Shen Gongbao, who was on Golden Ao Island, looked as though he had lost his soul.
Even if he wanted to cry now, he could no longer manage it.
He had descended the mountain brimming with ambition, eager to earn merit, and had even imagined that once the Investiture of the Gods ended, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable would reward him handsomely.
Perhaps he could seize this opportunity to break through from True Immortal to Profound Immortal in an instant, or even become a Golden Immortal.
But Heaven had played an enormous joke on him.
Before he could even display his prowess, he had been fucking tricked straight onto Golden Ao Island.
The enemy's headquarters!
Now the entirety of Golden Ao Island had been sealed off completely. People could enter, but no one could leave.
It was all over.
Shen Gongbao was utterly ruined now. Apart from drinking himself into a stupor every day, he had nothing else to do.
"I'm miserable! Who could possibly be more miserable than me?"
"Heaven has treated me unfairly! I'm so miserable!"
"Can someone save me? I don't want to waste my life here!"
As Shen Gongbao drank, he rambled on about all sorts of things, until everyone on Golden Ao Island knew all about his mission.
There had been no threats or bribes, nor had anyone resorted to any tricks.
He had blurted it all out himself.
After all, as Shen Gongbao saw it, he could no longer leave Golden Ao Island anyway, and completing his mission was impossible.
Then what the hell was the point of hiding it?
Naturally, he might as well do whatever he pleased.
Someone reported this to Tongtian as well, but Tongtian said nothing about it. He simply let things take their course.
After all, they stood at different heights.
From Tongtian's current perspective, a mere Shen Gongbao amounted to nothing at all.
Especially now that Shen Gongbao was on Golden Ao Island. Unless Tongtian gave permission, no one apart from Hongjun could take him away-not even Yuanshi.
This was Tongtian's own stronghold!
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
The Primordial Heavenly Venerable was in the Jade Void Palace on West Kunlun.
The moment he activated Shen Gongbao's communication talisman, he heard a torrent of drunken rambling and complaints.
As time passed, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable's expression grew uglier and uglier.
Crack!
Finally unable to endure it any longer, he shattered the table before him with a slap.
The Primordial Heavenly Venerable had never imagined that Shen Gongbao, whom he had entrusted with such an important mission, would give him such an enormous surprise.
It had practically scared him to death!
Upon learning what had happened, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable immediately lost all desire to speak with Shen Gongbao.
After all, this useless fool had already exposed himself, and had even blundered right into Tongtian's stronghold.
What could Yuanshi possibly do about that? He was in despair too!
Of course, if Shen Gongbao had not exposed himself, Yuanshi might have tried to find a solution, however difficult it was.
Even if he had to pay a price, he would have rescued Shen Gongbao.
After all, when it came to persuasion, the entire Chan Sect truly had no other talent like Shen Gongbao.
But now, anything he said would be too late.
That useless Shen Gongbao had spilled everything himself before anyone had even tried to pry information out of him.
Just how careless could he be?
Rescuing him now would be pointless. At the very least, he would be of no use in the investiture calamity.
At best, he could occupy a spot on the Investiture of the Gods List.
"Alas!"
The Primordial Heavenly Venerable sighed, finally abandoning any plan to rescue Shen Gongbao.
Though he felt helpless, after agonizing over it for a long time, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable still transformed into a streak of light and left the Jade Void Palace, arriving in the Western Teachings' territory in the blink of an eye.
Spirit Mountain, the Great Thunderclap Temple.
The Primordial Heavenly Venerable landed in the empty great hall, and the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.
He had long known that the Western Teachings had few members, which was why they had always sought to meddle in the Primordial World, constantly snatching disciples from it to join their ranks.
Previously, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable had merely thought the Two Sages of the West were outrageously thick-skinned, but only now did he truly understand.
The Western Teachings were genuinely poor!
Seeing the mere two or three cats, big and small, scattered around the Great Thunderclap Temple, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable could not help sighing with feeling.
"Senior Brother Yuanshi, your arrival brings radiance to our humble Western Teachings!" A faint smile appeared on Jieyin's lips when he saw Yuanshi in the great hall, and he hurried to greet him.
Zhunti also smiled and hastily invited the Primordial Heavenly Venerable to sit before asking, "Senior Brother Yuanshi, have you come because you need the two of us to help with something?"
After sitting down, Yuanshi made no attempt to conceal anything.
Since he had already decided to come here and seek an alliance with the Western Teachings, he had naturally made all the necessary preparations.
If he acted coy now, he would only earn their contempt.
Without any pointless chatter, Yuanshi laid out everything on his mind.
"I imagine you both already know that the Heavenly Court and the Interception Sect have joined forces. Their fortunes have already merged into one."
"My Chan Sect alone can no longer stop the Interception Sect's rise. If we fail to devise a solution, the entire Primordial World may end up under the Interception Sect's control."
"I won't play games with you. I know your Western Teachings live in bitter poverty and have always wanted to enter the lands of the Primordial World."
"But your Western Teachings alone have no chance of achieving that."
"Naturally, my Chan Sect is also unwilling to let your Western Teachings establish dominance in the Primordial World. But the Interception Sect has grown too powerful, and my Chan Sect can no longer hold the situation together. With no other choice, I can only seek an alliance with you."
"So let's not beat around the bush. If you agree, say so. If you don't, say so. Give me a straight answer!"
Jieyin and Zhunti exchanged a glance and nodded without a moment's hesitation.
They understood perfectly that this was no time to stand on ceremony with one another.
The Primordial Heavenly Venerable had shown them such respect and spoken entirely from the heart.
If they kept making polite refusals and the Primordial Heavenly Venerable stormed off in anger, they would be in trouble.
With that settled, the three naturally began discussing the details.
Their methods of cooperation, the division of benefits, and so on...
Roughly two months flew by. Only after arguments that left both sides red-faced and veins bulging did they finally manage to reach an agreement.
Within the Chan Sect's territory, one Buddhist temple could be established in each locality, but each temple could house no more than twenty cultivators.
No more than two hundred commoners could be relocated from each locality, and in each locality, only three hundred people with exceptional cultivation aptitude could be converted every hundred years.
Although this seemed like a steep price to pay, that was not actually the case at all.
After all, this was not the Yin Shang of history, but the Yin Shang of the Primordial World.
Yin Shang's lands were boundless. Even a small city could accommodate over ten million people, while Chaoge alone had a population of over a hundred million.
The population ruled by Yin Shang now exceeded several hundred quadrillion.
Thus, the supposed benefits the Chan Sect had promised the Western Teachings amounted to practically nothing.
Nevertheless, the Western Teachings agreed.
After all, what they lacked now was an opportunity to gain a foothold in the Primordial World.
Even if the benefits they received now were meager, as long as they could open a breach, widening that crack in the future would naturally be simple.
They could take it slowly!
Before you continue