The Investiture of the Gods List Appeared, and the Heavenly Dao's Calamity Began

The Physical Southern Heavenly Gate towered above the Nine Heavens of the Canglan Realm. Its towering white-jade doors breathed out boundless immortal qi, while twelve glazed pillars carved with nine dragons each held the cosmos in place.

From the moment Lin Qiye climbed the long steps and laid down the rules, the Canglan Realm changed forever.

In the starry sky, routes once cold and desolate were now packed with immortal vessels, divine warships, and auspicious clouds.

Supreme Mystery True Lord, Sect Leader of the Supreme Mystery Xuanmen in the Ziwei Star Domain; Netherworld Blood Emperor, leader of the Asura Teaching in the Heavenly Demon Great Realm; Tu Shanye, patriarch of the Demon Teaching in the Primordial Demon Realm; Old Daoist Canghai, a titan among independent cultivators...

These supreme figures, who had once ruled their own domains and awed the heavens, had shed their lavish imperial robes and sect leader vestments for plain Xuanmen robes. With the finest core disciples of their sects behind them, they waited respectfully below the long steps outside the Southern Heavenly Gate to be received and vetted by the Primordial Xuanmen.

A pilgrimage from ten thousand worlds!

There had been no threats. No coercion.

A Physical Southern Heavenly Gate and the wondrous method of Proving the Dao Through Merit, passed down by Dao Ancestor Hongjun himself, had made the Canglan Realm the undisputed source of the Immortal Dao and the rightful seat of the Heavenly Court throughout the universe.

Atop the Primeval Main Peak.

Purple Qi swirled around Ji Changkong. The immense power of a Half-Step Human Immortal within him made the Daos of the surrounding void resonate. Behind him, hundreds of Primordial Xuanmen elders meticulously checked the Merit Ledgers brought from worlds across the heavens.

Only those who had spread good deeds, restored spiritual veins, or protected ordinary people in recent times could earn the right to pass through the Southern Heavenly Gate and hear the Dao in the Canglan Realm.

"Supreme Mystery True Lord restored three hundred dead mining stars in the Ziwei Star Domain, established Daoist altars throughout the region to spread the true teachings of the Xuanmen, and accumulated one hundred thousand merit from the Heavenly Dao. Entry through the Southern Heavenly Gate granted!"

"Netherworld Blood Emperor founded the Asura Teaching, slew twelve thousand wicked demon lords, quelled the chaos in the Blood Sea, and accumulated one hundred and twenty thousand merit from the Heavenly Dao. Entry through the Southern Heavenly Gate granted!"

"Tu Shanye founded the Demon Teaching, forbade the myriad demons from harming the mortal world, aided thirty disaster-stricken Minor Thousand Worlds, and accumulated one hundred and fifty thousand merit from the Heavenly Dao. Entry through the Southern Heavenly Gate granted!"

The booming declarations echoed before the Southern Heavenly Gate.

Whenever a sect leader's deeds were read aloud and he was permitted to cross the Southern Heavenly Gate, golden light from the Heavenly Dao descended beside him and cleansed his soul.

This order, which tied merit to the right of entry, instilled a deep reverence and resolve in cultivators throughout the universe: follow Heaven's will, heed the people, and do good wherever possible.

At the top of the Southern Heavenly Gate's long steps.

Lin Qiye stood beside the enormous white-jade gate, a Broken Sword on his back and plain blue robes on his frame, as immovable as a towering mountain.

The Heavenly Eye Talisman Seal lay hidden deep in his forehead. The second level of the Eight-Nine Profound Art had fused perfectly with the Merit Divine Runes shimmering around him, radiating an awe-inspiring pressure that seemed capable of subduing the heavens.

"Holy Son Qiye."

After crossing the threshold of the Southern Heavenly Gate, Supreme Mystery True Lord and Netherworld Blood Emperor saw Lin Qiye. Neither dared put on airs. They bowed to him with utmost courtesy.

"You're too kind, Sect Leaders." Lin Qiye calmly returned their salute. "All who enter the Canglan Realm are fellow cultivators of the Xuanmen. Please take your seats on the Primeval Main Peak."

