The Investiture Altar Rises Beneath the Stars, Shaking the Heavens

The cold reality that Tianluo Ancestor's True Spirit Entering the List had appointed him a "Mountain-Patrolling Little God" of the Lower Eight Departments swept across the Three Great Star Domains and Thirty-Seven Great Thousand Worlds like an apocalyptic storm.

Overnight, the opportunistic cultivators throughout the myriad worlds who had tried to deceive the Heavenly Dao with false virtue and fabricated merit fell silent as frightened cicadas.

The Heavenly Dao could not be deceived. The Heavenly Eye could not be fooled!

The Investiture of the Gods Heavenly Ranking and God-Striking Whip hanging beside the physical Southern Heavenly Gate had locked every cultivator's fate in place with brutal, unquestionable finality.

Those who died burdened by sin would be reduced to ashes of the calamity, never to rise again;

Those who forged merit would have their True Spirit Entering the List, be demoted to lowly minor gods, and suffer the God-Striking Whip's exploitation for eternity;

Only those who truly followed Heaven's will, answered the people's needs, and passed through the calamity with honor could complete their Immortal Dao or ascend to a position among the Heavenly Court's Eight Great Departments of Orthodox Gods!

Ziwei Star Domain, the main hall of Supreme Mystery Xuanmen.

Sect Leader Supreme Mystery True Lord sat high upon the principal seat, his expression grave. Below him, hundreds of elders and peak masters at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage and Mahayana Stage filled the hall. The atmosphere was so heavy it seemed almost solid.

"You all saw it."

Supreme Mystery True Lord spoke slowly, his hoarse voice carrying an unprecedented wariness:

"Tianluo Ancestor thought he had outwitted the Heavenly Dao. Instead, his true spirit was imprisoned, and he became a Mountain-Patrolling Little God. That means a supreme eye watches our every word and deed from the depths of the Heavenly Dao."

"Taking shortcuts is the path to death!"

The elders below nodded repeatedly, their eyes full of awe and fear.

A white-haired Grand Elder rose and bowed. "Sect Master, the Investiture of the Gods Calamity has descended. Though we have spread word of our good deeds and followed Xuanmen, our sect is vast, with countless disciples and tangled karmic debts from the past. Once the calamity erupts in full, I fear we cannot come through unscathed on our own."

"Exactly, Sect Master!" another elder agreed. "The Three Hundred and Sixty-Five Orthodox God Positions on the Investiture of the Gods Heavenly Ranking may look like a prison. But if one could join the upper departments, such as the Thunder Department, Fire Department, or Dipper Department, wield the Heavenly Dao's powers over thunder and stars, and enjoy a divine lifespan sustained by the worship of myriad worlds... For fellow disciples whose path to immortality is closed and whose lives are nearly spent, that might be a way forward!"

At those words, a complicated gleam flickered in the eyes of many old monsters in the hall who had little time left.

If driven to the end of the road, and unable to become free and unfettered Heavenly Immortals, would becoming Heavenly Court's Eight Great Departments of Orthodox Gods, wielding the Heavenly Dao's authority and enjoying enduring divine lives, not be a thousand times better than simply dying and turning to dust?

"But the Investiture of the Gods Heavenly Ranking hangs high above the Southern Heavenly Gate. Even if someone falls in battle, how will their true spirit be received? Who will preside over the investiture rites during this calamity?" Supreme Mystery True Lord asked, his brows drawn tight. He had reached the heart of the matter.

Supreme Mystery Xuanmen was not alone.

The Asura Teaching of the Heavenly Demon Great Realm, the Demon Teaching of the Primordial Demon Realm, and Canglan Realm's own Primordial Xuanmen—countless mighty beings were pondering the same question—

The calamity had begun, and conflict was coming. But where, exactly, would the "battlefield of investiture" for the heavens be set?

Canglan Realm, the Library Pavilion on the rear mountain of Primordial Xuanmen.

The fragrance of tea filled the air, and sunlight fell in mottled patches.

Su Chen sat behind a wooden desk, his slender fingers brushing his teacup. Deep in his eyes were reflected the doubts and desires of the heavens' mighty beings.

"Everyone has realized that the ranking is more than a punishment. It's a redistribution of the Heavenly Dao's authority."

A warm, inscrutable smile touched Su Chen's lips as he murmured:

"The Investiture of the Gods Heavenly Ranking hanging high above the Southern Heavenly Gate isn't enough."

