Patrolling the Heavens with a Talisman, a Conflict Between Two Sides Sparks the Calamity

In the Tianshu Star Domain, the towering Investiture Altar stood silent.

The Hundred-School Colorful Banner stirred in the dead stillness of space. The Ever-Burning Soul-Guiding Lamp cast a faint, clear glow, while Bai Jian, the Blessed Prosperity Orthodox God, stood before the altar with the Hundred-School Divine Banner in hand, like an eternal guardian.

As the Investiture Altar took form, the crushing fear that had weighed on the mighty across the heavens abruptly gave way to a solemn order of the Great Dao.

Cultivators finally saw the path ahead clearly—

The calamity could not be avoided. But so long as they did not follow Tianluo Ancestor's example by forging merit and harming mortals, and instead fought openly in the calamity for their sects and the order of heaven and earth, even death in battle could lead them to the Investiture Altar and a place among the Heavenly Court's orthodox gods!

Death was no longer an eternal void. It was the beginning of another divine path under the Heavenly Dao!

Under this subtle yet vast order of the Heavenly Dao, the first true conflict of the Investiture of the Gods Calamity quietly began at the edge of the Ziwei Star Domain.

At the edge of the Ziwei Star Domain stood two great powers with legacies stretching back tens of thousands of years.

One was the Annihilation Sword Sect.

The sect cultivated only the Dao of slaughter and destruction. Its leader, the Annihilation Ancestor, was an eight-thousand-year-old monster at the peak of the Mahayana Stage. For years, the Annihilation Sword Sect had acted with ruthless arrogance. Its disciples were quick to kill. Though they had restrained themselves from attacking mortals, they had amassed a mountain of karmic grudges against nearby sects deep within the great worlds.

The other was the Myriad Stars Alliance.

It was an alliance formed by dozens of mid-sized sects and families dating back to the Ancient Era. Its leader, the Myriad Stars True Lord, was also a Mahayana Stage powerhouse. Since Xuanmen's founding, the Myriad Stars Alliance had actively performed good deeds and tended spiritual veins, accumulating immense merit under the Heavenly Dao.

The two factions had feuded for centuries over a cluster of barren mining stars rich in Primordial Star Essence Gold.

In the past, each had held back its urge to kill out of fear of the other's strongest fighters.

But now the Investiture of the Gods Calamity had arrived!

The Annihilation Ancestor sat in the Annihilation Sword Sect's ancestral hall. As he watched the Karmic Calamity Fiendish Aura above him grow ever denser, a flash of ruthless resolve and clear understanding crossed his eyes.

"We can't wait any longer!"

The Annihilation Ancestor rose to his feet. Behind him, his towering sword of annihilation rang out with a piercing clang.

"I have only a hundred years left to live. My sword Dao of slaughter has accumulated countless karmic debts. If I let this fiendish aura corrode my mind, I will lose control and be reduced to ashes!"

"Today, I will lead the entire sect into an open, decisive battle with the Myriad Stars Alliance!"

The Annihilation Sword Sect's elders paled. "Sect Master! The Myriad Stars Alliance has amassed great merit. If we attack them now, won't we incur heaven's wrath?!"

"Fools!"

The Annihilation Ancestor snorted, his eyes bright with insight.

"We're fighting over cultivators' resources and settling a feud between sects, not butchering mortals! So long as no mortal lives are harmed, this clash of karmic debts is permitted by the Heavenly Dao!"

"We will fight through this calamity with our sword Dao of slaughter. If we break through, we'll attain the freedom of immortals. If we die on the battlefield, our unyielding sword wills can still be received by the Investiture Altar. We can enter the Heavenly Court's Dipper Department or Thunder Department and be appointed war gods!"

"This is the Annihilation Sword Sect's only path to transcendence! Pass on my sword decree. March to the star mines and face the Myriad Stars Alliance in battle!"

"We obey the Sect Master's sword decree—!!"

At that moment, the Annihilation Sword Sect's hundreds of thousands of sword cultivators erupted with battle spirit that shook heaven and earth!

They were no longer mindless killers. They had chosen to embrace the calamity and seek their rightful standing under the Heavenly Dao!

At the same time, within the Myriad Stars Alliance.

Its leader, the Myriad Stars True Lord, sensed the killing intent surging from the Annihilation Sword Sect. He slowly opened his eyes as Merit Golden Light flowed across his palm.

"If the Annihilation Ancestor means to face his calamity, then the Myriad Stars Alliance will meet it with our boundless merit!"

The Myriad Stars True Lord raised his head and called out:

"All disciples of the alliance, heed my command! Strike down cultivators in this battle, but harm no mortals! Meet the calamity and defend our sects!"

Two vast armies of cultivators tore through the starry void and came to a thunderous standstill deep within the star mines at the edge of the Tianshu Star Domain!

Across the Ziwei Star Domain, eyes from hundreds of great worlds fixed on that stretch of space.

Everyone was watching to see how this first battle of the calamity, sanctioned by the Heavenly Dao, would unfold!

Rumble—!

Just as the two armies were about to clash.

High above, radiant clouds of merit and dark-gold clouds of calamity split apart!

