven and earth became.

After a long while, Duobao Daoist ahead slowly descended from the clouds.

Xuan Liu also came to a halt and withdrew the radiance around his body.

Soon, the two appeared outside a majestic Dao hall that radiated endless, indestructible divine light.

Jade Tour Palace!

Xuan Liu focused his gaze and saw that Jade Tour Palace before him stretched for an unknown number of tens of thousands of miles.

Ancient and flawless, it towered at the convergence of layers upon layers of immortal mountains and spiritual veins.

Above the palace, endless purple qi shrouded the vast, boundless sky.

Strands of the great principles of creation, fate, spacetime, and more condensed into countless profound runes.

They continuously manifested and evolved in the void around the Dao hall.

Billions of rays of auspicious light cascaded down, while immortal qi billowed.

Crisp cries of luan birds and cranes rang by his ears, accompanied by waves of Dao sounds, wondrous beyond measure.

Standing outside Jade Tour Palace, Xuan Liu felt as though even his primordial spirit had undergone an immense cleansing.

As expected of a Saint's residence. Xuan Liu murmured inwardly, his expression calm as he stood half a step behind Duobao Daoist.

"Disciple Duobao requests an audience with Master."

Duobao Daoist adjusted his luxurious bright yellow Daoist robe, then bowed deeply toward the tightly shut bronze gates and respectfully announced, "Reporting to Master, there is an overseas rogue cultivator named Xuan Liu. During the disciple acceptance ceremony, he comprehended the Upper Clear Immortal Method in an instant."

"He triggered countless phenomena of heaven and earth. This disciple has therefore brought him into the palace and requests Master's judgment."

Duobao Daoist's voice swiftly traveled into the depths of Jade Tour Palace.

Silence!

At that moment, the entire world seemed to come to a complete standstill.

Even the workings of time fell into brief dead silence.

Xuan Liu suppressed the tremor in his heart and waited patiently.

After some time.

"Rumble!"

Accompanied by an ancient rumble, the bronze gates of Jade Tour Palace opened.

Then, a supreme Dao voice, ethereal and indifferent yet seemingly containing the great cosmos and the truths of heaven and earth, slowly drifted from the deepest part of the palace.

"Enter!"

The voice was exceedingly brief, yet like the order governing all things. The instant it fell, the waves across the surrounding seas all stilled.

"This disciple obeys."

Duobao Daoist bowed once more, then gave Xuan Liu a meaningful look. "Fellow Daoist, follow me inside. Remember not to lose decorum before the Saint."

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Duobao. I understand." Xuan Liu nodded slightly.

The two crossed the towering threshold and stepped into Jade Tour Palace.

The moment they entered, heaven and earth instantly transformed.

The space here was not a mere hall as it appeared from outside, but a vast and boundless world unto itself!

Dao resonance was obscure, and Dao patterns crisscrossed throughout.

At the heart of Jade Tour Palace stood an incomparably massive ancient platform, colored like chaos.

At that moment, a young man dressed in a green Daoist robe sat cross-legged atop it.

Though the young man appeared youthful, his eyes were like ancient dry wells.

They contained terrifying visions of heaven and earth returning to ruin, of creation and transformation.

To Xuan Liu, that figure itself seemed to represent the Dao of the Primordial World, the source of all laws!

Behind him, the phantom images of four supreme immortal swords exuding peerless killing intent—enough to stain mountains and rivers with blood and make all beings cry out in grief—flickered and evolved in turn.

This was the supreme leader of the Interception Sect, one of the Six Saints of Heavenly Dao, the Highest Pure Tongtian Cult Master!

"Disciple Duobao pays respects to Master. May Master's holy life know no bounds, and may the Great Dao flourish forever!" Duobao Daoist performed a solemn bow in reverence.

Standing at the side, Xuan Liu knew that before such a being, all clever tricks and cultivation were meaningless.

He clasped his hands in the ritual of the Profound Sect and bowed respectfully as well.

"Rogue cultivator Xuan Liu pays respects to Saint Tongtian. May the Saint attain the Great Dao soon!"

His clear voice slowly echoed through the great hall.

He did not know whether Tongtian Cult Master would approve of his innate foundation.

If he could be accepted as the Interception Sect's fifth personal disciple, then the Great Dao would be within reach.

"Mm. Rise."

Upon the platform, Tongtian Cult Master lowered his gaze.

At that moment, those Saintly eyes that pierced through past and future slowly settled upon Xuan Liu.

In an instant, Xuan Liu felt that all karma surrounding him—his past, present, and future...

even the foundation of his superior-grade innate spiritual root—had been thoroughly laid bare beneath that Saint's single glance.

Even Tongtian Cult Master found it somewhat difficult to comprehend.

How could the transformed form of the superior-grade innate spiritual root, the World-Purifying Divine Willow, possessing only early Taiyi Golden Immortal cultivation,

have comprehension so heaven-defying that it could understand the Upper Clear Immortal Method he had created in an instant?

However, as a Heavenly Dao Saint, he naturally would not reveal his inner state and retained his indifferent expression.

"Are you willing to become the fifth personal disciple of my Interception Sect?"