"Thank you, Holy Son!"

As they gazed at the boundless Canglan Realm beyond Lin Qiye, where phantom palaces flickered through the immortal mist, the mighty figures from across the heavens were filled with fervor and reverence.

Order had been established. An age of prosperity had begun.

Yet Lin Qiye, standing at the heart of this glorious scene, wore the faintest trace of contemplation between his brows.

He watched the mighty figures cross the Southern Heavenly Gate and the peaceful Merit Golden Light fill heaven and earth. Unbidden, he recalled Dao Ancestor Hongjun's vast voice in Zixiao Palace, lofty and all-seeing:

"The Heavenly Dao moves; yin and yang give rise to each other. What flourishes to its peak must decline. Cause and effect turn in a cycle..."

"Right now, everyone across the heavens is restraining their urge to kill and doing good to accumulate merit." Lin Qiye rested a hand on the Broken Sword at his back and murmured, "But cultivators draw in the spiritual qi of heaven and earth. By their very nature, they take from the Heavenly Dao's source. If everyone seeks eternal life, if no one ever falls... one day, the universe will no longer be able to bear the burden."

"When this peaceful order of merit reaches its peak, how will the next Calamity Cycle... descend?"

In the quiet, peaceful Library Pavilion on the mountain behind the Primordial Xuanmen.

Warm sunlight streamed through the window, casting mottled tree shadows across an old wooden desk.

Su Chen still wore his somewhat faded blue robes and lounged at ease against his chair. His slender fingers rested on the corner of the desk, and wisps of steam rose from the Spirit Tea in his cup.

Meanwhile, on the system panel within his sea of consciousness, the number of Karma Points was climbing at an absurd pace!

[Available Karma Points]: 32,600,000... 35,000,000... 38,000,000...

Whenever a powerful cultivator or one of the countless living beings across the heavens did a good deed, restored a stretch of land, or felt even a trace of reverence or Faith toward the Heavenly Court and the Xuanmen, an immense share of that karma crossed the stars and flowed to Su Chen.

It was a vast account of incense offerings and cosmic cause and effect.

"Lin Qiye's understanding is growing sharper by the day."

Sensing Lin Qiye's contemplation before the Southern Heavenly Gate, Su Chen smiled with quiet satisfaction.

Lin Qiye was absolutely right.

Water too clear held no fish. When order became too perfect, it would grow rigid.

Cultivators lived for ages, taking without giving. One day, the spiritual qi of heaven and earth would run dry. If no one ever died, the Heavenly Dao's workings would grind to a halt. That ran counter to the very foundation of a unified Primordial Heavenly Dao.

"The Physical Southern Heavenly Gate is standing, and the framework for a pilgrimage from ten thousand worlds is in place."

Su Chen set down his teacup and brushed a speck of dust from his blue robes. An unfathomable light flashed deep in his eyes.

"But what kind of Heavenly Court has a gate and no immortal officials or deities to perform the Heavenly Dao's duties and govern the mountains and rivers of the heavens?"

"Can Ji Changkong and Lin Qiye manage the rising and setting of suns across billions of star domains, the wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, and the cycle of life and death?"

The Heavenly Court was like a vast empire with a magnificent facade but no one to fill its essential posts. All Three Hundred and Sixty-Five Orthodox God Positions stood vacant!

It needed gods to command wind and rain, gods to wield thunder and mete out judgment, and gods to guard the stars, mountains, and rivers!

But would those lofty Tribulation Transcendence Stage old monsters and Primordial Sect Masters, long accustomed to freedom, willingly take posts in the Heavenly Court and submit to its rules?

Of course not.

No one wanted a shackle over his head that could punish him at any moment.

Unless... the Heavenly Dao sent down a killing calamity that left them no choice!

"When order runs smoothly, the killing calamity arrives."