A tall figure in coarse hemp robes stepped slowly out of a path through the void, bathed in divine radiance from the Heavenly Dao. A Broken Sword rested on his back, and a Heavenly Eye flickered faintly deep in his forehead.

It was Lin Qiye, chief disciple of the Primordial Xuanmen and the Heavenly Court's Demon-Subduing Protector!

In his hand, Lin Qiye held aloft a golden talisman radiating Supreme Heavenly Might—the Heaven-Patrolling Command Talisman!

Lin Qiye looked down over the two vast armies. His gaze was calm and solemn, and his voice rang through the stars:

"The Heavenly Dao has decreed that the calamity shall begin!"

"The centuries of karma between the Annihilation Sword Sect and the Myriad Stars Alliance shall be settled here today!"

"As Demon-Subduing Protector, I bear this talisman and patrol the heavens. I will oversee this battle!"

"First, no mortal lives may be harmed. Second, no vile poisons or methods that leave no chance of survival may be used. Third, the defeated may not detonate their souls and destroy a star's core!"

"For every cultivator who dies in battle with their soul intact and their sect's cause in their heart... Bai Jian, divine officer of the Investiture Altar, shall receive them!"

Heaven's decree had descended! The rules were set!

What might have become a mindless slaughter that destroyed entire star systems had been transformed into a tragic yet ordered contest of the Great Dao, watched over by the Heavenly Dao from beginning to end!

"I, the Annihilation Ancestor of the Annihilation Sword Sect... obey heaven's decree!" The Annihilation Ancestor dropped to one knee, drew the towering sword from his back, and roared.

"I, the Myriad Stars True Lord of the Myriad Stars Alliance... obey heaven's decree!" The Myriad Stars True Lord bowed with clasped hands.

The next moment.

"Kill—!!"

Two torrents of cultivators, each with the power to devastate heaven and earth, crashed together among the stars!

Sword light pierced the heavens. Divine abilities filled the void!

There was no underhanded poisoning, no threatening mortals. Only the purest, fiercest clash of the Great Dao's divine abilities!

Bang!

An elder of the Annihilation Sword Sect at the Dao-Slaying Stage took several strikes from magical treasures and spat blood. Yet there was no despair in his eyes. Laughing, he burned his annihilation sword intent to its limit and took an elder of the Myriad Stars Alliance down with him!

Bodies shattered, and blood spilled across the stars!

The instant the Annihilation Sword Sect elder's body vanished and his soul emerged—

Hum—!

Far away at the center of the Tianshu Star Domain, the Hundred-School Colorful Banner hanging above the towering Investiture Altar suddenly burst with a gentle violet-gold light!

Bai Jian, the Blessed Prosperity Orthodox God guarding the altar, shook the Hundred-School Divine Banner in his hand and gave a light wave toward the star mines.

"Receive the true spirit—!"

An immeasurably gentle ray of the Heavenly Dao's light crossed the endless stars and wrapped precisely around the fallen elder's pure soul. Before the stunned eyes of countless cultivators, it lifted him gently and carried him toward the Investiture Altar!

His soul entered the Ever-Burning Soul-Guiding Lamp on the Investiture Altar. He felt no pain. Instead, the lamp's clear light nourished him. Glowing faintly with divine radiance from the Heavenly Dao, he waited in peace for his formal appointment when the calamity reached its end!

At the sight of this!

Every cultivator still fighting among the stars felt tears spring to their eyes. Their battle spirit surged into a frenzy!

It was true!

Those who died on the battlefield really were received by the Investiture Altar! There was no pain, no fading away—only supreme honor under the Heavenly Dao and a future divine post in the Heavenly Court!

"Hahahaha! That's the way! Fight! For our sects! For investiture!"

"Kill—!!"

Grim! Glorious! Vast!

The battle among the stars surged toward an epic climax!

Every cultivator who fell displayed their most brilliant command of the Great Dao before death. Bai Jian, the Blessed Prosperity Orthodox God, received their souls one after another and brought them back to the Investiture Altar!

They watched the Laws of the Heavenly Dao descend through the void in perfect order. They watched the streams of heroic souls fly toward the Investiture Altar...

Deep in the starry void, the Supreme Mystery True Lord, the Netherworld Blood Emperor, Patriarch Tu Shanye, and the other leaders watching the battle were moved to tears. From the depths of their souls, they dropped to their knees beneath the heavens!

Order! This was the supreme order of the Heavenly Dao!

It gave cruel death dignity and turned bloody slaughter into a sacred selection!

May the Heavenly Court stand forever, and Xuanmen prosper without end!

In the quiet, peaceful Library Pavilion behind the Primordial Xuanmen, within the Canglan Realm.

Sunlight streamed in, and the faint scent of tea lingered.

Su Chen still wore his green robes. He reclined at ease in a chair, gently swirling his teacup with slender fingers. Deep in his mind, the Karma Points and Heaven and Earth Order Value on the system panel were rising exponentially at an unimaginable speed!

"The Investiture Altar stands, and the first battle of the calamity has come full circle."

A warm, inscrutable smile touched Su Chen's lips. He sipped his Spirit Tea and murmured:

"The plan has finally taken on a life of its own."

"Next... it's time to prepare for the true leading figures of this world to set the grander Investiture Saga in motion."