Forcing Jieyin and Zhunti to Swear an Oath

"Dao Ancestor, Tongtian has turned on his fellow disciples. I beg Teacher to uphold justice."

Jieyin and Zhunti knelt in the void, bowed toward the heavens, and kowtowed, their voices utterly miserable.

"Alas, Dao Ancestor must have been watching this place long ago, merely waiting for these two to speak."

Hearing Jieyin and Zhunti ask for help, Lu Chen secretly sighed.

"Still, severing one of Zhunti's corpses was quite a harvest. It is only a pity that Jieyin's Dao Corpse was not destroyed as well."

The instant the two knelt, Tongtian moved. A streak of sword light appeared.

Pfft!

Jieyin spat out a mist of blood. His face twisted as he glared furiously at Tongtian.

He had not expected Tongtian to attack again. Was he truly not afraid of Dao Ancestor's punishment?

As the words fell, an immense pressure suddenly descended. Tongtian stood in the void and raised his head toward the skies above.

Hongjun appeared.

Hongjun said coldly.

"Fellow disciples slaughtering one another—this must be punished!"

Tongtian suspended the Four Swords of Execution around himself. With his hands behind his back and the Green Duckweed Sword in hand, he looked at Hongjun and said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Teacher, it was Zhunti and Jieyin who bullied my beloved disciple. That is why I struck in fury."

"I already know of this matter. Tongtian, you severed one Dao Corpse each from Jieyin and Zhunti. Has the anger in your heart been vented?"

"???"

Zhunti and Jieyin's faces were filled with question marks.

The two of us are already in such a miserable state, yet you do not offer a single word of concern. You open with an empty 'this must be punished,' then ask Tongtian whether he has vented his anger?

Could Tongtian's attack this time have been secretly instructed by Dao Ancestor?

Was it meant to punish the two of us for crying to heaven and earth in Zixiao Palace back then, begging for the status of registered disciples?

The two were swept into a storm of thoughts, idea after idea bubbling up without end.

"This disciple's anger has not yet been vented."

"Holy shit!!!"

Jieyin and Zhunti stared at Tongtian in utter shock.

We merely threatened and pressured your disciple, but never laid a hand on him. You struck and severed our brothers' Dao Corpses. In this exchange, you suffered no losses at all, while we took a blood-soaked loss, and you are telling us you still have not vented your anger?

How else do you intend to vent it? Do you insist on killing us brothers!!?

"This matter ends here."

Hongjun gave Tongtian a deep look and spoke slowly.

"Sure enough, personal disciples are treasures in the heart, while registered disciples are nothing but blades of grass."

Jieyin and Zhunti secretly complained in their hearts.

"No!"

"Holy shit, when did Master become this bold? Dao Ancestor is already clearly taking his side, and that still is not enough?"

Hearing Tongtian's words, Lu Chen nearly blurted out a "holy shit."

"Master, even if you bear World-Opening Merit and Hongjun does not dare touch you, you should not play things like this!"

He secretly broke into a cold sweat for his master. Tongtian's words had already counted as slapping Hongjun in the face.

Even if his master was one of the Three Pure Ones and bore immense World-Opening Merit, such that Hongjun would not and dared not suppress Tongtian, he could still punish him a little.

"We brothers have suffered so miserably, and even we did not object. Yet you damn well dare to object!"

Jieyin and Zhunti gazed at Tongtian in disbelief, while a trace of secret delight rose in their hearts.

Hahaha, Tongtian, you actually dare give Dao Ancestor so little face. Let us see how Dao Ancestor punishes you.

"What do you want?"

Hongjun looked at Tongtian, his tone turning several degrees colder.

"Teacher, today I severed one Dao Corpse from each of these brothers. The enmity between the three of us can no longer be reconciled. If I were alone, I naturally would not fear their revenge. But I have disciples. We bore no grudges against one another in the past, yet they threatened and pressured my disciple. Unable to deal with me in the future, they will surely find ways to harm my disciples. Therefore, for the safety of those under my sect—"

"Today, there must be a resolution. Either I die, or they perish!"

"Between me and these two brothers, it shall be death without end!"

As his final words fell, the killing intent in Tongtian's eyes reached its peak.

Zhunti and Jieyin: "..."

They had indeed intended to pressure him, but that was because Lu Chen's method of dispelling demonic qi was of enormous benefit to the West. They coveted it, and their pressure had merely been verbal. Otherwise, could they not have simply searched his soul directly?

Though Tongtian had arrived quickly, their soul search might not necessarily have succeeded.

But they knew that their words from back then had now become Tongtian's leverage for refusing to let them go.

"..."

Hongjun also felt a headache at this moment. Tongtian's temperament had changed after stepping into the Primordial Golden Immortal realm. He had become increasingly like a swordsman—rather break than bend.

And he even bore World-Opening Merit, that life-preserving talisman.

Even if Hongjun truly replaced the Heavenly Dao in the future, he could not ignore it. What was more, he had only just completed Dao Integration.

Tongtian's words were also quite reasonable. These two brothers truly could do such things.

"Teacher, I can refrain from killing them, but they must swear an oath here and now that from this day forward, they may not use any means to scheme against me or my disciples, nor take action against me or my disciples!"

As these words fell,

Jieyin and Zhunti stared at Tongtian with eyes splitting wide in rage. If they truly made such an oath, how could they seek revenge?

Would they not be forced to swallow this loss for nothing, crushing their teeth and swallowing them into their bellies?

Hearing Tongtian's final demand, Hongjun's expression improved somewhat, but his gaze carried a trace of profound meaning.

"666, this move of advancing by retreating is marvelous. If Jieyin and Zhunti make such an oath, then even if the Investiture Catastrophe occurs according to the predetermined course in the future, these two brothers will have to think it over several times before entering the fray."

Hearing Tongtian's words, Lu Chen was already utterly impressed. He had not expected Tongtian to be so skilled at playing this game.

He did not stubbornly insist on death without end. Instead, he offered another restraint: an oath.

Within the Primordial World, Heavenly Dao Oaths still carried great authority.

Though they could not completely prevent these two brothers from scheming and acting, they could at least keep them from being quite so unscrupulous.

Hongjun said nothing. He turned his gaze toward Jieyin and Zhunti, and his meaning was self-evident.

"We brothers are willing to swear!"

Zhunti and Jieyin said through gritted teeth.

Though swearing an oath was humiliating, if it truly came to death without end, they genuinely could not defeat him. There was the gap in combat power brought by proving the Dao, along with the gap in magical treasures.

The two brothers had exhausted every method, and even had two Dao Corpses severed, yet apart from the torn corners of his Daoist robe and a few minor injuries, Tongtian had not a single damn problem. His combat strength was completely unaffected!

They now regretted it deeply. Had they known the Primordial path was this formidable, they would not have chosen Three Corpses Severance, the shortcut that cultivated only mana.

"Heavenly Dao above, from this day onward, I, Zhunti (Jieyin), shall not use any means to scheme against or take action against Tongtian and the disciples under his name. Should I violate this, heavenly lightning shall descend upon me. I beseech the Heavenly Dao..."

"Wait."

Tongtian spoke and interrupted them. He raised his head to look at Hongjun.

"Teacher, these two brothers are insincere. It would be better to let me simply kill them."

The Green Duckweed Sword in his hand pointed toward Zhunti and Jieyin. The Four Swords of Execution at his side also encircled them, clearly poised to strike.

"This..."