"If this calamity is to unfold with solemnity, grandeur, and order, there must be a real structure beneath the stars to receive the true spirits of the dead and gather the order of the Heavenly Dao—the Investiture Altar!"

In the true myths of the Primordial World, the Investiture Altar was the heart of the calamity, where true spirits were gathered and the Heavenly Dao was invoked.

Every cultivator who fell during the calamity and qualified to enter the ranking would have their soul received by the Investiture Altar before the Heavenly Dao appointed them to a divine position!

"With the Investiture Altar, this calamity won't be a meaningless slaughter. It'll be a grand examination for selecting the Heavenly Court's Orthodox Gods, presided over by the Heavenly Dao!"

Su Chen's gaze sharpened. Without hesitation, he opened the system's sixth-tier exchange interface:

[Physical Manifestation: Ancient Era Supreme Treasure · Investiture Altar and Blessed Prosperity God (Heavenly Dao Structure Tier)] [Description]: At the center of the void where the star domains of the heavens meet, manifest a thirty-thousand-foot Investiture Altar built entirely from Creation Divine Stone. Hang Hundred-Family Banners and set out a Soul-Guiding Lamp. Condense, through the Heavenly Dao's karma, the true-spirit manifestation of an ancient deity, Blessed Prosperity Orthodox God Bai Jian. Wielding the Hundred-Family Banner, he will receive the true spirits of cultivators who fall during the calamity! [Karma Points Cost]: 10,000,000.

Ten million Karma Points!

For Su Chen, who now possessed a fortune of over thirty million, the expense was well within his means.

"Deduct ten million Karma Points!"

"Confirm manifestation site—the junction of the Three Great Star Domains, the stellar nexus: Tianshu Star Domain!"

"Raise the Investiture Altar!"

Boom!!

The instant he issued the command, billions of rays of Creation Immortal Light erupted from the once-tranquil, boundless void at the very heart of the junction between Canglan Realm, Ziwei Star Domain, and the Heavenly Demon Great Realm, illuminating the heavens!

Hum!

Across the universe, hundreds of millions of cultivators watched with their divine senses, stunned and trembling.

In the void of Tianshu Star Domain, a towering stone altar thirty thousand feet high, divided into three tiers and built according to the principles of the three powers and eight trigrams, slowly emerged from nothingness and stood at the center of the starry sky!

Countless colorful Hundred-Family Banners hung around all four sides of the altar. Each shimmered with the supreme radiance of the Heavenly Dao, able to cleanse souls and keep true spirits from fading.

At the altar's center, an Ever-Burning Soul-Guiding Lamp burned quietly with a dim netherworld flame, lighting the road home for the dead of myriad worlds.

And at the very front of the Investiture Altar, a thirty-thousand-foot divine figure clad in dark-gold armor and holding a Hundred-Family Banner slowly took solid form from the void, his face stern and resolute!

It was Blessed Prosperity Orthodox God Bai Jian, appointed by the Heavenly Dao to guard the Investiture Altar!

Holding the Hundred-Family Banner, Bai Jian hovered before the towering altar. His divine eyes flashed like lightning, and his voice rang across the myriad worlds like a great bell of the Heavenly Dao:

"The calamity of heaven and earth has begun! By decree of the Heavenly Dao, the Investiture Altar is established in the Tianshu Star Region!"

"I am Blessed Prosperity Orthodox God Bai Jian! Any cultivator who dies in this calamity with righteousness in their heart and their soul unclouded shall be brought here by my Hundred-Family Banner. They shall rest within the Soul-Guiding Lamp until the calamity is complete, then ascend the altar, be invested as gods, and receive their heavenly duties!"

The Blessed Prosperity God had appeared! The Investiture Altar had risen!

His words shook the stars and swept across the heavens!

At that moment, Supreme Mystery True Lord, Netherworld Blood Emperor, Tu Shanye, and the other mighty beings of the heavens gazed at the towering Investiture Altar that had appeared from nowhere at the universe's nexus, and at Blessed Prosperity Orthodox God Bai Jian standing guard before it...

Every one of those powerful beings dropped to their knees, awe and fervor blazing in their eyes from the depths of their souls!

The final piece had fallen into place!

The Investiture of the Gods Heavenly Ranking hung above the Southern Heavenly Gate, and the Investiture Altar stood among the stars of Tianshu!

An epic calamity whose rules were set by the Heavenly Dao itself, whose fallen true spirits would be received by the Blessed Prosperity Orthodox God, and in which the heavens' mighty beings would fight for rank by their own strength now stood before the entire universe!