Su Chen narrowed his eyes and opened the supreme mythic formation in the system's sixth-tier exchange list. He had prepared it long ago as the bridge to what came next:

[Evolving Concept: Heaven-and-Earth Killing Calamity and Vacant God Positions (Heavenly Dao Rule Level)] [Description]: Inject the rule of the "Investiture of the Gods Calamity" into the Heavenly Dao's foundations. Though the powerful cultivators across the heavens have avoided calamity and done good, suppressing the killing intent of heaven and earth, that intent has settled into a "karmic killing calamity." With the god positions of the three realms vacant, the Heavenly Dao will use the calamity to select true spirits and confer godhood! [Karma Points Cost]: 10,000,000.

[Physical Manifestation: Ancient Era Supreme Treasures—the Investiture of the Gods List and God-Striking Whip (Supreme Heavenly Dao Treasure Level)] [Description]: A supreme heavenly scroll and a treasure of punishment born of the Heavenly Dao's creation. They can hang above the Southern Heavenly Gate. Should a cultivator or mighty figure fall in the killing calamity without their true spirit being destroyed, a strand of that spirit can be drawn into the Investiture of the Gods List and granted the title of "Heavenly Court Orthodox Deity." They will receive incense offerings from ten thousand worlds and an eternal divine lifespan, but will remain bound by the God-Striking Whip and heavenly law for life! [Karma Points Cost]: 15,000,000.

Together, the two supreme entries cost a full twenty-five million Karma Points!

It was enough wealth to create another mid-tier Great Thousand World!

But Su Chen did not hesitate.

"The Investiture of the Gods List shall rise, and the killing calamity shall reveal itself!"

"Deduct twenty-five million Karma Points. Begin manifesting—the [Investiture of the Gods List]!"

Boom!!

The instant he gave the command, twenty-five million Karma Points vanished within his sea of consciousness, becoming a sky full of purple-gold radiance from the supreme Heavenly Dao. It surged straight into the underlying fabric of the physical universe!

In the Canglan Realm, above the Nine Heavens, before the Physical Southern Heavenly Gate.

Under Ji Changkong and Lin Qiye's guidance, the mighty figures from across the heavens were passing through the gate in orderly fashion.

Suddenly!

Hum!!

A supreme roar from the Heavenly Dao, impossible to describe and filled with cold, murderous intent, erupted without warning directly above the Southern Heavenly Gate!

The sky changed!

The purple-gold clouds of merit filling the heavens took on a deep, uncanny shade of dark gold!

Deep within those dark-gold clouds, the Laws that had been moving gently through heaven and earth suddenly turned sharp and violent! A murderous aura that surpassed even the Heavenly Dao of the Canglan Realm hung over the heads of every cultivator in the heavens like an ancient divine sword!

"What's happening?! Why are the Laws of heaven and earth suddenly filled with killing intent?!"

Supreme Mystery True Lord jolted violently. He grabbed the sword at his waist, his expression changing at once!

Netherworld Blood Emperor of the Heavenly Demon Great Realm and Patriarch Tu Shanye of the Primordial Demon Realm tensed from head to toe. Terror and wariness blazed in their eyes.

They could clearly feel the Merit Golden Light that had flowed so smoothly within them begin to tremble under the pressure of that dark-gold murderous aura!

"Look! Something's descending above the Southern Heavenly Gate!"

A Tribulation Transcendence Stage patriarch from an Ancient Era clan pointed at the sky and cried out.

Countless living beings stared up, frozen and trembling.

Directly above the Southern Heavenly Gate's enormous white-jade plaque, the void collapsed into a boundless rift.

A golden scroll, woven from the silk of primordial creation and covered in countless ancient stars and mysterious divine script, slowly descended from the rift and hung vertically to the right of the Southern Heavenly Gate!

The golden scroll stretched a thousand zhang, radiating the supreme authority of a heavenly decree capable of subduing three thousand Great Thousand Worlds. At its top, four ancient characters, bold and brimming with the order of the Heavenly Dao, slowly burst into brilliant immortal light—

[Investiture of the Gods Heavenly Ranking]!

To the left of the [Investiture of the Gods Heavenly Ranking], space split open again.

