Bang!
His heart felt as if it had been tightly gripped by an invisible, massive hand, and then abruptly stopped beating.
Lin Feng's vision went dark, and the last things he saw were the densely packed lines of code on the computer screen that seemed as if they could never be finished. His consciousness plunged into boundless darkness like a kite with a broken string.
Pain!
Bloated!
It felt as though countless red-hot iron needles were piercing into his mind, or as if the information of an entire universe had been forcefully crammed into it.
Lin Feng abruptly "opened" his eyes, only to discover that he was not lying in front of a cold office desk, but instead situated inside an antique grotto-heaven wreathed in clouds, mists, and dense celestial Qi.
Beneath him was a cold cyan-jade meditation mat, and the surrounding walls were carved with profound and ineffable runes.
The air was permeated with a refreshing scent he had never breathed before, and with every inhalation, he felt his body's cells cheering and leaping with joy.
At the same time, massive fragments of memories rushed into his consciousness like a breached flood embankment.
Primordial World!
Saintly orthodox lineage!
Jiejiao!
Master Tongtian!
Chief personal disciple—Xuan Chuan!
He, Lin Feng, a modern corporate slave from the twenty-first century, had actually... transmigrated?!
And he had transmigrated into the tragical sect in primordial novels that was almost entirely wiped out during the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation—the Eldest Senior Brother of Jiejiao?!
That legendary Jiejiao where ten thousand immortals came to pay court, yet was also entangled in cause and effect, shouldered the deepest karmic force, and ultimately ended up shattered into pieces, with some sent to the Investiture of the Gods List, others subdued by Western Teachings, and some even having their souls scattered?!
"I... I have become Xuan Chuan?"
He looked down at his slender and powerful hands, feeling the surging, mighty power within his body that far exceeded his imagination, and an utterly absurd sensation welled up from the bottom of his heart.
According to the fused memories, this was the critical period after the Dao Ancestor Hongjun had finished his third lecture at the Purple Cloud Palace, the six Saints had taken their positions, the Witch-Demon War had drawn to a close, the human race was rising, but the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation had not yet officially begun.
The original owner of this body of his was none other than the exalted "chief eldest disciple" under Master Tongtian's seat—Xuan Chuan, who was almost forgotten by many newly initiated disciples due to his year-round seclusion and cold, aloof temperament!
His cultivation realm was... Peak Golden Immortal!
In the Primordial World, immortal ranks were divided from low to high into: Human Immortals, Earth Immortals, Heavenly Immortals, True Immortals, Mysterious Immortals, Golden Immortals, Taiyi Golden Immortals, Daluo Golden Immortals, Quasi-Saints (Hunyuan Golden Immortals), and Saints (Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortals).
A peak Golden Immortal, placed in the current Primordial World, was already a regional expert, strong enough to establish a sect and start a school.
However, Xuan Chuan's (Lin Feng's) face did not hold the slightest trace of joy.
This was because he could clearly sense that this body of his seemed to be entangled by countless invisible black shackles carrying filthy and ominous auras!
This was not merely his own sensation, but a perception originating from the depths of his soul, connected to the entire luck of Jiejiao!
In his "eyes", the entire Golden Turtle Island, and even the formless luck of Jiejiao, were shrouded in a thick, unmelting scarlet karmic force!
That was the monstrous sin accumulated by countless Jiejiao disciples who, relying on being under a Saint's lineage, acted without restraint, became entangled in cause and effect, and slaughtered living beings!
They clung to every Jiejiao member like bone-gnawing maggots, and acted like a constantly leaking broken ship, consuming Jiejiao's already unstable luck.
"It's over... It's all over..." Xuan Chuan (Lin Feng) muttered to himself, his face turning pale.
Knowing Investiture of the Gods inside and out, he understood all too well what this meant.
The Investiture of the Gods Tribulation ostensibly selected righteous deities for the Heavenly Court, but in reality, it was a grand purge used by the Heavenly Dao to clear away cause and effect and eliminate karmic force!
And Jiejiao, whose members were mired in karmic force and varied in quality, was simply the best target prepared by the Heavenly Dao!
Primordial Heavenly Venerable's Chanjiao practiced elite education with sparse disciples and minimal cause and effect;
Western Teachings were far away in the West, barren to the extreme, and were trying every means to reap benefits in the East; Supreme Elder Laozi's Renjiao was basically just for show...
Only Jiejiao taught without discrimination and welcomed ten thousand immortals; seemingly infinitely glorious on the surface, it had actually long since become a target of public criticism, its deep-seated problems impossible to resolve!
The original owner, Xuan Chuan, had sensed this great terror, which was why he spent years in seclusion, attempting to seek a glimmer of survival.
In the end, however, while attempting to break through to the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm, his mind was backlashed by karmic force and his Dao perished, thus benefiting the transmigrated Lin Feng.
