Hongjun said nothing, only gazed coldly at Zhunti and Jieyin.
Seeing their little trick had been exposed, Zhunti and Jieyin obediently began to swear oaths.
After all, the Four Swords of Execution had already surrounded them, while the Green Duckweed Sword was pointed at them.
If they said another wrong word, a sword might come slashing down upon them.
At this moment, they felt Hongjun had come to play favorites.
"Heavenly Dao above, I, Jieyin (Zhunti), henceforth shall not scheme against Tongtian or his disciples, nor take action against them by any means or in any form. Should I violate this oath, may I suffer Heavenly Punishment. May the Heavenly Dao bear witness."
"Heavenly Punishment?"
Listening to their oath, Lu Chen's eyes flickered.
This Heavenly Punishment could be as grave or as light as the heavens pleased. Everything would be decided by fate.
Perhaps in the future...
Yet Lu Chen did not speak. He still could not sit at the table in this game.
For now, building up his strength was what he ought to do.
But one day, he too would sit before the chessboard and become the one moving the pieces. He swore it!
"These two have already sworn their oaths. From this day forth, the enmity between you shall be wiped away."
"I obey, Master."
Tongtian cupped his hands and bowed to Hongjun.
His attitude was respectful, entirely lacking the wild arrogance he had displayed earlier.
His mood was boundlessly good at the moment. After all, Lu Chen had been shocked by his tactics just now as well.
"Only this once."
After saying this to Zhunti and Jieyin, Hongjun's figure slowly faded away.
"Just as expected, Hongjun claimed he would not interfere in the affairs of the Primordial World, yet in truth, he was the biggest shit-stirrer of all."
It looked as though Tongtian had taken every advantage, with Hongjun favoring him, but in truth... the ones who had truly benefited were those two from the Western Sect.
Had Hongjun not appeared, the two of them would already have become wandering souls in the wilderness.
Their bodies gone, their Dao extinguished.
Hongjun's appearance had preserved their lives. He had even granted Tongtian enormous leeway, fearing Tongtian would seize upon this matter and refuse to let it go.
If Tongtian insisted instead, it would become Tongtian who was refusing to give face and being unreasonable.
"Shall we continue, or return?"
Without even looking at Jieyin and Zhunti, Tongtian landed beside Lu Chen and asked gently.
"I want to continue."
After thinking it over, Lu Chen still chose to continue. He was already in the west, and Western Sect territory was only so large. If others set it in order first, the Merit would belong to them.
He had originally intended to condense a Merit Golden Wheel. Since the golden wheel had not even taken shape yet, how could he possibly leave now?
"Very well. Then your master shall return first. These three sword talismans contain my full-force strike. Keep them for protection."
Tongtian took out three azure stone talismans and handed them to Lu Chen.
With that, Tongtian transformed into a streak of azure sword light and shot toward the east.
He had just slain Zhunti and Jieyin's Dao Corpses. His sword had been stained with the blood of Quasi-Saints, granting him fresh insight into the Sword Dao.
He felt that if he fully absorbed those insights, his Sword Dao might advance another step.
Thus, he did not choose to follow Lu Chen. Moreover, he felt Lu Chen carried many secrets; staying by his side would instead become an obstacle.
"Aren't you two planning to return and heal your wounds?"
After Tongtian departed, Lu Chen turned his gaze toward Zhunti and Jieyin in the air, weighing the sword talismans in his hand.
"Hmph!"
Zhunti snorted coldly, then left with Jieyin.
Their condition could no longer even be described as severe injuries. They were already lamps drained of oil.
With their Dao Corpses slain, even if they healed their wounds, their cultivation realms would still decline.
Had they obtained a method to dispel the devilish qi, they might have been able to barely accept it. Yet they had gained nothing and suffered a body full of wounds for nothing.
Seeing Zhunti and Jieyin leave as well, Lu Chen patted the little White Tiger beside him.
The little White Tiger's limbs were limp and weak.
Everything that had happened today had practically rewritten his tiger life.
First, he had witnessed a thoroughly exhilarating battle between Quasi-Saints. Then he had met the most badass Dao Ancestor in the Primordial World.
His life had been worth it.
After resting for a moment, the little White Tiger regained some strength and climbed up from the ground.
Lu Chen sat on the little White Tiger's back and continued westward.
"Elder Brother, are we just letting this grudge go?"
"This time, Tongtian did not merely strip us of face. These are Dao injuries that will be difficult to recover from!"
Like a wounded beast, Zhunti snarled in a low voice, hatred surfacing in his eyes.
"The Heavenly Dao Oath has already been sworn. What else can we do? Moreover, Tongtian came this time intending to kill the two of us. Had the Dao Ancestor not intervened, we would already have become dead souls beneath his sword."
A trace of helplessness appeared on Jieyin's face.
He was equally furious within, but what could he do when his skills fell short of another's?
"Recover our injuries first. As for the Dao Corpses that were slain, we can think of a way later and see whether they can be remolded."
Alas... this time, they had tried to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used to lure it.
"What place lies ahead? Why is the devilish qi so dense?"
Lu Chen raised a brow as he looked into the distance.
In the distance, devilish qi swirled and condensed into black clouds, shrouding an area of tens of thousands of miles.
One glance was enough to make one's mind stir restlessly and give rise to a suffocating feeling.
"Master, Sumeru Mountain lies ahead."
"As expected of the Devil Ancestor Luohou's cultivation ground. So many years have passed, yet there is still so much devilish qi."
"Master, shall we go over?"
"No, we'll take a detour."
Lu Chen shook his head.
"Ah!"
A flicker of surprise passed through the little White Tiger's eyes. All along the way, his master had bulldozed straight through everything. This was the first time he had chosen to go around.
But upon remembering that this was Sumeru Mountain, the cultivation ground of Luohou, the devilish path patriarch from the same era as Dao Ancestor Hongjun, the little White Tiger did not hesitate in the slightest and headed in another direction.
"It is not that I fear the devilish qi within. It is simply not the right time."
Lu Chen saw through the little White Tiger's doubts at once and spoke to explain them.
Setting Sumeru Mountain in order was not as simple as merely dispelling the devilish qi. More importantly, Luohou had detonated the entire earth vein of Sumeru Mountain back then.
To obtain the Merit of this region, merely dispersing the devilish qi would not suffice. He would also need to repair the damaged earth veins underground. This was a massive undertaking, after all, Sumeru Mountain was the Ancestral Mountain of the west.
Yet even if Lu Chen could solve this problem, he would not solve it now. Once the mountain range beneath Sumeru Mountain recovered, it would gradually have a chance to restore itself under the nourishment of spiritual qi. Though it could not return to its original state in a single stroke, it would eventually recover. Moreover, Sumeru Mountain's earth veins would drive the surrounding earth veins to recover bit by bit.
After the passage of endless years, even if the west could not recover to its peak and compare with the east, it would no longer be a barren land where not a blade of grass grew.
He was only here to set the earth veins in order and dispel the devilish qi for Merit. As for helping the west recover and prosper, he was not so selfless.
Several hundred thousand more years passed...
"The work is complete. It is time to leave."
Lu Chen looked at the resplendent golden wheel behind his head, a smile appearing on his face. He glanced back at the western lands, where faint signs of life had appeared, yet there was not a shred of reluctance in his eyes.
"I, Dijun and Taiyi, have discovered the Thirty-Six Heavens atop Buzhou Mountain. The Heavenly Court is established!"
A majestic voice rang throughout the entire Primordial World.
"The first battle between the Witch-Demon Tribes is about to begin..."
Before you continue