A heavy divine whip, three feet and three inches long and black-gold from end to end, floated motionless in the void. It had twenty-one sections, each engraved with four ancient Heavenly Dao seals!

The divine whip radiated supreme authority: power that specifically suppressed cultivators' souls, shattered immortal bodies, and punished gods!

It was none other than—the God-Striking Whip!

One scroll and one whip stood on either side of the Southern Heavenly Gate, holding the cosmos in check!

"The... Investiture of the Gods Heavenly Ranking?! The God-Striking Whip?!"

Ji Changkong stared at the golden scroll and black-gold whip hanging beside the Southern Heavenly Gate. His soul trembled, and the words escaped him.

Lin Qiye stepped forward. The Heavenly Eye Talisman Seal deep in his forehead opened on its own, firing a dazzling dark-gold beam straight at the [Investiture of the Gods Heavenly Ranking]!

Hum!

Through Lin Qiye's Heavenly Eye, and in the celestial vision projected across the heavens.

The [Investiture of the Gods Heavenly Ranking] beside the Southern Heavenly Gate slowly unfurled its first page in the void!

Across its boundless expanse of golden silk were listed no fewer than—the Three Hundred and Sixty-Five Blessed Prosperity Orthodox God Positions of the Heavenly Court!

[Orthodox Gods of the Eight Divisions: The upper four are thunder, fire, stars, and plague; the lower four are mountains, water, Tai Sui, and the four seasons!]

[Orthodox Gods of the Constellations: The twenty-eight constellations, thirty-six heavenly spirits, and seventy-two earthly fiends!]

[Mountains and Rivers: The Orthodox Gods of the Five Sacred Mountains, Dragon Gods of the Four Great Rivers, and Orthodox Gods of the land and underworld in the ten directions!]

Beneath every god position was a glaring blank space!

Then, from the very top of the scroll, a cold and vast voice of the Dao rang out across ages past. It exploded through every inch of the star domains:

"The Great Dao moves; yin and yang alternate."

"Cultivators across the heavens take from the Heavenly Dao. Though they have accumulated merit through good deeds, the karma of heaven and earth remains unsettled. The killing calamity must come!"

"The Heavenly Court has only just been established, and its god positions stand vacant. The Heavenly Dao therefore sends down the [Investiture of the Gods Calamity]!"

"Of all cultivators across the heavens who enter this killing calamity, those who survive shall advance greatly on the Immortal Dao and attain the fruits of immortality. Those who do not shall perish, their cultivation lost. Their true spirits shall enter the [Investiture of the Gods List] and be enfeoffed as Heavenly Court Orthodox Deities, bound to the God-Striking Whip's command. They shall receive incense offerings from ten thousand worlds and possess eternal divine lifespans!"

Boom!!

The heavenly voice rang across the heavens!

Those words struck like a hundred ancient stars exploding at once, leaving every powerful figure in the Three Great Star Domains and Thirty-Seven Great Thousand Worlds stunned senseless!

The Investiture of the Gods Calamity!

The Three Hundred and Sixty-Five Orthodox God Positions of the Heavenly Court!

Those who survived would attain immortality, while those who failed would die, have their true spirits placed on the list, and be enfeoffed as Heavenly Court Orthodox Deities?!

"Wh-what does this mean?!"

Supreme Mystery True Lord swayed violently. His eyes nearly bulged from their sockets as he shouted in terror and disbelief:

"The Heavenly Dao... has sent down a killing calamity?!"

"We've been doing good and accumulating merit! Why would a killing calamity still descend?!"

Netherworld Blood Emperor sucked in a sharp breath. He stared fixedly at the words "God-Striking Whip" on the scroll, his voice trembling:

"Those placed on the list... their true spirits enter it after death, and they're made Heavenly Court Orthodox Deities? They gain eternal divine lifespans... but must obey the God-Striking Whip and heavenly law forever?!"

"How is that a blessing? The Heavenly Dao is clearly forcing three hundred and sixty-five mighty cultivators from among us to fill the Heavenly Court's vacant god positions!!"

His words laid bare the secret of Heaven!