"Damn it! When other people transmigrated to the Primordial World, they either became innate divine demons or Saintly disciples, starting out invincible!
As for me, I'm doing great—I directly boarded this doomed, sinking ship!" Xuan Chuan's (Lin Feng) heart turned icy cold.
The ending of the Investiture of the Gods was close at hand: Master Tongtian was besieged by four Saints, the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation was broken, and the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation collapsed!
His fellow disciples were killed, betrayed, or captured...
Zhao Gongming was cursed to death by the Book of Seven Nail-Headed Arrows! Two of the Three Xiao Ladies were beaten to death and one suppressed through the joint inside-and-outside efforts of Primordial Heavenly Venerable and Laozi!
The Seven Attendant Immortals either betrayed or died! Countless outer sect disciples became tools on the Investiture of the Gods List!
As for his "mysterious" chief eldest disciple, in original records, his end was even more unclear, and he likely perished quietly in some conflict or grand formation without even stirring up a ripple.
No! Absolutely not!
He had finally lived a second life, and moreover as a Saint's first disciple with peak Golden Immortal cultivation where eternal longevity was right before his eyes—how could he act as a pathetic funeral accompaniment for this broken ship?!
A strong desire to survive burst forth in his heart.
Just as his thoughts surged, almost suffocating him under the omnipresent karmic force—
Hum!
Deep within his soul, an imperceptible trace of purple light suddenly lit up!
Immediately following, the phantom of an incomplete jade disc fragment, its surface covered in chaos aura, slowly floated up and down in his sea of consciousness.
A cool, transcendent aura, as if standing above all rules, instantly smoothed his restless mind and slightly isolated the karmic cause and effect entangling his divine soul.
[The One That Escaped! Creation Jade Disc Fragment!]
Xuan Chuan experienced a flash of divine insight, instantly comprehending the origins and functions of these two accompanying treasures!
The One That Escaped was the single variable out of the fifty grand paths of the Great Dao where Heaven's Will manifested forty-nine! It possessed the supreme wondrous utility of blinding Heavenly Dao, disrupting destined fates, and intercepting a thread of vitality from a desperate situation!
As for the Creation Jade Disc Fragment, it was a fragment of a Chaos Supreme Treasure containing the three thousand Dao laws, specialized in deduction, enlightenment, and concealment, and internally containing a nascent lesser world!
This was the greatest golden finger brought by his transmigration! It was also his only hope in this mortal trap!
Just as he initially refined these two supreme treasures and his heart settled slightly—
Rumble!!!
A destructive aura far more terrifying, magnificent, and merciless than the karmic force he had sensed before, like the entire heaven and earth collapsing, descended upon his mind through the sensing of The One That Escaped!
That was... the killing intent of Heavenly Dao! The ultimate fate of the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation!
Before his "eyes," mountains of corpses and seas of blood emerged, the collapsing Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation emerged, and countless scenes of Jiejiao disciples wailing as they were placed on the Investiture list, converted, and completely destroyed in body and soul emerged!
In the end, the image froze in a desolate scene where his master, Master Tongtian, was beaten by four sages, his Dao robes stained with blood, his eyes splitting in anger, filled with unwillingness and despair!
[Warning! Detected that the destiny line of the Dao tradition "Jiejiao" bound to the host has entered the destruction countdown!] [Ultimate emergency task triggered: Defy the heavens and change fate, save the Jiejiao Dao tradition, and intercept a thread of vitality for Jiejiao!] [Task countdown: *** (Affected by Heavenly Dao, cannot be displayed accurately, but the killing tribulation is already close at hand!)] [Task failure penalty: Annihilated together with Jiejiao in the Investiture killing tribulation, true spirit extinguished!]
An unprecedented sense of urgency and death crisis, like a cold viper, wrapped around Xuan Chuan's neck.
He abruptly stood up from the cyan jade futon, his eyes no longer holding the slightest bit of confusion or wishful thinking, leaving only the determination of burning the boats!
Seclusion? Evasion?
Useless! In front of this towering killing tribulation, hiding in a cave would only lead to everyone being wiped out in one pot!
He had to do something! Immediately! Right now!
He took a deep breath, the rich celestial energy inside the cave dwelling swallowed into his belly like a whale, and his peak golden immortal momentum was no longer restrained, bursting forth!
"Boom!"
The stone door, which had been in seclusion for who knows how many years, was pushed open by him.
The dazzling sunlight shone in, reflecting his tall and resolute figure.
He stepped out, his gaze like lightning as it shot toward the center of the island, toward that palace of countless wonders, steeped in sage-like majesty—Biyou Palace!
Go find Tongtian!
He had to persuade him!
Even if... even if he had to utter those treasonous words!
This Jiejiao could no longer continue like this!
Before you continue